> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Michael Pugliese
> Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 4:04 AM
> To: lbo-talk
> Subject: Oil and "conspiracy theories" WSWS replies to Silverstein
>
>
> http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/sep2002/oil1-s20_prn.shtml
> http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/sep2002/oil2-s21.shtml
>
These articles stake out a reasonable ground for a serious debate about these issues. They deftly defend their original claims and then proceed to elaborate about the difference between conspiracist inclinations and the fact that actual conspiracies do take place, even if they do not shape broad historical patterns. They also distance themselves from some purveyors of conspircism:
"The popularity of conspiracy theories about September 11, circulated through such web sites as www.rense.com, www.tenc.com, www.fromthewilderness.com and others, reflects the instinctive and healthy distrust among millions of working people of the US government and the American media. This distrust, however, falls well short of political consciousness, which requires the development of a scientific understanding of the social and class basis of the actions of the US government. "
Anyway, up for debate is the value of the following books on the subject at hand. Here are my mini reviews:
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Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia Ahmed Rashid
-- Well-written and argued, but I think too much emphasis on oil as a primary issue, although that is a political critique. The best of the lot by far, and very much worth reading. Not fair to call it conspiracist.
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Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy, Saudi Arabia and the Failed Search for bin Laden Jean-Charles Brisard, Guillaume Dasquie, Lucy Rounds (Translator), Wayne Madsen
--Less persuasive than Ahmed Rashid's book, and too much speculation and reliance on dubious arguments based on thin evidence; but unfair to simply dismiss it as conspiracism.
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The War on Freedom: How and Why America was Attacked, September 11, 2001 Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed
--Some good reporting seriously marred by use of dubious sources and leaps of logic. Jumps into conspiracism with both feet in coverage of the actual 9/11 attacks, especially with credulous discussion of claims about direct U.S. government and Israeli Mossad complicity.
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L'Effroyable Imposture (The Appalling Fraud) Thierry Meyssan
--Appalling conspiracist trash. A waste of trees.
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Let the attacks (on my post) begin!
-Chip Berlet