Saturday, July 23, 2005
Lock and Load - New York Times
Lock and Load - New York Times
July 23, 2005
Lock and Load
By SARAH VOWELL
I have a name for it: 1775 disease. The United States of America wasn't born of the pretty words from Jefferson's pen in the declaration signed on July 4, 1776. It was born of anonymous gunfire at Lexington on April 19, 1775. And ever since, we have carried our violent nativity within us like a virus, a virus that lies dormant from time to time only to break out again and again.
We celebrate the Minutemen of 1775. And I'm not saying we shouldn't. I do love a good "Listen, my children, and you shall hear" legend. In fact, my mushy nationalistic heart skipped a beat when an old Minuteman statue, caked in alien goop, made a cameo in Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds."
All I'm saying is that there is an inherent pitfall in revering the volunteer militiamen of Lexington and Concord, our beloved raggedy, gun-toting amateurs who defied the powers-that-were. As when today's raggedy, gun-toting amateurs defy the powers-that-be in their honor and someone gets hurt. Timothy McVeigh, for example. Ten years ago, he bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City - on April 19.
And now - someone alert the C.D.C. - 1775 disease is breaking out in at least 18 states, thanks to the Minuteman Project. What started back in April as a nutty experiment involving armed citizen volunteers patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border to thwart illegal immigration is spreading to non-border states as well. This week Tennessee got its own Minutemen.
No serious person thinks random guys with guns stalking Niagara Falls or the Rio Grande are going to make the country safer. On the contrary, in addition to all our other national security worries, Americans now have to fret for the safety of these clowns, who have been condemned by President Bush as "vigilantes." Because, odds are, the only people they'll end up shooting will be one another.
And I say that not only as a namby-pamby liberal writing for the most uppity newspaper in the world, but also as the daughter of a gunsmith, a man who was so persnickety about the very real danger of firearms' tendency to just go off that he practically made my sister and me don hunter orange just to play with squirt guns.
It's worth remembering that no one knows who fired that "shot heard round the world" at Lexington. What probably happened was that one man got nervous and accidentally pulled the trigger on his musket. (Longfellow meant to put that at the end of "Paul Revere's Ride," but he couldn't find a decent rhyme for "uh-oh.")
The wonderful spirit of the old Minutemen - their amateurish gumption, their do-it-yourself defiance - can occasionally be ominous when inspiring latter-day gunmen, but glorious with regard to art. The police have way too many half-cocked rule-breakers to deal with; pop music, though, can never have enough.
"We Jam Econo," Tim Irwin's lovable documentary about the lovable 80's punk band called the Minutemen is making the rounds of film festivals and revival houses this summer. It's nice to revisit the hullabaloo of their songs. And watching the bassist, Mike Watt, driving his van around his California hometown, San Pedro, and pointing at Minutemen landmarks is like listening to a fascinating Concord park ranger lead a tour across North Bridge. "We were minute men," Watt says. That's my-NOOT men - a little homemade band, not the slick Redcoats of arena rock.
Watt and the guitarist, D. Boon, are two men Sam Adams could have had a beer with. Their idealism, their humor and decency, is spellbinding. Their friend Nels Cline points out that Boon used so much treble in his guitar as "a political decision" - to distinguish his sound from Watt's bass, like two "sovereign states." Egalitarian timbre!
Then there's the story of their album "Double Nickels on the Dime," a jab at Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55." Watt recalls, "We said, 'Well, we'll drive 55 and be crazy with the music instead of crazy with the cars.'"
The best part of the film, and the most heartbreaking, is when Watt walks around the park where he met Boon, a childhood friend who died in a car accident in 1985. "I was quite smitten with him," Watt remembers. "He was playing army and he fell out of a tree on me."
As he stares at the very tree, it occurs to me that playing army when you're 13 is fine. Grown men playing army on the Mexican border? No, thanks.
July 23, 2005
Lock and Load
By SARAH VOWELL
I have a name for it: 1775 disease. The United States of America wasn't born of the pretty words from Jefferson's pen in the declaration signed on July 4, 1776. It was born of anonymous gunfire at Lexington on April 19, 1775. And ever since, we have carried our violent nativity within us like a virus, a virus that lies dormant from time to time only to break out again and again.
We celebrate the Minutemen of 1775. And I'm not saying we shouldn't. I do love a good "Listen, my children, and you shall hear" legend. In fact, my mushy nationalistic heart skipped a beat when an old Minuteman statue, caked in alien goop, made a cameo in Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds."
All I'm saying is that there is an inherent pitfall in revering the volunteer militiamen of Lexington and Concord, our beloved raggedy, gun-toting amateurs who defied the powers-that-were. As when today's raggedy, gun-toting amateurs defy the powers-that-be in their honor and someone gets hurt. Timothy McVeigh, for example. Ten years ago, he bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City - on April 19.
And now - someone alert the C.D.C. - 1775 disease is breaking out in at least 18 states, thanks to the Minuteman Project. What started back in April as a nutty experiment involving armed citizen volunteers patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border to thwart illegal immigration is spreading to non-border states as well. This week Tennessee got its own Minutemen.
No serious person thinks random guys with guns stalking Niagara Falls or the Rio Grande are going to make the country safer. On the contrary, in addition to all our other national security worries, Americans now have to fret for the safety of these clowns, who have been condemned by President Bush as "vigilantes." Because, odds are, the only people they'll end up shooting will be one another.
And I say that not only as a namby-pamby liberal writing for the most uppity newspaper in the world, but also as the daughter of a gunsmith, a man who was so persnickety about the very real danger of firearms' tendency to just go off that he practically made my sister and me don hunter orange just to play with squirt guns.
It's worth remembering that no one knows who fired that "shot heard round the world" at Lexington. What probably happened was that one man got nervous and accidentally pulled the trigger on his musket. (Longfellow meant to put that at the end of "Paul Revere's Ride," but he couldn't find a decent rhyme for "uh-oh.")
The wonderful spirit of the old Minutemen - their amateurish gumption, their do-it-yourself defiance - can occasionally be ominous when inspiring latter-day gunmen, but glorious with regard to art. The police have way too many half-cocked rule-breakers to deal with; pop music, though, can never have enough.
"We Jam Econo," Tim Irwin's lovable documentary about the lovable 80's punk band called the Minutemen is making the rounds of film festivals and revival houses this summer. It's nice to revisit the hullabaloo of their songs. And watching the bassist, Mike Watt, driving his van around his California hometown, San Pedro, and pointing at Minutemen landmarks is like listening to a fascinating Concord park ranger lead a tour across North Bridge. "We were minute men," Watt says. That's my-NOOT men - a little homemade band, not the slick Redcoats of arena rock.
Watt and the guitarist, D. Boon, are two men Sam Adams could have had a beer with. Their idealism, their humor and decency, is spellbinding. Their friend Nels Cline points out that Boon used so much treble in his guitar as "a political decision" - to distinguish his sound from Watt's bass, like two "sovereign states." Egalitarian timbre!
Then there's the story of their album "Double Nickels on the Dime," a jab at Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55." Watt recalls, "We said, 'Well, we'll drive 55 and be crazy with the music instead of crazy with the cars.'"
The best part of the film, and the most heartbreaking, is when Watt walks around the park where he met Boon, a childhood friend who died in a car accident in 1985. "I was quite smitten with him," Watt remembers. "He was playing army and he fell out of a tree on me."
As he stares at the very tree, it occurs to me that playing army when you're 13 is fine. Grown men playing army on the Mexican border? No, thanks.
Amazon.com: Books: 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA
Amazon.com: Books: 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA
9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA
by Webster Griffin Tarpley
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.
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Better Together
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Customers who bought this book also bought
Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil by Michael C. Ruppert
Inside Job: Unmasking the Conspiracies of 9/11 by Jim Marrs
George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography by Webster Griffin Tarpley
The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions And Distortions by David Ray Griffin
The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 by David Ray Griffin
The War On Truth: 9/11, Disinformation And The Anatomy Of Terrorism by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed
Explore Similar Items: in Books, in DVD
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Editorial Reviews
Book Description
The thesis of Webster Tarpley’s 911 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA has been enthusiastically received with its working model of the 9/11 plot: a rogue network of moles, patsies, and a commando cell in the privatized intelligence services, backed by corrupt political and corporate media elites.
Buttressed by historical examples like the Baader-Meinhof Gang and the Gunpowder Plot, this model makes it clear how such a monstrous false-flag or self-terror exploit is possible even under a largely benign government. That paradox is the incredibility gap that has made most Americans reject the evidence about 9/11 as paranoid fantasy.
Tarpley brings decades of expertise to the 9/11 issue. Already in 1978 he had exposed the terrorist Red Brigades as patsies of Italy's fascist P2 shadow government, and 9/11 is on the same pattern. The forthright subtitle, Made in USA, is backed up by an analysis of key figures who behave like moles working for the rogue network or parallel government.
9/11 Synthetic Terror highlights the salient points of sheer physical impossibility of the official 9/11 conspiracy theory. It then analyzes the psychological traits which make Anglo-American society gullible to artificial enemy images and unable to grasp the truth of 9/11.
Understanding how synthetic terror works, we see the weakness of the muddled "blowback" theories of terrorism and the spurious leads to Pakistan or Saudi Arabia that have marred many critiques of 9/11. Tarpley's model makes it clear that figures like Osama bin Laden are patsies or double agents who were selected for their ethnic coloring as the basis for launching a "Clash of Civilizations," and it is absurd to imagine that such tools of US intelligence agencies could turn around and infiltrate or overwhelm US defenses unaided.
9/11 Synthetic Terror is also firmly grounded in Great Power geopolitics. It shows that the wars on the Islamic world, the Soviet-Afghan, Kosovo and Chechen conflicts, as well as US-UK-NATO synthetic terror incidents like 9/11, Beslan or 3/11 in Madrid, have been contrived to continue the Cold War, in pursuit of the centuries-long campaign for Anglo hegemony over Eurasia and the world.
For a principled refutation of the 9/11 propaganda myth in all its parts, Tarpley's work is indispensable.
About the Author
Webster Griffin Tarpley is an activist and historian best known for his George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography (1992), a masterpiece of research which is still a must read. A decades-long expert on international terrorism, he directed the study Chi ha ucciso Aldo Moro? (Who Killed Aldo Moro?), commissioned by a member of the Italian government and published in Rome in 1978, which broke open the affiliation of the Red Brigades with the neofascist lodge P2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Details
Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Progressive Pr (March, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN: 0930852311
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 6.0 x 8.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds. (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: based on 5 reviews. (Write a review)
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,808 in Books
(Publishers and authors: improve your sales)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Customers who viewed this book also viewed
Waking up from our Nightmare: The 9/11/01 Crimes in New York City by Don Paul
The Big Wedding: 9/11, The Whistle-blowers & the Cover-up by allan duncan
The Shadow Government: 9-11 and State Terror by Len Bracken
Welcome to Terrorland : Mohamed Atta & the 9-11 Cover-up in Florida by Daniel Hopsicker
American Assassination: The Strange Death Of Senator Paul Wellstone by Four Arrows
9-11 on Trial by Victor Thorn
Explore Similar Items: in Books, in DVD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
A tour de force of critical analysis, June 16, 2005
Reviewer: Black Kaweah (The invisible Gulag) - See all my reviews
A remarkable look under the skin of the lurid scarecrow figure of modern terrorism to reveal the bones and sinews of a man-made monster, one with very direct genetic links to the Bader-Meinhof gang and the "strategy of tension" deployed after WW-II to justify the militarization of society and the targeting of selected groups. Once society gets used to the idea that odd little groups or demented individuals occasionally pull off spectacular attacks, the mask of any desired target group (leftists, hippies, Arabs) can be easily fitted to the patsy who will be blamed for the attack.
The National Security State needs its terrorists, and leaves nothing to chance in their care and feeding. By revealing the mundane operational details of these programs, and the continuity over time of both the strategies and the personnel involved, Tarpley brings these deliberately shadowy enterprises into the realm of normal human activities. In this view, the series of staged events leading up to 9-11 (Waco, the Murrah building and all the rest) comes into clear focus as the successive elaborations of the same schema on an ever larger scale.
The use of visible patsies to focus blame, the networks of moles that protect and manage them, the aggressive coverups with blatent destruction of evidence and violent suppression of potential whistle-blowers, the fake investigations and popular press debunking... the pattern repeats with remarkable consistency, and the growing boldness of a cabal that has tasted success and has so far crushed all those who have tried to reveal the extent of their crimes.
Tarpley's deep knowledge of the Bush family and NATO secret terror operations in Europe make him the ideal historian to put the distinctly post-WW-II phenomenon of synthetic terrorism in it's proper historical perspective, and in so doing he in effect does create a new field of historical inquiry. This is truly an important work, written with great precision and elegance.
Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
GO FURTHER...FURTHER, June 12, 2005
Reviewer: a reader in the U.S. - See all my reviews
Tarpley does pay homage to other authors of alternative scenarios, such as David Ray Griffin - who logically dismantled the myth of lack of Government complicity in 9/11 - but he also goes much, much deeper...dismissing both Barbara Honneger's assertion that Khalid Sheikh Mohommed was the triple agent responsible for enabling the plotters to threaten Air Force One ("Angel Is Next") with codes that would show unequivocally that the plotters had access to all Gov't codes and meant business, and also dismissing Mike Ruppert's "Peak Oil" theory as too much of a rational approach (under the circumstances...) Let it be said that Tarpley is his own man, and his assertion that 9/11 was a "Neocon" putsch, aided by the still active 'Dulles-Landsdale-Lemnitzer" networks, is eerily documented piece by piece and makes perfect sense. He feels that the message sent threatening Air Force One (the "Angel Is Next" message sent in that day's specific code) is the key to unraveling who the plotters were. As a previous review stated...step up to the big leagues. This book is the World Series of alternative explanations, and by far the best book on 9/11 to date. That said, I would recommend Griffin's book first to those who are just starting to reach out for other explanations. Going from A-Z on this one can be mindnumbing and even counterproductive to a point. Get a solid grip on alternate scenarios to the "official version first, then by all means READ THIS ONE.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Acclaimed by the best of critics, June 12, 2005
Reviewer: Ana Leonard (Califusa) - See all my reviews
Here is what other 9/11 authors have had to say about this book:
"9/11 Synthetic Terror is brilliantly and most sovereignly written; one can't stop reading. Webster delivers a devastating judgment. Congratulations! I endorse it wholeheartedly."
- Andreas Von Bülow, former German Minister for Research and Technology, author of Die CIA und der 11 September
"The most profound analysis of September 11 as a new type of coup d'état. This is a book I hope many Americans will read, so they can understand how they were duped, and by whom."
- Maurizio Blondet, author of 11 Settembre: Colpo di Stato in USA, correspondent with Avvenire, the daily paper of the Italian Bishops Conference.
"Terrorism of dubious origin, used to steer and manipulate society, to abandon civil rights, to create new enemies, wage war abroad and at home against one's own citizens: a study like Webster Griffin Tarpley's 9/11 Synthetic Terror was long overdue and will hopefully open the eyes of many people."
- Gerhard Wisnewski, German TV producer, author of Operation 9/11 and Mythos 9/11
"No one else I know so fearlessly names state-sponsored false flag terrorism. Webster G. Tarpley is an investigative elder of the planet, combining an historian's sweep with the eye of an exceptionally well-informed whistle-blower on today's shadowy elites."
Barrie Zwicker, Documentary producer, VisionTV Insight MediaFile
"I was already familiar with Webster Tarpley's work from reading his unauthorized biography of Bush père, which appeared more than a dozen years ago. That is a work which I still consult regularly, even now. There are points which were made in that book which everyone repeats today. In my opinion, that biography will remain as a reference work; it is the best book on the subject.
I therefore expected that Tarpley's new book on 9/11 would have the same quality of precision. But I found that, in addition, Tarpley has created a totally new genre, a new avenue of inquiry into 9/11.
There have already been many books on 9/11. Paul Thompson has done a kind of exhaustive review on this subject. David Ray Griffin has pointed out the logical contradictions among the successive versions of the official story. Mike Ruppert has attempted to understand the context of these events.
But Tarpley has posed a new question: that of comparing the techniques used by the US intelligence agencies in creating 9/11 with the methods used by US intelligence in the past. Many people are going to copy what Tarpley has done.
That is why this book is so important. The inquiry initiated here needs to be carried further. Not everything found here will necessarily be confirmed, but Tarpley has opened up a new path. People will keep coming back to this book in order to ask new questions along this line of inquiry."
- Thierry Meyssan, Président, Réseau Voltaire, Author of 9/11: The Big Lie and Pentagate
Webster Tarpley's book is, without any doubt, the most important and best book ever about 9/11. It's an excellent combination of geo-political analysis, philosophy and 9/11 allround research, and goes even much deeper.
9/11 Synthetic Terror not only puts the tragic event of 9/11 into the clearest and so far, most detailed and best described historical context, it also combines often ignored physical and investigative evidence of a U.S.-scripted, planned, orchestrated and supervised attack.
This book deserves to be at the top of every 9/11 truth leaflet and in the editorials of mainstream media, which both often ignore the deeper picture, watering down the clear evidence of an Inside Job and misleading the audience to suggest that 9/11 was just the result of negligence or "LIHOP" (let it happen on purpose).
Nico Haupt, Globalfreepress, INN World Report
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Step up to the big leagues, May 29, 2005
Reviewer: Herbert L. Smith "hdog" (NY) - See all my reviews
While Tarpley covers some of the technical aspects of 9/11 what sets him apart is his historical knowledge of state-sponsored terrorism. A must-read for any student of 9/11.
Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
top of the line.smokeand mirrors, May 13, 2005
Reviewer: mar louis "greypacific" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
Mr.Tarpley writes a book that explains the system upon how terrorism is financed by and for governments,in other words oswald didnt kill kennedy and sept 11.was financed by the mossad with a few moles in the pentagon working in concert to achieve there goals.never believe a cover story,there were bombs going off in the world trade center.who planted them?m.b
9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA
by Webster Griffin Tarpley
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.
Share your own customer images List Price: $17.95
Price: $17.95 and eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. See details
Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
6 used & new available from $12.02
Edition: Paperback
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Better Together
Buy this book with Crossing the Rubicon by Michael C. Ruppert, Catherine Austin Fitts (Foreword) today!
Buy Together Today: $33.56
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Customers who bought this book also bought
Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil by Michael C. Ruppert
Inside Job: Unmasking the Conspiracies of 9/11 by Jim Marrs
George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography by Webster Griffin Tarpley
The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions And Distortions by David Ray Griffin
The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 by David Ray Griffin
The War On Truth: 9/11, Disinformation And The Anatomy Of Terrorism by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed
Explore Similar Items: in Books, in DVD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
The thesis of Webster Tarpley’s 911 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA has been enthusiastically received with its working model of the 9/11 plot: a rogue network of moles, patsies, and a commando cell in the privatized intelligence services, backed by corrupt political and corporate media elites.
Buttressed by historical examples like the Baader-Meinhof Gang and the Gunpowder Plot, this model makes it clear how such a monstrous false-flag or self-terror exploit is possible even under a largely benign government. That paradox is the incredibility gap that has made most Americans reject the evidence about 9/11 as paranoid fantasy.
Tarpley brings decades of expertise to the 9/11 issue. Already in 1978 he had exposed the terrorist Red Brigades as patsies of Italy's fascist P2 shadow government, and 9/11 is on the same pattern. The forthright subtitle, Made in USA, is backed up by an analysis of key figures who behave like moles working for the rogue network or parallel government.
9/11 Synthetic Terror highlights the salient points of sheer physical impossibility of the official 9/11 conspiracy theory. It then analyzes the psychological traits which make Anglo-American society gullible to artificial enemy images and unable to grasp the truth of 9/11.
Understanding how synthetic terror works, we see the weakness of the muddled "blowback" theories of terrorism and the spurious leads to Pakistan or Saudi Arabia that have marred many critiques of 9/11. Tarpley's model makes it clear that figures like Osama bin Laden are patsies or double agents who were selected for their ethnic coloring as the basis for launching a "Clash of Civilizations," and it is absurd to imagine that such tools of US intelligence agencies could turn around and infiltrate or overwhelm US defenses unaided.
9/11 Synthetic Terror is also firmly grounded in Great Power geopolitics. It shows that the wars on the Islamic world, the Soviet-Afghan, Kosovo and Chechen conflicts, as well as US-UK-NATO synthetic terror incidents like 9/11, Beslan or 3/11 in Madrid, have been contrived to continue the Cold War, in pursuit of the centuries-long campaign for Anglo hegemony over Eurasia and the world.
For a principled refutation of the 9/11 propaganda myth in all its parts, Tarpley's work is indispensable.
About the Author
Webster Griffin Tarpley is an activist and historian best known for his George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography (1992), a masterpiece of research which is still a must read. A decades-long expert on international terrorism, he directed the study Chi ha ucciso Aldo Moro? (Who Killed Aldo Moro?), commissioned by a member of the Italian government and published in Rome in 1978, which broke open the affiliation of the Red Brigades with the neofascist lodge P2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Details
Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Progressive Pr (March, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN: 0930852311
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 6.0 x 8.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds. (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: based on 5 reviews. (Write a review)
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,808 in Books
(Publishers and authors: improve your sales)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Customers who viewed this book also viewed
Waking up from our Nightmare: The 9/11/01 Crimes in New York City by Don Paul
The Big Wedding: 9/11, The Whistle-blowers & the Cover-up by allan duncan
The Shadow Government: 9-11 and State Terror by Len Bracken
Welcome to Terrorland : Mohamed Atta & the 9-11 Cover-up in Florida by Daniel Hopsicker
American Assassination: The Strange Death Of Senator Paul Wellstone by Four Arrows
9-11 on Trial by Victor Thorn
Explore Similar Items: in Books, in DVD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
A tour de force of critical analysis, June 16, 2005
Reviewer: Black Kaweah (The invisible Gulag) - See all my reviews
A remarkable look under the skin of the lurid scarecrow figure of modern terrorism to reveal the bones and sinews of a man-made monster, one with very direct genetic links to the Bader-Meinhof gang and the "strategy of tension" deployed after WW-II to justify the militarization of society and the targeting of selected groups. Once society gets used to the idea that odd little groups or demented individuals occasionally pull off spectacular attacks, the mask of any desired target group (leftists, hippies, Arabs) can be easily fitted to the patsy who will be blamed for the attack.
The National Security State needs its terrorists, and leaves nothing to chance in their care and feeding. By revealing the mundane operational details of these programs, and the continuity over time of both the strategies and the personnel involved, Tarpley brings these deliberately shadowy enterprises into the realm of normal human activities. In this view, the series of staged events leading up to 9-11 (Waco, the Murrah building and all the rest) comes into clear focus as the successive elaborations of the same schema on an ever larger scale.
The use of visible patsies to focus blame, the networks of moles that protect and manage them, the aggressive coverups with blatent destruction of evidence and violent suppression of potential whistle-blowers, the fake investigations and popular press debunking... the pattern repeats with remarkable consistency, and the growing boldness of a cabal that has tasted success and has so far crushed all those who have tried to reveal the extent of their crimes.
Tarpley's deep knowledge of the Bush family and NATO secret terror operations in Europe make him the ideal historian to put the distinctly post-WW-II phenomenon of synthetic terrorism in it's proper historical perspective, and in so doing he in effect does create a new field of historical inquiry. This is truly an important work, written with great precision and elegance.
Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
GO FURTHER...FURTHER, June 12, 2005
Reviewer: a reader in the U.S. - See all my reviews
Tarpley does pay homage to other authors of alternative scenarios, such as David Ray Griffin - who logically dismantled the myth of lack of Government complicity in 9/11 - but he also goes much, much deeper...dismissing both Barbara Honneger's assertion that Khalid Sheikh Mohommed was the triple agent responsible for enabling the plotters to threaten Air Force One ("Angel Is Next") with codes that would show unequivocally that the plotters had access to all Gov't codes and meant business, and also dismissing Mike Ruppert's "Peak Oil" theory as too much of a rational approach (under the circumstances...) Let it be said that Tarpley is his own man, and his assertion that 9/11 was a "Neocon" putsch, aided by the still active 'Dulles-Landsdale-Lemnitzer" networks, is eerily documented piece by piece and makes perfect sense. He feels that the message sent threatening Air Force One (the "Angel Is Next" message sent in that day's specific code) is the key to unraveling who the plotters were. As a previous review stated...step up to the big leagues. This book is the World Series of alternative explanations, and by far the best book on 9/11 to date. That said, I would recommend Griffin's book first to those who are just starting to reach out for other explanations. Going from A-Z on this one can be mindnumbing and even counterproductive to a point. Get a solid grip on alternate scenarios to the "official version first, then by all means READ THIS ONE.
Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Acclaimed by the best of critics, June 12, 2005
Reviewer: Ana Leonard (Califusa) - See all my reviews
Here is what other 9/11 authors have had to say about this book:
"9/11 Synthetic Terror is brilliantly and most sovereignly written; one can't stop reading. Webster delivers a devastating judgment. Congratulations! I endorse it wholeheartedly."
- Andreas Von Bülow, former German Minister for Research and Technology, author of Die CIA und der 11 September
"The most profound analysis of September 11 as a new type of coup d'état. This is a book I hope many Americans will read, so they can understand how they were duped, and by whom."
- Maurizio Blondet, author of 11 Settembre: Colpo di Stato in USA, correspondent with Avvenire, the daily paper of the Italian Bishops Conference.
"Terrorism of dubious origin, used to steer and manipulate society, to abandon civil rights, to create new enemies, wage war abroad and at home against one's own citizens: a study like Webster Griffin Tarpley's 9/11 Synthetic Terror was long overdue and will hopefully open the eyes of many people."
- Gerhard Wisnewski, German TV producer, author of Operation 9/11 and Mythos 9/11
"No one else I know so fearlessly names state-sponsored false flag terrorism. Webster G. Tarpley is an investigative elder of the planet, combining an historian's sweep with the eye of an exceptionally well-informed whistle-blower on today's shadowy elites."
Barrie Zwicker, Documentary producer, VisionTV Insight MediaFile
"I was already familiar with Webster Tarpley's work from reading his unauthorized biography of Bush père, which appeared more than a dozen years ago. That is a work which I still consult regularly, even now. There are points which were made in that book which everyone repeats today. In my opinion, that biography will remain as a reference work; it is the best book on the subject.
I therefore expected that Tarpley's new book on 9/11 would have the same quality of precision. But I found that, in addition, Tarpley has created a totally new genre, a new avenue of inquiry into 9/11.
There have already been many books on 9/11. Paul Thompson has done a kind of exhaustive review on this subject. David Ray Griffin has pointed out the logical contradictions among the successive versions of the official story. Mike Ruppert has attempted to understand the context of these events.
But Tarpley has posed a new question: that of comparing the techniques used by the US intelligence agencies in creating 9/11 with the methods used by US intelligence in the past. Many people are going to copy what Tarpley has done.
That is why this book is so important. The inquiry initiated here needs to be carried further. Not everything found here will necessarily be confirmed, but Tarpley has opened up a new path. People will keep coming back to this book in order to ask new questions along this line of inquiry."
- Thierry Meyssan, Président, Réseau Voltaire, Author of 9/11: The Big Lie and Pentagate
Webster Tarpley's book is, without any doubt, the most important and best book ever about 9/11. It's an excellent combination of geo-political analysis, philosophy and 9/11 allround research, and goes even much deeper.
9/11 Synthetic Terror not only puts the tragic event of 9/11 into the clearest and so far, most detailed and best described historical context, it also combines often ignored physical and investigative evidence of a U.S.-scripted, planned, orchestrated and supervised attack.
This book deserves to be at the top of every 9/11 truth leaflet and in the editorials of mainstream media, which both often ignore the deeper picture, watering down the clear evidence of an Inside Job and misleading the audience to suggest that 9/11 was just the result of negligence or "LIHOP" (let it happen on purpose).
Nico Haupt, Globalfreepress, INN World Report
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Step up to the big leagues, May 29, 2005
Reviewer: Herbert L. Smith "hdog" (NY) - See all my reviews
While Tarpley covers some of the technical aspects of 9/11 what sets him apart is his historical knowledge of state-sponsored terrorism. A must-read for any student of 9/11.
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1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
top of the line.smokeand mirrors, May 13, 2005
Reviewer: mar louis "greypacific" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
Mr.Tarpley writes a book that explains the system upon how terrorism is financed by and for governments,in other words oswald didnt kill kennedy and sept 11.was financed by the mossad with a few moles in the pentagon working in concert to achieve there goals.never believe a cover story,there were bombs going off in the world trade center.who planted them?m.b
The Nation | Blog | The Online Beat | Patriot Games | John Nichols
The Nation | Blog | The Online Beat | Patriot Games | John Nichols
Unfortunately, Democrats did not stick together on Thursday, when the House considered sixteen provisions of the act that are set to expire at the end of the year unless they are reauthorized by Congress.
Unfortunately, Democrats did not stick together on Thursday, when the House considered sixteen provisions of the act that are set to expire at the end of the year unless they are reauthorized by Congress.
Godless Mom in the Bible Belt: Let's beat that dead horse!!
Godless Mom in the Bible Belt: Let's beat that dead horse!!
"I'm convinced that there were some seriously shady deeds taking place during the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections."
"I'm convinced that there were some seriously shady deeds taking place during the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections."
Giving the Hatemongers No Place to Hide - New York Times
Giving the Hatemongers No Place to Hide - New York Times
BG: Friedman sickens my stomach again....
The New York Times
July 22, 2005
Giving the Hatemongers No Place to Hide
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
I wasn't surprised to read that British police officers in white protective suits and blue gloves were combing through the Iqra Learning Center bookstore in Leeds for clues to the 7/7 London bombings. Some of the 7/7 bombers hung out at the bookstore. And I won't be surprised if today's bombers also sampled the literature there.
Iqra not only sold hatemongering Islamist literature, but, according to The Wall Street Journal, was "the sole distributor of Islamgames, a U.S.-based company that makes video games. The video games feature apocalyptic battles between defenders of Islam and opponents. One game, Ummah Defense I, has the world 'finally united under the Banner of Islam' in 2114, until a revolt by disbelievers. The player's goal is to seek out and destroy the disbelievers."
Guess what: words matter. Bookstores matter. Video games matter. But here is our challenge: If the primary terrorism problem we face today can effectively be addressed only by a war of ideas within Islam - a war between life-affirming Muslims against those who want to turn one of the world's great religions into a death cult - what can the rest of us do?
More than just put up walls. We need to shine a spotlight on hate speech wherever it appears. The State Department produces an annual human rights report. Henceforth, it should also produce a quarterly War of Ideas Report, which would focus on those religious leaders and writers who are inciting violence against others.
I would compile it in a nondiscriminatory way. I want the names of the Jewish settler extremists who wrote "Muhammad Is a Pig" on buildings in Gaza right up there with Sheik Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, a Saudi who is imam of Islam's holy mosque in Mecca. According to the Memri translation service, the imam was barred from Canada following "a report about his sermons by Memri that included Al-Sudayyis calling Jews 'the scum of the earth' and 'monkeys and pigs' who should be 'annihilated.' Other enemies of Islam were referred to by Sheik Al-Sudayyis as 'worshipers of the cross' and 'idol-worshiping Hindus' who must be fought."
Sunlight is more important than you think. Those who spread hate do not like to be exposed, noted Yigal Carmon, the founder of Memri, which monitors the Arab-Muslim media. The hate spreaders assume that they are talking only to their own, in their own language, and can get away with murder. When their words are spotlighted, they often feel pressure to retract, defend or explain them.
"Whenever they are exposed, they react the next day," Mr. Carmon said. "No one wants to be exposed in the West as a preacher of hate."
We also need to spotlight the "excuse makers," the former State Department spokesman James Rubin said. After every major terrorist incident, the excuse makers come out to tell us why imperialism, Zionism, colonialism or Iraq explains why the terrorists acted. These excuse makers are just one notch less despicable than the terrorists and also deserve to be exposed. When you live in an open society like London, where anyone with a grievance can publish an article, run for office or start a political movement, the notion that blowing up a busload of innocent civilians in response to Iraq is somehow "understandable" is outrageous. "It erases the distinction between legitimate dissent and terrorism," Mr. Rubin said, "and an open society needs to maintain a clear wall between them."
There is no political justification for 9/11, 7/7 or 7/21. As the Middle East expert Stephen P. Cohen put it: "These terrorists are what they do." And what they do is murder.
Finally, we also need to shine a bright light on the "truth tellers." Every week some courageous Arab or Muslim intellectual, cleric or columnist publishes an essay in his or her media calling on fellow Muslims to deal with the cancer in their midst. The truth tellers' words also need to be disseminated globally. "The rulers in these countries have no interest in amplifying the voices of moderates because the moderates often disagree with the rulers as much as they disagree with the extremists," said Husain Haqqani, author of the new book "Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military." "You have to deal us moderates into the game by helping to amplify our voices and exposing the extremists and their amen corner."
Every quarter, the State Department should identify the Top 10 hatemongers, excuse makers and truth tellers in the world. It wouldn't be a cure-all. But it would be a message to the extremists: you are free to say what you want, but we are free to listen, to let the whole world know what you are saying and to protect every free society from hate spreaders like you. Words matter.
BG: Friedman sickens my stomach again....
The New York Times
July 22, 2005
Giving the Hatemongers No Place to Hide
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
I wasn't surprised to read that British police officers in white protective suits and blue gloves were combing through the Iqra Learning Center bookstore in Leeds for clues to the 7/7 London bombings. Some of the 7/7 bombers hung out at the bookstore. And I won't be surprised if today's bombers also sampled the literature there.
Iqra not only sold hatemongering Islamist literature, but, according to The Wall Street Journal, was "the sole distributor of Islamgames, a U.S.-based company that makes video games. The video games feature apocalyptic battles between defenders of Islam and opponents. One game, Ummah Defense I, has the world 'finally united under the Banner of Islam' in 2114, until a revolt by disbelievers. The player's goal is to seek out and destroy the disbelievers."
Guess what: words matter. Bookstores matter. Video games matter. But here is our challenge: If the primary terrorism problem we face today can effectively be addressed only by a war of ideas within Islam - a war between life-affirming Muslims against those who want to turn one of the world's great religions into a death cult - what can the rest of us do?
More than just put up walls. We need to shine a spotlight on hate speech wherever it appears. The State Department produces an annual human rights report. Henceforth, it should also produce a quarterly War of Ideas Report, which would focus on those religious leaders and writers who are inciting violence against others.
I would compile it in a nondiscriminatory way. I want the names of the Jewish settler extremists who wrote "Muhammad Is a Pig" on buildings in Gaza right up there with Sheik Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, a Saudi who is imam of Islam's holy mosque in Mecca. According to the Memri translation service, the imam was barred from Canada following "a report about his sermons by Memri that included Al-Sudayyis calling Jews 'the scum of the earth' and 'monkeys and pigs' who should be 'annihilated.' Other enemies of Islam were referred to by Sheik Al-Sudayyis as 'worshipers of the cross' and 'idol-worshiping Hindus' who must be fought."
Sunlight is more important than you think. Those who spread hate do not like to be exposed, noted Yigal Carmon, the founder of Memri, which monitors the Arab-Muslim media. The hate spreaders assume that they are talking only to their own, in their own language, and can get away with murder. When their words are spotlighted, they often feel pressure to retract, defend or explain them.
"Whenever they are exposed, they react the next day," Mr. Carmon said. "No one wants to be exposed in the West as a preacher of hate."
We also need to spotlight the "excuse makers," the former State Department spokesman James Rubin said. After every major terrorist incident, the excuse makers come out to tell us why imperialism, Zionism, colonialism or Iraq explains why the terrorists acted. These excuse makers are just one notch less despicable than the terrorists and also deserve to be exposed. When you live in an open society like London, where anyone with a grievance can publish an article, run for office or start a political movement, the notion that blowing up a busload of innocent civilians in response to Iraq is somehow "understandable" is outrageous. "It erases the distinction between legitimate dissent and terrorism," Mr. Rubin said, "and an open society needs to maintain a clear wall between them."
There is no political justification for 9/11, 7/7 or 7/21. As the Middle East expert Stephen P. Cohen put it: "These terrorists are what they do." And what they do is murder.
Finally, we also need to shine a bright light on the "truth tellers." Every week some courageous Arab or Muslim intellectual, cleric or columnist publishes an essay in his or her media calling on fellow Muslims to deal with the cancer in their midst. The truth tellers' words also need to be disseminated globally. "The rulers in these countries have no interest in amplifying the voices of moderates because the moderates often disagree with the rulers as much as they disagree with the extremists," said Husain Haqqani, author of the new book "Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military." "You have to deal us moderates into the game by helping to amplify our voices and exposing the extremists and their amen corner."
Every quarter, the State Department should identify the Top 10 hatemongers, excuse makers and truth tellers in the world. It wouldn't be a cure-all. But it would be a message to the extremists: you are free to say what you want, but we are free to listen, to let the whole world know what you are saying and to protect every free society from hate spreaders like you. Words matter.
BBC NEWS | UK | Man shot dead by police on Tube
BBC NEWS | UK | Man shot dead by police on Tube
BG: Those Bobbies are makin' up for lost time from the old days when they could only have a night stick.
BG: Those Bobbies are makin' up for lost time from the old days when they could only have a night stick.
destroys little Ricky
Eschaton: "'The classic example of the failure of liberal social and economic policy is the Great Society welfare programs... . Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC), as welfare was known until 1996, put government in the role of family breadwinner.'"
BG: Wow, one heck of a culture war (at the margin) we have going on here!
BG: Wow, one heck of a culture war (at the margin) we have going on here!
Drudge Retort: Kentucky Charges 7-Year-Old with Murder
Drudge Retort: Kentucky Charges 7-Year-Old with Murder: "If my mother was whoring around and living with a new 'boyfriend,' I'd be pretty pissed too. I don't blame that kid for getting upset. When kids are little, adults ram all sorts of stuff down their throats like divorce and tell them to shut up and take it because it will 'make them stronger.' The only way that some kids can speak out and say NO is through violence. The mother has her boyfriend's blood on her hands, because she was living an immoral lifestyle with him and completely screwed up her kid's life.
He can be rehabilitated. The mother's the one who needs help, not the kid- maybe she could learn some morals.
Posted by PinkPatriot
BG: PinkPatriot explains it all! We need this person as Pres. don't ya think?
He can be rehabilitated. The mother's the one who needs help, not the kid- maybe she could learn some morals.
Posted by PinkPatriot
BG: PinkPatriot explains it all! We need this person as Pres. don't ya think?
Open Season on South Asians in London
Another Day in the Empire: "Open Season on South Asians in London"
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