Such was the vision of a former lover, whose previous "hits" persuaded me not to dismiss all claims of psychic abilities. To adjust an old Orson Welles joke: "If ESP exists, she has it. If ESP does not exist, she has whatever is commonly mistaken for it."
When I -- perhaps foolishly -- put that prediction on the internet record, some guffawed at my credulity, and for quite understandable reasons.
But those snickers may sour in your throats now that well-funded neo-con propagandists are setting the stage for just such an event.
On CSPAN, Jerome R. Corsi -- co-author of the anti-Kerry "swift boat" obscenity "Unfit to Command," and of the more recent "Atomic Iran" -- has predicted an atomic attack on New York or another American city. (The actual speech should be available here.)
In full Joe McCarthy mode, Corsi went on to accuse four high-profile Democratic senators -- John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden -- of being "appeasers" in the pay of Iran's mullahs. Apparently, he wants his gullible listeners to believe the the four above-cited politicians have filled the Congressional Record with pro-Iran speechs.
Does Corsi offer any proof? Of course not. Filth-slingers of Corsi's loathsome kind believe that accusation is proof.
In his book, Corsi points the finger at Democratic fundraiser Hassan Nemazee. Nemazee denies having any connection to the Iranian government and has threatened libel action.
(Anyone else remember what happened to George Galloway of the UK in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion? Fake documents were "found" smearing him as a close Saddam Hussein ally. After the bomb goes off, expect to see the emergence of similarly bogus "evidence" against the four politicians listed above.)
The new anti-Iran demonization campaign has also taken the form of a television ad blitz, poised to hit your cathode ray tube any day now. You can see an example here. The web page hosting the video offers this chilling intro:
An Atomic 911: When Evil is Appeased was produced for the Iran Freedom Foundation by Tim Watkins, founder and CEO of Leo McWatkins Films and producer of In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed. Winner of two awards as best documentary of 2004, In the Face of Evil has been called, "simply the best and most moving political film documentary ever made." The film presents Ronald Reagan's forty-year campaign against Soviet communism as a blueprint for fighting evil in the world.(The hagiographic Reagan video was designed as a Republican response to Fahrenheit 9/11. Note the weasle wording above: Just who issued those "two awards"?)
Mr. Watkins will join forces with the Iran Freedom Foundation to produce a provocative new feature documentary based on Dr. Jerome Corsi's Atomic Iran, which will further advance the themes and content of In the Face of Evil.
Here's the introductory crawl on the new anti-Iran ad:
The Mullahs of Iran are more dangerous and connected than you know. In 2004 the FBI reported that there are terrorist sleeper cells in 40 U.S. states.Repeatedly, the propaganda blitz sounds the "appeaser" alarm, as well as the "evildoers among us" motif.
Remember the film "Spartacus"? In one scene, Crassus (Lawrence Olivier) hands out a list of opponents to be arrested as part of his "new order." That's what we're in for.
Corsi also insists that the atomic strike will occur in June. How can he know that? How can he be so unnervingly specific? He claims no psychic aid, yet he sounds like Hanussen predicting the Reichstag fire.
An even more pressing question: Just who provided the funds for this carefully-coordinated propaganda blitzkrieg?
Obviously, we are seeing a psychological warfare campaign designed to prepare the American public for a future event. This outrage will instigate a wider war in the Middle East. More than that: The neocons plan to use this event as an excuse to launch a pogrom against anti-Bush voices in the United States. Expect to see Democratic pols faced with treason charges. Expect to see small-d democrats of lesser stature hauled off to Gitmo, never to be seen again.
Note, too, another recurrent propaganda point: Corsi and company insist that Iran's citizens are "victims" who must be liberated.
Now, I'm no fan of Iran's regime -- in fact, I took part in demonstrations against Khomeini during the hostage crisis of 1980. But the conquest of Iran will require the deaths of millions. Iran possesses new generation of missiles which can decimate our ships, forcing a rapid escalation toward nuclear war. Some liberation!
Corsi is one of the more vile propagandists afflicting this nation. The highly suspicious nature of his current enterprise -- the timing, the convenient details, the mysterious sources of money, and (most telling of all) the Dems-as-fifth-columnists smear -- give us all the information we need to know the true author of the upcoming atomic event.
13 comments:
I predicted an atomic attack on a major U.S. city long before these people did. I also predicted a major domestic terrorist attack -- which happened -- and I predicted a major space shuttle accident -- which happened _twice_.
Furthermore I predicted that George W. Bush would resign in 2004, that exit polls would deter election cheating, and that in my lifetime there would be a thermonuclear conflict between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
I really wish, though, that Tom Ridge were still in the cabinet. He could scare people without so much as shouting "Boo!" -- no need for the real-life theatrics of the core Bushist crowd.
The logic here strikes me as more than a little strained. Preparing the public for a nuclear attack, with an accurate prediction of when it will occur, will either reach too few people to achieve any PR objective, or will reach so many that tens of millions of Americans would rightly suspect foul play should such an attack occur as predicted.
In domestic policy, the Bush administration is getting virtually everything it wants, and has no need of prison camps for already powerless dissidents. Even Bush & Co. is not going to set off a nuke, in order to gut social security when it's already thieving the surplus, or to confirm 10 right-wing judges (the real "nuclear option"?), when the right-wing already already controls the Federal courts.
Whether these people are fanatical enough to do massive damage in this country to facilitate an invasion of Iraq is certainly debatable -- there is historical precedent for this sort of thing -- but consider the effect of a nuclear strike on the financial markets. These are people who, above all, worship money.
I agree with Anonymous. To achieve his goals, Bush need not set off a nuke -- he only needs to make Americans afraid of being nuked.
If a nuke does go off, it won't be because Bush set it off, but because he did not try to stop it. We already know he isn't seriously trying to stop any sort of attack on the United States. You can do that without having anybody leak your malicious intentions to the press.
I agree with Anonymous. To achieve his goals, Bush need not set off a nuke -- he only needs to make Americans afraid of being nuked.
If a nuke does go off, it won't be because Bush set it off, but because he did not try to stop it. We already know he isn't seriously trying to stop any sort of attack on the United States. You can do that without having anybody leak your malicious intentions to the press.
I live a mile from the Sears Tower in Chicago and I cannot tell you how disturbing I find these posts.
My wife has family right by there, too, and we both have family in and around New York. I myself go to baseball games at a stadium directly across the street from a place where containers are loaded on and off of railroad cars.
But what are you going to do? A tornado can come out of the sky, lift an entire house off the ground, flip it over, and smash it to the ground, with you in it. Egad, I hate tornadoes. A tsunami can wash you out to sea. The house next to my father's burned down and his neighbors died in it; but my father carries on. So I just say, be wary, but keep perspective.
I'm scared, too.
"In full Joe McCarthy mode, Corsi went on to accuse four high-profile Democratic senators -- John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden -- of being "appeasers" in the pay of Iran's mullahs. Apparently, he wants his gullible listeners to believe the the four above-cited politicians have filled the Congressional Record with pro-Iran speechs."
HoHoHoHo! The Silly propagandist, he only got it half right [but thats how they prefer it], the pro-Iran mole was the Neo-Con buddy Teriq Aziz (or whatever his name was) feeding false information on how well the war would go to any and all who would listen. But it was a nice try, you have to admit that.
LamontCranston
Re "It won't be because Bush set it off, but because he did not try to stop it."
All honor to Barry Schwartz, whose posts are excellent and thoughtful...but I'd go a step further.
Perhaps I could frame it best by asking you to imagine instead saying the Reichstag fire "won't be because Hitler set it off, but because he did not try to stop it."
May sound extreme, but indications increasingly point to a plot to destabilize the US from within the Bush regime. Bush need not "know about it"--that is, may have plausible deniability-- but the right people (Cheney = Goering? and if so who's Van Lubbe?) do know about it and will see that it happens "for the good of the country"--i.e. themselves.
Yes, I'm scared too. And I think we're scared for good reason, not just because of the silly multicolored alerts.
I am posting this here not because it necessarily responds to any specific prior post, but because I would like to receive some feedback with regards to the particular approach of my essay. In it, I try to argue the Neocon position from their own perspective in hopes that those who might be tempted to argue their position will be so repelled by the logical consequences that they might possibly think (for once) of some alternatives.
What do you think?
I also thought it was an interesting way to interject the hypothetical of the Sears Tower atomic attack. Do you suppose if enough people think it might happen, they might not do it?
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THE RIGHT WAS RIGHT AFTER ALL
I want to confess that I have been extremely resistant to the Neocon argument that we have to establish a beachhead for “democracy” in the mideast. I am not sure that I have completely reconciled myself to their cause, but I do find their assertions more and more compelling. Lets look at one of the main assumptions upon which they base their case.
The Western powers, most notably the United States and to a large extent England and Western Europe, have become used to an extremely high (I might use the word “lavish”) level of expectation when it comes to our consumption of energy and other natural resources. Even though we give lip service to conservation and the development of alternative sources of energy, we really have no interest in inconveniencing our selves or our children by assuming what we perceive as the draconian conservation measures it would take to create an equitable global distribution of the world’s resources.
Once you grant that assumption, the Neocon argument assumes a rather more persuasive dimension. If we in the West wish to continue to live in the style to which we have become accustomed, then we need to set aside our over romanticized notions of a measurable level of dignity and even survival for the rest of humanity. If our children are to live well, then the less fortunate members of the human family must continue to live poorly. Surely no one can possibly envision a world where a BILLION plus Chinese enjoy the benefits of suburban sprawl with two cars in every garage, a heated swimming pool and a satellite hookup for their computer’s home entertainment center. The Earth cannot possibly support such extravagance.
I understand that our leaders cannot tell us the honest truth about this. After all, they are speaking to what is still basically a good-hearted, if naïve, people. They cannot say for example: “If we are to continue to enjoy our God-given benefits of democracy: life, liberty and property, we must screw the rest of the world!” Why disturb the tenderhearted electorate? They do not like to be reminded of the fact, that for us to live well, others must die.
That brings us back to our “democratic” beachhead in the mideast. The primary resource we must all have to survive is oil. It is the lifeblood for the maintenance of our way of life. Ironically it is a substance that is not entirely under our control. The major oil fields are in the mideast. The critics of our new policy of preemptive invasion in the area do not realize that we must have near absolute control of that part of the world if the oil is to flow unimpeded from the Persian sands to our SUV tanks.
There is another factor that has arisen that makes our exclusive control of the mideast oil resource even more necessary: the possibility of our reaching “peak oil” in the very near future. According to peak oil theory, we are about to reach (or have already reached) a point of no return in oil production where, just to maintain present production levels, we, like Alice, have to run faster and faster. As demand equals and then surpasses supply it will become more difficult and much much more expensive to maintain even present levels of fulfilled consumption. The greatest country on earth is not about to have to go hat in hand along with inferior nations like China to beg at the table of (blessed be his name) Mohamed for our oil at a quantity and a price beyond our control. We cannot even for a moment consider playing such a cruel game of musical chairs. It is only prudent for our survival and appropriate to our rightful position as the dominant world military power, that we assume a controlling influence in this part of the world. It would be preferable to do this through diplomatic means and puppet “democracies,” but, since that appears unlikely, we must do it through military force. Such is the not so well concealed wisdom of our Neoconservative rulers. Even if we are not in a precondition of peak oil, current growing demand both in this country as well as in the developing world make our control of the worlds oil an absolute necessity.
These visionary Neocons do not paint a pretty portrait of the future. It is however a realistic picture of the modern world based on the imperatives of our consumer economy and our responsibilities of world domination. How many Americans really want it any other way? Certainly not you or me. We are too wedded to our own comfort zones. Our braying about the Brotherhood of Man and the Sermon on the Mount are self-delusional hypocrisies. By any assessment, this will not be a world that anyone who harbors the illusion of a Christian conscience will recognize. The fanciful ideals of our Founders will have to be put aside like children’s toys as we fully assume the burdens of Empire and the mature duties of this American Century. It is a decision that has already been made for us, the decision to not only forcibly dominate the rest of the globe in a condition of poverty and servitude, but also to create a docile and subdued lower class in America as well.
The Neocons feel that this is a war on every level. Being at war means that almost any way is justified if it serves to defeat the enemy and assure our victory. In periods of great stress, when all our self-serving values and institutions are in danger of being swept away, it is necessary for a new breed of man to step forward into the breach, as it were, and place before us a new morality and a new, tougher version of our being in the world. George W. Bush believes that he has a divine mandate to take upon his person just this burden. He will not allow this cup to pass from him. The Neocons are the new Ubermench who lift this cross, smash the old liberal sentimentalities and craft the new order. They are the state. They will write the past, the present and the future. For the sake of our safety, security and world dominance they must do things that may seem immoral to those who cannot free themselves from old principles.
I do not know if Bush was instrumental in the planning and inauguration of the events of the eleventh of September two thousand and one. I do know that everyone acknowledges the circumstantial evidence that might be put forth by any prosecuting attorney, that he had motive, opportunity and means. I also know this, if 9/11 had not happened, it would have been necessary for them to have created it. Of that there is no doubt. Let’s assume for the moment that Bush was the responsible party in this American Reichstag fire. Would he not be branded a monster? No, I think we would forgive and understand that the death of over 3,000 American martyrs was necessarily if we wish to summon a sufficient degree of outrage, and if we were to find the courage to overcome the constraints of constitutional and international law that would keep us from our destiny.
It is not without precedent that horrific events have been planned by past leaders in order to rouse a somulent people to a sufficient fever pitch to even go against their own perceived interest to be persuaded to smite the infidel. Remember the Maine? Remember Pearl Harbor? Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Remember Operation Northwoods? Remember The Gulf of Tonkin? If the truth of the authorship of these mal-conceived plots had been known by Americans at the time, many of our public and military officials and possibly three presidents might have been given long prison sentences and would have been grateful to have escaped with their lives.
As in the past, our present leaders are not beyond deceit, fraud, and even murder to advance their goals. These men sleep well at night, knowing that what they have done and what they are doing is for the greater good. If we knew the full ramifications and final results of these tactics, we too would probably endorse these strategies. Without 9/11 we would probably not be quite so enthusiastic in our support of the somewhat dubious programs of this administration leaders. Without 9/11 we would not be so acquiescent in giving up our liberties in exchange for the promise of security. Without 9/11 we would not be so eager to believe that the military option is the only effective way to defeat and convert the more adamant followers of (blessed be he) Mohammed. Granted our assumptions and our goals, can we really blame President Bush if he creates a ghastly tragedy or two to unify the nation?
I think 9/11 was just the beginning. I’m sure other even more terrible plots are being hatched to keep us on the path. If a nuclear device is released in the Sears tower that renders most of Chicago a death zone, will we dare accuse anyone except the Iranians? Who would question our leaders’ decision to jail certain traitorous members of the Senate who have urged restraint and diplomacy? We should be more than happy to give up the last of our useless freedoms to our strong protectors. In the final analysis, we must admire such pluck and determination on the part of our rulers who have the audacious courage to face and renounce the consequences of an unrealistic approach to real politic. Their difference from many past captains of state is not so much a matter of kind but degree. Considering that the American people are at present a confused uninformed flock, we need a strong leader who does not bow either to popular sentimentality, the false guides of law or an outmoded morality. The American people are no longer capable of or interested in living in a democracy. They must be ruled.
I see a world of squandered, dwindling resources, governed by rulers beholden only to all-powerful elites reigning over a large population of a narcotized proletarian/consumer classes who live, play, shop and die at the whim of their masters. The question remaining for those of us who would escape this Orwellian netherworld is not whether we would maintain any individual values and rights, but whether we can lay claim to some strategy or economic advantage that would put us near to the top of this heap. A due respect for our personal survival as well as the survival of our nation demands that we jettison our flimsy, outmoded ideas of human dignity and non-violence.
Of course we cannot expect the rest of the world or even certain elements of our own society to sit back and go gently under our yoke. They would not trust to the benevolence of their false gods to smite such a greedy, selfish, brutish nation into the dust. They will struggle tooth and nail against their servitude and domination. Those among them that we do not appoint to the dubious distinction of house servants, will resort to terrorism. Who can blame them? The American people, especially those in the upper classes and those at the top of the ever dwindling middle class will probably be too sedated by an unending flow of media-pap to know or care about the horrific state of the world or even the state of their fellow countrymen. They will place their simple trust in an American God and in his servant, George W. Bush. They will awake to a movie-world morning, turn on the filtered Good Morning America, pop a soma and kiss the wife on their way to the job at the Pentagon.
Wishing you the peace of the grave….new…world.
Peace,
Bob Boldt
The only trouble with the above is that the U.S. doesn't have the competence, military power or finances to enforce its will on the rest of the world. Even if the analysis proved to be an accurate reflection of neo-con thinking, the thinking itself is so fundamentally delusive and unrespectful of reality that any program for hegemony built on it could never succeed or even proceed very far, before the whole venture collapsed.... Only look at Iraq. Remember the cheap oil we were supposed to get out of it? And the military bases? And the pro-Israeli government headed by our man in Bagdad, Ahmed Chalabi?
Also note that the rest of the world need only stop buying Treasury securities, if it wants to pull the plug on American adventurism in a terminal sort of way. Of course, we could always nuke Europe and Asia in return, but that wouldn't leave us with the foreign markets we need.
The way the PNACians wage war reminds me of when I was a boy playing Civil War with cap guns and air rifles. I did it with cap guns and air rifles, and they do it with our sons and daughters.
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