Assassinated CIA agent also had close connections to James Baker

Wayne Madsen Report
publication date: May 21, 2008

WMR has learned from reliable US intelligence sources that Roland Carnaby, the one-time CIA station chief in Houston not only enjoyed a close relationship with former President George H. W. Bush but also counted former Secretary of State James Baker, a close Bush confidante, as a close associate. Carnaby and Baker were reportedly involved in a hush-hush project involving themselves, a number of retired US military generals, and the FBI.

WMR has also learned that Carnaby was aware from US intelligence signals and human intelligence sources that the upcoming Memorial Day and Fourth of July holidays were going to see Condition Red security alerts issued by the Department of Homeland Security for the possibility of a domestic security "incident."

WMR has also learned details from US intelligence sources about the FBI's investigation of the USS Cole terrorist attack in Aden harbor in October 2000, weeks before the 2000 presidential election that propelled George W. Bush into the White House under dubious circumstances. FBI chief counter-terrorism agent John O'Neill, a close friend of Carnaby, and who died in the World Trade Center attack, had questions about whether the Cole was blown up by two Arabs in a dinghy.

The questions arise from the following facts:

1. If 2000 lbs of high explosives was used against the ships hull, there should have been a very large fireball that would have charred the paint on the ship's port side.

2. The ships paint job looks like it hasn't even been scratched outside of the inward protruding hull damage.

3. Most of the damage to the hull was above the waterline ruling out a torpedo or limpet mine.

4. If the rubber dinghy caused the explosion then there should have been charred paint damage on the port side of the hull due to the type of explosive used. Powder residue would confirm the type of explosive that was used. There was no report issued on explosive powder residue.

5. The center of the hole is 10 ft above the waterline not at or below the water line.

6. The Cole appears to have been hit by a 500 lb shape charge.

7. The ship was facing out to the open ocean, due east, in the morning as the sun was rising, blinding the crew to that direction.

8. A laser guided missile was the weapon of choice for that scenario and hull damage. (i.e.. a Popeye anti-ship submarine launched cruse missile)

9. What happened to the official Navy report on the ship's hull damage and accompanying photos to back it up?

As of this month, all prisoners held by Yemen in the attack on the Cole had escaped from prison or freed by the Yemeni government. Then-US ambassador to Yemen Barbara Bodine expelled O'Neill and his FBI team from Yemen after they began asking too many questions. O'Neill wanted a DNA sample from the wool cap of one of the so-called dinghy suicide bombers who was blamed for the terrorist attack and samples of the harbor sludge for expert analysis.

USS Cole: Questions remain that suggest a "false flag" attack

The Clinton and Bush administrations never responded militarily for the attack on the Cole. In a "preliminary judgment," the CIA concluded that "al Qaeda appeared to have supported the attack [but] with no "definitive conclusion." National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said, "We knew that there was speculation that the 2000 Cole attack was al Qaeda... We received, I think, on January 25th the same assessment. It was preliminary. It was not clear." CIA director George Tenet told President Bush that there was no "conclusive information on external command and control" proving Al Qaeda's attack on the Cole.

The Cole's commanding officer, Commander Kirk Lippold, was denied promotion to Captain. He retired in May 2007. The complete report on the Cole's attack and damage has never been released by the Navy.