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.)





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