TORONTO, May 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Veteran journalist Eric Margolis, named in captured al-Qaida documents just released by the US military, says he's not surprised. He was named as one of 20 western journalists who might receive key documents about 9/11.
"I interviewed the founder of Al-Qaida, Sheik Abdullah Azzam, way back during the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan." says Margolis.
"I have written weekly columns for Pakistan's leading newspapers for over 20 years, as well as in Qatar and Dubai newspapers - that are widely read across Pakistan and Afghanistan. Plus two books on the region. After 9/11, I was CNN's go-to commentator with Peter Bergen on bin Laden. I have a reputation across South Asia as a no-nonsense expert on the region who is fiercely independent and can be counted on for truthful reporting."
"Other leading journalists mentioned - including the New Yorker's Seymour Hersh, ABC's Brian Ross, and Britain's Robert Fisk - have a similar reputation. Since North American media refused to carry full text message from al-Qaida, it is not surprising that its media-savvy PR chiefs reached out to us."
"None of us were ever sympathetic to al-Qaida but very critical, but we also warned that US policy in the region of was counter-productive. I was one of the first journalists to warn the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would be disasters. One wonder what messages about 9/11 al-Qaida (which today barely exists) wanted to get out."
About Eric Margolis:
Eric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune the Los Angeles Times, Times of London, the Gulf Times, the Khaleej Times, Nation - Pakistan, Hurriyet, - Turkey, Sun Times Malaysia and other news sites in Asia. He is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, Lew Rockwell and Big Eye. He appears as an expert on foreign affairs on CNN, BBC, France 2, France 24, Fox News, CTV and CBC.
His internet column www.ericmargolis.com reaches global readers on a daily basis.As a war correspondent Margolis has covered conflicts in Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Sinai, Afghanistan, Kashmir, India, Pakistan, El Salvador and Nicaragua. He was among the first journalists to ever interview Libya'sMuammar Khadaffi and was among the first to be allowed access to KGB headquarters in Moscow.
A veteran of many conflicts in the Middle East, Margolis recently was featured in a special appearance on Britain's Sky News TV as "the man who got it right" in his predictions about the dangerous risks and entanglements the US would face in Iraq.
SOURCEEric Margolis
