NSA Whistleblower Tom Drake Talks Espionage Act and 9/11
Thomas Drake worked for the National Security Agency before he was indicted by it. While the government says he betrayed his country, Drake, facing 35 years in prison if convicted, says he only pointed out government mismanagement. Drake was imprisoned under the Espionage Act of 1917. Here’s his interview with 60 Minutes.
Iran Accused of Role in 9/11
Two defectors from Iran’s intelligence service have testified that Iranian officials had “foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks,” according to a court filing Thursday in a federal lawsuit in Manhattan that seeks damages for Iran’s “direct support for, and sponsorship of, the most deadly act of terrorism in American history.” The filing included reports of 10 specialists on Iran and terrorism, including former 9/11 commission staff members and ex-CIA officers. “These experts make it clear that 9/11 depended upon Iranian assistance to Al Qaeda in acquiring clean passports and visas to enter the United States,” Mr. Mellon said.
Thoughts on FOX News Special "The Secrets of 9/11"
At the end of the report, the Fox News reporter said, “there are strong reasons to look back, and continue the investigation into the secrets of 9/11.” I couldn’t agree more.
Fox News Reporting: Secrets of 9/11
“A decade after the attacks of 9/11, questions remain about who was involved in the terror plot against America. As we show in this program, there are compelling reasons to continue to investigate the largest attack on American soil and the secrets of 9/11.”
John Pilger: "9/11 Requires More Investigation"
On May 13th, during a Q & A following a screening of ‘The War You Don’t See’ at London’s Frontline Club, the following exchange occured:
Conspiracy Theory
The conspiracy theorist viewpoint, like the institutional one, is unduly narrow. By focusing on agents, it ignores institutional norms and mechanisms that would allow the possibility of persons engaging in the actions at issue and even covering them up. The latter is an important issue for conspiracy theorists: without institutional analysis, they pay the high cost of not being taken seriously.
Shaffer Forms Spy Firm with Blackwater and Able Danger Vets
Veterans from the most infamous private security firm on Earth and one of the military’s most controversial data mining operations are teaming up to provide the Fortune 500 with their own private spies.
Take one part Blackwater, and another part Able Danger, the military data-mining op that claimed to have identified members of al-Qaida living in the United States before 9/11. Put ‘em together, and you’ve got a new company called Jellyfish.
Jellyfish is about corporate-information dominance. It swears it’s leaving all the spy-world baggage behind. No guns, no governments digging through private records of its citizens.
Jellyfish’s chief technology officer is J.D. Smith, who was part of Able Danger until lawyers for the U.S. Special Operations Command shut the program down in 2000. Also from Able Danger is Tony Shaffer, Jellyfish’s “military operations adviser” and the ex-Defense Intelligence Agency operative who became the public face of the program in dramatic 2005 congressional testimony.
Lawmakers Must Visit CIA HQ to View bin Laden Pics
Lawmakers on key committees can view the photos of Osama bin Laden’s body, but only if they travel to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. According to one lawmaker who made the trek, bin Laden looked like he was “hit by a truck.”
News Organizations Demand Proof of bin Laden’s Death
The Associated Press and other news organizations have officially taken the position that President Barack Obama should release visual proof of Osama bin Laden’s death, claiming that without this level of transparency the White House is essentially deciding what is and is not newsworthy.
In an interview with The Atlantic Wire, AP senior managing editor Michael Oreskes explained the organization’s position is that proof should be released to professional journalists, who would then decide whether to release the media or merely describe it.
“This information is important for the historical record,” he reportedly said. “That’s our view.”
Scapegoating The Pakistani ISI
The hypocrisy of calling out the Pakistani ISI now, after rewarding them and covering up their involvement in the 9/11 attacks, should be recognized by everyone. Should the ISI’s role with terrorism be looked at and dealt with? Of course. But so should the US support and usage of that “terror nexus.”