ATLmalcontent

The Saudi Connection to 9/11

Some pretty credible reporting indicates that the C.I.A.'s destruction of at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives has little to do with torture and everything to do with the Saudis.

We already know that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers hailed from the oil-rich kingdom. Author Gerald Posner believes the videotapes contain evidence that three Saudi princes acted as their sponsors.

Zubaydah, wounded when he was captured in Pakistan, was fooled in a fake flag operation to believe that the Saudis held him.  Instead of being afraid of the ‘Saudis,’ he demanded to talk to three Saudi princes (one, the nephew of the King, who happened to be in the U.S. on 9/11).  He gave his interrogators the private cell phone numbers of all 3. He did the same regarding the chief of Pakistan's air force.

After the U.S. told the Saudis and Pakistanis of Zubaydah's finger pointing, all four men had tragic 'accidents.'  The King's nephew died of complications from liposuction at the age of 43.  A day later, the 41 year old Prince named by Zubaydah died in a one-car accident on his way to the funeral of the King’s nephew.  The third named prince, age 25, died a week later of "thirst," according to the Saudi Royal Court. And shortly after that, the chief of Pakistan’s air force died when his plane exploded with his wife and 15 of his top aides on board.

I'm usually very skeptical about such stories, but this sounds entirely plausible.

It was all our fault

So is the BBC employing Islamic propagandists these days? Sure sounds that way. Their intended audience: children.

The way America has got involved in conflicts in regions like the Middle East has made some people very angry, including a group called al-Qaeda - who are widely thought to have been behind the attacks.

The BBC fails to mention al Qaeda's desire to either convert or kill all "infidels." Of course that would betray an ongoing crusade (yes, I use the word advisedly) to brainwash another generation of Europeans against the United States.

Don't you know -- religious fanatics are victims. As long as they're Muslim.

ATLmalcontent part of vast right-wing conspiracy

Some people have a hard time straddling a partisan fence. Is it not possible to believe that A.) George W. Bush is an incompetent boob and B.) a sizable minority of Muslims have embraced an extremist dogma that poses a threat to the West?

Apparently not. JimV has grouped me in with a coterie of right-wingers, labeling me a "faux independent blogger" for criticizing a Congressman who compared the 9/11 atrocities to the destruction of the Reichstag, the German parliament, in 1933.

"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that," Mr Ellison said. "After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted."

First, a concession: the article which I referenced did not include all of Rep. Keith Ellison's comments, but I don't think that changes much.

"The fact is that I'm not saying [Sept. 11] was a [U.S.] plan, or anything like that because, you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box -- dismiss you."

Sounds like to me he's inferring that Sept. 11 was a U.S. plan but won't come out and say it lest he be grouped in with the (Cynthia) McKinney crowd. Ellison may not be screaming "conspiracy," but he seems to be whispering it.

No such nuance from JimV (although I do appreciate his contention that I have "the capacity to influence people who have the proper number of chromosomes)." Not sure who I'm influencing -- God help them -- but I'd like to think those of us who are capable of disliking the administration and fearing the radicals comprise a majority.

You wouldn't know that from scanning the various blogs, left and right. Ever read much about Muslim extremism on HuffingtonPost or DailyKos -- about as much as you'll read critical of Bush in the blogs to the right (unless, of course, it's about illegal immigration).

Now you'll see plenty of obfuscation from the likes of Jim V: "Is it possible that the Bush foreign policy and Radical Islam and both are to blame for terrorism?"

Bush foreign policy may have led to the recruitment of more terrorists, but it isn't to blame for terrorism. People who seek "justice" by blowing up innocents are to blame for that. And it's not even justice they're seeking, but control. They want to impose Islam on the rest of the world. They want to defeat modernity. They wanted that back when George W. was still snorting coke.

Let's assume America is to blame for the all of the Middle East's problems -- does that justify terrorism? Gandhi certainly didn't respond that way. Neither did Martin Luther King, Jr. They exacted change positively. Those who seek it through terror deserve neither empathy nor understanding, regardless of who occupies the Oval Office.

And what if that turns out to be Obama or (God forbid) Hilbot? The extremists will still hate us -- will that be a Democrat's fault, too?

Or maybe I'm just reading Sean Hannity's talking points.

Is anyone unpatriotic?

If you want to get a rise out of people, left or right, question their patriotism. The Bush Administration walks this tightrope all the time, kinda/sorta challenging the red, white and blue bona fides of opponents while claiming that's something they would never do.

We've seen this with war protesters, and now with conservatives who've gone apoplectic over Bush's contention that opponents of the immigration compromise "don't want to do what's right for America."

A senior official said later, “In no way was he questioning anyone’s patriotism or desire to do what’s right.”

Um, okay. Yet not everyone who claims the mantle is patroitic. There are Americans who don't love their country, and should be called out on it. (Go ahead, say it -- who am I to judge?)

Some examples:

*If you embrace foreign dictators who suppress democracy (i.e. Hugo Chavez) while at the same time damning the U.S., you are not patriotic. Ex.: Danny Glover;

*If you subscribe to moronic conspiracy theories that blame Americans for killing other Americans (i.e. the World Trade Center collapse), you are not patriotic. Ex.: Rosie O'Donnell;

*If you regret the South's defeat in the Civil War, you are not patriotic. (What could be more unpatriotic than wishing for the demise of your country?) Ex.: A Klansman, any Klansman, or the guy driving ahead of me today with the "Fergit, Hell" bumper sticker; \

*If you think it's un-American to question the unconstitutional, such as illegal wiretapping and torture, you are not patriotic. Ex.: Tom DeLay;

*If you think the Bible, and not the Constitution, should govern America, you are unpatriotic (as you oppose the very foundation on which this country was created. Or to parphrase Hank Hill: "Can't you see you're not making America better? You're just making Christianity worse.") Ex.: James Dobson.

Free speech and the GOP

Not so much. The chairman of the Michigan Republican Party is attempting to bar Ron Paul from future GOP presidential debates after the libertarian congressman suggested the Sept. 11 attacks were caused by U.S. foreign policy missteps.

"I think he would have felt much more comfortable on the stage with the Democrats in what he said last night. And I think that he is a distraction in the Republican primary and he does not represent the base and he does not represent the party," Anuzis said during an RNC state leadership meeting.

God forbid letting the voters decide who represents them.

So where do you see yourself in five years?

You have to fill out a formal application to join Al Qaeda. Some of the questions are surprisingly standard, such as "Address for emergency contact" and "Hobbies."

Then there's this:

What are your plans after training? ___ Train and return ___ Jihad ___Work within a group

The government will be using this document in its case against alleged 9/11 conspirator Jose Padilla.

"It's a membership application — just the way you or I would fill out an application for a credit card company,'' said Jack Cloonan, former head of the FBI's Osama bin Laden squad in New York and now an ABC News consultant, who reviewed the document. "They're no different."