911 is the pivot around which our world has turned into what it now is. We are engaged in an endless, global war on terror. Our constitution is now ‘more honored in the breach than in the observance.’ We are on the brink of war with a third country in the Middle East with the first two going very badly. The Iraq war has cost over a trillion dollars and rising. The economy is in tatters, teetering on collapse. We have gone from a 2001 reputation as the most beloved country in the world to a 2008 reputation as the most despised. Our President is hated the world over, massively distrusted even at home. Tens of thousands of our country-men are dead from the wars and the events, including the terrible pollution, of 911. We cannot freely move about, gas prices soar, and we await another, and far worse, attack. The government pumps out the frenzy and paranoia about terrorism. The world has become seriously unhinged. We stand at the brink of terrible and catastrophic change. I will get to many more aspects of that.

But first, a few of the thousands of questions about 911:

To my dear friends in the sangha,

Today, I call to you for help. I fear that I have gone mad. I am convinced that the United States government is responsible for the attacks of 9/11. Please help me. I have contacted many fellow sangha members, and received the ice of no response. I am abandoned by my sangha in my time of need. My life has become meaningless in light of my radically changed world outlook. My days are spent in anxiety, my nights without sleep. I have done significant research on the matter and each point only reinforces my certainty. I have, in fact, encountered nothing to make me doubt this in the slightest. I have put together the following list of questions. No one is denying the data in the following. The list could easily be far longer, into the thousands of questions.

Why was Max Cleland, the only person proved to have no conflict of interest, removed from the 911 commission?

Why did he say, ‘Bush is scamming the American people…it’s disgusting. The American people are being cheated. We shouldn’t be making deals. If somebody wants to deal, we should issue subpoenas. That’s the deal.’

Why did Bush/Cheney testify in secret, allow only two members of the 911 commission, limit the meeting to one hour, disallow a recording, refuse to take an oath, and insist on testifying together?

Why did it take 441 days to convene the 911 commission and require intensive political pressure from the 911 spouses (family steering committee) to get the commission convened?

Why was Henry Kissinger taken off the commission only after the family steering committee pointed out his business ties to the Bin Laden family?

Why did the commission refuse a popular choice from the family steering committee to replace Cleland?

Why was Bob Kerry, an ultra-hawk neo-con, accused by military witnesses of the war crime of ordering the slaughter of 21 unarmed women and children, a man with significant oil and defense ties, chosen to replace Cleland?

Why was the commission composed principally of White House staff and entirely of people with significant oil and defense connections?

Why did they answer fewer than 20% of the family steering committee’s questions?

Why were two different FBI investigations in 2000 dropped, both of which were monitoring several of the later named hijackers?

Why did the commission find ‘no unusual trading activity’ concerning the hundreds of millions of dollars of very risky, but highly lucrative put options on American, United, Merrill Lynch, and Marsh & Mclennan (major tenants of WTC)?

Why did the FBI never investigate these investments despite a legal obligation to?

Why did the Commission not follow the trail of $100,000 in terrorist financing?

How could they possibly call this wire transfer ‘of little significance?’

Why did they not investigate when evidence traced the money from General Ahmad of Pakistani intelligence to Mohamed Atta, a principal highjacker?

Why was this same General Ahmad of Pakistani Intelligence having breakfast with government officials the morning of the attacks?

Why were several government officials, John Ashcroft for example, warned not to fly in the days before?

Why did the White House deny prior knowledge despite significant evidence to the contrary, including warnings from eleven other governments and CIA/FBI warnings?

Why did the Secret Service violate protocol and leave the President in a children’s classroom after knowing, by the second plane strike, the United States was under attack?

Why, when told by the Secret Service, “A second plane has struck the World Trade Center. America is under attack,” didn’t he ask a single question?

Why did he continue with a reading of The Pet Goat for another ten minutes after the second strike instead of responding to the unfolding national emergency immediately?

Why, during an attack on America, did he remain in the school building for telephone calls and a press conference (with children) instead of moving to a secret, secure location?

Why did Air Force One fly later that day without military escort?

Why did flight 77 circle all the way around the Pentagon and strike the far less militarily important side, adding several high-risk minutes to its flight time through the most controlled airspace in the entire world?

Why didn’t they strike the number one terrorist target in the US, Indian Point nuclear power station (flown directly over twice), to kill millions and desolate the Northeastern seaboard?

Why did their terrorist informant believe that Indian Point would be better protected than the Pentagon?

Why did Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announce the disappearance from the Pentagon of $2.3 trillion on September 10th, the day before?

Why did flight 77 happen to strike the accounting office of the Pentagon, destroying the records and killing the people which might help find this money?

Why were there no back-up records?

Why did NORAD, knowing the US was under terrorist attack, not scramble fighter jets to intercept this third hijacked plane for 29 full minutes as it flew directly toward the Pentagon?

Why were the fighter jets, when eventually scrambled, sent out over the ocean, which is in the opposite direction?

Why were the pilots not told the nature of the attack and left to presume it was Russian missiles?

Why were there war games of eerily similar scenarios occurring in the NORAD system simultaneously?

What is the meaning of a young aide saying “50 miles…30 miles…10 miles…do the orders still stand?” to Dick Cheney as he sat in the underground war room watching flight 77 on radar?

What does his response: “Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard otherwise?” mean?

Why does Cheney’s testimony of when he arrived conflict with that of Transportation Secretary William Mineta?

Why is Mineta’s testimony omitted from the 911 Commission report?

Why did NORAD, on September 14th, change their account from no jets scrambled until after the Pentagon strike at 9:37 to jets being scrambled at 8:44?

How was NORAD notified of the Flight 93 hijacking at 9:16 when it did not occur until 9:28?

Why did NORAD completely change the timeline in May 2003 and again in mid-June of 2004, for a total of 4 different timelines?

Why was no one at NORAD ever charged with perjury or obstruction of justice when only one of these four accounts can be correct?

Why are there no Arabic names on the passenger manifests?

Considering this lack, how did our intelligence manage to name all the hijackers within a few hours?

Why does the number of names on the passenger manifest not match those of the official released reports at CNN.com by a discrepancy of more than 37 names?

Why is the only evidence from the twin towers planes to survive a remarkably intact passport?

How did it happen to belong to a terrorist?

Why did the government claim the black boxes were destroyed, when two emergency workers say the opposite?

How did the cockpit voice recorder for flight 93 record the terrorists planning to break the door down when they were obviously outside the cockpit?

Why did the fighter planes flying to intercept the South Tower plane fly at 28% of top speed?

Why does the simulation, taken from actual data, of flight 77 (Pentagon strike) omit the standard procedure of changing from air altitude to true altitude, thus causing the flight to appear to be flying 300 feet lower than it actually was just before it struck?

Why does the actual data, interpreted correctly, show the plane flying over the Pentagon because of this?

Why does the same data show the plane missing the destroyed light poles by a wide margin to the left?

Why do photos of the light poles show them laying on the ground without any dents (from being struck)?

Why did the people who created the government report refuse to give answers to a pilot’s group who discovered the error?

Why did the FBI show up five minutes after the Pentagon strike at the neighboring gas station and hotel to confiscate their video records?

Why haven’t the video records of flight 77 striking the Pentagon ever been released?

Why did General Stubblebine and Air Force Lt. Colonel, fighter pilot, and Florida Congressional candidate Robert Bowman (a vigorous member of the truth movement) state positively that the 5 released frames of video record of whatever struck the Pentagon was not flight 77 based on their expert knowledge of aircraft type?

Why did a government spokesperson claim that the plane vaporized on impact?

Can a plane actually vaporize on impact when there are no records of one ever having done so before?

Why do professional pilots, who flew the same aircraft, regard the final maneuvers of flight 77’s official simulation saying it is not possible, the wings would be torn off?

Why did military radar personnel who were monitoring say that it flew like a military plane?

How did high-jacker Hani Hanjour, a notoriously poor pilot by his own instructor’s accounts, having never flown anything larger than a twin engine Cessna, manage this impossible maneuver with a large jet airliner?

Why is the Pentagon hole smaller than the plane with no destruction where the wings should have hit?

Why did Osama bin Laden, on the first video, deny all responsibility for the attack?

Why do FBI comparative techniques reveal differences in facial and body structure and skin coloration between the first Bin Laden video and the second?

Why have we never seen the fall of World Trade Center 7 on television since 9/11?

Why did the collapse match all eleven characteristics of a controlled demolition?

Why do most Americans not know of this building’s collapse?

Why did bldg 7 house offices for SEC, CIA, IRS, DOD, and New York Emergency Management?

Why were the destroyed records those which would prosecute people for Enron, Worldcom and at least 3000 other pending cases of corporate malfeasance?

Why were there no back-ups for the records destroyed in bldg 7?

Why did a BBC reporter report the collapse of Building 7 despite the fact that it is clearly standing over her shoulder in the footage?

Why did it collapse 23 minutes later?

Why, when Steven Jones was interviewed on MSNBC, did the interviewer essentially refuse to play the video of this event despite several clear requests by Jones, who had supplied them with the video?

Why is there first responder testimony of a 3-2-1 countdown immediately before the bldg 7 collapse?

Why were people warned away and told the building would collapse in the minutes before?

How did it collapse at free fall speed?

How did it fall straight down, through its own frame (the path of greatest resistance)?

Why does the government hypothesis, that of fire, state that it holds low probability?

Why has no steel high-rise structure in history ever collapsed due to fire, though there have been many, both hot and long?

Why, if heat caused catastrophic failure, do the two fires look so tiny in all video records?

Why has the government not provided us with a study of this collapse?

Why did savvy real estate tycoon Larry Silverstein, three months before, take out a 99 year lease on the World Trade Centers when they were losing money and required $200 million in asbestos abatement?

Why did Silverstein include a very unusual insurance provision for $3.5 billion compensation in the event of a terrorist attack?

How did he receive two claims for a total of more than $6 billion?

Is it coincidence that the city of New York had twice denied a permit for demolition to the World Trade Center in the past?

What was the large quantity of molten metal found beneath all three buildings, up to a month later?

Why has molten metal never been found before or after from any other high-rise fire?

Why is molten metal always found after controlled demolitions?

How did collapse occur when NIST (the government investigative body) says the fires were not hot enough to weaken the steel nor the plane damage enough to significantly compromise it?

Why, if the heat weakened the steel, do two firefighters call from the 78th floor requesting two hoses to put out two small fires?

Why is the smoke visibly thick and black, indicative of a cool, poorly burning fire?

Why did a company called Controlled Demolition remove the debris?

Where are the massive flames, aside from the initial fireball, in any of the videos?

Why is there eyewitness testimony from hundreds of firefighters claiming they saw and heard explosions from the towers as they fell?

Why are there more than twenty eyewitness statements claiming it looked just like a deliberate collapse?

Why was video-recorded eyewitness testimony of 500 people, including emergency responders, withheld until the New York Times sued for its release under the Freedom of Information Act?

Why was Kevin Ryan of Underwriters Laboratory, the company that tested the original WTC steel, fired a week after he questioned the results of the NIST report?

Why have six of the hijackers come forward, still alive, protesting their obvious innocence?

Why was the World Trade Center shut down several times, with prior warning, due to power outages in the weeks before?

What are the reports of empty floors, occupants moved around, and loud construction noises in the weeks before 911?

Why was Marvin Bush, the President’s brother, chairman of the board for Securacom, the security contractor for the World Trade Center?

Why was most of the evidence, steel, etc., shipped to China for recycling almost immediately?

Did those who sent the steel away know they were violating federal evidence laws?

Why is the available evidence being withheld in violation of the Freedom of Information Act?

How did an explosion, verified by seismographic records, wound several people in the basement eight seconds before the first plane struck?

Why did Dan Rather say, “that looks just like when they bring a building down on purpose?”

Why did senior demolitions contractor Danny Jowenko, when he saw bldg 7 fall, say, “That was a controlled demolition?”

Why did Fire Engineer and editor of Fire Engineering magazine Bill Manning say, “…the official investigation by FEMA is a half-baked farce that may have already been commandeered by political forces whose interests, to put it mildly, lay far afield of full disclosure. The structural damage from the planes and the explosive ignition of jet fuel were not enough in themselves to bring down the towers?”

Why are hundreds of architects and engineers saying that the official theory of collapse violates the fundamental law of Physics known as conservation of momentum?

Why are hundreds of architects and engineers saying that the official theory of collapse violates the fundamental law of Physics known as conservation of mass-energy, or e=mc2?

Why are hundreds of architects and engineers saying that the official theory of collapse violates the second law of thermodynamics which states that an asymmetry will increase over time, thus making straight-down collapse impossible?

Why are they saying that even if it collapsed, it could not possibly collapse all the way to the ground?

If 911 was an inside job, would all this make sense?

Why isn’t the media asking these questions?

Why isn’t every American?

Despite an overwhelming media bias supporting the official story, a showbiz tonight e-mail poll received an 81% yes response to the question, “Do you agree there is a government cover-up of 911?” A CNN poll gave an astounding 89% yes response. Whatever they are hiding, it is probably very important, and the American people, in fact, all the world, deserves to know. From a recent Zogby poll, twenty million Americans are convinced that the government made it happen on purpose. Sixty million consider it likely. An enormous 140 million believe the government knew (based on strong evidence) and let it happen on purpose. It sounds like a big difference, but I would suggest that the two theories amount to the same thing. To let it happen on purpose is to invite it. It is complicity already. It is a case for treason.

The strongest argument I have yet heard against the inside job theory is that people cannot believe the government would do it, cannot imagine how they could have done it, or how that many people could keep a secret. First, the CIA has on its website declassified documents concerning Operation Northwood, a false flag (pretending another country was responsible) mission nixed by Kennedy after it got military approval. It involved sinking a US boat, soldiers and all, then blaming it on Cuba. The government can and has done similar ops, openly admitting to many. See Operation Ajax, Gulf of Tonkin, USS Liberty attack, and the Lavon affair, to name a few. The government experimented with radiation on its own citizens from 1944 to 1994 through injections and pills given to unsuspecting participants, even children and pregnant mothers. All secret for fifty years. Google it and see. A prominent Congressman of the time argued that the Great Depression was engineered by the Federal Reserve. (More on this later).

Second is the objection: how could they have accomplished it? Or, it sounds too much like a conspiracy theory. This is double-think of the grossest sort. 19 hijackers could somehow accomplish this, including the NORAD stand-down and the intelligence community’s willful ignoring of massive data. A group of terrorists plotting secretly to hijack planes and fly them into buildings is itself a conspiracy theory. It’s merely the one we’ve been told over and over again. Therefore, we believe it. But look at the ACTUAL EVIDENCE, a small portion of which is above. This seems to be extraordinarily difficult for most people. They simply will not look. Bizarrely, scientists are even more susceptible to this, despite their refrain of basing theories on empirical and forensic data. Sadly, it stems from fear. The dissociative process resulting from ACTUALLY LOOKING and finding out the truth in this matter, threatens the entire world-view.

Now, how could they accomplish it? 4000 lbs of thermite explosive would take out any of these buildings. That much could be carried in on ten janitorial cart loads. CIA and Delta force operatives are the most elite, well-trained covert specialists in the world. Why would a bunch of stock brokers and computer programmers suspect anything from a team of workmen? Six could rig the building in eight to ten days. The center columns were accessible, but hidden from sight. There were many empty floors, shutdowns, and company offices moved about in the weeks before. Aside from the controlled demolition, the 19 hijackers had to accomplish every other part of the mission and some of their own, like learning to fly large aircraft and obtaining financing. Why on earth would it be easier for them than for expert covert ops specialists acting with complicit assistance from the nation’s executive leadership?

Commercial airliners fly to a landing based on a homing beacon, with slight modifications from the pilot. Conventional technology is in common use to allow a pilot to remotely guide an aircraft, even from a simulator. As little as ten people is enough for this part of the mission. Or perhaps the hijacking was real and the black ops helped.

Supposedly, the hijackers did it with box-cutters, yet the masterful logicians of the Official Theory prove that the United States black ops forces would be unable to do it with the best technology available and an overwhelming home-field advantage. The hijackers had to arrange for massive incompetence or complicity from the most sophisticated and well-trained military defense system on the planet. The hijacker theory is patently absurd. Why is it so believed?

The reality of media control is verified with little effort. See how many of these facts can be proven to your satisfaction based on internet research, yet were never reported in the media. We have the further quote from former CIA director William Colby, “The Central Intelligence Agency owns anyone of any significance in the major media.” Look up project Mockingbird, a CIA plan put into effect years ago to control the media. Or read the Rolling Stone report on CIA reporters. As media guru Marshall McLuhan said, ‘Only the small secrets need to be protected. The big ones are kept secret by public incredulity.’

As to keeping secrets, the above answer applies. We have the best trained, most technological black ops agents in the history of the world. There are thousands of them, CIA, NSA (which no one knew of for decades, despite several thousand employees), Delta force (who will not admit Delta Force exists nor say anything about it), and other more secret groups including Blackwater, a mercenary, corporate funded army. The operatives are psychologically profiled for innate characteristics which allow them to keep information under intensive interrogation. Then they receive years of training in techniques to enhance those skills, allowing them to resist torture. Covert ops are built on clandestine activity. Operating in the shadows, agents have overthrown governments, fomented rebellion, arranged assassinations, made drug money and funneled it to resistance fighters, sold weapons, stolen weapons, given Russian weapons away to blame activities on our enemies, and lived with false identities in foreign countries for years without anyone knowing, and they never breathed a word. (One example, a grisly 1940’s and 50’s CIA mind-control program included 80 institutions, hundreds of doctors, and more than a few deaths, yet no one ever spoke about it. Discovery happened through an accidental connection.) From these tens of thousands of covert personnel, the most elite would have been chosen, tested and subjected to months of black ops mental programming. The statement that these highly trained operatives cannot keep a secret is absurd. Thousands of would-be heroes kept ULTRA secret for 29 years after World War II, with far less incentive and training than these perpetrators.

One stunning fact is that the FBI wanted profile for Osama bin Laden does not even mention 911. They refer to a 1998 bombing. When muckraker.com contacted them, they said, ‘the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 911.’ Despite that odd admission, we invaded Afghanistan. Interestingly, a prior negotation with the Taliban to pass a critical oil pipeline through that same country failed.

Whistleblower Russ Tice, a military intelligence analyst, has sought to testify before Congress about his information on 911, and been refused. National Security Whistleblowers Coalition put a list of thirteen people prepared to testify to the 911 Commission. All were turned away, ignored, or censored. The list included eight FBI agents, a colonel from the Defense Intelligence Agency, a special agent of ATF, a member of the security division of the FAA, and emergency attack specialist from the USDA, an NSA senior analyst. Many other intelligence and law enforcement agents contacted the commission but were refused the chance to testify. Many who have tried to testify have been demoted, lost jobs, and even imprisoned.

Most disturbing is that people seem to not be paying attention. Perhaps the birth of Brad and Angelina’s new baby, or the ugly demise of Britney Spears are more pressing concerns, thus worthy of the awesome media attention paid, but I respectfully find this to be a gross error in proportion. This matter is far from over. The world looms upon an abyss.

America once sounded the clarion call of freedom and equality for all men. In 1776, this nation struggled as a small colony and put democracy onto the world stage. Many free nations have been born and all the world has benefited, seeing by clear example that tyranny was not the mandate of heaven. Now we have fallen into the illusion that despotism cannot strike our shores. Perhaps this belief is true, but where is the proof? Rome was a Republic for 200 years longer than we have now been when Julius Caesar pulled his fascinating coup.

World history shows perhaps ten or twelve true democracies. Most have fallen, and no logic will protect us from ignorance of this situation. No blind hope that things will improve can suffice now. Does no one feel it in the air, the cold chill that tells all our easy days are vanished? Can anyone sense, in the culture itself, a shadow as it settles over Earth? The annals of history are open for all to read. In the twentieth century alone Stalin killed 60 million, Chairman Mao (praised by David Rockefeller) – 60 million, Hitler – 6 million Jews, 20 million others, Guatemala – 300,000, Cambodia – 2 million, Turkey – 1.5 million, Rwanda – 800 thousand. And the list goes on.

We have become a nation engaged in endless war. Due to our power, the globe must also endure this same fate. The Project for a New American Century (PNAC), begun in 1996, stated as its first, but not foremost aim, a war with Iraq. Their official document said they needed ‘a new Pearl Harbor’ to engage the overt and extreme policy of American militarization. Their primary stated goal is to actually fight and win major engagements in multiple theatres simultaneously. The definition is non-distinguishable from World War III. Twelve members of PNAC hold high staff in the current administration. Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Elliot Abrams, and Jeb Bush are among the PNAC members. Two of their goals, the New Pearl Harbor and the war with Iraq, have already occurred.

The cost of this war is now measured at a trillion dollars, some 200 times the initial estimate of 50 billion. This figure fails to account for future costs such as health concerns for soldiers and equipment replacement, an almost certain doubling. The cost is still rising by nearly a billion dollars per day. We have lost over 4400 soldiers and thousands more civilian volunteers. Tens of thousands of wounded must be added to the equation. The suicide rate of veterans is more than double that of the civilian populace and possibly up to four times as high for war time veterans. The age from 20-24, those serving in Iraq, is the highest. 6256 Veterans took their own life in 2005.

Then we must consider the loss of foreign life, which now numbers a million casualties. Were all of these terrorists? Millions of Iraqis and Afghanis have fled their homes. We have created the greatest refugee state on the planet, as bad as the genocide in Rwanda. Are we yet avenged for our 3000 dead?

Can we so easily justify such a swathe of ruin based on our own wounds? How many of these were innocents? How many children? How many new terrorists have our actions created? Why are we so silent when so much proof of deception has been produced? The war was based on lies as all the world knows. They knew there were no WMD’s and there was no Iraqi connection to al-Quaeda. We, as countrymen, are complicit in this war if we fail to speak against it. Why does no one complain? Where once I was proud to be American, today I am ashamed. Worse, I am now afraid.

This madness has bankrupted the most powerful nation on Earth and now they are eager to begin the next phase: war with Iran. We are rattling their bars through many means, including our old friend: covert operations. Iran may have some greater unity of culture and nationalistic spirit. They may actually fight. I make no defense of the Iranian leader, he is a clear madman who believes in the return of the twefth Imam to lead Iran into battle against the infidels. But perhaps we should bide our time until the twelfth Imam returns to begin battle. It may be a considerable wait and he is up for re-election in 2009. Our brave and worthy soldiers could use some peace-time. His power is far from absolute, too. An intelligent overthrow from inside could be worth consideration.

The Iranian people are far more progressive than the media presents. Iran hosts the largest Jewish population in the middle East, bar Israel, and they live in harmony with their Islamic neighbors while their leader, elected on a progressive platform, has changed and now rails for destruction of Israel. Sharin Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. She accepted her prize unveiled causing shock and outrage among Islamic fundamentalists. However, upon return to Tehran, she was greeted by hundreds of thousands of ecstatic supporters.

70% of the population are under thirty and they blog against the leader with some impunity. The right wing clergy controlling the nation is drastically out of step with this youthful, politically active element. Iran is ripe for reform. If we simply attack her outright, or instigate attack by conceiving of this country as a monolithically fundamental country, we make a terrible error. We unite the people against us. Instead we should do what we do best, engage in blue-jean propaganda. We should speak of civil liberties, humanitarian reforms, and good education, which is what the people there want. They are sick of repressive regimes. Women want to cast off their veils instead of choking in the heat, and people want to view Islam based on the principles of life and love. The great majority reject terrorism outright. We can be friends with Iran and we are foolish for simply going to war. We can engage in diplomacy with the current leaders, while running a free speech campaign to the people via radio, ala WWII’s ‘Voice of Freedom,’ suggesting democratic initiatives and a better quality of life for all the people. We can inculcate a much desired democracy among the people. Why are we so eager to go to war with the country which could be our strongest ally, providing a possible anchor point for the Middle East?

The huge furor over the Mohammed cartoons has been played up by an extremist government out of touch with its people and by a fanatical Western media anxious to prove that terrorism is systemic to Islam. The two governments almost seem to co-ordinate efforts, though ours is probably playing theirs as they wish. This protest involved four hundred in a city of twelve million. The protest, destroying the Dutch embassy, was freely allowed by a government that is ridiculously repressive against even peaceful demonstrations. One must wonder why. The general mood of Iran is not so enraged or incensed as we have been led to believe. It is a select minority characterized as the majority. Viewing our own nation by this logic, we are all Branch Davidians. We all drank the kool-aid.

Ahamadinejad, the Iranian leader, is in fact mocked by his own people, on blogs, for his claim to be surrounded by a luminous light as he spoke before the UN. He was elected on promises of progressive reform, promises he quickly abandoned. Perhaps we should allow the Iranian people the opportunity to speak their voice and change leadership during their 2009 elections. They look likely to shift sharply to the left. All other candidates speak of talks with the West and détente. Even words like partnership appear in the more progressive approaches.

Why would our administration not listen to their head of General Command, Marine General William Fallon? He resigned in protest over the war-like stance of the administration toward Iran. Another high-ranking General refused the position of Iraqi theater command on a similar basis. Instead of listening to our military experts, the administration has wrested $400 million in covert ops funding against Iran.

Even arch-conservative Pat Buchanan has come out against a war with Iran. Former National Security Advisor and Trilateral founder Zbigniew Brzezinski, in an outspoken criticism of the Iraq war, says, ‘…provocation in Iraq or a terrorist attack in the US blamed on Iran…’ could set the stage for a war with Iran. Many have noted the phrase ‘terrorist attack…blamed on Iran,’ a clear implication that Iran would not be the actual perpetrator. Political commentators have taken this to the undeniable conclusion of a (or another) false-flag attack by rogue sections of our own government.

Back at home, oil prices have undergone recent inflation of 70% per year since January, yet the strategic oil reserve is buying it at a record rate. They are tasked with breaking such cycles of speculation by releasing the reserves into the market. Why are they doing the opposite? Mobil, Exxon, Sunoco, and two other American oil conglomerates have been awarded no bid contracts to produce Iraqi oil. We have the right to demand an explanation for this. Has America destroyed Iraq only to privatize its sole national resource, thus robbing its people of any chance for economic recovery and imbuing them with a validated hatred of the U.S.?

America, it seems, is now a colonizing nation.

Some disturbing facts, if anyone bothers to take notice. The writ of habeas corpus was suspended by the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman says that the MCA can be applied to American citizens who can be seized as ‘enemy combatants.’ Law professor Marty Leiderman explains that the Pentagon can use whatever criteria they wish to label someone an enemy combatant. Once seized, the suspect can be thrown into a military prison for life and cannot expect even a military trial, much less any of the other normal protections of the Bill of Rights. Americans can be stripped of citizenship, taken off-shore, tortured, and secretly executed. Under section 802 of the Patriot Act, all misdemeanors are considered acts of terrorism. Section 806 allows the government to seize all assets before a trial of anyone who supports even the protestors committing an illegal act (ACLU).

Patriot II or the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, not yet passed, is heinous. I don’t use the word lightly, but it gives the government dictatorial powers under any examination. Go to: http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/patriot2_hitler_powers_bush.htm for the ugly truth. Remember, the breaking of virtually any law can be labeled an act of terrorism. It is the blueprint for tyranny:

Removal of court-ordered prohibitions against police agencies spying on domestic groups.

The FBI would be granted powers to conduct searches and surveillance based on intelligence gathered in foreign countries without first obtaining a court order.

Creation of a DNA database of suspected terrorists.

Prohibition of any public disclosure of the names of alleged terrorists including those who have been arrested.

Exemptions from civil liability for people and businesses who voluntarily turn private information over to the government.

Criminalization of the use of encryption to conceal incriminating communications.

Automatic denial of bail for persons accused of terrorism-related crimes, reversing the ordinary common law burden of proof principle. All alleged terrorists would be required to demonstrate why they should be released on bail rather than the government being required to demonstrate why they should be held.

Expansion of the list of crimes eligible for the death penalty.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency would be prevented from releasing "worst case scenario" information to the public about chemical plants.

United States citizens whom the government finds to be either members of, or providing material support to, terrorist groups could have their US citizenship revoked and be deported to foreign countries. (from Wikipedia, a white-wash interpretation.)

Former attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said that the Constitution does not guarantee the right of habeas corpus, it only disallows its suspension. This sort of double-speak is illogical and dangerous. The law further allows the military judge to prevent testimony of defense witnesses, allow evidence obtained illegally, and through coercion. The defendant can even be excluded from his own trial for security reasons. This, even though the sixth amendment guarantees the right to a fair trial.

Op-Ed News reports on a military officer, a whistleblower with information on 911, who is in prison in Georgia denied the rights of Habeas Corpus. Ecological activists have been prosecuted as terrorists despite their clear policy of never taking life. This act repeals 800 years of the basic human rights presented by the Magna Carta in 1215. Civilized nations have held this principle since the Middle Ages, yet bafflingly, the United States cannot. The Military Commissions Act was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, but there are many cases (Guantanamo, for example) of this administration dismissing Supreme Court decisions with no concern. The Supreme Court has no power to uphold their decision save the Constitution, but according to our President, “The Constitution is just a goddamned piece of paper.”

I hope you disagree with him.

Armed guards with machine guns are on permanent station outside the houses of Congress. The streets have been redesigned to fold up into barricades. Senator Dennis Kucinich, sponsoring a bill for impeachment, has said that though Senators support the bill, they are intimidated by this type of presence. Is it really to defend against terrorism?

The FBI has issued over 150,000 National Security Letters, or gag orders, since 9/11. This is 100 times the number of any previous administration. These require a citizen to turn over business, medical, or personal records of his clients, associates, neighbors, friends, and family while preventing any disclosure of even having received the letter to anyone. Violation can result in up to six years imprisonment. There are stories of librarians, internet service providers, and others having their lives turned into paranoid nightmares where they cannot discuss this disgusting violation of their human decency with even their own spouse. Most doubt if the suspects are terrorists.

In 2005, Senator Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced HR 1528 which mandates a citizen to inform on any criminal activity he uncovers within 24 hours. If your friend leaves a message about white powder and you fail to report him, you can be arrested. If your neighbor is a suspected drug dealer, you can be forced to wear a wire or go to prison for up to ten years. Your property can be seized by the state. Thankfully, the bill did not pass, but the fact that it made it out of sub-committee is terrifying enough. Another may be on the way.

The CIA is operating secret prisons in a number of countries. The Salt Mine in Afghanistan is the largest confirmed one. Other of these prisons are known to exist but their location is uncertain. Terrorist suspects are not given even the right to a military tribunal. These are suspects and have not been proven guilty. If the constitution is not upheld honorably to others, then what does our noble history mean? Can we expect it to hold forever, or even much longer, for our own rights?

Despite a root Constitutional stricture against it no matter the circumstances, torture is now routine on these suspects. Many have died. We do not even know where they are or their names. How can we imagine what is being done? Again, they have not been proven to be terrorists. Charges have been brought against a mere ten of the Guantanamo Bay detainees, yet not proven. Hundreds are still captives and have been tortured psychologically and physically for more than six years now. Cruel and unusual punishment is forbidden upon even the worst convicted criminal by the Constitution. These men have not even been charged with a crime. This is the depth of our shame. If we are a nation of honor, we should have long ago spoken against this atrocity.

If these supects are terrorists, then charge them as such and prove it. If not, how can we in good conscience hold them? Free and democratic nations do not keep innocents imprisoned, nor do they torture them. And the people should not ignore it when the government misbehaves. I am ashamed for my country. If we are who we say we are, then we cannot blithely sit by, enjoying what freedoms we retain, while others totally lose theirs. If we are who we say we are, we must fight for the freedom of all.

White House counsel John Yoo has said that the President has the power to declare war on anyone, anywhere, anytime. Yoo issued a memo covering the administration’s ability to legally use torture by re-defining it. Here, torture means to have as one’s principal motive the infliction of significant physical or mental pain. If the interrogator wants information as their primary intent, they can cause as much pain as they wish, and it is not torture. Yoo also makes the bizarre claim that the suspects are not protected by the Geneva Convention. He has been denounced by the National Lawyer’s Guild and they wish to prosecute him as a war criminal. No wonder, since he said on radio the Commander in Chief could legally order that someone ‘crush the testicles of a child.’ It would be permissible for the parents to be forced to watch. Indeed, similar atrocities have happened.

One example is the case of Iraqi boys sodomized with glow sticks while their mothers shrieked for death in order not to see it. Another is Dilawar, an Afghani taxi driver, known to be innocent by his American torturers. His arms were chained to the ceiling for most of a four day period and his perineal nerve struck (among other abuses) over 100 times in 24 hours, amusing the captors with his scream of ‘Allah.’ He died. One of the soldiers is serving two months. There are no other convictions. A third (the list is long) is Maher Arar, a Canadian-Syrian dual citizen questioned by the US. Denied a lawyer (not a US citizen), he was sent to Syria where he was repeatedly beaten and imprisoned in a three by six foot (coffin sized) cell with rats for ten months. They Syrian government found nothing and returned him. This is the war on terror.

UN human rights chief Dr. John Pace said that as many as a thousand Iraqis a month are being tortured to death and that 80 to 90 percent of U.S. detainees are innocent. The worst of the torturing is done by Shia militias, not US forces, but by all accounts Iraq is a far worse place to live under US control than under Sadam Hussein. Roving death squads terrorize people and trip-wire bombs turn alley-ways into death traps for children. The US presence has drastically increased sectarian violence.

Another disturbing factor is the US use of private military contractors, forbidden, like torture, under the Geneva Convention. The US boasts sixty corporate militias and there are many more worldwide. Up to 100,000 privatized troops, the best special ops forces, operate in Iraq. Blackwater operates in the US, as well as Iraq. They appeared in New Orleans after Katrina and have been called ‘Bush’s Praetorian guard’ and his ‘private army.’ They have been banished by the Iraqi government, but their contract was renewed by the US without concern.

Blackwater, after losing four soldiers to insurgents, destroyed Fallujah with the Marine Corp. Illegal use of white phosphorous, a chemical warfare WMD, is widely cited in Fallujah. Many unarmed people, including women, children and infants, were killed without restraint and by deliberate intent. Hundreds were shot in bed. Many bodies were partially eaten by dogs. You can see the photos online. These mercenaries are liable neither to civilian not military law. (For a tragic account of an attempted whistleblower on USIS, another private military contractor, google Colonel Theodore Westhusing. Our heroes are first betrayed.)

In my opinion, this administration is systematically sowing chaos and abusing the populace with the deliberate intent of creating terrorists to feed the war on terror. They create a self-fulfilling prophecy in a dynamic feedback loop. If our government wants democracy, why has it so consistently over-turned it through CIA covert operations in other countries? We have put many dictators in power, including Saddam Hussein.

The US propaganda in Iraq is off the scale of dictatorial powers. If a reporter files a negative report against the United States, they can be imprisoned for thirty years. They have been executed for it, by our own forces. It is a strange democracy we offer to this country. At home, our President was caught spending $1.6 billion to pay off reporters to write friendly stories and not investigate others. He has publicly stated on more than one occasion that he is above the law.

Even Republican senators have complained that this government is shrouded in secrecy and pushes through laws to shield them from scrutiny while sharply curtailing freedom of information laws. What are they doing behind this veil?

Horribly, the administration forced the EPA to change its report on air quality in New York near ground zero from toxic to non-dangerous. Some have already paid the price for breathing in air filled with powdered asbestos and other dangerous substances. A few heroic individuals, including a retired police officer, who volunteered for hundreds of hours of clean-up, died of black lung, a very rare malady these days. The best among us have been discarded by deception. The dust from the towers blanketed the entire city. The toll on health of New Yorkers could easily climb into the hundreds of thousands by this treasonous perjury. No one has been held accountable.

Halliburton is not gone. In fact, they have a corporate militia. And despite their grotesque displays of government favoritism and graft, they have been awarded a $385 million contract for the building of new prisons. Each of these prisons can house a staggering 5000 inmates. These have the express use of “an excess of immigrants or in the event of a national emergency.” A sudden influx of a hundred thousand dangerous immigrants seems somewhat unlikely. So why would the government need to imprison a hundred thousand people because of a national emergency? After an emergency, the government is tasked with helping people, not imprisoning them. What logic can be found that is congruent with our idea of America?

The Posse Comitatus has recently been overturned. Now the United States military may legally operate in its own borders against her own citizenry. The President can seize control of state national guard troops at will. In a democratic state, what possible need is there for this?

Are they above the law? Karl Rove has taken to ignoring a fleet of Congressional subpoenas issued to him concerning FISA, the illegal tapping of American’s telephones. Provisions of the 2006 Military Commissions Act provide retroactive immunity to the administration for war crimes! Perhaps this is a response to a classified Red Cross report on torture (locked in tiny boxes and waterboarded) of Guantamo detainees by the CIA. Even government investigation proves that at least 55% of these people are completely innocent. Only 8% have ties to al-Qaeda. The Red Cross suggests the administration is indictable for war crimes. These are our leaders. In the words of one senior Republican Congressman (tortured himself in North Korea), ‘America is better than this.’

Please do your own research. Verify these things for yourself. It is not difficult to do so, I assure you. Everything presented as fact is true. Perhaps I am insane and unable to interpret this material correctly, but is there nothing frightening here at all?

The strangeness continues. The so-called terror watch-list has grown to a million names. That is only an estimate because the mere number of names is, inexplicably, classified information. An American official who has questioned the policies of this terror watch list found himself on it. His record as a citizen is impeccable and he clearly has no ties to any terrorist organization. He cannot get his name removed. Nelson Mandela was on the list until the President, under petition, signed an order to have him removed. If you find yourself on this list, air travel will become increasingly difficult. Soon it may be impossible.

Under the RealID act, each American is required to obtain an identification card which will actually broadcast his whereabouts through a tiny RFID chip. These chips are manufactured by Texas Instruments among other companies and are in common use on many ordinary products, peanut butter, for example. Some people have volunteered to have them implanted. They cost pennies and are simple to mass-produce. Without a RealID, you can be denied the right to board a plane. Your passport is no longer sufficient. You can be arrested for not having your RealID. The law has already been passed. Some states are rebelling, and have passed anti-Real ID laws.

The question is: do you think the government has the right to know where you are at all times? Where you shop? The address of your entire family and when you visit? Do you want that? This government can look at your medical records, tap your phone, read your e-mails, subpoena your friends and business associates for questioning about you, then gag order them to prevent their letting you know, all without a warrant. The Total Information Awareness program created a massive database of people’s personal information. Yours is definitely there. They never need to tell you.

This is not freedom.

Under National Security Presidential Directive 51, in the event of a major terrorist attack, the President can cancel the elections, declare martial law and remain in office until the threat is over. How long until the terrorist threat will be over? You can probably guess who makes that determination. The plan is ultra-secret. Congress can find very little about PD 51, also called the Continuity of Government Program, or COG. It allows the administration to suspend the constitution in the event of national emergency, which can be declared in response to virtually any situation in the world. A war with Iran is a good example.

Why aren’t we seeing any of these issues in the mainstream media?

According to Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the slight information they receive shows that the administration has ‘undermined the Constitution, broken the laws, and put money in the pockets of special interest groups.’ NSPD 51 contains ‘classified continuity annexes… protected from unauthorized disclosure.’ Congressman De Fazio, on the House Homeland Securities Committee, sent a letter requesting to see these annexes. The letter was co-signed by House Homeland Securities Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson and Oversight sub-committee Chairman Christopher Carney. The White House denied these requests. PD 51 allows for the cancellation of all Congressional authority. Perhaps a national emergency plan should not be public knowledge, but to restrict such an extreme plan from all Congressional oversight, even the members of the Homeland Security Committee discards the fundamental American system of checks and balances. The directive is a blue-print for consolidating all governmental powers into the executive branch. Does no one feel a dread chill? Does anyone sense that this world may be slipping toward darkness, faster each day?

Here are four programs few people know about, easily verified. Operation Garden Plot allows for the round-up of masses of American citizens by the military based on dissident status. If you disagree with the above government policies, you can be labeled a dissident. Operation Cable Splicer details a methodology for the Federal Government to smoothly take over state and local government operations. And Rex 84, ironically first tested by exercises in 1984, allows for the detention of large numbers of American citizens. There are a number of confirmed barbed wire enclosed camps, with guards, operated by FEMA. No prisoners yet. A list of more than 600 unconfirmed, but potential sites, federally owned, exists. The Huston Plan was created by Karl Rove’s