9/11 Hijackers Passports were Issued by CIA - US Consulate Whistleblower

Remember the name Mike Springmann. This one won't be going away any time soon.

Michael Springmann: Springman Videos by Images

(SACRAMENTO, CA) - A man who spent two decades as a high level State Department official, at one time in charge of issuing visas out of Saudi Arabia, Mike Springmann, has been trying to tell people the most important news about a direct connection between the CIA and 9/11 for more than a decade.

As you will note in this review and the video below, recorded at the National Press Club on 10 June 2002 in Washington DC, (Nobody can say the major press was not exposed to this information) this extremely credible eyewitness has been stonewalled by the government and major media for a long time, even as they reported the lax security conditions that allowed those men now associated with the 9/11 attacks to enter the U.S.

15 of the 19 did not qualify for a visa, yet they were granted one anyway.

10 of the individuals entered through the very agency Mr. Springmann once headed and then spent so much energy trying to expose.

Springmann went public (after internal efforts failed) to expose the State Dept/CIA conduiting terrorists into the USA. It occurs to me that there probably really will be a reinvestigation of 911 and that those involved could actually be taken to trial and brought to justice. I can feel my country beginning to implode because when the you know what really hits the fan, I do not think that the world will forgive us.

He wasn't small change in the State Dept.

Springman formerly headed the American visa bureau in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The BBC quotes Springmann talking about the frustrations he encountered while trying to keep the visa issuance above the board:

"In Saudi Arabia I was repeatedly ordered by high level State Dept officials to issue visas to unqualified applicants. These were, essentially, people who had no ties either to Saudi Arabia or to their own country. I complained bitterly at the time there. I returned to the US, I complained to the State Dept here, to the General Accounting Office, to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and to the Inspector General's office. I was met with silence."
- BBC News Source: "former head of the American visa bureau in Jeddah is Michael Springman".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/newsnight/1645527.stm

This program of issuing illegal visas began during the Afghan civil war in the late 1980's, Springmann explains. The CIA was bringing Mujaheddin warriors back to the U.S. and training them in tactics to defeat the Soviets. For the purposes of military training, the U.S. government granted visas that never would normally have been issued.

The practice would have set the stage well for an inside 9/11 event. I think it is fair to conclude that people are increasingly realizing for myriad reasons, that the government version of this story is extremely and utterly impossible to even begin to believe. That is for those blinded not by nationalism, but science.

From History Commons...

September 1987-March 1989: Head US Consular Official Claims He’s Told to Issue Visas to Unqualified Applicants

Michael Springmann

Michael Springmann, head US consular official in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, later claims that during this period he is “repeatedly ordered… to issue [more than 100] visas to unqualified applicants.” He turns them down, but is repeatedly overruled by superiors. [BBC, 11/6/2001; St. Petersburg Times, 11/25/2001]

In one case, two Pakistanis apply for visas to attend a trade show in the US, but they are unable to name the trade show or city in which it will be held. When Springmann denies them a visa, he gets “an almost immediate call from a CIA case officer, hidden in the commercial section [of the consulate], that I should reverse myself and grant these guys a visa.” Springmann refuses, but the decision is reversed by the chief of the consular section. Springmann realizes that even the ambassador, Walter Cutler, is aware of the situation, which becomes “more brazen and blatant” as time goes on. On one occasion Springmann is even told, “If you want a job in the State Department in future, you will change your mind.” [CBC Radio One, 7/3/2002; Trento, 2005, pp. 344-6]

Springmann loudly complains to numerous government offices, but no action is taken. He is fired and his files on these applicants are destroyed. He later learns that recruits from many countries fighting for bin Laden against Russia in Afghanistan were funneled through the Jeddah office to get visas to come to the US, where the recruits would travel to train for the Afghan war. According to Springmann, the Jeddah consulate was run by the CIA and staffed almost entirely by intelligence agents. This visa system may have continued at least through 9/11, and 11 of the 19 9/11 hijackers received their visas through Jeddah (see November 2, 1997-June 20, 2001), possibly as part of this program (see October 9, 2002 and October 21, 2002). [BBC, 11/6/2001; St. Petersburg Times, 11/25/2001; CBC Radio One, 7/3/2002; Associated Press, 7/17/2002 ; Fox News, 7/18/2002]

Directly from Mr. Springmann

The CIA’s Consulate General in Jeddah

Before leaving Washington, I had met with the then-US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Walter Cutler, who spent nearly 45 minutes telling me about all the problems my predecessor had caused him in refusing visas to various applicants. An administrative official in the Near East Bureau, Ellen Goff, also mentioned that there were odd issues involving visas at Jeddah. However, the State Department Desk Officer for Saudi Arabia, in response to my query about these strange statements, said he had no idea of what they were talking about, opining only that Cutler himself was a peculiar duck.

Upon arrival in Jeddah in September 1987, I learned the truth about the situation – very quickly and very unpleasantly. I was bombarded with demands (not requests) by the American Consul General (Jay Philip Freres), the Political Officer and his successor, a Commercial Officer and the head of the Political/Economic Section, to issue visas to people who had no ties (either to Saudi Arabia or to their own country) strong enough to cause them to return to Jeddah or their homeland once they had arrived in America.

When I refused them, because the US Immigration and Nationality Act and the State Department’s own regulations clearly stated that a visa applicant is an intending immigrant unless and until he can prove otherwise, I was repeatedly overruled by the chief of the Consular Section, Justice Stevens. Sometimes, in the face of very real and very vocal threats against me, I issued the visas with a notation on the application form as to why I had refused it and that I had reversed myself only upon direct order of the head of the consulate, Jay Philip Freres. Things got so bad that, on Freres’ order, I wasn’t allowed to issue any visas unless the CIA Base Chief had approved them. As an example of what I had to deal with, the following is but one instance:

Two Pakistanis came to me, seeking a visa to attend a US automotive parts trade show. They could not name the trade show or the city in which it would be held. I then refused the visa. A CIA Case Officer who worked in the Commercial Section called me within a few minutes, demanding that I give them visas. However, he could not provide me with any reason why I should overturn my decision. So I didn’t. But, within the hour, he had contacted Justice Stevens, chief of the Consular Section and had reversed my refusal.

Whistle-Blowing Does Not Advance Careers

I protested this state of affairs to Stevens, to Freres, to Stephanie Smith, Counselor for Consular Affairs at the Embassy in Riyadh, and, on the advice of Smith, to the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department in Washington, DC. I also questioned Jean Bradford, head of the Consular Section’s other office, Citizens’ Services, about this. She told me that Jay Freres “just liked giving candy to babies”. I also discussed this with the part-time consular officer assigned to my section, who professed dislike of the practice. (But then, he frequently issued visas to his own contacts, often saying “Mike, let me handle this next guy in line, he’s one of mine.”)

Mirabile dictu [2], upon my return to Washington, DC in 1991, I was fired. And the file I had maintained on the questionable visa candidates was shredded after my departure from Jeddah.

The Truth Does Not Set You Free

In DC, which I call the State of Confusion, I went to the US House of Representatives’ Committee on International Relations to protest both the visa issue and the CIA’s direct involvement in the visa process. There all I got was: “What’s the matter, don’t you think we need the CIA?” for a response. I also contacted GAO (then, the General Accounting Office, now, the Government Accountability Office), Congress’ investigative arm and watchdog over the Executive Branch. There was absolutely no interest in what went on at Jeddah (including the disappearance of roughly $1 million annually in funds derived from Consulate liquor sales to hundreds of Saudi and other Muslims, as well as to expatriates of all nationalities).

I then contacted the FBI and the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, charging that US laws were being violated by US government employees and that I thought these people had been taking bribes for issuing visas to their contacts. Indeed, I had been told by one fellow that the price of a visa at the Jeddah consulate was the equivalent of $2,500. There was absolutely no interest in or any follow-up on this.

Next, I went to the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security and its allegedly-independent Inspector General. I provided a lengthy statement, itemizing the issues and laws violated. I asked that the State Department investigate the abuse of the visa process, the questionable liquor sales, and, in one egregious incident, the Jeddah consulate’s attack on an American businessman who had questioned the money flow from the liquor sales (which had gotten him fired). The response was that, since I had a personality conflict with Jay Freres, there was nothing to investigate.
- visasforterrorists.blogspot.com

As referenced above, thirteen of the 15 Saudi hijackers were issued visas to the United States, 10 of them at the US Consulate in Jeddah, according to US officials. You can read more here:
http://www.boston.com/news/packages/underattack/news/driving_a_wedge/part1.shtml

To make matters even worse, it is reported by Guardian UK, there are solid accounts of U.S. officials being told to 'back off' on Saudis and Bin Laden before September 11th. There is no question that former U.S. President Bill Clinton viewed bin Laden as a serious terrorist and had invested much of the country's time and energy trying to kill him. All of the accumulated data on Osama bin Laden was dismissed by the incoming George W. Bush administration. 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/nov/07/afghanistan.september11

CBC News transcript- Michael Springman
"...this operation in Jeddah was so peculiar, so strange, and it went against anything I had ever seen or heard in my 20 years in government, that I thought that what these people were telling me about CIA involvement with Osama, and with Afghanistan had to be true because nothing else would fit. By the attempts to cover me up and shut me down, this convinced me more and more that this was not a pipe-dream, this was not a machination, this was not a conspiracy theory."
http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/springmaninterview.htm

I have tried to interject as little as possible in this review and just bring readers the information that is already available. For my part, I did go to the place in Afghanistan where bin Laden trained his forces while fighting the Russians in the 80's. Based on everything I know and have observed personally and through discussions and interviews with key people and via just plain logic, none of this Osama bin Laden 9/11 scenario made sense. I knew the second officials supposedly found terrorist's passports on the ground in New York. I know it was enough, with the mainstream media's help, to convince Americans at large, but I truly think it is changing and that a new day is dawning. It isn't just another brick in the wall, as shameful as it all is, we have to do what is correct and remain vigilant and continue revealing this vital information to the public.

Here are more incredible resources on this story from the YouTube page:

BBC News: Michael Springman
In Saudi Arabia I was repeatedly ordered by high level State Dept officials to issue visas to unqualified applicants. These were, essentially, people who had no ties either to Saudi Arabia or to their own country. I complained bitterly at the time there. I returned to the US, I complained to the State Dept here, to the General Accounting Office, to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and to the Inspector General's office. I was met with silence.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/newsnight/1645527.stm

Michael Springman Tv 1/4:
CIA Ordered Visas For 15 of The 19 9/11 Hijackers in Jeddah
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmjAg_-Vi9Y

9/11 Citizens' Commission - Michael Springman
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSebMjd50u0

Israeli security issued urgent warning to CIA of large-scale terror attacks
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1340698/Israeli-se...

15 Hijackers Obtained Visas in Saudi Arabia
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&conte...

C.I.A. Was Tracking Hijacker Months Earlier Than It Had Said
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/03/us/cia-was-tracking-hijacker-months-earlier...

Hijackers 'trailed by CIA before attacks'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/jun/03/usa.september11

C.I.A. Was Tracking Hijacker Months Earlier Than It Had Said
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/03/us/cia-was-tracking-hijacker-months-earlier...

CIA Didn't Share Info About 9/11 Hijackers
abc news: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=129563&page=1#.Tv5tFdWwVM0

Hijackers Lived With FBI Informant
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/09/attack/main521223.shtml

Sept 9 2001: Bin Laden/Afgan War Plan was on Bush's desk
cbs news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19tnCIBJtJQ

Hijack 'suspects' alive and well
BBC news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1559151.stm

abc news: The political journal National Review obtained the visa applications for 15 of the 19 hijackers — and evidence that all of them should have been denied entry to the country.
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130051&page=1#.Tv59NNWwVM0

CNN: Six months after Sept. 11, hijackers' visa approval letters received http://articles.cnn.com/2002-03-12/us/inv.flight.school.visas_1_huffman-aviat...

Washington Post: Hijackers Got Visas With Little Scrutiny
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&conte...

9/11 commission report: 4 of the hijackers passports were found on 9/11
http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/staff_statement_1.pdf

great sources:
http://visasforterrorists.blogspot.com/

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed secured a visa in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
http://articles.cnn.com/2004-08-22/politics/911.commission_1_final-report-hij...

When Springmann denies a visa, he gets "an almost immediate call from a CIA case officer, hidden in the commercial section [of the consulate], that I should reverse myself and grant these guys a visa."
Source: CBC Archive
http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpWESSEX/Documents/springmaninterview.htm

Video Source/Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgYFo79q1Ek

Tim King's reports about bin Laden on Salem-News.com

Jul-19-2012 Former CIA Agent Publicly States: Osama bin Laden Died Five Years Ago - Tim King Salem-News.com

Jun-19-2012 Bombshell: Newly Released CIA Documents Prove Bush Could have Killed Bin Laden; Prevented 911 - Tim King Salem-News.com

May-07-2012 Abandoning Afghanistan, Great Job America - Political Perspective by Tim King Salem-News.com

Jan-11-2012 Death Drones from Hell, Coming to a Nightmare Near You - Tim King Salem-News.com

Sep-08-2011 Ahmad Massoud: the Lion in the Path of Understanding 9/11 - Tim King Salem-News.com

Sep-03-2011: Gearing Up for 911 - Tim King Salem-News.com

May-06-2011 'Lion Sheik' bin Laden and the Confused American Public - Tim King Salem-News.com

May-01-2011 Osama Bin Laden's Death Claimed, But How Does One Kill a Corpse? - Tim King Salem-News.com

Jan-21-2011 Terrorism by the Numbers - Tim King Salem-News.com

Aug-01-2010: Great American Heroes: Ho Chi Minh, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden - Tim King Salem-News.com

Jun-18-2010 A Colorado Ex-Con's Quest to Kill bin Laden - Tim King Salem-News.com

Dec-03-2009 Afghanistan and Obama's Point of No Return - Tim King Salem-News.com

Sep-11-2007 Afghanistan: Is Osama bin Laden Alive and Well? (VIDEO) - Tim King Salem-News.com

Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. Tim is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine who follows stories of Marines and Marine Veterans; he's covered British Royal Marines and in Iraq, Tim embedded with the same unit he served with in the 1980's.

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