Things I didn't know about America in 2002

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Explanation:

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When the events of 9-11-2001 took place, I was well aware of many things that, I thought, qualified me as a knowledgeable citizen of the USA. 

 

For example, I knew (not long after, at least) that Ariel Sharon's arrogant strut on the Temple Mount / Haram al Sharif on September 28th, 2000, was a cynical provocation, and caused the Second Intifada, and that whereas in the 20 months prior, five Israelis had been killed by terrorism, in the twenty months following 440 Israelis had died from terrorist activity.  These figures derive from an Excel spreadsheet which was on the web for several years, the URL of which was http://www.terrorvictims.com/victims979.html.   This has since been removed.  Fortunately, I have saved a copy, which is now posted here, (with my arithmetic notated).

 

I also knew that the US military's Missile Defense system, the so-called Star Wars, had been a more or less total failure.  The idea of "hitting a bullet with a bullet" was demonstrably not working.  I was a big New York Times reader, in those days — I even had a t-shirt given to me for commenting on their "new" web site in the late 90's that read "Mind Over Chatter".  Guess what?  I refuse to wear it now, except to sleep in, because I have seen thru the lie.  But in those days, multiple engineers and physicists, the leader being Theodore Postol of MIT, had calculated the ineffectiveness of this system, and indeed, proven that the "Patriot" missiles fired in the first Gulf War also missed their mark, based on CNN footage, for at least 65% of the shots.  [see below regarding why I now see this as a fraudulent issue, and a sleight of hand.]

 

I thought I was close to the truth.  Then I heard an interview on Fresh Air with Stephen Kinzer about his then (July 28, 2003) new book All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror.  When I came face to face with the ineluctable facts (which I might have known even in 2000, if I had bought the NYT every day) that my country had deceitfully and lavishly overthrown a legitimate democratically elected leader of Iran and installed a military dictator, entirely for the purpose of preserving a grossly unfair oil concession (BP, then called Anglo-Persian), my heart sank thru the floor.  Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, Time's man of the year in 1951, made a heartfelt plea in perfect French to the UN, asking Britain to give his wretchedly poor country 30% of the proceeds instead of 5%.  They harshly rebuffed him.  He nationalized the oil, but had to hire foreigners to run it, so little had been taught to natives in 50 years.

 

The British Foreign Office asked Truman to overthrow him, but Truman would none of it.  Clement Atlee, the Socialist, wasn't interested either.  But when Churchill returned to Downing Street, and Eisenhower was elected in the States, things changed.  Churchill, still a hero of mine, but a dyed-in-the-wool imperialist, believed socialism was fine for Britain, but the colonies had to be treated forcefully.  Eisenhower, who almost ran as a Democrat, may not have been quite "in the loop" (the Wikipedia article, always a good source for general survey, says "In his memoirs, Eisenhower writes angrily about Mossadegh, and describes him as impractical and naive, though stops short of admitting any overt involvement in the coup.")  But the "Cadillac Cabinet", led by the Dulles Brothers, were hot for the chase.

 

[this page is in process of completion . . . .]

 

A few more appalling medicine balls thrown at the then-flabby unprepared solar-plexus of my patriotism:

 

·        The testimony of Maj. Gen. Smedley Darlington Butler, USMC, (d.1940), in particular this quote from  a speech delivered in 1933, reprinted as “Time of Peace,” in Common Sense, Nov. 1935.  This is a reasonably definitive page about the printed version: http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/butler1.html

“War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.

 

I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.

 

I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.

 

There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.

 

It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

 

I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

 

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

 

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beam weapon?   I have been very reluctant to countenance such explanations, as have a majority of the 911Truth community.  But when I saw these photos, I had to take a second look.