On 9/11/01 my immediate reaction to the events of that day was about the same as most people. I was shocked and traumatized by what I had been watching. The horror of seeing the WTC buildings collapse was a sight I will never forget. I was afraid that tens of thousands would have died from that and I was actually relieved that 3000 were killed instead of the approximately 25,000 that I expected.
Today, the 5th anniversary of that event, I have a far different perspective about the events before and after that date. While 9/11 was a wake-up call for most Americans about Islamic terrorism, an informed public would have understood that the U.S. was vulnerable to terrorist attacks and The 9/11 Commission has confirmed this. The problem with The 9/11 Commission and the Bush Administration is that they have not answered many questions about that day that leads many rational people to believe that there is a cover-up. More importantly, the Bush Administration has exploited 9/11 to their advantage to try to tear down our democracy.
In the worst-case scenario, any act of terrorism that is not nation based would never be a threat to our survival as a nation. During WW II and the Cold War there were serious threats to civilization. The U.S. is by far the most powerful military force in the world, something that was not apparent during WW II and the Cold War. The idea that Islamic terrorism is the equivalent of WW II and the Cold War is outlandish.
During the height of the so-called "red scare" in the 1950s, there was a perception that thousands of Communist sleeper cells were in the United States. This was a complete myth that was fabricated by the government. I believe that the Bush Administration is fabricating the extent of the Islamic terrorist sleeper cells. The fact that no terrorist attacks have occurred since 9/11 is more of a testimonial to my theory than the acts of the Bush Administration.
If there were lots of terrorist cells in the U.S. there are lots of soft targets that could have easily been attacked including schools, restaurants, railways, and cargo centers. Surely the terrorists would have been inclined to implement their capabilities shortly after 9/11 if they had the capacity. Any organized terrorist group would have done a follow-on attack like they have done repeatedly in Israel and other countries. With all the efforts of the FBI and CIA, look what they have uncovered and charged with terrorism in the last 5 years. If there were hundreds or thousands of such sleeper cells, they are doing a terrible job.
Another point that should be made is that the so-called organization of Al Qaeda is highly overstated. The Bush Administration has falsely represented that Al Qaeda is a sophisticated organization with centralized high-tech capability that somehow operates from caves in Tora Bora and Pakistan. That is patently absurd and they know it. Below is a summary of a BBC documentary that I had the privilege of seeing. It is a wonderful history of two extreme groups: neo-cons and Islamic radicals. It is titled The Power Of Nightmares and the documentary reviews the history of these two groups that have similar goals. The neo-cons and the Islamic extremists need each other to accomplish their desire to control their people.
The Power of Nightmares
Should we be worried about the threat from organized terrorism or is it simply a phantom menace being used to stop society from falling apart?In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares.
The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these nightmares.
In a new series, the Power of Nightmares explores how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organized terrorist network is an illusion.
It is a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media.
At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neo-conservatives and the radical Islamists.
Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world.These two groups have changed the world but not in the way either intended.
Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful
Together they created today's nightmare vision of an organized terror network.
A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.The rise of the politics of fear begins in 1949 with two men whose radical ideas would inspire the attack of 9/11 and influence the neo-conservative movement that dominates Washington.
Both these men believed that modern liberal freedoms were eroding the bonds that held society together.
The two movements they inspired set out, in their different ways, to rescue their societies from this decay. But in an age of growing disillusion with politics, the neo-conservatives turned to fear in order to pursue their vision.
They would create a hidden network of evil run by the Soviet Union that only they could see.
The Islamists were faced by the refusal of the masses to follow their dream and began to turn to terror to force the people to "see the truth"'.
The Power of Nightmares will be broadcast over three nights from Tuesday 18 to Thursday, 20 January, 2005 at 2320 GMT on BBC Two. The final part has been updated in the wake of the Law Lords ruling in December that detaining foreign terrorist suspects without trial was illegal.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/programmes/3755686.stmPublished: 2005/01/14 12:07:24 GMT
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