I like to think that Daniel Pearl and I crossed paths while he was an intern working at the Palo Alto Weekly in the spring of 1984, where I was occasionally free-lancing a review. Certainly at Stanford I get enough reminders of his local sojourn. The Stanford commemorative Daniel Pearl World Music Days Concert is an annual reminder; his parents made a moving appearance at the one I attended. Also, Stanford announces the Daniel Pearl Journalism Internship every January — last week Alexandra Wexler was chosen as the 2011 winner.
Given the proximity and the possible brush, it was even more distressing to learn that so many of his killers remain at large. Two days ago at the National Press Club, the Center for Public Integrity released its report, “after conducting hundreds of interviews, scouring hundreds of documents, and filing one lawsuit … against eight government agencies,” of what really happened to WSJ reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002. The report is here. The center’s “Pearl Project” was formed by journalists and students at Georgetown University. The lead author is Asra Q. Nomani, Pearl’s friend and colleague. Pearl had left her home in Karachi for the interview where he was kidnapped.
Nearly half of those implicated in his Pearl’s abduction-murder — at least 14 men with some alleged involvement — are thought to remain free. The list includes guards, drivers, and fixers tied to the conspiracy. Among the other findings:
- The kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl was a multifaceted, at times chaotic conspiracy. The Pearl Project has identified 27 men who played a part in the events surrounding the case. Members of at least three different militant groups took part in the crimes, including a team of kidnappers led by British-Pakistani Omar Sheikh and a team of killers led by Al Qaeda strategist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is known as KSM.
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Pearl and Asra Nomani
KSM told FBI agents in Guantanamo that he personally slit Pearl’s throat and severed his head to make certain he’d get the death penalty and to exploit the murder for propaganda. Some U.S. and Pakistani officials believe KSM may have been assisted by two of his nephews, Musaad Aruchi, whose whereabouts aren’t publicly known, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, KSM’s trusted aide, who is incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay.
- After 9/11, KSM designated his young nephew, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, to be the facilitator for “shoe bomber” Richard Reid. When he was kidnapped, Pearl was chasing a story that a cleric, Sheik Mubarak Ali Shah Gilani, was the facilitator. He wasn’t. Reid was an Al Qaeda operative.
- Doubts regarding KSM’s confessions during “waterboarding” were eased when FBI agents and CIA officials used a technique called vein-matching to compare the hand of the killer in the murder video with a photo of Mohammed’s hand.
More about the corruption, ineptitude and bungling in the way the murder was accomplished and how justice was mishandled afterward are here. It’s not pleasant reading.
January 23rd, 2011 at 5:42 pm
As an American, I am disappointed with my government’s handling of security and justice. I am not implying that they should increase body searches or establish check points on the streets. But what are all those spy agencies doing? Billions of dollars are spent on security and justice administration, but most notorious terrorists are not brought to justice. I believe Daniel Pearl’s murder should be brought to justice and made an example of.
January 25th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Zoe, chaven. chaven said: Report on Daniel Pearl tells how his killers got off scot free: http://bu.tt/dfL […]
January 25th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Such a sad story!
January 25th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
sad on many levels
January 31st, 2011 at 2:22 pm
It’s obvious that justice wasn’t served when another Washington, D.C. and CIA connected scumbag,ex CIA director James Woolsey’s partner in stock fraud and money laundering and fraud against Americans,Mansoor Ijaz, is never mentioned by Zionist shill Asra Nomani when she lays the blame to distract from any real investigation,( just like Daniel Pearl’s Zionista daddy Judea Pearl).
It was, after all, Mansoor Ijaz ‘advice’ and connections in Pakistan that got Daniel Pearl murdered in the first place. And Asra Nomani knows all this and if she was a Wall Street Journal ‘reporter’ she is an embarrassment,(or a good example of the pseudo-journalists WSJ hires),because she doesn’t even know of her fellow Beltway parasite Mansoor Ijaz’ involvement in stock fraud,particularly but not only Crescent Hydropolis,with James Woolsey,Lt.General James Alan Abrahamson and Lt. General Mcinerney on the London AIM stock exchange that had the backing of Dubai war AND MONEY LAUNDERING criminal Sheik Mohamed Al Rashid bin Maktoum whose country sent $100,000 from Pakistani Kalid Sheik Mohamed to Mohamed Atta, pre 9/11, in Venice,Florida where he was hanging out at Jeb Bush’s pal Wally Hilliard’s terrorist flight school,Huffman Aviation.This Snake of Dubai Sheik Mohamed al Rashid Maktoum was then rewarded with over 20% ownership of the U.S.NASDAQ FOR HIS MONEY LAUNDERING BUSINESS IN DUBAI AS A CONSOLATION PRIZE FOR NOT BEING ALLOWED TO BUY CONTROL OF U.S.PORTS THROUGH DUBAI PORTS.Asra Nomani and other phoney ‘professional’ reporters made sure to not write about Sheikh Maktoum’s take over of 20%+ of NASDAQ and SEC Chairwoman Mary Scapiro and IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman’s self dealing and millions of dollars for their treasonous act of selling it to him in their roles as FINRA execs before their retired to their Barack Osama Obama approved SEC and IRS positions in the U.S. ‘government’.
Asra Nomani is a sick joke and she is also the only Moslem I know of, besides Richard Reid ‘the shoe bomber’, who was given VIP treatment and an easy and welcome pass to travel to Israel.Maybe Israel welcomed her because she is such a good Moslem ? Ha.
Asra likes to forget that even according to the ridiculous movie and book supposedly written by Mariane Pearl,(whose role was played so absurdly by the white ‘actress’ Angelina Jolie),that Daniel Pearl’s main reason for being in Pakistan was to investigate Richard Reid ‘the shoe bomber’ .And yet if Daniel Pearl was sincere he would have been in his own country of Israel investigating because as any fool who is familair with the background knows,it was Israel and El Al Airlines and particulary Israeli money launderer and 9/11 mass murder suspect Menachem Atzmon and his ICTS International(who allowed 911 to happen in the first place by allowing Atta and his gang to board flights 175 and 11 from Logan Airport ,Boston on 9/11/901 with their plastic cookie cutters in the first place), who also facilitated Richard Reid’s vacation in Israel,( supposedly to visit Hamas) !
If you or I were to wanted to enter Israel to visit Hamas do you think Israel and ICTS and El Al would facilitate and aid our visit ? I don’t think so.However if you are Richard Reid the shoe bomber or the great Islamic WSJ ‘reporter’ and Georgetown University journalism fraud Asra Nomani, Israel gives VIP treatment.Why!?
Why !?
Even thedailybeast is becoming a sick joke for sponsoring and playing the straight role to the Asra Nomani ‘who killed Daniel Pearl’ and ‘burn all Korans’ comedy act.