All this talk about ‘conspiracy theories’ is total bullshit. The term ‘conspiracy theory’ has come to mean ‘false but scary.’ To talk of real events as evidence of a ‘conspiracy theory’ is to discount their reliability. As I mentioned to him before, the Booman’s article (see his latest diary) is unintentional cover for what is really going on. You might as well have Lyndon LaRouche publish it in his executive review – so as to totally discount all evidence contrary to the public storyline ( http://www.larouchepub.com/ ) . Instead of posing as a detached academic or journalist or whatever when regarding these subjects, I say let’s lay it all out on the slab and call it what it is: Policy, not Conspiracy.
Here’s the deal. There are two Families (in the mafia sense of the word), both wealthy and rich because of cynical capitalization of the tragedies of WWII. Hopefully, every one knows about Prescott Bush (grandfather and Senator) being forced by Congress to stop trading with the Nazis, then buying himself and his family legitimacy with a Senate seat. Theirs is a dynasty steeped in the blood of innocents, spilt intentionally for profit and power. Even then, the Bushes were confusing their business interests and those of their associates with the interests of the Unites States.
The truth is that Bush and those like him in the American business class provoked/enticed both sides (Japanese and Germans) into war, profited and then assumed the spoils of the the world that were made available by the chaos of war. Areas where resources that were not immediately recoverable (within a few decades) were given to rediculous strongmen and dictators with impossible borders and internal conflicts to manage (hence the map of the middle east). These conflicts and systems of government were designed for dependence on the West for oil income and security support. They were also designed to make it easy to find internal support for regime change if the installed leader became a problem in the future, especially via establishing minority rule (see: Saddam, Shiite vs Sunni, Tutsi vs Hutu). This is where the second family comes into play: the bin Ladens.
The bin Ladens, through their connections with the installed rulers of the Arabian peninsula (the House of Saud), now have built, invested in or outright own literally hundreds of businesses worldwide, the most obvious of which is bin Laden Construction which maintains the holy sites of Mecca and Medina in addition to building hotels, etc.
It is not unreasonable to analogize the Bushes with the House of Saud and the bin Ladens with Cheney/Halliburton. One holds power and creates opportunities for the other to profit ‘legitimately’ from destruction. No doubt there is some form of quid pro quo as well. And it is true of both the Bushies and the Saudis/bin Ladens that their interests are not always in line with the interests of their people or nation.
It is no secret that the Bushes and the House of Saud see themselves as near kin.The Bushes, House of Saud and bin Ladens are/were investment partners in many ways, beyond the oft discussed Carlyle Group connection.
What is rarely mentioned are the web of private security/defense companies they own together and their huge contracts with the Saudi government. These guys literally just sit on top of the American tax largess and the Saudi Oil largess and hand eachother bigger and bigger stacks under the legitimizing guise of ‘security’. All this well before 9/11 and, for the most part, it continues today.
It is also no secret that the two families and their business partners have worked together on more than ordinary business: Bush Sr trained and funded Osama bin Laden to organize and train terrorists and fighters against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
In other words it was American tax money, at the behest of a Bush that created the organization now called al Qaeda.
Now, given this whole history, which version of OBL’s biography sounds more likely:
1. An Afghan war hero, OBL is so outraged by the Saud’s behaviour during Gulf War I that he decides that he should probably try to topple two of the richest and most powerful nations, despite the fact that one, and in a sense both of them are run in a manner that profits his immediate family more than anyone else in the world, when balanced with the risks they take (part of the whole socialized risk/privatized benefit approach to business/gov’t). It will be a Saud’s head on the block come revolution, not a bin Laden’s.
or
2. OBL, a CIA asset and war hero to an Arab street has helped finish off the Russians in Afghanistan. Since the Evil Empire was crumbling and could no longer play enemy to the US, those who had long prospered under America’s cold war footing where losing money and power fast under Clinton’s ‘peace dividend’ military reduction policies. In the salad days of the Cold War, these folks rarely had to deliver product that was used in the field, but could dependably receive billions of taxpayer dollars in defense contracts. Life was so easy in the Cold war. Clinton needed to be stopped or America needed a new enemy. The republicans in congress, via impeachment, tried to take care of the former. The Bushes, as the figure heads of the military/industrial complex’s political wing took care of the later: They recruited Osama bin Laden to create a terrifying enemy equivalent to the warhead-bristling USSR in the minds of the West, but much easier to control or even defeat when necessary. An enemy that would drive the Arab and American people together, so the Bush/Saud history is transformed from scandalous cronyism to prescient leadership. An enemy that would entrench and benefit precisely those whom he claims to most revile. An enemy that would deliver the largest and third largest proven oil reserves on the planet to American control while artificially pumping up oil prices. An enemy that could deliver us OPEC.
It reminds me of how the House of Bourbon and the other ruling Houses of Europe used to alternate cycles of war and weddings to keep the little guy so confused, they barely knew who they were subjects of for almost 550 years. Makes me think that one of the Bush twins is destined to be a Princess of Saud.
Anyhow, back to the story. At the very least, the Saudi Family/bin Ladens and the Bushes are working towards the same ends: profit and entrenchment of power. Certainly, this conflict with OBL and al Qaeda has benefited them both richly.
It is also noted that prior to 9/11 many folks with influence over US administration policy had stated in print and otherwise that America needed another Pearl Harbor to achieve policy goals of establishing American domination over the Middle East resource fields. Was there really any debate over the War? no. Paul Wellstone represented no real power base. Hell, even Clinton was all for it..
Put yourself into the role of the imaginary head of the military/industrial complex. You are bleeding money and influence. You are desperate. Here come the Bushes. Dad and Carlyle will raise money and buy up the hemorrhaging companies cheaply, standing to profit immensely come war or massive defense/security spending increase. The son will deliver the war and spending in exchange for protection for his family/crony profiteering. Do you really think the ’00 and ’04 Bush campaign could have raised those hundreds of millions dollars simply because people liked his tax policy? Do you think Kerry could have done the same without backing the War? This is the reality of American Presidential politics: the two party candidates are just salesmen for basically the same people and interests. The rest is minor details. Bush created the war, is looting our treasury and this is fine with the folks who have regained their power and influence, if not redoubled it: the defense contractors, the energy companies and other raw materials suppliers.
Oil prices are inflated right now, supposedly due to terror and the war (read: fear and instability). It sounds like a tough environment to do business in. Wrong. Last year Shell Oil posted a $4.5 Billion fourth quarter profit, ConocoPhillips doubled it’s quarterly profits over last year and ExxonMobil reported the largest one-year operating profit of any corporation in the United States. Wow! OBL and the war on terror is sure good for business!
Enough details, let me put it out on the line. This is not some cloak and dagger conspiracy, but rather the story of two ruling families whose real constituents know only two ways to make money: terror and war. It is the story of two sons in a play conflict where only the little guy suffers and only the powerful benefit. It is the story of the Big Lie and the burning of the Reichstag. It is the story of the world’s most powerful people locking their citizenry into cycles of conflict and reconstruction so dizzying that they don’t notice the war mongers making their money coming and going, building and blowing up.
The Bushies let 9/11 happen (I think they were genuinely surprised by the extent of the damage) to justify a long planned policy of global resource domination. Why? See above. Who knew? Check out who held those options contracts on the airlines just prior to the attacks.
You want to know why Bush had that weird look on his face as he read “My Pet Goat” with those Florida school children? Think back to the “Reverse Vampire” episode of the Simpsons, where all adults mysteriously disappear. Upon realizing he is by far the most powerful person left, the town bully simultaneously declares himself ruler and is overwhelmed by the implications and weight of this new power, almost to the point of being crushed by it.
OK, so what can anyone do about it, especially since the opposition can’t get beyond the fact that it sold itself out years ago to the same folks that are backing this whole American Empire fiasco in the attempt to hold power? It is time for the ‘Army of the Twelve Monkeys” to scare the shit out of these guys so they overstep the false shroud of moral decency they wrap themselves in. We need the next President to be as paranoid about every lefty and longhair as Nixon was. They needed another Pearl Harbor, we need another Kent State.