March 23, 2004
Power Play?
Printable Version | [eMail this article!] |With the hearings by the 9/11 Commission going on, and all kinds of questions being asked, it seems like a good time to repost and article I did in May of 2002.
From the Cornell University Law Collection - US Codes TITLE 18 , PART I , CHAPTER 19 , Sec. 371. Sec. 371. - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States - If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.TITLE 18 , PART I , CHAPTER 115 , Sec. 2381. Sec. 2381. - Treason - Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States
TITLE 18 , PART I , CHAPTER 115 , Sec. 2384. Sec. 2384. - Seditious conspiracy - If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the systemic pathology of a consolidated power elite, and how it is linked to our current social environment and the War on Terrorism. I examine three major areas to demonstrate the systemic nature of this group: the disregard of the environment and human health for economic and market gain; the consolidation of corporate and political power, and terrorism and the War on Terrorism.
Note: The information sources for this article come primarily from the independent and international media as the corporate (or mainstream) media has chosen not to report fully or accurately the events discussed. For a list of good independent media sources, see the links after the bibliography.
How far would those with extreme political and economic power go to enhance and secure their position? Would they truly aim towards global hegemony regardless of the costs to life and environment? Would they engage in practices that they knew would kill and disable workers and populations? Would they knowingly commit permanent damage on the environment to gain their ends? Would they sponsor and enact agreements that would overturn the sovereignty of nations; purposefully send populations into poverty; intentionally strip the earth and its inhabitants of the necessities of life; make the entire population of the earth dependent on them for our very survival?
Would they knowingly orchestrate the deaths of thousands of people to advance the control by a few? Would they knowingly release deadly bacteria and viruses on unsuspecting populations? Would they knowingly start a global war bringing the most deadly biological, chemical, and nuclear technologies to active use?
To the average global citizen (and I am one), the answer to all of these questions is obviously "No." To the average person -- regardless of race, nationality, political or religious affiliation, the answer is "No."
We have difficulty fathoming these types of actions because they entail such a pathological disregard for everything that seems sane, and such a pathological self-interest that is generally assigned to the criminally insane. We do not accept that someone or someones can deliberately engage in activities with the foreknowledge of destruction of lives. To get others to join in and cooperate in such ventures calls up visions of mind control and bizarre cults.
Probably the closest "sane" framework is war (or its equivalent), where on a broad scale, many can dehumanize a population or a group to a point that virtually any action against them is seen as legitimate. We are well familiar with this mentality in the United States. However, applying this explanation to those who would use and consort to use their power for wildly destructive purposes has frightening implications. It would mean that those who hold the reins of power see us as the "Enemy" with all the nastiness such a construct entails.
Unfortunately, we are not dealing with an individual pathology, but a systemic pathology. We have allowed the creation of an environment where these "pathologies" are the norm -- part of day to day operations of our economic, social, and public institutions. It might even be argued that this drive to power has been normalized by our particular capitalistic system which while portrayed as "free market capitalism" has become cannibalistic capitalism.
Though we find it difficult to understand these types of heinous activities, we have ample examples that they do occur, and that they occur on a regular basis. Despite this, we seem to be largely willing to continue to trust corporations, the power elite, and allow them to advance their position vis a vis the people and the earth. Perhaps we do not act because they are presented to us as isolated incidents. This is nowhere more clear than in the case of corporate malfeasance that impacts our environment and health.
The Environment, Resources and Human Health
The following quotes by Monsanto representatives capture the aim of corporations:
In India, Monsanto has bought MAHYCO, Maharashtra Hybrid Company, EID Parry and Rallis. Mr. Jack Kennedy of Monsanto has said, "we propose to penetrate the Indian agricultural sector in a big way. MAHYCO is a good vehicle." According to Mr. Robert Farley of Monsanto, "what you are seeing is not just a consolidation of seed companies, it's really a consolidation of the entire food chain. Since water is as central to food production as seed is, and without water life is not possible, Monsanto is now trying to establish its control over water. During 1999, Monsanto plans to launch a new water business, starting with India and Mexico since both these countries are facing water shortages." GE Food Alert Campaign. 3/6/02. 1
While Monsanto (and I am sure other corporations) are poised to control our environment and the necessities of life, there are by-products of this takeover. There are over 40,000 superfund sites in the United States. 2 Each of these sites reflects toxic environmental damage caused by a business, corporation, or government installation. Most of this damage was caused with the full knowledge of the polluters, and with the intent to keep that knowledge from the public, and often from government regulatory agencies. There are notorious and publicly documented cases such as:
Love Canal 3
: On August 7, 1978, Love Canal (a neighborhood in the City of Niagra Falls, NY) became the first man-made disaster declared a federal emergency. The former chemical landfill which then became a housing development was so designated by President Jimmy Carter. The neighborhood was the former home and dump site for Hooker Chemicals and Plastics Corp. from 1947 to 1952. Hooker sold the land to the City of Niagra in 1953 for $1.00 and a disclaimer that he was not responsible for any future damages due to buried chemicals. There were reports that the Pentagon had also disposed of toxic materials at the site. There were high numbers of birth defects and cancer rates among Love Canal residents -- as high as 10 percent (1 in 10). So ultimately Love Canal was evacuated permanently and the residents forced to relocate in November of 1979.
While Love Canal was the first area officially lost to toxic dumping, it certainly is not the only one -- or the last. A study reported by the Washington Post 4 on January 21, 2001 stated that an estimated 600,000 school children in 1,200 schools in five states (Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Michigan and California) "are located within a half mile of federal Supefund or state-identified contaminated sites." The study is available from Child Proofing Our Communities Campaign at Poisoned Schools: Invisible Action, Invisible Threat .
MTBE, a highly toxic gas additive, has been found in water supplies across the country and many towns have contaminated drinking water
The most recently publicized debacle was documented by Bill Moyers on PBS: Trade Secrets (2001). This expose' fully documents the industry-wide coverup by the chemical industry (including Monsanto) of the effects of vinyl chloride on humans -- including the disastrous effects on workers.
Politics and Economic Interests
Of course, corporate malfeasance certainly spreads beyond the environment to other manufacturing areas and to our services sector. We recently have seen the recall of tires by Ford and Firestone for the roll-over problems with SUVs, but there have been significant problems in the auto industry before. More recently, we have Enron, Anderson, and Global Crossing as exemplars of corporate operations -- and of their links to the political process and the highest levels of government. I heard a radio talk show host saying that none of the millions that Enron contributed to political parties (or to President Bush (in particular) helped them out in the long run. The purpose of this statement was to prove that corporate influence on the political process was non-existent (or minimal). However, what all that money and influence did buy was changes to regulations that opened the door for them to operate the way that they did.
On a governmental level, we have the well documented cases of Watergate under President Nixon 8
which resulted in the resignation of both the President and Vice President, and the resignation or jailing of 40 government officials. We also have the Iran / Contra 9 debacle for the Reagan administration further linked to the CIA's involvement in the drug trade in Nicaragua 10. Now we have the GAO (Government Accounting Office) suing Vice President Cheney and the Bush Administration over materials related to our energy plan and the influence of Enron (particularly Kenneth Lay) in its development 11.
Given this history of collusion and cover-up over at least the last 50 years, I am at a loss to explain how we can have such trust in our government or the "good word" of corporations. Our government (and many others) have signed agreements such as GATT (General Agreement on Tariff and Trade), NAFTA (North American Free Trade Act), and GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) and allowed the creation of an independent enforcement body --the WTO (World Trade Organization) -- for most of these agreements. The signatories to these agreements essentially sign away most of their sovereignty to corporations. These agreements essentially remove national borders for "trade" and undermine governments' ability to control corporate and financial activity. The following quote from Greg Palast captures the nature of global trade and "development" agreements:
"We found inside these documents [from the World Bank] that basically they required nations to sign secret agreements, in which they agreed to sell off their key assets, in which they agreed to take economic steps which are really devastating to the nations involved and if they didn't agree to these steps, there was an average for each nation that signed one-hundred and eleven items that they are required to sign on to. If they didn't follow those steps they would be cut-off from all international borrowing. You can't borrow any money in the international marketplace. No one can survive without borrowing, whether you are people or corporations or countries - without borrowing some money and having some credit and ..." Palast (3/4/02,12)
Now we have the FTAA being pushed into existence by the same consortium that pushed the other agreements. We have put into office an administration that reflects and intertwines corporate, political and financial power to an extent we haven't seen before (to the best of my knowledge). Further, we seem willing to follow this group into a "war without end." The cost is both economic, and devastating to our democracy.
If we get past the "news" of the corporate media, connections and trends emerge that cause all thinking people to pause and reflect. Below, I attempt to demonstrate the depth and breadth of these connections. Let's start with some history.
The George W. Bush Administration
Bush's cabinet, staff, and top level appointees have served either as corporate management, consultants, board members, lobbyists for, or advisors to the following corporations: Harken, Haliburton, Monstanto, Microsoft, Pharmica, TMBR / Sharp Drilling, Motorola, Sears, GM, GE, Ford, Lockheed Martin, Lear, Amtrak, Phillip Morris, Delta Petroleum, BP Amoco, AT&T, Enterprise, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, Clorox, Bank of America, Citigroup, AOL, Gulfstream, Boeing, Alcoa, International Paper, Lucent Technologies (Bell), Lilly, Qualcomm, Chevron, Charles Schwab, and Transamerica. (See Bush Administration Connections )
Likewise, this administration has significant membership from former Republican administrations stretching as far back as Richard Nixon. Here are some highly publicized examples. Dick Rumsfeld served under Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush Sr. Dick Cheney served under all except Reagan (when he was a Congressman from Wyoming). Colin Powell held positions in the Ford, Reagan, and Bush Sr. administrations. Ann Veneman, Paul O'Neil, and Antony Principi served under the President's father. (See Bush Administration Connections )
The Nixon presidency brought us the Watergate scandal, and Reagan's brought us Iran / Contra. It is likely (and in some cases proven) that current representatives from those administrations were knowledgeable of and participated in those scandals. President Bush has also appointed several people convicted in the Iran / Contra investigation: John Negroponte (now US Representative to the UN); Otto Reich (now Asst. Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs ); Eliot Abrams (now Dir. of Office for Democracy, Human Rights and International Operations) 13. (Oliver North is now a Commentator for Fox News). Given the relationship of the current cabinet and appointees to the projects of previous administrations, it is not surprising that President Bush has blocked the constitutionally timed release of the Reagan presidential records 14, and virtually eliminated the Freedom of Information Act.
If the Bush administration is linked to corporate and financial interests, then assuredly those interests also are linked to the administration. The most highly publicized source of suspected influence is the President's father and the link to Carlyle (a private investment firm). Two excellent articles address the connections and activities of the Carlyle Group: Melanie Warner in Fortune (2/18/02, 15) The Big Guys Work for Carlyle and Tom Shorrock in The Nation (4/1/02, 16 ) Crony Capitalism Goes Global . The Carlyle group utilizes a strategy of recruiting those who have held high positions in government to make connections around the world and in the halls of Washington. Its CEO is Carlucci (former CIA Deputy Director and Defense Secretary under Reagan). Among its luminaries are: Jim Baker (former Sec. of State), Dick Dartman (former White House budget Director), William Kennard (former head of the FCC), John Major (former PM of Britain), Fidel Ramos (former President of the Philippines), and not least ... George H. W. Bush Sr. (former President of the U.S. and father of the current President) to name a few (Warner, 2002, 15).
Given Carlyle's defense related investments and overseas investments, war (or at least dramatically increased defense spending) is very good for "business" indeed.
Afghanistan and US interests prior to 9-11
It has been widely broadcast that the U.S. helped arm and train Afghans and extremists to repel the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It is ironic that these same people would turn their skills and arms against the United States. However, it is beyond deceptive to present this as our sole connection or interest in Afghanistan.
The Clinton administration had been working with the Taliban from 1994 forward. Why? Because some companies (particularly UNOCAL and Saudi owned Delta) wanted "to build a pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan through Afghanistan." ... "so that the vast untapped oil and gas reserves in the Central Asian and Caspian region could be transported to markets in South Asia, South-East Asia, Far East and the Pacific" 17. This is supported by Jon Flanders (2001, 18) article. While official relations were purportedly broken off in 1998, relations with the Taliban were maintained through the State Department (Ahmad) and through the Pakistan Military Intelligence ISI by the CIA. 19
According to Jon Flanders (2001), U.S. interest in the pipeline restarted in 2000, but was still not moving forward when Bush was elected. With Bush came Cheney (CEO of Halliburton) and Halliburton had investments in Turkmentistan for "integrated drilling services with an estimated value of $30 million for the total package." 20
It should not be surprising given the oil interests of the President, his kin, and his appointees, that Bush placed Afghanistan on the top of his action list. In July 2001, Colin Powell gave the Taliban $43 million for "humanitarian aid" (Madsen, 2002, 21).
According to a BBC report by George Arney (9/18/01), the US was planning military action in Afghanistan prior to 9/11. "Naiz Naik, a former Pakistan Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action would go ahead by the middle of October." 22
War, Terrorism and the War on Terrorism
Who knew what prior to September 11, or should the government have known?
Michael Rupert (2002) has pulled together a timeline of events related to September 11 which has made it to Project Censored's list of uncovered news. According to this article 23 the following warnings were given but fell on deaf ears:
8/1/01 - a U.S. Naval officer jailed in Toronto writes the details of the WTC attacks, seals it in an envelope and gives it to Canadian authorities;
7/4-7/14/01 - a CIA official meets with Osama bin Laden in a Dubai hospital;
8/01 - Russian intelligence passes on a warning that there are imminent attacks planned on US airports and government buildings;
9/3-9/10/01 - a caller to a Cayman Islands' radio talk show gives repeated
warnings of an imminent attack on the US by bin Laden.
9/11/01 - Two hours before the first plane hit the WTC, "employees at Odigo,
Inc. in Israel, ... with offices in New York, receive threat warnings of an imminent attack on the WTC;"
Added to these warnings, is the visit of Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmed (head of Pakistan's military intelligence - ISI) the week prior to 9/11. The ISI has a long history of working closely with the CIA, and the CIA has consistently used them as a contact with the Taliban, the United Front, and the Al Qua'eda, and funneled money through them for various projects (Chossudovsky, 11/2/02) . Ahmed was the CIA's preferred head of the ISI. The connection between the CIA and ISI is supported by the following quote from House of Representatives International Relations Committee: "US support funneled through the ISI ... has been a consistent policy of the US Administration since the end of the Cold War ..." 24
In July 2001, the ISI sent Mohammed Atta (suspected ring leader of the 9/11 attacks) $100,000. In October General Ahmed retired from the ISI after "US authorities sought his removal after confirming the fact that $100,000 were wired to ... Atta ... from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the insistence of Gen. Mahmoud." 24
To all appearances, others also knew of the attacks.
Bush
It seems highly unlikely that the President of the United States did not know exactly what was happening on September 11 (unless his staff chose to keep him in the dark). On the morning of 9/11, President Bush was on a planned visit to Sarasota Florida and was making a scheduled appearance at Booker School - remember we saw him speaking from the school? The following information is from an excellent series of investigative reports by Illarion Bykov and Jared Israel (2001, 25). It appears that the President knew that a plane had hit the World Trade Center before he left his hotel to go to Booker School. Certainly, an Associated Press reporter (Sonya Ross) knew, as her office had called her and she attempted (without success) to get information from the Bush Staff. They also knew that four planes had been high jacked and exactly where they were. The FAA warns the Secret Service in such a circumstance so that Washington can track the planes on their own (see part two of the noted report).
Given this information, Bush proceeded to his scheduled public appointment. It seems unimaginable that a President would be allowed to proceed on a scheduled set of activities with four commercial airliners high jacked with suspected terrorist intent. One of the highest profile targets is the President, and protocol exists to protect him. President Bush cut short his appearance and was whisked away to parts unknown under heavy military escort. This is just what one would have expected as soon as the news came down. Bykov and Israel argue convincingly that the delayed initiation of measures to protect the President implies that there was little concern that the President would be a target.
High Finance
There was a significant number of "put" options on United Airlines and American Airlines just prior to September 11th. In fact, "The levels of put options purchased were more than six times higher than normal." ... and "no similar trading in other airlines occurred on the Chicago exchange in the days immediately preceding Black Tuesday [9/11]" (Rupert 2001,26). A put option is an option that a stock will go down and can be sold at a later date. The FBI investigated put options in an attempt to discover (unsuccessfully) a money trail leading back to Osama bin Laden.
Likewise, there was heavy put option activity in the stocks of major corporations housed in the World Trade Center (e.g. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., and Merrill Lynch & Co.) 26 27 A number of these put options were placed through Deutchbank - Alex Brown. Deutchbank is one of the largest banking firms in the world, and its former CEO (1998) was A.B. "Buzzy" Konrad who is now the current Executive Director of the CIA 26 27 28. Konrad also served as the Vice Chair of the Board of Bankers Trust and engineered its merger with Deutchbank-Alex Brown 28.
Who sent that anthrax?
Shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. was rocked by deadly anthrax traveling through the USPS mail system. Official reports stated that this was "weapons grade" bacteria 29 and at first an effort was made to link it to Muslim terrorist groups, then to domestic terrorists groups 30, and then to some disgruntled former government scientist 31. Most recently, we have discrepant stories. The FBI is claiming this was an inside job, and the CIA is saying that the anthrax is linked to terrorists on the high jacked planes 31.
Enter the British Broadcast Company (BBC). The BBC reports that there was lax security at U.S. bio-weapons research facilities 32 33. There is a "popular theory that last year's attacks were carried out by a current or former scientist at the army's bio-warfare research centre in Maryland." 32
The CIA, from the beginning, has denied that it was the source of the anthrax sent through the mails. However, the CIA has a bio-warfare program that utilizes weapons-grade anthrax 34, and has shared it widely with other researchers and nations 31. Finally, Newsnight (BBC) interviewed a number of US bio-defense experts and former bio-weapons employees who argued that the anthrax attack was almost certainly an "inside job" and may even have been a CIA deep agent operating on his or her own 35.
Perhaps the most alarming news out of the BBC was that there were a number of specimens "lost" from bio-warfare research centers (at least 27 samples in fact), and that those samples included both anthrax and ebola 32. To the best of my knowledge, no US source has discussed that ebola is missing. The BBC report notes that one batch of anthrax was located, but "the whereabouts of most is still unknown" 32. (Perhaps the most detailed report and connections are in a report by Leonard G. Horowitz, Could the Anthrax Mailings Be Military-Industrial Espionage? 36)
Conclusion
Bringing it all together
U.S. corporations have a significant interest in Afghanistan, in Southeast Asia, and the Middle East (and in numerous places in Central and South America and Africa for that matter). Through various administrations the U.S. government has been willing to advance and protect those interests. Unocal and Halliburton (to name two companies) have major money on the line in Afghanistan and the surrounding region. Some parts of our government had already planned a war in Afghanistan to secure those interests. But how could they get public support for such a war? One obvious method would be to have a group that was already on the outs with the U.S. (the Al Qa'eda) dramatically attack the U.S. on its own turf. Given that a CIA agent met with (and did not arrest) Osama bin Laden in July 2001 may have been a provocative maneuver. Perhaps a threat was issued, or Osama was told "the US is going to attack Afghanistan no matter what you do." Who knows?
What we do know is there were high level contacts, there were exchanges of large sums of money, and there were numerous warnings to various parts of the US government which were not heeded. When the planes were high jacked, normal procedures were thrown out the window and whether through bungling or stupidity or intent the high jackers were allowed to fulfill their mission. We know that President Bush did know about the events with the four planes, but continued about his appointed rounds as if nothing was going on, and then was whisked away into obscurity. We know that the current US representative to Afghanistan is Zalmay Khalilzad who also happens to be a former aid to (guess who) Unocal 37, and that the current Prime Minister of Afghanistan -- Hamid Karzai -- was a top advisor for (guess who) Unocal, and had been negotiating with the Taliban for Unocal. 38
We know that a phenomenal number of put options were placed on the two affected airlines and some major businesses impacted by the "terrorists." We know that some of these originated from Deutchbank and there are high level connections between the bank and the current Director of the CIA. We know that those put options were worth millions of dollars, and that the FBI has been unable to link them to bin Laden or the Al Qa'eda.
We know that under the impetus of the events of September 11, and the anthrax scare that followed, major initiatives and changes occurred. President Bush declared a war on the Taliban, the Al Qua'eda, and on Terrorism in general calling it (ironically) Operation Enduring Freedom. He has vowed to fight this war for generations if necessary (you can see the military-industrial complex jumping with glee). He pushed for and got passed The USA Patriot Act of 2001 that erodes the boundaries between the CIA, FBI, and other law enforcement agencies, and essentially left most of our freedom up to the discretion of those same agencies.
We are relatively confident that the anthrax came from at least one of the US bio-weapons research centers, that it was an inside job, and there were discussions about "delivery" of such weapons. We can safely assume that the anthrax attacks probably made concerns of random, undirected terrorism much more immediate for the US public, and made us much more amenable to give up freedom for protection. The intended recipients of the contaminated letters hardly seemed random (Democratic leadership and the media). But it was folks like us who were primarily affected -- ordinary workers (postal workers, secretaries, etc.) and unrelated citizens. Perhaps these victims were simply "collateral damage."
We know that the domestic policy changes have allowed the FBI, CIA, and Justice departments to finally unleash the surveillance power of CARNIVORE 39 and "Magic Lantern" 40 (software programs aimed at monitoring and recording internet traffic). These programs enable government to monitor all communication within the US, and The USA Patriot Act gives them the authority to do so. Face recognition technology is being put in place, as is the plan for finger print and retinal scans at airports, and the mass rounding up of presumed Muslim and Arab immigrants -- all supported by our fear of international terrorists.
We know the administration has let slip that we will expand our nuclear technology and use it as "we" see fit (Nuclear Posture Review) and named names of who we might first use them against (a blatantly provocative move). The report signals "our" willingness to utilize first strike strategy. "We" are also willing to bring "our" chemical and biological weapons on line as well (which we now knows includes the deadly and untreatable ebola virus).
We have given billions of dollars to businesses impacted by the destruction of the World Trade Center, more billions to United and American Airlines (which they then used to cover their debts - laying off thousands of workers). More billions to corporations in the economic stimulus package, billions more to the Defense Department ( and a blank check for more), and billions more to Columbia (and now Peru) to assist them in controlling "terrorism" (though primarily to protect oil pipelines).
Some would have us believe that all of these connections are just coincidence. I believe in coincidence, but my credulity has been broken by the sheer volume of "coincidence" involved. Is is just coincidence that the Carlyle Group is a major defense contractor reaping part of these billions? Is it coincidence that they own the anthrax vaccine? Is it coincidence that Cipro was the recommended antibiotic, and the sudden surge in purchases pulled Bayer (the makers of Cipro) from the brink of bankruptcy 36? Is it coincidence that BioPort (owned by Carlyle) is one of the major contractors for the anthrax vaccine? 36
I believe that we are dealing with an attempted coup by the power elite; that we and the world are pawns in this game of domination. I believe that this elite would go to any ends, risk any human and environmental damage, to advance themselves. I believe that they are operating by the rules of a system that is truly pathological, and that we are being duped into supporting these plans under the guise of patriotism, the fear for our safety, and the lie that "what's good for them is good for us."
It is difficult to embrace the scope of the deception and betrayal that emerges from an investigation of the events that first came to public attention on September 11, 2001. Even though I am well versed in the duplicity of corporations, and sometimes of government, I am overwhelmed by events, directions, and inescapable conclusions. Generally, people deny the 'coincidences." They argue that too many people would have to know to pull off the greatest deception of all time. However, if you look at the players it becomes increasingly likely that not only do a lot of people know and participate in manipulating the American public (and the world), but that they (and their connections) have much to gain by participating. If the events and actions of the seven-plus months have not been at the instigation of the highest levels of the
government and the financial arena, then they have certainly done everything
in their power to turn these events to their personal and collective gain. Therefore, if they are not engaged in seditious conspiracy or treason, then they are certainly engaged in conspiracy.
Finally, I believe that it is well past time for the people of the United States to stand up and make our government accountable for its actions. We should demand full disclosure of all pertinent material. We should have our own - rather than government selected -- investigators find out what is really going on. We should immediately curtail the power of corporations and their PACS and lobbies on our government. We should kick out, fire, or impeach every single elected representative and appointee who has sold us down the river. We should, and I feel we must, act now to take back our democracy before our power to do so is totally destroyed and we too become a fascist society ruled by a corporate elite. I believe that we can reclaim our nation and our government through the vigorous exercise of our democratic rights as guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States.
Bibliography
1 GE Food Alert Campaign. 3/6/02.
CRG -- Monsanto Moves to Control Water Resources and Fish Farming
2 Toxic Alert. Links to EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) as well as to details of each site. The EPA Superfund List
3 Love Canal Collection - University Archives - University Libraries - State University of New York at Buffalo
4 Pianan, Eric and Fletcher, Michael A. 1/21/02. Washington Post. Many Schools Built Near Toxic Sites, Study Finds (washingtonpost.com)
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Watergate, WashingtonPost.com:
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History Archives Iran-Contra Collection
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13 Martin, Patrick. 8/1/01. World Socialist Web. Iran-Contra gangsters resurface in Bush administration
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25 Bykov, Illarion and Israel, Jared. 1/18/2002. Guilty for 9-11, Section 3: Bush in the Open
other parts of the series: 11/14/01 GUILTY FOR 9-11: BUSH, RUMSFELD, MYERS (part 1)
11/18/01 GUILTY FOR 9-11 update to part 1
11/21/01 GUILTY FOR 9-11,' PART 2: MR. CHENEY'S COVER STORY
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28 Flocco, Tom and Rupert, Michael. 12/11/01. CRG -- Profits of Death (Part 2)
29 12/16/01 CNN.com - Official: CIA uses anthrax, but no link to letters - December 16, 2001
30 3/23/02 CNN.com - Report raises question of anthrax, hijacker link - March 23, 2002
31 12/18/01 CNN.com - Anthrax sent to Senate matches Army strain - December 18, 2001
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33 Sackur, Stephen. 3/1/02. BBC News | AMERICAS | US bio-defence security lax
34 Ensor, David. 12/16/01 CNN.com - Official: CIA uses anthrax, but no link to letters
35 NewsNight transcript 3/14/02 BBC News | ARCHIVE | Anthrax attacks
36 Horowitz, Leonard G. Could the Anthrax Mailings Be Military-Industrial Espionage?
37 Martin, Patrick. 1/3/02 World Socialist Web on CommonDreams. Unocal Advisor Named Representative to Afghanistan
38 Madsen, Wayne. 1/02. Afghanistan, the Taliban and the Bush Oil Team
39 BBC 9/17/01. Carnivore High-tech hunt for low-tech man
40 Bridis, Ted. 11/21/01. Associated Press. CRG -FBI Develops Eavesdropping Tools
Links to Independent and International Media Sources
Centre for Research on Globalization http://www.globalresearch.ca
CommonDreams http://www.commondreams.org
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting http://www.fair.org
From the Wilderness http://www.copvcia.com
Independent Media Center http://www.indymedia.org/
OpenSecrets http://www.opensecrets.org
Project Censored http://www.projectcensored.org
The Emperor's New Clothes http://emperors-clothes.com/
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Links to Excellent Articles not Included in the Article
Weaver, Mary Ann. The Atlantic Monthly. May 1996 Blowback - 96.05 http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/96may/blowback.htm
Kucinich, Dennis. 2/26/02. Common Dreams. "A Prayer for America." http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0226-09.htm
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