Customer Reviews

The Third Terrorist: The Middle East Connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

It's abundantly clear that people leaving reviews here have never read the book they're reviewing. Otherwise they wouldn't be making the snide, ignorant remarks they're making.

I've read Jayna Davis' reports since she first began her investigation and her culminating work is a top-notch example of investigative reporting at its best. She did what the FBI didn't do, didn't want to do, and what other reporters were too lazy to do. While the FBI edited and fabricated its witness reports, Davis carefully interviewed the witnesses and objectively reports what they saw and heard.

Her years of research have paid off, but even she can't finish her story without the aid and support of honest intelligence gathering. To me she's proved the connection without a doubt. Now it's time for the government to tell what it knows.

Read the book yourself and judge. Chances are you'll see the Iraq war in an entirely new light. For liberals, this book will dash their fondest desire to blame the extreme right wing militia groups and "Christian fanatics." But to objective readers, it will open up an entirely different reality backed up with facts.

Recommended highly.

After listening to the author on Glenn Beck, I rushed out to buy this book. This author convinced me that the law enforcement "powers that be" "screwed up" well before 9/11. How can you argue with 23 witnesses? afadavits? and the support of well-respected intelligence officials? Jayna Davis lays out a case for at the least,obstruction of justice charges, and at the worst a monumental coverup. This once again proves how "risk adverse" the Clinton administration was. No wonder Middle Eastern terrorists thought they could succeed on 9/11/01. They already made their mark on 4/19/95. It is appalling to think that she did a better job of investigating than the very organizations who are supposed to protect us, but the book leaves no doubt. She is the hero in this story. She wanted the truth. Other's did not.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. Jayna Davis, over the last nine years, has persisted in uncovering and proclaiming the truth about the Oklahoma City Bombing, something our own federal government staunchly refuses to do.

Books like this often are immediately dismissed by so-called "intellectuals" and other liberal-types as right-wing drivel. My answer to that is people like that need to pull their heads out of the sand and study the facts of what the author is presenting. Ms. Davis has done a stellar job of documenting her investigation (in stark contrast to the amateur job done by the FBI and DOJ) and the conclusions reached thereby. No one with a shred of common sense can say that the facts Ms. Davis present point to two home-grown terrorists acting alone.

In short, Ms. Davis has proof (beyond reasonable doubt, in my professional and personal opinion) that a former Iraqi soldier (probably a former member of Saddam's Republican Guard) named al-Huseini helped plan and execute the bombing, and accompanied McVeigh IN THE VEHICLE as he pulled the Ryder truck in front of the fated Murrah Building on April 19, 1995. Davis' extensive interviews document the other Iraqi collaborators as well, and "connect the dots" not only to the OKC bombing, but to the later terrorist attacks on America as well.

I am NOT a conspiracy theorist, but this one is so obvious it is undeniable. The federal government, despite having been shown to have conducted an incomplete and indeed incompetent investigation, and in fact having committed outright lying, falsification of evidence, and other possible CRIMES, refuses to acknowledge the evidence Ms. Davis has presented.

I have nothing negative to say about the book, except to say I wish it had a happier ending documenting complete truthfulness from our government. Ms. Davis, for the sake of America, and for the sake of freedom and democracy around the world, I hope and pray the final chapter has not yet been written. In a time when the words are so ridiculously overused, your work represents true bravery from a true hero(ine). God bless you.

With respect, the reader from Bellevue exposes the limitations of his own knowledge in his criticism of Davis' conclusions. Example: the alcohol problem of Hussain al-Hussaini. While alcoholism would not be typical of a Sunni wahhabi terrorist, it would be absolutely in character for a member of Saddam Hussein's special forces. Saddam's special forces were not Islamic extremists, they were thugs and criminals benefiting from a closed-loop system of oppression in Iraq. All Sunnis with little in the way of religious moorings -- that is, NOT wahhabi Sunnis (like al Qaeda members) or Shi'as (like the Iranian regime's leaders and its sponsored insurgents in Hamas and Islamic Jihad) -- the special forces employed by Saddam were loyal only to him. The tattoo described by Davis identified him to me (a career military intelligence officer) as an Iraqi special forces member immediately, well before Davis revealed it later in the book. I do not believe al-Hussaini was a member of the Republican Guard, but rather was in the intelligence service special forces.

This is an exceptionally well researched and documented book, in spite of its irritating and adjective-laden syntax. It does not directly imply a link between Hussain al-Hussaini and UBL (again, as indicated by the reader from Bellevue), but rather establishes through existing documentation the link between Terry Nichols, McVeigh's accomplice, and known Islamic associates of UBL who all convened on multiple occasions in the Philippines. You have to read Laurie Mylroie's books to make the leap to Iraqi state sponsorship of either Oklahoma City, the World Trade Center in 1993, or the 9/11 attacks. What Davis and Mylroie have unearthed on that head, while not fully conclusive at this point, is well worth further investigation. I can vouch for their accuracy regarding the foreign intelligence on international Islamic terrorists. What they have discovered inside America is news to me, though -- that's what we need to know more about. Bottom line: read this book.

After reading "The Third Terrorist," I asked myself: could all of this really be true? I wrote to my Congressmen in Washington and asked about one of the fellows Ms. Davis mentions as a potential suspect (Hussain al-Hussaini). My Rep. (Dennis Hastert) wrote back, saying he couldn't comment on an on-going investigation, so al-Hussaini is apparently still on the active suspect list for the OKC bombing.

My two senators (Durbin, Obama), one of whom was (is?) a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (Durbin), are strangely silent. I did get one response back from Durbin, but he told me everything except what I asked him. I noted that fact and resubmitted my question; no response yet.

Ms. Davis reveals a job that this al-Hussaini once held, why and when he left. It's worth purchasing this book just to get all of the details.

Ms. Davis also reveals a call David Schippers' made to the Justice Dept. Again, it's worth purchasing the book just to learn about this and what happened as a result.

Said Patrick Henry: "Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it."

By writing this book, Ms. Davis is heeding those words. We'd be wise to follow in her footsteps by reading it, and then acting on it.

Investigative journalism attempts to answer questions: who, what, when, how, and, most importantly, why. When a book that is a record of such investigation fails to answer the most important question, it fails to be a truly great book. That is the case here.

In The Third Terorist, Jayna Davis tells the story of her long investigation of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. She gives a large amount of evidence that seems to tie the known bombers, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, to a group of Middle-Eastern characters, especially one Hussain Al-Hussaini. Davis claims that Al-Hussaini is a former member of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard or special forces, and identifies him as the "John Doe 2" that was sought by law enforcement officials immediately after the bombing.

Davis then relates that law enforcement gave up on the notion that there was a John Doe 2 or any Middle-Eastern involvement in the bombing. She nonetheless continued her investigation in the face of both government and media opposition, all the while attempting to get the FBI, or any other official group, to listen to her theory, without success. Officially, McVeigh and Nichols have been convicted of the crime, and the case is considered pretty much closed. Davis insists that it should not be closed, because many of those involved -- those Middle-Eastern characters she writes about -- have not been brought to justice, or even seriously investigated by the government.

Is the author's case convincing? Some seem to think that it is no more sound than a supermarket tabloid article on Bigfoot or space aliens. That is not the case; Davis backs up her position with many eyewitness reports, and says she has sworn affadavits from these witnesses. While eyewitnesses can always be in error, there are so many who saw McVeigh or Nichols with Middle-Eastern types before the bombing, and so many others that reported seeing people who looked Middle-Eastern fleeing the scene, that it is much more likely that, indeed, foreign terrorists were involved in the 1995 attack. Even if eventually it could be proven that Ms. Davis' theory is wrong, it is absurd that any law-enforcement agency would reject reams of sworn statements by supposed witnesses to such an attack without so much as checking the claims out. There has to be a reason the claims were not investigated, whether in fact Davis is right or wrong. The great question is: why not?

Davis gives no real answer to this critical question, which is why this book rates only three stars. It could be argued that Davis was in no position to find out the answer to that question; but as investigative journalism, the book falls short precisely because she could not. The most important question must be answered.

Since the question remains unanswered, the reader is drawn toward the obvious theory that investigation of the Middle-Eastern connection to the bombing was deliberately suppressed due to a political calculation by the Clinton administration. (The only other obvious explanation is that the FBI and Department of Justice are composed of completely incompetent fools.) It is the obvious theory that divides the reviewers of the book: Clinton's supporters give the book one star, while his opponents give the book five stars. While I admit to being a staunch opponent of that administration, I believe that at this point we cannot know with certainty whether there was a Middle Eastern connection to the OKC bombing, because the FBI would not investigate the evidence that pointed in that direction, or, if they did, will not tell us what they found. Just why they dropped seeking such a connection shortly after the bombing, and why they would not further investigate it after Davis supplied them with so much evidence, is the great question left unanswered by this book. That lack of an answer is the one reason that this book falls short of being a record of truly great investigative journalism.

Saw a presentation by Jayna Davis a couple years ago in Philly. At the time local radio host Michale Smerconish brought Jayna and a couple intelligence experts she was working with to town to present the facts. The information presented was very believable. Especially when she stated that al-Husseini's last known whereabouts was working at Logan Airport!

What is still mind boggling to me is that Michael arranged a meeting for Jayna Davis and Arlen Specter where he was given ample time to "cross examine" her work and Specter concluded that she had built quite a case - you can't ignore 22 affadavits, although it looks like the FBI found a way to ignore it. Fortunately Jayna did not give up and in the wake of the 9-11 hearings the truth may finally be told......

Do a search on Specter and Smerconsih to find links to the audio......

As David Schippers predicts in his introduction this book will drop like a missile on the federal bureaucracy. (And it looks like it already has judging by some of the reviews). The John Doe #2 part is especially intriguing. Those of us in Oklahoma City that have closely followed this knew that there were many John Doe's that were seen in Oklahoma City. Ms. Davis' book skillfully exposes the government's efforts to erase John Doe #2 from history.

The Third Terrorist had me crying (and I don't cry easily) with Ms. Davis' touching narrative of what the victims experienced during this horrible act of terrorism. It sets the stage for understanding why she never gave up in her efforts to find justice for the victims (and why the citizens of this country should never give up, either).

I echo some of the statements left by other reviewers here, that if this investigation had been handled like it should have been, we might well have prevented 9/11.
I read this book a few months ago, and I still can't stop thinking about it. When people talk to me about what happened that day, I can only tell them what I experienced first hand. I was in the building on the first floor when the bomb exploded, and it was the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced. I literally thought the world had come to an end. By the grace of God and the luck of mere seconds I escaped a horrible death. As I saw the destruction and the bodies of my co-workers I could only think one thing, that only a brutal monster could have concocted such a plan to kill innocent people. Saddam Hussein is just such a monster. I firmly believe Iraq had something to do with this tragedy. I looked Timothy McVeigh in the eyes at his trial and all I kept thinking was that he was just a patze in a much bigger plan. Especially after reading this book, my beliefs are even more cemented. Thank you Jayna.

Jayna Davis has written a terrific book. It was a pleasure to read; I read it in two evenings. It read like a novel and the story was compelling. The information about John Doe #2 (among many other threads) that was so obviously downplayed by the FBI was amazing and more than well documented. The fact that so many people saw him, could identify him and yet were ignored by the authorities at the time seems unbelievable until one looks at the testimony in the 9/11 Commission. The government did not want to deal with the international terrorist threat in 1995 and chose to sweep it under the rug. No longer! Thank you Jayna!!!!