I was on a job site in Lattakia when the shit hit the fan on September 11th, 2001. Since my work was almost done for the day I immediately jumped in the car and drove back (100 km) to my summer home in Bmalke. I flipped from one radio channel to the next in search of live news but still couldn't get a clear picture of what was going on amid the ensuing confusion. Once I made it home I ran straight to the TV and expectantly tuned in to CNN. The very first thing I heard was Deborah Feyerick reporting live from New York about the NYPD arresting 2 or 3 men in a white van full of explosives. Later in the day, anchorman Dan Rather mentioned it again on the 5 o'clock CBS News . The video clip below contains both instances plus footage of an Israeli talk show with these same men who were arrested then later released!!!
On September 12th, 2011 Paulo Lima, Staff Writer in The Record, a local New Jersey newspaper wrote an article "Five men detained as suspected conspirators were driving similar van as 3 seen celebrating after attack". This article was subsequently removed (i.e. erased, deleted) from www.northjersey.com (The Record's official website). Fortunately, a jpg image of the printed paper is available along with hundreds of links containing the original text. Here's the full article.
9/11 will go down as one of the most tragic events in human history. What makes it more tragically profound is that the government of the United States of America withheld and is still withholding information about what really happened. Cynics might argue that the fact that Israeli Mossad agents were on location filming live the catastrophe as it happened and that they were later seen by several eyewitnesses dancing jubilantly may not prove that the state of Israel was behind 9/11. Logically and with total judiciary detachment I can accept this cynicism, regardless of how foul it smells and tastes. However, there is conclusive evidence that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Mossad and the government of Israel had had prior knowledge of when (exactly down to the minute) and where (the specific buildings) the attack(s) were to take place. This is not an exoneration of the Bush Administration nor the government of the United States, as strong evidence also suggests that they were both either involved or had, at least, prior knowledge.
A must-read chronology of behind the scenes accounts and public records, some of them later erased, is to be found here.
To the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy, may your loved ones rest in peace. To the rest of the world, may the truth be known to all, one day.
20 comments:
It is not a stretch to say that the events of 9/11 did more than forward the agenda of Al Qaida. Dubbya finally had something that could "legitimize" his miserable presidency and Israel could "justify" it's excessive use of force and the build up of it's arsenal against "threats". It is difficult to imagine that the US government would support the deaths of it's own citizens and in such a horrific fashion, but I wouldn't put anything beyond Dubbya. As for Isreal...well, it seems they have carte blanche to do whatever they please, anywhere they please it. I hope that the truth of the events is brought to light as well, but I don't hold a lot of hope that that will happen.
Peace to all the victims of 9/11 - on that day and after that day, from all over the world.
Abufares, I hope you don't mind me posting this here, but I just read another article entitled "Cheney, Harper and the misuses of 9/11" (http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/derrick/2011/09/cheney-harper-and-misuses-911) by blogger Derrick O'Keefe. His final statements are directly in line with my thinking about 9/11 and it's memory:
"For us, this 9/11 anniversary should be a chance to remember the victims of the horrific crime committed in 2001 and those who died in the wars waged in its wake...
To really do justice to all the 9/11 victims, we can redouble our demands that those who misused their memory to launch illegal wars be prosecuted and jailed.
We can also redouble our efforts not to let their murders be the pretext for new wars and ongoing attacks on civil liberties. That is the best way to really serve the memory of all the victims of the past decade's carnage."
Do you really think we will know the whole truth some day? I really doubt it. A secret known by too many is no longer a secret.
In Lima, it was early in the morning when it all started. I saw the news while getting ready for a new day. It was confusion all around here, so I can't imagine how things were on the ground.
In 2004 I went to Ground Zero. The sensation was oppressive, an oppression I still fell from time to time.
@Isobel
It's absolutely unnecessary to say that I agree with everything you wrote on your comments but I do. I only need to clarify one point though. I didn't want to imply that the US government would willfully support the killing of its own citizens. However, this same government is withholding information as to who the "real" perpetrators, those who held the strings and who pulled the trigger, were.
My post totally neglected a most important point and I need to thank you for wishing peace to the victims on that day and those who suffered and died SINCE an BECAUSE of September 11th, 2001 all over the world. The blog post you linked to is an excellent and thorough one. I also like to link to your reference on your own blog http://suffonsifisms.wordpress.com/
@Gabriela
I hope that we, or future generations at least, learn the truth about 9/11 and other tragic secrets. The oppression you felt at Ground Zero is still felt, every single day, in Gaza and in all the Palestinian land that Israel occupies. 9/11 happened only 3 days after "The UN World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance was concluded in Durban, South Africa
(August 31-September 8, 2001). The conference's final declaration stated that Zionism is equal to Racism and emphasized unequivocally the Palestinian right to return to their homeland. The world, and the West in particular, was waking up to the reality of the atrocities committed by Zionist Israel. 9/11 changed all that and made the world, and the West in particular, live in an Islamophobic nightmare since.
Any crime investigation includes a search for a motive. That Islamists hate our (the American) way of life, as George W. Bush put it, seems like such an absurd one when we scrutinize who was and still is the only winner after this tragedy.
The same oppression surely felt in lots of places around the world where people suffered the indescribable under other people's hands.
Hi Abufares, I know you didn't suggest that the US might support the killing of its own citizen. I was the one who did. I have no respect nor trust of the Bush administration. Their tactics on and after 9/11 brought humanity to a new low. Call it a conspiracy theory...but if history were to uncover the truth, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Bushites were complicit.
@Isobel
You are right on the money when implying the US government (Bush) They knew what was going down just like Israel and did nothing to stop it. My opinion is that is what Bush needed to start a war he had been wanting for quite a while.
عزيزي أبو فارس
This interesting theory you raise about the possibility that the Mossad is behind the 9/11 attack on US is indeed intriguing. Yet, some questions raise in a 10 years perspective:
A) beside those 3 Israelis detained, do you know how many others were detained for questioning in the following days and weeks? clue here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detentions_following_the_September_11_attacks So what does that mean?
B)An article being erased from a local newspaper could mean they have been told to do so by Mossad. Yet don't forget: New Jersy is not Lattakia. their press is relatively free and they fear more lawyers with legal actions than governments agencies of foreign countries.
C) dancing in the streets after a successful operation does not sounds to me like standard Mossad operation procedure. This is not how they got their fame so far.
D) however, there were some dancing in the streets of Rammalah and Gaza and even candies were given to kids smiling to cameras on the streets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrM0dAFsZ8k
one should mention that this was not the official reaction of PNA but of individuals on the streets (oh, wait, I know! they were paid to celebrate by an evil zionist agent).
E) If I were a mossad agent trying to orchestrate a massive attack on US, my only ally in the world: would I hire 19 muslims from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Mizr? all have connections to world jihad and were funded by jihad groups?? I am not so sure.
F)If you knew hebrew, you would have been ROTFL hearing the Mossad agents talking in the talk show.
G) There was so much disinformation and misinformation during the broadcasting hours in 9/11 that only an Israeli, used to endless hours of reporters mumbling BS after a terrorist attack just to fill the air with words, will recognize.
having said all that, I cannot say I know anything for sure. I know El-kaida has taken the blame voluntarily, but that usually means nothing with terrorist groups. I know all the suspects were Arabs, Muslims and funded by Jihad, but than again this could be a coincidence, and they were just happy Americans on their way to LA/SF.
The truth? who knows what the truth is? but it seems that Israel is the blame for everything.
Is IDF also shooting your people on the streets now? or is it the great lion from Damascuss?
I wish you one day wake up and understand that Israel, although far from being a saint, is not the blame for all the world atrocities. not even the blame for all atrocities in Israel and Palestine.
To the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy, may your loved ones rest in peace.
@Chet
Nice to see you here. Well that was one hell of a war... and in a way it still is raging but hopefully not for long.
@Anonymous
No I don't blame Israel for what is going on the streets of the Arab World. Actually, that will be giving Israel credit rather than blame. The Arab Spring started as a purely local invention. That the super powers switched sides eventually is irrelevant. For decades, the West and Israel provided the totalitarian regimes in the Middle East with their unbending support. What is happening now is a historical inevitability and no one can take credit for it except those who are giving away their lives for a better future.
I can be faulted for implying that Israel and the Bush Administration were behind the 9/11 tragedy without solid irrefutable evidence. Yes, personally, I believe that. However, put me aside as another conspiracy theorist. I don't mind it cause in the grand scheme of things my individual stand is inconsequential. Yet strong and irrefutable evidence points out that again "someone in Israel" and "someone inside the American government" had prior knowledge of the attacks. Evidence also supports that "they" could have prevented it. If you have good memory you should remember that many members of the Bin Laden Family were rushed out of the US under the cover of secrecy and the protection of the US government soon after the attacks. If the perpetrators were mostly Saudis as the prevalent public opinion was led to believe and if Israelis were seen filming and dancing on the streets of New York immediately after the attacks took place, how come neither Saudi Arabia nor Israel haven't suffered any consequences. Islam suffered, and I'm talking about the billions out there who were by a biological twist of luck, born Moslems and never became Islamists, to borrow a word from the post 9/11 West. Palestinians suffered even more when their long struggle, armed and political, seemed at last to be taking them closer to their goal of establishing an independent state was entirely crushed by 9/11 and the ensuing abuses of the Bush Administration and the way the West looked the other way to the abuses inflicted on them by Israel.
History, it is argued, is written by the winners. To a certain extent this is true but not from a purely human perspective. Someone, somewhere, sometime will find the truth. Does it make me feel any better. You bet!!! I'm wired this way, to find pleasure in the pursuit of truth.
Thank you for your comment. Your and other opinions are always appreciated.
Abufares Ya chabibi,
Thank you for your kind reply. It's always refreshing to have a civilized conversation with someone who does not think like you.
There are many conspiracy theory regarding 9/11, but the incident is a sad sad day in the history of humanity. The funny thing is that it's more visible and has more media coverage because it happened in the USA. What about the millions of Iraquis killed or left homless in the unnecessay war afterwards? Who mourns for those innocent civilians? The USA always remembers Pearl Harbor, but who remembers the thousands killed in Hiroshima and Nagazaki? We live in an unbalanced world of double standards. The weak is always forgeotten and the strong plays the role of the victim and the victor, whichever suits better at the moment.
Hope you are well my friend
@Anonymous2
There's no doubt that Western countries in general value the lives of their own citizens much more than the "others'". I'm convinced that from a historical perspective the European Crusades to the East laid the foundation of their modern "superiority" complex. Even today many Europeans or those North Americans of European descent actually believe that they are "better" than the rest. Looking at it from this angle partially explains why the average European or American for instance is not appalled by the creation of Israel and the annihilation of Palestine over an already inhabited land. The Europeans tried for centuries to take over the Levant to free "their" holy land from the infidels. The Americans pioneers and settlers killed hundred of thousands of Native Americans Indians in the creation of their own nation. The principle of taking somebody's else life and/or belongings is apparently acceptable to them because of this Christian belief that they are better people. Zionism and Fundamental Islam use the same logic in justifying brutality against the enemy.
The simple point I'm trying to make is that religion is behind most of today's violence. George W Bush is totally convinced that his actions are justified because he is a Christian, Netanyahu because he is a Jew and Al-Zawahri because he is Muslim.
Once someone believes he is better than others by virtue of religion he becomes a dangerous thug. It's that simple.
'Once someone believes he is better than others by virtue of religion he becomes a dangerous thug. It's that simple.'
Hard not to agree with that Abu Fares, but from my own perspective I would say it’s not Christian supremacism that makes westerners believe they're superior. It's the simple case that western civilisation (meaning secular democracy) is superior. It's far better than Soviet Communism, National Socialism, Political Islam or the sort of dictatorship one sees across the Middle East and Africa. Don't believe me? Well just go to USA, France or the UK and criticise the government. Now do the same in Damascus or Saudi. In the west for now at least there is freedom of conscience, of religion (in spite of your so called ‘Islamaphobic nightmare’ try being a Christian in Iraq or Egypt), gender equality and freedom of speech. These fundamental freedoms make the west a better place.
The rest of what you write falls under the category of anti-Jewish conspiracy nonsense. That said I may be disappointed but not surprised. Look again at what Anonymous wrote at 01:16 concerning your 9/11 post. You failed to answer hardly any of his/hers points at all. Face up to the reality the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that Islamist terrorists perpetrated 9/11. Far more so than those you label Zionists. But such peculiar views are common in Arab and Muslim societies, a reflection perhaps of a culture that lacks introspection. You and I differ on some matters but there is common ground surely on much more. However this post and your attendant views do appear more than a bit wacky. Do you believe Jews did 9/11? Where and when has the world seen such blood libels before?
@Paul
Thank you for your visit and your comment. We might disagree deeply on the most basic humanist level (rather than just the political) but that doesn't mean you are not more than welcome here, anytime.
Be that as it may, modern Western Secular Democracy is commendable and at this day and age certainly offers the best course of action and represents the most favorable present and future for all of mankind. I am assuming of course that you accept that I am a secular humanist and not just a Middle Eastern, an Arab, a Syrian and/or a Muslim. By declaring myself as a secular humanist I've been attacked by fundamental Muslims, Christians and Jews. I do not want to label you as a fundamentalist but on a certain level you seem to boast and justify your superiority complex. You had no choice as to where, when and to whom you were born so feeling "better" than others by virtue of a biological accident is, from a human perspective, absurd.
To claim outright that the West is better than the East for instance is like taking a snapshot of an instant in history and refusing to accept that the rise and fall of civilizations is a dynamic process. Cultures and civilizations were built on each other and even my assertion that human history started here, in my own backyard, is flawed if I didn't acknowledge the giant steps taken by all races and creeds thereafter.
You have to make a modest effort to differentiate between regimes and people, between the puppets who were empowered by Western Imperialism and not Secularism and those who are at this very moment fighting for their human right to freedom. In my case, I differentiate between the Bush Administration and the wonderful American people who are my friends and family. I'm not using my American connection to strengthen my position but suffice it to say that I'm more Western than you think and I'm as proud of my American heritage as I am of my Syrian Levantine ancestry. Not to the point where I become a bigot though. I respect all and they are my equals unless they commit the stupid mistake of thinking themselves superior.
I don't blame Jews for 9/11. Your insistence on several occasions that my aversion to Israel is anti-Semitic is baseless. Is Dr. Norman Finkelstein, a Jewish American political scientist and author, an anti-Semitic too. I'm almost sure that you've seen this before but just in case you haven't take a look at it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5drXEXkf9s
I do believe that someone in Israel and someone in the Bush administration were accomplices in the 9/11 tragedy. It's as simple as that.
You have to pardon me if you still believe that I didn't answer your comment point by point. I am a generalist by nature and I don't intend to spend more time on a topic than I deem it worthwhile.
I am as anti-Jewish as I am anti-Islamic and anti-Christian in the political sense. Of course it's up to you to accept that or not. But don't count on me on trying to convince you further.
Again, thank you for your visit. Drop by anytime you feel like it even if I'm not writing about Israel.
In the time and space you used to write your lengthy response to Paul, you could have addressed all of his points of argument as well as those of Anonymous. Using terms like "the rise and fall of civilizations is a dynamic process. Cultures and civilizations were built on each other" does not address the Snapshot. We live in the Snapshot. In this Snapshot we live in, nine muslim extremist killed three thousand people. Saying you are a generalist is a cop-out. you know really well that the details matter. Pointing out fringe theories does not count as evidence.
I come here for the delicious syrian food pictures and I end up debating dubious claims. Can you please resume your food blog entries, they are always excellent.
@Rocco
I had apparently underestimated how my use of the term "generalist" to describe "in general" my outlook on life could be used against me, as if I'm "coping out" of a discussion for instance.
Let me be very specific then.
1) There is no evidence that these alleged perpetrators, if they exist at all, were on board any or all of the planes.
2) There is no proof that these allegedly Muslim extremists did in fact execute the crime if they were on board.
3) Even if these Muslim extremists did in fact execute the attacks that doesn't shed any light on who was behind them. Bin Laden, if that's your answer, is the joke of the century.
We can argue from now till eternity but simply put the ensuing publicly-known investigation(s) on 9/11 were politically motivated and lacked an objective and scientific methodology.
On Feb 13th 2005, the wonderful British wife of a Lebanese friend received a call from someone in the British Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. She was specifically instructed not to leave her house tomorrow to go to work or anywhere else. On the morning of Feb 14th 2005 (the very next day) Rafiq Hariri, the Lebanese Prime Minister, was assassinated in Beirut. Does that prove that the British did it and that Hizbullah, Israel, Syria or any other side were innocent? No, it doesn't, but it strongly suggests that British Intelligence had prior and detailed knowledge of the assassination or at least, if we insist on being very specific, that something big was going to happen. This knowledge prompted the British Embassy in Beirut to call its registered citizens and ask them to stay at home.
I am inclined to believe that the US Government knows most if not all about the details surrounding the 9/11 tragedy. It is clear that this knowledge was not fully divulged to the general public before and after the tragedy.
My personal inclination in favor of the hypothesis that someone in both the US and Israeli governments was directly involved might take a long time to come to light if it's true at all. I never think of myself as being absolutely right, a great advantage of being a generalist. However, that THEY did have prior knowledge is already proven beyond a doubt. Make whatever you want out of my reasoning but to go as far as to consider it a part of "fringe theories" is as relevant as my thinking that your mind is on the fringe.
I hope to get back to posting on Syrian food and other local delights. This needs some detachment on my part which I don't claim to possess. Syria is going through extremely difficult times and I'm trying to cope intellectually as best as I can.
Thank you for your visit and I'd love to see you here again.
I think the most important thing to remember about 9-11 is it was not an isolated event. It was part of a succession of events that started many, many years before and are continuing today. It involves numerous countries and leaders, alliances, arms deals, invasions, murders, masacres, revolts, betrayals, agendas, posturing, and propagandizing, etc. It is naive not to look beyond the "villians" that the US government conveniently produced for us and not to question why a) al qaeda was involved (ie what events lead them to an attack of such proportions) b)what advantages did the US gain by fingering al qaeda, and c) could there not be others involved?
@Isobel
The point you brought out in your comment is basically the primary missing component of all "public" investigations of 9/11. Without a macro analytical lens we drown into details, true and false.
It's unfair to claim that only American neo-cons and supporters of Israel use denigration to discredit opponents by calling them Islamists, anti-Semitics or whatever else is most effective at one point in time but this is their main line of attack, always. It is a very effective weapon that puts fear in the hearts of say an American congressman, senator, mayor, police chief, city council member or any aspiring politician but doesn't scratch a toenail on my foot. Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn :-)
As always, thank you for brightening up my blog.
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