Excellent scholarly article on the events surrounding the September 11 attacks from a psychosocial perspective. Highly recommended. Part II to follow. (via WantToKnow)
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Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and 9/11
Journal of PsychohistoryVolume 32, No. 3, Winter 2005, pp. 202-238
"Wars have generally occurred after periods of increased prosperity and social progress, especially when accompanied by more personal freedom. The progress and increased wealth are felt to have polluted the national bloodstream with sinful excess, making men 'soft' and 'feminine,' a frightful condition that can only be cleansed by a blood-shedding purification. There is no question that if the world could treat children with helping-mode parenting, wars and other self-destructive social conditions we still suffer from in the twenty-first century will be cured." -- Article on 9/11 in Journal of Psychohistory, Volume 32, No. 3
At the beginning of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld promised: "What will follow will not be a repeat of any other conflict. It will be of a force and scope and scale that has been beyond what has been seen before." The invasion that ensued was, like all wars, destructive and resulted in the loss of thousands of lives. Yet Baghdad fell in a mere three weeks, and just six weeks after the invasion commenced, President Bush announced: "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended." Despite the death and destruction, it was hardly a war of a 'force,' 'scope' and 'scale' beyond what had been seen before.
However, before it began, there were indications that some people wanted a far more destructive war than that which ensued. For example, ridiculous as it may now sound, it was suggested that Britain and America might use nuclear weapons against Iraq. As The Guardian reported at the time:
"From last year's US defence review and the testimony of the Defence Secretary, Geoffrey Hoon ..... it was clear that a major change in the US and UK nuclear policy was taking place. For the first time, Britain and America were contemplating using nuclear weapons against an enemy using only chemical or biological weapons. Referring to 'states of concern', and Saddam Hussein in particular, Mr Hoon []: 'They can be absolutely confident that in the right conditions we would be willing to use our nuclear weapons.'" [1]
A month before the invasion, Hoon repeated his warning: "Saddam can be absolutely confident that in the right conditions we would be willing to use nuclear weapons." [2] As investigative journalist John Pilger points out: "No British minister has ever made such an outright threat." [3]
Thankfully, the invasion passed without our resorting to nuclear weapons. But it seemed the desire for a bigger conflict remained, with attempts beginning almost immediately to find a new, more formidable enemy. In particular, Iran and Syria seemed next on the list for 'liberation.' At a press conference in July 2003, President Bush issued a stern warning to both countries, accusing them of harboring terrorists. "This behaviour is completely unacceptable," he said, "and states that continue to harbour terrorists will be held completely accountable." [4] Three months later, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton told journalists: "There is awareness of the threat posed by Iran and consensus that threat has to be eliminated." [5] Yet these warnings failed to capture much public interest.
Instead, there was a growing interest around the investigation into the attacks of September 11, 2001. Previously, the press had largely ignored the work of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, better known as the "9-11 Commission." When it held its second public hearings in May 2003 on the key issue of air defense, the New York Times and Los Angeles Times failed to write any articles about it. [6] Suddenly though, in March 2004 the Commission became the center of attention when former White House security expert Richard Clarke publicly testified before it and criticized the Bush administration for failing to address terrorism when it first came into office.
Since then, the 9/11 Commission remained a major news story and the book of its final report became an instant bestseller. However, the mass media were still overlooking the fact that increasing numbers of people were seriously questioning the entire official account of 9/11. More and more books had been released around the world giving evidence of possible U.S. government complicity in the attacks.
Polls suggested that millions of people were suspicious: A Zogby poll in late August 2004 found 49 per cent of New York City residents and 41 per cent of New York citizens overall agreed that "some leaders in the U.S. Government knew in advance that attacks were planned on or around September 11, 2001, and that they consciously failed to take action." [7] A survey three months earlier found 63 per cent of Canadians believed the U.S. Government had "prior knowledge of the plans for the events of September 11th, and failed to take appropriate action to stop them." [8] A July 2003 poll had found almost a fifth of Germans believed the U.S. Government, or elements within it, were responsible for organizing the attacks. [9]
With attempts at identifying a new 'external enemy' so far failing, I believe it is possible that, instead, this growing suspicion around 9/11 will develop into an unprecedented public scandal. But what are these suspicions about? Are they simply the result of rumour and 'urban legend,' or could some of the disturbing allegations now being made be found true in the future? In this article, I will examine some of the arguments put forward by 9/11 skeptics, along with supporting evidence. Then I will examine some of the psychohistorical evidence that shows why we could be heading for a major scandal over the events of 9/11.
Until the controversy around 9/11 is brought into the open and investigated properly, it is up to individuals to draw their own conclusions. However, in my opinion, the volume of evidence now gathered is enough to suggest a massive scandal is a real possibility. The implications of this would be extraordinary. As one of the most prominent 9/11 skeptics, former German government minister Andreas von Bülow, says: "If what I say is right, the whole US government should end up behind bars." [10]
DONALD RUMSFELD ON 9/11
As U.S. secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld was on 9/11 second in the military chain-of-command behind the president. Yet details of what he did during the attacks are sketchy and from what we currently know, he did nothing in response to the crisis until it was too late to make a difference.
According to Rumsfeld, on the morning of September 11 he was hosting a breakfast meeting at the Pentagon for some members of Congress. He told them that "sometime in the next two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve months there would be an event that would occur in the world that would be sufficiently shocking that it would remind people again how important it is to have a strong healthy defense department." [11]
Soon after, someone walked in and gave him a note saying a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Yet Rumsfeld apparently was not moved to take action. "[W]e adjourned the meeting, and I went in to get my CIA briefing," he has said. [12] Whilst in his office with the CIA briefer, Rumsfeld says he was told of the second plane hitting the WTC. Yet he went ahead with a meeting in his private dining room at the Pentagon with his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz and U.S. Representative Christopher Cox, to discuss how to win votes for Bush's defense plan.
During this meeting, Rumsfeld was apparently oblivious to the fact that an airplane was heading towards Washington. However, he made another prediction: "let me tell you, I've been around the block a few times," he told Representative Cox. "There will be another event." For emphasis, he repeated: "There will be another event." [13] Just minutes later the Pentagon was hit.
Rumsfeld says: "I went outside to determine what had happened. I was not there long because I was back in the Pentagon with a crisis action team shortly before or after 10:00 a.m. On my return from the crash site and before going to the executive support center, I had one or more calls in my office, one of which was with the president." [14] Rumsfeld didn't enter the National Military Command Center within the Pentagon though until 10.30. Brigadier General Montague Winfield says: "For 30 minutes we couldn't find him." [15] As the 9/11 Commission conclude: "The Secretary of Defense did not enter the chain of command until the morning's key events were over." [16] Nor is Rumsfeld on the record as having given any orders that morning.
Yet, according to military procedure, if the Federal Aviation Administration were to notify the National Military Command Center of a hijacking, with the exception of "immediate responses" the NMCC was required to "forward requests for DOD assistance to the Secretary of Defense for approval." [17] Of course, 9/11 would easily come under the heading of "immediate responses." All the same, Rumsfeld has yet to be asked whether he was contacted in line with this military procedure and, if so, what did he do in response?
Interestingly, since 9/11 Donald Rumsfeld has made statements suggesting why he may have wanted an event like 9/11 to occur. For example, in a televised interview two years after the attacks, he described how he thinks about what a senior leader in the Gulf told him, that maybe 9/11 was "a blessing in disguise," and a "wake-up call" for the world to deal with the growing threat of terrorism. Rumsfeld said he agreed with this, that 9/11 was indeed a 'wake-up call.' [18] He wrote a similar thing in his prepared testimony to the 9/11 Commission:
"Think about what has been done since the September 11th attacks: two state sponsors of terrorism have been removed from power, a 90-nation coalition has been formed which is cooperating on a number of levels… All of these actions are putting pressure on terrorist networks. Taken together, they represent a collective effort that is unprecedented." [19]
Part II follows....
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