The Steel Magnolia

I’ve been really busy over the holidays, but I did manage to check out Signs of The Times a couple times during the few moments I had to spare. What a surprise when I read the new article put up there in the past couple of days which (in my opinion) produces some pretty strong evidence (though circumstantial), that the Above Top Secret forum (which I have enjoyed surfing a time or two or three), is a COINTELPRO operation. The article is entitled Evidence That a Frozen Fish Didn’t Impact the Pentagon on 9/11 and Neither Did a Boeing 757
and here is the relevant excerpt:

Having said that, after reading through the long ATS thread that followed the posting of “CatHerders” article, I have come to the tentative conclusion that the ATS website is just one more government-funded damage control operation, albeit a very subtle one. I will explain why I came to this conclusion.

CatHerders article was received with much fanfare on the ATS forum, and much debate and analysis ensued with the thread finally reaching 125 pages. As the discussion and debate raged, it became apparent that many were convinced by CatHerder’s article, but just as many were not. On the 8th page of the thread, two of the three owners of the ATS website weighed in and attempted to silence the naysayers with some large fonts and guilt trips. For example, “SkepticOverlord”, “one of the three ATS amigos and co-owner of Abovetopsecret.com” wrote:

“It’s very disappointing to see ignorance embraced like this [referring to those who were not embracing Catherders article as “the truth”]

Why? Because the real information is not wrapped up in an exciting Flash animation with angry metal grind? [referring, undoubtedly, to our Pentagonstrike Flash]

Shall we change our motto?

Ignorance Embraced [the ATS motto is “deny ignorance” which seems to be a twist on the QFG motto: Knowledge Protects, Ignorance Endangers.]

I still remember speaking to my brother (who was on the highway at the time) calling me that evening, haunted by the memory of a brief glimpse of faces in the windows of the 757. Especially when he discovered his friend was on the flight later that day.

This is a sad moment for ATS. I feel like I now see faces.”

Very moving. Very manipulative, too. “Springer”, another Co-owner, then added the following:

PITIFUL… “CH” (Catherder) has proven his/her POINT beyond much of anything that even comes close to logic… But ALAS, as S.O. (other ATS co-owner) Points out, it is NOT wrapped up in a pretty flash animation filled with BUNK so it must NOT be beleived… [another obvious reference to the Pentagon Flash.]

Sad Day for ATS indeed…”

Yes indeed, there’s nothing like subjecting your subscribers to a little guilt trip to get them in line.

What is clear from reading the thread is that the owners of the ATS site and the author of the article in question are of the opinion that Arab terrorists, as they are presented by the US government, are real and that a group of them hijacked four planes and attacked the US on 9/11. The only “9/11 conspiracy” that these people hold to then is that the US government may have let 9/11 happen, and the fact is that there are many self-described 9/11 investigators who promote the same idea. You could call it “9/11 conspiracy lite”, designed for those who lack the stomach for the unsavory reality of what 9/11 actually meant and where it is taking us.

The problem with such an explanation is that it subtly suggests that, in 9/11, what we are dealing with is nothing more than corrupt government or a few corrupt men, and we all know governments are often a little corrupt, right? The obvious solution, of course, is to simply remove the corrupt government or the few men and we can then get on with the job of fighting those damn “terrorists”.

What is missing, however, is the awareness that the “terrorist threat” that came front and center after 9/11 is crucial to the entire conspiracy. It is Bush’s “war on terror” that plagues the world to this day, long after 9/11 has lost its edge and drifted to the back of the collective consciousness. It is the threat from “Islamic terrorists” that has led the US military to massacre 100,000 Iraqi civilians over the past two years, and you can be sure they are only getting started. Proponents of such a theory expect us to believe that the fact that terrorist hijackers gifted the Neocons with the justification to accomplish their long-held goals is just a matter of good luck!

Well, another illusion dies. But better we know now, than later. I won’t waste anymore of my time at Above Top Secret.