Tag: Terrorist Attack

Closing Thought–04Oct21

I have read most of the conspiracies around the attacks of 9/11….I like to see just how far these idiots will go down that rabbit hole.

Over this pat weekend I read yet another outrageous conspiracy….this one by one of Trump’s babbling buffoons….Lin Wood……

A leading face of the effort to overturn the 2020 election results, attorney and Donald Trump loyalist Lin Wood put a different conspiracy theory forward in a clip going viral on Twitter when he suggested the planes that hit the World Trade Center towers on 9/11 were CGI and a missile was fired at the Pentagon as part of a plot to bring down a building containing financial records of “missing” trillions.

The missing money conspiracy theory is an old saw that the government lost a ton of money somehow, or that it was stolen as Wood put it, and that 9/11 covered it up. In light of the new spending bills before Congress, the idea that anyone would blow up buildings over $3 trillion dollars is practically quaint.

The money was neither stolen nor missing, of course. But Lin Wood took it to the next level anyway, saying that it was “a missile” that hit the Pentagon and suggesting the planes that hit the towers were computer graphics.

MAGA Attorney Lin Wood Tells Silent Crowd That 9/11 Was a Cover-Up Involving CGI and Missiles: ‘We Got Played’

These toads make me smile….but sadly too many mental midgets take these stupid conspiracies literally.

Just how far will these people go down that rabbit hole?

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The Long Awaited 9/11 Documents

This post is for those that have been selling the conspiracy that Saudi Arabia was part of the attack……

Biden decided to authorize the release of the FBI investigation into those that committed the attacks on 9/11…basically so he could have his photo op o the 20 year observance of the attack.

The link below is to the redacted report that was released….

Heavy redaction…..

declassified document

2015 interview with an official who worked at the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles. 

He was found to be an al-Qaeda “facilitator” by the FBI after admitting he allowed two of the hijackers to use his apartment and help them travel around LA.

Investigators believe the Saudi official provided “significant logistic support” to Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Midhar, who took part in the plot to hijack and crash four planes in New York and Washington.

The two men were on board American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

The document also revealed links between Omar Bayoumi, a student suspected to have been a Saudi intelligence operative, and Hazmi and Midhar.

Based on interviews in 2009 and 2015 with a source whose identity is classified, the FBI file details meetings between Bayoumi and the hijackers after the pair arrived in Southern California in 2000 ahead of the attacks.

https://www.the-sun.com/news/3645272/fbi-declassified-documents-saudi-embassy-official-hijackers/

Does this answer those probing questions?

Not for me….but it does open up a bunch more questions.

This is for those that want more information like me….

Shortly before 9/11 the National Security Agency (NSA) asked Thomas Drake to join its senior staff. As things turned out, Sept. 11 was his first day on the job. Already au courant with key NSA programs via his earlier contract work, Tom was immediately tasked to find out how much information NSA had on terrorist attacks before 9/11.

Drake found an embarrassing abundance of such information. But when he told top NSA management, his investigation was abruptly shut down. On Jan. 7, 2014 in a VIPS Memorandum prepared for President Obama, “NSA Insiders Reveal What Went Wrong.”

As the post-9/11 months dragged on, Drake had to listen to NSA Director Michael Hayden’s gloating over the ease with which he was able to hide NSA’s egregious performance. It is a good guess that a huge part of that “ease” can be attributed to protection by Hayden’s very powerful patron, Vice President Dick Cheney. It is clear that the Vice President played a key role in “authorizing” unconstitutional surveillance. It is also possible that, BEFORE the 9/11 attacks, Hayden shared with Cheney some of the alarming evidence NSA had collected but otherwise kept to itself. Tom continued:

Plenty of Intelligence To Prevent 9/11

Read the document….then add your thoughts.

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9/11 Twenty Years on

Today we remember the attacks on 9/11….the attacks that lead this country down the road of a long war and a seemingly endless international intervention all in the name of a ‘War on Terror’…

Biden’s message on this solemn day…..

White House released a taped address late Friday in which Biden spoke of the “true sense of national unity” that emerged after the attacks, seen in “heroism everywhere—in places expected and unexpected.” “To me that’s the central lesson of September 11,” he said. “Unity is our greatest strength.” Biden’s task, like his predecessors before him, was to mark the moment with a mix of grief and resolve. He gave voice to the pain that comes with memories of 9/11 in his video message, saying, “No matter how much time has passed, these commemorations bring everything painfully back as if you just got the news a few seconds ago.”

Unity?

Sorry Joe that ship has sailed…unity is a pipe dream….

As we think about the events of twenty years ago we should also think about what lead up to these dastardly attacks…..

The story of 9/11 is filled with painful “what-ifs.” Among the most prominent:

  • What if the CIA hadn’t blocked two FBI agents from alerting Bureau headquarters that a future 9/11 hijacker had obtained a multi-entry U.S. visa?

  • What if the FBI hadn’t nixed agents’ request for a warrant to search the computer of “20th hijacker” Zacharias Moussaoui after his arrest in August 2001?

  • What if the FBI hadn’t ignored a Phoenix agent’s July 2001 recommendation to contact aviation colleges across the country, on suspicion that Osama bin Laden was preparing extremists to “conduct terror activity against civilian aviation targets”?

Those what-ifs give us all pause, but they weigh heaviest on those who were closest to them, such as retired FBI counterterrorism agent Ken Williams, author of the so-called “Phoenix memo.”

Though his unheeded warning about extremists at flight schools looms large in the saga of 9/11, Williams is haunted by two more what-ifs that are lesser-known but equally gut-wrenching:

  • What if his request for a surveillance team to monitor bin Laden disciples at an Arizona aviation school hadn’t been declined in favor of the FBI’s pursuit of drug smugglers?

  • What if he hadn’t been ordered to suspend his investigation of those extremists for several months to help with an arson case?

For Williams, the answer is all too clear: His investigation would have led to the scrutiny of two future 9/11 hijackers—and that scrutiny may have started unraveling the entire plot.

https://starkrealities.substack.com/p/how-the-fbis-war-on-drugs-helped

History is full of twists and turns….roads not followed…this time it had a disastrous end.

Please by all means remember those souls that perished during the attack and its aftermaths.

And please keep in mind that a War on Terror is a slogan….how do you defeat an idea?

Have a great weekend.

Be Well….Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Last 20 Years

Today we take some time to remember the dastardly attacks of 9/11…..

The years after the attacks have changed things for all of us…..but not for the better.

Looking back on it now, the 1990s were an age of innocence for America. The Cold War was over and our leaders promised us a “peace dividend.” There was no TSA to make us take off our shoes at airports (how many bombs have they found in those billions of shoes?). The government could not tap a U.S. phone or read private emails without a warrant from a judge. And the national debt was only $5 trillion – compared with over $28 trillion today.

We have been told that the criminal attacks of September 11, 2001 “changed everything.” But what really changed everything was the US government’s disastrous response to them.

That response was not preordained or inevitable, but the result of decisions and choices made by politicians, bureaucrats and generals who fueled and exploited our fears, unleashed wars of reprehensible vengeance and built a secretive security state, all thinly disguised behind Orwellian myths of American greatness.

Most Americans believe in democracy and many regard the United States as a democratic country. But the US response to 9/11 laid bare the extent to which American leaders are willing to manipulate the public into accepting illegal wars, torture, the Guantanamo gulag and sweeping civil rights abuses – activities that undermine the very meaning of democracy.

How Can America Wake Up From Its Post-9/11 Nightmare?

While the attacks were despicable….they did leave us with a certain legacy….

I am, of course, speaking of the post-9/11 surveillance state.

It started with the infamous and incongruously named PATRIOT Act, enacted just six weeks after the attacks and before any inquiry into how al Qaeda had managed to get past the FBI, CIA and NSA. The new law forced retailers and libraries to tell the FBI what books you’ve read or ordered, your internet service providers (ISPs) to cough up details on your website browsing history, and imposed new financial transaction reporting requirements on your bank or credit union. It was, however, just the public version of digital mass surveillance.

The hidden part of the federal electronic dragnet was NSA’s STELLAR WIND program, which would not come to light until a year after George W. Bush won reelection because the New York Times editorial leadership sat on the story for a year – one of the worst examples of editorial cowardice in the history of American journalism and the antithesis of the Times’ approach to the Pentagon Papers 40 years earlier.

To be fair, NSA hardly has a monopoly on helping create and sustain the new American surveillance state. The Department of Justice has done its part as well.

Twilight of Liberty: 9/11’s Legacy

With all the ‘preventive’ measures in place this type of attack should be a thing that could never happen again…..well that is the spin we get these days….but I have little faith in those types of promises.

It is not the day for pessimism….for that I apologize….but I feel that truth should be told wherever it is necessary and this is one of those times.

So please take some time and remember those that died on that fateful day and afterwards…..they did not deserve the events of that day.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Release The Damn Files On 9/11!

For years the families of those that died because of the attacks on 9/11 have wanted the files released to the public on those responsible for the deaths….

Back in August Pres. Biden asked permission of the families to speak at the 9/11 Memorial here is my post on their reaction…..

https://lobotero.com/2021/08/09/closing-thought-09august21/
 
Biden has decided that the photo op was just too good to pass up and relented and released those files….
President Biden signed an executive order Friday directing the declassification of certain documents related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a supportive gesture to victims’ families who have long sought the records in hopes of implicating the Saudi government. The order, coming just before the 20th anniversary of the attacks, is a significant moment in a yearslong tussle between the government and the families over what classified information about the run-up to the attacks could be made public, the AP reports. Last month, some 1,800 relatives, survivors, and first responders opposed Biden’s participation in 9/11 events if the documents remained declassified.

“The significant events in question occurred two decades ago or longer, and they concern a tragic moment that continues to resonate in American history and in the lives of so many Americans,” the executive order states. “It is therefore critical to ensure that the United States Government maximizes transparency, relying on classification only when narrowly tailored and necessary.” The order directs the Justice Department and other executive branch agencies to begin a declassification review and requires that declassified documents be released over the next six months.

The practical impact of any new documents was not immediately clear. Past investigations have outlined ties between Saudi nationals and some of the airplane hijackers but have not established the government was directly involved. The Justice Department revealed last month that the FBI had recently concluded an investigation that examined certain 9/11 hijackers and potential co-conspirators, and that it would now work to see if it could share information that it had previously determined could not be disclosed. But, the families said Thursday, “thus far, no additional substantive material has been produced, and the FBI has not agreed to make a further effort to find its missing documents.”

About damn time!

But my next question is will this be the entire report of will it be sanitized to protect the KSA?

Now that the report has been released(?) there will be three presidents at the 9/11 photo-op….

President Biden will visit all three 9/11 memorial sites to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and pay his respects to the nearly 3,000 people killed that day. Biden will visit Ground Zero in New York City, the Pentagon, and the memorial outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Flight 93 was forced down, the White House said Saturday. He will be accompanied by first lady Jill Biden. Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, for a separate event before joining the president at the Pentagon, the White House said. Harris will travel with her spouse, Doug Emhoff, the AP reports.

Biden’s itinerary is similar to the one President Barack Obama followed in 2011 on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Obama’s visit to New York City coincided with the opening of a memorial at the site where the iconic World Trade Center towers once stood. Along with former first lady Michelle Obama, the former president will attend the remembrance ceremony on the upcoming anniversary in New York, per CNN. Former President George Bush, who was in office when the terrorists attacked, plans to speak to families of the Shanksville victims at a ceremony there, accompanied by former first lady Laura Bush.

Photo-ops and speeches do not make us safe and will not prevent another attack possibility in the future….what we need as a country is a sure fire plan to prevent this type of tragedy…..and I am not sure this country has such a plan.

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Does Terrorism Work?

From time to time I get papers written by grad students…..and the interesting ones I try to share with the readers IST…..

Just a few short years ago terrorism was all the buzz….today not so much……

Does terrorism work?

That is the question for the ages.

Some will say it does not….while others may disagree…..

This paper takes a look at the question…..

Terrorism is one of the most widely discussed issues in the twenty-first century due to the increasing terrorist occurrences and its destructive impacts, especially since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Terrorist incidences in the world reached its peak in 2014 with about 16,903 attacks leading to 32,658 fatalities (Global Terrorism Index, 2015). However, there was a fifty-two per cent reduction in the number of deaths associated with terrorist incidences in 2018 compared to 2014 (Global Terrorism Index, 2019). While there is a decline in the number of deaths attributed to terrorism, its impact remains prevalent. For instance, there is an upsurge in the number of countries that experienced terrorism in 2018 with at least one causality from seventy-one countries, which is the second highest in the past twenty years (Global Terrorism Index, 2019). The increasing nature of terrorist attacks has led to the intensification of scholarly interest in terrorism and terrorism-related issues. To this end, prior research has examined the definitions, causes, effects and strategies used by terrorist groups (Halliday, 2001; John, 2014; Elu and Gregory, 2015). However, it seems that the few studies that have examined the effectiveness of terrorism as a means of political struggle have been inconclusive.

In order to understand the reason for the continued existence of terrorism and its proliferation, it is crucial to examine if terrorism works, that is, if it achieves its stated objectives. This essay will contribute to the ongoing discussion on the effectiveness of terrorism by arguing that the answer to the question “Does terrorism work?” depends on our definition of “terrorism” and “work”. These concepts are a subject of debate, and as a result, there may not be one formula for measuring whether terrorism is effective. Thus, the success-level of terrorism is determined by various factors, especially by how it is evaluated. For example, while Dershowitz (2002:13) understands success in terms of attracting media attention and securing temporal concessions, Abrahms (2006:51) perceives it as the achievement the organisation’s central strategic objectives. Consequently, this essay will contend that although terrorist organisations rarely achieve their strategic goals, they often succeed in the achievement of other objectives.

Does Terrorism Work?

You tell me…does terrorism work?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–22Jan21

Why would an American soldier want to destroy the memorial to those that died on 9/11?

I know with everything happening around the inauguration of Biden some news falls by the wayside…..

While we were distracted by the oath of office and the antics of the Trump supporters an American soldier has planned an attack on a national monument…..the 9/11 Monument.

An American soldier discussed targets for potential terror attacks in the United States and shared instructions for killing American troops in the Middle East with someone he believed was an Islamic State supporter, federal authorities said on Tuesday.

While stationed in Germany last fall, the soldier discussed possible targets, including the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan, a criminal complaint shows.

“Choose your targets wisely,” the soldier, Cole James Bridges, an Army private from Ohio, wrote to the person he believed was a woman working with the Islamic State. But it turned out that Private Bridges was messaging with an undercover employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to the complaint, which was made public on Tuesday by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

Why would any American want to destroy this monument to the dead?  Especially an American soldier that has taken the oath to protect and defend.

I have noticed that oaths do not mean a thing any more….people take them because the have to not because they want to.

This plan is disgusting and should not be condoned or explained away…..punish the planner.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Please Pull The Plug On Israel

NOTE: I am not anti Jewish this post is about actions of the Israeli government and some of the right radical citizens.

Since 1967 I have had an extreme dislike for the state of Israel….it began with the murderous attack on the naval vessel USS Liberty that killed many of its crew and it continued with the barbarous treatment of the Palestinian people……they treat minorities like shit.

I do not understand the moronic loyalty of the US and some of its people to a state that has one of the worse civil rights records in the world. and our government that seems to kiss ass whenever Israel is around.

Then there all the lies that Israel has spread about Iran seemingly to lather up the US into some sort of military action directed at the country.

Now Israel is threatening (as it seemingly does every year) to attack Iran….

According to a report from the Israel Hayom, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is drawing up plans for an attack on Iran’s nuclear program.

The report said IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi asked the military for three proposals to hit the nuclear program. The Hayom did not elaborate on the proposals but did say one of them included a military strike.

The Hayom said the military option would require Israel to invest more money into its military and quoted Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. “It is clear that Israel needs to have a military option on the table. It requires resources and investment, and I am working to make that happen,” he said.

The Israelis say they are responding to increased uranium enrichment recently announced by Iran.

Iran said they are increasing uranium enrichment to 20 percent to make fuel rods for the Tehran Research Reactor, a facility that was built by the US in the 1960s. Despite sensationalist headlines in Western media, the increased enrichment has a civilian purpose and does not indicate the Iranians are racing towards a bomb.

Iran’s parliament passed a law calling for increased enrichment after the November assassination of scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who killed in an apparent Israeli plot. So it was Israeli aggression that ultimately led to the increased enrichment that Israel is now making threats over.

The Hayom report came a day after a minister from Israel’s Likud party threatened to attack Iran if the Biden administration returns to the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.

(antiwar.com)

Seriously?

Now they want to dictate our foreign policy?

Who do they think they are?

Any debt the world felt they owed to Israel has been paid in full by ten-fold….it is time to stop treating them with kid gloves and time for then start behaving like a civilized nation.

Time has come for the US to cut the apron strings and take control of that situation.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Make It Go Bang!

By now everyone has heard about the moron that blew up himself and his RV in Nashville. The thing is this person is handled with kid gloves in the media (at least that is how it appears)…..my question is….WHY?

The Nashville narrative is pretty clear: Authorities say Anthony Quinn Warner packed his RV with explosives and blew it and himself up on Christmas while parked downtown. He was, by the most basic definition of the term, a suicide bomber. And yet you’d be hard-pressed to find the phrase in media coverage, writes Danielle Campoamor at Refinery29. The same applies to “domestic terrorist.” Campoamor calls out “legacy publications” in general for avoiding the terminology, particularly the New York Times and the local Tennessean, which is part of Gannett. Instead of being called a suicide bomber or a domestic terrorist, Quinn is being described as a lonely, older white guy. If he were Black or brown, he wouldn’t be getting the same treatment, writes Campoamor. She notes that this Times article in particular set off a backlash among critics like her.

“Editors and political talking heads dragging their feet to name a white domestic terrorist accordingly is hardly new,” she writes. Men like those recently accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan’s governor usually are instead described as “militia” members or “watchmen.” Campoamor isn’t the only calling attention to this. “If a bomber commits suicide with a bomb wouldn’t you call that person a suicide bomber?” tweets Molly Jong-Fast of the Daily Beast. The problem goes beyond media semantics, writes Campamor, pointing as an example to the way hate crimes against Muslims spike after an attack by someone claiming to be one. “This refusal to hold white men to the same standard—to the same level of villainization—plays a large part in the culture of hate crimes that runs rampant in America,” Campamor notes. (Read her full column.)

Why was this white guy a lonely man with mental problems?

I do not think a black or brown person would have gotten such favorable treatment….they would have been thugs or terrorists.

What gave this demented person the benefit of the doubt when others are not so lucky?

Question….answer?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Tragic Christmas Surprise

While must of us were preparing for one of our big days…tragedy struck in the city of Nashville…..

An explosion shook the largely deserted streets of downtown Nashville early Christmas morning, shattering windows, damaging buildings, and wounding three people, per the AP. Authorities said they believed the blast was intentional, and the FBI is leading the investigation. Police spokesman Don Aaron said the 6:30am explosion was believed to be “an intentional act,” though no further details were provided. Police earlier said they believe a vehicle was involved in the explosion. Aaron said three people were taken to area hospitals for treatment, although none were in critical condition. The Metro Nashville Office of Emergency Management told WKRN that a parked recreational vehicle exploded and damaged several buildings.

Black smoke and flames were seen early Friday billowing from the area, which is packed with bars, restaurants, and other retail establishments and is known as the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene. Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard. “All my windows, every single one of them got blown into the next room. If I had been standing there it would have been horrible,” said Buck McCoy, who lives near the area. “It felt like a bomb. It was that big.”

This report was updated while it sat in my draft queue……..

A strange new twist has developed in regard to the explosion that rocked downtown Nashville on Christmas morning. Police and witnesses say a recreational vehicle broadcast warnings that a bomb was in the vehicle and counted down a 15-minute warning before the explosion, reports the Tennessean. As of Friday afternoon, three people were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries as authorities led by the FBI try to figure out what happened. Coverage:

  • The start: Police responded to a call of shots fired about 6am and discovered the “suspicious” RV parked on a street, reports the Washington Post. The bomb squad was en route when the explosion occurred about 6:30am, per the AP.
  • Warnings: Witnesses heard this coming from the RV: “Evacuate now. There is a bomb. A bomb is in this vehicle and will explode,” according to the Tennessean. Then a 15-minute countdown began. “Whoever did it did gave fair warning,” says Betsy Williams, owner of the nearby Melting Pot restaurant. She and her family also live in the building, and they evacuated in their pajamas. Williams says she thinks the RV showed up Thursday night.
  • Questions: Authorities don’t know if anyone was in the RV when it exploded. Nor have they speculated on a possible motive. “We do believe this to have been an intentional act,” says police spokesman Don Aaron said. “Significant damage has been done to the infrastructure there on 2nd Avenue North.” CNN quotes a law enforcement source who says there were no known threats about a Christmas strike among extremist groups.
  • A promise: “We will find out who did this,” Special Agent in Charge Matt Foster of the FBI said at an afternoon news conference. “This is our city, too. We’re putting everything we have into finding who was responsible for what happened here today.” President Trump has been briefed, reports WKRN.
  • Dog walker: Police began knocking on doors and telling people to evacuate in the minutes before the blast. One man walking his dog was directed away from the site moments before the explosion, notes the Post.
  • Damage: It will take time to assess, but several buildings sustained structural damage, and photos showed destroyed cars, scattered glass, broken water mains, and shards of metal strewn everywhere. “It looks like a bomb went off,” says Mayor John Cooper

Of course this will be a continuing story until the conclusion and arrests are made.

Barbaric!

All involved should be punished and punished severely……

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”