Who Benefited From 9/11

Oh boy yet another conspiracy theory….like there is not enough of them these days…..sorry more specific……on the attacks of 9/11…..

I could spend my day looking up these conspiracies but I found a simpler way of educating…..

After 17 years of events have gone by……have these theories been replaced with something different?

Uh huh!

But not replaced….just expanded…..

The MSM has done more to move some of these theories forward….more so than persons unknown……

Once an anti-Semitic rumor moved from fringe to the mainstream, it took less than two weeks for violence to erupt. The false allegation that liberal philanthropist George Soros was funding or supporting a caravan of Honduran refugees heading to the U.S. spread wildly from a single tweet posted on Oct. 14.

Along with far-right memes, that allegation helped motivate both an alleged mail-bomber and a mass shooter at a Pittsburgh synagogue. The way these messages traveled across the internet in this short time span is just one example of how extremist messages and memes circulate with incredible speed across mainstream social media platforms.

https://theantimedia.com/mainstream-conspiracy-theories/

Now that bitch of mine is out of the way we can now return to the attacks on 9/11……

A single common theme emerges from most public discussions of U.S. foreign policy. No matter how widespread the carnage, devastating the financial impact or enormous the opportunity cost of war – the United States is always presumed to have meant well. US foreign policies are designed as much to improve the well-being of foreigners as to protect US national security. It is relatively rare for revisionist historians or informed critics questioning the true motives behind US foreign policy to be allowed any significant platform to air contrarian views. Despite this pervasive discrimination, a significant segment of the American public not only believes US elites exploited the 9/11 attacks, but would like to see US government officials who backed the “Global War on Terror” criminally prosecuted.

Credible “Global War on Terror” damage assessments are as scarce as policy contrarians. Since 9/11, US government officials debated but generally shied away from releasing official body counts. This is to avoid public perceptions that the US is now trapped in a “quagmire” reminiscent of Vietnam. Credible, official total financial cost estimates of the series of conflicts – officially premised on the idea that they will protect the US from future 9/11-style attacks – are similarly difficult to come by. When there are no solid numbers, it becomes impossible to have meaningful debates or perform public opinion research – which may be why the information deficits persist.

https://original.antiwar.com/smith-grant/2018/12/03/34-of-americans-believe-us-elites-exploited-9-11-for-gain/

Any theories you would like to share?

Remember Pearl Harbor

Today is 07 December the day in 1941 when the forces of the empire of Japan attacked our naval fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii…..a day we remember….the day our Greatest Generation went to war.

Too many people know the day but not the situation…..and the old professor is here to help…..too many blow the day off and that is just wrong…….

First some myths about Pearl Harbor…..https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-pearl-harbor/2011/11/23/gIQAbdKrLO_story.html

Why did Japan do it? Doing nothing is a viable strategic option, and oftentimes a good one. Imperial Japan would have been far better off had it forgone the attack on Pearl Harbor and confined its operations to the Western Pacific. Had Tokyo exercised some forbearance, it may have avoided rousing the “sleeping giant” that Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto reputedly said he feared so much. And even if it did awaken the American giant, it would have avoided filling him with what Yamamoto called a “terrible resolve” to crush Japan. Think about it:

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-japan-failed-pearl-harbor-18638

Japan was clever to come up with this tactic, right?

Well not really they got the idea from the Brits…….

Through the dark skies came waves of aircraft lumbering under the weight of the torpedoes they carried. The date was November 11, 1940, the place was the southern Italian port of Taranto, and the battle that ensued that night was the prelude to the Japanese raid at Pearl Harbor .

In the fall of 1940, Britain was in trouble. France had fallen, Nazi Germany ruled Western Europe, and the British Empire stood alone. To make matters worse, Mussolini’s Italy had entered the war. Though weaker than Germany or Japan, Italy had a priceless advantage: it was situated in the middle of the Mediterranean, athwart the sea routes to the Suez Canal and the vital island of Malta, which the British needed to supply as a thorn in Axis supply routes to North Africa. To avoid Italian naval and air forces, British convoys would have to forgo the direct route into the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar, and sail all the way around Africa to come up through the Suez Canal.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/revealed-where-japan-got-idea-pearl-harbor-37952

More history for my reader…..1941 was not the first attack on Pearl…..yep it was attacked 9 years earlier……

No American military engagement has undergone more post-mortems than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Between 1941 and 1946, various departments of the U.S. government conducted nine official inquiries. A tenth inquiry was held as recently as 1995, when the Department of Defense re-examined the culpability placed on Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and Major General Walter C. Short for a lack of preparedness prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The investigation, issued as the Dorn Report, absolved Kimmel and Short of responsibility for the devastation caused by the attack and recommended posthumously restoring Kimmel and Short to the ranks they held prior to the attack.

https://www.military.com/navy/pearl-harbor-first-attack.html

There are other facts that are not as well known as the actual attack….and I can fill in the blanks for my readers……

The deadly surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, launched without a declaration of war, made 7 December 1941 “a date which will live in infamy”, declared President Franklin D Roosevelt. Early that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese planes sank or damaged 21 warships and destroyed more than 150 planes on nearby airfields; more than 2,000 Americans lost their lives.

https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/pearl-harbor-facts-date-live-infamy-franklin-roosevelt-japan-surprise-attack-americans/

Finally a perspective from someone who was actually on the ground in Pearl for the attack……

About 7:45 a.m., through the crackle and buzz of interference, gunnery and anti-aircraft officer Benny Mott was jolted by pilots’ voices rising with alarm over the radio transmitter aboard the USSEnterprise. They were shouting to one another.

“Hey, did you see that army plane shooting at me?”

“That’s no army plane! That’s a Japanese plane! Look at the red circles on his wings!”

https://www.history.com/news/pearl-harbor-1941-from-a-sailors-perspective

Where World War One made the world we know today……World War Two solidified America’s world leadership.

If you are going to Remember Pearl Harbor then know all the history not just the nit-picked stuff!

Learn Stuff!

Class Dismissed!

History’s Terrorists Attacks

We just had an incident of domestic terrorism…..a bunch of pipe bombs were sent through the mail of prominent Democrats…..fortunately none of these bombs detonated and there were NO injuries or deaths.

Being a history nut I got to wondering about the terrorist attacks throughout history….is there a top 10?

Glad you asked and yes there is a top 10……

When World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, the American government officially stayed neutral, and while many in Washington and along the eastern seaboard harbored strong feelings for the United Kingdom, the U.S. government found it hard to convince the general American population of the war’s benefits, mostly due to the presence of a massive German population in the republic’s middle section (America’s first “silent minority,” the Germans encompassed roughly one-tenth of the entire population of the U.S. in 1914).

To make matters worse, the German government established the first terror cell in the United States in 1915, two years before the two countries would officially go to war with each other. The German terrorists were targeting munitions factories, horse farms, and railroads due to the fact that the United States, while officially neutral, was sending massive amounts of supplies to the British and French.

Woodrow Wilson was determined to drag the United States into the war, and the terrorist cells were as good excuse as any. Instead of rehashing the details of America’s entrance into World War I, and the results of that entrance, I thought I’d draw your attention to 10 terrorist attacks that deserve more attention.

https://www.realclearhistory.com/articles/2018/07/05/top_10_terrorist_attacks_in_history_332.html

Terrorist attacks have been with civilization from the beginning……these are just a look at the Top Ten in history.

And once a gain “terrorism” is different definitions for different folk….

A New “Unabomber”?

Or was it a lame attempt at some attention?

After I shut down the writing operation yesterday a story was developing about the bombs sent in the mail to some politicos…..

A six-inch pipe bomb was sent to George Soros two days ago, and two officials tell the New York Times that similar devices were intercepted while en route to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s offices. The AP called Clinton’s a “functional explosive device.” The Times reports Clinton’s package was flagged by a technician who reviews her mail. A statement from the Secret Service obtained by CNN journalist Elizabeth Landers elaborates on the situation.

It says the Secret Service intercepted “two suspicious packages addressed to Secret Service protectees.” It says Clinton’s package was intercepted late Tuesday in Westchester County, NY (she and former President Clinton live in Chappaqua) and that Obama’s package was intercepted in Washington, DC. The packages “were immediately identified during routine mail screening procedures as potential explosive devices and were appropriately handled as such.” Clinton and Obama were not “at risk of receiving them.”

After the Soros bomb was intercepted news came that others had been targeted and the return address was also as weird……

First George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and CNN’s NYC headquarters, now Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Rep. Maxine Waters. A Democratic aide confirmed to BuzzFeed that a suspicious package intercepted at a Capitol Hill sorting facility was addressed to Waters. The Miami Herald reports Broward County, Florida, police have confirmed a suspicious package arrived at the former Democratic National Committee chair’s Sunrise office and is being investigated. But there’s a twist:

The Washington Post reports the devices sent to Clinton, Soros, and Obama were contained in manila envelopes and featured typed addresses. The law enforcement official it spoke with said the return address bore the name of “a known public official” who was not thought to be involved.

In a twist, NBC News spoke with three law enforcement officials who say the return address was Schultz’s. Sources who spoke to CNN and the New York Times also said some of the packages had Schultz’s name and address on the return label.

Now CNN reports the package that arrived at Schultz’s office was actually addressed to Eric Holder but featured an incorrect address. As such, it was returned to sender—and the listed sender was Schultz.

The package sent to CNN was reportedly sent to the attention of former CIA director John Brennan. CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins tweeted that Brennan isn’t employed by CNN, but rather is an MSNBC contributor.

The AP spoke with two law enforcement officials who say the package that was addressed to Brennan contained a crude but functional device, and that it seemed similar to those sent to Soros, Clinton, and Obama. The device sent to Soros has been described as a 6-inch pipe bomb. CNN reports it was delivered by courier.

Plenty of political figures are speaking out in condemnation. Sarah Sanders called the “terrorizing acts … despicable” and said the person responsible “will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Vice President Pence tweeted against the “cowardly” and “despicable” acts and said those responsible will be brought to justice; President Trump retweeted it, noting “I agree wholeheartedly!”

Trump elaborated during an afternoon event on opioids, saying “acts or threats of political violence have no place in the United States” and that “a major federal investigation” into the “despicable acts” is now underway. The AP notes he called for unity and did not specify any of the intended recipients of the packages by name.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports it and nearby businesses were briefly evacuated after a pile of suspicious-looking packages were noted outside the building Wednesday morning; CNN notes the newspaper’s building also houses the field office for Sen. Kamala Harris. But the packages were determined to hold nothing suspicious after about an hour.

Similarly, Andrew Cuomo himself said in a news conference that a “device” was sent to his Manhattan office, but the NYPD determined it did not contain a bomb and was not related to the other packages.

This is just uncalled for…..no blame attached but every person that was targeted has been the focus of a Trump rally at one point or another.

Are we returning to the days of the “Unabomber”?

Who?

If you have not heard of the “Unabomber” then you are too young to remember reading….so this short video is for you…..

Not to worry your president step up……

“Any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself,” Trump said, per ABC. The president was relatively subdued during his remarks, the Washington Post reports. He refrained from his usual attacks on Democratic targets including Hillary Clinton and Maxine Waters—two of the people the pipe bombs were addressed to—and did not encourage audience members when some of them started shouting “CNN sucks.” “By the way, do you see how nice I’m behaving?” Trump said. “We’re all behaving very well. And hopefully we can keep it that way.”

(Must pause here for the laughter was painful)

If Dems can put together a 7,000+ strong “caravan” then it is logical that Repub operatives could put together a letter bomb campaign.

WAIT! Wait! Or maybe this is some plot hatched by the Dems for some sympathy (Infowars may use my idea…they never let the truth get in the way of a conspiracy)

Is there more to come?

Just saying.

Closing Thought–02Oct18

Where have all the terrorist attacks gone….we hear about some sort of attack in the major combat areas like Afghanistan and Syria and Iraq….but what about the worldwide terrorists networks and its attacks on the Western countries?

Does the lack of news about these attacks mean that we are winning this so-called war?

First, no were are not winning a war on a tactic….the terrorists are still waiting for that perfect time for the next attack…..like maybe in the Nederlands?

Dutch police on Thursday foiled what it described as an attempt to commit a major terrorist attack with AK 47 machine guns, grenades and a car bomb.

Officers arrested seven suspects, aged between 21 and 34, who planned to attack an event with guns and grenades, and detonate the car bomb in a different location.

Dutch prosecutors were tipped off by intelligence services who said the ringleader wanted to hit “a large event in the Netherlands where there would be a lot of victims”.

Counter-terror authorities said: “In the Netherlands, jihadist networks operate with the intention of planning attacks in Europe. These arrests must be seen in that light.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/27/dutch-police-foil-major-terror-plot-raids/

Remember a couple of years ago when the media and just about every blog was taunting this tale of that about the coming apocalypse thanx to terrorists and their attacks…..and now these same blogs are wall to wall judge stories and posts…..it illustrates just how small the minds have become.

Just because the media chooses not to report on these things does not mean that this war (on Terror) is in the waning days…….and because it happened in Europe does not make it any less important…..regardless what some would like to believe.

Closing Thought–11Sep18

It All Began On 9/11!

Today we celebrate the 17th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania…

In all that time there has been a wealth of conspiracies about the attacks…..and in my tradition of trying inform my readers I will offer up several articles that touch on the day.

https://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/0112/eagar/eagar-0112.html

https://www.newsweek.com/what-if-911-had-never-happened-67373

Al-Qaeda, the culprit that lead the attacks on 9/11 may be stronger than ever…..

In the days after Sept. 11, 2001, the United States set out to destroy Al Qaeda. President George W. Bush vowed to “starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest.”

Seventeen years later, Al Qaeda may be stronger than ever. Far from vanquishing the extremist group and its associated “franchises,” critics say, U.S. policies in the Mideast appear to have encouraged its spread.

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-al-qaeda-survive-20180910-story.html#

The attacks and the reaction to them have shaped U.S. policy for more than 15 years, leaving a nation that is far more vigilant and jittery about terrorism. Yet for all of the talk about 9/11, many elements of the attacks and the actions leading up to them have receded from the public memory. Here are 10 things you may have forgotten about 9/11:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/10/10-things-you-may-have-forgotten-911/90007376/

One last thought–since the attacks of 9/11 the War on Terror has cost the country $1.5 trillion (that is with a “T”).

The last photo taken to show the Towers…..taken on afternoon of 10Sep01

How About Iraq?

Since the country and its problems have not been in the news most Americans seem to forget that we are still fighting and our troops are still on multiple deployments in our second longest war…..

Iraq recently had an election (democracy at work?) and America’s one time adversary al-Sadr won the position of prime minister and in the process of forming a government……

There are a few readings about the uphill fight he will have witn a government……

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/iraq/188-iraqs-paramilitary-groups-challenge-rebuilding-functioning-state

https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/iraq/b61-how-cope-iraqs-summer-brushfire

With that and the situation……the fighting has not ceased……no? Then what about ISIS?

Glad you asked!

Dozens of people have been killed in a series of attacks launched by Islamic State (IS) in locations north of Baghdad over the past few months, prompting fears that the terrorist group is reconstituting itself in parts of Iraq (al-Hadath, March 28; al-Sumaria, July 1).

IS has lost all of its urban strongholds in Iraq, including Mosul, which it occupied in June 2014 and which was reclaimed by Iraqi forces last year with significant U.S. support. However, the recent surge in IS activity indicates that the group is now pursuing its old hit-and-run tactics in Iraq, and serves to illustrate how IS could exploit the divisions that remain among Iraqi factions.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/07/31/is_islamic_state_making_plans_for_a_comeback_in_iraq_113670.html

They, ISIS, is NOT gone and it is NOT forgotten……

The Iraqi government’s declaration of “victory” over ISIS may have marked the end of the group holding any real territory, but the end of the Caliphate was never going to be the end of ISIS. Unsurprisingly, the group is looking to make a comeback.

No longer a territory-holding faction trying to operate as a mini-state, ISIS is going back to its guerilla tactics that they used before they were able to take territory. Iraq is experiencing a rise in kidnappings and targeted killings.

ISIS is using the kidnappings as a way to raise money, and the killings as a way to undermine security. This was a common tactic for ISIS for years, and one the Iraqi government has never been able to effectively combat.

(antiwar.com)

Keep in mind that ISIS is still a force that will be handled and the US will have to continue to deal with this murderous group…..we can only hope that Iraq will step up and do what is necessary so that our overworked troops can come home.

After Note: Another day with my doctors……so there may not be as much posted today as usual….never fear I am still hanging in there and will get back to it as soon as possible…..chuq

Once Upon A Time In Tajikistan

Back in my foreign service days I was posted in Tajikistan and thanks to those days I still have friends in the country. One of those friends sent me word about an incident in the country…..

Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan shook the dust of Washington, DC, off their feet—and the jobs that had kept them there—a year ago in order to bike around the world. The 29-year-olds’ journey met a tragic end in Tajikistan on Sunday, with the Islamic State claiming credit for the bloody attack that took their lives. NPR reports the couple was biking in a group of seven south of the capital, Dushanbe, when a car drove into them. Attackers then descended on the group with knives, killing Austin, Geoghegan, a cyclist from the Netherlands, and another from Switzerland. The AP reports Tajik authorities made no mention of the ISIS angle but instead blamed the murders on the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, a local group that was banned over an alleged coup plot.

The Washington Post reports that if ISIS is found to have played a role, it would be their “first deadly attack in former Soviet Central Asia.” The Post and NPR profile Austin—who had a master’s from Georgetown, worked with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and had built a 143-square-foot tiny home in DC—and Geoghegan, also a Georgetown grad who studied Spanish and Arabic and worked in the university’s admissions office. They left those lives behind and charted their adventures on their Simply Cycling blog, which tracked their journey throughout Africa, Europe, and central Asia. “Life is short and the world is big and we want to make the most out of our youth and good health before they’re gone,” they wrote. NPR has many more excerpts from their blog, including details of Austin’s final cliffhanger.

Tajik authorities have pointed additional fingers toward Iran…..

the Tajik Interior Ministry on July 31 accused the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) of being behind an attack. The group denied the allegation as “baseless and irrational.”

The ministry also said that the attackers were led by an “active member” of the IRPT who “underwent training in Iran.”

The authorities offered no immediate proof of the claims.

(Radio Liberty)

The Iranian government has summoned the Tajik ambassador to Tehran to protest allegations linking Iran to an attack that killed four foreign cyclists in Tajikistan.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it summoned Ambassador Nematullo Emomzoda on August 1 to convey Iran’s “strong” protest over “false and unfounded” claims made by the Tajik government.

Why would the Tajik authorities want to implicate Iran?

The US Ambassador to Tajikistan, Ken Gross, announced on June 25 that the US plans to open a military training center in Tajikistan pending the signing of related agreements with the Tajik side.

The planned military center falls within the Pentagon’s $50 million security program for the Central Asian region as the US prepares to start its withdrawal from Afghanistan. The program seeks to bolster regional security by upgrading and building new security check-points, and training military personnel to combat drug-trafficking and terrorism (US Central Command press release, June 29; www.vesti.kz, June 28).

There you go……with our hostilities ramping up with Iran it is always good to have friends to help out, right?

Top Terrorist Attacks

Most people know that 9/11 and the attack in England a couple of years later were bad terrorist attacks……so I thought that since I do like me some history that I would look for the top terrorist attacks and put it in my post……

When World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, the American government officially stayed neutral, and while many in Washington and along the eastern seaboard harbored strong feelings for the United Kingdom, the U.S. government found it hard to convince the general American population of the war’s benefits, mostly due to the presence of a massive German population in the republic’s middle section (America’s first “silent minority,” the Germans encompassed roughly one-tenth of the entire population of the U.S. in 1914).

To make matters worse, the German government established the first terror cell in the United States in 1915, two years before the two countries would officially go to war with each other. The German terrorists were targeting munitions factories, horse farms, and railroads due to the fact that the United States, while officially neutral, was sending massive amounts of supplies to the British and French.

https://www.realclearhistory.com/articles/2018/07/05/top_10_terrorist_attacks_in_history_332.html

Terrorism has been a tactic for centuries….nothing new just the weapons employed to carry out the attacks. History is full of terrorism….that is if one has the time to research the topic.

9/11–A Misplaced Lawsuit?

We all remember the attacks of 9/11 we would not be much of an American if we did not……a few of us remember the terrorists that pulled off the attack…..most were Saudis with a Moroccan and something other.

In the past there were rumblings of Americans wanting to sue the Saudis because of the attacks….those rumblings have pretty much subsided…..

So when I read an article about the possibility of another lawsuit because of 9/11 I was surprised to see who the bad guy was for this lawsuit……

A US federal judge in New York ordered Iran to pay billions of dollars in damages to families affected by 9/11, ABC news reported on Tuesday.

Judge George B Daniels found the country liable to more than 1,000 “parents, spouses, siblings and children” involved in the lawsuit. Daniels said the payment amounts to $12.5m per spouse, $8.5m per parent, $8.5m per child and $4.25m for each sibling, according to the ABC report.

The lawsuit claims that Iran provided technical assistance, training and planning to the al-Qaeda operatives that conducted the attacks.

However, the official investigation on the attacks, known as the 9/11 Commission Report, said that Iran did not play a direct role.

http://theantimedia.com/us-judge-orders-iran-pay-billions-9-11-families/

In Saner Thought

"It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error"..Thomas Paine

Tag: Terrorist Attack