4.21.2003
What a great Easter post.
Wish I saw it yesterday...
4/21/2003
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"You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror."
George Bush 11.6.01
So it is only fair to ask just where former Secretary of State James Baker III stands; he has been retained by the Saudi's in a trillion dollar lawsuit brought by many victims of the 9/11 tragedy:But legal sources say some high-priced firms and their senior partners have been wary of the Saudi overtures—despite offers of retainers that, in some cases, have ranged as high as $5 million. One former Clinton administration official at a big law firm said he was personally approached to represent a high-ranking Saudi prince in the case but turned it down. “I kept asking myself, ‘do I want to be representing the Saudis against the 9-11 families—especially after all the trouble we had getting cooperation from the Saudis on terrorism’,” the official said. “I finally just said no.”
We know Baker has another Saudi/Binladin connection. He, like the current man in the Whitehouse's father George H.W Bush are part of the mammoth Carlyle Group. The Carlyle group is something you really should know about, the names and connections form an intricate web of "Who's Who" in international government and industry. You'll never hear this stuff on the evening news because it is too complex; not to mention learning about this type of mega-influence would give you a clear perspective on just what is happening in our world and to our nation.
How connected is the Carlyle group?:
We're not," he nearly shouts, "that well connected!"
Behind him is a picture of Rubenstein on a plane with then-Gov. George W. Bush. Across the room, a photo of Rubenstein with the president's father and mother. Next to that, Rubenstein and Mikhail Gorbachev. Elsewhere: Rubenstein and Jimmy Carter. On a bookshelf: Rubenstein and the pope.
This is not some honor wall in Rubenstein's office on Pennsylvania Avenue, this is his wood-paneled den at home in Bethesda. The snapshots are nearly hidden among books and trinkets and family photos -- the decorating restraint of the truly, deeply connected.
Rubenstein, after all, is co-founder of the Carlyle Group, an investment house famous as one of the most well-connected companies anywhere.
Further into the article:We've actually replaced the Trilateral Commission as the darling of conspiracy theorists, says Rubenstein -- who, truth be told, happens to be a member of the Trilateral Commission.
The group met in Portugal earlier in the month to talk about rebuilding Iraq, and a billion dollar contract.
The Caryle Group (DemocracyNow! RealAudio link) comes up a lot, whether talking about a coincidental meeting with the Bin Ladin family as the 9/11 tragedy occured or North Korea. Go here for an extensive linkfest on The Carlyle Group.
Did you know since 1996 the majority of Defense corporation political contributions went to the Republicans?
Take a look at five companies who stand to make big money from an endless war. Look closely at who stand to make profit
"For love of money is the root of all evil"
Which brings us back to Baker supporting the Saudi's against the American people in a 9/11 case. What's with that? Granted, both sides in any case need quality representitives to further justice. But doesn't our ex-Secretary of State seem unseemly? O"Reilly, Limbaugh, Savage, step up to the plate, hows about some of that un-American name calling you guys are so fond of?
Why foot dragging and underfunding for a commision to investigate 9/11?
Officially named the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks in the United States, the panel was hamstrung from the beginning. President Bush opposed the commission's creation, and reversed his position only after a combination of political and public pressure was exerted.
Then the White House tapped the secretive former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger -- since resigned -- to chair the panel. And last year, Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly asked congressional leaders to limit the investigation. Fortunately for the public, they refused.
But money determines priorities in Washington. The slow progress of the investigation has been due in large measure to lack of funding. Since the White House lost the battle of wills in creating the panel and limiting its scope, it seems to have decided to starve the commission to death.
The families of the victims as well as all Americans need to know just how this disaster came to occur, who was involved and why.
Representing a group called September 11 Advocates, Mindy Kleinberg, who lost her 39-year-old husband, Alan, in the World Trade Center, asked, “But where was our government, its agencies and institutions prior to and on the morning of September 11?” She went on to detail a long list of extraordinary security lapses, none of which have been satisfactorily explained.
She pointed to suspicious options trades the week before September 11, in which large investors bet on a short-term drop in the stock price of United and American Airlines. While both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and US intelligence agencies maintain sophisticated systems to monitor unusual activities in markets worldwide, these extraordinary deals apparently provoked no alarm.
She goes on to bring up:
She then held up copies of visa applications submitted by a number of the alleged hijackers. She pointed out that they were either incomplete or contained inappropriate answers, and noted that according to standard procedures they should have been automatically rejected. Next she reported that nine of the alleged hijackers were singled out for questioning as they purchased their tickets, but each was allowed to proceed, box cutters and all.
As well as a very telling fact we have discussed here before; standard FAA procedure was not followed:
Kleinberg also reviewed in detail the government’s failure to scramble fighter jets to intercept the hijackers. While the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11 was known as of 8:20 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) failed to notify the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) for another 20 minutes, and an additional 12 minutes passed before the first jets took off. This extraordinary and unexplained lapse occurred despite the fact that NORAD was in the midst of its semi-annual exercises known as “Vigilant Guardian”, in which its forces are placed on the highest state of readiness.
Even after Flight 11 slammed into the North Tower at 8:46 a.m., the pattern of delay was repeated with the three other hijacked planes. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:41 a.m., an hour and 21 minutes after the first hijacking was confirmed. Fighter jets finally went up to protect Washington DC, but they were sent not from Andrews Air Force Base, just outside the capital, but from Langley AFB in southern Virginia.
“On September 11 both the FAA and NORAD deviated from standard emergency operating procedures,” Kleinberg concluded. “Who were the people that delayed the notification? Have they been questioned?”
Something stinks.
Just like the idea that the UN Inspectors won't be looking for the weapons of mass destruction the US went to war to save us from.
It looks like the fix is in. Our government shaming America.
4/21/2003
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