01-07-2023, 07:28 PM
9/11 EXPLAINS THE IMPOTENCE OF THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT
Paul Craig Roberts
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info...e18391.htm
The anti-war movement has proven impotent to stop the war in Iraq despite the fact that the war was initiated on the basis of lies and deception. The anti-war movement stands helpless to prevent President Bush from attacking Iran or any other country that he might demonize for harboring a future 9/11 threat.
September 11 enabled Bush to take America to war and to keep America at war even though the government’s explanation of the events of September 11 is mired in controversy and disbelieved by a large percentage of the population.
Although the news media’s investigative arm has withered, other entities and individuals continue to struggle with unanswered questions. In the six years since 9/11, numerous distinguished scientists, engineers, architects, intelligence officers, pilots, military officers, air traffic controllers, and foreign dignitaries have raised serious and unanswered questions about the official story line.
Recognition of the inadequacy of the official account of the collapse of the twin towers is widespread in the scientific and technical community. One of the most glaring failures in the official account is the lack of an explanation of the near free-fall speed at which the buildings failed once the process began. Some scientists and engineers have attempted to bolster the official account with explanations of how this might happen in the absence of explosives used in controlled demolitions.
One recent example is the work of Cambridge University engineer, Dr. Keith Seffen, published in the Journal of Engineering Mechanics and reported by the BBC on September 11, 2007. Dr. Seffen constructed a mathematical model that concludes that once initiation of failure had begun, progressive collapse of the structures would be rapid.
Another example is the work of retired government scientist Dr. Manuel Garcia, commissioned by CounterPunch to fill the gaping void in the official report. Garcia concludes, as does Seffen, that explosives are not necessary to explain the near free-fall speed at which the WTC buildings collapsed.
Seffen and Garcia each offer a speculative hypothesis about what could have happened. Their accounts are not definitive explanations based on evidence of what did happen. Thus, Seffen and Garcia bring us to the crux of the matter: To understand the buildings’ failures, we must rely on theoretical speculative models, because the forensic evidence was not examined. Their explanations thus have no more validity than a speculative hypothesis that explains the failure of the buildings as a result of explosives.
To rationally choose between the hypotheses, we would need to see how well each fits with the evidence, but most of the evidence was quickly dispersed and destroyed by federal authorities. Most of the evidence that remains consists largely of human testimony: the hundred witnesses who were inside the two towers and who report hearing and experiencing explosions and the televised statement of Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of the WTC properties, who clearly said that the decision was made “to pull” WTC 7.
Today, six years after 9/11, money, ideologies, accumulated resentments, and political careers are all allied with the official story line on 9/11. Anyone on a Republican mailing list or a conservative activist list, such as Young Americans for Freedom, knows that fundraising appeals seldom fail to evoke the 9/11 attack on America. The 9/11 attacks gave neoconservatives their “new Pearl Harbor” that enabled them to implement their hegemonic agenda in the Middle East. The 9/11 attacks gave Americans boiling with accumulated frustrations a foe upon whom to vent their rage. Politicians, even Democrats, could show that they stood tall for America. George W. Bush has invested two presidential terms in “fighting terror” by invading countries in the Middle East.
September 11 doubters are a threat to the legitimacy of these massive material and emotional interests. That is why they are shouted down as “conspiracy theorists.” But if the government’s story has to be improved by outside experts in order to be plausible, then it is not irrational or kooky to doubt the official explanation.
Elements of the American left-wing are also frustrated by 9/11 doubters. CounterPunch, for example, views 9/11 as blowback from an immoral US foreign policy and as retribution for America’s past sins in the Middle East. Manuel Garcia shares this viewpoint. In the September 12, 2007, CounterPunch, Garcia writes that “rationalists and realists” are people who see 9/11 “as blowback from decades of inhuman US foreign policy.” Viewing 9/11 as a government conspiracy lets US foreign policy off the hook.
This is a legitimate point of view. But it has a downside. September 11 was the excuse for committing yet more inhuman deeds by initiating open-ended wars on both Muslims and US civil liberties. Defending the government’s account, instead of pressing the government for accountability, was liberating for the Bush administration.
Even in the official account, the story is one of massive failures: the failures of US intelligence services, the failures of airport security, the failures to intercept the hijacked airliners, the failures to preserve evidence. If a common front had taken the Bush administration to task both for failing to prevent the 9/11 attacks and for an explanation of 9/11 so inadequate that its plausibility depends on outside experts, Bush could not have so easily shifted the blame to Afghanistan and Iraq. Most 9/11 doubters do not insist on the US government’s complicity in the deed. Failure to protect, or incompetence, is a sufficient charge to deter an administration from war by turning it against itself with demands for accountability.
But no one was held accountable for 9/11 except Muslim countries. This is the reason the anti-war movement is impotent.
ALL FAITHS FOR 9/11 TRUTH
“Thou shalt not commit false witness” - Holy Bible
Violence can only be concealed by a lie
and the lie can only be maintained by violence
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
As everyone was reeling from the shocking events of September 11, politicians and the corporate media instantly framed them as an iconic ‘Attack on America’, i.e. something justifying an international response, rather than, say, ‘the Manhattan murders’, necessitating good domestic policework. The upshot has been a new global Crusade (‘War on Terror’) involving invasion, occupation, torture, increased racism and Islamophobia, the curtailment of civil liberties and the accumulation of emergency powers in the US of which Hitler would have been envious.
But who really was behind Sept 11? Terrorists for sure – because harmless civilians people died. But Arab fanatics misusing the religion of Islam? or was 9/11 an example of ‘false-flag terrorism’ by a public/private network of agency insiders using secret hi-tech able to make huge buildings disintegrate into dust in front of our eyes, and aiming to make Arab Muslims look bad so as to kick-start a geo-political crusade whose real aims were oil, money, drugs and world control?
Do you find this latter possibility disturbing, ridiculous, scary?
All of us have a deep yearning to rest secure in the certainty of being protected by people we can utterly trust. Such feelings are natural, but they become unhealthy when we look to inappropriate parental figures such as governments, broadcasters and ‘experts’ to meet these needs and when we cling to states of denial about real abuses.
Now that the US-UK lies about WMD have been officially admitted in the cases of Iraq and Iran, lovers of Peace will do well to re-examine the story which these same people told us about the 9/11 AMD (Act of Mass Destruction), which was the official reason given for invading Afghanistan.
“Ye who are conscious of God – If a fasiq [untrustworthy violent person] comes to you with alarming news, make sure you verify their word, lest you afflict people out of your ignorance, and regret your actions.” - Holy Qu’ran, Surah 49:6
So, if you have tended to take the word of these mainstream media sources which brought us Saddam’s WMD, may we please humbly beg you to overcome any ingrained feelings of contempt (‘crazy conspiracy theories’!) which these same media may have inculcated in you, and invite you to check whether your belief in the official Bin Laden conspiracy theory is as well founded as you have hitherto assumed.
We ask this as people of various faiths, in the trust that your faith mandates you to care enough to want to mitigate the damage done to our world by 9/11, and will also enable you to be open enough to reconsider the Official (and other) theories about Sept 11 according to reason and evidence.
‘…. and the Truth shall make you [us] free’
Interfaith Declaration
WE THE PEOPLE OF DIVERSE FAITH TRADITIONS
Gathered on the sixth anniversary of September 11th at Carrington St Al-Furqan mosque in Glasgow, Scotland
Committed in a spirit of Interfaith respect and dialogue to bring to bear the best insights of our spiritual traditions in the search for peace, justice and truth and against all forms of terrorism;
Aware of the value placed in all our traditions on the preciousness of life and thus on defending harmless people from attack from whatever source or sources, using whatever supposed justifications and whatever kinds of technology, large or small, publicly displayed or secretly deployed;
Mindful of the harmful effects, not solely of giving out false witness and racist rumours which collectively blame all the members of an ethnic or religious group, but also of naively accepting such deceptions and passing them on uncritically;
Recalling that several States have long histories of procuring war through the dissemination of lies and the staging of false-flag terror attacks as pretexts for wars and imperial expansion;
Believing that only the truth honours the dead and protects the living from an increased likelihood of the repetition of terrorist events staged so as to ignite new wars or mounted in falsely claimed ’retaliation’;
Valuing not solely the role in our individual lives of true Faith and deep Acceptance of reality beyond our current preconceptions, but also such related qualities and collective practices as
independent inquiry, critical thinking in a spirit of discernment, ability to tolerate uncertainty and steadfastness in following the trails revealed by evidence and reason even at the cost of being ridiculed, marginalised or threatened by those in power or those who subconsciously over-identify with the perspectives of those with most power;
Humbly aware of all our need for sensitive mutual support as we grow out of unconscious denial, and begin to face up to the frightening and painful truths surrounding 911, including the role of virtually all mainstream Western media in suppressing the voices of whistleblowers and those who question the official story of this pivotal tragedy;
Seeking no partisan or power-political objective but moved by the terrible suffering which has resulted from the ‘war on terror’ and thus resolving to embark on a healing non-violent ‘jihad’ (campaign) of ‘right speech’, which has been known as ‘a word of truth to an oppressive ruler’ by Muslims and ‘speaking truth to power’ by Quakers;
We therefore Declare that in the absence of any credible evidence [see below] we can no longer go along with the official conspiracy theory and myth of the Manhattan murders of Sept 11th 2001 as ‘an attack on America’ by 19 Arab/Muslim hijackers masterminded by Osama bin-Laden;
that, although there is much that we don’t know about what really happened on Sept 11, we are now in a position, due to the clear evidence of the speed of the destruction of the triple towers (Buildings 1, 2 and 7), to rule out with complete certainty the official conspiracy theory that the towers ‘fell in a gravity-driven collapse’ consequent upon fire and ‘aircraft damage’;
that despite Hollywood elaboration of hijacker legends we have no good evidence of any Arab hijackers that fateful day and every reason not to jump to racist or Islamophobic conclusions that these terrible murders must have been done by Arab/Muslim fanatics motivated by hope of religious salvation in an afterlife; And so We Appeal to all people of goodwill and of faith and to all practitioners involved in Interfaith dialogue and organised networks ….
Do not leave one faith-community under the burden of supposedly having some special connection to September 11th and the phenomenon of international terrorism;
Grasp with us the nettle of 9/11 Truth, and join us in an overdue journey of self-education, not just into the truth about 9/11, but also into the mental and emotional resistances which so many of us experience when asked to awaken to the crimes and deceptions of the powerful;
Use the truth about 9/11 as a portal to further, deeper realisations about the state of our world today and what we people of faith can do to reduce fear and help to heal ‘clash of civilisations’ divisions, establish the centrality of accountable truthfulness in public life, and build a diverse alliance of civilisations capable of ending war and bringing sustainable peace and economic justice to the affairs of our one troubled, beautiful, threatened world.
If you feel this Declaration goes further than you or your faith group feel happy to go at this time, please feel free to adapt it, or for example, the following shorter version:
We People of Faith who believe in Peace Declare
Our conviction that whether or not religion was a factor in causing 9/11, the great religions of the world can and must draw on and share their spiritual resources so as jointly to help to put an end to terrorism of all kinds;
Our readiness to study the truth of 9/11 from a wide variety of literature, dvds, websites, presentations, etc and not solely the mainstream media,
Our willingness to engage in dialogue about 9/11 and the ‘war on terror’ with people of other backgrounds,
Our support for authoritative and genuinely independent inquiries into what really happened on 9/11 and with other high-profile terrorist incidents and scares before and since (such as Omagh, the London bombings of July 7th 2005 and the ‘binary liquids’ planes scare of August 2006, etc);
And our solidarity with any faith-community which finds itself collectively blamed for events which may or may not have been carried out by any of its members in the first place!
And in the unhappy event of further terrorist murders we appeal to all community leaders, journalists, and members of all faiths and none, NOT to jump to automatic conclusions about who has really been behind them, but to consider with open minds the possibility of some or other degree of involvement from secret state, corporate and private networks (which may have ranged from encouragement, instigation, assistance, allowing, carrying it out entirely).
Resources for further study
Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11: A Call to Reflection and Action, David Ray Griffin (Westminster John Knox Press, July 2006, ISBN 0664231179); see also his Debunking 9/11 Debunking (Arris Books, Glos, 2007, ISBN 978 184437 069 6) or google his 9/11 Myth and Reality.
9/11 and American Empire, Vol 2: Christians, Jews and Muslims Speak Out; eds. Kevin Barrett, John Cobb Jr and Sandra Lubarsky (Olive Branch Press, Mass, USA ISBN 978 1 56656 660 5)
www.Mujca.com/ – lively interfaith website for 911 truth, now moving to Christian leadership after initial Muslim lead (the site contains many of the articles in above book, look especially for the very enlightening articles by Kevin Barrett, Faiz Khan and Nafeez Ahmed).
More generally: www.911scholars.org/ - Scholars for 911 Truth – see especially the work of Judy Wood and Morgan Reynolds about the World Trade Centre complex. See also www.911truth.org/ or www.911truthcampaign.net/ – British and Irish campaign website. On False-flag Terrorism see Webster Tarpley’s 9/11 Synthetic Terror – Made in USA and Nato’s Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, D. Ganser (Frank Cass, 2005).
HOME OFFICE INTERFAITHISM - DON'T MENTION 9/11? (Strategy for stopping war and Islamophobia)
I have recently sent e-mails around Christian and other contacts in Scotland, including this to the excellent Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (sister organisation to CACC), arguing that grasping the nettle of 911 can no longer be put off. The letter then quotes a letter to the Scottish Interfaith Council, which quotes my protest to the Scottish Catholic Bishops after Cardinal O'Brien recently said that now that the Pope had apologised [??] for his remarks he would like to see Muslims apologise for 911, 77 and the killing of some nuns in Africa - and why not the 'suicide' of David Kelly and the murder of Princess Diana too, your eminence?
The exact details of this latest reliance on this 911 blood libel don't need to detain us (though they will make life more dangerous for Muslims in parts of Glasgow), but I suggest that we could use this thread to discuss how what preconditions (including non-Muslim support) need to be assembled for Muslim leadership successfully to overthrow the 'Blowback' model of the StoptheWar Left which hasn't and the Interfaith promoters of religious harmony who haven't (at least not successfully so far).
Dear Scotland Against Criminalising Communities, and SACC supporters,
You may be interested in this reply to Cardinal O'Brien's ominous call for Muslims to apologise for 911 and 77 which I have sent to the Scottish Catholic Bishops and other Christian leaders in Scotland.
Those of us with contacts in the Interfaith world should try to get 911 discussed as a major fount of current Islamophobia.
911 is as much rubbish as Saddam's WMD. After 911, Bali, Downing St memo, Madrid, July 7, 'ricin plot', terror planes nonsense, etc it is arguably racist for well-meaning liberals, Interfaith practitioners and even 'radicals' of all faiths/ideologies and none to be so ready (for fear of being accused of being 'conspiracy theorists') to adopt intel/police/media rumors which accuse Muslims/Arabs of carrying out or planning atrocities etc without our exercising due scepticism, reason and evidence.
Most Muslims know fine well what happened on 9/11 but their leadership has hitherto (understandably) shrunk from the hostility which would fall upon them if they alone went out on a limb to expose the 911 and other false-flag terror frame-ups. lies. They urgently need solidarity in the war of ideas, a little intellectual respect and willingness to investigate with an open mind (not automatic fear of this new body of evidence which 'we' don't control; and not further sneering about 'conspiracy theories' for instance.)
So far as Christians are concerned, please encourage them to take their lead from the fearless David Ray Griffin, whose book on Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 911 (Westminster John Knox, 2006) is their best guide on the facts and the theology of 911.
Another vital text will be 911 and the American Empire: Vol 2 - Muslims, Jews and Christians Speak Out , ed Kevin Barrett, Olive Brand Press 2006, which includes Nafeez Ahmed which demolishes the usual neocon proposition that there is any special relationship between International terrorism and Islam. Without destroying this proposition we are all the time building bricks without straw, or dealing downstream with individual incidents and oppressions, when all the time the 911 inside job (which is a Myth in a full anthropological sense) and other frame-ups are poisoning people's minds at source.
After five years Stopthe War hasn't - and the Islamophobia is getting worse! SACC members who agree with me that, without being a magic bullet in itself, the truth about 911 is a vital missing ingredient for any successful fightback against Imperialism and Islamophobia are welcome to get in touch to join or Scottish911 network and receive information about our Scottish working conference on Nov 18th in Edinburgh.
Best wishes, and keep up the good work,
Keith Mothersson
Dear Interfaith Council of Scotland,
RE: CARDINAL KEITH O'BRIEN CALLING ON MUSLIMS TO APOLOGISE FOR 911 AND 77
I see it was in the Scotsman on Sunday , Nov 22
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1563542006
This carries the story in the Daily Record, Nov 23:
http://www.iransolidarity.endofempire.or...?page=1120
In the present climate these remarks are extremely serious. Like all unaware blood libels, they have the potential to lead to pogroms, however contrary to the wishes of those who casually repeat these untrue rumours.
Please can the good Cardinal's views be a wake-up call to our entire Interfaith community to no longer postpone a searching enquiry together into the truth or otherwise of 9/11 and the reality of false-flag terrorism.
Please allow me (or ask Bishop [name deleted]) to write a review of David Ray Griffin's 'Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11 - a call to reflection and action'. ...
This 911 nettle keeps stinging only because we do not grasp it!
I write as the son of a manse, deeply influenced at University by Catholic layman Donald Nicholl, and now a practising Buddhist, who attends numerous Sufi events!
Goodness knows what terrible things about Buddhist extremists the Western media would be full of if we Buddhists were sitting on the biggest oil fields!
Please do feel free to draw me in on any round table discussions on this important issue, which is devitalising the Interfaith movement and poisoning the well of intercommunal respect. (No wonder most Muslims are luke warm about what they see as 'Home office style Interfaithism' (don't mention the war, don't mention 911), when they see their own religious and political leaders 'having to' pretend to believe something that 90 percent of UK Muslims have long ago seen through!)
With best wishes,
Keith Mothersson
911 Truth Movement (Scottish coordinator)
Associate Member of Scholars for 911 truth (www.st911.org)
Supporter of Muslims, Jews and Christians United Against 911 False Witness (www.mujca.com)
Founder of sober and factual website www.julyseventh.co.uk
To: Mgr Henry Docherty.
Bishops' Conference of Scotland
General Secretariat
(and copy to Catholic media office;
also to Daily Record and Osama Saeed)
Dear Mgr Docherty,
Should Muslims apologise for 9/11?
Please encourage Cardinal O'Brien to retract his comments, which will be deeply unhelpful in the present difficult situation.
I fear that the good Cardinal is inadvertently 'guilty' (we all make mistakes) of the error of racism, which happens when we believe the worst about a group on the basis of not checking the possibility of false witness (which is integral to the workings of our godless world).
The truth about 9/11 is clear for anyone with the courage to use their own eyes, for how could three buildings collapse at speed of air resistance when hit by two planes and taking the path of max resistance down through themselves; except that explosives had been set in the buildings?
Once it is clear that the Bush adminstration lied about the buildings, why believe its simplistic 'conspiracy tale' about 'Islamist hi-jackers' - in absence of CCTV, black box evidence and any Arab names on the supposed flight manifests?
And why believe in this tale of evil Muslims in the presence of numerous witness statements of office-workers, fire-fighters, onlookers and masses of film footage all attesting to explosions, not to forget eight of the 'suicide hi-jackers' turning up alive and the owner's own admission that WTC7 Building had been 'pulled' ?!
We all have a right to live in freedom from attack, including the good people of Afghanistan and Iraq (estimated 665,000 excess deaths since invasion on trumped up charges) - so please will the Cardinal reconsider and reflect that he may also have been lied to about 911 and other 'false-flag terrorist events' such as London, Madrid, Bali but also dating way back to Cold War days when it was phoney 'red brigades' who used to get the blame for e.g. the Bologna railway station massacre of 1980?
I speak as a 'son of the manse' and a practicing Buddhist. If the Buddhists happened to live above such rich oilfields, I truly believe you would be reading about Buddhist hi-jackers and suicide bombers.
I realise that it may be shocking for Cardinal O'Brien and others to re-perceive such iconic events, but true faith helps us open to truth, and not push it away because it upsets us! If there is any way I or my colleagues can help with a one-to-one briefing, discussion, or dvd film showing, etc then please do not hesitate to ask.
With sincere best wishes, and in the name of Interfaith dialogue founded on truth, reason and evidence (as I believe your Holy Father recently called for),
Keith Mothersson
Scottish co-ordinator, 911 Truth Campaign (Britain and Ireland)
associate member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth (http://www.st911.org/)
supporter of Muslims, Jews and Christians United against 911 False Witness ( http://www.mujca.com/)
founder of the fact-based website http://www.julyseventh.co.uk/
2b Darnhall Cres,
Perth PH2 0HH
I will also append the letter I recently sent to many church and other religious bodies concerning the work of David Ray Griffin whose book on 'Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11 - a Call to Reflection and Action' (WJK, 2006) is of inestimable value for Christians of all denominations.
5th Anniversary of September 11th –
False witness dishonours the dead
An Open Invitation to Members of the Abrahamic Faiths and others to attend a presentation by distinguished Interfaith philosopher, Prof David Ray Griffin, raising disturbing questions about the official story of 9/11.
Dear Friends,
Shalom Aleichem! Slaama! Salaam Alaykum! Peace be with you!
Please may we invite you to join us at a major public meeting at the Conway Hall in Red Lion Sq, Central London on the evening of Saturday 9th Sept to reflect on what is true and what is or may be false concerning the terrible human tragedy that was 9/11, and thereby to help replace the Clash of Civilisations framework in which it is too often seen with one of Interfaith Co-operation in the struggle for a truthful, peaceful world.
For 9/11 has mushroomed into the centre of a nationalistic and self-righteous civic cult, the founding myth of a War on Terror. This pivotal initiatory event into a new post-911 world requires, so we are assured, heightened security alerts, draconian legislation and repeated invasions and threats against oil-rich and/or Muslim lands.
Yet, strangely, for all its importance, 9/11 does not apparently require critical analysis of the facts alleged to have taken place! The 9/11 Commission was packed with insiders and ignored every kind of evidence which ran counter to the official story (firefighter and office-worker accounts of explosions, physics of building collapse and mobile phone performance from airplanes, lack of CCTV and flight recorder evidence, foreknowledge clearly reflected in supposedly untraceable stock-market put options, etc)
Despite the modern self image of the West as being capable of responding to reason and evidence, those who question the official story of 911 are often ridiculed as conspiracy theorists and dismissed out of hand - as if creating phoney events to throw blame on minorities and provide an excuse for war and dictatorship is something that no government in human history has ever perpetrated!
In late nineteenth century and early twentieth century Germany many strains of ancient anti-semitism were revived and modernised. But the Protocols of the Elders of Zion were police forgeries. Today ancient crusading stereotypes are being whipped up and each one of us needs to consider carefully whether some, perhaps many, of the big Terror attacks, are not likewise forged events (often coupled with forged videos).
All of us have a deep yearning to rest secure in the certainty of being cared for and protected. Such feelings are natural, but they become unhealthy when we look to inappropriate father figures to meet these needs and when we cling to states of denial about real abuses. The continuing blackout in the mainstream media of articles and films which question the official account purveyed by those who also brought us the Iraq War (enough said) suggests our society is drifting into a state of dysfunctional denial which dishonours the memory of the dead of 9/11 (and ensuing disasters), endangers us all and distracts from the real problems of finding just and sustainable ways to live together on the basis of true spiritual values, not cosy tales of juicy evil-doers.
Few people are as well qualified as Interfaith philosopher and theologian Prof David Ray Griffin, to calmly guide us to a new understanding of 9/11, not just the historical and scientific details, but sociological issues concerning conspiracy and social theory and the philosophical issues surrounding alternative hypotheses, probability and proof. These qualifications he amply demonstrated in his best-selling books, The New Pearl Harbour and The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions. In his latest book, Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11: A Call to Reflection and Action, Prof Griffin combines these earlier qualities with theological creativity (Chapter 8 on The Divine and the Demonic breaks vital new ground) and a moving but unstrident call to prophetic wrestling with this issue worthy of a Bishop George Bell, a Dietrich Bonhoeffer or a Desmond Tutu. (It is published by Westminster John Knox Press, July 2006, ISBN 0664231179).
...
It promises to be a tremendous occasion! Meanwhile, if you would like to help publicise this event, please do pass on a copy of this invitation to whoever you think can benefit or pass the word (e.g. faith-based newspapers). You may also care to prepare by studying the fine essays on the website of Scholars for 911 Truth, which David co-founded: www.st911.org/ .
We began this letter by invoking Peace. May we draw to a close by quoting the Russian Orthodox Christian and anti-Soviet resister, Alexander Solzhenitsyn:
Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.
IF 9/11 is a lie, or even if it may be a lie, it matters! Surely such a momentous question deserves the personal attention of us all. And if in fact 9/11 was Operation False Witness, then all of us who oppose racism, war and authoritarianism must work together to expose this mythic Blood-libel at the heart of the War on Terror, before evermore human rights abuses and further rounds of violence are unleashed, e.g. against Syria and Iran.
Yours Sincerely,
Angela McBride
European representative of Muslims, Jews, Christians Alliance for 911 Truth; www.mujca.com/
AbdulWahid Hamid
author of Islam the Natural Way
Keith Mothersson
Interfaith Outreach, 9/11 Truth Movement, Britain and Ireland
Mothersson
I also agree that 911 lies - and people's readiness to believe them - are key to the impotence of the Western peace movements.
Herewith I copy part of a letter I wrote to Muad'Dib, the creator of the very fine 7/7 Ripple Effects film http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/11/386124.html, whose film had quite a disappointing response from people involved in the (excellent) http://www.julyseventh.co.uk website and associated discussion forum, here and following six pages: http://z13.invisionfree.com/julyseventh/...topic=2374. [They are worried mostly about 'speculation' whereas I contributed a post at the end of page 5 defending disciplined story-making as crucial for paradigm shifts to deeper truths.]
" I do agree with you about the tendency of intellectuals to become over-rationalistic and to lose touch with what affects and moves ordinary folk. Interestingly Chomsky (who has of course done tremendous work) on the one hand has a whole discourse about the intellectuals (teachers, journalists, lawyers, readers of the posh papers and watchers of prestigious TV 'news' programmes) being the most heavily indoctrinated of all - and studies of those who still believe in the official 911 story show a very high correlation with higher 'education' ha ha.
And at the other hand Chomsky himself scorns 'conspiracy theories' - in favour of what he calls historical and structural approaches and institutional analyses (e.g. of minutes of committees, papers of record, - as if a conspiracy doesn't exist unless we can lay hands on minutes of the 911 conspirators in session!) This leads him to absurd 911 denial - the truth will never be known, nor will it make any difference, I can see no evidence !! [maybe he has been promised he will be killed if he speaks out? and thus into the same bed as people like Aaronovitch and
Cohen and the Times and Telegraph and the BBC's Conspiracy Series with their highly patrician discourse positing something wrong psychologically (the 'conspiracist mindset') with us poor peasants who lack the education to make sense of a fast changing world, and so end up seizing on simplistic and dualistic conspiracy theories [as if this didn't apply to the Official
Coonspiracy Theory!]
So long as Chomsky and Galloway/SWP/Stop the War and MPAC and Mil Rai and Bruce Kent
and the International Peace Bureau etc fear for their 'credibility' if they allow themselves to
put 2 and 2 together on 911, then the Establishment reckons it can shrug off our challenges.
But suppose these good people with their anti-racist discourse found themselves accused of racism as egregrious as many white people in Wolverhampton and the dockers who marched to support Enoch Powell after he peddled baseless stories about poor white people having grinning picanninnies shove shit throught their letter boxes, and all with NO evidence but the racist mindset was there to believe Powell - and now to believe the Bush adminstration's equally unsubstantiated, indeed disproven, story (stories) about these Arabs/Muslims who hate our way of life.
"Ye who are conscious of God - if a fasiq comes with alarming news, make
sure to verify their word, lest you afflict people out of your ignorance,
and regret your actions."
Holy Qu'ran, 49:6
To which Muad'Dib replied with his own translation:
King of kings' Bible - Sura 49:6. O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to
you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and
afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done.
http://jahtruth.net/kofkad.htm
It hurts to find people so ready to believe the racist hi-jacker legend on grounds that the (white/'Judeo-Christian') administration would never lie to us would they!? 'I can't believe that the governemtn would do that' = I can readily believe Muslims/Arabs/savages would do that!! = I trust them and you less than I trust George Bush.
[b]Even so, one can at least work with people who are prepared to follow our arguments and reply to them - but of course subconsciously people are programmed not to be able to 'see' the crimes of the powerful in this and many other contexts. (Hypnotists can induce a hypnosis in people to tell them that they can only see five chairs in the room, and not be able to see the chair just in front of their seat. Once brought back to 'normal' then the hypnotist asks the subject to cross the room and open a window, and the one who can't see the chair in one context, doesn't just walk straight into it on his way to the window, but knows well enough what it is that he mustn't see, so goes round it. Likewise people cans see/sense what it is (such as 911) that they mustn't let themselves see.) All very sad, but at least let us not add our denial (and contempt and ill will) about their denial to the basic problem of helping scared people awaken. [/b]
Paul Craig Roberts
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info...e18391.htm
The anti-war movement has proven impotent to stop the war in Iraq despite the fact that the war was initiated on the basis of lies and deception. The anti-war movement stands helpless to prevent President Bush from attacking Iran or any other country that he might demonize for harboring a future 9/11 threat.
September 11 enabled Bush to take America to war and to keep America at war even though the government’s explanation of the events of September 11 is mired in controversy and disbelieved by a large percentage of the population.
Although the news media’s investigative arm has withered, other entities and individuals continue to struggle with unanswered questions. In the six years since 9/11, numerous distinguished scientists, engineers, architects, intelligence officers, pilots, military officers, air traffic controllers, and foreign dignitaries have raised serious and unanswered questions about the official story line.
Recognition of the inadequacy of the official account of the collapse of the twin towers is widespread in the scientific and technical community. One of the most glaring failures in the official account is the lack of an explanation of the near free-fall speed at which the buildings failed once the process began. Some scientists and engineers have attempted to bolster the official account with explanations of how this might happen in the absence of explosives used in controlled demolitions.
One recent example is the work of Cambridge University engineer, Dr. Keith Seffen, published in the Journal of Engineering Mechanics and reported by the BBC on September 11, 2007. Dr. Seffen constructed a mathematical model that concludes that once initiation of failure had begun, progressive collapse of the structures would be rapid.
Another example is the work of retired government scientist Dr. Manuel Garcia, commissioned by CounterPunch to fill the gaping void in the official report. Garcia concludes, as does Seffen, that explosives are not necessary to explain the near free-fall speed at which the WTC buildings collapsed.
Seffen and Garcia each offer a speculative hypothesis about what could have happened. Their accounts are not definitive explanations based on evidence of what did happen. Thus, Seffen and Garcia bring us to the crux of the matter: To understand the buildings’ failures, we must rely on theoretical speculative models, because the forensic evidence was not examined. Their explanations thus have no more validity than a speculative hypothesis that explains the failure of the buildings as a result of explosives.
To rationally choose between the hypotheses, we would need to see how well each fits with the evidence, but most of the evidence was quickly dispersed and destroyed by federal authorities. Most of the evidence that remains consists largely of human testimony: the hundred witnesses who were inside the two towers and who report hearing and experiencing explosions and the televised statement of Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of the WTC properties, who clearly said that the decision was made “to pull” WTC 7.
Today, six years after 9/11, money, ideologies, accumulated resentments, and political careers are all allied with the official story line on 9/11. Anyone on a Republican mailing list or a conservative activist list, such as Young Americans for Freedom, knows that fundraising appeals seldom fail to evoke the 9/11 attack on America. The 9/11 attacks gave neoconservatives their “new Pearl Harbor” that enabled them to implement their hegemonic agenda in the Middle East. The 9/11 attacks gave Americans boiling with accumulated frustrations a foe upon whom to vent their rage. Politicians, even Democrats, could show that they stood tall for America. George W. Bush has invested two presidential terms in “fighting terror” by invading countries in the Middle East.
September 11 doubters are a threat to the legitimacy of these massive material and emotional interests. That is why they are shouted down as “conspiracy theorists.” But if the government’s story has to be improved by outside experts in order to be plausible, then it is not irrational or kooky to doubt the official explanation.
Elements of the American left-wing are also frustrated by 9/11 doubters. CounterPunch, for example, views 9/11 as blowback from an immoral US foreign policy and as retribution for America’s past sins in the Middle East. Manuel Garcia shares this viewpoint. In the September 12, 2007, CounterPunch, Garcia writes that “rationalists and realists” are people who see 9/11 “as blowback from decades of inhuman US foreign policy.” Viewing 9/11 as a government conspiracy lets US foreign policy off the hook.
This is a legitimate point of view. But it has a downside. September 11 was the excuse for committing yet more inhuman deeds by initiating open-ended wars on both Muslims and US civil liberties. Defending the government’s account, instead of pressing the government for accountability, was liberating for the Bush administration.
Even in the official account, the story is one of massive failures: the failures of US intelligence services, the failures of airport security, the failures to intercept the hijacked airliners, the failures to preserve evidence. If a common front had taken the Bush administration to task both for failing to prevent the 9/11 attacks and for an explanation of 9/11 so inadequate that its plausibility depends on outside experts, Bush could not have so easily shifted the blame to Afghanistan and Iraq. Most 9/11 doubters do not insist on the US government’s complicity in the deed. Failure to protect, or incompetence, is a sufficient charge to deter an administration from war by turning it against itself with demands for accountability.
But no one was held accountable for 9/11 except Muslim countries. This is the reason the anti-war movement is impotent.
ALL FAITHS FOR 9/11 TRUTH
“Thou shalt not commit false witness” - Holy Bible
Violence can only be concealed by a lie
and the lie can only be maintained by violence
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
As everyone was reeling from the shocking events of September 11, politicians and the corporate media instantly framed them as an iconic ‘Attack on America’, i.e. something justifying an international response, rather than, say, ‘the Manhattan murders’, necessitating good domestic policework. The upshot has been a new global Crusade (‘War on Terror’) involving invasion, occupation, torture, increased racism and Islamophobia, the curtailment of civil liberties and the accumulation of emergency powers in the US of which Hitler would have been envious.
But who really was behind Sept 11? Terrorists for sure – because harmless civilians people died. But Arab fanatics misusing the religion of Islam? or was 9/11 an example of ‘false-flag terrorism’ by a public/private network of agency insiders using secret hi-tech able to make huge buildings disintegrate into dust in front of our eyes, and aiming to make Arab Muslims look bad so as to kick-start a geo-political crusade whose real aims were oil, money, drugs and world control?
Do you find this latter possibility disturbing, ridiculous, scary?
All of us have a deep yearning to rest secure in the certainty of being protected by people we can utterly trust. Such feelings are natural, but they become unhealthy when we look to inappropriate parental figures such as governments, broadcasters and ‘experts’ to meet these needs and when we cling to states of denial about real abuses.
Now that the US-UK lies about WMD have been officially admitted in the cases of Iraq and Iran, lovers of Peace will do well to re-examine the story which these same people told us about the 9/11 AMD (Act of Mass Destruction), which was the official reason given for invading Afghanistan.
“Ye who are conscious of God – If a fasiq [untrustworthy violent person] comes to you with alarming news, make sure you verify their word, lest you afflict people out of your ignorance, and regret your actions.” - Holy Qu’ran, Surah 49:6
So, if you have tended to take the word of these mainstream media sources which brought us Saddam’s WMD, may we please humbly beg you to overcome any ingrained feelings of contempt (‘crazy conspiracy theories’!) which these same media may have inculcated in you, and invite you to check whether your belief in the official Bin Laden conspiracy theory is as well founded as you have hitherto assumed.
We ask this as people of various faiths, in the trust that your faith mandates you to care enough to want to mitigate the damage done to our world by 9/11, and will also enable you to be open enough to reconsider the Official (and other) theories about Sept 11 according to reason and evidence.
‘…. and the Truth shall make you [us] free’
Interfaith Declaration
WE THE PEOPLE OF DIVERSE FAITH TRADITIONS
Gathered on the sixth anniversary of September 11th at Carrington St Al-Furqan mosque in Glasgow, Scotland
Committed in a spirit of Interfaith respect and dialogue to bring to bear the best insights of our spiritual traditions in the search for peace, justice and truth and against all forms of terrorism;
Aware of the value placed in all our traditions on the preciousness of life and thus on defending harmless people from attack from whatever source or sources, using whatever supposed justifications and whatever kinds of technology, large or small, publicly displayed or secretly deployed;
Mindful of the harmful effects, not solely of giving out false witness and racist rumours which collectively blame all the members of an ethnic or religious group, but also of naively accepting such deceptions and passing them on uncritically;
Recalling that several States have long histories of procuring war through the dissemination of lies and the staging of false-flag terror attacks as pretexts for wars and imperial expansion;
Believing that only the truth honours the dead and protects the living from an increased likelihood of the repetition of terrorist events staged so as to ignite new wars or mounted in falsely claimed ’retaliation’;
Valuing not solely the role in our individual lives of true Faith and deep Acceptance of reality beyond our current preconceptions, but also such related qualities and collective practices as
independent inquiry, critical thinking in a spirit of discernment, ability to tolerate uncertainty and steadfastness in following the trails revealed by evidence and reason even at the cost of being ridiculed, marginalised or threatened by those in power or those who subconsciously over-identify with the perspectives of those with most power;
Humbly aware of all our need for sensitive mutual support as we grow out of unconscious denial, and begin to face up to the frightening and painful truths surrounding 911, including the role of virtually all mainstream Western media in suppressing the voices of whistleblowers and those who question the official story of this pivotal tragedy;
Seeking no partisan or power-political objective but moved by the terrible suffering which has resulted from the ‘war on terror’ and thus resolving to embark on a healing non-violent ‘jihad’ (campaign) of ‘right speech’, which has been known as ‘a word of truth to an oppressive ruler’ by Muslims and ‘speaking truth to power’ by Quakers;
We therefore Declare that in the absence of any credible evidence [see below] we can no longer go along with the official conspiracy theory and myth of the Manhattan murders of Sept 11th 2001 as ‘an attack on America’ by 19 Arab/Muslim hijackers masterminded by Osama bin-Laden;
that, although there is much that we don’t know about what really happened on Sept 11, we are now in a position, due to the clear evidence of the speed of the destruction of the triple towers (Buildings 1, 2 and 7), to rule out with complete certainty the official conspiracy theory that the towers ‘fell in a gravity-driven collapse’ consequent upon fire and ‘aircraft damage’;
that despite Hollywood elaboration of hijacker legends we have no good evidence of any Arab hijackers that fateful day and every reason not to jump to racist or Islamophobic conclusions that these terrible murders must have been done by Arab/Muslim fanatics motivated by hope of religious salvation in an afterlife; And so We Appeal to all people of goodwill and of faith and to all practitioners involved in Interfaith dialogue and organised networks ….
Do not leave one faith-community under the burden of supposedly having some special connection to September 11th and the phenomenon of international terrorism;
Grasp with us the nettle of 9/11 Truth, and join us in an overdue journey of self-education, not just into the truth about 9/11, but also into the mental and emotional resistances which so many of us experience when asked to awaken to the crimes and deceptions of the powerful;
Use the truth about 9/11 as a portal to further, deeper realisations about the state of our world today and what we people of faith can do to reduce fear and help to heal ‘clash of civilisations’ divisions, establish the centrality of accountable truthfulness in public life, and build a diverse alliance of civilisations capable of ending war and bringing sustainable peace and economic justice to the affairs of our one troubled, beautiful, threatened world.
If you feel this Declaration goes further than you or your faith group feel happy to go at this time, please feel free to adapt it, or for example, the following shorter version:
We People of Faith who believe in Peace Declare
Our conviction that whether or not religion was a factor in causing 9/11, the great religions of the world can and must draw on and share their spiritual resources so as jointly to help to put an end to terrorism of all kinds;
Our readiness to study the truth of 9/11 from a wide variety of literature, dvds, websites, presentations, etc and not solely the mainstream media,
Our willingness to engage in dialogue about 9/11 and the ‘war on terror’ with people of other backgrounds,
Our support for authoritative and genuinely independent inquiries into what really happened on 9/11 and with other high-profile terrorist incidents and scares before and since (such as Omagh, the London bombings of July 7th 2005 and the ‘binary liquids’ planes scare of August 2006, etc);
And our solidarity with any faith-community which finds itself collectively blamed for events which may or may not have been carried out by any of its members in the first place!
And in the unhappy event of further terrorist murders we appeal to all community leaders, journalists, and members of all faiths and none, NOT to jump to automatic conclusions about who has really been behind them, but to consider with open minds the possibility of some or other degree of involvement from secret state, corporate and private networks (which may have ranged from encouragement, instigation, assistance, allowing, carrying it out entirely).
Resources for further study
Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11: A Call to Reflection and Action, David Ray Griffin (Westminster John Knox Press, July 2006, ISBN 0664231179); see also his Debunking 9/11 Debunking (Arris Books, Glos, 2007, ISBN 978 184437 069 6) or google his 9/11 Myth and Reality.
9/11 and American Empire, Vol 2: Christians, Jews and Muslims Speak Out; eds. Kevin Barrett, John Cobb Jr and Sandra Lubarsky (Olive Branch Press, Mass, USA ISBN 978 1 56656 660 5)
www.Mujca.com/ – lively interfaith website for 911 truth, now moving to Christian leadership after initial Muslim lead (the site contains many of the articles in above book, look especially for the very enlightening articles by Kevin Barrett, Faiz Khan and Nafeez Ahmed).
More generally: www.911scholars.org/ - Scholars for 911 Truth – see especially the work of Judy Wood and Morgan Reynolds about the World Trade Centre complex. See also www.911truth.org/ or www.911truthcampaign.net/ – British and Irish campaign website. On False-flag Terrorism see Webster Tarpley’s 9/11 Synthetic Terror – Made in USA and Nato’s Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, D. Ganser (Frank Cass, 2005).
HOME OFFICE INTERFAITHISM - DON'T MENTION 9/11? (Strategy for stopping war and Islamophobia)
I have recently sent e-mails around Christian and other contacts in Scotland, including this to the excellent Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (sister organisation to CACC), arguing that grasping the nettle of 911 can no longer be put off. The letter then quotes a letter to the Scottish Interfaith Council, which quotes my protest to the Scottish Catholic Bishops after Cardinal O'Brien recently said that now that the Pope had apologised [??] for his remarks he would like to see Muslims apologise for 911, 77 and the killing of some nuns in Africa - and why not the 'suicide' of David Kelly and the murder of Princess Diana too, your eminence?
The exact details of this latest reliance on this 911 blood libel don't need to detain us (though they will make life more dangerous for Muslims in parts of Glasgow), but I suggest that we could use this thread to discuss how what preconditions (including non-Muslim support) need to be assembled for Muslim leadership successfully to overthrow the 'Blowback' model of the StoptheWar Left which hasn't and the Interfaith promoters of religious harmony who haven't (at least not successfully so far).
Dear Scotland Against Criminalising Communities, and SACC supporters,
You may be interested in this reply to Cardinal O'Brien's ominous call for Muslims to apologise for 911 and 77 which I have sent to the Scottish Catholic Bishops and other Christian leaders in Scotland.
Those of us with contacts in the Interfaith world should try to get 911 discussed as a major fount of current Islamophobia.
911 is as much rubbish as Saddam's WMD. After 911, Bali, Downing St memo, Madrid, July 7, 'ricin plot', terror planes nonsense, etc it is arguably racist for well-meaning liberals, Interfaith practitioners and even 'radicals' of all faiths/ideologies and none to be so ready (for fear of being accused of being 'conspiracy theorists') to adopt intel/police/media rumors which accuse Muslims/Arabs of carrying out or planning atrocities etc without our exercising due scepticism, reason and evidence.
Most Muslims know fine well what happened on 9/11 but their leadership has hitherto (understandably) shrunk from the hostility which would fall upon them if they alone went out on a limb to expose the 911 and other false-flag terror frame-ups. lies. They urgently need solidarity in the war of ideas, a little intellectual respect and willingness to investigate with an open mind (not automatic fear of this new body of evidence which 'we' don't control; and not further sneering about 'conspiracy theories' for instance.)
So far as Christians are concerned, please encourage them to take their lead from the fearless David Ray Griffin, whose book on Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 911 (Westminster John Knox, 2006) is their best guide on the facts and the theology of 911.
Another vital text will be 911 and the American Empire: Vol 2 - Muslims, Jews and Christians Speak Out , ed Kevin Barrett, Olive Brand Press 2006, which includes Nafeez Ahmed which demolishes the usual neocon proposition that there is any special relationship between International terrorism and Islam. Without destroying this proposition we are all the time building bricks without straw, or dealing downstream with individual incidents and oppressions, when all the time the 911 inside job (which is a Myth in a full anthropological sense) and other frame-ups are poisoning people's minds at source.
After five years Stopthe War hasn't - and the Islamophobia is getting worse! SACC members who agree with me that, without being a magic bullet in itself, the truth about 911 is a vital missing ingredient for any successful fightback against Imperialism and Islamophobia are welcome to get in touch to join or Scottish911 network and receive information about our Scottish working conference on Nov 18th in Edinburgh.
Best wishes, and keep up the good work,
Keith Mothersson
Dear Interfaith Council of Scotland,
RE: CARDINAL KEITH O'BRIEN CALLING ON MUSLIMS TO APOLOGISE FOR 911 AND 77
I see it was in the Scotsman on Sunday , Nov 22
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1563542006
This carries the story in the Daily Record, Nov 23:
http://www.iransolidarity.endofempire.or...?page=1120
In the present climate these remarks are extremely serious. Like all unaware blood libels, they have the potential to lead to pogroms, however contrary to the wishes of those who casually repeat these untrue rumours.
Please can the good Cardinal's views be a wake-up call to our entire Interfaith community to no longer postpone a searching enquiry together into the truth or otherwise of 9/11 and the reality of false-flag terrorism.
Please allow me (or ask Bishop [name deleted]) to write a review of David Ray Griffin's 'Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11 - a call to reflection and action'. ...
This 911 nettle keeps stinging only because we do not grasp it!
I write as the son of a manse, deeply influenced at University by Catholic layman Donald Nicholl, and now a practising Buddhist, who attends numerous Sufi events!
Goodness knows what terrible things about Buddhist extremists the Western media would be full of if we Buddhists were sitting on the biggest oil fields!
Please do feel free to draw me in on any round table discussions on this important issue, which is devitalising the Interfaith movement and poisoning the well of intercommunal respect. (No wonder most Muslims are luke warm about what they see as 'Home office style Interfaithism' (don't mention the war, don't mention 911), when they see their own religious and political leaders 'having to' pretend to believe something that 90 percent of UK Muslims have long ago seen through!)
With best wishes,
Keith Mothersson
911 Truth Movement (Scottish coordinator)
Associate Member of Scholars for 911 truth (www.st911.org)
Supporter of Muslims, Jews and Christians United Against 911 False Witness (www.mujca.com)
Founder of sober and factual website www.julyseventh.co.uk
To: Mgr Henry Docherty.
Bishops' Conference of Scotland
General Secretariat
(and copy to Catholic media office;
also to Daily Record and Osama Saeed)
Dear Mgr Docherty,
Should Muslims apologise for 9/11?
Please encourage Cardinal O'Brien to retract his comments, which will be deeply unhelpful in the present difficult situation.
I fear that the good Cardinal is inadvertently 'guilty' (we all make mistakes) of the error of racism, which happens when we believe the worst about a group on the basis of not checking the possibility of false witness (which is integral to the workings of our godless world).
The truth about 9/11 is clear for anyone with the courage to use their own eyes, for how could three buildings collapse at speed of air resistance when hit by two planes and taking the path of max resistance down through themselves; except that explosives had been set in the buildings?
Once it is clear that the Bush adminstration lied about the buildings, why believe its simplistic 'conspiracy tale' about 'Islamist hi-jackers' - in absence of CCTV, black box evidence and any Arab names on the supposed flight manifests?
And why believe in this tale of evil Muslims in the presence of numerous witness statements of office-workers, fire-fighters, onlookers and masses of film footage all attesting to explosions, not to forget eight of the 'suicide hi-jackers' turning up alive and the owner's own admission that WTC7 Building had been 'pulled' ?!
We all have a right to live in freedom from attack, including the good people of Afghanistan and Iraq (estimated 665,000 excess deaths since invasion on trumped up charges) - so please will the Cardinal reconsider and reflect that he may also have been lied to about 911 and other 'false-flag terrorist events' such as London, Madrid, Bali but also dating way back to Cold War days when it was phoney 'red brigades' who used to get the blame for e.g. the Bologna railway station massacre of 1980?
I speak as a 'son of the manse' and a practicing Buddhist. If the Buddhists happened to live above such rich oilfields, I truly believe you would be reading about Buddhist hi-jackers and suicide bombers.
I realise that it may be shocking for Cardinal O'Brien and others to re-perceive such iconic events, but true faith helps us open to truth, and not push it away because it upsets us! If there is any way I or my colleagues can help with a one-to-one briefing, discussion, or dvd film showing, etc then please do not hesitate to ask.
With sincere best wishes, and in the name of Interfaith dialogue founded on truth, reason and evidence (as I believe your Holy Father recently called for),
Keith Mothersson
Scottish co-ordinator, 911 Truth Campaign (Britain and Ireland)
associate member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth (http://www.st911.org/)
supporter of Muslims, Jews and Christians United against 911 False Witness ( http://www.mujca.com/)
founder of the fact-based website http://www.julyseventh.co.uk/
2b Darnhall Cres,
Perth PH2 0HH
I will also append the letter I recently sent to many church and other religious bodies concerning the work of David Ray Griffin whose book on 'Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11 - a Call to Reflection and Action' (WJK, 2006) is of inestimable value for Christians of all denominations.
5th Anniversary of September 11th –
False witness dishonours the dead
An Open Invitation to Members of the Abrahamic Faiths and others to attend a presentation by distinguished Interfaith philosopher, Prof David Ray Griffin, raising disturbing questions about the official story of 9/11.
Dear Friends,
Shalom Aleichem! Slaama! Salaam Alaykum! Peace be with you!
Please may we invite you to join us at a major public meeting at the Conway Hall in Red Lion Sq, Central London on the evening of Saturday 9th Sept to reflect on what is true and what is or may be false concerning the terrible human tragedy that was 9/11, and thereby to help replace the Clash of Civilisations framework in which it is too often seen with one of Interfaith Co-operation in the struggle for a truthful, peaceful world.
For 9/11 has mushroomed into the centre of a nationalistic and self-righteous civic cult, the founding myth of a War on Terror. This pivotal initiatory event into a new post-911 world requires, so we are assured, heightened security alerts, draconian legislation and repeated invasions and threats against oil-rich and/or Muslim lands.
Yet, strangely, for all its importance, 9/11 does not apparently require critical analysis of the facts alleged to have taken place! The 9/11 Commission was packed with insiders and ignored every kind of evidence which ran counter to the official story (firefighter and office-worker accounts of explosions, physics of building collapse and mobile phone performance from airplanes, lack of CCTV and flight recorder evidence, foreknowledge clearly reflected in supposedly untraceable stock-market put options, etc)
Despite the modern self image of the West as being capable of responding to reason and evidence, those who question the official story of 911 are often ridiculed as conspiracy theorists and dismissed out of hand - as if creating phoney events to throw blame on minorities and provide an excuse for war and dictatorship is something that no government in human history has ever perpetrated!
In late nineteenth century and early twentieth century Germany many strains of ancient anti-semitism were revived and modernised. But the Protocols of the Elders of Zion were police forgeries. Today ancient crusading stereotypes are being whipped up and each one of us needs to consider carefully whether some, perhaps many, of the big Terror attacks, are not likewise forged events (often coupled with forged videos).
All of us have a deep yearning to rest secure in the certainty of being cared for and protected. Such feelings are natural, but they become unhealthy when we look to inappropriate father figures to meet these needs and when we cling to states of denial about real abuses. The continuing blackout in the mainstream media of articles and films which question the official account purveyed by those who also brought us the Iraq War (enough said) suggests our society is drifting into a state of dysfunctional denial which dishonours the memory of the dead of 9/11 (and ensuing disasters), endangers us all and distracts from the real problems of finding just and sustainable ways to live together on the basis of true spiritual values, not cosy tales of juicy evil-doers.
Few people are as well qualified as Interfaith philosopher and theologian Prof David Ray Griffin, to calmly guide us to a new understanding of 9/11, not just the historical and scientific details, but sociological issues concerning conspiracy and social theory and the philosophical issues surrounding alternative hypotheses, probability and proof. These qualifications he amply demonstrated in his best-selling books, The New Pearl Harbour and The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions. In his latest book, Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11: A Call to Reflection and Action, Prof Griffin combines these earlier qualities with theological creativity (Chapter 8 on The Divine and the Demonic breaks vital new ground) and a moving but unstrident call to prophetic wrestling with this issue worthy of a Bishop George Bell, a Dietrich Bonhoeffer or a Desmond Tutu. (It is published by Westminster John Knox Press, July 2006, ISBN 0664231179).
...
It promises to be a tremendous occasion! Meanwhile, if you would like to help publicise this event, please do pass on a copy of this invitation to whoever you think can benefit or pass the word (e.g. faith-based newspapers). You may also care to prepare by studying the fine essays on the website of Scholars for 911 Truth, which David co-founded: www.st911.org/ .
We began this letter by invoking Peace. May we draw to a close by quoting the Russian Orthodox Christian and anti-Soviet resister, Alexander Solzhenitsyn:
Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.
IF 9/11 is a lie, or even if it may be a lie, it matters! Surely such a momentous question deserves the personal attention of us all. And if in fact 9/11 was Operation False Witness, then all of us who oppose racism, war and authoritarianism must work together to expose this mythic Blood-libel at the heart of the War on Terror, before evermore human rights abuses and further rounds of violence are unleashed, e.g. against Syria and Iran.
Yours Sincerely,
Angela McBride
European representative of Muslims, Jews, Christians Alliance for 911 Truth; www.mujca.com/
AbdulWahid Hamid
author of Islam the Natural Way
Keith Mothersson
Interfaith Outreach, 9/11 Truth Movement, Britain and Ireland
Mothersson
I also agree that 911 lies - and people's readiness to believe them - are key to the impotence of the Western peace movements.
Herewith I copy part of a letter I wrote to Muad'Dib, the creator of the very fine 7/7 Ripple Effects film http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/11/386124.html, whose film had quite a disappointing response from people involved in the (excellent) http://www.julyseventh.co.uk website and associated discussion forum, here and following six pages: http://z13.invisionfree.com/julyseventh/...topic=2374. [They are worried mostly about 'speculation' whereas I contributed a post at the end of page 5 defending disciplined story-making as crucial for paradigm shifts to deeper truths.]
" I do agree with you about the tendency of intellectuals to become over-rationalistic and to lose touch with what affects and moves ordinary folk. Interestingly Chomsky (who has of course done tremendous work) on the one hand has a whole discourse about the intellectuals (teachers, journalists, lawyers, readers of the posh papers and watchers of prestigious TV 'news' programmes) being the most heavily indoctrinated of all - and studies of those who still believe in the official 911 story show a very high correlation with higher 'education' ha ha.
And at the other hand Chomsky himself scorns 'conspiracy theories' - in favour of what he calls historical and structural approaches and institutional analyses (e.g. of minutes of committees, papers of record, - as if a conspiracy doesn't exist unless we can lay hands on minutes of the 911 conspirators in session!) This leads him to absurd 911 denial - the truth will never be known, nor will it make any difference, I can see no evidence !! [maybe he has been promised he will be killed if he speaks out? and thus into the same bed as people like Aaronovitch and
Cohen and the Times and Telegraph and the BBC's Conspiracy Series with their highly patrician discourse positing something wrong psychologically (the 'conspiracist mindset') with us poor peasants who lack the education to make sense of a fast changing world, and so end up seizing on simplistic and dualistic conspiracy theories [as if this didn't apply to the Official
Coonspiracy Theory!]
So long as Chomsky and Galloway/SWP/Stop the War and MPAC and Mil Rai and Bruce Kent
and the International Peace Bureau etc fear for their 'credibility' if they allow themselves to
put 2 and 2 together on 911, then the Establishment reckons it can shrug off our challenges.
But suppose these good people with their anti-racist discourse found themselves accused of racism as egregrious as many white people in Wolverhampton and the dockers who marched to support Enoch Powell after he peddled baseless stories about poor white people having grinning picanninnies shove shit throught their letter boxes, and all with NO evidence but the racist mindset was there to believe Powell - and now to believe the Bush adminstration's equally unsubstantiated, indeed disproven, story (stories) about these Arabs/Muslims who hate our way of life.
"Ye who are conscious of God - if a fasiq comes with alarming news, make
sure to verify their word, lest you afflict people out of your ignorance,
and regret your actions."
Holy Qu'ran, 49:6
To which Muad'Dib replied with his own translation:
King of kings' Bible - Sura 49:6. O ye who believe! If a wicked person comes to
you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and
afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done.
http://jahtruth.net/kofkad.htm
It hurts to find people so ready to believe the racist hi-jacker legend on grounds that the (white/'Judeo-Christian') administration would never lie to us would they!? 'I can't believe that the governemtn would do that' = I can readily believe Muslims/Arabs/savages would do that!! = I trust them and you less than I trust George Bush.
[b]Even so, one can at least work with people who are prepared to follow our arguments and reply to them - but of course subconsciously people are programmed not to be able to 'see' the crimes of the powerful in this and many other contexts. (Hypnotists can induce a hypnosis in people to tell them that they can only see five chairs in the room, and not be able to see the chair just in front of their seat. Once brought back to 'normal' then the hypnotist asks the subject to cross the room and open a window, and the one who can't see the chair in one context, doesn't just walk straight into it on his way to the window, but knows well enough what it is that he mustn't see, so goes round it. Likewise people cans see/sense what it is (such as 911) that they mustn't let themselves see.) All very sad, but at least let us not add our denial (and contempt and ill will) about their denial to the basic problem of helping scared people awaken. [/b]