9-11 & the Unspeakable

Why it happened and why it matters!

No matter who you think was responsible for 9-11, Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, the Bush- Cheney administration and fellow neocons, Israel’s Mossad, or others, one thing is clear.  The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the global war on terrorism have been justified on the basis of 9-11.  And the events of that tragic day 9 years ago have been used to fan the flames of anti-Islamic hatred into a firestorm.

Historians now say that the Tonkin Gulf incident used to launch U.S. bombing of North Vietnam never happened.  It was fabricated to justify U.S. bombing and a massive escalation of the war in Vietnam.  Some historians even say that Washington knew of the impending Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and allowed it to happen to provoke a reluctant U.S. into WW II.

In the late 1990s, the neocon think-tank –Project for a New American Century, comprised of many people who would play key roles in the Bush-Cheney administration put out a position paper.  The paper concluded that the collapse of the Soviet Union gave the U.S. an opportunity to dominate the world .  What was needed was a cover, a rationale, to disguise global domination as a legitimate enterprise.  The neocon position paper also said what was needed was a triggering event — “A New Pearl Harbor.”

Then came 9-11.  Where are we today?  The cold war on communism has been replaced by the hot global war on terrorism.  The McCarthy anti-communism witch hunts have been replaced by threats of Quran book burnings and hatred of Muslim Mosque building.  We have had a litany of steps toward fascism: secret detentions, torture, extraordinary renditions, the loss of habeus corpus, the PATRIOT Act, dramatically increased military spending, secrecy, and presidential authority –including the power to order assassinations, including American citizens. Forget the Bill of Rights and Miranda rights, right to an attorney, trial, innocent till proven guilty.  In essence the neocon agenda of the 90s has become official U.S. policy.  First under Bush.  Now expanded under Obama.

The U.S. is on the fast track to fascism.  Another “catastrophic emergency” and look out!  The wheels of martial law will be in high speed.  That’s why we need to seek the truth about 9-11, why there needs to be a full, independent investigation.  Unless we answer the question –why it happened, we will never realize why it matters.  The U.S. will continue to wage illegal and immoral imperial wars of aggression and occupation abroad and a war against civil liberties, economic and social justice at home.    The path ahead depends on each one of us, and the courage of our convictions.   Let non-violence be our guiding light.

Let us Seek the Truth!

Let us Work for Peace & Justice!

1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, etc. 5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622.  Email ja@interpac.net   http://www.malu-aina.org
Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet (Sept. 10, 2010 – 469th week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office