Henry H Shelton

From 9/11 Encyclopedia:

Henry H. Shelton was former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until October 1st, 2001. From an older GROUND ZERO Forum article, first released at Scoop: "We had started looking at options for a military campaign." Henry H. Shelton about a war against the Taliban before September 11th http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A8802-2002Jan19

Supporters of the September 11th "incompetence theory" have never read statements of General Henry H. Shelton. He was definitely one of the few, who wanted to start a war against the Taliban. He knew about the problems from former Northern Alliance Commander Ahmed Shah Massoud. It was even well known in the US Congress, when Massoud proclaimed a message for Bush on April 5, 2001 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France: "If President Bush doesn't help us," he replied in Persian, according to a recording of his remarks translated by Afghan allies, "then these terrorists will damage the United States and Europe very soon, and it will be too late." http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A8802-2002Jan19

The war however was already planned since 1997/8, at a time, when oil company UNOCAL struggled in negotiations with the Taliban. Shelton knew all this. They had to work on a plan to get rid of the Taliban again. In May 2001, some unknown CIA officers traveled into northern Afghanistan to silence Massoud with cash and supplies in small amounts in exchange for intelligence on Al Qaeda. At the same time the attack on America was in its final phase. Coincidence? As the Washington Post wrote in January 2002, summer 2001 brought, "a storm of intelligence warnings that blew longer and harder even than those of the millennium. Through June and July, one foreign interlocutor said, CIA Director George J. Tenet worked himself `nearly frantic' with concern." At Langley, Tenet was nearly ready. His proposed assistance to the Northern Alliance rebels ranged between $125 million to $200 million and included money, battlefield intelligence, and non-lethal equipment such as body armor and winter clothing" Henry H. Shelton supported George Tenet and liked his plan to back anti-Taliban rebels. He even almost confirmed in public that he was personally involved in the war plans: Talking about September 4th, when Massoud was still alive, he said, "We had started looking at options", for a military campaign before that, he said. But, "we had really not leaned into going into Afghanistan against al Qaeda in the manner we did, or against the Taliban almost at all, until September 11th." http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A8802-2002Jan19

However he was in India on May 31, but the press could find "no specific details" for this meeting. Later it came out, that during his visit, General Shelton would be calling on Defence Minister Jaswant Singh and the three service chiefs - Navy chief Admiral Sushil Kumar, Army chief General S Padmanabhan and Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal AY Tipnis. http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/22josy.htm 

In the military newsletter "Military News" we find another conclusion, which resulted from this meeting: http://198.65.138.161/military/library/news/2001/09/mil-010905-216109ef.htm 

SLUG: 5-50073 US Troops to Asia DATE: NOTE NUMBER: DATE=09/05/01 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT INTRO:
"...The United States is considering moving American troops from Europe to Asia to meet changing conditions. V-O-A's Ed Warner asked some analysts how this would affect U-S global strategy and how other nations in both Europe and Asia might react..." Shelton was one of the Chiefs, who moved all the troops to the Middle-East. On June 28, 2001, he explained his visions: "...Within civilian industry, the replacement, restoration or modernization of physical plant assets is accomplished in roughly a 50-year cycle... Joint Vision 2020 - "...Our future force must be a seamless joint force and our roadmap for achieving this joint force is detailed in Joint Vision 2020 (JV 2020)..." http://www.house.gov/hasc/openingstatementsandpressreleases/107thcongress/01-06-28shelton.html

The early September weeks showed us a very significant countdown of this war and the Bush family knew, that something would happen very soon: September 1-10, 2001 25,000 British troops and the largest British Armada since the Falkland Islands War, part of Operation 'Essential Harvest,' planned to be pre-positioned in Oman, the closest point on the Arabian Peninsula to Pakistan. At the same time two U.S. carrier battle groups arrive on station in the Gulf of Arabia just off the Pakistani coast. Also at the same time, some 17,000 U.S. troops join more than 23,000 NATO troops in Egypt for Operation 'Bright Star.' The forces are in place before the first plane hits the World Trade Center. (Sources: The Guardian, CNN, FOX, The Observer, International Law Professor Francis Boyle, the University of Illinois.)

September 6th, 2001 "I have repeatedly said the only time to use Social Security money is in times of war, times of recession, or times of severe emergency. And I mean that. I mean that." (Transcript of Remarks by Presidents Bush and Fox on Departure to Toledo, Ohio -- U.S. Newswire, Inc, 2001) September 6th, 2001 ISI chief Mahmoud Ahmad visited Washington for one week from September 6th- September 15th, 2001 and met George Tenet, Richard Armitage, Porter Goss and Bob Graham September 7th, 2001 Jeb Bush upgraded Martial Law In Florida. His proclamation says: "...the Florida National Guard must conduct such training in active service of the state, as defined by Section 250.27, Florida Statutes (known as active military service and state active duty) for members of the Florida National Guard to be covered by Section 250.34, Florida Statutes; and: WHEREAS, as Governor, I may delegate the authority contained in Section 250.06(4), Florida Statutes, to order training to help respond to civil disturbances, natural disasters, and counter drug operations to The Adjutant General of the State of Florida..."

September 9th, 2001 Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud is killed on September 9, as Times of India claimed, with the help by Pakistan Secret Service ISI. September 9th, 2001 Al Qaeda 'Game Plan' on Bush's Desk Sept. 9 - NBC "...Only two days before the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, President Bush was given a detailed war plan to dismantle Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, NBC News reported..." http://dailynews.attbi.com/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=020516&cat=news&st=newsattackbushorderdc.html

September 10th, 2001 Many air bases are on high alert, including the Pentagon (MSNBC). One article claims that The Defense Language Institute in Monterey was put on alert. The same institute later organised two of the "independent translators" for the bin Laden video. Some articles claim, that two of the official hijackers even worked at Monterey as well.

...One of (Sheltons) last actions was to appear in a meeting with George Tenet. It even made the news pages in the Washington Post and was later analysed in "Workers World": "..On Saturday, September 15, (2001), after a series of previous morning meetings of the "war cabinet," Tenet showed up, "with a briefcase stuffed with top-secret documents and plans, in many respects the culmination of four years of work. Tenet flipped past the cover to the first page, which read 'Initial Hook: Destroying Al Qaeda, Closing the Safe Haven.' The haven was Afghanistan. Tenet said the CIA had begun working with a number of tribal leaders in the south the previous year. ... Some would try to play both sides but once the war began, they could be enticed by money, food, ammunition and supplies to join the U.S. - led campaign." The Post described how, at the Camp David meeting, "Tenet then turned to another top secret document, called 'Worldwide Attack Matrix,' which described covert operations in 80 countries that were either under way or that he was now recommending. "The final presentation of the morning came from Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had also brought a big briefcase to Camp David." In other words, Tenet and Shelton described a long-planned, ground and air campaign in all its precision, including the battle of Mazar-e-Sharif--which later took place, prompting a great massacre carried out by the Northern Alliance. When the smoke cleared after the initial big offensive in Afghanistan, the Pentagon had new military bases in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgizstan. It has the dominant position in the oil rich region of the Caspian Sea...." http://www.workers.org/ww/2002/war0530.php Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011

However Shelton wasn't able to support this war any longer. He retired on October 1st, 2001 and was replaced by General Richard B. Myers who became the fifteenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Did someone try to take him off the radar as well? It is interesting to know how many members of the Bush Administration hadn't been around on September 11th. Though they had all these major warnings about an attack with planes. One warning was even about Sept 4th and on September 10th the Pentagon told their employees not to take some planes on the following day. Shelton wasn't in the Pentagon on Sept 11th, but he wasn't in the States at all. He was halfway across the Atlantic on the way to Europe. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A42754-2002Jan26

He later said on the same day: "I will tell you up front, I have no intentions of discussing today what comes next, but make no mistake about it, your armed forces are ready." http://198.65.138.161/military/library/news/2001/09/09-11_index.htm