posted 10-15-2003 07:57 PM            

Since I belong to a few boards, I had to post this message for you. Some of the names and organizations were link-active on the original website and they don't look they're going to come through. So, you know that visiting the link will give you more accurate and precise information.

I will try to get accurate updates on the 9/ll survivor wives' independent research, too.

Please feel free to post Pentagon articles here, too, however for me, I've looked at the pics and read enough to say -- it too in video and witness testimony is fraught with inconsistencies and actual pictures that defy the explanations given. Anyone who hasn't bothered to read and view on the Pentagon can do an easy search to find information and pics and decide for themselves. To me, it's so obvious that I simply will not waste my time in proving anything to anyone on this board.

Those of you who read, will recognize Chossudovsky, the author of the article below.

Who's Who on the 9/11 "Independent" Commission
by Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca 17 July 2003

The URL of this article is: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO307B.html< FONT face=Geneva color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF">

Several citizens' organizations as well as the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks have expressed hope that the 9/11 Commission will ultimately reveal the truth.
The Commission itself has produced a brief interim report (8 July 2003), where it hints to the lack of cooperation by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and other agencies of government.
The impression is conveyed that the Commission is committed to obliging the various agencies to fully comply with its requests. A media campaign seems to have been launched, which presents the Commission as a critical voice directed against the Bush administration. According to The New York Times (8 July 2003):

"the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 terror attacks said today that its work was being hampered by the failure of executive branch agencies, especially the Pentagon and the Justice Departmen t, to respond quickly to requests for documents and testimony".

Several alternative media have joined the bandwagon. President Bush is accused of obstructing the investigation and curtailing the Commission's budget. Former Jersey governor Thomas Kean, the Commission's Chairman is presented as an honest and uncompromising individual, who is courageously confronting the US government:

"Without greater cooperation, Kean said, ''we cannot do the job we are supposed to do.'' The panel provided a report card on the 16 federal agencies covered by its inquiry, describing only the State Department as being fully cooperative, and the FBI as having improved its performance (Intervention Magazine" http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=4 47 )
The "Independent" Commission

The existence of an "independent" Commission requires that its members are free of "conflict of interest". Namely that:

1. The Commission is free of encroachments emanating from the Executive or from the various agencies of government, under investigation
2. Commissioners as well as members of staff do not have personal (or other) ties to senior Bush officials or senior officers in key government agencies, which are being investigated by the Commission;
3. Members of the Commission have no links of any kind, business or otherwise, to the alleged perpetrators or "financiers" of 9/11, including the bin Laden family.

A review of the Commission's membership suggests that these three conditions are not met In fact, the Commission is marred by conflicts of interest. It operates in a cozy bi-partisan inter-agency environment, where the various crony factions within the Administration, the US Congress, etc. are present.
Commission members seem to have been carefully handpicked. Not only are the White House and the National Security Council "represented" (unofficially of course), key government agencies including the CIA and Homeland Security also have their "seat" on the Commission.
Under these circumstances, it is impossible to conduct a m eaningful investigation of any of the key political, military and intelligence actors. The latter have their own personal representatives, who report back and forth.

Several members of the Commission served in the Reagan and Bush Senior administrations. They have links to the Iran Contra officials of the Reagan administration. Needless to say, several of those Iran Contra officials now hold high office in the current Bush administration.
While lower level officials will no doubt be investigated for "intelligence failures", the Commission will not investigate the lies underlying US foreign policy, including the support provided by successive adminis trations to the Islamic brigades since the presidency of Jimmy Carter, (not to mention the role of the CIA and of key Bush officials in this process including Colin Powell and Richard Armitage)
In other words, the Commission's hidden agenda is cover-up and "damage control". Its objective is not to inform but to distract public opinion, from the real issues. by churning out piles of irrelevant intelligence. To gain legitimacy and public support, it must convey the impression that it is committed to "going after" the Ad ministration, and that government officials as well as politicians in high office "must be held accountable", etc. Commission Chairman Thomas Kean

Conflicts of interest abound within the Commission. Yet what perhaps is most disturbing are the links of both the Commission Chairman Thomas Kean as well as the Legal Counsel Daniel Marcus to individuals closely linked to the bin Laden family.
In a cruel irony, the $1 trillion lawsuit filed in August 2002 by the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks , lists two of Thomas Kean's ("former") business partners among the accused: Khalid Bin Mahfouz (Osama's brother in law, according to CIA sources), and Mohammed Hussein al Amoudi. Both individuals have been tagged in the lawsuit as the alleged "financiers" of Al Qaeda.

"According to a 1998 Senate testimony of former CIA director James Woolsey, powerful financier Khalid bin Mahfouz’ younger sister is married to Osama bin Laden,. (US Senate, Senate Judiciary Committee, Federal News Service, 3 Sept. 1998, See also Wayne Madsen, Questionable Ties, In These Times,12 Nov. 2001 )
Bin Mahfouz is suspected to have funneled millions of dollars to the Al Qaeda network.(See Tom Flocco, Scoop.co.nz 28 Aug. 2002)
Now, "by sheer coincidence", former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, the man chosen by President Bush to lead the 9/11 commission also has business ties with bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi.
Thomas Kean is a director (and shareholder) of Amerada Hess Corporation , which is involved in the Hess-Delta joint venture with Delta Oil of Saudi Arabia (owned by the bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi clans)...
Now you would think that being a business partner of the brother in law and alleged financier of "Enemy No. 1" would also be considered a bona fide "conflict of interest", particularly when your mandate --as part of the 9/11 Commission's work-- is to investigate "Enemy No. 1". "(Michel Chossudovsky, New Chairman of 9/11 Commission had business ties with Osama's Brother in Law , Centre for Research on Globalization, December 2002 )

Commission Counsel David Marcus

Daniel Marcus, the Legal Counsel of the Commission, was partner in Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, which counts among its clients Prince Mohammed al Faisal, also identified as one of the top three alleged "financiers" of the 9/11 attacks listed in the 1 trillion dollar lawsuit:

An internal list of other law firms retained in the case, reviewed by NEWSWEEK , reads like a veritable “who’s who” of the U.S. legal community. Among those firms and their Saudi clients are: Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (Prince Mohammed al Faisal); Kellog, Huber, Hansen, Todd & Evans (Prince Turki al Faisal); Jones, Day (the Binla din Group); Ropes & Grey (Khaled bin Mahfouz); White & Case,(the Al-Rajhi Banking Group); King & Spalding (the Arab Bank and Youssef Nada); Akin Gump (Mohammed Hussein Al-Almoudi); and Fulbright & Jaworski (Nimir Petroleum.) ( See MNBC at http://www.msnbc.com/news/901320.asp?0cv=CB30&cp1=1#BODY
Kissinger and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

We recall that Henry Kissinger resigned from the Chair of the 9/11 Commission, precisely because he was in "conflict of interest". His firm K issinger Associates had dubious links to Saudi financiers. Former Senator George Mitchell also resigned, for the same reasons, amid controversy. Ironically, they were replaced by "similar individuals."
However, instead of demanding that Thomas Kean and David Marcus be removed from the Commission due to "conflict of interest", the organizations representing the 9/11 victims' families pledged their support to the Commission's actitivities. (See also http://www.voicesofsept11.org/ ,)
Needless to say, Kissinger has his own personal Rep. on the Commission: John F. Lehman, a former Secretary of the Navy, who also happens to be a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. During the Nixon Administration, he served as special counsel and senior staff member to Kissinger on the National Security Council.
The Council on Foreign Relations is well represented on the Commission: four of its members (out of 8 Commissioners plus the Chair and the Vice Chair) are members of the CFR including Thomas Kean, Lee Hamilton, John F. Lehman and Jamie Gorelick.
It is worth mentioning, in this regard, the behind the scenes role of the CFR in the formulation of US foreign policy. And a central feature of US foreign policy was a program of covert support to the various "Islamic terrorist organisations." In this regard, one of the CFR's most prominent figures Zbigniew Brzezinski played a key role in creating the Islamic militant network as part of a covert CIA operation , launched during the Carter administration. With four CFR members on the Commission (out of a total of 8 Commissioners, plus the Chair and Vice Chair), it is unlikely that the Commission will shed light on these issues. Executive Director Philipp D. Zelikow

The media conveys the impression that this "Independent" Commission is at war with the Bush administration. What it fails to mention is that its executive director Philipp Zelikow is part of the president's intelligence team. Two days before the beginning of the war on Afghanistan, Zellikow was appointed (October 5, 2001) to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, chaired by General (ret) Brent Scowcroft.
In other words the man responsible for the day to day operations of the 9/11 Commission, including the recruitment of staff and the coordination of research, is closely linked to Bush's inner cabinet. He has a close professional relationsh ip with Condoleezza Rice, with whom he has collaborated for the last 10 years. He is co-author of a book written with Condoleezza Rice. .
In all likelihood, Zellikow reports back periodically through informal personal channels (e.g.. to Condoleezza Rice and his colleagues on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board). The CIA also has its "Seat" on the Commission

Another prominent member of this "Independent" Commission is Jamie S. Gorelick, who has a close working relationship with CIA Director George Tenet. She serves on the CIA's National Security Advisory Panel as well as on the President's Review of Intelligence. CIA Director George Tenet is one of the architects of the "war on terrorism". With Gorelick on the Commission, it is highly unlikely that the agency's undercover operations in support of international terrorism will be revealed (see Michel Chossudovsky, Who is Osama bin Laden, !2 September 2001). Cover-up and Damage Control

In other words, while there may be areas of dispute between the White House and the Commission (as well as within the Commission itself), the nature and composition of the Commission foreclose from the outset, the possibility of a meaningful investigation of 9/11.
In all likelihood the Commission will be involved in cover-up and damage control. It will mobilize its staff into reviewing piles of classified intelligence documents. It will focus on technical aspects of intelligence including "foreknowledge" and "intelligence failures", while ignoring the historical ties between successive administrations and "Islamic terrorism", including the role of the CIA in creating and sustaining Al Qaeda, from the onset of the Sovi et-Afghan war.
In all likelihood it will focus the investigation on lower level officials.
Key political actors including those with dubious links to 9/11 , will not be the object of a systematic investigation. The Commission may (as occurred in the Iran Contra investigation) identify one or more "fall guys", who will be blamed for these "intelligence failures".
These procedures, in the present context, tend to protect the political, intelligence and military actors, not to mention the intellectual architects of the "war on terrorism" in the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Project for a New American Century (PNAC). The PNAC "even foresaw the need for what they called a "Pearl Harbor-type event" to galvanize the American public into supporting their ambitious program" (Chris Floyd, The Moscow Times, 25 April 2003)
Moreover, the alleged links of the Saudi financiers to Al Qaeda are likely to serve the Bush clique. They uphold the idea that there is an "outside enemy", supported by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. This in turn serves to obscure the fact that the financial aid (from their Saudi bu siness associates) to the Islamic militant network was from the very outset in 1979, part and parcel of the CIA's covert operation. In other words, the fact that the Saudi financiers are now being targeted in the law suit serves to protect the foreign policy architects of the "war on terrorism". "Preparing for Future Terrorist Attacks"

The Commission was given the mandate:

"to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, includi ng preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The Commission is also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks."

The thrust of this exercise is crystal clear: distort the history of 9/11, churn out phony intelligence which justifies Bush's preemptive "war on terrorism", expose the whistleblowers in the police and intelligence apparatus. Careful Omission

Mountains of intelligence material have already been collected (by the Joint Senate House Commit tee set up in May 2002 as well as by the Commission). Through careful omission, the numerous press and intelligence reports in the public domain (mainstream media, alternative media, etc), which confirm that key members of the Bush Administration were involved in acts of political complicity and camouflage, are more likely to be dismissed by the Commission's research team.
The fact that Al Qaeda is a creation of the CIA, a so-called "intelligence asset" (confirmed by official reports and congressional transcripts), is not part of the Commission's terms of reference. While "the elephant is sitting right on top of the stack of hay", the Commission has been instructed "to look for pins rather than elephants". In other words, the Commission is to churn out red herrings: a data bank of unconnected occurrences on "intelligence failures", FBI lap ses, etc.

The 9/11 Commission

Below are excerpts from the "official bios" of the 9/11 Commission members, which can be consulted at the 9/11 Commission's website ,
We have identified in each individual case, the nature of the conflict of interest, where applicable. 1. Chair and Vice Chair

Thomas H. Kean
Chair

"Thomas Kean, chair, is former governor of New Jersey (1982-1990) and, since 1990, the president of Drew University... .Kean is on the board of a number of organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund. He holds a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.A. from Columbia University Teachers College, as well as more than 25 honorary degrees and numerous awards from environmental and educational organizations"

Conflict of interest: Business ties with the "alleged financiers" of 9/11, according to the lawsuit launched by the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Khalid bin Mahfouz and M. Hussein Al Amoudi are identified in the families of the victims lawsuit.

Lee H. Hamilton
Vice Chair

"Lee Hamilton, vice chair, is president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Prior to becoming director of the Woodrow Wilson Center in 1999, Hamilton served for 34 years in Congress representing Indiana's Ninth District. During his tenure, he served as chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (now the Committee on International Relations), chaired the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East from the early 1970s until 1993, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran."

Hamilton has been connected to a number of key agencies. "He serves on an advisory board to the Association of the United States Army, the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council, the Se cretary of Defense's National Security Study Group and the CIA Economic Intelligence Advisory Panel"
As member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, he was instrumental the indictment of Reagan National Security adviser John Pointdexter as well as Colonel Oliver North and Richard Secord.
On the other hand, his committee failed to investigate the roles of other Reagan officials. Pointdexter and North were the fall guys. Neither President Reagan nor Vice President Bush were investigated, nor Colin Powell and Richard Armitage, who are now part of the current Bush Junior Administration.
In other words, Lee H. Hamilton brings to the Commission the "damage control" procedures followed during the Iran Contra investigation, which broadly served to uphold the practices of US foreign policy.
2. Senior Commission Staff (Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director and Legal Counsel)

Philip D. Zelikow
Executive Director

"Philip Zelikow is the executive director of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, better known as the "9/11 Commission." He is also the director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs and White Burkett Miller Professor of History at the University of Virginia. After serving in government with the Navy, the State Department, and the National Security Council, he taught at Harvard before assuming his present post in Virginia to direct the nation's largest research center on the American presidency. He was a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and served as executive director of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former Presidents Carter and Ford, as well as the executive di rector of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age. Zelikow's books include The Kennedy Tapes (with Ernest May), Germany Unified and Europe Transformed (with Condoleeza Rice) ... Zelikow has also been the director of the Aspen Strategy Group, a policy program of the Aspen Institute."
Philipp D. Zelikow, who holds the key executive position, responsible for the day to day activities of the 9/11 Commission, is a former member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, chaired by General (ret) Brent Scowcroft.
Zelikow was appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board on October 5th, 2001, one day before the beginning of the bombing of Afghanistan.
The President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) has the mandate to "provide advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy of intelligence collection, of analysis and estimates, of counterintelligence, and of other intelligence activi ties".
Zelikow also has a close personal relationship with National Security adviser Condoleeza Rice. He is co-author of a book written with Condoleezza Rice.
There are indications that Condoleeza Rice has withheld crucial information linking senior Bush Administration officials to the former head of Pakistan's military intelligence, General Mahmoud Ahmad. According to the FBI, in a September 2001 report, ISI Chief General Mahmoud allegedly played a role in transferring money to the 9/11 terrorists. On the withholding of information by Condoleeza Rice regarding the ISI Chief, see the tra nscripts of her May 16, 2002 press conference.
Conflict of Interest: The Executive director of the Commission who overseas a staff of some forty people is a de facto White House appointee. He calls the shots on the direction of investigative research. He has close ties to the Presidency and close personal ties to National Security adviser Condoleeza Rice.
Christopher Kojm
Deputy Executive Director
Christopher Kojm served from 1998 until February, 2003 as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intellige nce Policy and Coordination in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He served previously in the Congress on the staff of the House International Relations Committee, under Ranking Member Lee Hamilton as Deputy Director of the Democratic staff (1997-98), as Coordinator for Regional Issues (1993-1997) and under Chairman Hamilton on the Europe and Middle East subcommittee staff (1984-92).

Christopher Kojm worked closely with Hamilton.
Daniel Marcus
General Counsel
Danie l Marcus, General Counsel of the Commission, was for many years a partner in the Washington law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, serving on the firm's Management Committee from 1995 to 1998. During the Carter Administration Mr. Marcus was Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture. He returned to Government service in 1998 as Senior Counsel in the White House Counsel's office. From 1999 to 2001 he held several senior positions at the Department of Justice, including Associate Attorney General. Last year he was a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Marcus is a graduate of Brandeis University and Yale Law School, and was a law clerk for Judge Harold Leventhal of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Daniel Marcus belonged to a law firm which counts among its clients Prince Mohammed al Faisal, identified as one of the top three alleged "financiers" of the 9/11 attacks listed in the 1 trillion dollar lawsuit. Confirmed by CBS "Those listed include Prince Mohammed al-Faisal, former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan, Khalid bin Salim bin Mahfouz of the National Commercial Bank and the Faisal Islamic Bank. " Bear in mind that at the time Daniel Marcus belonged to the firm, Prince Prince Mohammed al-Faisal was among its most wealthiest clients.
Conflict of Interest: Marcus' law firm provided legal counsel to one of the alleged financiers of 9/11: Prince Mohammed al Faisal
3. Commissioners

Richard Ben-Veniste
Commissioner

Richard Ben-Veniste is a partner in the Washington law firm of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. He served as assistant U.S. atto rney, Southern District New York, from 1968 to 1973, which included service as chief of the Special Prosecution Section from 1971 to 1973. Mr. Ben-Veniste was chief of the Watergate Task Force of the Watergate Special Prosecutor's Office from 1973 to 1975 and Special Outside Counsel Senate Committee on Government Operations from 1976 to 1977.

Before joining Mayer, Brown Rowe and Maw, (February 2003), Richard Ben-Veniste was partner in Weil, Gotshal, and Manges, which played a key role in the Enron scandal. .
According to the NY Post:

Weil, Gotshal, and Manges. among the biggest bankruptcy firms in the world - famously received a $3 million retainer from Enron when the energy company filed in 2001. When all is said and done the law firm expects to squeeze more than $200 million out of the bankrupt energy company in fees that are secured by a court (http://www.nypost.com/wealth/63212.htm .)

Ben Veniste has other dubious links. He was Democratic counsel of the Senate Whitewater Committee. (Jim Rarey, 911 Commission - Forgedda Boudit Medium Rare)

Max Cleland
Commissioner

Max Cleland is a distinguished adjunct professor at American University's Washington Semester Program, where he also serves as a fellow in the Center for Congressional & Presidential Studies. A former senator from Georgia, he began his public service as an officer in the U.S. Army, volunteering for duty in Vietnam in 1967, where he served until he was very seriously wounded in April 1968. Cleland was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 where he served as chairman of the Personnel Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, and was a member of the Senate Veteran's Affairs Committee. While in the Senate, he earned enormous respect for his work in such areas as health care and education reform, bio-terrorism preparedness, homeland security, and fiscal responsibility.

Fred F. Fielding
Commissioner
Fred Fielding is senior partner and head of Wiley, Rein, & Fielding's Government Affairs, Business & Finance, Litigation and Crisis Management/White Collar Crime Practices. From 1981-1986, he served as Counsel to the President of the United States, as deputy counsel from 1972-1974 and as Associate Counsel from 1970-1972. He also served as clearance counsel during the Bush-Cheney Presidential Transition.

Conflict of interest: Fielding is a former White House Counsel during the Reagan administration at the time of the Iran Contra scandal, closely connected through personal ties to several members of the current Bush team. He was also counsel during the Bush-Cheney presidential transition.

Jamie S. Gorelick
Commissioner

Jamie Gorelick is vice chair of Fannie Mae. As part of the four-person Office of the Chairman, she shares responsibility for o verall management of the company, directs its efforts to reach underserved markets and oversees Fannie Mae's external relationships, legal and regulatory affairs. Prior to joining Fannie Mae in May 1997, Gorelick was deputy attorney general of the United States, a position she assumed in March 1994. From May 1993 until she joined the Justice Department, Gorelick served as general counsel of the Department of Defense. From 1979 to 1980 she was assistant to the secretary and counselor to the deputy secretary of energy. In the private sector, from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1993, Gorelick was a litigator in Washington, D.C., representing major U.S. companies on a broad range of legal and business matters. ... She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute. Gorelick co-chaired, with Senator Sam Nunn, the Advisory Committee of the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, and currently serves on the Central Int elligence Agency's National Security Advisory Panel as well as the President's Review of Intelligence.

Jamie S. Gorelick serves on the CIA's National Security Advisory Panel as well as the President's Review of Intelligence. .She is also a Member of the Council of Foreign Relations, which plays a behind the scenes role in the formulation of US foreign policy and intelligence operations:

"In May 1995, the Intelligence Community Law Enforcement Policy Board was established to meet quarterly and discuss mutual concerns of the Attorney General and Director of Central Intelligence. The board was co-chaired by Gorelick and DCI George Tenet. Other members included all of the law enforcement agencies, the Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research and the Defense Department General Counsel."(911 Commission - Forgedda Boudit Medium Rare By Jim Rarey)

Conflict of interest: Visibly this is a CIA appointment to the Commission. Gorelick has a close personal relationship to CIA Director George Tenet.

Slade Gorton
Com missioner

Slade Gorton is of counsel at Preston Gates & Ellis LLP. Prior to joining the firm, he represented Washington State in the United States Senate for 18 years, from 1982-2000. While in the Senate, Gorton served on the Appropriations, Budget, Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Energy and Natural Resources Committees. He served as chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee (1995-2001), the Commerce Subcommittees on Consumer Affairs (1995-99), and Aviation (1999-2000). He was also a member of the Republican leadership as counsel to the Majority Leader (1996-2000)...

This is typically an appointmen t of the Republican party and the Republican caucus in the Senate. "Gorton served two years on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He says that experience and his personal friendship with Trent Lott were responsible for his appointment by Lott." (Ibid)

John F. Lehman
Commissioner

John Lehman is chairman of J.F. Lehman & Company, a private equity investment firm. ... He served 25 years in the naval reserve. Lehman was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Reagan in 1981 and served until 1987. During his tenure as Secretary of the Navy, Lehman was responsible for building a 600 ship Navy, establishing a strategy of maritime supremacy, and reforming ship and aircraft procurement. He has s erved as staff member to Henry Kissinger on the National Security Council, as delegate to the Force Reductions Negotiations in Vienna and as deputy director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency....

Lehman is a former Secretary of the Navy under the Reagan administration, with close personal ties to members of the current Bush administration. J.F. Lehman & Company is a firm specialising in leveraged buyouts. Lehman, who is a member of Council on Foreign relations (CFR) has close personal ties to Henry Kissinger, who recruited him during the Nixon administration.

Timothy J. Roemer
Commissioner

Tim Roemer is a partner at Johnston and Associates and a distinguished scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a non-profit research and educational institution dedicated to improving public policy outcomes. From 1991-2003, Roemer represented the Third District of Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Science. He was appointed to the Intelligence Committee's Task Force on Homeland Security and Terrorism and served on the bipartisan Joint Inquiry which issued a report on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He was the key author of the legislation in the House of Representatives to establish the National Commission on Terro rist Attacks upon the United States.

As a former member of the Task Force of the Intelligence Committee's Task Force on Homeland Security and Terrorism and the Joint Inquiry of the Senate and House, Roemer is a go-between the Commission, Homeland Security and the members of the intelligence committees of the House and Senate. He has ties to Rep. Porter Goss and Senator Bob Graham, who headed the join inquiry. Graham and Goss have suspicious links to former Pakistani (ISI) Intelligence Chief General Mahmoud Ahmad. Pakistan's ISI is known to support Islamic terrorism in liaison with the CIA.

James R. Thompson
Commissioner

James Thompson, Illinois' longest-serving governor (1977-1991), is chairman of the law firm of Winston & Strawn, headquartered in Chicago. He first joined Winston & Strawn in 1975 and then rejoined the firm as a partner when he left the governor's office in 1991.

James R. Thompson is still part of the Republican Party machine. His law firm Winston & Strawn specializes in "defending c orporations and individuals accused of wrongdoing, including some big name corporations, like Philip Morris, McDonald's, Microsoft, and General Electric".
W and S defended tobacco giant Philip Morris against plaintiffs in class action lawsuits as well as Montsanto, and lobbied government on behalf of its clients.
W and S was also involved in 2001 in a high profile conflict of interest case pertaining to a contract with the Energy Department "on license preparations for a nuclear waste repository in Nevada" . for further details see, http://www.revi ewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2001/Dec-01-Sat-2001/news/17573270.html . The firm was also being paid by the nuclear industry to lobby Congress.

"Representation" on the Commission:

Pentagon John F. Lehman, CIA Jamie S. Gorelick, Homeland Security, Timothy J. Roemer, White House and NSC, Fred F. Fielding and Philip Zelikow, Senate and House Intelligence Committees, Timothy J. Roemer , Council on Foreign Relations, Thomas Kean, Lee H. Hamilton, Jamie S. Gorelick, John F. Lehman, Henry Kissinger: John F. Lehman
Republicans: Former Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, former Illinois Governor James Thompson, former White House Counsel Fred Fielding, former Washington state Senator Slade Gorton and former Navy Secretary John Lehman.
Democrats: Indiana congressmen, Lee Hamilton and Tim Roemer, former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, Attorney Richard Ben-Veniste, Jamie Gorelick, a Justice Department official in the Clinton administration.

A summary of financial disclosure report s of the 9/11 Commission members and Staff, click here

See also

Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Foreknowledge of 9-11 :A Compilation of CRG articles and documents in su pport of a 9-11 Investigation
Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), 9/11 Reader and Archive
Nic Levis, The 9/11 Truth Movement Selected Resources for Researchers and Activists
Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), George W. Bush Financial Scams: CRG selection of articles .
Propaganda Matrix Archive on Prior knowledge at /www.propagandamatrix.com/
Centre for Cooperative Research, The Complete 9/11 Timeline at www.cooperativeresearch.org/

Michel Chossudovsky is the author of international best seller War and Globalization, The Truth behind September 11. To order the book online click here Copyright Michel Chossudovsky 2003. For fair use only/ pour usage Ă©quitable seulement .

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Arsonists for Bush? http://makeashorterlink.com/?E58B42A16

posted 10-15-2003 09:24 PM            

By Mary Louise

A recent trip to Omaha intensified the sinking feeling in the pit of
my stomach, which has not subsided since that dreadful day, "The Day
That Changed The World". While our nation was in shock and turmoil,
Bush was being flown hither and yon, with Offutt Air Force Base as
one of his stops. Intriguing questions haunted my thoughts about why
that location, what went on behind closed doors, and who was there.
One thing has led to another since then and much m ore has been
revealed by those who would not allow numerous details to be swept
under the rug and forgotten. There have been so many crafty cover-ups
and crude contradictions that prior knowledge cannot be denied, only
ignored as the warnings were, or played down. Bush knew and Black
Tuesday is being used and abused for political ploys and manipulation
of the military, especially now with the upcoming
presidential "election".

Offutt Air Force Base was the place to be for quite a few VIP's on
9/11, from which strange coincidences have emerged in the scheme of
things, including Warren Buffett's unpublicized charity event.
Although this fortress is guarded and shielded with maximum security
and secretive arrogance from the prying eyes and ears of the general
public, it's amazing what can be found on search engines and
government websites. So let's go ahead and pry!

One of nine unified commands in the Depa rtment of Defense, U.S.
Strategic Command or USSTRATCOM, is a command and control
headquarters located at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska.
Representing all four branches of the military, the command has
extensive ties with defense agencies, the Department of Energy's
national laboratories, and other sources of support. USSTRATCOM
integrates and coordinates the command and control capability to
provide accurate and timely information for the President, Secretary
of Defense, and regional commanders.

The command consists of a Joint Forces Headquarters for Information
Operations and four directories: Combat Support, Global Operations,
Policy Resources and Requirements, and Strike Warfare. Service
commanders retain primary responsibility for maintaining the
readiness of USSTRATCOM forces and performing their assigned
functions of organizing, training, and equipping forces for
employment when called u pon to support USSTRATCOM's global mission.
This information was obtained from www.stratcom.mil/overview&organization.htm .

At this point my questions are what were they doing on September 11th
when we really needed them? USSTRATCOM has highly trained personnel,
the latest technologies, and expensive equipment. Since they have
everything the average person doesn't, it seems fair to say they
failed us when it mattered most. What are they there for anyway? Why
should they be rewarded with promotions, more authority, and
increases in funding while others are on the verge of homelessness or
grieving for lost loved ones? The same reasoning applies to the CIA
and FBI for their "intelligence" failures. There are no satisfactory
explanations for so many failures, period.

Getting back to U.S. Strategic Command, www.nautilus.org/nukestrat/USA/Force/stratview92.html tells us that
shortly after the Washington Summit Agreement between the U.S. and
Russia in 1992, representatives for STRATCOM briefed then Defense
Secretary Cheney and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Powell. Cheney
wanted an in-depth study of the strategic nuclear forces and the
Joint Staff and US Air Force considered this to be STRATCOM's
responsibility, who developed "a preferred USSTRATCOM force
structure". This became the basis for the study, the force structure
with which to move into the 21st century. After visiting Offutt Air
Force Base, the Assistant Secretary of Defense said that STRATCOM
had, "filled the void that we sought to eliminate through the
establishment of the command".

Incidentally, Defense Department officials are planning to meet in
August to discuss implementation of proposals for more nuclear
weapons. This represents a grave new threat to the world. Is it
another coincidence that the week they are planning to meet happens
to be the anniversary of the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Methinks not. Please see www.SOS2003.com for more information.

In a press release dated June 26, 2002, the DoD announced the merger
of U.S. Space and Strategic Commands, as part of the ongoing
initiative to transform the U.S. military into a 21st century
fighting force. Scheduled to take place October 2002, the intended
merger would improve combat effectiveness and speed up information
collection and assessment needed for strategic decision-making, the
preferred location for the new headquarters being Offutt
AFB. "StratCom and SpaceCom have successfully provided the
capabilities to meet the nation's defense needs for many years. The
merged command will be responsible for both early warning of and
defense against missile at tack as well as long-range conventional
attacks," said Rumsfeld.

Pertaining to the above news release, www.ngaus.org/newsroom/commandmerger62702.asp goes on to say that
beginning October 1st, the U.S. Northern Command will work with the
North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. Northern Command
will have overall responsibility for homeland defense from a military
standpoint and will coordinate with the Office of Homeland Defense.
Bush nominated General Ralph Eberhart to command Northern Command in
May, which involves commanding U.S. Space Command and NORAD, as well
as being the Defense Department manager of Space Transportation
Systems Contingency Support. According to www.oilempire.us/standdown.html , Eberhart was in charge of air
defense on 9/11 before his promotion to Commander of the new Northern
Command, established in October 2002. The Northern Command would
manage the domestic use of the U.S. military, if or when full-scale
martial law is implemented.

The Strategic Air Command Center or SACC, is a two-level underground
structure reminiscent of "Dr. Strangelove's" bunker, that links
directly with the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon,
Washington D.C., and other major command headquarters. Vital data can
be displayed on wall screens or individual monitors, in a matter of
seconds. The Joint Chiefs of Staff Alerting Network allows the
Commander in Chief of the Strategic Air Command or CINCSTRAT prompt
contact with the President, Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other unified commanders. The Command
Center can communicate with aircraft in flight over any part of the
world through satellites and radio networks. Its main purpose is to
pass on the National Command Authority orders to the alert forces.
One of the major reasons Bush flew to Offutt AFB was because it has a
sophisticated national defense system, for holding videoconferencing
meetings in times of emergency. There he held a teleconference call
with Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Armitage, Tenet, Mineta, and others.

Knowing this, one would assume that the SACC should have helped to
track and intercept the hijacked airplanes, as well as other command
centers. Internet journalist Scott Shuger wrote, "IGNORAD: The
Military Screw-up Nobody Talks About", www.attackonamerica.net/ignorad.htm , and quotes NORAD's commander
Gen. Eberhart's explanations for the failures. Shuger points out that
it is not true there was nothing NORAD could have done, for one thing
they could have flown faster, and he explains why the time/distance
argument is flawe d, in spite of the FAA's delay in notifying the
military. The NORAD home page declares its mission to include "the
detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America
whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles". Shuger had this to
say, "At the aircraft part of this mission...NORAD stinks"
(alternative word). In June of 2002, Scott Shuger, a fitness buff,
master of judo and karate, and an experienced scuba diver was found
in the water, a little off shore on the California coast south of
L.A. The cause of death was not known at the time.

In The London Morning Paper, http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/londonmorningpaper/index.htm there was an
article by Tom Flocco, "9-11 Damage Control Team Testifies Friday on
Air Defense Failure", that fits right in with the topic at hand. The
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the U.S. is supposed to
consider clear evidence of a military stand-down. September 11th: the
Attacks and Response will be addressed in public hearings on May 22nd
and 23rd, www.tomflocco.com/9-11_Damage_Control_Team_testifies.htm .

Once the hearings are complete, the audio, video, and transcripts of
the public hearings are posted in the archives at www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing2.htm . The hearing on Thursday was
not shown on C-Span 3, as planned in the programming schedule, but
everything of less importance sure was. As this article is being
written, the Friday hearing is being televised live on C-Span 3,
though the daily schedule said C-Span 2, more coincidences? It is
this writer's opinion that these mistakes were intentional and
everyone should make it their business to watc h these historic
hearings. What are they trying to hide?

By the way, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran an article on May 19,
2003, "Pentagon and NASA Team Up to Design Hypersonic Plane", which
mentions "a future fleet of government and commercial hypersonic
vehicles, traveling between dozens or even hundreds of 'sky ports'
around the world -- and beyond." For more information: www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20030519sonicplane0519p6.asp .

Early in the morning on 9/11, a small group of top financial CEO's
with offices in the WTC, were flown to the nerve center of U.S. air
defenses, for a "Charity Classic" golf event (fund raiser benefit for
youth groups). Warren Buffett hosted this event. Rush Limbaugh said
on the air that he was there also. Then there is the group of top
Pentagon officials who suddenly canceled travel plans on Se ptember
10th due to security concerns. These are just a few of many highly
suspicious and strange coincidences.

Warren Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He is known as one of the
wealthiest men in the United States, with a fortune that is reported
to be approximately $36 billion. He is also known to be a miser. He
wants 99% of his wealth to go to the Buffett Foundation, which mostly
serves family planning clinics. It is not surprising, as he was
active in abortion issues during the 60's. His company Berkshire
Hathaway has gained overall value since 9/11.

Other companies in which Buffett owns large blocks of shares are;
Coca Cola, American Express, Gillette, the Washington Post Company,
Wells Fargo and Company, Sees Candy, Benjamin Moore and Co., GEICO
Direct Auto Insurance, and Dairy Queen. This information was found on
a website of Buffett admirers, www.askmen.com/men/business_politics/43b_warren_buffett.html .

The reader will see why these companies should be boycotted in the
following paragraphs:

"The Franklin Cover-up: Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in
Nebraska" by John W. DeCamp, attorney and former Nebraska senator, is
an investigation of satanic sexual abuse, ritual murders, pedophile
rings, child pornography and prostitution, kidnapping, and money-
laundering. It involves top Washington D.C. politicians, savings and
loan executives, and media cover-ups. This book is dedicated to the
author's dear friend, Bill Colby, former head of the CIA (before
Bush), who died under very mysterious circumstances in 1996.

The Franklin Credit Union scandal centered in Omaha opens a window
into the hellish world of child abuse and organized drug trafficking
patronized and protected by powerful figures in politics and
busine ss. This awful but true story is about the abuse of positions
of public trust, the Cover-up by institutions of government, and the
abhorrent conduct and Cover-up by some of our wealthiest citizens.
The unfinished business of the Franklin investigation is not only a
matter involving children from Nebraska, but the lives of untold
numbers of children everywhere.

In the Foreword of the book John DeCamp asked his friend Bill
Colby, "What do Ronald Reagan, President George Bush (Sr.), former
CIA Director William E. Colby, Democratic presidential candidate Bob
Kerrey, billionaire and second richest man in America and now head of
Salomon Brothers - Warren Buffett, and Ronald Roskens, the current
administrator of the Agency for International Development, all have
in common?" Colby replied, "I give up, what could that group have in
common?" DeCamp answered, "Three things, all of them a burden at
times for those who hav e to carry them. The three things are me (John
DeCamp), a case called Franklin, and a man named Larry King."

Lawrence E. (Larry) King was the manager of Franklin Community
Federal Credit Union, when it was raided by federal agencies and shut
down. Nearly $40 million was missing from the coffers of the credit
union, as the financial scandal turned into something more. It became
known children from Omaha and its surroundings said they had been
flown from city to city to be abused at parties held by Franklin's
officers, well-known Nebraskans, and Republican activists.

For further information on the previous paragraphs see www.texemarrs.com/101997/COVER.HTM and www.davidicke.net/tellthetruth/coverups/decamp.html . The name index
for the aforementioned book, www.namebase.org/sourc es/XX.html,
contains social network diagrams for many of the names listed.

Alex Jones discussing the above (graphic) subject with John DeCamp
can be heard at www.thedossier.ukonline.co.uk/audio.htm .

As time goes by, it is becoming more and more difficult to keep track
of everything in such a complicated story with numerous players,
motives, and extensive details. The various timelines compiled are a
valuable aid in sorting through rampant hype and discrepancies.
Inspired by the excellent timeline at the From the Wilderness
website, Paul Thompson started adding to it with primarily mainstream
sources and has contributed a great accomplishment with Allan Wood
called, "An Interesting Day". It was featured May 12 on Prison Planet
and can be found in the archives. It is a must read for anyone trying
to connect all the dots and can also be read at www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/essayaninterestingday.html .

It is very distressing, that the powerful clique responsible for the
sacrificial deaths on 9/11 and the black cloud of misery upon the
population use it to their advantage at every opportunity. Having all
the advantages, including unlimited free publicity, they also block
investigations and disclosure of incriminating information, under the
very convenient excuse of being "classified" for "National Security".
Read "The Final Secret of 9/11" at www.antiwar.com/justin/j050203.html .

Drastic draconian laws are sneakily passed, while the ones behind it
are exempted from their ridiculous rules and burdensome regulations.
It was figured out long ago, before the Project for the New American
Century was drea med up. We are even expected to trust them as the
experts and put them on a pedestal, as they destroy everything of
real value and try to make us the enemy.

To top it off, they provoke the world to despair and rage against
America and make enemies out of allies. The ones who call the shots
in their private planes, mansions, bunkers, and groves are the ones
who benefit from their actions with impunity. The U.S. government has
been under siege for a long time, by ruthless imposters with ulterior
motives and this is not the real America. The government has become
the U.S. Corporation of the Power Elite worldwide and we are the
scapegoats. If they would just leave us alone to live and let live,
most people would get along with their neighbors. Don't we have
enough problems already?

"T-Bone" Ridge said in a hearing, "they want answers to questions".
Why is it then, that they don't want our questions truth fully and
forthrightly answered? Because the proof is in the pudding and the
pudding is putrid, made from their recipe of killing, lying, and
stealing. Are there strange coincidences? Do birds fly?

Support Infowars with your heartfelt prayers and financially. Cherish
the gift of expression that we have been given through the voice of
Alex Jones, who speaks boldly and unceasingly, on our behalf.

--

posted 10-15-2003 09:36 PM            

American Free Press

Controversy Swirling Over September 11 Pentagon Mystery:

Sun Oct 12 23:28:01 2003

64.140.158.136

Controversy Swirling Over September 11 Pentagon Mystery: Industry Experts Can't Explain Photo Evidence

American Free Press
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/121003mysteryenginepart.html

Since AFP first published a photograph from the 9-11 Pentagon crash site, there has been a great outpouring of interest-and disinfo.

When American Free Press published a hard-to-find photo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) archive showing a small turbine disc from the Pentagon crash site, it was hoped that readers could help identify the object (Sept. 15 & 22). Since the photo and article were published there has been an outpouring of interest-and disinformation-about the unidentified jet engine part.

The photograph reveals a crucial piece of evidence, which if positively identified could help prove what kind of aircraft hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

"Is this the 9-11 smoking gun?" Fintan Dunne, editor of WagKingdom.com asks on a web page dedicated to the FEMA photographs. These photos could be the keys to unlock the cover-up, Dunne wrote on Oct. 7.

"Among all the arguments about 9-11: tower fires, WTC 7 collapse, etc., none seems as straightforward as that posed by the jet engine part," Dunne said. If the Pentagon photos are authentic, he said, then either the turbine is from a Boeing 757, or it is not. The web site appeals to "aero engineers" for help in identifying the disc seen in the FEMA photos.

The photograph is one of many taken by Jocelyn Augustino, a FEMA photographer, at the Pentagon crash site on Sept. 13, 2001. In the FEMA on-line photo library, the best photos of the unidentified disc are numbered 4414 and 4415, archived at: www.photolibrary.fema.gov/ photolibrary/advancedsearch.do.

Several readers wrote to AFP suggesting that the unidentified disc was a piece from the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) mounted in the tail section of a Boeing 757. Honeywell makes the GTCP331-200 APU used on the 757 aircraft. No one suggested, however, that the small disc was a piece from one of the main engines of a 757-200.

AFP contacted Honeywell's Aerospace division in Phoenix, Ariz., and sent high-resolution photos for their examination. "There's no way that's an APU wheel," an expert at Honeywell told AFP. The expert, who cannot be named, added: "That turbine disc-there's no way in the world that came out of an APU."

American Free Press contacted Pratt & Whitney and Rolls Royce, manufacturers of the 757's turbofan jet engines to try and identify the piece.

"If the aircraft that struck the Pentagon was a Boeing 757-200 owned by American Airlines, then it would have to be a Rolls Royce engine," Mark Sullivan, spokesman for Pratt & Whitney, told AFP.

John W. Brown, spokesman for Rolls Royce (Indianapolis), had previously told AFP: "It is not a part from any Rolls Royce engine that I'm familiar with, and certainly not the AE 3007H made here in Indy."

The AE 3007 engines are used in small commuter jets such as the Cessna Citation; the AE 3007H is also used in the military's unmanned aircraft, the Global Hawk. The Global Hawk is manufactured by Northrop Grumman's subsidiary Ryan Aeronautical, which it acquired from Teledyne, Inc. in July 1999.

If the government version that an American Airlines 757-200 hit the Pentagon is accurate, then the object in the photo would have to be from a Rolls Royce RB211-535 turbofan engine.

When AFP told Brown that it must be a piece of a Rolls Royce engine, Brown balked and asked who at Pratt & Whitney had provided the information.

Asked again if the disc in the photo is a piece of a Rolls Royce RB211-535, or from the AE 3007 series, Brown said he could not answer.

AFP then asked Brown if he was actually familiar with the parts of an AE 3007H, which is made at the Indiana plant: "No," Brown said. "I don't build the engines. I am a spokesman for the c ompany. I speak for the company."

Rolls Royce produces the RB211-535 engines for American Airlines 757-200 aircraft at a plant in Derby, England. Martin Johnson, head of communications at Rolls Royce in Derby, said he had followed the story closely in American Free Press and had also been notified in advance by Rolls Royce offices in Seattle and Indianapolis.

However, rather than address the question of the unidentified disc, Johnson launched a verbal attack on this reporter for questioning the government version of events at the Pentagon on 9-11. "You are the only person in the world who does not believe that a 757 hit the Pentagon," Johnson said. "The idea that we can have a r easonable conversation is beyond your wildest dreams," Johnson said and hung up the phone.

Flug Revue, a German magazine about aviation equipment was more willing to discuss the disc. Karl Schwarz, a technical editor at the Bonn-based publication, examined the photo and technical drawings of the RB211-535 for AFP. "I think only an engineer who is involved in the design of the engine could identify the part," Schwarz said.

While the front fan of the RB211-535 has a 74.5-inch diameter, compression discs inside the engine are much smaller. Schwarz said the inner discs are between 29 and 41 inches in diameter. "It could well be" an inner compression disc, Schwarz said. The discs fro m the inner stages are made of titanium, he added.

AFP asked Schwarz if this could be a disc from a smaller engine, such as the Global Hawk's AE 3007H. "It could come from any jet engine," Schwarz said.

If the disc in the photo can be matched with a Rolls Royce AE 3007H engine, some speculate that it would prove something like a Global Hawk hit the Pentagon.

The Global Hawk engine is hand built at the Rolls Royce plant in Indianapolis and has an opening diameter of 43.5 inches. Schwarz said he did not have a technical diagram of a n AE 3007 engine to consult.

Because the disc in the photo appears very similar in size and shape to the front fan of a Global Hawk engine, AFP asked Schwarz in what position is the solid disc found behind the front fan of a turbofan engine. "Immediately," Schwarz said.

An unnamed former cruise missile engineer for the engine manufacturer Teledyne Continental Motors-Turbine Engines added his opinion to the debate:

"Clearly, the part in the picture is larger than 24 inches in diameter. It also appears to have a nosepiece-like devic e on its front. This probably houses bearings, front oil sump and perhaps an alternator or starter."

This engineer concluded with the intriguing comment, "This fan did not come from a cruise missile engine."

------------------------------------

--

posted 10-16-2003 08:36 PM            

Now this article is written by someone who obviously only SEES at a certain level. But Tucker Carlson, on CNN today, said that Clinton didn't do squat about terrorism and I wanted to throw this in his twitty brainwashed little face! Him and his puppetish bow tie! PL-EEZE!

I love William Rivers Pitt's writing, even though he's not quite as privy to more insidious information. Worth a read! We all know the "sins" go much deeper! But remember, all levels of truth seeking are important! bc

The Sins of September 11
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 13 October 2003

I am beginning to despise reading. I have lost count of the number of times I have read some passage in a politically-oriented book, and then been uncontrollably motivated to hurl said book against a wall or across the room in fury. My library looks like someone took a weed-whacker to it; all the dust-jackets have taken a fearsome beating.

The book currently on my desk has begun to retain a damaged appearance. Sidney Blumenthal's "The Clinton Wars" is a meticulously researched and foot-noted tour de force through the last ten years of the brainless savagery of American politics. The retelling of the contrived scandals clarioned by a media establishment which abandoned any pretense of journalistic integrity, pushed by a cabal of House members and right-wing activists whose worshipped altar was the desire for raw power, and the sad and sorry tale of the impeachment itself, is a difficult but necessary review of a truly pathetic time in our history. Blumenthal manages to bring his readers back to that tar pit, and keep them enthralled, with an excellent and deft literary touch.

Since I have read most of the other books on the scandal-gasm and impeachment, there was not much through the middle of this book that brought me up short, though Blumenthal does present interviews and perspectives of players on both sides of that aisle which are not present in the other histories (It was amusing to read Congressional impeachment warrior James Rogan speak of being "On the wrong side of history" regarding the trial in the Senate). No, the book began to take its obligatory pounding when I reached page 656, and the second part of the chapter entitled "The Twenty-First Century."

The astounding level of blunt ignorance within the American populace about the events surrounding the attacks of September 11 cannot be easily quantified. In a nation with thousands of newspapers, thousands of radio stations, and a ceaseless data stream from CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS and PBS, some 70% of the population believed as late as a month ago that Saddam Hussein was centrally involved in and personally responsible for the attacks which destroyed the Towers and struck the Pentagon. Beyond that, what most people know about the single most important event in American history does not go much beyond "evildoers" who "hate our freedom."

That is, simply, incredible. It is also not an accident. This ignorance has a great deal to do with the stunning mediocrity of the television news media, that empty well where most Americans go to become informed. This ignorance also, and far more importantly, has a great deal to do with the Clinton-era actions of a large number of conservatives, many of whom are in positions of power today, many of whom are now making careers out of September 11.

The two great myths that have settled across the nation, beyond the Hussein-9/11 connection, are that Clinton did not do enough during his tenure to stop the spread of radical terrorist organizations like al Qaeda, and that the attacks themselves could not have been anticipated or stopped. Blumenthal's insider perspective on these matters bursts the myths entirely, and reveals a level of complicity regarding the attacks within the journalistic realm and the conservative political ranks that is infuriating and disturbing.

Starting in 1995, Clinton took actions against terrorism that were unprecedented in American history. He poured billions and billions of dollars into counterterrorism activities across the entire spectrum of the intelligence community. He poured billions more into the protection of critical infrastructure. He ordered massive federal stockpiling of antidotes and vaccines to prepare for a possible bioterror attack. He order a reorganization of the intelligence community itself, ramming through reforms and new procedures to address the demonstrable threat. Within the National Security Council, "threat meetings" were held three times a week to assess looming conspiracies. His National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger, prepared a voluminous dossier on al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, actively tracking them across the planet. Clinton raised the issue of terrorism in virtually every important speech he gave in the last three years of his tenure. In 1996, Clinton delivered a major address to the United Nations on the matter of international terrorism, calling it "The enemy of our generation."

Behind the scenes, he leaned vigorously on the leaders of nations within the terrorist sphere. In particular, he pushed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to assist him in dealing with the threat from neighboring Afghanistan and its favorite guest, Osama bin Laden. Before Sharif could be compelled to act, he was thrown out of office by his own army. His replacement, Pervez Musharraf, pointedly refused to do anything to assist Clinton in dealing with these threats. Despite these and other diplomatic setbacks, terrorist cell after terrorist cell were destroyed across the world, and bomb plots against American embassies were thwarted. Because of security concerns, these victories were never revealed to the American people until very recently.

In America, few people heard anything about this. Clinton's dire public warnings about the threat posed by terrorism, and the massive non-secret actions taken to thwart it, went completely unreported by the media, which was far more concerned with stained dresses and baseless Drudge Report rumors. When the administration did act militarily against bin Laden and his terrorist network, the actions were dismissed by partisans within the media and Congress as scandalous "wag the dog" tactics. The TV networks actually broadcast clips of the movie "Wag The Dog" to accentuate the idea that everything the administration was doing was contrived fakery.

The bombing of the Sundanese factory at al-Shifa, in particular, drew wide condemnation from these quarters, despite the fact that the CIA found and certified VX nerve agent precursor in the ground outside the factory, despite the fact that the factory was owned by Osama bin Laden's Military Industrial Corporation, and despite the fact that the manager of the factory lived in bin Laden's villa in Khartoum. The book "Age of Sacred Terror" quantifies the al-Shifa issue thusly: "The dismissal of the al-Shifa attack as a scandalous blunder had serious consequences, including the failure of the public to comprehend the nature of the al Qaeda threat."

In Congress, Clinton was thwarted by the reactionary conservative majority in virtually every attempt he made to pass legislation that would attack al Qaeda and terrorism. His 1996 omnibus terror bill, which included many of the anti-terror measures we now take for granted after September 11, was withered almost to the point of uselessness by attacks from the right; Jesse Helms and Trent Lott were openly dismissive of the threats Clinton spoke of.

Clinton wanted to attack the financial underpinnings of the al-Qaeda network by banning American companies and individuals from dealing with foreign banks and financial institutions that al Qaeda was using for its money-laundering operations. Texas Senator Phil Gramm, chairman of the Banking Committee, killed Clinton's bill on this matter and called it "totalitarian." In fact, he was compelled to kill the bill because his most devoted patrons, the Enron Corporation and its criminal executives in Houston, were using those same terrorist financial networks to launder their own dirty money and rip off the Enron stockholders.

Just before departing office, Clinton managed to make a deal with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to have some twenty nations close tax havens used by al Qaeda. His term ended before the deal was sealed, and the incoming Bush administration acted immediately to destroy the agreement. According to Time magazine, in an article entitled "Banking on Secrecy" published in October of 2001, Bush economic advisors Larry Lindsey and R. Glenn Hubbard were urged by think tanks like the Center for Freedom and Prosperity to opt out of the coalition Clinton had formed. The conservative Heritage Foundation lobbied Bush's Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill, to do the same. In the end, the lobbyists got what they wanted, and the Bush administration pulled America out of the plan. The Time article stated, "Without the world's financial superpower, the biggest effort in years to rid the world's financial system of dirty money was short-circuited."

This laundry list of partisan catastrophes goes on and on. Far from being inept on the matter of terrorism, Clinton was profoundly activist in his attempts to address terrorism. Much of his work was foiled by right-wing Congressional conservatives who, simply, refused to accept the fact that he was President. These men, paid to work for the public trust, spent eight years working diligently to paralyze any and all Clinton policies, including anti-terror initiatives that, if enacted, would have gone a long way towards thwarting the September 11 attacks. Beyond them lay the worthless television media, which ignored and spun the terrorist issue as it pursued salacious leaks from Ken Starr's office, leaving the American people drowning in a swamp of ignorance on a matter of deadly global importance.

Over and above the theoretical questions regarding whether or not Clinton's anti-terror policies, if passed, would have stopped September 11 lies the very real fact that attacks very much like 9/11 were, in fact, stopped dead by the Clinton administration. The most glaring example of this came on December 31, 1999, when the world gathered to celebrate the passing of the millennium. On that night, al Qaeda was gathering as well.

The terrorist network planned to simultaneously attack the national airports in Washington DC and Los Angeles, the Amman Raddison Hotel in Jordan, a constellation of holy sites in Israel, and the USS The Sullivans at dock in Yemen. Each and every single one of these plots, which ranged from one side of the planet to the other, was foiled by the efforts of the Clinton administration. Speaking for the first time about these millennium plots, in a speech delivered to the Coast Guard Academy on May 17, 2000, Clinton said, "I want to tell you a story that, unfortunately, will not be the last example you will have to face."

Indeed.

Clinton proved that Osama bin Laden and his terror network can be foiled, can be thwarted, can be stopped. The multifaceted and complex nature of the international millennium plots rivals the plans laid before September 11, and involved counter-terrorism actions within several countries and across the entire American intelligence and military community. All resources were brought to bear, and the terrorists went down to defeat. The proof is in the pudding here. September 11, like the millennium plots, could have been avoided.

Couple this with other facts about the Bush administration we now have in hand. The administration was warned about a massive terror plot in the months before September by the security services of several countries, including Israel, Egypt, Germany and Russia. CIA Director George Tenet delivered a specific briefing on the matter to the administration on August 8, 2001. The massive compendium of data on Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda compiled by Sandy Berger, and delivered to Condoleezza Rice upon his departure, went completely and admittedly unread until the attacks took place. The attacks themselves managed, for over an hour, to pierce the most formidable air defense system in the history of the Earth without a single fighter aircraft taking wing until the catastrophe was concluded.

It is not fashionable these days to pine for the return of William Jefferson Clinton. Given the facts above, and the realities we face about the administration of George W. Bush, and the realities we endure regarding the aftermath of September 11, the United States of America would be, and was, well served by its previous leader. That we do not know this, that September 11 happened at all, that it was such a wretched shock to the American people, that we were so woefully unprepared, can be laid at the feet of a failed news media establishment, and at the feet of a pack of power-mad conservative extremists who now have a great deal to atone for.

Had Clinton been heeded, the measures he espoused would have been put in place, and a number of powerful bulwarks would have been thrown into the paths of those commercial airplanes. Had the news media been something other than a purveyor of masturbation fantasies from the far-right, the American people would have know the threats we faced, and would have compelled their Congressmen to act. Had Congress itself been something other than an institution ruled by narrow men whose only desire was to break a sitting President by any means necessary, we would very probably still have a New York skyline dominated by two soaring towers.

Had the Bush administration not continued this pattern of gross partisan ineptitude and heeded the blitz of domestic and international warnings, instead of trooping off to Texas for a month-long vacation, had Bush's National Security Advisor done one hour's worth of her homework, we probably would not be in the grotesque global mess that currently envelops us. Never forget that many of the activists who pushed throughout the 1990s for the annihilation of all things Clinton are now foursquare in charge of the country today.

These are the sins of September 11. Thank you, Sidney. I'm sorry I broke your book.

-------

William Rivers Pitt is the Managing Editor of truthout.org. He is a New York Times and international best-selling author of three books - "War On Iraq," available from Context Books, "The Greatest Sedition is Silence," available from Pluto Press, and "Our Flag, Too: The Paradox of Patriotism," available in August from Context Books.

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posted 10-17-2003 11:22 AM            

http://memes.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1639

It is a means of remotely piloting aircraft (as NASA's Ames Research Center showed us, it can be done with nerve impulses). Utilizing the electrostatically charged SkyNet, we now have an Air Force controlled battle command. After September 11's demo (no pun intended), Boeing cannot keep UAV's (unmanned aerial vehicles) on the shelf. It all started with Home Run.

~~~~~

Home Run

Electronically Hijacking the
World Trade Center Attack Aircraft
Copyright Joe Vialls, October 2001

In the mid-seventies America faced a new and escalating crisis, with US commercial jets being hijacked for geopolitical reasons. Determined to gain the upper hand in this new form of aerial warfare, two American multinationals collaborated with the Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) on a project designed to facilitate the remote recovery of hijacked American aircraft. Brilliant both in concept and operation, "Home Run" [not its real code name] allowed specialist ground controllers to listen in to cockpit conversations on the target aircraft, then take absolute control of its computerized flight control system by remote means. From that point onwards, regardless of the wishes of the hijackers or flight deck crew, the hijacked aircraft could be recovered and landed automatically at an airport of choice, with no more difficulty than flying a radio-controlled model plane. The engineers had no idea that almost thirty years after its initial design, Home Run's top secret computer codes would be broken, and the system used to facilitate direct ground control of the four aircraft used in the high-profile attacks on New York and Washington on 11th September 2001.

Before moving on to the New York and Washington attacks, we first need to look at the ways in which an aircraft is normally controlled by its pilot, because without this basic knowledge, Home Run would make no sense. In order to control an aircraft in three-dimensional space, the pilot uses the control yoke (joystick) in front of him, rudder pedals under his feet, and a bank of engine throttles located at his side. Without engine thrust the aircraft would not fly at all, so the throttles are largely self explanatory: For more speed or altitude increase throttle, for less speed or altitude decrease throttle.

In order to raise or lower the nose of the aircraft, the pilot pulls or pushes on the control yoke, which in turn raises or lowers the elevators on the horizontal tailplane. To bank the aircraft left or right, the pilot moves the control yoke to the left or right, which in turn operates the ailerons on the outer wings. Lastly, to turn left or right at low speed or "balance" turns at high speed, the pilot presses the left or right rudder pedals as required, which in turn move the rudder on the vertical stabilizer.

Back in the early days of flight, the control yoke and rudder pedals were connected to the various flight control surfaces by thin cables, meaning the pilot had direct physical control over every movement the aircraft made. This was no great problem for an average man flying a small biplane, but as aircraft grew ever bigger, heavier and faster over the years, the loadings on the control yoke and rudder pedals became huge, certainly well beyond the ability of a single pilot to handle unaided.

By the late fifties we were well into the age of hydraulics, where just like the power steering on your automobile, hydraulic rams were placed in line between the pilot's control cables and each individual control surface. Now when the pilot moved the control yoke, the cables activated sensors, which in turn activated one or more hydraulic rams, which in turn moved one or more control surfaces. For the first time since Bleriot and the Wright brothers, pilots were of necessity being steadily distanced from direct control of their own aircraft.

When the multinationals and DARPA finally came on the scene in the mid-seventies, aircraft systems were even more advanced, with computers controlling onboard autopilots, which in turn were capable of controlling all of the onboard hydraulics. In combination these multiple different functions were now known as the "Flight Control System" or FCS, in turn integrated with sophisticated avionics capable of automatically landing the aircraft in zero visibility conditions. In summary, by the mid-seventies most of the large jets were capable of effectively navigating hundreds of miles and then making automatic landings at a selected airport in zero-zero fog conditions. All of this could be accomplished unaided, but in theory at least, still under the watchful eyes of the flight deck crews.

In order to make Home Run truly effective, it had to be completely integrated with all onboard systems, and this could only be accomplished with a new aircraft design, several of which were on the drawing boards at that time. Under cover of extreme secrecy, the multinationals and DARPA went ahead on this basis and built "back doors" into the new computer designs. There were two very obvious hard requirements at this stage, the first a primary control channel for use in taking over the flight control system and flying the aircraft back to an airfield of choice, and secondly a covert audio channel for monitoring flight deck conversations. Once the primary channel was activated, all aircraft functions came under direct ground control, permanently removing the hijackers and pilots from the control loop.

Remember here, this was not a system designed to "undermine" the authority of the flight crews, but was put in place as a "doomsday" device in the event the hijackers started to shoot passengers or crew members, possibly including the pilots. Using the perfectly reasonable assumption that hijackers only carry a limited number of bullets, and many aircraft nowadays carry in excess of 300 passengers, Home Run could be used to fly all of the survivors to a friendly airport for a safe auto landing. So the system started out in life for the very best of reasons, but finally fell prey to security leaks, and eventually to compromised computer codes. In light of recent high-profile CIA and FBI spying trials, these leaks and compromised codes should come as no great surprise to anyone.

Activating the primary Home Run channel proved to be easy. Most readers will have heard of a "transponder", prominent in most news reports immediately following the attacks on New York and Washington. Technically a transponder is a combined radio transmitter and receiver which operates automatically, in this case relaying data between the four aircraft and air traffic control on the ground. The signals sent provide a unique "identity" for each aircraft, essential in crowded airspace to avoid mid-air collisions, and equally essential for Home Run controllers trying to lock onto the correct aircraft. Once it has located the correct aircraft, Home Run "piggy backs" a data transmission onto the transponder channel and takes direct control from the ground.

This explains why none of the aircraft sent a special "I have been hijacked" transponder code, despite multiple activation points on all four aircraft. Because the transponder frequency had already been piggy backed by Home Run , transmission of the special hijack code was rendered impossible. This was the first hard proof that the target aircraft had been hijacked electronically from the ground, rather than by [FBI-inspired] motley crews of Arabs toting penknives.

The Home Run listening device on the flight deck utilizes the cockpit microphones that normally feed the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), one of two black boxes armored to withstand heavy impact and thereby later give investigators significant clues to why the aircraft crashed. However, once hooked into Home Run , the CVRs are bypassed and voice transmissions are no longer recorded on the 30-minute endless loop recording tape. If Home Run is active for more than thirty minutes, there will therefore be no audible data on the Cockpit Voice Recorders. To date, crash investigators have recovered the CVRs from the Pentagon and Pittsburg aircraft, and publicly confirmed that both are completely blank. The only possible reason for this, is data capture by Home Run , providing the final hard proof that the attack aircraft were hijacked electronically from the ground, rather than by "Arab terrorists".

Many readers might by now be indignant; convinced this is incorrect or misleading information because of "those telephone calls from the hijacked aircraft". Which telephone calls exactly? There are no records of any such calls, and the emotional claptrap the media fed you in the aftermath of the attack was in all cases third-person. We had the media's invisible "contact" at an airline who "said" a hostess called to report a hijacking, and we had a priest (?) who "said" he received a call from a man asking him in turn to call his wife and tell her he loved her. Presumably this man would have had his wife's name filed in his cellphone, and faced with imminent death would have called her direct. The FAA helped out by claiming that it had "overheard" a heated argument from a cockpit where the radio transmit switch had been left in the "on" position. When push came to shove, the FAA was forced to retract, and admit that the mythical argument was not on the tapes at all.

Whether more information will be forthcoming about Home Run is unknown, but nowadays there are large numbers of people apart from the author privy to the basic data. As long ago as the early nineties, a major European flag carrier [Lufthansa] acquired the information and was seriously alarmed that one of its own aircraft might be "rescued" by the Americans without its authority. Accordingly, this flag carrier completely stripped the American flight control computers out of its entire fleet, and replaced them with a home grown version. These aircraft are now effectively impregnable to penetration by Home Run , but that is more than can be said for the American aircraft fleet. A casual count indicates around 600 aircraft in the USA and elsewhere are still vulnerable and could be used in further attacks at any time, which might help explain why America has lately been bombing the Afghans primarily with bags of wheat. For the first time in US history, American officials appear to be genuinely fearful of future reprisals, and justifiably so with 600 giant bombs parked on the wrong side of their missile defence shield.

It is a "Catch 22" situation. In order to make all of the aircraft safe, the flight control systems would have to be stripped out and replaced, at a cost of billions of dollars the airlines cannot afford because they are going broke. Nor is there enough time. The most innovative anti-hijacking tool in the American arsenal, has now become the biggest known threat to American national security.

For the purpose of public reassurance I would like to publish a complete list of aircraft which cannot be affected by Home Run, but I cannot do so for legal reasons. Any aircraft manufacturer not on the list might feel inclined to sue me for defamation and I can't afford that. However, there is nothing to stop me publishing my personal choice of aircraft for a flight from, say, Atlanta to Singapore via JFK, Frankfurt, and Kuala Lumpur.

From Atlanta to JFK I would probably travel on a Boeing 737, and connect with a Boeing 777 for the onward flight to Frankfurt. At Frankfurt I would probably board an Airbus A340 for Kuala Lumpur, and finish the journey to Singapore on a DC9 or a Fokker 100. Naturally I might be unlucky enough to pick an aircraft with an intoxicated pilot, or an unrelated mechanical problem, but apart from those minor risks I'd feel pretty safe

The author is a former member of the Society of
Licenced Aeronautical Engineers and Technologists, London

See:

RQ-1A Global Hawk (Tier II+ HAE UAV)

Here's ANOTHER great article from Serendipity.

~~~~~

From Mitre Corp., Offutt AFB, September 11, DARPA, Global Hawk, and Wetware

Meet Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the United States, who was holding a 'conference' in Omaha Nebraska on September 11, 2001. This man is part of Mitre Corp. and Mitre is heavily into UAV's (unmanned aerial vehicles). In fact, this little get-together was being held at the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) at Offut AFB. A number (it hasn't been reported exactly how many but it was called 'a small group of business leaders') of CEO's from New York, including at least one from the WTC, were there.

~snip~

MITRE is experimenting with the integration of advanced Internet technologies into the ISR sensor ground station. The ISR Information Service (ISRIS) Mission Oriented Investigation and Experimentation (MOIE) will develop a prototype information portal that provides ISR sensor data and ground station service accessibility to the battlespace internets: the Intelinks, the Air Force Joint Battlespace Infosphere (JBI), the Navy Network Centric Warfare, and the Army First Digital Division. In FY01, the project will demonstrate the ISRIS concept using the Global Hawk UAV platform. Global Hawk is an excellent platform for this pathfinding research since it has no established TPED support systems today, and it's multiple sensor data types Electro-Optic (EO), Infra-Red (IR), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), and Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) make it an especially rich information source.

~~~~~

What follows was snipped from WTC, Buffet, China, Offut AFB, L-3 , MONTAUK, BMI and CIA

The company was working on the developement of remote control aircraft and on Sept 6th I recieved word that some of my people may have been released o from china to work on a change over of ATC Radar. I was told they had been contacted to be in a work detail in the WTC which was being renovated. Ruppert Murdoch and
Times warner had transferred some schema from there office in Guangzhou to the US military for a test of the ROTHR radar system to be used on the Air traffic control system based in the naval station in Montauk NY.

~~~~~

The Mitre Corporation has programmatic understanding and technical depth across many DoD C4ISR-related programs. MITRE has been involved with most past DoD UAV programs, as well most of the current programs. Additionally, MITRE has extensive technical expertise in airborne sensors; signal processing; line-of-sight and satellite communications; analog and digital data links; mission planning; modeling and simulation; UAV ground stations; imagery compression, exploitation, processing and dissemination; software development and test; and systems architecture development and systems engineering.

is from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs/message/45786

posted 10-18-2003 09:16 PM            

Germans Support Claims That US Plotted 911
"If what I say is right, the whole US government
should end up behind bars."
By Kate Connolly
The Telegraph - UK
10-17-3

BONN -- A former cabinet minister is drawing huge crowds and stoking the fires of anti-Americanism in Germany with a book arguing that the US government mounted the Sept 11 attacks as part of a plot to win global domination.

Andreas von Bulow has gone even further than Michael Meacher, Britain's former environment minister, who claims the US knowingly failed to prevent the attacks.

Von Bulow, 66, believes that Sept 11 was staged to justify the subsequent wars on Afghanistan and Iraq.

"If what I say is right, the whole US government should end up behind bars," he says.

The German government has made no official response to the book, although ministers have tried to distance themselves from his views.

But von Bulow's ideas are very popular and polls show a fifth of Germans believe Washington ordered the attacks.

The CIA and September 11, written mainly from internet research, is a besteller, with sales of more than 100,000.

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/17/
wvonb17.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/17/ixworld.html

posted 10-27-2003 01:34 AM            

WHITE HOUSE FACES SUBPOENA THREAT
Phil Shenton NYT