Book Review: The War on Freedom
How and Why America Was Attacked on September 11 2001
by Wanda Ballentine
2 December 2002
This is not a cheery message, but I feel I need to alert everyone
to these facts, though I am having trouble believing them myself.
I have just read the most difficult book I have ever read: The War
on Freedom -- How and Why America Was Attacked on September 11
2001, by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, Director of The Institute for
Policy Research & Development in Britain, highly thought of as a
researcher, who has been studying the geopolitics of the mideast,
Afghanistan, etc. for some time. Publisher John Leonard added a
"Backword" historical section with even more bad news.
I strongly urge making reading this book a top priority and to
start screaming -- the way things are going, we may very shortly
not have the right to speak out. The Brave New World of 1984 is
starting us in the face. You can order the book at
www.thewaronfreedom.com.
It contains bits and pieces of much that I had already seen via
articles from the Internet, but it connects the dots and includes
much more. There are copious references from credible sources.
We must face the fact that we do not live in the country or the
world we thought we did. 9/11 didn't change things so much as it
has led to the revelation that we haven't lived as we thought for
some time. Bush has finally agreed to an investigation of 9/11 and
put that old fox, Kissinger, in charge of the hen house -- with
the admonishment 'not to point fingers and lay blame.' There must
be a HUGE grassroots movement of demonstrations, calls, letters,
whatever we can think of to demand that this investigation truly
investigates the situation. Congress, the media, talk shows must
be bombarded with the fact that the people know and want the
truth.
I do not like George W.; I think he stole the 2000 election; I
think the GOP may have manipulated the last one; I hate everything
he's done since he's been in office, but I have stopped short of
thinking he had anything to do with 9/11. That seemed too heinous
even for him. I can no longer disregard this possibility. I see
that I didn't learn from history because I didn't know a lot of it
-- there's a whole lot more that has yet to be declassified, and
of course W. has just taken action to prevent presidential papers
from ever being declassified.
The amount of information Ahmed has amassed from many different
credible sources makes it clear that U.S. intelligence had plenty
of knowledge that the 9/11 attack has been in the works since
1995! And everyone in the various agencies who had the information
has been extremely frustrated that no action was taken on the info
they provided. In many areas, automatic safeguards and protocol
were simply disregarded, no action taken -- on "orders from
above." There are 13 separate intelligence agencies involved that
were interacting, and the way the chain of command works, the
information HAD to get to the President and the Cabinet. Bush may
possibly have been kept out of the loop, but the likelihood seems
very slim -- unless he was told in such a way as to misinterpret,
which he seems to do well. But it is very clear that HIGH-RANKING
somebodies knew what the hell was up and took no action to stop
it.
What then is clear is that there was nothing wrong with U.S.
intelligence -- yet its supposed inadequacy is what has been used
as the basis for the fascist "Patriot" Act and the "Homeland
Security" Act [+, ++, +++] -- and their purpose can be seen even
more clearly for what hey are -- an egregious abrogation of our
democratic rights.
Experts in the area of air transportation are flabbergasted that
four planes could have been hijacked and complete their missions
before interception because there are multiple fail-safe
procedures in place that are _automatic and used routinely_ when
carriers get off course for any reason. I won't go into the
details, but they are overwhelming. Yet in interviews, Cheney
indicated that only the President had the authority to send out
fighters to intercept those planes. This is flat-out not true.
Several intelligence experts talked about the FDR ploy -- the
decision to allow damage for the purpose of a greater good -- to
allow the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in order to get America
into WWII. And historically we also have the Spanish-American war,
the Gulf of Tonkin, and other government-planned actions to
outrage the people to get them to approve what the government
wanted to do. This tactic is evidently extremely common in Israeli
history. (By some counts, Israel has 19 divisions of ground troops
-- the U.S. has 13 worldwide.)
Bush & co. also squelched the investigation into who dumped
airline stock in the days before 9/11 -- another major indicator
that not a few people knew what was coming down with the WTC.
Bush & co. want the American people and people the world over, to
believe that an ongoing war against terrorism is absolutely
essential. A war in Afghanistan had been planned for several years
because that poor country has the misfortune of being central to
oil exploration and transportation as well as the gateway to
points east, and has been the site of almost continuing battle
starting at least with the British Empire. Religious extremism has
been fostered by various countries as a means of pitting factions
against each other to achieve those countries' ends. 9/11 was a
handy excuse to start the war, and, though promised, there was no
concern for civilians or civilian targets. The thing is, of all
the governments battling for control of Afghanistan, I would want
none of them in control. Giving control to the Afghan people isn't
even a solution, as the country is divided among brutal warlords
who have been warring for centuries.
Everything the U.S. government has done has been for economic and
political maneuvering and to hell with the needs/rights of the
people. Power, oil, and hegemony trump everything. Al-Qaeda's
bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania did not halt
Clinton's indirect support of bin Laden's network because "they
figured the U.S. would gain more from it in the long run." The
U.S. is still maintaining ties with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,
heavily implicated with Al-Qaeda and bin Laden.
Will more be gained in the long run as huge holes are being blown
in our economy uber alles? The airlines are foundering -- tourism
-- and the news that terrorists can bring down a plane with a
shotgun is great additional news that may hinder air travel even
more. I presume the NRA will be out there defending the right of
everyone to hunt aircraft. But -- maybe we'll finally get a decent
train system. Does Bush count on war industries keeping the
economy afloat? Will the U.S. continue to export weapons to all
those countries out to get America?
The fact that the U.S. has enraged so many people with its
policies does mean that there are plenty of people interested in
destroying it. Our government has created this terrorist
situation. The U.S. government never learns that when it chooses
to back evil men in order to further its own interests -- Noriega,
Saddam, Pinochet, bin Laden, etc. -- that there will be a
backlash. (U.S. taxpayers paid Taliban salaries in 1999.) It
believes it can control and crush all opposition through
propaganda and guns. Unfortunately, it has succeeded most of the
time.
The relationship between the U.S., bin Laden, the Saudis, the
Pakistanis, and the Israelis is truly a mine field in the middle
of a rattlesnake nest, going way back to at least Reagan, making
the plots of Le Carré look almost simplistic. The U.S. has blocked
investigations of these groups, many of the aliens involved in
9/11 were allowed into the country with usual precautions and
requirements waived. Bin Laden is supposedly estranged from his
family, but this is not true, and members of the bin Laden family
were allowed to leave the U.S. immediately after 9/11. A question
was raised this past week as to whether bin Laden is really as ill
as has been reported -- of course, it's hard to know what to
believe. The fact that bin Laden has not been caught raises
questions as to whether he is a double agent. The relationship
between the Bush family and these groups is also a hornet's nest,
i.e. the Carlyle Group, which is making billions arming the world.
It's a tightrope balancing act trying to keep control of the area.
Seems there are not only double agents, but triple agents, and who
knows how they remember who they are. And, finally, given the
enormous entanglements involved, it is very hard to see how to
rectify the situation. With all these corrupt governments, how do
we turn things around to start working on meeting all people's
basic needs, on instituting true democracy, civil and human
rights?
The message that came out yesterday from the director of Iceland's
Peace2000 that he had been arrested and detained in solitary
confinement for several days and his computers confiscated and not
returned to him is absolutely chilling. These are Nazi tactics.
Iceland has kept out of military involvement and suddenly its PM
wants to support NATO in the war on Iraq.
Whatever, forget impeachment -- Bush and co. should be tried for
high treason.
Below is a summary of conclusions from the book:
1. U. S. & U.S.S.R. govts. responsible for rise of religious
extremism in Afghanisatan since the 1980s, and U.S. in
particular for the distorted `jihadi' ideology that fueled
terrorism there after U.S.S.R. withdrawal -- and ultimately
the current ongoing war.
2. U.S. government approved, supported both tacitly and with
funding, the rise of the Taliban, despite terrible human
rights abuses, in order to secure regional strategic and
economic interests.
3. U.S. government had planned a war on Afghanistan for at least
a year prior to 9/11/01, again relating to strategic and
economic interests, control of Eurasia, and consolidation of
unrivaled U.S. hegemony.
4. U.S. government has consistently blocked investigations and
inquiries into Saudi royals & businessmen, & bin Laden family
implicated in supporting Osama bin Laden and terrorists
linked to him.
5. U.S. government has consistently blocked attempts to indict
and apprehend bin Laden, indirectly protecting him.
6. U.S. government allowed suspected terrorists linked to bin
Laden to train at U.S. military facilities & American flight
schools for years, all financed by the Saudis
7. High-level elements of the U.S. government, military,
intelligence and law enforcement agencies received numerous
credible and urgent warnings about 9/11. The nature of the
warnings received plus the false claims by intelligence
agencies that they had not received them suggests they did
have the knowledge and are preventing public recognition.
8. Despite extensive forewarnings, the U.S. Air Force response
systems collapsed on 9/11 in violation of clear rules
normally followed routinely on a strict basis. This could
only occur as a result of deliberate obstructions to
emergency SOP.
9. Such obstructions could only be set in place by key U.S.
government and military officials. Both Pres. Bush and
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers displayed
sheer indifference to the attacks as they were occurring.
10. Independent journalists revealed that Mahmoud Ahmed,
Pakistan's ISI (CIA counterpart) Director-General had
channeled U.S. government funding to Mohamed Atta, supposed
`lead hi-jacker.' The U.S. government simply asked Ahmed to
resign, blocking inquiry and scandal.
11. The 9/11 tragedy has been of crucial benefit to the Bush
administration, justifying consolidation of elite power and
profit throughout the world, allowing it to crack down on
domestic freedoms while ruthlessly bombing Afghanistan,
killing almost double the number of civilians killed at the
WTC. Prior to 9/11, the administration was facing both
domestic and international crises of legitimacy and
escalating worldwide dissent and protest against U.S.
hegemony.
The U.S. government may not have staged 9/11, but it certainly
facilitated it and has maintained close political, financial,
military and intelligence ties to key figures who supported those
responsible.
You can order the book at www.thewaronfreedom.com. (While it
lasts, PDF copy of the book in its entirety is at:
http://globalfreepress.com/books/warfre-book.pdf.)
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/WoFreview.html (hypertext)
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/WoFreview.txt (text only)
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/WoFreview.pdf (print ready)