Re war being the current 'foundation of politics' - I have to wonder why the US Government has ordered the bombing of Afghanistan if not for the reason of the oil pipeline...because the logic of bombing a country to act against terrorism doesn't hold up when:
(1)America has engaged in terrorism too (on many occasions, and sponsored terrorists financially as well). On Oct.11, while bombs fell on Afghanistan, US-backed right wing death squads massacred 24 innocent villagers in Colombia. Who will police America??);
(2)when the Al Qaeda terrorist network is linked to an international network (ie 50-60 countries are involved, not just Afghanistan). Funding for the terrorists is also derived outside the borders of Afghanistan. "Tony Blair sketches out the Cliff Notes version of the case against Bin Laden. He says, "Al Qaeda is a terrorist organization with ties to a global network." ...."A global network." --one that remains very much UNDEFINED;
(3) most of the hijackers, in fact, came from Saudi Arabia (see below) and the FBI also claim that some of the recruiting, planning and financing of the attacks occured in the country;
(4) when war is likely to increase terrorist attacks against America and it's allies (you can't stop terrorism by force or the threat of force). "Bin Laden and al-Queda remain free, and (for various reasons) may remain so. Bin Laden becomes more immortal with every civilian death. Hatred towards the US, already boiling, has become superheated, even among "moderate" Muslims.";
(5) when America holds a permanent army in the Middle East (ie Why is it there? and how would American citizens feel if Afghanistan insisted on and held a permanent army in your country?);
(6)when funds used to fight this war are directed away from the protection of citizens at home;
(7) when innocent civilians are killed, as a matter of course, in the process of targetting on a small portion of those that plot against the US Government's imperialist policies (I mean, if America genuinely objects to the slaughter of their own civilians, then why would the Govt. participate in such atrocious acts itself in someone else's land with the stated aim of addressing the injustice of Sep11?)
(8) "The Sept. 11 crime remains unsolved. It's true masterminds remain unknown. No substantive, irrefutable proof has been offered by George W. Bush or his surrogates; nor will proof will be forthcoming. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer has insisted that "no one is clamoring for it." "
(9) America (and its allies) are actually engaged in a breach of international law. The US is engaged in indiscriminate murder. Afghanistan did not attack America. Terrorism is a crime, not an act of war. It needs to be dealt with by legal means. UN Security Council and other international tribunals and global police agencies continue to be dismissed by the Bush unilateralists. No explanations given.
AMERICA'S HYPOCRICY ? "The biggest terrorists are those who gave the order to fire Cruise and Tomahawk missiles which fell on villages, hospitals, buses and mosques and cluster bombs which will keep on killing."
"America too, is relying on the support of unelected governments (ie undemocratic regimes) like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for this war effort. If elections took place in those countries America would be in deep trouble right now."
"The war conducted in the name of freedom and democracy has resulted in the spectacular destruction of both. Emboldened CIA, FBI and "Homeland Security" operatives will soon enjoy unprecedented blank check powers to abuse at will.
"* Investigator Michael Ruppert, a former policeman and long-time critic of illegal covert operations, has written several pieces citing compelling evidence of:
* Criminal Wall Street insider trading activity prior to Sept. 11 traceable to the highest levels of the CIA.
* Massive flight of US funds to offshore accounts (in anticipation of coming economic meltdown).
* Longstanding business and personal links between the Bush and bin Laden families, and between the CIA, Wall Street and drug traffickers.
* Use of military operations as a means to prop up global financial markets.
* The presence of former Iran-Contra operatives such as Richard Secord in the current Central Asian war."
* In an Oct. 14 KPFA interview, journalist Tariq Ali noted that, according to his contacts, Turkey has already been pressed to assist the US in a possible invasion of Iraq in the next five months. (The US, the world's judge, jury and executioner, has made no attempt to conceal its expanding war.)
* The new chief of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, the man who is to look after our safety, was a "pacification" specialist in Vietnam (aka terrorist) according to Jeffrey St. Clair and Alexander Cockburn (www.counterpunch.org/ridge2.html).
* Daniel Hopsicker, author of "Barry and the Boys: CIA, the Mob & America's Secret History," pursues the suspicious circumstances surrounding Florida, the Florida flight training school, and what has not been reported by the mainstream press. (http://www.madcowprod.com/index.html)
* In the Wall Street Journal, James Bandler and Marcus Walker exposed the direct and still active links between the Bush and bin Laden families, and the Carlyle Group, which is headed by former Reagan-Bush administration members, including George H.W. Bush ("Bin Laden Family Could Profit from Jump in Defense Spending Due to Ties to US Bank," 9/28/01). Judicial Watch (www.judicialwatch.org/press_release.asp?pr_id=1624) is one of the many organizations demanding an explanation.
Reference: A war like every other, 24-10-01By Larry Chin Copyright © 1998-2001 Online JournalT. All rights reserved. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. + Other sources
MORE THINGS THAT DON'T ADD UP: "The FBI pointedly said -- early -- they knew about terrorists rotating through Rudi Dekkers' flight school. They leave hanging the question of why they did nothing to shut it down."
"The FBI investigation into the plot is preliminary, and the conspiracy's precise nature probably will not be understood for years." [Why did the US engage in against war when the results of the Sep11 investigations are not in?]
"If the conspiracy's precise nature won't be understood for years, how can they rule out domestic involvement? A federal agency with a preference for lone (nut) gunmen floats a Lone (Nut) Cadre trial balloon."
MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALISTS AS TERRORISTS??: "What induced Islamic terrorists to move to a retirement enclave with more golf carts than cars? It couldn't have been the nightlife. But these terrorists -- strange for devout Muslims, it seems -- dig lively nightlife.
Devout Muslims abstain from alcohol. These Muslims order premium brands. These Muslims enjoy a night on the town as much as any infidel.
Federal agents flash pictures at a South Florida bar of the two terrorist pilots who just a day earlier had demolished the World Trade Center. One of them drank Stolichnaya vodka for three straight hours, one bartender remembers.
"Muslim extremist" Marwan al-Shehhi was drinking rum.
Was Mohammed Atta a "devout Islamic fundamentalist," Saudi puritanical or Stoli guy?"" "Forty-eight hours after the Sept. 11 attack, a flight school owner named Rudi Dekkers, known to have trained virtually the entire terrorist pilot cadre, and a possible CIA asset, seemed impervious to suspicion. What suspicions? He was being booked onto Larry King Live."
Reference: Rudi Dekkers and the Lone (nut) Cadre By Daniel Hopsicker October 24, 2001
Daniel Hopsicker is the author of "Barry & 'the boys;' The CIA, the Mob & America's Secret History" <http://www.barryandtheboys.com/>
REGARDING AN 'OIL PIPELINE' MOTIVE FOR THE WAR (from previous lbo-talk post): "The region is far too strategic not to get this consideration and treatment. Oil and gas are most definitely considered 'strategic' resources as well.
A backgrounder with a map of the pipeline routes: http://members.localnet.com/~jeflan/jfafghanpipe.htm
Check out George Monbiot's October 23 article in The Guardian entitled "America's pipe dream: A pro-western regime in Kabul should give the US an Afghan route for Caspian oil" Of course there's also Arundhati Roy's article "War is Peace" which I'm sure you've seen.
Don't know if the links are still there but here's some news links about the invasion plans dating back to March: http://www.indiareacts.com/Story33.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1550000/1550366.stm http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir010315_1_n. shtml Centrasbat exercises in the "Stans" involving rapid deployment troops flown in from US, UK, Turkey: www.angelfire.com/wi/kazakhstanelumin/usmilitaryinkaz.html http://www.russiajournal.com/weekly/article.shtml?ad=3612
JOHN J. MARESCA, VICE PRESIDENT UNOCAL in testimony before a House committee, February 12, 1998:"From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of our proposed pipeline cannot begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders and our company. In spite of this, a route through Afghanistan appears to be the best option with the fewest technical obstacles. It is the shortest route to the sea and has relatively favorable terrain for a pipeline. The route through Afghanistan is the one that would bring Central Asian oil closest to Asian markets and thus would be the cheapest in terms of transporting the oil."
Regarding the source of the hijackers: [NYTimes] Naming of Hijackers as Saudis May Further Erode Ties to U.S. By ELAINE SCIOLINO with NEIL MacFARQUHAR
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 - Fifteen of the 19 men who hijacked four airplanes on Sept. 11 were from Saudi Arabia, Federal authorities have said, a disclosure that is likely to complicate an already tangled and difficult relationship between Washington and Riyadh.
The identities and nationalities of the hijackers had been uncertain since the planes crashed. But after weeks of investigation here and in Saudi Arabia, federal authorities say they are now sure. [snip]"
+ "According to CIA agents interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, who refused to give their names, a warning about two "bin Laden related individuals" was transmitted to the FBI on Aug. 27, 2001. The information was classified as "Immediate," one step below the "Flash" warning reserved for the outbreak of war.
Somewhere in the translation, according to the CIA, the veneer of urgency was dropped from the document. The FBI failed to apprehend Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, two men named in the CIA warning who later crashed an airliner into the Pentagon, killing 189 people.
What is disquieting is the simple fact that this warning did exist, and was bungled. The INS was not given the information in a timely fashion, and was unable to block the entry of Almihdhar and Alhazmi, which it could well have done.
The State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs was likewise kept uninformed of the threat and warning. This bureau is responsible for issuing visas to foreign visitors, and in fact gave one to suspected terrorist Mohamed Atta, because the information was not shared. The head of the Consular Affairs Bureau, Mary Ryan, commented angrily before Congress that she was "surprised how much we learned in the immediate aftermath" of Sept. 11.
Likewise, the airline industry could have been warned to stop passengers with names matching those on the alert from boarding any aircraft, had they been provided the information. None of this happened. The terrorists managed to walk through a wide variety of governmental firewalls, up the ramps to those aircraft, and into the cockpits unmolested.
At this point, the questions must turn to dark corners, places from whence monstrous plots like Operation Northwoods have sprung.
CIA, FBI Disagree on Urgency of Warning (Los Angeles Times) http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-101801cable.story
The CIA's Wall Street connections (Online Journal) http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/Ramares-Faulkner101701/ramares- faulkner101701.html
Reference: 24:10:01The man behind the curtain By William Rivers Pitt Copyright © 1998-2001 Online JournalT. All rights reserved. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
"Every day they tell us that we are a free people fighting to defend freedom. That is the current that has whirled the young airman up into the sky and keeps him circulating there among the clouds. Down here, with a roof to cover us and a gasmask handy, it is our business to puncture gasbags and discover the seeds of truth." ~Virginia Woolf
BJR