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Using the McChrystal Moment to Raise a Forbidden Question David Ray Griffin Submitted June 24, 2010 GlobalResearch.ca There are many questions to ask about the war in Afghanistan. One that has been widely asked is whether it will turn out to be "Obama's Vietnam."1 This question implies another: Is this war winnable, or is it destined to be a quagmire, like Vietnam? These questions are motivated in part by the widespread agreement that the Afghan government, under Hamid Karzai, is at least as corrupt and incompetent as the government the United States tried to prop up in South Vietnam for 20 years. Although there are many similarities between these two wars, there is also a big difference: This time, there is no draft. If there were a draft, so that college students and their friends back home were being sent to Afghanistan, there would be huge demonstrations against this war on campuses all across this country. If the sons and daughters of wealthy and middle-class parents were coming home in boxes, or with permanent injuries or post-traumatic stress syndrome, this war would have surely been stopped long ago. People have often asked: Did we learn any of the "lessons of Vietnam"? The US government learned one: If you're going to fight unpopular wars, don't have a draft -- hire mercenaries! There are many other questions that have been, and should be, asked about this war, but in this essay, I focus on only one: Did the 9/11 attacks justify the war in Afghanistan?

By Robert Parry (A Special Report) June 24, 2010 ConsortiumNews.com As the Official Story of the 1980 October Surprise case crumbles -- with new revelations that key evidence was hidden from investigators of a congressional task force and that internal doubts were suppressed -- history must finally confront the troubling impression that remains: that disgruntled elements of the CIA and Israel's Likud hardliners teamed up to remove a U.S. president from office. Indeed, it is this disturbing conclusion -- perhaps even more than the idea of a Republican dirty trick -- that may explain the longstanding and determined cover-up of this political scandal. Too many powerful interests do not want the American people to accept even the possibility that U.S. intelligence operatives and a longtime ally could intervene to oust a president who had impinged on what those two groups considered their vital interests. To accept that scenario would mean that two of the great fears of American democracy had come true -- George Washington's warning against the dangers of "entangling alliances" and Harry Truman's concern that the clandestine operations of the CIA had the makings of an "American Gestapo." It is far easier to assure the American people that no such thing could occur, that Israel's Likud -- whatever its differences with Washington over Middle East peace policies -- would never seek to subvert a U.S. president, and that CIA dissidents -- no matter how frustrated by political constraints -- would never sabotage their own government. But the evidence points in that direction, and there are some points that are not in dispute. For instance, there is no doubt that CIA Old Boys and Likudniks had strong motives for seeking President Jimmy Carter's defeat in 1980. Inside the CIA, Carter and his CIA Director Stansfield Turner were blamed for firing many of the free-wheeling covert operatives from the Vietnam era, for ousting legendary spymaster Ted Shackley, and for failing to protect longtime U.S. allies (and friends of the CIA), such as Iran's Shah and Nicaragua's dictator Anastasio Somoza. As for Israel, Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin was furious over Carter's high-handed actions at Camp David in 1978 forcing Israel to trade the occupied Sinai to Egypt for a peace deal. Begin feared that Carter would use his second term to bully Israel into accepting a Palestinian state on West Bank lands that Likud considered part of Israel's divinely granted territory.

New York City officials say a renewed search this year of debris in and around the World Trade Center site has recovered 72 human remains. June 23, 2010 Telegraph.co.uk The sifting of more than 800 cubic yards (612 cubic meters) of debris recovered from ground zero and underneath roads around the lower Manhattan site began in April and ended Friday. The greatest number of remains -- 37 -- were found from material underneath West Street, a highway on the west side of ground zero. The new debris was uncovered as construction work made new parts of the site accessible. The city began a renewed search for human remains in 2006. More than 1,800 remains have been found. Some have been matched to previously unidentified 9/11 victims.

David Ray Griffin Submitted June 18, 2010 911truth.org William A. ("Bill") Christison, a former senior analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency who became a supporter of the 9/11 Truth Movement, died June 13, 2010, due to a rapidly advancing neurological disease, which he had contracted three months earlier. He leaves behind his wife, Kathleen McGrath Christison (who had also been a CIA analyst), two daughters (Lynda Carlson and Judith Wooten), and a son (Eric). He had been preceded in death by two other sons (Robert and Thomas). The memorial service was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Friday, June 18. Born in Boston in 1928, Christison graduated from Princeton in 1950 and immediately joined the CIA to begin what would become a distinguished 28-year career. Starting out as an analyst on Soviet affairs, he worked in the 1960s on the problem of global nuclear proliferation, with special emphases on France, Israel, India, and Pakistan. In the 1970s, he became the National Intelligence Officer for South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. (He and Kathleen met while they were both working in Saigon.) He finished his career as Director of the CIA's Office of Regional and Political Analysis, supervising over 200 analysts covering, between themselves, every region of the world. In 1979, he and his wife retired from the CIA and moved to Sante Fe, where he started becoming more critical of US foreign policy, especially when he saw that the fall of the Soviet Union, which by ending the Cold War was supposed to bring a "peace dividend," did no such thing, but instead prompted the United States to advance its imperial interests. Becoming especially critical of US policy with regard to Israel and the Middle East, he (along with his wife) began writing articles for Counterpunch. Some of Christison's most important work, Counterpunch editor Alexander Cockburn told the Santa Fe New Mexican (Steve Terrell, "Former CIA Agent Bill Christison Advocated for Palestinians," The Santa Fe New Mexican, June 15, 2010), came in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In a March 2002 Counterpunch article, Christison wrote: "My number one root cause (of terrorism) is the support by the U.S. over recent years for the policies of Israel with respect to the Palestinians, and the belief among Arabs and Muslims that the United States is as much to blame as Israel itself for the continuing, almost 35-year-long Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."

By Daniel Tencer June 19th, 2010 RawStory.com The Pentagon's spy unit has quietly begun to rebuild a database for tracking potential terrorist threats that was shut down after it emerged that it had been collecting information on American anti-war activists.The Defense Intelligence Agency filed notice this week that it plans to create a new section called Foreign Intelligence and Counterintelligence Operation Records, whose purpose will be to "document intelligence, counterintelligence, counterterrorism and counternarcotic operations relating to the protection of national security."But while the unit's name refers to "foreign intelligence," civil liberties advocates and the Pentagon's own description of the program suggest that Americans will likely be included in the new database.

By Marc Hansen June 17, 2010 Des Moines Register On Tuesday night, Sean Michalek drove from Victor to Adel for the monthly 911 Truth of Central Iowa meeting. The trek west took 105 minutes, but so what? Michalek, 64, would have driven nine hours to commune and commiserate with other Iowans who believe the official story of Sept. 11, 2001, is a big fat lie. "It's the only game in Iowa," he said. The only game, he meant, for people who think 9/11 is the least examined tragedy in American history.

By Benjamin Weiser June 17, 2010 NYTimes.com A federal judge in Manhattan who was criticized by families of victims of 9/11 for taking too long to decide motions in lawsuits they had filed has handed down a ruling dismissing claims made against many of the defendants. The judge, George B. Daniels of Federal District Court, has overseen a group of lawsuits filed in the wake of the attacks. The suits sought to hold charities, financial institutions and individuals responsible for providing money and other support to Al Qaeda. The terrorism-financing suits are not related to separate 9/11 wrongful death and injury claims brought by families and rescue and cleanup workers that are before another judge and appear near resolution. Judge Daniels, in his ruling made public on Thursday, cited jurisdictional grounds in dismissing dozens of defendants.

June 10, 2010 By Michael Doyle McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — A federal judge has forcefully put Yemeni citizen Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini on the path to freedom after eight years of incarceration at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In a 36-page opinion formally released Thursday, U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. called Odaini's continued detention "unlawful" and said he'd "emphatically" grant Odaini's petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The ruling issued secretly last month but published Thursday sets the 26-year-old Odaini up for potential release, though when and where he'll go remains unclear. The ruling also represents the latest defeat for U.S. officials in their efforts to keep Guantanamo detainees behind bars. "(U.S.) officials kept a young man from Yemen in detention in Cuba from age eighteen to age twenty-six," Kennedy wrote. "They have prevented him from seeing his family and denied him the opportunity to complete his studies and embark on a career." Pointedly, Kennedy added that "the evidence before the court shows that holding Odaini in custody at such great cost to him has done nothing to make the United States more secure."

by Philip Shenon June 10, 2010 The Daily Beast - Blogs & Stories Anxious that Wikileaks may be on the verge of publishing a batch of secret State Department cables, investigators are desperately searching for founder Julian Assange. Philip Shenon reports. Plus, Daniel Ellsberg tells The Daily Beast: "Assange is in Some Danger." (This story has been updated to reflect new developments on Assange's whereabouts, including the cancelation of a scheduled appearance in Las Vegas.) Pentagon investigators are trying to determine the whereabouts of the Australian-born founder of the secretive website Wikileaks for fear that he may be about to publish a huge cache of classified State Department cables that, if made public, could do serious damage to national security, government officials tell The Daily Beast. The officials acknowledge that even if they found the website founder, Julian Assange, it is not clear what they could do to block publication of the cables on Wikileaks, which is nominally based on a server in Sweden and bills itself as a champion of whistleblowers.

June 9, 2010Interview by John Bursill Listen Here: http://visibility911.com/blog/?p=1749 Visibility 9-11 welcomes for the first time a tireless campaigner for peace, justice and liberty for the American People, hero and patriot Bob Bowman. In my opinion and from what Bob has achieved on a shoestring budget over the last six years, it is fair to say he would have in all likelihood become the current President of the USA in a different and truthful world. That is a world where we had a free and honest press in the US and had the truth of the 9/11 attacks exposed to all. Bob is the man that best represents the phrase speaking truth to power and was the man that brought that term to the 9/11 Truth Movement through speeches throughout America and the world! In this interview Bob talks about issues and ideas never before raised with him on air. This interview is a must listen!

June 7: UPDATE: THE "LEGAL" SYSTEM IN DC IS SAYING THAT WE PROBABLY CAN'T RESCHEDULE THE TRIAL (FOR AN INFRACTION) UNTIL AUGUST, SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER. THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE FINANCIALLY AND CONSTITUTIONALLY. SINCE I HAVE ALREADY LOST HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS ON AIR-FARE AND DAYS OUT OF MY LIFE THAT I WILL NEVER GET BACK, ETC FOR THIS TRIAL, I AM DEMANDING MY SIXTH AMENDMENT RIGHT TO A SPEEDY TRIAL TO BE HELD WHEN I AM IN DC FOR SIZZLIN' SUMMER PROTESTS IN JULY. THEY WANT TO BREAK ME, BUT I WASN'T BROKEN WHEN THEY KILLED MY SON--WHAT DO THEY THINK THEY CAN DO TO ME NOW?June 7, 2010 PeaceoftheAction.organization The trial for Cindy Sheehan and six others for their arrest in front of the White House on March 20th is this Thursday, June 10th at DC Superior Court, 500 Indiana, NW in room 120. There will be a short pro-peace/pro-1st Amendment Rally and press conference at 8:15am in front of the Court. Some statements from the "Peace Criminals" and their attorneys: . . . Jon Gold: (Core Team Member of Peace of the Action and 911 Truth Activist arrested for crossing a police line) In response to our Government lying about, and covering up the 9/11 attacks, I began fighting for truth, accountability, and justice for what happened that day. My efforts, for the past eight years, have been on behalf of the people that lost someone that day, and for the 9/11 first responders that needed health care because of the toxic dust down at Ground Zero. The United States Government has used the 9/11 attacks as an excuse to launch illegal, preemptive wars and to take away our civil liberties. The resulting bankrupting of this country is unacceptable to me, and I felt it was my duty as a citizen to help to expose the cover-up. Ultimately, that fight led me to be in Washington D.C. on March 20th. It greatly saddens me that I was arrested, and will have to stand trial for such a trivial crime. I was under the impression that Americans have the right to peaceably assemble. Paradoxically crossing a police line is treated as a crime, but our leaders are not held accountable for their much more serious crimes of murder and genocide. It is also quite tragic to me that Cindy Sheehan, a mother of a lost soldier, has to stand trial because she believes in ending the illegal and unjust occupations that led to her son's death.

Joshua Blakeney May 31, 2010 Canadian Dimension "George Bush hasn't suffered at all over the monumental suffering, death, and horror he has caused . . . no matter how many American soldiers have died on a given day in Iraq (averaging well over two every day), he is always seen with a big smile on his face that same or next day." Vincent Bugliosi, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, 2008 (1) Ramsey Clark will arrive in the Canadian oil-patch city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, this coming June 6th and 7th, mounting pressure on Judge Manfred Delong, who is presiding over the sentencing process in an epochal trial which some have dubbed"The trial of Splitting the Sky versus George W. Bush." Splitting the Sky (STS) on the advice of legal experts Ramsey Clark, Gale Davidson and Anthony J. Hall attempted a citizen's arrest on George W. Bush on March 17, 2009 when the former US president was addressing an audience of business people at the TELUS Convention Centre in the downtown of Calgary (2). In his March 2010 trial STS invoked the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes legislation, which was enacted by the Canadian parliament in 2000, to submit to the court that he was implementing the law by seeking to apprehend Bush, and was unjustly arrested by police who were in effect "aiding and abetting a credibly accused war criminal." Former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney came to Calgary to attempt to testify in the March trial but was prevented from doing so as the judge shut down the trial earlier than anticipated. Instead McKinney spoke at the University of Calgary in support of Splitting the Sky (3). It is hoped by supporters of justice that the arrival of Ramsey Clark in Calgary will help to publicize this unprecedented case in Canadian legal history, the knowledge of which the state and their media accomplices have made a concerted effort to suppress and censor from the public domain.

June 1, 2010 by Dahr Jamail t r u t h o u t | Report The Israeli military has attacked a flotilla of international peace activists, killing as many as 19 innocent civilians while they were carrying ten tons of aid to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. This is not the first time the Israeli military has attacked a nonthreatening entity in international waters. On June 8, 1967, while sailing in international waters, the US Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty was attacked by air and naval forces of the state of Israel. Of the Liberty's crew of 294, more than half were killed or wounded. More than 40 years later, survivors are still seeking justice. The Israeli forces attacked with full knowledge that the Liberty was an American ship, yet survivors have been forbidden to tell their story under oath to the American public. Joe Meadors was on the Liberty during the attack. "I watched some jets pass us then turn left after they passed our ship, then they started strafing [attacking repeatedly with bombs or machine-gun fire from low-flying aircraft] us," Meadors told Truthout.

June 3, 2010 by Shawn Hamilton Examiner.com A group called New York City Coalition for Accountability Now (NYC CAN) is working with Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth on a campaign to make the New York City Council launch an investigation into the anomalous destruction of World Trade Center Building 7. The group emerged a little over a year ago to reorganize the petition drive for the ballot initiative that city officials eventually deemed legally invalid because it sought powers to initiate an investigation that State law doesn't confer upon citizens. Officials claimed that such powers are properly the domain of existing city agencies, the Manhattan District Attorney and the federal government.

June 3, 2010 Stephen C. Webster RawStory.com Rupert Murdoch may be getting an unpleasant phone call soon, if it hasn't come already. That's because Glenn Beck, the Fox News network's popular opinion host, just blamed the world's 19th richest man -- Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud -- for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.As it happens, the Prince is a major investor in News Corporation; at seven percent of the company's shares, he's second only to Rupert Murdoch himself. Fox News is just one piece of the massive corporation. Murdoch, likewise, owns nine percent of the Prince's Arab media empire Rotana.Most people would call the situation awkward, to say the least.Claiming that the U.S. would have acted similarly to Israel in raiding the Gaza aid flotilla, Beck on Thursday afternoon drew an usual analogy between the disastrous military operation that left nine activists dead and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. "Didn't we almost kind of do that?" he asked. "Right after 9/11, when Rudy Giuliani-- do you remember? Saudi Arabia came and said, 'We wanna help!'"Beck motioned toward a large graphic on a screen behind him."This guy came over and said, 'I wanna give you a $10 million check.' Rudy Giuliani said, 'Ya see that over there? I don't think we want your help. You already sent us help, and you flew that help into the plane-- into the trade centers.'

Video of three recent conferences is available online. Treason in America - Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, March 6-7, 2010. Understanding Deep Politics - Santa Cruz, CA, May 14-16, 2010 Hard Evidence Tour Down Under 2009 - Sydney, Australia, November 14-21, 2009.

Johannesburg, May 31, 2010 TheHindu.com The Elders group of past and present world leaders, including former South African president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, on Monday condemned as "completely inexcusable" the deadly Israeli attack on a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza. At least 10 people are reported to have been killed when Israeli commandos raided the boats on Monday in an operation that has drawn international condemnation. "The Elders have condemned the reported killing by Israeli forces of more than a dozen people who were attempting to deliver relief supplies to the Gaza Strip by sea," the 12-member group said in a statement issued in Johannesburg, where it met over the weekend.

By Meghan Neal Downtown Express - Volume 23, Number 3 | The Newspaper of Lower Manhattan | May 28 - June 3, 2010 U.S. Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney and Jerry Nadler gathered with 9/11 first responders at Ground Zero last Sunday. Photo courtesy of US Rep. Maloney's office U.S. Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney and Jerry Nadler paid a visit to ground zero on Sunday to highlight a 9/11 health care bill that has been dragging through Congress for nearly nine years. The bill cleared a huge hurdle on Tuesday when it passed its final committee vote, sending it to the house floor. "It's a difficult bill, a complicated bill, a costly bill," said Maloney. The legislation would provide $11 billion in federal funds toward health care and compensation for first responders and survivors who are sick as a result of toxins left in the air after the 9/11 attacks. Maloney and Nadler were joined by a group of the bill's supporters: police, firefighters, 9/11 first responders currently suffering from health problems, members of the New York delegation and Lower Manhattan residents.

David Ray Griffin Published May 27, 2010 911Truth.org At 5:21 PM on 9/11, Building 7 of the World Trade Center collapsed, even though it had not been hit by a plane – a fact that is important because of the widespread acceptance of the idea, in spite of its scientific absurdity, that the Twin Towers collapsed because of the combined effect of the impact of the airliners plus the ensuing jet-fuel-fed fires. The collapse of World Trade Center 7 (WTC 7) thereby challenges the official account of the destruction of the World Trade Center, according to which it was accomplished by al-Qaeda hijackers, even if one accepts the government’s scientifically impossible account of the Twin Towers. This fact was recently emphasized in the title of a review article based on my 2009 book, The Mysterious Collapse of World Trade Center 7,1 by National Medal of Science-winner Lynn Margulis: “Two Hit, Three Down – The Biggest Lie.”2 1. Why the Collapse of WTC 7 Created an Extraordinary Problem The collapse of WTC 7 created an extraordinary problem for the official account of 9/11 for several reasons.