Nothing about it makes sense unless you understand that top politicians, think Biden in this case, no matter how dire the intelligence reports they get, still do not want to have the label of "Loser" emblazoned on them. They must win at all costs, to the last Ukrainian, if necessary. The same thing happened with LBJ and Nixon during the Vietnam war. A loss would have been catastrophic politically, so despite copious amounts of intelligence and analysis that said the war was unwinnable, they wanted to stave off defeat as long as possible, for political reasons. That is what is happening now.
It is quite bizarre what the US and NATO are doing now, truly unhinged. Their final phase of the insanity seems to be that they want to test F-16s and Abrams against the Russian army, now that the rest of the NATO arsenal has failed the test. Russia understands that they are being tested by the west, and therefore has even more incentive to pass with flying colors. But Biden is certain about one thing, he does not want to lose before the upcoming election, just like LBJ and Nixon. Maybe we will get lucky again, and Biden will be forced from office for his corrupt business dealings with Hunter like Nixon did for the Watergate coverup.
Yes, presidents love to pose as tough. Remember "W" Bush with "mission accomplished" and the flight suit poses. Remember his father talking about kicking the "Vietnam Syndrome." Remember LBJ in Vietnam telling the troops "to nail that coonskin to the wall." Obama supported the Afghan surge and was fond of donning AF flight jackets. They all want to look like warriors instead of what they should be, civilian commanders-in-chief who should be working for democracy and peace.
We may blow up the world so that Trump or Biden or DeSantis or Harris can look "tough."
Right on John. Domestic politics, including the fear of being call weak, is the most important aspect driving their decisions. All the death and the suffering over the decades because men and women in the White House are afraid of what names their political opponents might call them.
It all makes sense when you follow the yellow brick (money) road. War is the most profitable venture there is, and cold war is even more profitable as there is no risk.
I am not so sure that the power elites want war (they would likely be happy to get what they want without violence), but they are willing to commit horrific acts of violent depredations upon other human beings to get what they do want; power, monetary wealth, glory, etc. The US empire is no worse in this regard than other empires of history, but contra to the chest thumpers, the US is certainly no better.
As for robot war, it can only go so far. To gain the kind of control imperialists desire you have to in some fashion kill and conquer the other side, and vice versa. This means continued shedding of copious amounts of human blood.
Good point about war per se versus the attainment of wealth, power, and glory by other means. At this point in human history, there are no earthly territories left to conquer, so war is the surest means to attain those three things. Although Musk appears to think colonizing Mars would be a good substitute. And to some extent, perhaps professional sports sublimate some of those urges. Certainly, contact sports provide some of the atavistic satisfaction Ehrenreich describes.
Football being the most apparent never could cotton to it though seeing friends maimed for life playing in H.S. no less. The Sideline Generals being Coaches. Always admired the guile of some of the tactics (Plays) & strategy.
Overall though, a bunch of grown men killing themselves over a bag of air!!! lol Better that than literally on the battlefields. We need a new System, and we need it yesterday!
I've posted substack articles by John Varoli before. This latest poses serious questions that must be answered.
The Triumph of Death. What ever happened to: “If it saves one life”?
Those who supported the most stringent Covid measures are now among the most ardent advocates of conflict with Russia and China. Coincidence, or two sides of the same coin?
War and militarism are all the rage today, and we accept this as the new normal. Where are the much vaunted European and North American peace movements? Has anyone seen them?
Our military and political ruling class is addicted to death, destruction and profits. Indeed, the three go hand-in-hand. Each day brings more news of taxpayer money squandered on war and weapons for Ukraine and other U.S. allies across the globe. Our paranoid government and media tell us that ‘autocratic’ enemies plot the destruction of our ‘democracy’. Therefore, we must respond vigorously.
The West does everything possible to prevent peace between Moscow and Kiev. The U.S. actively helps Kiev to plot and organize terrorist attacks against Russia that achieve nothing but to further poison the two Slavic neighbors against each other.
In Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of youth have died fighting and many more will die. Cemeteries overflow with the dead; about 75% of Ukrainians know someone killed or injured. Even before the war, Ukraine faced one of the world’s most dire demographic crises, its population rapidly shrinking. If this continues, large swathes of Ukraine will soon be depopulated. I suspect this is the goal of our ruling class.
As if the tragedy of Ukraine wasn’t enough, France and the U.S. now scheme to push West Africa into a major regional war in the wake of the popular uprising in Niger that seeks to liberate the country from French political and financial domination.
Meanwhile, in Asia, we’re told to be ready to fight China over Taiwan, even though our government has long officially recognized the island as part of China. The last time we fought China — the Korean War — things went bad for us very quickly.
Stop for a minute. Have you forgotten how things were just two years ago?
Throughout the Covid years (March 2020 to February 2022), in order to justify numerous social restrictions, western governments and media vigorously promoted the mantra — “if it saves just one life”. The overarching idea was that the masses should accept loss of freedoms for the benefit of the greater good, because the repressive measures can theoretically “save one life”.
Sadly, many in the West fell for this cheap deception and accepted a totalitarian system that has almost eliminated fundamental liberties and human rights. A precedent has been set and can’t be undone. Governments can now take away our liberties at any moment, simply by citing a ‘national health threat’.
In February 2022, however, when the long-smoldering conflict in Donbass exploded, the “if it saves one life” principle was quickly discarded by our ruling class and replaced by a call for a crusade against “autocratic Russia, no matter the cost”. The goal is to help the nationalist regime in Kiev to reconquer some of Eastern Europe’s most remote and forgotten regions — separatist regions populated by ethnic Russians that were once part of Ukraine, but which seek the protection of Mother Russia............................................
It is truly irrational to say that the United States will have any use for remade weapons in thirty years. Why? Because climate change by then will be in full, frightening force and military spending as a priority is a major reason that global warming will continue.
We're all humans anyway prone to Conspiracy theories. Plus all have a particle of Truth to them. For myself its not even worth my time to Engage because people are going to believe whatever they want to believe-- so so be it...! Even the "Socratic Method" won't help a true believer in them! UFO's. Who really killed JFK, 9-11, etc., etc. blah blah blah...!
The "resources" tab has many options for further reading.
Imo, when you consult the evidence about 9/11, it's plain as day. Kind of like Nordstream, where we have Biden SAYING they'd "bring an end to it", there's so much evidence that 9/11 was NOT just permitted to happen, but initiated by the CIA. An article just came out this summer that 2 "hijackers" were CIA assets.
Interestingly, the original article came out in an obscure Fla publication on April 9:
I heard a retired or former intelligence offical suggest that MSM's sudden discovery in April of Teixera's document dump (on a gaming platform in late 2022) was a diversion from the newly released court filing about two 9/11 hijackers' roles as CIA recruits.
Honestly, the Wikipedia entry on Teixera's leak is almost funny. It makes absolutely no sense to me. 1) How'd this kid get high level docs? 2) Why didn't he leak them to a major news organization? Or any news organization? This 21 year old is smart enough to steal tons of classified material just to deposit them on a video game platform where nobody cares? 3) Why no statement by Teixera? He supposedly ruined his career. Why?
I'm do not know if Teixera's documents were false info. I have no way to know. But that whole situation smells VERY funny, and MSM exploded with stories just as the court filing was released about two 9/11 hijackers being CIA assets.
Not a single MSM outlet reported on the released court filing showing two hijackers were CIA assets.
Agree to disagree. Especially because there's reasons other than morality or intelligence or argumentative prowess to avoid the topic. I appreciate that your conscience is good and you seek to do good in your life.
Another term for SOME “rabbit holes,” Bill, is “a Gateway and Portal to TRUTH.”
And isn’t it interesting that we live in a time when “Truther” is a term of blunt disparagement and open dismissal?
The ONLY way those “crimes after 9/11” could have been perpetrated and perpetuated was, still is, and ever will be if 9/11 had happened the way the American People and our “Allies” in the resultant "Forever War" were told and sold by this government and its media that it happened: ie, that some Raghead living in a cave in Afghanistan had pulled the whole thing together and off all by himself.
Without the LIE that is the “Official” conspiracy theory about WHAT actually happened that day, HOW and WHY it happened, WHO actually made it happen, and, above all, WHO Let it happen, NONE of those “after 9/11 crimes” You cited could or would have happened. Unless the Ruling Political Class came up a suitable alternative "End of the World as We know it" disaster.
And unless and until those individuals, organizations, and institutions ARE held accountable for 9/11 ~ the biggest law enforcement, intelligence, national defense and security failure in history ~ absolutely Nothing is going to change. Except to get worse.
When those who benefitted most from the first 9/11 determine that even more political, economic, and above all, psychological profit is to be gained by a second 9/11, who and/or what is going to stop them?
Be careful, Rachel… . Somebody might end up calling You a “9/11 Truther.”
And see my comment above to Bill about “rabbit holes” and “Gateways and Portals to TRUTH.”
Also, if You haven’t discovered them already via the International Center for 9/11 Justice website, take a look at Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth at https://www.ae911truth.org/ . Since 2007, AE9/114T has been at the forefront of the effort to actually explain the destruction of World Trade Center Towers 1,2, and particularly, 7; and to expose the LIE that the “Official” conspiracy theory about those demolitions was, is, and ever will be.
As those Latin American Liberation Theologians wiped out by Bush I and Bozo’s Ollie North Crusade put it: “For there to be Peace, there must be Justice. And for there to be Justice, there must be ~ before anything else ~ TRUTH.”
Aug 21, 2023·edited Aug 22, 2023Liked by Bill Astore
Jeff, I think biggest thing the US people cannot accept is: 9/11 was a response, revenge, or justice if you like, by people who were tired of Israel and the US phucking with them! They had been provoked enough by the great Satan US military presence in their religious homelands. The Yanks bought it on themselves.
And I don't think it was a "raghead in a cave". I think it was bunch of clever, determined religious zealots who got their shit together, and pulled off a brilliant masterful job.
Against the complete failure of a hopeless US military and inept security agencies to protect the nation. That the planes were not intercepted and shot down, or better yet, the plot discovered and foiled before it happened, is a very sad reflection on US capabilities to even protect its own homeland. Too "busy" phucking with people in faraway lands. Looking for the enemy in all the wrong places.
These guys achieved 1,000 times more than they could ever have dreamed of. They started the final collapse of the US in one day, using box cutters and a few measly dollars
As I have told you before, I don't believe the cobbled up fake story that we were told. But I think that to proffer that it was an "inside job", a false flag, is a non-starter. That would have involved thousands. And it would only take one person to spill the beans to make the big bucks. This is the fatal flaw in the "inside job" narrative. And remember, we are talking about a Federal government who could not organize a "booze up in a brewery".
As for the numbers involved. You're reminding me of That Certain Group of people who called us Russian agents or Republicans for arguing against the Ukraine war.
One of those people said to me, "Now how could this all be propaganda? You're telling me the reporter is told what to write? You're telling me that all these people are in on some big conspiracy and nobody talks?"
I know there's a LOT of 9/11 info out there. Some good, some bad. Some no doubt planted by our own Intel services. You definitely would want to look at more reputable sites. But the evidence is overwhelming. The FBI tried multiple times to thwart it and were stymied by the CIA. There's a pretty well known FBI whistleblower who has spoken openly on it.
I do not believe a thousand people were in on it. I don't know how many people, but I think it would be similar to other (mirror) situations where the government knows an attack is about to happen and then very publicly thwarts it. Then later you're left wondering how much the government was involved initiating it in the first place. I don't know how much of the story is fake. I do think Muslims were misled into thinking they were participating in the attack. But as for the fine details, I would need years to research it!
Interestingly to your comment, I hadn't thought about 9/11 for years. Then about 6 months ago I was listening to an interview of an American who lived in Tunisia and joined a rebel group. Kinda like a hippie with a gun was my takeaway. Anyways, this is just one guy, but what he said made me interested again in the topic. He said that in Tunisia, people didn't believe Al Qaeda did it, and Al Qaeda was having P.R. issues because Arabs literally didn't believe Al Qaeda was involved!
Isn't that nuts?! Who knows what to believe. I enjoy this space where free thought is permitted!
I don't have a story. There are lots of things I don't know. And, like who created the Universe, I am OK with saying I don't know. I don't need to invent a fanciful story.
You on the other hand start off with your conclusion - the gubmint is evil and did it. And then try to invent evidence that your story is right. The very opposite of the scientific method!
Hey, if the buildings were demo'd by explosives on the day the two planes hit the twin towers - then those that planted the explosives must have known the exact day that 9/11 was going to occur. So they would be able to spend the three months in advance planting the explosives! So that they would be ready to push the plunger.
Does that make sense?
Oh, I see - they also flew the planes into the buildings. 18-US gubmint ringers, who were Arabs and were willing to commit suicide to stage a false flag. I see?
Was it just a coincidence that they were the only non-US citizens and the only passengers with Arabic names on their flights? I dunno.
None of it makes sense to me Jeff. What happened at the Pentagon? We know it was not a plane eh? Who took weeks to plant bombs at the high security Pentagon? The plane that crashed in Pennsylvania? WTF?
And if the US had not made so any enemies in the world - would this still have happened?
And like Bill says - that's not a rabbit hole I choose to go down. If we prove it was the gubmint - what's to be done now? Buy more guns to defend ourselves from the tyrannical gubmint!
Do Yourself a big, big favor, Dennis, and do not presume to lecture me ~ or, particularly, the folks at Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth ~ on the scientific method.
They [like me] did not start with a “conclusion” and then “invented evidence” to prove that that conclusion was right.
They started with all the Questions that were either asked but left unanswered and/or were not even asked by the government [the 9/11 Commission, FEMA, and NIST] about what actually happened on 9/11. Particularly as regards the destruction of the three WTC Towers.
In other words, they [like me] started with what is called an “hypothesis”: “[A] proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories. Even though the words ‘hypothesis’ and ‘theory’ are often used interchangeably, a scientific hypothesis is not the same as a scientific theory. A working hypothesis is a provisionally accepted hypothesis proposed for further research in a process beginning with an educated guess or thought.” [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothesis ]
If You watch the movie SEVEN, You will see a very detailed explanation as to how that Structural Engineering Study of the destruction of WTC 7 was conceived, organized, and executed, all completely within accepted standards of the scientific method and engineering research, with hypotheses to deal with all those unanswered and unasked questions.
And what is so puzzling about a military operation that has a date of planned execution that allows sufficient time for all the necessary activity that needs to happen before that operation is launched, if it is to have any chance of success? If the ultimate objective was to bring those Towers down, time would have to be spent prepping those Towers for their destruction, which were originally designed and built to take and survive intact the impact of a Boeing 707, according to the architect who designed them.
And exactly how do “we know” that it wasn’t a plane that hit the Pentagon? Plus, the damage done to the Pentagon was the obvious result of something crashing into it; and not the result of “bombs previously planted” inside that “high security’ building. After the explosion from whatever hit the Pentagon, nothing was blown outward away from the building as if that explosion were caused by explosives inside the building. All the damage was directed inwards.
And finally, if You accept the “Official” conspiracy theory about 9/11 as put out by the 9/11 Commission, FEMA, NIST, and the Media, You have already gone down the Rabbit Hole they intended for You to go down. Just like the overwhelming majority of Americans who have much more pressing issues to confront and deal with than what War their government is going to get into next.
Jeff my friend, you are right. I have already gone down the rabbit hole "they" intended for me to go down. And the "movies" you watch are the real truth! LOL
BTW I attended a Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) presentation in Seattle on the 9/11 building collapse. By Leslie Earl Robertson*, of the Seattle Structural engineering firm Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson. He was the lead structural engineer of the Twin Towers design. He and his colleagues developed the framed-tube structural system that was used in the towers. He made no bones about it that he thought the folks at the "Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth" were a bunch of wack jobs. And that the movie SEVEN was not to be taken seriously.
Unlike you, I have no axe to grind here. And have actually been involved in building design. Working on loan for 4-years to our sister company design firm, ABAM Engineers in Federal Way WA. Know a little bit about the design process! LOL
Now go find somebody else to fight with. You are wearing me out and confusing me with someone who wants to fight to the death about what happened on 9/11.
All I know is the Americans fucked themselves before, during and after that fateful day.
Have a great day.
*He received The Mayors Award for Excellence in Science and Technology for the design of the World Trade Center. In recognition of his design withstanding the impact of the planes with enough time to allow many thousands of occupants to evacuate safely.
Dennis, You wrote: “That the planes were not intercepted and shot down, or better yet, the plot discovered and foiled before it happened, is a very sad reflection on US capabilities to even protect its own homeland. Too "busy" phucking with people in faraway lands. Looking for the enemy in all the wrong places.”
That those planes were not intercepted and, if necessary, shot down had absolutely nothing to do with the US Air Force being too busy fucking with people in faraway lands. NORAD was at full operational strength and capability on 9/11, as it always has been since its creation.
“It is standard operating procedure (SOP) to scramble jet fighters whenever a jetliner goes off course or radio contact with it is lost. Between September 2000 and June 2001, interceptors were scrambled 67 times. In the year 2000 jets were scrambled 129 times.
“There are several elements involved in domestic air defense. The air traffic control system continuously monitors air traffic and notifies NORAD of any deviations of any aircraft from their flight-paths or loss of radio contact. NORAD monitors air and space traffic continuously and is prepared to react immediately to threats and emergencies. It has the authority to order units from the Air National Guard, the Air Force, or other armed services to scramble fighters in pursuit of jetliners in trouble.
“ROUTINE INTERCEPTION PROCEDURES WERE NOT FOLLOWED ON SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2001.
As I said the Air National Guard, the Air Force and NORAD phucked up big time!
Didn't these F-16's take of when it was too late in any case? Too late, even if they had received authority?
And if they had taken off in time, and intercepted and got no instructions and authority, are you are telling me these expert fighter pilots just shadowed these off-course airliners obviously heading to WA DC - and stood by and let them do what was becoming obvious anyway?
Excuse my French Jeff - but a major cock up by EVERYBODY!
And that "failure to follow routine interception procedures" had absolutely NOTHING to do with America's foreign policy in foreign lands. Particularly that policy in Arab/Muslim lands.
From the 9/11 Research article cited above:
"The air defense network had, on September 11th, predictable and effective procedures for dealing with just such an attack. Yet it failed to respond in a timely manner until after the attack was over, more than an hour and a half after it had started. The official timeline describes a series of events and mode of response in which the delays are spread out into a number of areas. There are failures upon failures, in what might be described as A STRATEGY OF LAYERED FAILURES, OR FAILURE IN DEPTH. The failures can be divided into four types. [EMPHASIS added.]
"~ 1. Failures to report: Based on the official timeline, the FAA response times for reporting the deviating aircraft were many times longer than the prescribed times.
"~ 2; Failures to scramble: NORAD, once notified of the off-course aircraft, failed to scramble jets from the nearest bases.
"~ 3. Failures to intercept: Once airborne, interceptors failed to reach their targets because they flew at small fractions of their top speeds and/or in the wrong directions.
"~ 4. Failures to redeploy: Fighters that were airborne and within interception range of the deviating aircraft were not redeployed to pursue them.
"Had not there been multiple failures of each type, one or more parts of the attack could have been thwarted. NORAD had time to protect the World Trade Center even given the unbelievably late time, 8:40, when it claims to have first been notified. It had time to protect the South Tower and Washington even given its bizarre choice of bases from which to scramble planes. And it still had ample opportunity to protect both New York City and Washington even if it insisted that all interceptors fly subsonic, simply by redeploying airborne fighters."
See my comment above. If you are telling me that FAA, NORAD, and the fighter pilots were instructed to not follow standard procedures in a timely manner - by whom?
Tell You what, Dennis: Let’s keep this simple and straight forward by starting with the destruction of WTC 7, the 47-story building not hit by planes or significant debris that came down almost 7 hours after WTC Towers 1 and 2 came down. Which made it the first steel-frame high rise structure in history to come down “because of fire.” Or so the “Official” conspiracy theory informs us.
i invite You to watch the movie SEVEN, which details a four-year Structural Engineering Study of the collapse of WTC 7, and its finding that FIRES DID NOT BRING THAT BUILDING DOWN, as we were and still are assured by FEMA, NIST, and the media that it was.
And so, Dennis, the obvious question is: Did those “determined religious zealot terrorists” wire that building for its destruction? And given that WTC 1 and 2 were “destroyed by waves of explosions that pulverized the building contents and hurled steel beams up to 600 ft in all directions,” another obvious question is: Did they wire those buildings, as well?
If those determined religious zealot terrorists on those airplanes achieved 1,000 times more than they could have ever dreamed of, it is only because they had a lot of demolition engineering support on the ground. [The Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth website has very detailed science-, architecture-, and engineering-based information on the destruction of WTC 7 and the Twin Towers, as well.]
And after You do that and are still interested, we can explore whether or not calling 9/11 an inside false flag job is a non-starter. Have a Great day. ~ jeff
Jeff, have you ever been involved in demolition of large steel and concrete structures? I have. Several. Including the entire demo of the Long Beach Naval Station Shipyard and Drydock - to build a container shipping terminal.
I also watched our demolition subcontractor (the California big boys) demo the huge piers and steel columns of the old San Fran to Oakland bridge.
It takes months of preparation. Drilling holes with huge noisy smelly diesel compressors for the drills. Putting in all the charges, and wiring and setting the fuses with forklifts. Masses of equipment. Many truckload deliveries of demo supplies. Even installing small shape charges on steel beams was impossible to hide.
No way this could have been done on WTC 7 and the Twin Towers without anybody noticing!
You mean all this required engineering was done in the demolition subs office in secret? And nobody said a word? All this stuff and equipment was then dragged up in the elevators at night? LOL. Even installing small shape charges on the steel beams would have involved removing, and reinstalling new replacement, interior gladding on the beams, wall panels, ceiling panels and carpet - and not escaped notice. And taking months!
And no office worker ever said "Jeez, what happened here in my office last night? What's all this debris and dust? Who moved all my pot plants?"
It does not pass the laugh test. Its bovine excrement. Lunatics fantasies.
What's your acronym? GTFOMF!
BTW, in my career I met tons of dumb ivory tower office Engineers and Architects who would not know what end of a hammer to hold! Those are the idiots who are the clowns in that Engineers and Architects for Truth mob! The structural engineering firm, Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson in Seattle, who designed the framed-tube structural system used in the Twin Towers, wants nothing to do with those clowns and their "conclusions".
Have You ever seen a steel frame skyscraper brought down by a controlled demolition?
Watch this video of several controlled demolitions of high-rise buildings [,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNUMI3UQRo ], and then compare it to the videos of the demolition of WTC 7 in the movie. And then tell me if You detect any significant difference in them regarding: the speed with which they free fell; the totally symmetrical nature of that fall; and how they all ended up piled up quite neatly on their own footprint.
And finally, where the beams were that had to be wired for demolition were nowhere near any office spaces that any office worker might notice debris and dust.
Watch the movie and read the research and reports from Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, Dennis, and then we'll continue the conversation.
And i'm not familiar with GTFOMF! Is that "Get The Fuck Off My Foot"?
"My" acronym is GMAFB, as in "Give Me A Fucking Break."
I suppose reading all that nonsense from those dumb phuck Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth is better than reading Superman comics. Not by much though eh! Take care Jeff - have a nice day basking in your delusions.
And of course, you still have not answered my question? Why has nobody squealed? Not one person involved has been short of a few million bucks from a book publisher to tell the truth eh? Not even a poor laborer setting all those fuses and is now broke!
And the gubmint can't pay off everybody Jeff. Or kill them!
And finally, Rachel. permit me to offer this that i posted two years ago on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. :
On 9/11-XX: Reflections of One of "Those Who Were Right" 20 Years Ago ~ Part 1
In the early evening of September 11, 2001 ~ even before President Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office ~ a series of phone calls among members of the New Orleans Peace and Social Justice community resulted in a gathering two nites later, on September 13th, of almost 60 "conscious, concerned, and committed Citizens" in the basement of a local church.
And that gathering of "Peacemongers" ~ as the local media termed it ~ resulted in a silent, candlelit March for Peace, Justice, and Truth thru the streets of New Orleans that assembled close to 250 people on Saturday nite, the 15th of September, four days after 9/11: easily one of the earliest and biggest Anti-War/Pro-Peace demonstrations in the country at that time. [Available online at https://www.nola.com/gambit/news/article_8cc98238-ab66-5a48-81f0-072ab8552e84.html .]
And "Editor B," a local independent journalist and filmmaker captured scenes from that March, as well as folks in New Orleans skateboarding, reading poetry, and singing for Peace, Justice, and Truth in the days and weeks after 9/11. [Available online at https://stupidtelevisionshow.com/media/nopeace/ .]
At 10:05 of that video is an extended interview of me on Day 6 of OPERATION ISAIAH 2:4, a projected 168-hour "Fast and Prayer Vigil for Peace, Justice, Truth, Repentance, and Reconciliation" ~ held on Jackson Square in the French Quarter, right across from the Cathedral ~ which began at 7:46 am CDT on Tuesday, September 25, exactly two weeks to the minute after the first airplane crashed into the World Trade Center, and continued until 7:46 am on Tuesday, October 2. [Note: the interview was preempted for about five minutes by a genuine, traditional New Orleans Jazz Funeral, which made it even better.]
Following the launch on October 7 of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM and America's assault on the Land, Country, Nation, and Peoples of Afghanistan, Phase Two of OPERATION ISAIAH 2:4 began on October 16, back on Jackson Square by the Cathedral, and continued until November 7 ~ Day 23 of the projected 28 ~ when cut short by illness.
Part 2 is the Opening Statement for Phase Two, which captures exactly What i was attempting to do, and, from the beginning of Phase One, exactly How and Why. It also elaborates on a number of points made in the Editor B video.
ON BEING A CANDLE IN A TIME OF DARKNESS: Opening Statement of Phase Two of Operation Isaiah 2:4 16 OCT 01
Three weeks ago today, on the morning of September 25, I began a 7-day fast and prayer vigil, the principle objective of which was to prevent this country from initiating military action in response to the events of September 11. That fast was successfully concluded on October 2, shortly after the decision was made to continue the vigil as long as the threat of military action loomed.
Someone noted that as long as I was fasting, there was no War and the weather in New Orleans was magnificent. Once I stopped fasting, the weather turned foul and, on October 7, War began. While I’m not convinced of any direct correlation between my fasting and either peace or the weather, I do believe in my heart of hearts that the acts of individual fasting and prayer can and do impact the entire world.
Accordingly, in a few minutes, at 7:46 -- exactly five weeks after the first plane flew into the first building -- I will begin a 28-day water and juice fast and prayer vigil for peace, justice, truth, liberty, dignity, repentance, and reconciliation. The purpose of this juice and water fast is to offer up a personal sacrifice as an act of remembrance, repentance, and reconciliation for the victims of the acts of War perpetrated against the people, government, and nation of the United States of America on September 11. It is also for the victims of the acts of War perpetrated by the United States against the people, government, and nation of Afghanistan since October 7.
The purpose of the vigil is to stop there from being any more victims. The cycle of violence must be broken, and I am prepared to put my body where my mouth is to see to it that it is.
For the next four weeks, every day from sunrise to sunset, this spot will be a point to which concerned, patriotic citizens of the United States, citizens of conscience, concern, and commitment, can come to pray, to reflect, to meditate, to begin or to continue the process of recovery, of reconciliation, and of resurrection, and, equally importantly, to analyze, review, and plan action to stop this War.
This is “Phase Two” of OPERATION ISAIAH 2:4. Phase One, of course, began on September 25. Its purpose was to prevent the government of the United States from doing something dumb, from seeking revenge, retaliation, and retribution by military annihilation. The initiation of American military operations in Afghanistan signaled the total failure of that effort to prevent this War. Therefore, the purpose of this action, of Phase II, will be to stop this War.
This War can be stopped. This War must be stopped. This War will be stopped. It will be stopped when a critical mass of concerned, patriotic American citizens stand up to their government and declare that the only way that this War will proceed is if you kill us first. At that moment, this government will have to confront the reality of whether or not it has enough soldiers and police in its military and security forces who are willing to kill their fellow citizens.
A number of people have complimented me for what they call my bravery in daring to stand alone in a public place declaring an opinion not openly shared by too many other Americans. I deny that my actions are courageous. The people who rushed into the World Trade Center on September 11 to try to save the people trapped in those buildings were courageous. All I’m doing is my duty and responsibility as a concerned, patriotic, citizen of the United States, as a Human Being, and, above all, as a retired United States Army Non-Commissioned Officer.
Over the past three weeks, a number of other people have denounced me as a traitor and demanded to know why I still cashed my Army pension paycheck if I hated my country so much. Let me say this to all those self-proclaimed super-patriots who wrap themselves in the flag and would wipe their asses with the Constitution: I will stop cashing my paycheck when dissent becomes treason; when American citizens can no longer doubt, challenge, debate, and denounce the policies and actions of their government.
Because on that day I will know that the 28 years I spent in the military service of this nation was a lie. On that day, I will know that the purpose of our military is not to protect the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness or the core values and principles of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of dissent. I will know that the purpose of our military is to protect returns on corporate investment and access to markets and resources for the accumulation of economic and political power, control, and domination.
And on that day, I will go to War. I will go to War against those who -- in their drive to absolute power, complete control, and total domination -- will not hesitate to sacrifice anybody or anything, even the core foundation freedoms upon which this nation is built.
In the days that I have been at the vigil site since September 25, I have interacted with almost 200 passing tourists and locals. Of those who have offered their opinion about what the United States should do in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, over 90% do not want War.
Contrary to what the media is telling us about poll results, more than 90% of the people I’ve talked to do not want War. They do not want revenge. They do not want a police state.
They want justice. They want accountability. And they want serenity.
They want to know who did this and they want them brought to justice within the law, not as a target for military annihilation. They want an international War Crimes Tribunal and they really want to know who ordered this operation. If it was bin Laden’s organization that did the deed, who was he taking his orders from? Who was he working for? And knowing the history of Ronald Reagan’s Afghan “freedom fighters” against the Soviet Union in the 80s, they want to know exactly when bin Laden and the Taliban stopped working for the CIA.
They also want accountability. They want to know where the FBI, the CIA, the INS, the FAA, the DoD, and all the other agencies whose mission it is to ensure that something like this does not, can not happen, they want to know where they were and what they were doing on September 10. And they want those senior officials in these agencies and in the White House, the Congress, and National Security Council to be held accountable for possible criminal dereliction of duty in failing to detect and prevent, and then stop the attacks of September 11.
Finally, they want serenity. Not just security, but serenity. They want to know that something like this will never, ever, ever happen again, anywhere. Here or anywhere around the world. However, they do not want a police state created in the name of national and personal security. They want their government to do some root cause analysis and determine exactly WHY this happened; how someone could hate us enough to do something like this.
There finally has been a great deal of concern expressed about the proposed Anti-Terrorist Act and the Office of Fatherland, correction, Homeland Security, and the destruction of individual freedoms and liberties implied or proposed as a means of safeguarding Americans against further acts of terror. Lots of folks have wondered if destroying or limiting our basic rights and freedoms wasn’t exactly what the terrorists -- whoever they are -- were trying to accomplish in the first place.
I want to be clear as to why I have been here for the past three weeks and will be here for the next four weeks. I am not here to claim or seek any type of leadership, to attempt to create an organization, or to serve as the vanguard for some mass movement. I have been and will continue to be here to give hope, to act as an example, and to serve as a proxy.
I am here so that others who also categorically reject President Bush’s false dichotomy that “you are either with US or you are with the terrorists” can know that they are not alone. That they are not alone in refusing to accept that one’s only choice is to be either for War as waged by an international terrorist organization, or else one is for War as waged by the most powerful economic, political, and military superpower in the history of the world.
I am here so that others can know that they are not alone in thinking that there is a third choice, a choice of peace instead of War, of justice instead of revenge, of truth and proof instead of propaganda and non-negotiable threats, of liberty and dignity instead of repression and hatred and fear as a means to security, of reflection and reconciliation instead of retaliation and retribution. I am here so that those many, many people who feel as I do but who – for whatever reason – cannot be here in their own person, will be represented in the dialogue and debate on what is the appropriate, the necessary course of action for our nation.
I will be here at the “Peace Site” every day for the next twenty-eight from sunrise to sunset. I may even spend a few nights out here just to get a better feel for what it’s like to be a refugee. I invite everyone to come by and join us in prayer, meditation, reflection, dialogue, discussion, and action analysis, review, and planning.
We will be here until this War is stopped. We are beginning to take back this planet. One heart, one mind, one soul, one person, one step at a time.
It is on the grounds of what i wrote, said, and did back immediately after 9/11, and then after Enduring Freedom got started on October 7, that i believe that i can legitimately claim to be among "Those Who Were Right" 20 years ago. Of the entirely too few others, the most important and significant was, is, and ever will be California Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the ONLY member of Congress who voted against the AUTHORIZATION TO USE MILITARY FORCE AGAINST TERRORISTS [AUMF], which paved the way into first Afghanistan and Pakistan, and then, into Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Equatorial Africa, Yemen, Syria, and who knows where else in "The Forever War."
Everybody from Bernie Sanders to Ron Paul got that completely and totally wrong. And, of course, the mainstream media of the day was just as totally and completely wrong. But there were a few who saw thru the Bullshit, and challenged it.
However, and having said all that, there is no place of honor or sense of pride in having been "Right" back then ~ twenty years ago ~ about How and Why America's so-called "Global" so-called "War On" so-called "Terrorism" was, is, and ever will be so totally and completely nor merely WRONG, but EVIL. Very few of those Americans who may have felt or thought that way actually did anything in public ~ demonstrations, marches, vigils, teach- and/or sit-ins, letters to DC or the editor, etc ~ to express that sentiment. And those very few who did at least try to do something ~ anything ~ were completely tsunamied by the tides of the time.
And they thus failed completely to first prevent that War, then stop it in Afghanistan, then stop it from expanding into Iraq, and then stop anything Beyond. And ~ except for a brief, weekend-long flurry of activity before we went searching for Saddam's “WMDs” back in 2003 ~ they have been effectively totally silent ever since.
But "The Forever War" is entering a new Phase: When Russia has sufficiently recovered from the collapse of the USSR ~ and China from the madness of Mao ~ to present very real, credible "Threats" to America's global, unipolar hegemony since the end of Cold War I thirty years ago this coming December. And thus looms Cold War II and all that that is guaranteed to involve.
It already is. The day after the last American troop left Kabul, the US House of Representatives approved a $24 billion increase in the Department of Defense's requested budget of $716 billion for Fiscal Year 2022, to "deal with the threat of Russia and China." A reward, one can only suppose, for continuing its streak of now going 76 years without winning a single War [unless one calls Grenada, Panama, and Kuwait "Wars"].
In other words, “The Forever War” was, still is, and will ever be nothing but a half-time show between the two Cold Wars to keep the troops engaged, the defense contractors profitably employed, and the American people comfortably numb to protracted conflicts in places that many of them can't find on a map of the world.
When that last American troop left Kabul on August 31, 2021, it was exactly 7,268 days after October 7, 2001, and 7,267 days too late. And those of us who knew 20 years ago ~ that this War was not only legally, ethically, and morally WRONG, but a Lie, Hoax, Sham, and Scam to boot then at its birth, or came to recognize, acknowledge, and accept that fact over the ensuing years ~ did absolutely nothing THAT ACTUALLY WORKED to end it on anybody's terms and schedule but America's Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex, its Surveillance-Secrecy-Security Panopticon, and the owners and operators of the folks on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, in the Oval Office and up on The Hill.
Having been "Right" about 9/11 and the launch of "The Forever War" was of zero consequence then, and is even more meaningless today unless that knowledge and understanding can be used to look at what is happening in this Nation and on this Planet today, and see the connections and correlations between what happened that day in September, twenty years ago, and exactly What is happening today, and How and Why it is.
Honestly I think the thesis that Al Qaeda masterminded it and alone pulled it off is so much weaker than the thesis that some part of the American government was involved in the attacks. Sometimes I think how the people involved with it must occasionally shake in their britches, "Oh boy, how can we still keep this cover story after THAT came out?!" But, just as much as the media's influence is the psychological aspect. It is really terrifying to read the arguments. Even if you think our government does bad things, reading about 9/11 is worldview-destroying.
It's a rabbit hole, all right, and one that really shakes you. Besides that, the culture rejects the alternate thesis. Academia has managed to silence and marginalize people who doubt the government's line. It's taboo! People are mocked for THINKING it! Writers "just can't go there" in public. I am positive that many of them believe our side in private.
Nothing about it makes sense unless you understand that top politicians, think Biden in this case, no matter how dire the intelligence reports they get, still do not want to have the label of "Loser" emblazoned on them. They must win at all costs, to the last Ukrainian, if necessary. The same thing happened with LBJ and Nixon during the Vietnam war. A loss would have been catastrophic politically, so despite copious amounts of intelligence and analysis that said the war was unwinnable, they wanted to stave off defeat as long as possible, for political reasons. That is what is happening now.
It is quite bizarre what the US and NATO are doing now, truly unhinged. Their final phase of the insanity seems to be that they want to test F-16s and Abrams against the Russian army, now that the rest of the NATO arsenal has failed the test. Russia understands that they are being tested by the west, and therefore has even more incentive to pass with flying colors. But Biden is certain about one thing, he does not want to lose before the upcoming election, just like LBJ and Nixon. Maybe we will get lucky again, and Biden will be forced from office for his corrupt business dealings with Hunter like Nixon did for the Watergate coverup.
Yes, presidents love to pose as tough. Remember "W" Bush with "mission accomplished" and the flight suit poses. Remember his father talking about kicking the "Vietnam Syndrome." Remember LBJ in Vietnam telling the troops "to nail that coonskin to the wall." Obama supported the Afghan surge and was fond of donning AF flight jackets. They all want to look like warriors instead of what they should be, civilian commanders-in-chief who should be working for democracy and peace.
We may blow up the world so that Trump or Biden or DeSantis or Harris can look "tough."
Right on John. Domestic politics, including the fear of being call weak, is the most important aspect driving their decisions. All the death and the suffering over the decades because men and women in the White House are afraid of what names their political opponents might call them.
It all makes sense when you follow the yellow brick (money) road. War is the most profitable venture there is, and cold war is even more profitable as there is no risk.
I am not so sure that the power elites want war (they would likely be happy to get what they want without violence), but they are willing to commit horrific acts of violent depredations upon other human beings to get what they do want; power, monetary wealth, glory, etc. The US empire is no worse in this regard than other empires of history, but contra to the chest thumpers, the US is certainly no better.
As for robot war, it can only go so far. To gain the kind of control imperialists desire you have to in some fashion kill and conquer the other side, and vice versa. This means continued shedding of copious amounts of human blood.
Except that the more the power elites get the more they seem to want. It's a hole that can't be filled.
Good point about war per se versus the attainment of wealth, power, and glory by other means. At this point in human history, there are no earthly territories left to conquer, so war is the surest means to attain those three things. Although Musk appears to think colonizing Mars would be a good substitute. And to some extent, perhaps professional sports sublimate some of those urges. Certainly, contact sports provide some of the atavistic satisfaction Ehrenreich describes.
Yes, she writes about sports as a war-substitute.
Makes sense. Even some of the references are similar: "crushing opponents," and so on.
Football being the most apparent never could cotton to it though seeing friends maimed for life playing in H.S. no less. The Sideline Generals being Coaches. Always admired the guile of some of the tactics (Plays) & strategy.
Overall though, a bunch of grown men killing themselves over a bag of air!!! lol Better that than literally on the battlefields. We need a new System, and we need it yesterday!
I suspect there might be many fans outraged at your "bag of air" description, but yes, I agree 100%! ; )
Tucker Carlson speaks with Colonel Douglas Macgregor about the Ukraine war.
The truth spoken by a highly decorated US military veteran.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMUAaWK79Vc
I've posted substack articles by John Varoli before. This latest poses serious questions that must be answered.
The Triumph of Death. What ever happened to: “If it saves one life”?
Those who supported the most stringent Covid measures are now among the most ardent advocates of conflict with Russia and China. Coincidence, or two sides of the same coin?
War and militarism are all the rage today, and we accept this as the new normal. Where are the much vaunted European and North American peace movements? Has anyone seen them?
Our military and political ruling class is addicted to death, destruction and profits. Indeed, the three go hand-in-hand. Each day brings more news of taxpayer money squandered on war and weapons for Ukraine and other U.S. allies across the globe. Our paranoid government and media tell us that ‘autocratic’ enemies plot the destruction of our ‘democracy’. Therefore, we must respond vigorously.
The West does everything possible to prevent peace between Moscow and Kiev. The U.S. actively helps Kiev to plot and organize terrorist attacks against Russia that achieve nothing but to further poison the two Slavic neighbors against each other.
In Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of youth have died fighting and many more will die. Cemeteries overflow with the dead; about 75% of Ukrainians know someone killed or injured. Even before the war, Ukraine faced one of the world’s most dire demographic crises, its population rapidly shrinking. If this continues, large swathes of Ukraine will soon be depopulated. I suspect this is the goal of our ruling class.
As if the tragedy of Ukraine wasn’t enough, France and the U.S. now scheme to push West Africa into a major regional war in the wake of the popular uprising in Niger that seeks to liberate the country from French political and financial domination.
Meanwhile, in Asia, we’re told to be ready to fight China over Taiwan, even though our government has long officially recognized the island as part of China. The last time we fought China — the Korean War — things went bad for us very quickly.
Stop for a minute. Have you forgotten how things were just two years ago?
Throughout the Covid years (March 2020 to February 2022), in order to justify numerous social restrictions, western governments and media vigorously promoted the mantra — “if it saves just one life”. The overarching idea was that the masses should accept loss of freedoms for the benefit of the greater good, because the repressive measures can theoretically “save one life”.
Sadly, many in the West fell for this cheap deception and accepted a totalitarian system that has almost eliminated fundamental liberties and human rights. A precedent has been set and can’t be undone. Governments can now take away our liberties at any moment, simply by citing a ‘national health threat’.
In February 2022, however, when the long-smoldering conflict in Donbass exploded, the “if it saves one life” principle was quickly discarded by our ruling class and replaced by a call for a crusade against “autocratic Russia, no matter the cost”. The goal is to help the nationalist regime in Kiev to reconquer some of Eastern Europe’s most remote and forgotten regions — separatist regions populated by ethnic Russians that were once part of Ukraine, but which seek the protection of Mother Russia............................................
https://john365.substack.com/p/the-triumph-of-death-what-ever-happened
It is truly irrational to say that the United States will have any use for remade weapons in thirty years. Why? Because climate change by then will be in full, frightening force and military spending as a priority is a major reason that global warming will continue.
We're all humans anyway prone to Conspiracy theories. Plus all have a particle of Truth to them. For myself its not even worth my time to Engage because people are going to believe whatever they want to believe-- so so be it...! Even the "Socratic Method" won't help a true believer in them! UFO's. Who really killed JFK, 9-11, etc., etc. blah blah blah...!
I've seen the Yeti!
Prove it!!!
9/11 was an attack by our government on its own people.
I understand this notion is completely off the table for anybody with prominence or a reputation to uphold.
I also understand the massive psychic pain and cognitive dissonance of realizing that people in our government did this horrific thing.
Just learned about this group a couple days ago:
https://ic911.org/
The "resources" tab has many options for further reading.
Imo, when you consult the evidence about 9/11, it's plain as day. Kind of like Nordstream, where we have Biden SAYING they'd "bring an end to it", there's so much evidence that 9/11 was NOT just permitted to happen, but initiated by the CIA. An article just came out this summer that 2 "hijackers" were CIA assets.
Interestingly, the original article came out in an obscure Fla publication on April 9:
https://www.floridabulldog.org/2023/04/ex-fbi-agents-accuse-top-cia-fbi-officials-9-11-coverup-cia-domestic-spying/
Then the Grayzone saw that Bulldog article and wrote about the situation on April 18:
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/04/18/9-11-hijackers-cia-recruits/
I heard a retired or former intelligence offical suggest that MSM's sudden discovery in April of Teixera's document dump (on a gaming platform in late 2022) was a diversion from the newly released court filing about two 9/11 hijackers' roles as CIA recruits.
Honestly, the Wikipedia entry on Teixera's leak is almost funny. It makes absolutely no sense to me. 1) How'd this kid get high level docs? 2) Why didn't he leak them to a major news organization? Or any news organization? This 21 year old is smart enough to steal tons of classified material just to deposit them on a video game platform where nobody cares? 3) Why no statement by Teixera? He supposedly ruined his career. Why?
I'm do not know if Teixera's documents were false info. I have no way to know. But that whole situation smells VERY funny, and MSM exploded with stories just as the court filing was released about two 9/11 hijackers being CIA assets.
Not a single MSM outlet reported on the released court filing showing two hijackers were CIA assets.
Things that make you go hmmmmm.
That's not a rabbit hole I choose to go down, Rachel, though I've had long conversations with 9/11 "truthers" who believe it was an inside job.
I believe the crimes of 9/11 began after the attack, not before. Crimes like torture, Gitmo, the Afghan and Iraq wars, Libya, etc.
It's bad enough no one is held accountable for the crimes and blunders that we all know of and which are disputed by few if any even in the MSM.
Agree to disagree. Especially because there's reasons other than morality or intelligence or argumentative prowess to avoid the topic. I appreciate that your conscience is good and you seek to do good in your life.
Another term for SOME “rabbit holes,” Bill, is “a Gateway and Portal to TRUTH.”
And isn’t it interesting that we live in a time when “Truther” is a term of blunt disparagement and open dismissal?
The ONLY way those “crimes after 9/11” could have been perpetrated and perpetuated was, still is, and ever will be if 9/11 had happened the way the American People and our “Allies” in the resultant "Forever War" were told and sold by this government and its media that it happened: ie, that some Raghead living in a cave in Afghanistan had pulled the whole thing together and off all by himself.
Without the LIE that is the “Official” conspiracy theory about WHAT actually happened that day, HOW and WHY it happened, WHO actually made it happen, and, above all, WHO Let it happen, NONE of those “after 9/11 crimes” You cited could or would have happened. Unless the Ruling Political Class came up a suitable alternative "End of the World as We know it" disaster.
And unless and until those individuals, organizations, and institutions ARE held accountable for 9/11 ~ the biggest law enforcement, intelligence, national defense and security failure in history ~ absolutely Nothing is going to change. Except to get worse.
When those who benefitted most from the first 9/11 determine that even more political, economic, and above all, psychological profit is to be gained by a second 9/11, who and/or what is going to stop them?
Be careful, Rachel… . Somebody might end up calling You a “9/11 Truther.”
And see my comment above to Bill about “rabbit holes” and “Gateways and Portals to TRUTH.”
Also, if You haven’t discovered them already via the International Center for 9/11 Justice website, take a look at Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth at https://www.ae911truth.org/ . Since 2007, AE9/114T has been at the forefront of the effort to actually explain the destruction of World Trade Center Towers 1,2, and particularly, 7; and to expose the LIE that the “Official” conspiracy theory about those demolitions was, is, and ever will be.
As those Latin American Liberation Theologians wiped out by Bush I and Bozo’s Ollie North Crusade put it: “For there to be Peace, there must be Justice. And for there to be Justice, there must be ~ before anything else ~ TRUTH.”
Jeff, I think biggest thing the US people cannot accept is: 9/11 was a response, revenge, or justice if you like, by people who were tired of Israel and the US phucking with them! They had been provoked enough by the great Satan US military presence in their religious homelands. The Yanks bought it on themselves.
And I don't think it was a "raghead in a cave". I think it was bunch of clever, determined religious zealots who got their shit together, and pulled off a brilliant masterful job.
Against the complete failure of a hopeless US military and inept security agencies to protect the nation. That the planes were not intercepted and shot down, or better yet, the plot discovered and foiled before it happened, is a very sad reflection on US capabilities to even protect its own homeland. Too "busy" phucking with people in faraway lands. Looking for the enemy in all the wrong places.
These guys achieved 1,000 times more than they could ever have dreamed of. They started the final collapse of the US in one day, using box cutters and a few measly dollars
As I have told you before, I don't believe the cobbled up fake story that we were told. But I think that to proffer that it was an "inside job", a false flag, is a non-starter. That would have involved thousands. And it would only take one person to spill the beans to make the big bucks. This is the fatal flaw in the "inside job" narrative. And remember, we are talking about a Federal government who could not organize a "booze up in a brewery".
NORAD info. I like this site because there's a bunch of links validating what is said.
https://timelineofterror.org/timelines/norad/
As for the numbers involved. You're reminding me of That Certain Group of people who called us Russian agents or Republicans for arguing against the Ukraine war.
One of those people said to me, "Now how could this all be propaganda? You're telling me the reporter is told what to write? You're telling me that all these people are in on some big conspiracy and nobody talks?"
I know there's a LOT of 9/11 info out there. Some good, some bad. Some no doubt planted by our own Intel services. You definitely would want to look at more reputable sites. But the evidence is overwhelming. The FBI tried multiple times to thwart it and were stymied by the CIA. There's a pretty well known FBI whistleblower who has spoken openly on it.
I do not believe a thousand people were in on it. I don't know how many people, but I think it would be similar to other (mirror) situations where the government knows an attack is about to happen and then very publicly thwarts it. Then later you're left wondering how much the government was involved initiating it in the first place. I don't know how much of the story is fake. I do think Muslims were misled into thinking they were participating in the attack. But as for the fine details, I would need years to research it!
Interestingly to your comment, I hadn't thought about 9/11 for years. Then about 6 months ago I was listening to an interview of an American who lived in Tunisia and joined a rebel group. Kinda like a hippie with a gun was my takeaway. Anyways, this is just one guy, but what he said made me interested again in the topic. He said that in Tunisia, people didn't believe Al Qaeda did it, and Al Qaeda was having P.R. issues because Arabs literally didn't believe Al Qaeda was involved!
Isn't that nuts?! Who knows what to believe. I enjoy this space where free thought is permitted!
And finally, Dennis: If You don't believe the "cobbled up fake story" put out by the government and its media, what is Your story about 9/11?
I don't have a story. There are lots of things I don't know. And, like who created the Universe, I am OK with saying I don't know. I don't need to invent a fanciful story.
You on the other hand start off with your conclusion - the gubmint is evil and did it. And then try to invent evidence that your story is right. The very opposite of the scientific method!
Hey, if the buildings were demo'd by explosives on the day the two planes hit the twin towers - then those that planted the explosives must have known the exact day that 9/11 was going to occur. So they would be able to spend the three months in advance planting the explosives! So that they would be ready to push the plunger.
Does that make sense?
Oh, I see - they also flew the planes into the buildings. 18-US gubmint ringers, who were Arabs and were willing to commit suicide to stage a false flag. I see?
Was it just a coincidence that they were the only non-US citizens and the only passengers with Arabic names on their flights? I dunno.
None of it makes sense to me Jeff. What happened at the Pentagon? We know it was not a plane eh? Who took weeks to plant bombs at the high security Pentagon? The plane that crashed in Pennsylvania? WTF?
And if the US had not made so any enemies in the world - would this still have happened?
And like Bill says - that's not a rabbit hole I choose to go down. If we prove it was the gubmint - what's to be done now? Buy more guns to defend ourselves from the tyrannical gubmint!
Take care my good man.
Do Yourself a big, big favor, Dennis, and do not presume to lecture me ~ or, particularly, the folks at Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth ~ on the scientific method.
They [like me] did not start with a “conclusion” and then “invented evidence” to prove that that conclusion was right.
They started with all the Questions that were either asked but left unanswered and/or were not even asked by the government [the 9/11 Commission, FEMA, and NIST] about what actually happened on 9/11. Particularly as regards the destruction of the three WTC Towers.
In other words, they [like me] started with what is called an “hypothesis”: “[A] proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories. Even though the words ‘hypothesis’ and ‘theory’ are often used interchangeably, a scientific hypothesis is not the same as a scientific theory. A working hypothesis is a provisionally accepted hypothesis proposed for further research in a process beginning with an educated guess or thought.” [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothesis ]
If You watch the movie SEVEN, You will see a very detailed explanation as to how that Structural Engineering Study of the destruction of WTC 7 was conceived, organized, and executed, all completely within accepted standards of the scientific method and engineering research, with hypotheses to deal with all those unanswered and unasked questions.
And what is so puzzling about a military operation that has a date of planned execution that allows sufficient time for all the necessary activity that needs to happen before that operation is launched, if it is to have any chance of success? If the ultimate objective was to bring those Towers down, time would have to be spent prepping those Towers for their destruction, which were originally designed and built to take and survive intact the impact of a Boeing 707, according to the architect who designed them.
And exactly how do “we know” that it wasn’t a plane that hit the Pentagon? Plus, the damage done to the Pentagon was the obvious result of something crashing into it; and not the result of “bombs previously planted” inside that “high security’ building. After the explosion from whatever hit the Pentagon, nothing was blown outward away from the building as if that explosion were caused by explosives inside the building. All the damage was directed inwards.
And finally, if You accept the “Official” conspiracy theory about 9/11 as put out by the 9/11 Commission, FEMA, NIST, and the Media, You have already gone down the Rabbit Hole they intended for You to go down. Just like the overwhelming majority of Americans who have much more pressing issues to confront and deal with than what War their government is going to get into next.
Jeff my friend, you are right. I have already gone down the rabbit hole "they" intended for me to go down. And the "movies" you watch are the real truth! LOL
BTW I attended a Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) presentation in Seattle on the 9/11 building collapse. By Leslie Earl Robertson*, of the Seattle Structural engineering firm Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson. He was the lead structural engineer of the Twin Towers design. He and his colleagues developed the framed-tube structural system that was used in the towers. He made no bones about it that he thought the folks at the "Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth" were a bunch of wack jobs. And that the movie SEVEN was not to be taken seriously.
Unlike you, I have no axe to grind here. And have actually been involved in building design. Working on loan for 4-years to our sister company design firm, ABAM Engineers in Federal Way WA. Know a little bit about the design process! LOL
Now go find somebody else to fight with. You are wearing me out and confusing me with someone who wants to fight to the death about what happened on 9/11.
All I know is the Americans fucked themselves before, during and after that fateful day.
Have a great day.
*He received The Mayors Award for Excellence in Science and Technology for the design of the World Trade Center. In recognition of his design withstanding the impact of the planes with enough time to allow many thousands of occupants to evacuate safely.
Dennis, You wrote: “That the planes were not intercepted and shot down, or better yet, the plot discovered and foiled before it happened, is a very sad reflection on US capabilities to even protect its own homeland. Too "busy" phucking with people in faraway lands. Looking for the enemy in all the wrong places.”
That those planes were not intercepted and, if necessary, shot down had absolutely nothing to do with the US Air Force being too busy fucking with people in faraway lands. NORAD was at full operational strength and capability on 9/11, as it always has been since its creation.
“It is standard operating procedure (SOP) to scramble jet fighters whenever a jetliner goes off course or radio contact with it is lost. Between September 2000 and June 2001, interceptors were scrambled 67 times. In the year 2000 jets were scrambled 129 times.
“There are several elements involved in domestic air defense. The air traffic control system continuously monitors air traffic and notifies NORAD of any deviations of any aircraft from their flight-paths or loss of radio contact. NORAD monitors air and space traffic continuously and is prepared to react immediately to threats and emergencies. It has the authority to order units from the Air National Guard, the Air Force, or other armed services to scramble fighters in pursuit of jetliners in trouble.
“ROUTINE INTERCEPTION PROCEDURES WERE NOT FOLLOWED ON SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2001.
Source: “NORAD Stand-Down: The Prevention of Interceptions of the Commandeered Planes” at https://www.911research.wtc7.net/planes/analysis/norad/index.html .
As I said the Air National Guard, the Air Force and NORAD phucked up big time!
Didn't these F-16's take of when it was too late in any case? Too late, even if they had received authority?
And if they had taken off in time, and intercepted and got no instructions and authority, are you are telling me these expert fighter pilots just shadowed these off-course airliners obviously heading to WA DC - and stood by and let them do what was becoming obvious anyway?
Excuse my French Jeff - but a major cock up by EVERYBODY!
So do You think that those jets stayed on the ground because the pilots didn't want to fly, or that their commanders didn't want them fly?
Or were those commanders and their jets and pilots ORDERED to stay on the ground by some Higher Headquarter?
And how high of a Higher Headquarter did it need to be to order their subordinate commanders to violate those "routine interception procedures"?
In short, Who was NORAD getting, taking, and following its orders from to stay on the ground?
You tell me!
And that "failure to follow routine interception procedures" had absolutely NOTHING to do with America's foreign policy in foreign lands. Particularly that policy in Arab/Muslim lands.
From the 9/11 Research article cited above:
"The air defense network had, on September 11th, predictable and effective procedures for dealing with just such an attack. Yet it failed to respond in a timely manner until after the attack was over, more than an hour and a half after it had started. The official timeline describes a series of events and mode of response in which the delays are spread out into a number of areas. There are failures upon failures, in what might be described as A STRATEGY OF LAYERED FAILURES, OR FAILURE IN DEPTH. The failures can be divided into four types. [EMPHASIS added.]
"~ 1. Failures to report: Based on the official timeline, the FAA response times for reporting the deviating aircraft were many times longer than the prescribed times.
"~ 2; Failures to scramble: NORAD, once notified of the off-course aircraft, failed to scramble jets from the nearest bases.
"~ 3. Failures to intercept: Once airborne, interceptors failed to reach their targets because they flew at small fractions of their top speeds and/or in the wrong directions.
"~ 4. Failures to redeploy: Fighters that were airborne and within interception range of the deviating aircraft were not redeployed to pursue them.
"Had not there been multiple failures of each type, one or more parts of the attack could have been thwarted. NORAD had time to protect the World Trade Center even given the unbelievably late time, 8:40, when it claims to have first been notified. It had time to protect the South Tower and Washington even given its bizarre choice of bases from which to scramble planes. And it still had ample opportunity to protect both New York City and Washington even if it insisted that all interceptors fly subsonic, simply by redeploying airborne fighters."
See my comment above. If you are telling me that FAA, NORAD, and the fighter pilots were instructed to not follow standard procedures in a timely manner - by whom?
Tell You what, Dennis: Let’s keep this simple and straight forward by starting with the destruction of WTC 7, the 47-story building not hit by planes or significant debris that came down almost 7 hours after WTC Towers 1 and 2 came down. Which made it the first steel-frame high rise structure in history to come down “because of fire.” Or so the “Official” conspiracy theory informs us.
i invite You to watch the movie SEVEN, which details a four-year Structural Engineering Study of the collapse of WTC 7, and its finding that FIRES DID NOT BRING THAT BUILDING DOWN, as we were and still are assured by FEMA, NIST, and the media that it was.
And the inescapable conclusion from that study was that A PLANNED DEMOLITION DID. For more information and how to watch SEVEN, go to https://www.ae911truth.org/seven . The official trailer is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7peCaqUQt8 .
And so, Dennis, the obvious question is: Did those “determined religious zealot terrorists” wire that building for its destruction? And given that WTC 1 and 2 were “destroyed by waves of explosions that pulverized the building contents and hurled steel beams up to 600 ft in all directions,” another obvious question is: Did they wire those buildings, as well?
If those determined religious zealot terrorists on those airplanes achieved 1,000 times more than they could have ever dreamed of, it is only because they had a lot of demolition engineering support on the ground. [The Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth website has very detailed science-, architecture-, and engineering-based information on the destruction of WTC 7 and the Twin Towers, as well.]
And after You do that and are still interested, we can explore whether or not calling 9/11 an inside false flag job is a non-starter. Have a Great day. ~ jeff
Jeff, have you ever been involved in demolition of large steel and concrete structures? I have. Several. Including the entire demo of the Long Beach Naval Station Shipyard and Drydock - to build a container shipping terminal.
I also watched our demolition subcontractor (the California big boys) demo the huge piers and steel columns of the old San Fran to Oakland bridge.
It takes months of preparation. Drilling holes with huge noisy smelly diesel compressors for the drills. Putting in all the charges, and wiring and setting the fuses with forklifts. Masses of equipment. Many truckload deliveries of demo supplies. Even installing small shape charges on steel beams was impossible to hide.
No way this could have been done on WTC 7 and the Twin Towers without anybody noticing!
You mean all this required engineering was done in the demolition subs office in secret? And nobody said a word? All this stuff and equipment was then dragged up in the elevators at night? LOL. Even installing small shape charges on the steel beams would have involved removing, and reinstalling new replacement, interior gladding on the beams, wall panels, ceiling panels and carpet - and not escaped notice. And taking months!
And no office worker ever said "Jeez, what happened here in my office last night? What's all this debris and dust? Who moved all my pot plants?"
It does not pass the laugh test. Its bovine excrement. Lunatics fantasies.
What's your acronym? GTFOMF!
BTW, in my career I met tons of dumb ivory tower office Engineers and Architects who would not know what end of a hammer to hold! Those are the idiots who are the clowns in that Engineers and Architects for Truth mob! The structural engineering firm, Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson in Seattle, who designed the framed-tube structural system used in the Twin Towers, wants nothing to do with those clowns and their "conclusions".
Have You ever seen a steel frame skyscraper brought down by a controlled demolition?
Watch this video of several controlled demolitions of high-rise buildings [,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNUMI3UQRo ], and then compare it to the videos of the demolition of WTC 7 in the movie. And then tell me if You detect any significant difference in them regarding: the speed with which they free fell; the totally symmetrical nature of that fall; and how they all ended up piled up quite neatly on their own footprint.
And finally, where the beams were that had to be wired for demolition were nowhere near any office spaces that any office worker might notice debris and dust.
Watch the movie and read the research and reports from Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, Dennis, and then we'll continue the conversation.
And i'm not familiar with GTFOMF! Is that "Get The Fuck Off My Foot"?
"My" acronym is GMAFB, as in "Give Me A Fucking Break."
I suppose reading all that nonsense from those dumb phuck Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth is better than reading Superman comics. Not by much though eh! Take care Jeff - have a nice day basking in your delusions.
And of course, you still have not answered my question? Why has nobody squealed? Not one person involved has been short of a few million bucks from a book publisher to tell the truth eh? Not even a poor laborer setting all those fuses and is now broke!
And the gubmint can't pay off everybody Jeff. Or kill them!
GMAFB!
And finally, Rachel. permit me to offer this that i posted two years ago on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. :
On 9/11-XX: Reflections of One of "Those Who Were Right" 20 Years Ago ~ Part 1
In the early evening of September 11, 2001 ~ even before President Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office ~ a series of phone calls among members of the New Orleans Peace and Social Justice community resulted in a gathering two nites later, on September 13th, of almost 60 "conscious, concerned, and committed Citizens" in the basement of a local church.
And that gathering of "Peacemongers" ~ as the local media termed it ~ resulted in a silent, candlelit March for Peace, Justice, and Truth thru the streets of New Orleans that assembled close to 250 people on Saturday nite, the 15th of September, four days after 9/11: easily one of the earliest and biggest Anti-War/Pro-Peace demonstrations in the country at that time. [Available online at https://www.nola.com/gambit/news/article_8cc98238-ab66-5a48-81f0-072ab8552e84.html .]
And "Editor B," a local independent journalist and filmmaker captured scenes from that March, as well as folks in New Orleans skateboarding, reading poetry, and singing for Peace, Justice, and Truth in the days and weeks after 9/11. [Available online at https://stupidtelevisionshow.com/media/nopeace/ .]
At 10:05 of that video is an extended interview of me on Day 6 of OPERATION ISAIAH 2:4, a projected 168-hour "Fast and Prayer Vigil for Peace, Justice, Truth, Repentance, and Reconciliation" ~ held on Jackson Square in the French Quarter, right across from the Cathedral ~ which began at 7:46 am CDT on Tuesday, September 25, exactly two weeks to the minute after the first airplane crashed into the World Trade Center, and continued until 7:46 am on Tuesday, October 2. [Note: the interview was preempted for about five minutes by a genuine, traditional New Orleans Jazz Funeral, which made it even better.]
Following the launch on October 7 of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM and America's assault on the Land, Country, Nation, and Peoples of Afghanistan, Phase Two of OPERATION ISAIAH 2:4 began on October 16, back on Jackson Square by the Cathedral, and continued until November 7 ~ Day 23 of the projected 28 ~ when cut short by illness.
Part 2 is the Opening Statement for Phase Two, which captures exactly What i was attempting to do, and, from the beginning of Phase One, exactly How and Why. It also elaborates on a number of points made in the Editor B video.
Part 2 ~ On 9/11-XX: Reflections…
ON BEING A CANDLE IN A TIME OF DARKNESS: Opening Statement of Phase Two of Operation Isaiah 2:4 16 OCT 01
Three weeks ago today, on the morning of September 25, I began a 7-day fast and prayer vigil, the principle objective of which was to prevent this country from initiating military action in response to the events of September 11. That fast was successfully concluded on October 2, shortly after the decision was made to continue the vigil as long as the threat of military action loomed.
Someone noted that as long as I was fasting, there was no War and the weather in New Orleans was magnificent. Once I stopped fasting, the weather turned foul and, on October 7, War began. While I’m not convinced of any direct correlation between my fasting and either peace or the weather, I do believe in my heart of hearts that the acts of individual fasting and prayer can and do impact the entire world.
Accordingly, in a few minutes, at 7:46 -- exactly five weeks after the first plane flew into the first building -- I will begin a 28-day water and juice fast and prayer vigil for peace, justice, truth, liberty, dignity, repentance, and reconciliation. The purpose of this juice and water fast is to offer up a personal sacrifice as an act of remembrance, repentance, and reconciliation for the victims of the acts of War perpetrated against the people, government, and nation of the United States of America on September 11. It is also for the victims of the acts of War perpetrated by the United States against the people, government, and nation of Afghanistan since October 7.
The purpose of the vigil is to stop there from being any more victims. The cycle of violence must be broken, and I am prepared to put my body where my mouth is to see to it that it is.
For the next four weeks, every day from sunrise to sunset, this spot will be a point to which concerned, patriotic citizens of the United States, citizens of conscience, concern, and commitment, can come to pray, to reflect, to meditate, to begin or to continue the process of recovery, of reconciliation, and of resurrection, and, equally importantly, to analyze, review, and plan action to stop this War.
This is “Phase Two” of OPERATION ISAIAH 2:4. Phase One, of course, began on September 25. Its purpose was to prevent the government of the United States from doing something dumb, from seeking revenge, retaliation, and retribution by military annihilation. The initiation of American military operations in Afghanistan signaled the total failure of that effort to prevent this War. Therefore, the purpose of this action, of Phase II, will be to stop this War.
This War can be stopped. This War must be stopped. This War will be stopped. It will be stopped when a critical mass of concerned, patriotic American citizens stand up to their government and declare that the only way that this War will proceed is if you kill us first. At that moment, this government will have to confront the reality of whether or not it has enough soldiers and police in its military and security forces who are willing to kill their fellow citizens.
A number of people have complimented me for what they call my bravery in daring to stand alone in a public place declaring an opinion not openly shared by too many other Americans. I deny that my actions are courageous. The people who rushed into the World Trade Center on September 11 to try to save the people trapped in those buildings were courageous. All I’m doing is my duty and responsibility as a concerned, patriotic, citizen of the United States, as a Human Being, and, above all, as a retired United States Army Non-Commissioned Officer.
Over the past three weeks, a number of other people have denounced me as a traitor and demanded to know why I still cashed my Army pension paycheck if I hated my country so much. Let me say this to all those self-proclaimed super-patriots who wrap themselves in the flag and would wipe their asses with the Constitution: I will stop cashing my paycheck when dissent becomes treason; when American citizens can no longer doubt, challenge, debate, and denounce the policies and actions of their government.
Because on that day I will know that the 28 years I spent in the military service of this nation was a lie. On that day, I will know that the purpose of our military is not to protect the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness or the core values and principles of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of dissent. I will know that the purpose of our military is to protect returns on corporate investment and access to markets and resources for the accumulation of economic and political power, control, and domination.
And on that day, I will go to War. I will go to War against those who -- in their drive to absolute power, complete control, and total domination -- will not hesitate to sacrifice anybody or anything, even the core foundation freedoms upon which this nation is built.
Continued…
In the days that I have been at the vigil site since September 25, I have interacted with almost 200 passing tourists and locals. Of those who have offered their opinion about what the United States should do in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, over 90% do not want War.
Contrary to what the media is telling us about poll results, more than 90% of the people I’ve talked to do not want War. They do not want revenge. They do not want a police state.
They want justice. They want accountability. And they want serenity.
They want to know who did this and they want them brought to justice within the law, not as a target for military annihilation. They want an international War Crimes Tribunal and they really want to know who ordered this operation. If it was bin Laden’s organization that did the deed, who was he taking his orders from? Who was he working for? And knowing the history of Ronald Reagan’s Afghan “freedom fighters” against the Soviet Union in the 80s, they want to know exactly when bin Laden and the Taliban stopped working for the CIA.
They also want accountability. They want to know where the FBI, the CIA, the INS, the FAA, the DoD, and all the other agencies whose mission it is to ensure that something like this does not, can not happen, they want to know where they were and what they were doing on September 10. And they want those senior officials in these agencies and in the White House, the Congress, and National Security Council to be held accountable for possible criminal dereliction of duty in failing to detect and prevent, and then stop the attacks of September 11.
Finally, they want serenity. Not just security, but serenity. They want to know that something like this will never, ever, ever happen again, anywhere. Here or anywhere around the world. However, they do not want a police state created in the name of national and personal security. They want their government to do some root cause analysis and determine exactly WHY this happened; how someone could hate us enough to do something like this.
There finally has been a great deal of concern expressed about the proposed Anti-Terrorist Act and the Office of Fatherland, correction, Homeland Security, and the destruction of individual freedoms and liberties implied or proposed as a means of safeguarding Americans against further acts of terror. Lots of folks have wondered if destroying or limiting our basic rights and freedoms wasn’t exactly what the terrorists -- whoever they are -- were trying to accomplish in the first place.
I want to be clear as to why I have been here for the past three weeks and will be here for the next four weeks. I am not here to claim or seek any type of leadership, to attempt to create an organization, or to serve as the vanguard for some mass movement. I have been and will continue to be here to give hope, to act as an example, and to serve as a proxy.
I am here so that others who also categorically reject President Bush’s false dichotomy that “you are either with US or you are with the terrorists” can know that they are not alone. That they are not alone in refusing to accept that one’s only choice is to be either for War as waged by an international terrorist organization, or else one is for War as waged by the most powerful economic, political, and military superpower in the history of the world.
I am here so that others can know that they are not alone in thinking that there is a third choice, a choice of peace instead of War, of justice instead of revenge, of truth and proof instead of propaganda and non-negotiable threats, of liberty and dignity instead of repression and hatred and fear as a means to security, of reflection and reconciliation instead of retaliation and retribution. I am here so that those many, many people who feel as I do but who – for whatever reason – cannot be here in their own person, will be represented in the dialogue and debate on what is the appropriate, the necessary course of action for our nation.
I will be here at the “Peace Site” every day for the next twenty-eight from sunrise to sunset. I may even spend a few nights out here just to get a better feel for what it’s like to be a refugee. I invite everyone to come by and join us in prayer, meditation, reflection, dialogue, discussion, and action analysis, review, and planning.
We will be here until this War is stopped. We are beginning to take back this planet. One heart, one mind, one soul, one person, one step at a time.
Thank you.
Conclusion
It is on the grounds of what i wrote, said, and did back immediately after 9/11, and then after Enduring Freedom got started on October 7, that i believe that i can legitimately claim to be among "Those Who Were Right" 20 years ago. Of the entirely too few others, the most important and significant was, is, and ever will be California Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the ONLY member of Congress who voted against the AUTHORIZATION TO USE MILITARY FORCE AGAINST TERRORISTS [AUMF], which paved the way into first Afghanistan and Pakistan, and then, into Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Equatorial Africa, Yemen, Syria, and who knows where else in "The Forever War."
Everybody from Bernie Sanders to Ron Paul got that completely and totally wrong. And, of course, the mainstream media of the day was just as totally and completely wrong. But there were a few who saw thru the Bullshit, and challenged it.
However, and having said all that, there is no place of honor or sense of pride in having been "Right" back then ~ twenty years ago ~ about How and Why America's so-called "Global" so-called "War On" so-called "Terrorism" was, is, and ever will be so totally and completely nor merely WRONG, but EVIL. Very few of those Americans who may have felt or thought that way actually did anything in public ~ demonstrations, marches, vigils, teach- and/or sit-ins, letters to DC or the editor, etc ~ to express that sentiment. And those very few who did at least try to do something ~ anything ~ were completely tsunamied by the tides of the time.
And they thus failed completely to first prevent that War, then stop it in Afghanistan, then stop it from expanding into Iraq, and then stop anything Beyond. And ~ except for a brief, weekend-long flurry of activity before we went searching for Saddam's “WMDs” back in 2003 ~ they have been effectively totally silent ever since.
But "The Forever War" is entering a new Phase: When Russia has sufficiently recovered from the collapse of the USSR ~ and China from the madness of Mao ~ to present very real, credible "Threats" to America's global, unipolar hegemony since the end of Cold War I thirty years ago this coming December. And thus looms Cold War II and all that that is guaranteed to involve.
It already is. The day after the last American troop left Kabul, the US House of Representatives approved a $24 billion increase in the Department of Defense's requested budget of $716 billion for Fiscal Year 2022, to "deal with the threat of Russia and China." A reward, one can only suppose, for continuing its streak of now going 76 years without winning a single War [unless one calls Grenada, Panama, and Kuwait "Wars"].
In other words, “The Forever War” was, still is, and will ever be nothing but a half-time show between the two Cold Wars to keep the troops engaged, the defense contractors profitably employed, and the American people comfortably numb to protracted conflicts in places that many of them can't find on a map of the world.
When that last American troop left Kabul on August 31, 2021, it was exactly 7,268 days after October 7, 2001, and 7,267 days too late. And those of us who knew 20 years ago ~ that this War was not only legally, ethically, and morally WRONG, but a Lie, Hoax, Sham, and Scam to boot then at its birth, or came to recognize, acknowledge, and accept that fact over the ensuing years ~ did absolutely nothing THAT ACTUALLY WORKED to end it on anybody's terms and schedule but America's Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex, its Surveillance-Secrecy-Security Panopticon, and the owners and operators of the folks on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, in the Oval Office and up on The Hill.
Having been "Right" about 9/11 and the launch of "The Forever War" was of zero consequence then, and is even more meaningless today unless that knowledge and understanding can be used to look at what is happening in this Nation and on this Planet today, and see the connections and correlations between what happened that day in September, twenty years ago, and exactly What is happening today, and How and Why it is.
###
Honestly I think the thesis that Al Qaeda masterminded it and alone pulled it off is so much weaker than the thesis that some part of the American government was involved in the attacks. Sometimes I think how the people involved with it must occasionally shake in their britches, "Oh boy, how can we still keep this cover story after THAT came out?!" But, just as much as the media's influence is the psychological aspect. It is really terrifying to read the arguments. Even if you think our government does bad things, reading about 9/11 is worldview-destroying.
It's a rabbit hole, all right, and one that really shakes you. Besides that, the culture rejects the alternate thesis. Academia has managed to silence and marginalize people who doubt the government's line. It's taboo! People are mocked for THINKING it! Writers "just can't go there" in public. I am positive that many of them believe our side in private.