Unsolved Mysteries Are Usually Conspiracies - That's My Theory

Around the world - and increasingly in the USA - the official government story about the events of September 11, 2001, as issued by the 9/11 Commission is being questioned.

The term "conspiracy theory" is used as shorthand by establishment-types to identify wackos and nutjobs and others who might have a thinking brain able to form intelligent questions. However, there is little doubt that the attacks, explosions and demolitions in New York City and Washington, D.C. were not carried out by single assailants - a crew conspiring to do damage was organized, trained and deployed. That's my theory. The question is, who were the conspirators?

The 9/11 Commission was forbidden from investigating that particular aspect. Not that it's resulting slipshod inquiry would have uncovered anything substantial.

A recent article by Elizabeth Woodward, published online at Global Research, details media stories about 9/11 from around the world that have appeared in the last fifteen months. Her survey shows a shift is taking place: the official 9/11 story is openly debated and openly doubted. Go here and see this excellent summary of world news stories, including my favorite: from Focus Money, a German business magazine, an article plainly called "We Don't Believe You": http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=WOO20100214&articleId=17624

As mentioned in that overview, some American media outlets - including the mighty Time Warner conglomerate - have started to approach the subject less hysterically. TW's newly launched TruTV (formerly Court TV) includes a show called "Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura." The former governor of Minnesota hosts weekly explorations of mysteries, and included a show called "9/11" in its first season (http://www.trutv.com/shows/conspiracy_theory/mysterious_ways.html). Notable in this episode are the appearances of several top 9/11 independent researchers.

A series of acts on 9/11/01 have led the USA to spend trillions of dollars on war, eradicate traditional American civil liberties via the Patriot Act and other laws, and cemented America's reputation as a thuggish global emissary for violence and disaster capitalism. At the very least, the events of 9/11 deserve a new investigation - and voices around the world are turning up the volume on that initiative.

Letters To Washington

A copy of a letter sent to Representative Ed Perlmutter, my congressional district representative, on 12/2/09:

Representative Perlmutter:

I urge you to help stop this madness of ever-escalating war and empire in Iraq and Afghanistan. How many more soldiers have to die before you and your Congressional colleagues begin to shut down these wars of occupation?

How many more soldier's families have to suffer the loss or injury of a loved one? How many more innocent civilians have to die in Afghanistan? How much more money has to be spent, lining the pockets of multi-million dollar private contractors as they build the infrastructure to house the US military for a long-term presence in the region?

How can a Democratic majority, elected in 2006 to both houses with a mandate to end the wars, continue to vote to expand them instead? How can our country absorb the incredible financial, physical and psychological costs that endless wars bring? How do you think we'll manage it - I'm interested in your view, since you have repeatedly voted to continue these wars.

And as soon as someone in the government can tell me how Al-Qaeda was responsible for the destruction of World Trade Center 7 on September 11, 2001 - well, then maybe the other flimsy rationales offered by the President for expanding the wars will make sense.

Stand up and be counted on the side of sanity and peace, Mr. Perlmutter. The President's twisting of words to explain this "surge" is as dumbfounding and insulting as any mangling of the language used by Mr. Bush. Do not blindly support the President because he is a Democrat.

There are resolutions before the House now to stop funding this war - H.R. 3699 from Representative Barbara Lee is one such measure and I hope you will co-sign and champion it. The House has the power to stop the killing - please use it!

If not, I'd like to know how you sleep at night, knowing you have a direct hand in meting out unnecessary death and destruction that will affect - and haunt - generations of Americans, Afghans and Iraqis.

Same Old Story: But Now It's The Nobel Peace Prize Winner Who's Expanding The Wars

I would like to think I'll be able to retire this picture someday...but someday is not today.

I'm getting really tired of writing about the wars, but they keep going on, keep getting bigger, keep getting more and more of our tax dollars to pound down a Middle Eastern sinkhole. Except for the dollars that enrich the hundreds of thousands of private contractors and energy company operators.

That's why these wars will never end - too many people making too much money at the expense of soldiers and their families lives, and citizen tax dollars fuel the enterprise.

President Obama's speech on December 1st outlined his new plan to "surge" 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan. Yes, the Nobel Peace Prize winner is fulfilling his campaign promise to expand the US military presence in Afghanistan and continue the wars. Will Congress fight back this time?

They did not fight back against the Bush Administration war machine, even though by 2006 the Congressional Democrats could have severely hindered if not outright stopped the free-flowing money spigot required for endless war. So if they wouldn't stop their Republican political opponents, does anyone think they will stop their own party's leader?

A colleague at work told me of a Thanksgiving holiday encounter with a military officer relative just returned from a lengthy tour of duty in Iraq. "He says it's a joke over there" was the quote, and he recounted several examples related to him of excessive resource waste, luxury building materials, and unrestricted budgets available for the officer's duties. I urged him to watch Robert Greenwald's movie "Iraq For Sale" to get even more details. (http://iraqforsale.org/)

I think most people have the idea things in Iraq and Afghanistan are much different than they are portrayed in the American media. More folks need to understand that, and start hounding their congressional representatives to stop this fiscal/military madness. It's the only way this particular folly of empire can be halted.

Some other notable reactions:

From Cindy Sheehan, pointedly dead-on in her analysis, as usual - "You Get What You Vote For": http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24089.htm

Blogger Arthur Silber expertly analyzes between the lines of the President's speech, pointing out that Obama has effectively gutted the anti-war movement, leaving an open field to continue the Bush Adminstration's war machine:

http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2009/12/deadly-liar-and-manipulator.html

And Representative Dennis Kucinich uses just a few words to skewer the President's war plan - "What part of 'get out' do we not understand?"
http://www.kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=157597

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize - For Giving Hope

2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner - can we get an interview with some people on the streets in Afghanistan and Iraq?

I thought I had time-slipped somehow back to April 1, or maybe a it's really a headline from the reknowned satirical paper The Onion: "Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize." But here's the official statement from the Nobel organization:
http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/home/announce-2009/

Quoting from the statment: "Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

Obama has been given a major "peace" award for giving hope and his alleged diplomatic philosophy. Somewhere, George Orwell is smiling - a Norweigian committee's view of "peace" looks like an Afghan man's bombed-out home filled with dead relatives.

Memo to the Nobel Peace Prize committee:

1) The largest defense/war budget in American history was requested by the Obama Administration for fiscal 2009.

2) In June of this year, an additional $106 billion "supplemental" funding bill for the ongoing Iraq/Afghan occupation was passed by Congress at the Administration's request.

3) Debate is underway on adding more troops to the Afghanistan debacle - on top of the 21,000 additional troops that the Obama Administration has deployed this year.

This is hope? This reflects the values and attitudes shared by the majority of the people of the world? These are the actions of a man working towards a better future?

The Nobel site extols the President's "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Really? Can you give me the details, I've forgotten - it's been a long nine months in office. Just who have we had these efforts with? Honduras? Iran?

"The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons." There's been some work, some actual reductions? So far, there has been some talk with the Russians and agreements to talk further. No actions.

Past Peace Prizes have gone to folks with questionable credentials (Henry Kissinger) before. But this one is being awarded before any concrete steps towards peace have even been taken - so far the "peace" effort is all campaign promises, all talk and no actions. In fact, Obama's military moves since taking office fly in the face of his talk.

Did the Nobel Peace committee buy "hope and change" election promises? It's okay if they did. But it's another thing altogether to sell them to the rest of the planet as some sort of "peace" philosophy worthy of international recognition. George Orwell would be proud.

9/11 - The Day America Changed

America changed on 9/11/01. When the World Trade Center towers - three of them - fell into a their own neat piles of rubble, also vaporized were an array of individual civil liberties and privacy protections for American citizens. And a new, openly militaristic USA stepped onto the global scene.

Yet the incident that precipitated fundamental changes in America - the destruction of three buildings and the deaths of 3,000+ - has never been fully investigated or satisfactorily explained by official government agencies. In fact, the Bush Administration stalled an investigation for over one year, and then severely proscribed what the eventual 9/11 Commission could and could not look into. Congress did not contest the restrictions. And there is no hue and cry in today's government to re-open an investigation into the events of that history-altering day.

On September 12, 2001 the American Empire went fully above ground - the largely covert actions of the past became massive, openly sanctioned missions. The highlights include:

• Illegal, ultimately unfounded invasions and ongoing military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, costing USA taxpayers trillions of dollars and the deaths of thousands of Americans, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans - many of them innocent bystanders.


• Passing American (not international) laws that give the USA the right to arrest any "terrorist" suspect anywhere on the planet at anytime, and hold them indefinitely.


• Colluding with other countries to secretly transport detainees and use "enhanced interrogation" techniques at undisclosed foreign locations.


• To accomplish all this, Defense Department budgets have increased every year since 2002.
  

At home the Empire went to work as well, instituting restrictive and authoritarian measures including:

• Creating a billion-dollar private arms/survelliance market built around the new Homeland Security Department.


• Passing laws removing the right of habeus corpus (one of the oldest individual legal guarantees).


• Passing laws allowing for nearly limitless electronic surveillance of individuals.


• Allowing government actions (via arrests, property seizures, IRS audits, etc) against anyone the Executive branch suspects may be aiding "terrorists."

And, over time, the people's representatives - the Congress, with both Republican and Democratic majorities - approved and renewed these laws.

There is an abundance of independent scientific research available that calls into doubt the conclusions reached by the 9/11 Commission and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Some books, films and web sites are listed at the end of this post - and many of the movies may be streamed or downloaded for free.

My request to all Americans: ask questions! A government report tells us one story, and scientific theory, transparent research, and independently verified lab results tell another. Which is true? Why don't we know? Why not have a new investigation? Ask your Senator and Congressional representatives how they stand on this issue.

America changed in many drastic ways on 9/11/01. Don't we owe it to those who died that day - and to a planet whose face the USA has changed based on its military actions and killing since then - to find out what really happened?

9/11 Truth.org - Top 40 Questions To Ask About 9/11: http://911truth.org/article.php?story=20041221155307646

9/11: Blueprint For Truth - architects and engineers independently analyze the available evidence on DVD: http://www.peaceproject.com/books/dvd176.htm

9/11: Press For Truth - a movie detailing the efforts of a group of 9/11 widows as they work to begin an official investigation at all levels of government: http://www.911pressfortruth.com/

Theologian Dr. David Ray Griffin has devoted years to rigorously examining 9/11 evidence, media coverage, and government reports - with a transparency that begs many, many questions of the official story. Notable are his books "The New Pearl Harbor," "9/11 Commission: Omissions and Distortions", and especially "Debunking 9/11 Debunking": http://www.amazon.com/Debunking-11-Mechanics-Defenders-Conspiracy/dp/156656686X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252693032&sr=8-1

Griffin's newest book concerns the third building that fell on 9/11 - without being hit by an airplane: "The Mysterious Collapse of World Trade Center 7: Why The Final Official Report on 9/11 Is Unscientific And False" http://www.amazon.com/Mysterious-Collapse-World-Trade-Center/dp/1566567866/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252693088&sr=8-1

Pocketful Of Miracles?

I've lately been engaged in an energetic and interesting email dialogue with several friends, acquaintances and others concerning aspects of the health care "reform" proposals and debate. In the course of the discussion, other topics surfaced, including civil rights loss / domestic surveillance and the Obama administration.

One correspondent - a person with strong progressive leanings - penned a post reminding everyone that President Obama is "human" and not the "second coming," both very worthwhile points. The writer touched on the many challenging issues the current administration inherited from the Bush regime. Then things got interesting.

It was asserted that Congress should not take up time with "witch hunts" and chasing down potential/former torturers in the government employ. Keeping info on those potential perps and accomplices still around in Washington is valuable, and Obama can use it to help "sell" health care "reform." Revealing the President's file cabinet full of undisclosed and damaging info on his Republican opponents will convince (strong-arm) them into finally capitulating on health care. And then the writer said: "I think he has a bunch of stuff in his pocket that one after another will come out to show the opposition it will be worse to fight him on the straightforward stuff."

A pocketful of miracles? The post got me thinking, and that's why we started a blog...to think kind of out loud. Here's my response:

Yes, the President is human. You are absolutely correct that he is not the “second coming” and that is an important thing for his supporters to recognize.

Mr. Obama was also a well-marketed product. And despite the 2008 advertising claims about “change,” he has continued the major programs of the Bush Administration – the ones that account for the majority of the federal budget. War and military expansion, continued domestic surveillance practices and covert international prisons are the highlights there. Yes, he inherited some issues, but is this continuation of many of the policies of 2003 – 2008 even disputable? What is the difference between Bush and Obama on these counts?
(see details: http://songofhiram.blogspot.com/2009/08/just-few-billion-every-year-once.html)

A couple of your comments got me thinking. I’m not sure I understand “witch hunts.” If laws were broken in the Bush White House concerning surveillance and torture – and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that is the case – what does it say about our “nation of laws” that the next President wants to sweep it under the rug? The executive branch is charged with enforcing the law – what’s more important than enforcing the laws pertaining to national government?

The vision of a carrot and stick - secret files that might be used to influence/threaten legislators – is a Cheney strategy, although it is a time-honored political tactic. And not a pretty one, as it plays on people’s fears, secretive nature and back-room thumbscrews. Come to think of it, those are classic empire-building tools.

Finally, surmising that the President has a “bunch of stuff in his pocket” that is going to reveal his true liberal/progressive nature is what another writer called “faith-based” thinking, and belies your earlier observation on his humanity. The Obama administration has already taken on all the “straightforward stuff”, the big-ticket budget items – see above – and now they offer the last agenda item, a flimsy health care reform (complete with privately negotiated deals with pharma/insurance companies: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/health/policy/06insure.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss ).

So what’s left? Will his administration suddenly – we don’t know the time – reverse course on Afghanistan, secrecy protocols, investigations and the rest? Mr. Obama is okay continuing and increasing the killing in the Middle East while waiting to play his trump cards at home?

Believe your eyes. What is happening in all these arenas – including ignoring Medicare-for-all - is approved by the President. This is who he is.

I am glad you are in favor of many progressive changes proposed for the USA, and I know you speak out for them. For me, it’s important to recognize this Administration for its acts, not its campaign rhetoric or its marketing genius or its potential for magic tricks. By their actions, I’m having a hard time distinguishing Mr. Obama and most Democrats from George Bush and the Republicans.