Behind the "war on terror": Cynthia McKinney talk in London - Monday March 8

A lot of these 911 people have wrote books, made videos etc. Then they travel the world and attend these kind of events to flog their wares

This should be a good event, I hope someone records it and posts the audio here...

Some previous talks by Nafeez Ahmed:

Nafeez Ahmed interview on Obama, the War on Terror, energy resources and more
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2010/01/445053.html

Food Crisis & Peak Oil
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2008/11/413658.html

The Hidden Holocaust - Our Civilizational Crisis
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2008/01/388961.html

Creating Terror
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2007/07/376665.html

Ties With Terror: Western-Al-Qaeda Relations in the Post-Cold War Period
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2007/04/368971.html

International Terrorism: The Secret History
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2006/11/356939.html

Flashback: Inventing Terror at Home

by Cynthia McKinney, 6 August 2008


Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, a former congresswoman from Georgia, delivered the following remarks to the Muslim Legal Defense Fund, August 2, in San Jose, California.

"Dr. King's type of resistance to the U.S. version of apartheid could surely be considered homegrown terrorists."

Tonight, I want to talk a little bit about how a bad idea can get out of control and almost even become law, and what we all can do to prevent these things from happening.

On October 23, 2007, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to codify a punishment for a problem that does not even exist. At least not in the way envisioned by the bill's backers. The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act [1] of 2007 received 93% of the House of Representatives vote, including support from every Member of the Congressional Black Caucus that voted, including from the only Muslim Member of the House. After securing 219 Democratic votes, H.R. 1955, introduced by California Representative Jane Harman, seemed on its way to the President's desk for signature.

Introduced in the House of Representatives on April 19, 2007, the Homegrown Terrorism Act should never have seen the light of day, but because of its author and its powerful backers, it sailed through the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile over in the Senate, Senators Susan Collins and Norm Coleman, both Republicans, introduced the Senate version of the House Bill in August 2007. With Democrats supporting it in the House and Republicans sponsoring it in the Senate, it seemed destined to become law.

The bill seeks to prevent the phenomenon that inspired its title, that is, radicalized homegrown terrorism, and expects us to accept as a fact because it says so, that the internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens. Now, how [Democratic U.S. Representative] Jane Harman could introduce this and debate it on the floor of the Congress and keep a straight face in light of CNN, FOX, and the constant bombardments from the corporate owned media has got to be a case study in comedic understatement in and of itself.

The bill goes on to define "violent radicalization" as the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change. Of course, under this definition, the activities of many organizations of the civil rights era could be characterized by a government so inclined as an organization of violent radicalization.

Homegrown terrorism is defined in the bill as the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. Since this government openly considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist, and spied on Martin Luther King, Jr. and played a hand in his murder, Dr. King's type of resistance to the U.S. version of apartheid could surely be considered homegrown terrorism by those unready for his vision of change.

"The activities of many organizations of the civil rights era could be characterized by a government so inclined as an organization of violent radicalization."

The bill defines "ideologically based violence" as the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs.

In short, the bill sets the stage for another attack on all of us, regardless of race and religion, who dare to dissent from the policies of this government, without regard to political party affiliation. As Dr. King stated, both political parties are disappointing. And the stage was set for this bipartisan bill by the prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation [2] and by seven unsuspecting young black men in Florida.

Residents of Miami, Florida were shocked when they awoke to news on June 23, 2006 that law enforcement, including the FBI, had swept into town and arrested seven individuals for conspiring to commit terrorist acts, including maybe even blowing up the Sears Tower, one of the tallest buildings in North America. Residents were even more perplexed when they were told that warrants had been executed in the Liberty City area of Miami, a predominantly black and low-income area. CNN reported that residents in and around the area of the search warrants said that those in custody "called themselves Muslims and had tried to recruit young people." Now, of course, CNN is helping to establish an extremely low threshold for guilt.

CNN further reported that the suspect appeared to be in their 20s and had lived in the area for about a year. They even wore turbans - that's another of those magic words that's supposed to connote guilt--some neighbors reported. Even more perplexing though was the fact that neither weapons nor bomb-making materials were found. The announcement of the raid came on the very same date as a massive rally planned for the National Basketball Association Champions, the Miami Heat. Unnamed law enforcement sources leaked to CNN that the young people arrested were members of a radical Muslim group - there's that word again - and that at least one had taken an "al Qaeda oath" - in case Muslim alone wasn't sufficient - and had carried out surveillance of the Sears Tower. The unnamed law enforcement source indicated to CNN that the suspects thought they were dealing with an al Qaeda operative who was really a government informant and that the arrests climaxed the months-long undercover operation. And of course, the government's documents pertaining to the investigation were sealed.

Now, interestingly, on the very same day, a former director of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), the same organization recently visited by the presumptive Democratic nominee, admitted to planning terrorist acts against Cuba. Of course that admission received little or no media or law enforcement attention in Miami, or anywhere else.

Yet, the idea that the United States could be victimized by its own sons, violently radicalized by an extremist ideology, now had legs, arms, and faces. And the only thing it lacked was legislation. Legislation that would ensnare not only the useful patsies in Miami, but anyone who ran afoul of the authorities and against whom this characterization as a radicalized homegrown terrorist could be applied - just as earlier the term "enemy combatant" found its definition in U.S. citizen Yaser Hamdi [3], detained indefinitely as an "illegal enemy combatant" until the Supreme Court ordered his release.

"After the Liberty City Seven arrests, the characterization "homegrown terrorists" even became a part of the corporate press parlance."

Meanwhile, interestingly, in 2004 while the men behind Larry Silverstein were getting their $125 million in equity money back from the Port Authority for the World Trade Center leases, thereby giving them control over 10 million square feet of office space and no capital risk in the project, these same men were also negotiating the purchase of the Sears Tower for $840 million. The Sears Tower owners had cut rents in order to re-attract tenants after September 11th and with the news of the Liberty City Seven [4] arrests, they faced additional challenges. And just a few weeks after the Liberty City Seven arrests, the characterization "homegrown terrorists" even became a part of the corporate press parlance.

U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta stated in the Department of Justice press release that the Liberty City group "had the intent and took several steps toward fulfilling their plan" but "the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force successfully performed its mission to prevent terrorism by identifying, disrupting and prosecuting these individuals before they posted an immediate threat to our nation." FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole remarked in the same press release that the arrests marked "yet another important victory in the war on terrorism," underscoring "the need for continued vigilance and cooperation."

So, the government sets up young people in Florida with a paid informant, and then busts them when nothing happens and proclaims victory and prosecutes the kids.

That was 2006. In the intervening two years, the Liberty City Seven have had two mistrials and our government promises to prosecute these hapless kids a third time. And while H.R. 1955 and its companion bill, S.B. 1959 have been delayed, we cannot yet claim victory that they have been denied.

It was the concerted effort of activists who saw the bills and read them - Henry Waxman's excuse for supporting the bill was that he hadn't read it - and challenged every one of the Members of Congress who voted yes.

"We all are being manipulated in this so-called War on Terror."

Average, ordinary citizens, enlightened by the outright lies of an Administration and disappointed by a complicit Congress agreed to serve on juries. People are becoming involved in their government. The only way, in fact, we can become a government of, by, and for the people is for the people to participate - like we've never participated before. In every aspect; in every way, to take our government back.

I hope it's clear that from innocent individuals caught up in government intrigue to high-sounding legislation introduced in Congress, we all are being manipulated in this so-called War on Terror. Innocent lives are made to pay an enormous price in defiance of truth, honesty, and justice. And because the defendants have no money of their own, public defenders are taking the case to the court over and over and over again-until justice is done.

At the same time that the government was losing its case against The Holy Land Foundation, it was also losing its case against the Liberty City Seven. And just as the War on Terror has actually wreaked terror on the lives of the innocent young men in Florida, so too is the situation with the case of the Holy Land Foundation that has wreaked terror on and yet brought hope to an entire community and its supporters.

There is no need for any further prosecution in the Holy Land Foundation case. In addition to the jury's findings, government misconduct is clear. When the government has to resort to cheating in order to present its case to an unrigged jury, then the government has no case. It is clear that the government thought that it could wave the word "Muslim" around, and in this climate of hyper fear, created by the corporate media, that was supposed to have been enough. The intonation of what the government called "foreign sounding names" was to strike xenophobia into the hearts and minds of the jury and render a guilty verdict a certainty.

"When the government has to resort to cheating in order to present its case to an unrigged jury, then the government has no case."

But it didn't work in Texas just as it didn't work in Florida. The Holy Land Foundation struck back because the Muslim Legal Fund of America responded quickly with skillful use of the law and your money. Unfortunately, the Holy Land Foundation case is just one of hundreds of cases that have been processed by the MLFA. But the MLFA is winning. And I know I'm strong when the MLFA is strong.

Today, while being profiled, discriminated against, and targeted by the government, Muslims in this country have to watch as both corporate political parties support missile diplomacy against other Muslim countries: bombs in Somalia, threatened bombs in Iran, incursions into Pakistan, occupation in Iraq, expanded war in Afghanistan, and silence in the face of death and destruction in Palestine.

Oftentimes I'm approached by members of the community, shocked by what they are witnessing in this country. And what I remind them of is this:

This country was founded on the genocide of another people. It accumulated wealth and power from the enslavement of an entire race. It expanded its empire by theft and chicanery, and saved itself from military defeat by exploding two nuclear devices on an Asian country. It has maintained its geo-strategically superior positioning by inflicting drug addiction on its perceived enemies abroad and by disabling dissent with drug addiction at home. It has blatantly murdered its perceived enemies and found every demographic measure on which to build division. Yet, it wants you to believe that while no other entity can be trusted, it still should be.

But when the Muslim Legal Fund of America puts its team in the courtroom and wins repeatedly, it becomes clear to individuals, almost in a simultaneous moment of enlightened consciousness, that the emperor really does not have on any clothes. And it is at this moment of critical analysis that the people can achieve real victory. The victory of the Liberty City 7; the victory of the MLFA in the Holy Land Foundation struggle - despite the failure of the government even to pay the public defenders - is testimony to the idea that the people, united, can win, even over the most oppressive forces.

As we speak, the people of Mexico are voting in a non-binding referendum that the government vowed would not happen, but the people are showing their power and voting anyway, saying no to U.S. efforts to steal their oil and electricity through privatization. Even while struggling under a massive international occupation and high-level U.S. insider corruption aiding and abetting the theft of Haiti's resources, including suspected off-shore oil deposits, Haitians are standing up for themselves every day and fighting back with people power and the power of the vote. Even as the U.S. Fourth Fleet heads south, the democratically-elected governments in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Nicaragua represent a dramatic and necessary turn away from domination by the north, all done with people power and the power of the vote.

What we do tonight, to harness the power of the people to protect all our rights, is the necessary work. However, our work here also helps people-powered revolutions for justice and dignity all over the world. Thank you for donating to the Muslim Legal Fund of America. Thank you for allowing us to make our stand inside this country. Thank you for believing enough in the struggle so that justice can prevail.

________________


References:


[1]  http://ccrjustice.org/learn-more/faqs/factsheet:-violent-radicalization-and-homegrown-terrorism-prevention-act-2007

[2]  http://wecanchangetheworld.wordpress.com/category/holy-land-foundation/

[3]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamdi_v._Rumsfeld

[4]  http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0733513120071213

___________________

I see my previous comment was deleted. I guess 911 'Truthers' are now on Indymedia's moderating team. I wonder if this comment will stay. The laughably self named '911 Truth Movement' are propagandists. Giving out videos and leaflets of lies and distortions about 911 and other conspiracy theories like the death of Diana, 77 and event that the CIA are behind earthquakes like Haiti.

How ridiculous to conclude those respectable, peace-loving men, George Bush and Tony Blair, could have told lies to create wars.

All that needs to be done to prove their honesty is to answer these questions:

1 Why has there been no investigation into who planned and carried out the 9/11 attacks? Why was such inquiry ruled outside the remit of the 9/11 Commission?  http://www.vegsource.com/talk/flame/messages/6024.html

2 Why does the FBI claim there is insufficient evidence to indict Osama bin Laden for the 9/11 attacks, when the US, UK, other governments and even the UN claim there was enough evidence against him and Al Qaeda to start the war in Afghanistan?  http://911review.org/Media/Bin-Laden-Not-Wanted-for_9_11.html

3 Why has the international and US law requirement to investigate murder been breached? (In the event of homicide the Inter-American Court for the Protection of Human Rights has through its jurisprudence given substance to the concept of the right to truth stating: *The State has a duty to commence ex officio and without delay a serious fair and effective investigation which is not undertaken as a mere formality condemned in advance to be fruitless*)

4 Why, when immediately following the 9/11 attacks the US government rushed the Patriot Bill through Congress, were anthrax spores sent to those particular senators who were opposing its passage on civil libertarian grounds, after which they caved in to government demands? Why, if the anthrax had come from Al Qaeda, was it later found to be weapons grade and probably to have originated in a US military laboratory?  http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MAR201A.html

5 Why did World Trade Center building 7 (aka Saloman Brothers 47 story skyscraper), which had not been hit by an aircraft on 9/11, at 5.20pm collapse symmetrically at free-fall speed into its own footprint in the manner of a highly sophisticated controlled demolition?  http://www.vic911truth.org/smokingguns.html

6 Why did an alleged hijacker’s passport survive the impact, to be found intact on the street?  http://911research.wtc7.net/disinfo/deceptions/passport.html

7 Why have 9/11 Commissioners, including chair and vice chair Kean and Hamilton, now said the Commission was *set up to fail* while accusing government agencies, including the Pentagon, of lying to them?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_Commission

8 Why does philosophy professor David Ray Griffin list over 100 "lies" he has discovered in the 9/11 Commission report?  http://www.septembereleventh.org/newsarchive/2005-05-22-571pglie.php

9 Why did Bush, Cheney and Rice not testify to the Commission under oath as the other witnesses did?  http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/29/bush.911.commission/

10 Why have the results of the promised investigation into who made massive $millions by purchasing *put options* (bets that the share values would slump) on United Airlines and American Airlines not been released, despite the fact that investment in these options implies that the investors had foreknowledge of these two airlines’ planes being involved in the attacks?

11 Since the US Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended Operation Northwoods to the Kennedy government, which rejected it, is it beyond the bounds of possibility that the G W Bush government could have accepted a similar proposal to justify invasion in the Middle East? The Northwoods scheme was to create a series of attacks on US targets, including a passenger airliner over Cuba, in order to justify a US invasion of that country. The JCS wrote: *It is possible to create an incident which will demonstrate convincingly that a Cuban aircraft has attacked and shot down a chartered civil airliner en route from the United States...*  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods

Paul Zelikow, member of 911 commission, put pressure on the rest to try to link Iraq with the attacks on 911 and wiht Al Qaeda. Fortunately they resisted him. He is a neo con going along withBushs admin that wanted to go to war with Iraq before 911 happened.

Also Thomas Kean, the co chair of 911 commission "we to this day dont know why NORAD told us what they told us.....it was just so far from the truth....its one of those looses ends that never got tied" quoted in washington times new york times new york post aug 2006.

John Farmer senior legal counsel to 911 commission " at some level of government at some point in time there was an agreement not to tell the truth about what happened. i was shocked about how different from the truth was the way it was described. the norad tapes released aug 06 told a radically different story to what had been told to us.."

we the people of the world need an independednt investigation on 911.
It has been used as an excuse to go to war and restrict our civil liberties.
Yes there is a problem with islamic fundamentalists just as there is a problem with zionist extremists and christian fundamentalist. Just because we criticise the west and the officil version of 911 doesnt mean we dont know of the other issues facing us all. Lets not think in terms of cold war mentality but all of us concerned with fighting for our human rights need to unite.

Cass Sunstein, an Obama regime official, has a solution for the 9/11 skeptics: Infiltrate them and provoke them into statements and actions that can be used to discredit or to arrest them. But get rid of them at all cost.

Why employ such extreme measures against alleged kooks if they only provide entertainment and laughs? Is the government worried that they are on to something?

Instead, why doesn't the US Government simply confront the evidence that is presented and answer it?

If the architects, engineers, firefighters, and scientists are merely kooks, it would be a simple matter to acknowledge their evidence and refute it.

Why is it necessary to infiltrate them with police agents and to set them up?

Has Indymedia UK now sunk to 9/11 'truther' status? Is there any lower it can sink?

A year ago, I announced in this forum the launching of my survey for a book that would compile personal accounts of ordinary people active in the 9/11 truth movement. Since then, I’ve been gathering dozens of revealing, often moving stories from inside and outside the U.S., and I’ve begun to put a shape to Voices for 9/11 Truth. Along the way, I’ve come to believe that what we call the 9/11 truth movement is not really a movement per se. It’s something else, something potentially more important, more meaningful, and maybe even more impactful.

First, the obvious: we’re not exactly a homogenous group. Yes, there is a shared commitment to prompt a thorough and impartial 9/11 investigation and unravel the sinister mess behind the crime and cover-up, but we’re not linked by bloodlines, gender, age, economic status, or any other common entity. We’re no clearly defined, pre-established group seeking a platform to gain rights or power -- and anyway, we’d be hard pressed to put together a thousand members for a rally, let alone hundreds of thousands. In fact, what I’ve been most struck by in fielding these personal accounts and interacting with the gutsy people behind them is the wide diversity of those who believe that 9/11 was orchestrated from within our government.

That diversity should strengthen the sense of real community among 9/11 truthers while further dispelling the government and corporate media’s ridiculous attempts to marginalize and pigeonhole those who conclude that 9/11 was clearly an inside job.

We’ve all seen how some of the more visible members of the 9/11 truth movement highlight their professional standing: scholars for 9/11 truth, engineers and architects for 9/11 truth, etc. Understandingly, they believe that impressive titles or credentials are essential in establishing credibility of the evidence -- and the movement itself. But as I’ve dug deeper into who’s really out there spreading the truth about 9/11, I’ve found an inspiring assemblage of ordinary people from all walks of life. I’ve heard from priests, veterans, entrepreneurs, lawyers, therapists, technicians, comedians, students, writers, broadcasters, salespeople, homemakers, a DVD producer, a former intelligence officer, and a former member of FUNY, as well as those who happen to be engineers, scholars, and scientists. The credibility of the average person plastering their towns with 9/11 truth DVDs, organizing grassroots lectures and rallies, or just trying to convince family and friends, comes not from their status but from their passion, their commitment, and the authenticity of what they believe and how they proclaim it, even in the face of rejection and scorn.

Geographically, Voices for 9/11 Truth have come from the Northeast, Midwest, South, and Far West of the U.S., as well as from several provinces of Canada. I’ve also heard from 9/11 truth activists from England, Spain, France, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Bulgaria, and Japan. Ages range from over-70 retirees to a middle-school student who debates teachers on 9/11 in the classroom. Socio-economical levels vary from struggling recent college grads to one truther sporting a 9/11 bumper sticker on a Porsche Boxster.

Even more striking has been the rich diversity in religious and, yes, even political backgrounds. My survey has attracted fundamentalist Christians, as well as Catholics, Jews, Mormons, agnostics, and those with more eclectic religious or spiritual leanings. In politics, respondents have in no way been limited to the ranks of Progressives, Greens, or Libertarians. I’ve compiled profiles from Independents, mainstream Democrats, and several Republicans, including those who, pre-catching the 9/11 truth wave, voted for Bush in 2000 and even ’04!

If we’re all nuts, it’s one hell of a holiday variety pack.

So the 9/11 truth crowd hasn’t come together because of something we are. Rather, we came to the same place through something that happened inside our psyches and spirits.

That’s why I see this more as a 9/11 truth awakening. Beyond the basic questions of who really did it, and all the hows and whys that go with it, diving into 9/11 truth for many becomes a personal and even spiritual process. It stirs us to ask deep and profound questions: Who am I and what do I really believe? How do I know what I know? How would it change my life if I admit that “Dad” or any authority figure is really capable of the unthinkable? What does it mean to wake up and tell the truth every day -- to myself, first, and then to those around me who may ridicule me for what I say?

The first question I ask my respondents is how and when they first rejected the “official” government story and came to believe or strongly suspect our government’s involvement in 9/11. For some, the “aha” came within months, weeks, or even days (or hours) of the attacks. But many others did not cross that threshold until two, three, or even four years after 9/11. Reading David Ray Griffin, watching Loose Change, or coming across some other compelling source of evidence may trigger an initial exploration, but most don’t make the leap to the “other side” without some real soul-searching.

It’s more than just getting past cognitive dissonance. For many people I have heard from, embracing 9/11 truth has meant a massive overhaul of how they see themselves, their government, their media, their jobs, their churches, their families, and everything else around them. It’s little wonder, then, that when I ask how their involvement in 9/11 truth has changed their lives, many respondents paint a portrait of a major transformation and a lasting spiritual experience. They don’t speak as converts to some fundamentalist “ism,” but rather as grounded and aware people who feel like a veil has been lifted. Some are angry, or frustrated by the lack of action on the get-the-bad-guys front, but almost all are grateful for the personal change as they display amazingly creative and resourceful ways to open the doors for others to glimpse 9/11 truth. And the veils are coming off for more and more folks every day. As a former spiritually-oriented counselor and writer committed to both personal and cultural change, I’m especially heartened by this part of the 9/11 truth picture.

I’m searching for a potential publisher for Voices for 9/11 Truth, a daunting challenge in a climate where a best-selling author like Steve Alten had to veer far from the mainstream publishing world to find a home for The Shell Game -- a book that weaves 9/11 truth evidence into a novel! But as I wait and hope for a change in the weather, I’m trying to keep perspective.

We all want to see our culture act from the truth of what really happened on 9/11. We want Congress to wake up. We want the corporate media to wake up. We want not just a real investigation but real justice for the perpetrators. All that’s imminently worth our continued time, energy, and passion. But even if that sea change never happens -- as it sure hasn’t happened for so many other covert operations -- let’s get clear about one thing. This 9/11 truth awakening can never be called a failure.



* Kevin Quirk, a former journalist, is an author, editor, and personal historian with A Writer’s Eye. He can be reached at  kevin@awriterseye.com.

You're free to refute any argument with your inquiring mind, only it might be advisable to note Albert Einstein's maxim:

"Dismissal without investigation is the highest form of ignorance".

It's hard to tell which of the 'truther' claims is the most absurd - but probably it's the claim that 9/11 hasn't been thoroughly investigated. It has; the results just didn't fit what the conspiracy theorists wanted to hear.

Still, what a tremendous letdown to see Indymedia apparently taking it seriously. Remember when Indymedia used to try to discourage green ink?

Cynthia McKinney mentions her congressional briefing — The 9/11 Commission Report One Year Later, A Citizens' Response: Did the Commission Get it Right? whic was held on July 22nd, 2005 in the above recording.

The audio from this hearing were originally on radio.indymedia.org but that server has been down for a while. However the audio of Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed's presentation, Ties With Terror: Western-Al-Qaeda Relations in the Post-Cold War Period is available here:  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/04/368971.html and addition there are links to the videos of the presentations on this page.

She also mentions Ward Churchill and his work on COINTELPRO -- this is a recording of him talking about this:

THE HISTORY OF COINTELPRO AND THE FBI

This is a passionate, scholarly, and far reaching analysis of the Counter Intelligence Operations of the FBI. Beginning with World War I, Churchill covers the Palmer Raids, the defeat of the Anarchists and of Marcus Garvey; the attacks on the Civil Rights Movement, the 1964 murders of Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney, and the murders of Black Panthers. Dedicating his speech to Leonard Peltier, who by now has spent almost 30 years in prison, Churchill gives a detailed description of the FBI raid on the Pine Ridge reservation on June 26, 1975 and of the case against Peltier.

For years the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs, BIA, had supported and financed a private army (the goons) of Tribal Chief Dick Wilson. Wilson had agreed to sell of 1/8 th of the reservation land to the Federal Government when uranium was found on the Sheep Mountain Gunnery Range. Tribal elders refused to turn over the land and asked for help from AIM after over 60 people had been murdered. The FBI and the BIA, says Churchill, then provoked a shoot-out in order to militarize the area and defeat the land rights movement. Two FBI agents died. A Native American, who admitted to killing them, was found to have acted in self defense and is free. Leonard Peltier, who denied involvement, was charged with murder and convicted.

Amnesty International considers Leonard Peltier a political prisoner who should be "immediately and unconditionally released." Nelson Mandela, Rigoberta Menchu, the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights, the Dalai Lama, the European Parliament, and countless others have called for his freedom.

Ward Churchill is professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is also a Vietnam veteran and survivor of the FBI war against the American Indian Movement. Among his many books are: The COINTELPRO Papers, Indians Are US, and A Little Matter of Genocide. (This is an updated archival TUC Radio program from 2001)


Contact:  http://www.freepeltier.org/

 http://www.tucradio.org/new.html
 http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=15187

 http://www.radio4all.net/pub/archive2/07.01.07/ tuc@tucradio.org/1123conintelproone.mp3
 http://www.radio4all.net/pub/archive2/07.01.07/ tuc@tucradio.org/1130cointelprotwo.mp3

[audio] Cynthia McKinney's "Confronting Empire" speech

Friends' Meeting House, London, 10 September 2007


part 1:

 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/media/2007/09//380965.mp3


part 2:

 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/media/2007/09//380966.mp3

'Reinvestigate 9/11' press release: Cynthia McKinney supports call for a new 9/11 investigation.

Wednesday 10 March 2010


Speaking at meeting in the House of Commons and later in a packed public meeting called by Reinvestigate 911, Cynthia McKinney endorsed the call for a genuinely independent investigation into the 9/11 attacks. The issue has become live again since President Obama cited 9/11 as the reason for escalating the war in Afghanistan and extending it into Pakistan, she said.

Tony Blair cited 9/11 as the event that made the subsequent wars possible when he supported calls for military action against Iran at his Chilcot appearance in February.

McKinney was the only person in Congress to ask questions about the many exercises which were being conducted by the Pentagon on the morning of the attacks. One was an anti-hijack exercise, which official sources put down to a bizarre coincidence. The existence of the anti-hijack exercise only came to light after the 9/11 Commission seized and reclaimed tapes which the Pentagon thought had been erased.

Ian Henshall of Reinvestigate 911 told the meetings that with the war escalating the media should no longer ignore the unanswered 9/11 questions. He reminded his audience that according to the then Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill the invasion of Iraq was being planned in detail by a White House cabal of Cheney Rice and CIA boss George Tenet nine months before the 9/11 attacks took place. "They knew they needed what they called a "Pearl Harbour type event" before they could invade Iraq, so why spend valuable resources on planning for an event which had not yet happened, and they said was a surprise when it did? I hope the media in the UK will join their colleagues abroad and start asking some hard questions about this", he asked.

After the two meetings on Monday, Ian Henshall was invited onto a long discussion programme on Russia Today an English language channel watched across the planet, and with a significant audience in the UK where is it is on Freeview. Later he supported Stephen Jones, a world class physicist during an hour and a half appearance on the Gary Null radio show, which is heard in many areas of the US including Washington DC.


Notes

A major article in the Washington Times has focused on the unanswered question: how did buildings, expressly built to survive impacts from passenger jets laden with fuel, collapse so totally and so fast pulverising so much concrete and steel. Architects in the US are calling for a grand jury probe of the allegedly fraudulent WTC reports from NIST, a Washington agency answerable to the White House. NIST refused to share it's computer models, refused independent access to physical evidence and failed to investigate the traces of military nano-thermites found in the dust at Ground Zero.

A world class academic journal, American Behavioural Scientist has devoted its February 2010 issue to SCADs, State Crimes Against Democracy, with 9/11 cited as the leading example.

The Washington Post joined the debate, issuing an abusive attack with no evidence cited on the Japanese government where ministers have challenged the official 9/11 story.

On air and at the two UK meetings Ian Henshall explained the political strategy of Reinvestigate 911. Here are some of the points he made.

The first step is to recognise that our opponents do not want a debate. They refuse invitations to appear on discussion programmes. Instead of arguments they offer the four classic smear tactics: name calling, guilt by association, straw man arguments, and whispering campaigns. Sadly many readers and viewers do not recognise smear tactics, but professionals do.

We need to explain that there are many issues at stake here, not just whether 9/11 was some sort of an inside job. That is some way down the road. In the meanwhile the paper trail of government reports and scientific findings leads to many questions. A good place to start is the falsehoods told after 9/11 as they rushed to invade Afghanistan and set us on a path to war.

They said they had no warning of attacks within the US. Now we know Bush and senior officials were warned of a possible Al Qaeda hijacking and warned that it could take place within the US. They said the CIA had lost interest in Afghanistan when they had a top secret Osama bin laden unit with 80 officers at work in the months before 9/11. They said there were intelligence failures when the FBI was actively blocked from three separate investigations any one of which, according to the official account, should and could have foiled the 9/11 attacks.

Even if we assume the intelligence failure account is correct we should still be asking the intelligence agencies the questions we are asking politicians and bankers: why should the public pay for your incompetence? Fortunes have been made out of the war by the officials in the CIA who failed on 9/11 and set up businesses as mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If we suspect the intelligence failure story is not correct, if they cannot account for why they pulled the FBI off the case, then the question of criminal negligence arises. The public will insist on an aggressive criminal investigation untainted by the Washington establishment. This is not a left right issue. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians abroad, thousands in the military have lost their lives, we have all lost important freedoms.

As the deaths of soldiers and civilians continue to mount in the 9/11 wars the public remembers that the Iraq invasion was based on a falsehood, the myth of Saddam Hussein's WMD. This was the worst sort of conspiracy theory, an officially sponsored one. The power of government was amplified by a media which failed to ask the right questions. Many people believe, particularly in the wider global community, that the official story of 9/11 was much the same.


Reinvestigate 9/11

www.reinvestigate911.org

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We will support any new investigation of the 9/11 attacks so long as

*it is run by uncompromised people with a range of opinion including those inclined to disbelieve the official 9/11 story,

*it has full legal authority to demand immediate access to any evidence and any witness it chooses

*it follows the evidence wherever it leads

*it is given all the resources it requires to carry out its investigation


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