From the February 2006 Idaho Observer:

Investigator claims national defenders too busy with terrorism drills to prevent 9/11

On Sunday, January 15, 2006, a capacity crowd packed into St. Marks Church in New York City to hear Webster Griffin Tarpley speak at a 9/11 truth event sponsored by 911Truth.org. Tarpley explained that, in the 9/11 truth movement there are two main "camps": the LIHOPs (those who believe government "LET" it happen on purpose) and the MIHOPs (those who believe government "MADE" it happen on purpose). Tarpley, a historian and author of "9/11: Synthetic Terror—Made in USA" (Progressive Press, 2006), gave an overview of his analysis of 9/11 from the MIHOP perspective because he believes the evidence proves that elements within the Bush administration and our national defense apparatus caused the events of that day to unfold. The thousands of details published in Synthetic Terror, such as relevant anecdotes and witness statements concerning the 19 alleged hijackers, supports his MIHOP beliefs. But one area of investigation in particular shows the 9/11 Commission’s assessment that an epidemic of systemwide incompetence was responsible for the tragic events of that day is dead wrong: Tarpley believes that the entire national defense system was so busy running terrorism drills on 9/11 it could not prevent an attack from occurring. The following is excerpted from a review of the recent St. Marks event in NYC.

by Judy Andreas

"As long as people believe in absurdities, they will continue to commit atrocities." ~Voltaire

Though old man winter was having a tantrum outside and New York City was a combination of frigid temperature and wind chill, people braved the elements to hear the affable Tarpley give a remarkable presentation. His information was boundless and the audience could not get enough. An hour after the talk had concluded, people were still asking questions.

Tarpley is an activist, historian and expert on international terrorism. He is known for his famous book, "George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography" which he wrote in 1992 with Anton Chaikin. Tarpley’s latest bombshell book, "9/11: Synthetic Terror—Made in USA," was released in October, 2005 and has recently gone into a second printing. It is a brilliant book that explores the attacks of September 11, 2001 as an example of state-sponsored, false-flag terrorism that was carried out by a rogue network within the U.S. government

Tarpley’s talk demonstrated that the official accounts of the Pentagon crash, the fall of the Twin Towers and WTC 7, as well as the crash of United 93 in Shanksville were physically impossible. His facts made a convincing argument that "four misfit highjackers" being able to pilot commercial jets defied the boundaries of physical and technical reality.

For some people in the audience this was a basic review, but others were hearing much of this information for the first time. They were incredulous.

Able Danger

The second printing of "Synthetic Terror" is now available. In it, Tarpley has included some of the newer information that has emerged in the past year; information such as "Able Danger."

According to Wikipedia:

"Able Danger was a highly classified United States Special Operations Command military intelligence program under the command of the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). It was created as a result of a directive from the Joint Chiefs of Staff in early October, 1999, by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hugh Shelton, to develop an Information Operations Campaign Plan against transnational terrorism, "specifically al-Qaeda." According to statements by Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and confirmed by four others, Able Danger had identified the September 11, 2001 attack leader Mohammed Atta, and three of the 9/11 plot’s 19 hijackers, as possible members of an al-Qaeda cell linked to the ‘93 World Trade Center Attacks. The group used all information legally collected under the rule of law. Primarily consisting of classified information, all publicly obtained information was approved after a legal review of SOCOM lawyers. The early identification of the four hijackers by Able Danger appears to contradict the official conclusion of the 9/11 Commission, that American intelligence agencies had not identified Atta as a terrorist prior to the attack. This has resulted in a political controversy that has begun to damage the credibility of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission."

Supposedly, a small group of intelligence employees ran "Able Danger" from the fall of 1999 until February 2001—just seven months before the terrorist attacks—when the operation was axed. To link Mohammed Atta to al-Qaeda, the operation’s information technology specialists used data mining and fusion techniques to search terabyte-sized data sets from open sources—such as travel manifests, bank transactions, hotel records, credit applications—and compared this material with classified information. During the operation’s life cycle, the group sought help from the CIA, but the agency was reluctant to cooperate.

Tarpley’s bold assertion is that "Able Danger" did not involve a group whose purpose was to "observe " Atta and his cohorts, but rather it involved a group whose purpose was to "control" them. "Able Danger are the controllers," Tarpley stated. "They helped Atta get through the day....they gave him money ....they told him what to do....how to behave."

Interestingly, to date Able Danger has not been allowed to testify and has managed to destroy its own records. Apparently, approximately 2.5 terabytes of Able Danger-related data has been destroyed.

Another fascinating aspect of Tarpley’s presentation was his detailed account of the 15 drills which were conveniently running on the morning of September 11, 2001. "It was the highest concentration of military drills in United States history," Tarpley observed.

People traditionally view drills as a protective strategy when, in reality, they are quite the opposite. The purpose of the drills is to deceive; often there comes a day when the drills morph into the real deal. Such a day was September 11, 2001.

Why did the government MIHOP?

Tarpley believes that President Bush and vice-President Cheney were told very little prior to 9/11. He explained that since FDR, the president and vice-president have been mere puppets and those who feel that the problems will be solved if these men are impeached are mistaken and do not understand the power of the rogue elements influencing geopolitics.

To illustrate his point, Tarpley talked about a telephone call between Putin and Bush. Apparently, Bush had given Putin an ultimatum stating that the United States intended to take over Afghanistan and other Central Asia bases. Putin, being quite clever, offered no resistance. He knew that the United States would merely weaken itself by such an action. This has become a reality, for as Russia is building itself up, the United States has become vastly unpopular. It’s as if the U.S. is being led into a trap and the White House hasn’t the power to prevent it from closing in on our nation.

"We are in a world financial crisis," Tarpley stated emphatically.

Tarpley believes that the reason for the crime and tragedy of 9/11 was to save the U.S./British Empire from falling by providing an excuse to destroy countries that have planned to change the currency in which they trade from U.S. dollars—which support the Empire—to Euros.

The so-called "War on Terror" is really a war on the countries that threaten to bring down the U.S. Empire. Not coincidentally, towards the end of March, Iran will start trading in Euros. "9/11 is the key to stopping World War 3," Tarpley concluded.

The hardest job lies ahead of us. We must extend ourselves beyond the walls of St. Marks Church. We must go out into our communities. We must organize events. We must talk to people. We must show videos. If we are to have a future at all, the truth of September 11, 2001, must be revealed.

Judy Andreas is an essayist from New York and author of "Judyisms," a collection of her often humorous, generally cynical and always insightful essays. You can find her online at:

www.judyandreas.com

JUDE10901@AOL.com