CIA Fights 9/11 Memoir by FBI Agent
In what amounts to a fight over who gets to write the history of the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath, the Central Intelligence Agency is demanding extensive cuts from the memoir of a former FBI agent who spent years near the center of the battle against Al Qaeda.
Alec Baldwin Asks "What is Amalgam Virgo?"
Actor Alec Baldwin, considering a run for mayor of New York City, recently caused a stir by tweeting a number of questions about 9/11, including “Do you think Bin Laden was behind 9/11”? New York Magazine reported that Baldwin said his tweets were “absolutely not casting doubt on the issue of Osama Bin Laden’s role in 9/11.” He also took to Twitter to talk about last night’s vague messages: “As the 10th anniversary of the attacks approaches, I am keenly interested in what public opinion is re the aftermath of 9/11.”
Baldwin also tweeted “What is Amalgam Virgo?”
For those unfamiliar with the Amalgam Virgo wargame, here are two relevant entries from History Commons:
The Truth About Truthers
Jon Gold is the kind of guy journalists like to call “a man without a country.” He believes his actual country has covered up the true nature of its biggest tragedy. And the people you’d think would be his people, the truthers, he wants nothing to do with.
With CIA Help, NYPD Moves Covertly in Muslim Areas
In New Brunswick, N.J., a building superintendent opened the door to apartment No. 1076 one balmy Tuesday and discovered an alarming scene: terrorist literature strewn about the table and computer and surveillance equipment set up in the next room.
The panicked superintendent dialed 911, sending police and the FBI rushing to the building near Rutgers University on the afternoon of June 2, 2009. What they found in that first-floor apartment, however, was not a terrorist hideout but a command center set up by a secret team of New York Police Department intelligence officers.
Remember Building 7 Posters
Remember Building 7’s tenth anniversary campaign posters feature two 9/11 family members, a 9/11 first responder, a structural engineer and a US Air Force pilot.
Victims' Names May No Longer Be Read At Annual Services
Apparently grief runs its course after 10 years: The traditional reading of the names on the anniversary of 9/11 might see some changes after this year. Mayor Bloomberg announced on his radio show yesterday that after this year’s ceremony, the 9/11 Memorial Foundation (which he heads) intends to discuss with 9/11 survivors, families and first […]
"The Big Lie" Getting Noticed in the Comics World
Here’s two recent articles about the forthcoming “The Big Lie” from Image Comics, to be released on September 7. Remember to contact your local comics shop and make sure they’re ordering copies!
First Responders Not Invited To 10th Anniversary Ceremony
First responders will not be invited to this year’s 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero. That’s the word from city officials who say there isn’t enough room for the tens of thousands of firefighters, police and other rescue workers. According to a report by the Daily News, security issues and making sure that all of the victims’ families will be able to participate in the 10th anniversary of 9/11, contributed to first responders not being invited to the ceremony.
Richard Clarke Is Being Too Nice to George Tenet
Did Tenet try to convert two members of al Qaeda to his team and fail, and then choose to keep quiet about it, despite his established habit of trying to “cover his ass”? Wouldn’t his ass have been better covered by sharing the information? And wouldn’t we all then be better off, in particular the million Iraqis and thousands of Americans and Afghans who’ve paid for this malfeasance with their lives? But what if, just as Obama’s actions make sense when we stop fantasizing about him being a liberal, Tenet’s actions make sense when we stop assuming his top priority was protecting the people of this country?
Tin-Foil Hat Time: The Richard Clarke Edition
I believe in what the great muckraker I.F. Stone said, that all governments have one thing in common: They lie. I think within the broad contours of what we know about 9/11, there’s a lot that we don’t know, and a lot of baloney that’s been put out there. Even the chief counsel of the the 9/11 Commission believes there was a cover-up related to the failed air-defense response that morning. There are still valid questions about whether it was Cheney or Bush calling the shots in the initial moments. We don’t know everything we should about what our government knew about what Pakistan or Saudi Arabia knew before 9/11. In that context, Richard Clarke’s “conspiracy theory” seems highly plausible.
I think that will be one positive aspect to the upcoming 10th anniversary overload — the passage of time will make it less taboo to talk about some of those issues. Hopefully by the 15th anniversary, we’ll have a better understanding of 9/11 than we do today, on the eve of the 10th.