Almost everyone can remember with clarity the moment that they heard of the attacks of September 11th, and in addition to the grief, shock, horror, fear that we felt collectively and individually was the desire to understand, to know- “Why?,” “How?,” and “Who could possibly benefit from such a crime?” These questions were never answered satisfactorily by the press, which soon began beating the war drums and hurtling us towards World War III.

         In the months that followed, the anti-war movement blossomed; Third World solidarity groups who objected to U.S. military aid to repressive regimes throughout the world could see that “War is Terrorism” and that the folly of military action that would most likely doom innocent civilians, especially women and children.

         The U.S. government’s attacks upon Afghanistan, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution; it’s attempt to redefine the world in an Orwellian manner contingent upon the events of September 11th prompted people to critically examine the events of that day, before, and after to discern the truth from the lies.

         People needed to build a new map of reality, to understand where we were, and what direction we’re facing. Confused, disoriented, it is difficult to know which way to turn, to go: with a good map, a sense of where we have been and where we are heading, people are empowered to change course, and not blindly follow “a leader.” The worldwide web facilitated an extraordinary exchange of information, observations, collaborations in an urgent, spontaneous effort to make sense of what happened, to put together the pieces of a puzzle, and see the big picture of the world shaking events that were unfolding.

         Peoples lives changed as they grasped the significance of 9-11, and how “the story” was being used to propel humanity down a dark path. Heroic efforts were made to shine the light on the dark, murky, criminal acts that orchestrated and culminated in the attacks that day and in the “cover-up” that followed. Many articles were written; websites sprang up; videos were made: art, cartoons, speeches, petitions to demand an investigation of 9-11, proliferated to illuminate those dark fears, doubts, concerns, and shed some light on the questions that people harboured. Across cyber-space, isolation was broken, people connected, networks formed, nurturing an incredibly diverse movement, rising consciousness, which has still not pierced the carefully cordoned “reality” defined by the mainstream press.

         When a small group of activists representing peace and human rights groups, marched on Senator Feinstein’s office to Demand a Congressional Investigation of 9-11 on January 8th, 2002, they raised a large number of questions and issues. Bush immediately responded by asking Daschle to limit the Inquiry, which would be overseen by outside staff, notably run by Britt Snider, ex-CIA Inspector General, close friend and general counsel of CIA Director George Tenet. Indeed, the mandate of the investigation seemed to be “come up with an excuse as to why we failed to prevent September 11th and explain how we could justify increasing our budget to prevent future terrorist attacks.” Most revealing of the official nature of the “whitewash” was the fact that the heads of the Senate and House Intelligence Oversight Committee, responsible for the 9-11 investigation, on the morning of September 11, 2001, were having breakfast with the head of Pakistani Intelligence (who helped the US and the Saudis to create the Al Qaeda Network), Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad, who had $100,000. sent to Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker in the World Trade Center attacks (according to the FBI).

         Damning evidence of government complicity continued to mount, although the U.S. press continued to fail to connect the dots and exercised “damage control.” Books were written, published abroad and within the U.S., information and disinformation, threatening to bury the critical analysis and facts under an avalanche of lies, misinformation, speculation, and propaganda; to muddy the waters, confuse everyone, paralyze the public into inaction or mislead them to waste their energy upon other “issues.” When the headline “Bush Knew” appeared, those who had begun to suspect that the government had been lying, had their fears confirmed.

         On June 10th, 2002, UnansweredQuestions.org held a press conference in Washington D.C. raising eleven key questions about September 11th. C-Span cancelled their coverage of the Press Conference at the last minute; the mainstream press tried to ignore it; and the Bush Administration pulled Padilla out of his cell and tried to make a big hoopla over “new evidence of a terrorist threat.”

         In July, Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed’s book, The War on Freedom was published. The best documentation so far, on the big picture, and the key compelling evidence of the complicity of the U.S. government in the September 11th attacks, Ahmed’s voice has helped greatly to give credibility to a growing movement, demanding truth, transparency and accountability from the government.

         A Global Dance has begun between the forces of Peace and War, Truth and Lies, Resistance and Repression. The critical question is- Can we organize resistance faster than they can organize repression? All the resources of the U.S. government, and transnational corporations who benefit from war, and the control over the vast majority of the world’s resources by an elite minority, will do what they can to create fear, confusion, maintain their power. All we can do is tell the truth, shatter the BIG LIE, with facts, humor, love, courage, creativity, clarity, to empower all of us to hold those responsible for crimes against humanity accountable for their actions, and to rein them in, before they commit worse acts of terror against people at home and abroad.

         The People’s Investigation of 9-11 was officially launched at a Press Conference at the Federal Building in San Francisco on October 4th, 2002 organized by Paul Bernadino and Mark Nemeth. Mark Nemeth opened the conference with this statement-

“Welcome to the People’s Investigation of 9/11 Press Conference. Thank you very kindly for coming – and thanks to the excellent speakers who’ve agreed to speak on such short notice. ..

First, I’d like to continue to offer my sympathies to the friends and family who’ve lost loved ones on 9/11/2001. These people and all people deserve an open and thorough investigation.

We are here today to announce the formation of The People’s Investigation of 9/11.

We, citizens of the United States, declare a national emergency in uncovering what really happened on and in the days leading up to 9/11/2001 through an independent collaborative investigation worldwide. Unanswered questions, stonewalling, and unsettling evidence suggest at the least, some form of government complicity.

Congressional hearings into 9/11 have been severely limited in scope and hindered by a lack of cooperation from members of the intelligence community, leaving even some in Congress frustrated. The families of victims have been consistently turned down in their requests for information. Most recently, they asked for data on the World Trade Center collapse, but instead of getting it, that information has now been sealed.

The unresolved Anthrax attacks, once on the front page of every newspaper, our now almost forgotten. We’ve seen investigations impeded and information falsified. When we needed answers and progress, we instead received a psychological war of fear, distraction and disinformation waged on the people of this country, America, land of the free, home of the brave.

We cannot accept this any longer. There has been time for mourning. Now is the time for answers. There is no security in the Patriot Act, the new Homeland Security Bill or invasions of other countries. I agree with Ben Franklin when he noted that they that give up liberty to obtain a temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor justice.

The People’s Investigation of 9/11 will have no central leadership. It is non-partisan, not for profit, not associated with any group, political or religious. Our focus is research and outreach. There will be a website, pi911.org, with our centralized online pointers to research, community discussion forums and chat rooms where researchers can discuss, view and collaborate on existing and new investigations and activists can coordinate outreach.

Many organizations pursuing a similar effort have formed around the country and world, including our local All People’s Coalition… Several researcher have already provided key information and analysis leading the way for us all, including Mike Ruppert, John Judge, Michael Rivero, Derek Mitchell, Kyle Hence, Paul Thompson and the list goes on. Mike Ruppert is in fact speaking tonight at Lowell High School here in San Francisco at 7PM.

We can cooperate through a collaborative community of researchers and activists working in tandem. If people have or need assistance, we are here to help. A special thanks goes to Paul Bernardino, Carol Brouillet and Ed Rippy for helping to organize this event.

Statement of John Judge for People’s Investigation of 9-11 Press Conference

The American people have yet to be told the full truth about the events of 9/11. We cannot know what was known in advance without an admission on the part of the officials themselves. It seems clear they could and should have known, and that such an attack was not beyond imagining, since efforts had been made by US security forces to prevent just such an incident at both the Pentagon and the economic summit in Genoa which Bush attended. To call this an "intelligence failure" merely supports the expansion, increased funding, consolidation and lack of future accountability for the various intelligence agencies whose covert operations done in our name abroad for the last fifty years have led to the current situation. The war in Afghanistan was not in response to 9/11 but had been planned long before and announced to the surrounding countries months in advance by Secretary of State Colin Powell. What we can know is what the administration and various agencies did or did not DO after everyone knew the nature of the attacks, in other words after 9:05 am that day when the second tower was hit. Absolutely nothing was done between that time and 9:47 when the Pentagon was hit to intercept or shoot a clear and announced threat to the most restricted air space in the country by American Flight 77 which all knew was headed towards DC. There was a military stand down in DC, and fighter planes that could have interfered with Flight 77 were called back to base in several incidences.

What we can also see is that the chemical and DNA analysis of the anthrax sent to the main Democratic opponents of Bush's domestic agenda and of the Patriot Act leads us back to the gate of Ft. Deitrich, MD, home of the largest chemical/biological weapons lab in modern history. We can know that international treaties were violated by CIA and DIA experimentation with building anthrax "labs" and "bombs" to supposedly counter terrorist threats, in advance of 9/11. We can also know that the 70-year archive of all known anthrax strains at the University of Ames in Iowa, which allows any given anthrax to be traced back to a specific batch and to all those who ordered samples to experiment with from that batch, was destroyed in cooperation with the FBI just ten days before the first anthrax envelope was mailed out.

We can also know just how visible various Saudi men made themselves to intelligence agencies and the FBI, men later named as perpetrators of the crime against humanity on 9/11. We can know that at least 5 of the named hijackers were using identities of living people who were not on the plane or in the US, and who survived to say so. We don't yet know who all the perpetrators were, much less who they worked for. We certainly don't know who Osama bin Laden works for, since he has been funded and armed by Pakistani and Saudi intelligence as well as our own CIA.

On all these points and more, the official story falls apart once the facts are compiled. These are enough to call into question what really happened, and they are the most vulnerable areas of the official version of reality. I support all honest inquiry into various aspects of 9/11, but I am also wary of a huge volume of disinformation being circulated about the event. For instance, the idea that Flight 77 never hit the Pentagon is patently absurd on the face of it. There were eyewitnesses to the event, the physical damage is consistent with the plane's assault, and there were other airline employees who identified the wreckage and the bodies of their fellow workers. None of these questions are being asked by the Congressional intelligence committees' hearings, nor are they likely to be. Chairs Porter Goss and Bob Graham, both from Florida, were having breakfast at the time of the 9/11 attack with Mahmoud Ahmad, head of the Pakistani ISI intelligence service, a man close to bin Laden who had sent $100,000 to Mohammed Atta, the alleged mastermind of 9/11 in August of that year. We need a fully independent and credible national citizen's inquiry and international tribunal, similar to the Betrand Russell tribunals of the 60s and 70s concerning the JFK assassination and the war in Vietnam. We need to take our history back from the clutches of the national security state. The secrecy around 9/11 has set the stage for global warfare, with the US as the main player trying to set up Pax Americana instead of justice and peace abroad. I support the efforts of the Independent People's Progressive Network in New York to build such a tribunal, and local efforts everywhere to collaborate on solid research aimed at getting the truth about 9/11.

John Judge
writings at- http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/JohnJudge/

         Speakers at the Press Conference Friday also included Carol Brouillet- W.I.L.P.F., Riva Enteen- National Lawyer’s Guild, Ed Rippy- East Bay Peace Action, Kellia Remares-Radio Internet Story Exchange, Wendy Snyder- All People’s Coalition, Don Paul- Author, Joyce Lynn-journalist, Pat Carey-friend of the late Mae Brussell, Father Louis Vitale- who will be serving a six month jail sentence for protesting at the School of the Americas, Paul Bernardino-activist... There were more speakers and statements than time permitted. While none of the mainstream press showed up, independent filmmakers documented the press conference and videos and transcripts will be made available.

         The Press Conference occurred on the day of Mike Ruppert’s second major talk on “The Truth and Lies of 9-11” in San Francisco, which was very well attended. A “People’s Investigation of 9-11”/Real Terrorists-Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld” contingent marched up Market Street on Sunday, October 6, 2002 to join the Not In Our Name Rally which drew seven thousand people to Union Square. The Bay Area has seen many “Bush Did It!” marches, rallies, public forums in September. October 9-11 forums were also held in Sebastopol, Mountain View, San Geronimo Valley and more are being scheduled.

         Here are some of the written statements of support for the People’s Investigation of 9-11 that echo and reinforce many of the revelations and insights of those who spoke on Friday-

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL C. RUPPERT
PUBLISHER/EDITOR, “FROM THE WILDERNESS” for the THE PEOPLE’S INVESTIGATION OF 9/11 PRESS CONFERENCE
October 4, 2002

Before the fires of the World Trade Center had dimmed, citizens from all over the world - outraged, bewildered and terrified - began investigating the horrible events of that day on their own. Empowered by the Internet and the Information Age, they were able to begin the immediate retrieval of relevant news items and government statements, archiving them and sharing them in an unprecedented horizontal and international collective effort that has demonstrated to political leaders and the entire planet that the secrecy which once had allowed tyrants to operate is a thing of the past.

I and my publication “From The Wilderness” have been both a significant contributor to and beneficiary of that process. And today we see the fruits of the dedicated efforts of many in the fact that our revelations, our investigations, our persistent badgering of the government and mainstream media have compelled both U.S. investigative agencies and the Congress to make damning disclosures. We have also sadly seen many of our predictions come true.

Having spent more than 25 years studying government covert operations, and especially the operating style of those affiliated with the Bush family, I was able to publish more than 70 stories in this last year. And in this last year I have seen almost every one of our major contentions vindicated. We have seen:

- That the Bush Administration had complete foreknowledge of the attacks and did have absolute knowledge that Al Q’aeda had plans to use aircraft as weapons.

- That the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan would see an explosion in opium production from that country and a resulting major epidemic of heroin in Russia and Western Europe this year.

- That the Bush Administration in “the war that would not end in our lifetimes” had embarked on an Imperial quest to control the largest oil reserves on the planet.

- That the United States would invade Iraq by the fall of 2002.

- That oil pipelines – a long-pursued objective of major oil companies – would see a frenzied burst of new activity after a U.S. occupation of Central Asia.

- That the “War On Terrorism” would be revealed as a near perfect implementation of plans, written many years before by the likes of Zbigniew Brzezinski, calling for American global primacy. Strategic planners acknowledged more than 5 years ago, that this plan could not be implemented without a mobilizing event, a devastating attack on the order of Pearl Harbor that would “drastically threaten the American public’s sense of domestic well being.” We see this objective of American primacy fully articulated in the recently published National Security Strategy of the United States which states that the U.S. will not allow any nation to come close to military parity and that the U.S. fully embraces the notion of pre-emptive first strikes.

- That a progressive incursion by the government into domestic civil liberties would continue and increasingly eliminate freedoms which generations of Americans have fought and died to protect.

- That massive preparations were underway for biological warfare and that immunization programs would be promoted by the government as a means of both intimidation and control at home and aboard.

But many of the questions we and many others have raised and continued to expand upon remain either totally or unsatisfactorily unanswered. This, at the same time that a government which is increasingly exposed as having engaged in criminal behavior has been forced to retreat and restate its positions many times. A mere examination of the record establishes that the President, the Vice President, the National Security Advisor and the Press Secretary have lied to the people.

We want to know why it is now classified national security information as to what the intelligence agencies told the President before the attacks when they themselves have now admitted that they knew that hijacked aircraft would be used as weapons. If the President knew this – in light of the other warnings he received – then his actions last September 11th were at best criminally negligent. They are certainly impeachable.

We want to know why no fighter aircraft were scrambled in a timely manner during the attacks in direct contravention of an established UASF and FAA procedure that had been operating efficiently for a quarter of a century. Who, in a position of authority – interfered with that procedure?

We want to know why massive insider trading on stocks drastically impacted by the attacks - trumpeted by the likes of 60 MINUTES and Bloomberg – suddenly became a non-issue as soon as From The Wilderness reported on links between some the trades and a company formerly run by “Buzzy” Krongard, the man who is now the Executive Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

We want to know why, even though former SEC executives told us that the people who made these trades could be identified in 48 hours, we have not heard a single word from the government on any of the investigations that we were told were a top priority.

We want to know why at least five of the 9-11 hijackers had received flight training at U.S. military installations and why three of them had received English language instruction courtesy of the Department of Defense.

We want to know why General Mahmud Ahmad, the head of the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, ordered a wire transfer of $100,000 to Mohammed Atta just weeks before the attacks and why the aide he chose to do it, Omar Saeed Shaikh, has since been identified as both a senior Al Q’aeda financier and a CIA asset.

We want to know why General Ahmad was an honored guest in Washington on the day of the attacks and why he met that week with the heads of the Senate and House intelligence committees, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, members of the National Security Agency and Senator Jon Kyl.

We want to know what is in the records of the Vice President’s Energy Task Force and why the Administration has broken the law to keep those records that have absolute bearing on the events of 9/11 a secret.

We want to know what is in the Presidential records of the Reagan and Bush administrations that the President has broken the law to keep secret.

Many of these questions can and are being answered by committed citizens as we speak. Many more can be answered with appropriate funding and support. And those questions that cannot be answered by a citizen’s investigation can be propelled to the forefront of the national consciousness by the work that a citizen’s investigation does complete.

The people have shown since 9/11 that they can have an impact on events in a dangerous and rapidly changing world. On the eve of a major war that may spread throughout the Middle East and as an administration grows ever more contemptuous of the protections and requirements of the Constitution, only the people can make a difference. That was, is and always has been the way a democracy is supposed to function. With so much at stake, I can think of very few things more important than giving this investigation the support and the will that it needs to drag all of the truth about 9/11 kicking and screaming into the light.

Michael C. Ruppert
http://www.fromthewilderness.com
Statement of Kevin Danaher
(Kevin suggested Demanding a Congressional Inquiry last January)

There are so many questions left unresolved as to what actually took place on September 11, 2001, and why these events took place, that only a comprehensive, independent public investigation of the events will settle this. There are many contending facts and opinions on different sides of this issue, but most people would agree that the public has a right to know all the facts about what actually took place and who was involved in the perpetration of this crime against humanity.

If there are any employees of the US government who are opposed to full public disclosure of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, they should come forth and state publicly why the citizen/taxpayers of this country should not know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

There is far too detailed a history of government lying and coverups in this country for we the citizens to simply sit back and expect the government to reveal the truth to us. It is the right and the duty of we the citizens to ensure that the truth is revealed. This can only be accomplished through an independent, public inquiry where all the relevant facts are exposed.

And anyone (no matter what their nationality or station in life) who is found to be complicit in the crimes of September 11, 2001, should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Kevin Danaher, Ph.D., Global Exchange, http://www.globalexchange.org

UnansweredQuestions.org's Statement of Support for a Peoples' Commission on 9/11.

Too often through history, and currently during the "War on Terror," freedom and truth are sacrificed in the name of "national security." Walls of secrecy within government and censorship by the highly centralized corporate control of the media now unduly insulates the people from their elected representatives and the truth. In this untenable environment personal freedom is increasingly threatened and the citizens' control of their own government is eroded.

Now as the war drums beat louder, the stakes grow higher. In light of the facts that the US Government failed to protect US citizens and to conduct a complete, open and timely investigation; and the media is failing in their responsibility to fairly and accurately report on the persistent unanswered questions surrounding 9/11; a Peoples' or Citizens' Commission becomes a clear and compelling necessity in both the defense of freedom and pursuit of the truth.

Unanswered Questions condemns outright terrorism in all forms. But even more dangerous is the politics of fear advancing a dangerous agenda in response to the threat of terror. If we succumb to that fear and let it drive us as a nation dissembling our Constitution along the way, then the terrorist will have won. As former UNSCOM weapons inspector Scott Ritter said so simply and powerfully, "The politics of fear must be defeated by the forces of truth." UnansweredQuestions.org believes that finding the whole truth about what really happened on September 11th is absolutely critical for the people of the world in their passionate quest to find justice within a new governing paradigm that upholds the Constitution and truly honors life and liberty.

Kyle F. Hence, Co-founder, UnansweredQuestions.org, October 4, 2002

Statement of Adam Hurter

Many people I've talked to think that almost no one in this country is questioning the official line given by Bush and company about the horrific tragedy of September 11, 2001. These people tell me that everyone thinks that Bush Administration foreknowledge or complicity in 9/11 is simply preposterous.

In my travels, however, I have found that, in fact, countless individuals are quietly questioning who was really behind the events of September 11. These people include taxi drivers in Washington D.C., young people I meet on the street, retired military acquaintances of mine, and, increasingly, peace and justice activists. Indeed, a call demanding a truly independent investigation of 9/11 has been endorsed by the likes of Howard Zinn, Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, Ed Asner, Starhawk, and about 700 others. The exact statement which they have all signed on to can be found at www.911nationalnetwork.org In particular, people of my generation, the youth of this country, are highly skeptical. We do not trust the filthy rich leaders of the United States Empire, who are driving the world towards one massive global corporation. It is with very good reason that we doubt the 9/11 story of Bush, Inc., the story that says evil men from the other side of the world plotted to attack America because they resent our freedom. After all, was it not the CIA that armed trained and virtually created these Fundamentalist forces? Yes, it was. And is there not hard evidence showing that high-up U.S. military strategists were planning five years ago a war in Afghanistan to occur right around when it did occur last year? Yes, the Afghanistan war was planned years ago, and, yes, now that it has happened the area is being turned into Pipelinestan, a route for oil from the Caspian Sea to deepen the pockets of the U.S.-based Unocal corporation.

Furthermore, why, in the months prior to Sep. 11, did the Bush Administration nearly completely halt the Al-Qaeda investigation that the Clintons had running?

It is truly astonishing- the head of that operation, John O'Neill, quit in protest only two weeks before 9/11. These are not odd coincidences, people! The "anomalies," if you will, surrounding 9/11 only get more hard-hitting if one takes an honest look at what happened on that day. Why were the planes not intercepted? It is standard operating procedure, and there is no excuse for them not having been intercepted. And what about the massive put options on American Airlines and U.S. Air right before the attacks. Someone obviously knew, but now no one is coming forward to take the money.

Taken together, these facts paint a dark picture that shows that it is highly possible, even likely, that some elements of the U.S. military intelligence hierarchy knew about or were complicit in the tragedy of September 11. The implication of this possibility is far, far too great to be ignored. An independent people's investigation of Sep. 11 is direly needed. The government is not going to give us a real one, so we the people are going to create it ourselves.

We must get to the bottom of this. For my generation it is a question of whether our children will come into a world headed towards peace or one in a state of eternal Orwellian war.

Adam Hurter
Student Peace Action Network
Hartford, Connecticut

Statement from the Feminist Peace Network

Feminist Peace Network supports the call for an immediate and independent investigation of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The current actions of the US government are being rationalized with outrageous assertions that will not hold up under investigation. These actions are causing incredible human suffering, economic disaster and the insupportable demolishing of civil rights.

When Representative Cynthia McKinney courageously called for an investigation, she was labeled unpatriotic. Her election loss was reduced by the media to differences between Jews and Muslims, instead of another casualty of those who would do anything to win an election and quiet dissent.

We must not allow those who have seized power to silence us. Nor must we allow state-sponsored terrorism by the US to detract us from the continuing horrors of globalization and the pandemic of violence against women that is only exacerbated by illegal and immoral lies.

The Feminist Peace Network, Oct. 3, 2002
http://www.feministpeacenetwork.org

         Michel Chossudovsky wrote a very powerful statement of support for the People’s Investigation of 9-11 and was disappointed, although not surprised, when the press didn’t cover the conference. His statement was modified into an article in the wake of Bush’s October 7th, 2002 speech, and I am including here the link to his article, Bush Military Adventure threatens Future of Humanity: http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO210A.html
And a text version:

Bush Military Adventure threatens Future of Humanity
by Michel Chossudovsky http://www.globalresearch.ca
8 October/ octobre 2002
“Those who harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves…”

(George W. Bush, Remarks on Iraq, Cincinnati, Ohio October 7, 2002)

We are the juncture of the most serious crisis in modern history.

In the wake of the tragic events of September 11, in the largest display of military might since the Second World War, the Bush Administration has embarked upon a military adventure which threatens the future of humanity.

This threat was reconfirmed in President Bush October 7 televised address, which was broadcast on the first anniversary of the US bombing of Afghanistan..

This war has in fact already started with US-UK bombing raids directed against Iraq. The Bush Administration is waiting for the rubber stamp of US Congress, to proceed with an all out attack. In the words of President Bush in his October 7 speech:

Later this week, the United States Congress will vote on this matter. I have asked Congress to authorize the use of America's military, if it proves necessary, to enforce U.N. Security Council demands. Approving this resolution does not mean that military action is imminent or unavoidable. The resolution will tell the United Nations, and all nations, that America speaks with one voice and is determined to make the demands of the civilized world mean something. Congress will also be sending a message to the dictator in Iraq: that his only chance -- his only choice is full compliance, and the time remaining for that choice is limited.

Despite mounting public dissent in the US and internationally, the House and the Senate are working on a resolution which will authorise President Bush to "use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines necessary and appropriate" in Iraq.

The American people must understand the implications of President Bush’s decision. A war against Iraq will engulf a much larger region, extending from the Mediterranean, across the Middle East to Central Asia, integrating several war theatres.

This war on Iraq, presented to a public opinion by President Bush as part of the "war on terrorism", does not exclude the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons on a first strike basis. Moreover, the Pentagon has confirmed its intention to extend the military campaign into Iran. It has also confirmed that the not so hidden agenda of this war is "to protect the United States' vital interest in the region - uninterrupted, secure U.S./Allied access to Gulf oil": The broad national security interests and objectives expressed in the President's National Security Strategy (NSS) and the Chairman's National Military Strategy (NMS) form the foundation of the United States Central Command's theater strategy. The NSS directs implementation of a strategy of dual containment of the rogue states of Iraq and Iran as long as those states pose a threat to U.S. interests, to other states in the region, and to their own citizens. Dual containment is designed to maintain the balance of power in the region without depending on either Iraq or Iran. USCENTCOM's theater strategy is interest-based and threat-focused. The purpose of U.S. engagement, as espoused in the NSS, is to protect the United States' vital interest in the region - uninterrupted, secure U.S./Allied access to Gulf oil.

(USCENTCOM, http://www.milnet.com/milnet/pentagon/centcom/chap1/stratgic.htm#USPolicy )

Israel and the Dangers of Nuclear War

The ongoing war waged by Israel against the Palestinian people is part and parcel of America’s New War strategy. An invasion of Iraq would inevitably trigger a broader war throughout the Middle East in which Israel would definitively be aligned with the Anglo-American military axis.

Israel’s nuclear warheads are pointed at Baghdad and major cities in the Middle East.

According to John Steinbach, a leading authority on Israel's nuclear programme:

..the existence of an [Israeli] arsenal of mass destruction in such an unstable region ... has serious implications for future arms control and disarmament negotiations, and even the threat of nuclear war.

Seymour Hersh warns,

"Should war break out in the Middle East again,... or should any Arab nation fire missiles against Israel, as the Iraqis did, a nuclear escalation, once unthinkable except as a last resort, would now be a strong probability."

and Ezar Weissman, Israel's current President said

"The nuclear issue is gaining momentum [and the] next war will not be conventional." ...

The unilateral possession of nuclear weapons by Israel is enormously destabilizing, and dramatically lowers the threshold for their actual use, if not for all out nuclear war. In the words of Mark Gaffney,

"... if the familar pattern [Israel refining its weapons of mass destruction with U.S. complicity] is not reversed soon- for whatever reason- the deepening Middle East conflict could trigger a world conflagration."

Many Middle East Peace activists have been reluctant to discuss, let alone challenge, the Israeli monopoly on nuclear weapons in the region, often leading to incomplete and uninformed analyses and flawed action strategies. Placing the issue of Israeli weapons of mass destruction directly and honestly on the table and action agenda would have several salutary effects. First, it would expose a primary destabilizing dynamic driving the Middle East arms race and compelling the region's states to each seek their own "deterrent." Second, it would expose the grotesque double standard which sees the U.S. and Europe on the one hand condemning Iraq, Iran and Syria for developing weapons of mass destruction, while simultaneously protecting and enabling the principal culprit.

John Steinbach, Israeli Weapons of Mass Destruction: a Threat to Peace,http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/STE203A.html , CRG, March 2001)

The Pretext for Waging War: "The US is under Attack"

The legitimacy of this war hinges upon the official 9/11 narrative. "The US is under attack". The war against Iraq is presented as a pre-emptive operation to "defend ourselves" against terrorists and rogue states.

The Bush administration requires legitimacy in the eyes of public opinion, namely, that in launching the war in Iraq, it is acting in response to the tragic events of September 11.

President Bush justifies his war plans by quoting former chief weapon’s inspector Butler, who until recently was an unbending supporter of the US administration:

By its past and present actions, by its technological capabilities, by the merciless nature of its regime, Iraq is unique. As a former chief weapons inspector of the U.N. has said, "The fundamental problem with Iraq remains the nature of the regime, itself. Saddam Hussein is a homicidal dictator who is addicted to weapons of mass destruction."

(GWB, October 7)

The statement by Butler was made a year ago in the immediate wake of 9/11. In a bitter irony, the man quoted in the President’s speech is now accusing the Bush administration of "double standards". In an recent 2002 statement, Butler said that:

"even educated Americans were deaf to arguments about the hypocrisy of their stance on nuclear weapons...

My attempts to have Americans enter into discussions about double standards have been an abject failure - even with highly educated and engaged people… I sometimes felt I was speaking to them in Martian, so deep is their inability to understand… What America totally fails to understand is that their weapons of mass destruction are just as much a problem as are those of Iraq… [The entrenched idea among Americans is that there are] good weapons of mass destruction and bad ones…

Amongst my toughest moments in Baghdad were when the Iraqis demanded that I explain why they should be hounded for their weapons of mass destruction when, just down the road, Israel was not, even though it was known to possess some 200 nuclear weapons…

I confess, too, that I flinch when I hear American, British and French fulminations against weapons of mass destruction, ignoring the fact that they are the proud owners of massive quantities of those weapons, unapologetically insisting that they are essential for their national security, and will remain so."

(quoted in Sydney Morning Herald, op cit)

Bush Links Saddam Hussein to Osama bin Laden

President Bush in his October 7 speech links Saddam Hussein to Osama bin Laden:

"We know that Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network share a common enemy -- the United States of America. We know that Iraq and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade. Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq…

The evidence presented below confirms that the Bush Administration (rather than Iraq) has supported and abetted international terrorism:

Links between the US Government and Al Qaida

The evidence now amply confirms that the pretext for waging "the war on terrorism" –which now includes by extension-- the war on "rogue states" (including Iraq) has been totally fabricated. The 9-11 terrorists did not act on their own volition. The suicide hijackers were instruments in a carefully planned intelligence operation. And it was not Iraq but America's ally Pakistan who supported Al QaIda. The evidence from official sources confirms that Al Qaeda is supported by Pakistan's military intelligence, the Inter-services Intelligence (ISI). Amply documented, the ISI is supported by the CIA and there are close links between the two agencies.

(Michel Chossudovsky, The Role of Pakistan's Military Intelligence Agency (ISI) in the September 11 Attacks, November 2001)

Moreover, official documents including Congressional transcripts confirm that Al Qaida is in fact a creation of the CIA, namely an "intelligence asset".

Since the Soviet-Afghan war and throughout the post-Cold war era, "the militant islamic base" has been used by successive US administrations to wage covert operations in the former Soviet Union and the Balkans.

(See Michel Chossudovsky, Who is Osama bin Laden , 12 Septmber 2001)

US government-Al Qaida links in Bosnia (1990s)

The Clinton administration’s hands-on involvement with the Islamic network's arms pipeline included inspections of missiles from Iran by U.S. government officials Y the Third World Relief Agency (TWRA), a Sudan-based, phoney humanitarian organization Y has been a major link in the arms pipeline to Bosnia. Y TWRA is believed to be connected with such fixtures of the Islamic terror network as Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (the convicted mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing) and Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi émigré believed to bankroll numerous militant groups.

(Congressional Press Release, Republican Party Committee (RPC)

U.S. Congress, Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers Help Turn Bosnia into Militant Islamic Base , Washington DC, 16 January 1997, available on the website of the Centre of Research on Globalisation (CRG) at http://globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html.)

In other words, the Republican Party Committee report confirms unequivocally the complicity of the Clinton administration with several Islamic fundamentalist organizations including Osama bin Laden's Al Qaida. In other words, the Clinton Administration was "harboring terrorists"

(to use GWB's expression in his October 7 speech).

The Republicans wanted to undermine the Clinton administration. However, at a time when the entire country had its eyes riveted on the Monica Lewinsky scandal, they no doubt chose not to trigger an untimely "Iran-Bosniagate" affair, which might have unduly diverted public attention away from the Lewinsky scandal.

The Republicans wanted to impeach Bill Clinton for having lied to the American people regarding his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the more substantive foreign policy lies regarding drug running and covert operations in the Balkans, Democrats and Republicans agreed in unison, no doubt pressured by the Pentagon and the CIA, not to "spill the beans".

US government links to Al Qaeda in Macedonia (2001)

Barely a few weeks before September 11, 2001, senior U.S. military advisers from a private mercenary outfit on contract to the Pentagon, were fighting alongside Mujahideen in the terrorist attacks on the Macedonian Security forces. Extensively documented by the Macedonian press and statements made by the Macedonian authorities, the U.S. government and the Islamic Militant Network were working hand in glove in supporting and financing the self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (NLA), which was involved in the terrorist attacks in Macedonia.

The KLA-NLA terrorists were funded from U.S. military aid, the United Nations peace-keeping budget in Kosovo, as well as by several Islamic organisations including Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaida. Drug money was also used to finance the terrorists with the complicity of the U.S. government. The recruitment of Mujahideen to fight in the ranks of the NLA in Macedonia was implemented through various Islamic groups. U.S. military advisers mingle with the Mujahideen within the same paramilitary force; Western mercenaries from NATO countries fight alongside the Mujahideen recruited in the Middle East and Central Asia. And the U.S. media calls this a ‘blowback’ where so-called “intelligence assets” have gone against their sponsors!

The US military was collaborating directly with Al Qaida barely a few weeks before 9/11. One would, therefore, expect that the CIA were fully informed on the activities and whereabouts of their "intelligence assets".

In other words, the media's spotlight on foreknowledge and so-called FBI lapses serves to distract public attention from the broader issue of political deception. Not a word was mentioned concerning the role of the CIA, which throughout the entire post-Cold War era, has aided and abetted Osama bin Laden's Al Qaida as part of its covert operations.

While individual FBI agents are often unaware of the CIA's role, the relationship between the CIA and Al Qaida is known at the top levels of the FBI. Members of the Bush administration and the U.S. Congress are fully cognizant of these links.

In other words, the foreknowledge issue, focussing on FBI lapses, is an obvious smokescreen. While the whistleblowers serve to underscore the weaknesses of the FBI, the role of successive U.S. administrations (since the presidency of Jimmy Carter), in support of the "Islamic Militant Base", is simply not mentioned.

The Role of Pakistan’s Military Intelligence in the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks

President Bush states in his speech that:

those who harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves. Saddam Hussein is harboring terrorists and the instruments of terror, the instruments of mass death and destruction. And he cannot be trusted. The risk is simply too great that he will use them, or provide them to a terror network.

The evidence confirms that agencies of the US government have harbored the 9/11 terrorists using Pakistan’s military intelligence (ISI) as a go-between.

The FBI confirmed in late September, in an interview with ABC News (which went virtually unnoticed), that the 9-11 ring leader, Mohammed Atta, had been financed from unnamed sources in Pakistan:

As to September 11th, federal authorities have told ABC News they have now tracked more than $100,000 from banks in Pakistan, to two banks in Florida, to accounts held by suspected hijack ring leader, Mohammed Atta. As well, Time Magazine is reporting that some of that money came in the days just before the attack and can be traced directly to people connected to Osama bin Laden. It’s all part of what has been a successful FBI effort so far to close in on the hijacker’s high commander, the money men, the planners and the mastermind.

(Statement of Brian Ross reporting on information conveyed to him by the FBI, (ABC News, This Week, September 30, 2001)

The FBI had information on the money trail. They knew exactly who was financing the terrorists. The findings of the FBI were confirmed by Agence France Presse (AFP) and the Times of India (9 October 2001) , quoting an official Indian intelligence report (which had been dispatched to Washington). According to these two reports, the money used to finance the 9-11 attacks had allegedly been Awired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan, by Ahmad Umar Sheikh, at the instance of [ISI Chief] General Mahmoud [Ahmad]" According to the AFP (quoting the intelligence source):

"The evidence we have supplied to the U.S. is of a much wider range and depth than just one piece of paper linking a rogue general to some misplaced act of terrorism."

( AFP, 10 October 2001. Full details on the ISI connection are contained in Michel Chossudovsky, War and Globalisation, the Truth behind September 11, Global Outlook and CRG, 2002, see Michel Chossudovsky, Political Deception: The Missing Link behind 9/11, http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO206A.html, CRG, June 2002)

Now, it just so happens that General Mahmoud Ahmad, the alleged "money man" behind 9/11, was in the U.S. when the attacks occurred. He arrived on the 4th of September, one week before 9-11, on what was described as a routine visit of consultations with his U.S. counterparts.

Mysterious 9/11 Breakfast Meeting on Capitol Hill with the Alleged 9/11 Money-man

On the morning of September 11, General Mahmoud Ahmad, the alleged "money-man" behind the 9-11 hijackers, was at a breakfast meeting on Capitol Hill hosted by Senator Bob Graham (Democrat) and Representative Porter Goss, Chairmen of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, respectively. The subject matter of this breakfast meeting was Pakistan’s cooperation in going after the terrorists. The Bush administration had not only provided red carpet treatment to the alleged "money man" behind the 9-11 attacks, it also had sought his “cooperation” in the "war on terrorism". The precise terms of this "cooperation" were agreed upon between General Mahmoud Ahmad, representing the Pakistani government, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in meetings at the State Department on September 12 and 13.

In other words, the Administration decided in the immediate wake of 9-11 to seek the cooperation of Pakistan's ISI in "going after Osama", despite the fact (documented by the FBI) that the ISI was financing and abetting the 9-11 terrorists.

During his visit, General Mahmoud, the alleged money-man behind 9/11 had meetings with senior Bush Adminstration officials,and member of the US Congress. These include Secretary of State Colin Powell (12-13 Sept), Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage (12-13 Sept), Under-Secretary of State Marc Grossman (before 11 Sept) CIA Director George Tenet (before 11 Sept), Senator Bob Graham, Chairman of Senate Intelligence Committee (11 Sept), Senator John Kyl, member of the Senate Intelligence committee (11 Sept), Representative Porter Goss, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (11 Sept), Senator Joseph Biden, Chairman of Foreign Relations Committee (13 Sept) In a bitter irony, Rep. Porter Goss and Senator Bob Graham the men who hosted the mysterious September 11 breakfast meeting with the alleged "hijacker's high commander" were put in charge of the investigation and public hearings on so-called "intelligence failures"

These ties to Pakistan’s ISI should be starting point of an investigation. While hundreds of people have been arrested on trumped up charges, key members of the Bush administration have personal links with the alleged "money-man".

Surely this should be the object of an investigation, rather than a cover-up of the ISI’s alleged role in the 9/11 attacks. Meanwhile the Bush administration is blaming Iraq of complicity.

Misleading Public Opinion

Millions of people have been misled regarding the causes and consequences of September 11. The so-called "War on Terrorism" is a lie. Amply documented, the pretext to wage this war is totally fabricated.

While the Bush administration implements, in several stages, its "war on terrorism", the evidence (including mountains of official documents) amply confirms that successive U.S. administrations have supported, abetted and harbored international terrorism.

Realities have been turned upside down.

Acts of war are heralded in President Bush's speech as "humanitarian interventions" geared towards restoring "democracy". Military occupation and the killing of civilians are presented as peace-keeping operations. The derogation of civil liberties -- by imposing the so-called anti-terrorist legislation--is portrayed by President Bush as a means to providing "domestic security" and upholding civil liberties:

We did not ask for this present challenge, but we accept it. Like other generations of Americans, we will meet the responsibility of defending human liberty against violence and aggression. By our resolve, we will give strength to others. By our courage, we will give hope to others. And by our actions, we will secure the peace, and lead the world to a better day.

(GWB, Oct 7, 2002)

"Regime Change" in America

9/11 is the pretext for waging a war, which threatens the future of humanity. When viewed historically, September 11 is the biggest fraud in American history.

The dangers of a possible World War unleashed by an attack on Iraq must be addressed and understood.

Uncovering and revealing to our fellow citizens the lies behind 9/11 is the basis upon which we can effectively reverse the Bush administration’s war plans and prevent the war from occurring.

When these various acts of cover-up and political complicity are revealed and fully understood, the legitimacy of the so-called "war on terrorism" --including the war on Iraq-- will collapse "like a deck of cards"

The shaky legitimacy of the Bush administration will be shattered. In turn, this loss of legitimacy will be the basis for implementing a "regime change" in America.

Copyright CRG 2002. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial community internet sites, provided the source and the URL are indicated, the essay remains intact and the copyright note is displayed. To publish this text in printed and/or other forms, including commercial internet sites and excerpts, contact the CRG at editor@globalresearch.ca

         Lori Price who began the Petition to the Senate to Investigate the Oddities of 9-11 http://www.petitiononline.com/11601TFS/petition.html) reported that the petition had been signed by over 16,200 people.

         Lois Ann Battuello- researcher was also present and supposed to speak, when we ran out of time, she brought copies of “Mohamed Atta & The Flying Circus” a documentary about the alleged hijackers and the flight school where they were trained that raises more questions about who sponsored the terrorists, and why the FBI is trying to cover it up. Available at http://www.madcowprod.com.

For those with high speed internet access, the Guerrilla News Network documentary-Aftermath- Unanswered Questions from 911, Parts 1 & 2, can be viewed at- http://www.guerrillanews.com/after_math/ and is one of our best organizing tools.

         As I write this, I just heard the news of Bush getting his resolution for war powers passed through Congress. It aches my heart and makes me think of the revealing quote from 9-11, when Bush said, "It looks like we're at war. That's what we're paid for, boys." Indeed that is where the money comes from- the world’s biggest business “making war.”

        The biggest racket needs the biggest lies to sell it- that is what we are up against.

         There are plans for civil disobedience to protest this institutionalization of “pre-emptive strikes”- the terrorization of the world by the U.S. government. I do not believe that we are in the minority; we are part of the vast majority who believe in peace, freedom, justice for all; no blood for oil, not in my name. This is not a time for silence, it is a time to speak loudly, demanding truth, exposing the lies and crimes that our government is using to mask its attack upon us and the world.