Thursday, November 04, 2004
I watched the third and final part of The Power of Nightmares (Part One, Part Two,) last night. Up until two days ago I would have said it was a program that every American needed to see before they voted. That is based on the idea that the majority of Americans who voted on Tuesday were making their decision based on any kind of rational thought process, now I know that's not the case I know it would have been a wasted effort.
It was the most provocative of the three episodes, not only did it wrap up the story of the neo-conservatives and the Islamicists in the dying days of the twentieth century and after the events of September 11th 2001, it also set out to fairly thoroughly show that pretty much everything the U.S. and U.K. had done in it's 'War Against Terror' was a sham.
Al Qaeda did not exist before the U.S. invented it. They did this because they wanted to try Osama Bin Ladin in absentia in the late nineties. The only way they could do that was if he was a member of a criminal organisation, because they were using anti-Mafia legislation. While he had associates in terrorism, he wasn't a criminal mastermind, more a facilitator for others who wanted to cause death and destruction. So they turned to an informant who knew Bin Ladin, who was actually on the run because he'd stolen some of Beardy's money, who helpfully gave them a load of crap in a plea bargain exchange, he got a ton of cash from them, they got 'Al Qaeda'.
Pretty much every case that has come up since then has been quietly dropped, when some men were found with a video of them walking around Disneyland this made a splash in the news, they were eventually released with no media mention several months later. Another group of men came under suspicion when one of them, because he was leaving the country to get married, emailed the others saying he would never see them again, and it was feared he was going to become a suicide bomber.
The problem, as the show put it, was that people in intelligence organisations are made to think that proof might be suspicious, but no proof is damning evidence of conspiracy. So in the case of the groom-to-be, the innocent explanation can't be right. Which is not to say the risk is absolute zero, but the claims of thousands of sleeper cells in America and the U.K., which is such a blatant 'reds under the beds' scare you'd think people would reaslise it's rubbish, is false. But Osama does not send out legions of fanatics, groups of fanatics find their way to him and Osama Bin Saville fixes it for them to have the financial support to do what they want, all they have to do is make sure that they brand it as an Al Qaeda operation. This explains why he's never taken responsibility for 9/11, because he's genuinely not the one that had the idea.
And dirty bombs? Apparently the US Army spent twenty years trying to make a dirty bomb and they gave up, because they couldn't get it to irradiate anyone. The report that the media normally refer to when warning of dirty bombs said the only way someone could become irradiated was that if they stood next to an exploded dirty bomb for a year, without resting, and with no-one doing anything about the bomb.
But hey, so what if The War Against Terror is a sham? Americans can find many other reasons to vote for Bush:
I voted for Bush because I am ProLife and against gay marriage.
This man is anti-equality and wants to kill women by forcing them to stick coat-hangers where they really shouldn't go.
Ever since an attempt was made in the 1770s to tax our favourite breakfast beverage, Americans have never liked being told what we should do, or how we should do it.
This man voted for George Bush because of a 230 year old grudge against Brits. That's impressive staying power.
I believe America is in the middle of a culture war, perpetuated by Hollywood, the media, and elitists who are tearing down the traditional values that are so important to me and my family.
This woman's an American Christian. Even more worryingly she claims: 'he sets a good example for my children'. Which presumerably means she regularly asks her children why they haven't yet started a war against a third world country for fallacious reasons.
I voted for Bush because there is a time for diplomacy and he understands when that is.
Wouldn't it have been more honest to say 'I voted for Bush because he doesn't believe in diplomacy'?
Europe needs to get on board with us or get left behind!
Obviously someone majoring in Business at University...
I voted for Bush because I will not have Bruce Springsteen, Gerhard Schroeder, Osama Bin Laden and Michael Moore telling me who to vote for.
I don't remember Schroeder expressing an opinion but he might have done, I don't know. Bin Laden was giving his support to Bush. But he obviously prefers being told to vote for Bush by Fox News and... President Bush.
But even more scarily we have these two Philosophy majors: During a war a change in leadership may bring comfort to the enemy. Never bring your enemy comfort. While I am a Democrat domestically I would never want to bring comfort to our enemies. and My vote for Bush was a vote against Kerry. I do not like how Bush allows his religious beliefs to run his domestic policies. I had planned on voting for Ralph Nader instead. About a month ago I read the 8,000 word article in the Sunday New York Times magazine that discussed John Kerry's views on terrorism and how he feels it should be handled. Frankly it scared me. Well, firstly I assume that the second one didn't mean that second sentence. But this is basically people who didn't support Bush who voted Bush because of The War Against Terror that doesn't exist.
I voted for President Bush mainly so he would be the one appointing a Supreme Court justice this term. This is what it comes down to isn't it? I want Bush to have the power to make this a land fit for Conservatives until the Rapture shows up.
What should President Bush do now?
Resign, in the name of peace, hope and decency.
Whoops, someone's letting the Europeans give their opinion on Shrubya.
Distopia has a nice selection of armbands who wants to mourn the death of common sense.
It was the most provocative of the three episodes, not only did it wrap up the story of the neo-conservatives and the Islamicists in the dying days of the twentieth century and after the events of September 11th 2001, it also set out to fairly thoroughly show that pretty much everything the U.S. and U.K. had done in it's 'War Against Terror' was a sham.
Al Qaeda did not exist before the U.S. invented it. They did this because they wanted to try Osama Bin Ladin in absentia in the late nineties. The only way they could do that was if he was a member of a criminal organisation, because they were using anti-Mafia legislation. While he had associates in terrorism, he wasn't a criminal mastermind, more a facilitator for others who wanted to cause death and destruction. So they turned to an informant who knew Bin Ladin, who was actually on the run because he'd stolen some of Beardy's money, who helpfully gave them a load of crap in a plea bargain exchange, he got a ton of cash from them, they got 'Al Qaeda'.
Pretty much every case that has come up since then has been quietly dropped, when some men were found with a video of them walking around Disneyland this made a splash in the news, they were eventually released with no media mention several months later. Another group of men came under suspicion when one of them, because he was leaving the country to get married, emailed the others saying he would never see them again, and it was feared he was going to become a suicide bomber.
The problem, as the show put it, was that people in intelligence organisations are made to think that proof might be suspicious, but no proof is damning evidence of conspiracy. So in the case of the groom-to-be, the innocent explanation can't be right. Which is not to say the risk is absolute zero, but the claims of thousands of sleeper cells in America and the U.K., which is such a blatant 'reds under the beds' scare you'd think people would reaslise it's rubbish, is false. But Osama does not send out legions of fanatics, groups of fanatics find their way to him and Osama Bin Saville fixes it for them to have the financial support to do what they want, all they have to do is make sure that they brand it as an Al Qaeda operation. This explains why he's never taken responsibility for 9/11, because he's genuinely not the one that had the idea.
And dirty bombs? Apparently the US Army spent twenty years trying to make a dirty bomb and they gave up, because they couldn't get it to irradiate anyone. The report that the media normally refer to when warning of dirty bombs said the only way someone could become irradiated was that if they stood next to an exploded dirty bomb for a year, without resting, and with no-one doing anything about the bomb.
But hey, so what if The War Against Terror is a sham? Americans can find many other reasons to vote for Bush:
I voted for Bush because I am ProLife and against gay marriage.
This man is anti-equality and wants to kill women by forcing them to stick coat-hangers where they really shouldn't go.
Ever since an attempt was made in the 1770s to tax our favourite breakfast beverage, Americans have never liked being told what we should do, or how we should do it.
This man voted for George Bush because of a 230 year old grudge against Brits. That's impressive staying power.
I believe America is in the middle of a culture war, perpetuated by Hollywood, the media, and elitists who are tearing down the traditional values that are so important to me and my family.
This woman's an American Christian. Even more worryingly she claims: 'he sets a good example for my children'. Which presumerably means she regularly asks her children why they haven't yet started a war against a third world country for fallacious reasons.
I voted for Bush because there is a time for diplomacy and he understands when that is.
Wouldn't it have been more honest to say 'I voted for Bush because he doesn't believe in diplomacy'?
Europe needs to get on board with us or get left behind!
Obviously someone majoring in Business at University...
I voted for Bush because I will not have Bruce Springsteen, Gerhard Schroeder, Osama Bin Laden and Michael Moore telling me who to vote for.
I don't remember Schroeder expressing an opinion but he might have done, I don't know. Bin Laden was giving his support to Bush. But he obviously prefers being told to vote for Bush by Fox News and... President Bush.
But even more scarily we have these two Philosophy majors: During a war a change in leadership may bring comfort to the enemy. Never bring your enemy comfort. While I am a Democrat domestically I would never want to bring comfort to our enemies. and My vote for Bush was a vote against Kerry. I do not like how Bush allows his religious beliefs to run his domestic policies. I had planned on voting for Ralph Nader instead. About a month ago I read the 8,000 word article in the Sunday New York Times magazine that discussed John Kerry's views on terrorism and how he feels it should be handled. Frankly it scared me. Well, firstly I assume that the second one didn't mean that second sentence. But this is basically people who didn't support Bush who voted Bush because of The War Against Terror that doesn't exist.
I voted for President Bush mainly so he would be the one appointing a Supreme Court justice this term. This is what it comes down to isn't it? I want Bush to have the power to make this a land fit for Conservatives until the Rapture shows up.
What should President Bush do now?
Resign, in the name of peace, hope and decency.
Whoops, someone's letting the Europeans give their opinion on Shrubya.
Distopia has a nice selection of armbands who wants to mourn the death of common sense.
