Headline Roundup • January 4th, 2020

Pence Remarks Linking Soleimani To 9/11 Come Under Scrutiny

Mike Pence,Qasem Soleimani,Iran,Iraq,9/11,Afghanistan,Terrorism,Al Qaeda,Media Bias

Summary from the AllSides News Team

A tweet by Vice President Mike Pence connecting General Qasem Soleimani to the 9/11 terrorist attacks drew criticism from some media outlets on Friday, the same day a U.S. drone strike killed the top Iranian official. Defending the administration's decision, Pence said Soleimani "assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks." Left and right media outlets were clearly divided over the accuracy of the remarks, with many in the former camp characterizing them as "dubious" and "unsubstantiated." No right-rated outlets had covered the comments as of this writing, though the Washington Times did report that the 9/11 commission found "strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11."

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Reality check: Mike Pence links Soleimani to 9/11

Axios

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Reality check: Mike Pence links Soleimani to 9/11

Axios

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While defending President Trump's decision to authorize the drone strike that killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, Vice President Pence claimed on Twitter that Soleimani helped "10 of the 12" Sept. 11 attackers travel to Afghanistan.

Reality check: "That does not match established historical accounts of General Suleimani or public United States intelligence about the hijackers," The New York Times writes.

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Iran proved vital to al Qaeda's safe passage, according to bin Laden records, 9/11 commission

Washington Times

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Iran “facilitated” the movement of al Qaeda terrorists through its country, including September 11, 2001 attackers and for years was a critical channel for money and arms, according to the 9-11 commission report and internal Osama bin Laden documents.

Experts say the late Qassem Soleimani surely knew of and directed the terror partnership since he has headed since 1998 Iran’s Quds Force. It is a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which dominates Iranian society. On Jan. 3, Maj. Gen. Soleimani was killed in...

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Mike Pence shares 9/11 conspiracy theory about Qassem Soleimani in attempt to justify assassination

The Independent

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Mike Pence shares 9/11 conspiracy theory about Qassem Soleimani in attempt to justify assassination

The Independent

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Mike Pence has promoted an unsubstantiated theory linking the 9/11 terrorist attacks to Iran in his defence of the Trump administration’s assassination of Qassem Soleimani.

Donald Trump’s vice president posted a Twitter thread on Saturday in which he described Iran’s top military commander as “an evil man responsible for killing thousands of Americans”.

In the thread, Mr Pence claimed Soleimani had “assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States”.

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