Final Word from Monday, June 21, 2004
The bipartisan U.S. commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks came to the conclusion that the so-called Czech meeting between terrorist Mohamed Atta and a senior Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in April 2001 never took place. The commission found "unshakeable" evidence that Atta was in Florida at the time. The Iraqi official has since been taken into custody. The Czech side, and esp. Interior Minister Stanislav Gross, claimed repeatedly that the meeting occurred. With the issuance of the commission's interim report last week, the credibility of the Czech government and its intelligence services was seriously called into question. The commission's findings have been examined from all angles in the international media. In the CR, though, it's a non-story. The Czech government is making no effort to explain itself or to defend its reputation. Mohammed Muhammad