[Peace-discuss] [OccupyCU] Death of Michael Hastings

Wed Jun 19 16:15:05 UTC 2013

I don't think the crimes of 9/11 were perpetrated by people within the Bush administration, but I do think that they were "blowback" from the policies of murder and terror practiced by that and earlier administrations. As the late Alex Cockburn said, "The sky is dark with chickens coming home to roost."

In the 1970s, the Carter administration gathered up the most fanatic jihadists it could find and sent them into Afghanistan (before the Soviet invasion) "to give the Russians a Vietnam of their own" (as Carter's National Security Advisor said). These mujahideen a generation later became Al Qaeda, who continued to fight against the invasion of Muslim countries, for which America much more than Russia was responsible. Al Qaeda said there were three reasons for the 9/11 attacks: (1) the Iraq sanctions (which the Clinton administration admitted killed 500,000 children); (2) the suppression of the Palestinians; and (3) the US military occupation of the Islamic holy land, in Saudi Arabia. The 9/11 attacks are only the most egregious example of terrorism, which in the American lexicon means "armed resistance to US domination of the Mideast and its energy resources."

In the 1960s, the assassination of President Kennedy (apparently by Lee Harvey Oswald) seems to have been blowback from the death squads loosed by the Kennedy administration on Latin America (the "Green Berets" being precursors to JSOC). Oswald, a member of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, was quite aware that Cuba was the most terrorized country in the Western hemisphere, via Operation Mongoose, which the Kennedy brothers established after the failure of the Bay of Pigs. We are only now coming to realize that murder and terror were the way the Kennedy 'liberals' assaulted Vietnam: rape and murder of innocents at My Lai was not an exception but the rule. (See Nick Turse, "Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam" [2013].)   

The Obama administration, like the Kennedy administration, has turned to death squads and a global assassination program, now administered by CIA drones and JSOC, a 25,000-member private army under the exclusive control of President Obama. (Its spokesmen claim that it is active in 120 countries around the world and will be "fighting terrorism" for another 10-20 years.) The Bush administration's wars in the Mideast have been driven underground; Obama mendaciously pretends that they are "winding down" - because he fears the reaction of the US populace - when in fact he is expanding them. 

Hastings notoriously took down the head of JSOC, Stanley McChrystal, who was running the US war of terror against the Afghan people. Is it unreasonable to wonder if JSOC - whose instrument is assassination and terror (including against American citizens, notably the Alawlaki family) - might have exacted revenge and "sent a message" to protect its world-wide operations from the threat that journalists might inflame public opinion against them? 

How many journalists will now leap forward to do what Michael Hastings did? Or, for that matter, what Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning, or Julian Assange did? In 1917 the Wilson administration passed the Espionage Act, which had little to do with spying but much to do with suppressing public criticism of Wilson's war and draft policies, which were widely opposed throughout the country. Wilson even sent a presidential candidate (Eugene Debs) to jail - and kept him there after the end of the war - for his criticism of the war. Now the Obama administration has employed Wilson's law more than all other administrations combined. Having traduced the Constitution, would they stop at assassination - their stock in trade - to control the discourse?

--CGE

On Jun 19, 2013, at 5:51 AM, Stephen Francis <stephenf1113 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> The death of Michael Hastings is just one in a long string of tragic events in this modern world of corporate/elite/1%/ terrorism.  ....
> 
> My thoughts about a Fourth of July float:  .... The theme should revolve around the connection of the recent NSA revelations, its connection to the Patriot Act and finally the Patriot Act's beginnings in the 9/11 WTC events.  
> The NSA revelations drive straight to the hearts and minds of ordinary citizens in that it the collection of all our communications assumes we are guilty of 'something'.  This is completely contrary to the constitution and the very fabric of the American culture.  The NSA revelations are just a continuation of events emanating from 9/11 and the decades long preparations for its execution.
> The world is waking up to the 9/11 Truth movement.  The Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth's latest ad campaign has generated at least $100,000 dollars in matching money for their latest campaign.  http://www.ae911truth.org/en/news-section/41-articles/753-drum-roll-pleaseannouncing-top-10-vote-getter-ads.html  below is a partial list of their companion organizations along with nearly 2000 professional architects and engineers who can prove with the appropriate vigor of the peer review process that the WTC towers and WTC7 were brought down by the explosive demolition process.  They do not get into the politics of it, but I have no problem connecting the Neocon / Zionists to this event.  There is a significant worldwide consensus on this, except in America.... gee, I wonder why.... MSM.
> Any parade float theme about labor, education, pensions, civil rights, even antiwar...are just side issues not addressing the core events that are shaping our discourse. In fact, I believe that some of this issues are actually partially funded by the 1% as a useful distraction to their cause.  ...but that's another huge can of worms....that can't be addressed here, today.
> The NSA revelations (actually not new at all) are proving to be a focal point to gather around and advance our cause.
> here are some of the groups.
> 	• The Thrive Movement
> 	• NYC CAN
> 	• We Are Change.org
> 	• 9/11 Truth and Justice in Canada
> 	• MUJCA – Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth
> 	• Veterans for Peace – Central Florida
> 	• Newsvoice.se
> 	• Agape Christian Community
> 	• AMPAC
> 	• Political Leaders for 9/11 Truth
> 	• The 9/11 Consensus Panel
> 	• Reinvestigate 911
> 	• Citizens Aware and Asking
> 	• 9/11 Journey For Truth
> 	• Occupy 9/11 Truth
> 	• San Diegans for 9/11 Truth
> 	• Citizens for an Informed Community (CIC)
> 	• Greater Boston Alliance for 9/11 Truth and Justice
> 	• Colorado 9/11 Visibility
> 	• 9/11 Truth Seattle
> 	• North California 9/11 Truth Alliance
> 	• Connecticut 9/11 Truth and Justice
> 	• Nation of Islam
> 	• Accountable Democracy
> 	• Data Scientist 9-11 Truth
> 
> From: C. G. Estabrook <carl at newsfromneptune.com>
> To: peace-discuss at anti-war.net 
> Cc: "sftalk at yahoogroups.com" <sftalk at yahoogroups.com>; ocCUpy <occupyCU at lists.chambana.net> 
> Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 9:28 PM
> Subject: [OccupyCU] Death of Michael Hastings
> 
> Is Michael Hastings' death JSOC's revenge - and a warning to other journalists?
> 
> <http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/06/michael_hastings_car_crash_highland_hollywood_video.php>
> 
> (JSOC - the Joint Special Operations Command - was headed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the Afghanistan commander whom Hastings' article took down. See <http://www.thenation.com/blog/160332/jsoc-black-ops-force-took-down-bin-laden#axzz2WdFcSbOk>.)
> 
> The Obama administration killed US citizen Anwar Alawlaki for what he said, not what he did. Michael Hastings too?
> 
> Hastings' last (published) article: "Why Democrats Love To Spy On Americans" <www.buzzfeed.com>.
> 