9/11 CultWatch

Emel Magazine + Dr Mohammad Naseem = Comedy Gold?

Emel is a Muslim lifestyle magazine, distributed nationally. I get mine, every two or three issues or so, from Sainsbury's in Dalston.

Each issue contains a two page feature, Migrant Memories, where a senior Muslim reflects on their life here in Britain. November's, headed 'Serving the Society' features Dr Mohammad Naseem, Chairman of Birmingham Central Mosque, former (?) financier of the Respect Party and owner of one of the best syrup and figs in the West Midlands.

Dr Naseem is of course well known to visitors to this blog for his prominent role as a 7/7 conspiracy theorist, indeed shortly after the London Bombings he was using public platforms in the West Midlands to insist it was impossible any Muslims could be involved in the attacks. This bizarre position continued even after the first suicide video - that of ringleader Mohammad Sidique Khan - surfaced. Since then he has popped up in the BBC's Conspiracy Files programme working with leading 9/11 'truther' Tony Gosling, and distributing a DVD around his mosque which argues Israel was responsible for the 7/7 attacks.

More recently Birmingham Central Mosque has threatened to sue Prime Minister David Cameron, after he mentioned it in connection to conspiracy theories about terrorist attacks. Oddly eight months on there is no news of a writ landing on the doormat at number ten, and Dr Naseem does not take the opportunity to update Emel's readership on this important case. So what do we get from the great man?

Well in terms of controversy, very little. He tells us about his belief in inter-faith dialogue and the Rabbi he worked with after 9/11 - sadly we are not told if the mosques 'Jewish Comrades' have received one of their copies of 7/7 Ripple Effect. Things look as if they might get interesting when Dr Naseem tells us that some of his 'decisions in the public arena have sparked controversy' but there follows merely an unremarkable passage about appointing women to public posts. How the good Doctor views himself is interesting, saying he is a "strong critic of the political establishment when it enfringes on our rights as citizens of a democratic country" - it is hard to place 7/7 or 9/11 'truth' activism in this context.

So - no mention of Respect, nothing about suing the Prime Minister, and of course nothing about 7/7 suicide videos being created by the security services to frame Muslims. On balance, we are left with the conclusion that Emel - rather like secular lifestyle magazines - prefers the anodoyne and the uncontroversial, to the dramatic and downright odd. Still, they have achieved the near impossible - they have provided a platform where Mohammad Naseem comes across as rational.

On The Appeal of 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

I have just finished drafting the outline for a lecture on Terrorism and 'Conspiracy' Theory for the Terrorism module I convene at the University of East Anglia.

Whilst preparing the readling list and module guide I came across this leader from the Economist of September 3rd:

Messing with the mind of Islam
Al-Qaeda has not just poisoned relations between countries. It has poisoned minds as well. In all of the Muslim countries polled recently by the Pew Global Attitudes project, majorities still refuse to believe that the perpetrators were Arabs.

I am not sure The Economist is correct to blame Al-Qaeda for this, indeed their strategists expressed considerable irritation that the 'credit' for 9/11 did not always go to them. This anger even amounted to seeing such views as a plot by Shia Iran to discredit Al Qaeda with Sunni Muslims. Al Qaeda also claimed responsibility for the attacks, and released propaganda to that effect. How is that consistent with 'poisoning minds' in the opposite direction?
Sadly more significant explanations for these attitudes may be found in the war-weariness of much of the Muslim world, which means some can arguably believe virtually anything of the West. Equally historical anti-Semitism, the propagation of conspiracy theories by a host of Muslim governments for a generation and a refusal to grapple with the extremists that have emerged with the Islamic resurgence all combine to give the message 'it can't be us, so it must have been you'.

In 9/11 truth circles such as Ian Henshall's Reinvestigate 9/11, there is excitement at opinion poll data which they argue shows increasing evidence in Europe that their message is getting through. A recent email to supporters was headed 'Breakthroughs in UK, France, Italy and Canada for 9/11 Truth Movement' thanks to what they see as a succesful media offensive. There tends to be little or no attention to what evidence such as The Pew Global Attitudes survey may indicate, or what such 'breakthroughs' in Muslim majority countries may signify in practice. To quote from Pew:

"There is no Muslim public in which even 30% accept that Arabs conducted the attacks. Indeed, Muslims in Jordan, Egypt and Turkey are less likely to accept this today than in 2006."

If such figures eventually emerge in the UK, US and across the European Union - does that constitute success? Progress? Does that take us closer to a better society, where politicians and the powerful are accountable for their actions? It does not. But I suspect it does to the 'truth' movement.

National Geographic: The Liquid Bomb Plot

We hear very little from the UK's conspiracists about the 2006 liquid bomb plot.

No doubt if the attacks had gone ahead, and thousands been killed when airliners were blown up over the Atlantic, we would hear plenty. Those that comprise the 7/7 Truth movement would tell us that the attacks had been planned by Israel or the US, or that they had been discovered by the authorities and then allowed to happen. The MIHOP (Made It Happen On Purpose) and LIHOP (Let It Happen On Purpose) model is applicable, to those afflicted with it, in virtually every circumstance. Except of course where those involved are caught and convicted before they can carry out their planned attacks........

All the more reason then to turn to the National Geographic channel at 9pm this evening, for their two hour investigation Liquid Bomb Plot.

Bin Laden Conspiracy Theories

This blog has not rushed to comment on either the death of Osama Bin Laden, or the conspiracy theories that rapidly emerged after Barack Obama's announcement on Monday.

If there were to be a World Cup for conspiracy theorists, the two nations vying for top seeding would be the United States and Pakistan. The UK, despite the best efforts of some, would probably have the type of seeding England's footballers have after four years of Fabio Capello's best efforts. Perhaps the beauty of Bin Laden's death (there you go, I have given away my position as a believer in anything the US President says!) is that it brings together, in one incident, both these conspiracy minded nations. Let battle commence!

Politically, the Navy Seals operation must have terrified the Pakistani establishment, by raising their worst possible fear. That is a world where the US - and for that matter the west more broadly - may not particularly need them. The possibility for Pakistani's feudal class, for its military and its intelligence service, of having to work for a living and pay taxes, rather than simply soak up billions in aid from the West, must be a truly terrifying thought.

Such elements certainly have a motive for denying Bin Laden's death, and indeed for denying his long term presence in a house so close to a Pakistani military academy. They will be delighted to both read, and fuel, further conspiracy theories in the weeks and months to come, providing they absolve the Pakistani establishment of any responsibility for the actions of Al Qaeda.

The 9/11 Truthers Out-Gunning Al Qaeda

The Screw Loose Change bloggers have been doing their sums. 

They have added up the amount of gun attacks mounted by those influenced by 'truth' theories since 9/11, and compared them to successful Al Qaeda attacks in the United States.

The 'truthers' win hands down......... 

Conspiracists: Your Chance To Make Millions

Courtesy of the Arabic daily Asharq Alawsat.

Read Mshari Al-Zaydi's light hearted take on the Yemeni parcel bombs case, and how you could construct the perfect conspiracy novel from it. Are your writing skills up to it? If so, it is time to get writing......

Zionist MP Stephen Timms Stabs Himself And Blames Muslim Constituent

Now - I knew that headline would get your attention. 

Flicking through the usual 9/11 and 7/7 'truth' sites it is remarkable how little has been said about Roshonara Choudhry, convicted at the Old Bailey of the attempted murder of Labour MP Stephen Timms. No lengthy deconstructions of anomalies in the bus timetable between her home and Timms' constituency surgery in Beckton. No reports of the CCTV outside his office being controlled centrally from a desk in Tel Aviv, or Jewish exchange students dancing in the streets of East Ham at the news of Timms' stabbing. Surely janitor William Rodriguez will have heard Timms cry out he had been stabbed seconds before the attacker (conveniently disguised by a hijab) had even entered his office? We have not even had the suggestion that Timms smeared himself with theatrical blood having disarmed Choudhry in the split second that she lunged at him. Where is the CCTV footage of Roshonara Choudhry at Beckton bus station? 

In fact the only noise has been from a handful of websites on the Jihadist fringe - such as Revolution Muslim and Izharudeen praising the work of Sister Roshonara, plus a few posters on the Islamic Awakening forum hoping to get hold of her prison address (hopefully for chaperoned visits please brothers) 

Could it be that in this case at least even the UK 'truth' movement has had to accept that Britain has a small number of rather unpleasant Jihadis and would be Jihadis, and that constantly trying to deny their existence is now getting a bit embarrassing? 

Conspiracy As Distractor

This week I have been reading Imtiaz Gul's excellent "The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan's Lawless Frontier".

Gul has this to say about those In Pakistan who believe in an Indo-Israeli-American conspiracy against all Muslim countries:

"This conspiracy theory appeals to millions of disgruntled Pakistanis, those who buy into what the ruling elite - politicians, landlords, generals and industrialists - tell them to deflect their attention from pressing issues of governance, corruption and service delivery, conveniently passing the buck and blaming external factors for the miseries of Pakistan. Scapegoatism has a long history in Pakistan and sadly fits into an insensitive ruling elite's scheme of things"

Imtiaz Gul "The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan's Lawless Frontier". (London: Penguin, 2010) p.174.

A Depressing Read

The extent to which 9/11 'truth' theories have infested discourse on Jihadist terrorism becomes ever more apparent. 

Consider the responses to this article (from Monday's Independent) on the Taiba mosque in Germany, attended by many of the 9/11 hi-jackers before they moved to Germany. Just take a read at the comments below the piece - a depressing combination of bigotry, paranoia and conspiracy theory, with the odd Islamist ostrich also taking part. 

Such currents reinforce the need for this blog, and others like it. 

More on Dr Naik and 9/11

Muslim Weekly goes large in its current issue (25/6/10) in defence of Dr Zakir Naik. 

One amusing line comes courtesy of his lawyer Majeed Memon, who complains of the Home Secretary Theresa May using pro Bin Laden comments Dr Naik made in 1996 as evidence against him. 

"Mr Memon said the comments were made before the 9/11 attacks and should not be read into".

Er - would these be the 9/11 attacks Dr Naik believes the Americans carried out themselves? 

Islamist 9/11 Truther Dr Zakir Naik Banned From UK

On one level, 9/11 presents a rather similar challenge to some Islamists as the Holocaust presents to European fascists. Albeit on a vastly different scale. Put simply, if your ideology or belief system is so brilliant, how do you explain these acts carried out in its name? 

One response that emerged within fascist organisations was simply to deny the Holocaust. Hence the time parties like the British National Party spent in the 1980s distributing newspapers such as Holocaust News (a classic example of holocaust denial) or the pseudo-academic efforts put in by David Irving, Fred Leuchter and others. Under this schema, in a cynical twist, one of the prime targets of the holocaust, Europe's Jews, are actually blamed for fabricating the entire process. 

Some in the Muslim World have looked to explain away 9/11 in a similar manner. Either the old staple of Zionism is blamed, or the United States did it to themselves, or a combination thereof. After all, if Islam is a religion of peace and justice, its adherents cannot have carried out the murder of over 2000 civilians (including many Muslims) on 9/11? 

I am grateful to my friends over at Harry's Place for spotting that Indian Islamist preacher Dr Zakir Naik, banned by the Home Secretary from entering the UK this month for a series of scheduled talks, is a keen 9/11 truther. 

What a surprise. 

Here is Dr Naik waffling away on the issue, if you can bear it. He seems to be a no-planer. 

Pakistan and Terrorism

Tune in to Channel 4 tonight at 7.30pm for Unreported World, and an analysis of Lashkat-e-Taiba. 

Anyone who spends five minutes delving into the arguments of the more conspiracy minded elements in the Muslim world will know that all terrorism in Pakistan is the responsibility of the United States/Blackwater India/Israel, the UK, MI6 (delete as appropriate) 

Now - its just possible Unreported World will take that line, but here's hoping for a more substantive analysis. 

A Reply From Rev Ray Gaston

I decided to email yesterdays article re the Birmingham Interfaith Statement on the Moscow Suicide bombings, to signatory Rev Ray Gaston for comment. 

Here is his reply:

E: A Quick Question on the Interfaith Statement

Thursday, 1 April, 2010 13:07

From:

"Ray Gaston" <>

Add sender to Contacts

To:

"Paul Stott" <>

Hi Paul
I was asked to sign the statement by Adam of Saltley Peace group and it seemed a good statement to me so I signed it.
Ray

Another Big Name Joins The Truth Movement!

Following Minister Farrakhan, we now have another ego landing on the truth movement's lawn - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!

Reuthers reports on his view that 9/11 was a 'fabrication' to allow the Americans to invade Afghanistan. Sadly it seems Ahmadinejad has forgotten that the Americans only just beat the Iranians to it when it comes to overthrowing the Taliban. The period of Taliban rule saw immense tension between the Sunni Taliban and Shia Iran, and the Islamic Republic Of iran granted the US air force fly over rights so they could attack the Taliban.

Whilst such rhetoric from Ahmadinejad may allow him to play to that section of the Muslim world that is as conpiracy minded as he is, it says little for the Iranian governments collective memory...........

Larry O'Hara versus David Shayler

The 2005 debate between these two 'heavyweights' can now be seen in full on You Tube. Here's an extract for you:

If you prefer to have the DVD rather than the somewhat fragmented structure of You Tube, it can still be ordered from Notes From The Borderland. For details of how, plus an over view of just why Shayler has commanded so much of NFB's attention, take a look at Notes From The Borderland on David Shayler. 

More on Moazzam Begg, Jihadism and Amnesty

A few days back I was asked by the ever combative Harry's Place to write a few words on the above controversy.

My article can be viewed here.

Resisting Terrorism In Pakistan

Over on the Cricinfo website, Imran Yusuf wants the terrorists to leave sport alone. 

Read his views here. 

The Biggest 'Truther' Organisation In The World?

How 9/11 'truthers', operating in a sometimes harsh political climate, must look with envy towards Pakistan.  

The Jamaat-e-Islami is the premier Islamist organisation in what was the world's first self-declared Islamic Republic. Whilst it has arguably under achieved at the ballot box over the years, it has been more successful at getting its religious edicts adopted by the political system. It has also spread its wings internationally, influencing countless mosques in Britain, and forming the Islamic Foundation in Leicestershire.

2009 has been one of the bloodiest in Pakistan's often dark history. How has the JeI responded to what has often been violence on the scale of a 7/7 attack on a weekly basis, by Jihadists? Er, by stating that there is no Pakistani involvement in suicide terrorism in Pakistan, and blaming it all on the American private security company Blackwater, and old nemesis India. 

I would love to be proved wrong, but 2010 is unlikely to be a better year in Pakistan than 2009 has been. 

Are Good Advisors Listened To?

We will soon see. 

One of the more curious selections as speaker at 9/11 and 7/7 truth meetings in London in the recent past was Nafeez Ahmed. This is not to criticise Ahmed, who is a well informed writer (particularly with regards to the former Al-Mujihiroun group's activities) but I came away from the two truth meetings at which I saw Ahmed speak with the impression that they were a lot more taken with him, than he was with them. 

Ahmed's fascinating blog The Cutting Edge is well worth a visit, but I wonder what his contacts in the 'truth' movement make of the fact that he is currently advising the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on engagement with Muslim communities.

I have no idea what advice precisely Mr Ahmed is giving the top brass at Sandhurst, but I think we can safely assume he is not telling them that 9/11 and 7/7 were inside jobs............ 

Pakistan Imperiled By Conspiracy Theories

Ahmed Rashid has been responsible for some of the most incisive writing about Pakistan in recent years. 

This article, on the scale of conspiracy theories in his home country, and the fact they stifle debate, is timely. We urge visitors to this site to read it.  

One Way Leaks?

To the University of East Anglia, where Clive Stafford Smith of Reprieve spoke yesterday evening on "Reuniting Prisoners With The Rule of Law".

An Anglo-American, Stafford Smith is known for his long term defence work on death row cases in the southern States of the USA, and then more latterly for his work on 'rendition' cases - where the CIA have kidnapped alleged Jihadists then taken them on a magical mystery tour of detention and torture.
There was much that was new in Stafford Smith's talk - how many people know that 11 Britons are on death rown in Pakistan? Omar Saeed Sheikh yes, but even those well versed in British Jihadism would struggle to name the other ten.

Perhaps most interesting of all was the amount of information Stafford Smith and his investigators have gleaned about the United States secret prisons worldwide (including sites in Hungary, Poland and the British dependency of Diego Garcia) and the flight logs that have emerged concerning journeys between these sites. The details of one pilot, Eric Fain, even emerged via the Sheraton hotel he stopped of at on Palma de Mallorca for a spot of R&R in the midst of a rendition!

What's all this got to do with 9/11 'truth'? Well on one level, quite a bit. Stafford Smith commented that vast amounts of information is leaking out from the American side, and of course from others appalled at just what the Americans have done and are still doing with regards to rendition and torture. Some of these whistle blowers, such as Captain Kirk Black, have shown extraordinary degrees of commitment to truth and justice, regardless of their political backgrounds.

Which raises the obvious question. If so much has been discovered about US crimes post 9/11, with the American establishment leaking like a sieve, why has this not occured with regards to 9/11? If 9/11 was an inside job, surely someone, somewhere would have said so by now?  

The British Ostriches

I have just got round to reading Richard Watson's "The Rise of the British Jihad", which appeared in Granta issue 103, last summer.

Watson focuses largely on the former al-Muhajiroun group, 7/7, and Operation Crevice, with some interesting diversions into Pakistan. There are problems - I suspect Watson has relied far more heavily on Hassan Butt as a source than he declares, and he drops a clanger by giving us a pen portrait of Butt that includes his May 2008 arrest by Greater Manchester Police, but not his admission to have been making up his supposed terrorist past. Nor does Watson appear to have grappled with Nafeez Ahmed's work on either 7/7 or Operation Crevice.

For those interested in 7/7 conspiracy theories, Watson's interview with Dr Mohammed Naseem is all too brief, but his experience of meeting mosque leaders and discussing Jihadi terrorism is fascinating. Whilst it is perhaps not surprising that many ignore the supposition that the 7/7 bombers did find religious inspiration and justification for their actions (a myopia that has also infected parts of the British left) the degree to which Watson encountered conspiracy theory is less surprising:

"And conspiracy theories abound: large numbers of people simply do not believe that Muslims are involved in terrorist plots; they prefer to see the various plots as being part of a wider global anti-Islamic conspiracy, usually involving the Jews."

Richard Watson "The One True God, Allah: The Rise of the British Jihad" p.82 (Granta 103, 2008)

On The Need To Challenge The Conspiracy Mindset

A couple of 9/11 cultwatch activists spent Thursday 26 February at the launch of Alistair Crooke's new book on Islamist Revolution. 

Very much the traditional Foreign Office Arabist (Crooke is ex-MI6) the evening was enlivened by a 'truth' type intervention courtesy of Global Vision 2000. Apparently false flag terrorism has been used to 'demonise the Muslim world'. 

Cooke could have stamped on this nonsense, asking the contributor which specific attacks he includes in this rubric, and which he excludes (usually of course the answer is all of them are false flag!), or even pointing out that our understanding  of events such as 7/7, 9/11 or the Mumbai attacks is greatly weakened by this type of defensive approach. 

Sadly Cooke held his tongue, which was a mistake. 

An Interview With Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's Defence Lawyer

It is good to post something slightly different on this blog occasionally. 

As not many people will have seen it, this interview with David Nevin from the important Arab newspaper Asharq Alawsat, is well worth looking at. 

Resonance FM Interview For Download

On 11th January I was interviewed by Ian Bone on Resonance FM as part of Ian's "Anarchism In Britain" series. 

Amongst the many topics covered were the dangers of Islamism in Britain, its reactionary history and of course dealing with the 9/11 'truth' movement. 

You can download the interview (along with two others) here. 

9/11 Truther To Be Added To United Nations Terrorist List?

One of the more colourful characters to advance the cause of 9/11 'truth' is Pakistan's former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Hamid Gul. 

General (Retired) Gul may have more important matters on his mind now, as it seems the US government wishes to add him to the United Nations list of active terrorists! 

General Gul, who's colourful back catalogue includes facilitating Yvonne Ridley's entry into Afghanistan in 2001 (where she was promptly arrested by the Taliban on suspicion of being a spy) is accused of talent spotting young men to take part in Taliban actions against US forces in Afghanistan, a part of the world where he has a long history of involvement. 

You can read Pakistani media coverage of this case here. For General Gul's eccentric views on 9/11, this interview summarises his views as well as any. 

Uncovering the truth in waters as murky as these is hardly straight forward. But is it not time for one or two 9/11 truthers to at least consider the possibility that the likes of General Gul are happy to see the US or Israel blamed for every single terrorist operation, anywhere in the world, as they themselves have a fair few skeletons in the closet? 

Do You Have The Same Job As Your Uncle?

I'm guessing that very few visitors to this blog do, but thought it polite to ask.

Why? The December issue of "Crescent International" which styles itself the journal of the Islamic movement, has what it considers an exclusive on 9/11. The bold heading "Mossad link to 9/11 hijackers established" is followed up by a story, originating in the Lebanon, that the uncles of 9/11 hijacker Ziad al-Jarrah, were arrested following a Lebanese Army operation in the Beqaa Valley, and have been accused of spying for Israel. The two men are called Ali and Youssef al-Jarrah. 

That it seems is it. Evidence that Ziad al-Jarrah himself was spying for Israel at the time of 9/11, or that he was even in contact with his uncles then, is not presented. Nor is it stated that the Lebanese Army believe such a connection existed. 

It is interesting to note that in the case of Crescent International, Islamic publications are as dis-interested in evidence as their conspiracy based colleagues in more secular political circles. Having claimed that Flight 93 (piloted by al-Jarrah) was shot down over Pennsylvania by a US Air Force missile (again no evidence is presented for this)  the (anonymous) author then builds his case further by - asserting opinion about 9/11:

"There are many people in the US and elsewhere in the world who believe that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job. Others say that if the accused individuals were indeed the hijackers, then they were duped by some intelligence agencies". 

There are many people in the US and elsewhere who think that Al Qaeda did it and that many Muslims, rather than come to terms with issues of extremism within their own religion, seek to shift the blame elsewhere. Needless to say the author ignores such opinion that does not suit his case. (I think we can safely assume the author is a man). 

This approach is little more than an Islamic version of 'a bloke down the pub says' but that it now passes as serious evidence is disturbing. Lets leave the last word however to Crescent International. When the Israelis (hardly surprisingly)  declined to comment on the arrests in the Lebanon, they conclude:

"The Zionists silence says much about their true role in the sordid affair and their guilt in the 9/11 attacks". 

No, it tells us that they have a policy of usually declining to comment on intelligence matters that are raised with them, unless there own spin doctors are looking to push a story. That's what governments do........ 

On The Run?

The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, hits the airwaves this evening.

Got to Radio 4 at 8.30pm for Analysis: Al-Qaeda's Enemy Within. The gist appears to be the hypothesis that Al-Qaeda is now facing serious difficulties from staunch Islamists who now oppose the organisation.

You can listen to Radio 4 live here. Should you miss the programme, it can be played again using this page.

The Other 7/7

One of the more interesting websites currently looking at US and international affairs is Truthout.

To take one example, J Sri Raman has provided this fascinating insight into the attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul on 7th July this year. Raman gives us a view on the association with terrorism in the region of both the Indian and Pakistani governments.

This 7/7, may yet have far more important consequences than the 7/7 bombings that occurred in London.

Seeing Only Part of the Story

The 2 June 2008 issue of the New Yorker has a major article by Lawrence Wright on Dr Fadl, formerly a leading theoretician in Al-Qaeda.

Now ensconced in the Egyptian prison system, Fadl (real name Sayyid Iman al-Sharif) has decided that terrorism is an altogether bad thing. Given the somewhat uncomfortable nature of his surroundings, that is perhaps no surprise. However, as Wright points out, such a change, known as 'the revisions' has been occurring within Egyptian Islamist thinking for well over a decade.

This has led to a furious debate with Fadl's fellow Egyptian, and Al Qaeda number two Ayamn al-Zawahiri, who insists that through attacks such as 9/11, and on-going conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, the US is being ground down.
Interestingly Wright also cites an on-line discussion where al-Zawahiri blamed the Hezbollah TV station Al Manar for claiming that the Israelis were behind 9/11:

"The objective behind this lie is to deny that the Sunnis have heroes who harm America as no one has harmed it throughout its history".

Wright concludes that radical Islam is undergoing a rebellion within its own ranks, conclusions backed up by evidence from Cairo based ex-Islamists such as Kamal Habib and Karam Zuhdy, who now question the direction they took in the past.

A nuanced understanding of such debates - or even recognition that they exist - is lacking in 9/11 'truth' circles. Theirs is an entirely Eurocentric or perhaps more accurately Americentric view of the world.
To their mind, all that matters, and all that could really effect our lives for the worse, comes from the USA (with some blame being placed at the door of the Israelis).

It is a view that must be resisted, and exposed for what it is.

Just Take It As Read

The Canadian academic Michel Chossudovsky has a major article in the April - May issue of Nexus, examining the development of a US-NATO pre-emptive nuclear strike policy.

It seems the possibility of an Al-Qaeda nuclear strike on the US is being used to develop a policy of a 'first strike' against not just the Al-Qaeda leadership, but anyone who may have supplied them with nuclear material.

Unlike most in the 9/11 'truth' field, Chossudovsky does at least manage to use some primary sources and to present his points in a rational manner, but reading this sentence suggests he may well have been pulled down by some of the company he is keeping:

"The fact, amply documented, that al-Qaeda is supported by the CIA and Britain's MI6 is beside the point".

Has it been established that right now, as we speak, al-Qaeda is being supported by the CIA and MI6? If so we have missed it.

That al-Qaeda, or the people who became al-Qaeda had a relationship with the CIA and MI6 is well established - how else were the Soviets forced out of Afghanistan? But Chossudovsky owes his reader more than a bland statement that this relationship continues to this day.

We deserve evidence.

Age of Terror

This evening sees the final episode of Peter Taylor's Age of Terror series.

One of the BBCs most spook friendly journalists, Taylor finishes his series with an examination of Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.

Age of Terror is on BBC2 at 9pm.

At Last! Some Clarity From The Truth Movement!

It is nice when you get a straight answer to a straight question.

Exasperated at the inability of posters to see beyond there own prejudices, over on the 9/11 Truth Forum I posed the simple question:

"Is every single Islamist attack, everywhere in the world always the work of the US/Israel?"

So far, not one person from the 'truth' movement has said what I had hoped to hear "No that's nonsense, there is obviously a problem with Islamist terrorist groups". Indeed one joker even stepped up with this classic riposte:

"Probably. Although the US isn't likely involved."

It is those dastardly Israeli's again! You can read the whole thread here.

Looking at the current crisis in Pakistan, I am amazed Pervez Musharraf has not taken on anyone from the 9/11 'Truth' movement as an advisor. After all, why fight the Islamist opposition within his borders, when all he has to do is look out for those Israeli spies, arrest them, and everything will be tickety boo within days!

Don't Mention Bin Laden

A rational discussion of the threat from Islamist Terrorism is not something you will find in either the truth 'movement' or indeed huge swathes of the mainstream media.

Over in the US, journalist John Hockenberry has been dishing the dirt on his time at NBC. It seems one of the main US networks did not want serious coverage of Osama Bin Laden and his motivations, instead looking for cheap human interest stories from New York.

Perhaps more interesting still is the pressure he was put under by General Electric, NBC's parent company, not to go into General Electric's vast business interests in Saudi Arabia, including long standing one's with the Bin Laden family. After all, even events like 9/11 cannot be allowed to interfere with big business.

Read some of Hockenberry's comments here.