...and so the year ends.

We close out a year of terrible violence with an assassination. While I wish this could be a trend that is about to reverse I have suspicions that the opposite is about to happen. Another age of assassins is upon us. Another age of the CIA running wild on the planet is upon us. 2008 will be bloodier and more bold than 2007.

The lead up to the Bhutto assassination and the actual act, stink of CIA involvement from beginning to end. Many are deflecting the attention by pointing the finger of blame at “Islamic extremists” and by doing so are brushing aside centuries of Pakistani involvement with foreign intelligence, allegiances that are never set in stone and opportunistic grabs for money. It was never in the best interest of the powers that be, the current administrations of both Pakistan and America, the Military-Industrial Complex, the drug smuggling trade or the intelligence agencies to allow Bhutto a shot at becoming the leading politician of her nation.

It is a thinly veiled secret that the White House pushed the Bhutto situation down the throat of Musharraf and the Pakistan power base. They had great fear of her because of her populist agenda and her stated plans once she was re-elected as Prime minister. Had she been elected her plans were to attack every institution and operation that men like Musharraf and the US Intelligence Community make their living with. She was made cannon fodder by the White House and now the muckraker is gone. The script can continue as written.

Bhutto made no secret that she would declare open warfare on the Taliban and allow the US to enter Pakistan and begin rooting out Islamic extremists that have been given a safe haven in northern Pakistan. The safe haven that Musharraf created is the training and breeding ground for the pawns in the game of terrorism. Agencies like the CIA, MI6 and the ISI may fund, train and have a hand in terrorist groups but the rank and file soldiers are comprised of confused, angry young men who are turned into the suicide bombers and gunmen, looking for paradise promised to them by handlers trained by CIA men. Bhutto planned to shut off the fuel supply for a part of the IC machine.

The agency had much to gain from her death; Musharraf and his Persian cronies had much to gain. There is also the vague warning to Musharraf to not become a pain in the ass that wanders away from the script supplied by the US Intelligence Community. Noriega went off the script and is in a US prison. Saddam decided to become a free agent and he is dead. Bhutto is dead and if you don’t learn your lines and stick with them you’ll either wind up dead too or we will fund and woo the Generals who currently answer to you. Guatemala, Vietnam, Chile; all provide Musharraf with many examples of how the US Intelligence Community operate when the leash has been put away and after more than 6 years of the leash being removed, the agency is a well oiled machine now. Someone has hidden the lever that slows the machine, and the switch that kills the power to the machine was removed long ago.

Fifty years ago this sort of thing was happening in South America and on the fringes of Eastern Europe. The cold war was the driver for the coups and terror campaigns in the 50’s. Forty years ago this sort of thing was happening in Southeast Asia. The cold war was the pretext for the mayhem but big money and insatiable thirst for power was the driver. Thirty years ago the hangover began and the leash was applied to the Agency.

In 1978 and 79 the focus began to shift, a sea change was about to get underway. President Carter initiated an energy plan that was to have removed our dependence on Middle Eastern oil and a covert operation to combat the old Soviet Union was underway in Afghanistan. When Reagan was elected President and the former CIA chief with money, connections and power became Vice president, the gears were set into motion that has brought us to this day and age. Reagan gutted Carter’s energy plans, the CIA was sent out in the field with money to smuggle dope and guns and the death squads of Central America whetted the thirst for blood and torture. The Agency and the Reagan administration funded Saddam, Usama and the Mujahadeen with weapons and money bought and paid for with drug money earned from heroin and cocaine.

Today, the CIA, the powers that be, the Military-Industrial Complex, the real money makers of this world; are hip deep in Persia and Arabia, rampaging and playing games and having the time of their lives. Bhutto’s assassination is another power grab and chapter in the long history of the worlds most notorious and accomplished terror organization: the CIA.

Happy New Year.

Persian Poker or: What's the deal with this new NIE report?

If you play card games of any type you know there are three things that guide your strategy: 1) The cards you can see. 2) The odds for the cards you can’t see. 3) Understanding the habits and strategy of your opponent(s). There are a finite number of cards, a finite number of plays and a finite number of players in any card game. If you are playing with or against someone with whom you have played before, you know how they play the cards, the odds and how they play against or with you. Politics, of any sort, bear a close resemblance to card games, the only real differences being there are fewer rules in the polemic game but the stakes are much higher. The recent revelations regarding the NIE report on Iran’s nuclear programs have brought the card game analogy to my mind.

In the spring of 2005, NIE reports that trumpeted an increased determination and focus in Iran in regard to their nuclear programs. This led the Bush administration to apply heavier pressure and increase the rhetoric against Iran. Now the NIE is rescinding that assessment stating:

“"We judge with high confidence that in the fall of 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program." Furthermore, “Tehran’s decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005." As well as, "Our assessment that Iran halted the program in 2003 primarily in response to international pressure indicates Tehran's decisions are guided by a cost-benefit approach rather than a rush to a weapon irrespective of the political, economic and military costs."

Taking the circumstances of this new NIE report at face value is a dangerous maneuver. To take them at face value is the equivalent of the US government directly telling the Iranian intelligence apparatus that at least two sources of intelligence have contradicted each other, and the results point directly to the source. Regardless of how the intelligence was gathered it would lead the Iranians to a strategy of back tracking their own steps to see what caused these two NIE report findings.

To take this at face value from the perspective of the Iranians would be equally dangerous. It would result in a change in their methods, a new emphasis on information security and would provide the US Intelligence Community with an opportunity to see the Iranian Intelligence Community hard at work. The best way to learn about your opponent’s methodology is to simply sit back and watch him work. Observation of the world is how we learn about the world.

We need to ask ourselves a few questions about this turn of events:

1) What are the specifics regarding the 2005 estimate that led the US government to overestimate the Iranian nuclear program?
2) What new intelligence brought to light the incorrect assessment from 2005?
3) What lessons can be learned about Iran’s strategy and tactics since they have sat back for the last two years, watching the US watch them, while knowing all along that the NIE report was wrong?
4) What lessons did Iran learn about the US Intelligence Community and it’s strategy and tactics over the last two years?
5) Did the Iranian IC manipulate the US IC into thinking it had an ongoing and active program underway? i.e. Did they give the US a red herring? What caused the US to finally realize it was a red herring?
6) Does looking at the white, black and gray propaganda from the last two years shed light into the inner workings of the Iranian and US IC?

With the exception of point number 6, details will certainly be hidden from the public. There is simply no chance in hell that this administration or any government agency would willingly tell the world the specifics of how it gathers, analyzes, disseminates and reacts to the intelligence it sifts through. Point number 6, the study of propaganda about the Iranian nuclear program(s), is one we can study.

In February of 2005, when threats of a US attack on Iran were high, Iran conducted a media campaign that threatened the use of asymmetrical warfare in the event of a US attack on it’s soil. This came only a matter of months after they conducted a massive war game exercise that increased tensions in the gulf, Washington and Tehran. The effect of this threat of guerrilla warfare stirred a series of op-ed pieces that threatened and warned American citizens that Iran has sleeper cells throughout the Persian Gulf and possibly here in America.

It also had the effect of contributing directly to two consecutive rises in the futures trading price for oil. At the end of 2001, with US forces on the ground in Afghanistan, the yearly average price for a barrel of oil was $23. At the end of 2002, when the war drums were beating heavily, the average price had dropped a little less than 1% to $22.81. At the end of 2003, with the US in Afghanistan and Iraq and the early drumbeats of war against Iran were beating, oil rose in price 21% and stood at $27.69. In 2004 oil rose another 36% to $37.66. By the end of 2005, with Washington rhetoric high and an Iranian “bring it on” style response to the Bush administration, oil had risen to $50.04, an increase of another 32%. In just 4 short years the price of oil had risen 117%.

I’m not saying that the NIE overestimate was done solely to boost oil company profits, after all the profits of every single defense contractor has also skyrocketed in this period of time as a direct result of waging two wars on two fronts, so there are other factors. Still, it cannot be overlooked that the increased uncertainty in that region that has driven the price of oil to incredible levels is directly tied to the instability created by both the incorrect NIE report and the unnecessary saber rattling by the Bush administration. This, in turn, has had an enormous and negative impact on the US economy and placed an even greater strain on the budgets of US citizens. In other words, the Bush administration has caused greater harm to the paychecks of Americans in this period of time than the government of Iran.

In this case, the white propaganda meted out by the Bush administration and it’s sycophants can be viewed as advancing the interests of the oil industry. Both the corporations and the government’s that profit on the production of oil benefited greatly by this white propaganda. The effect and the source of this propaganda cannot be overlooked.

A more recent series of events can be looked at as having a possible connection to this recent NIE report and it has a direct influence on the white and gray propaganda currently being spread regarding the situation in Pakistan. Is it possible that the sudden change in the NIE assessment of Iran’s nuclear status has less to do with Iran and everything to do with the evolving situation in Pakistan?

In August of 2005, when the initial wave of propaganda swept out from the NIE report that stirred this hornet’s nest, the IAEA released a widely under-reported piece of news. Their inspections uncovered a key piece of evidence regarding the Iranian bomb-making program. Their tests showed that the enriched uranium particles found on Iranian equipment came not from Iran, but from Pakistan. Pakistan is where this equipment was illegally imported from, all in secret.

Now, we all know that Pakistan has the bomb and we can safely assume that their nuclear program now consists primarily of making more bombs, designing higher yield bombs and honing strategies for future use of those weapons in time of war. The problem in Pakistan in regards to it’s nuclear secrets has been directly tied to Abdul Khan, the government official and nuclear scientist who admitted in 2004 to selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea and was exposed in 2003. Iran bought this equipment from Khan in secret and there has been no dispute over that sale.

Recent events in Pakistan have given us the return of Bhutto, assassination attempts on her life, major abuses of freedom following Musharraf’s crackdowns and we have the threat of a nuclear power losing control of it’s weapons due to political turmoil. This could also lead to the release of more information regarding Abdul and his connections if the political conditions deteriorate further. Considering the probability that Abdul operated within the full knowledge and light of the major Intelligence Communities of the world, the last thing the US and other governments need is the threat of their secrets in this arena being exposed.

These pieces of information and the evolving nature of Pakistan’s power base and connections are interesting when placed against the backdrop of her history and the direct connections she has had with the underworld of smuggling, covert operations and varying loyalties based on financial considerations. Pakistan held a vital place in the British East India Company’s holdings with the production of opium and the illegal smuggling of opium into China during the Opium Wars. The great fortunes of the leaders in international finance today were based on the fortunes gained by the opium smuggling trade. CitiGroup, ING, HSBC and others own the booty that was gained as Bostonian smugglers and well-heeled Englishmen plundered the wealth of China and addicted a full quarter of her male population 200 years ago. Pakistan was the proving grounds and classroom for the CIA’s future drug smuggling schemes.

The US/Pakistan relationship has been hot and cold since it’s formation in 1947. The 50’s, 80’s and this first decade of the 21st century have placed them in close contact and with a location that provides perfect base of operations for covert operations, it is not difficult to see Pakistan being a covert ally to various components of the US Intelligence Community even in the worst of times.

Which leads me back to the possibility that the reason for the new NIE report being tied somehow to events in Pakistan. If there is fear that the US/Pakistan relationship will sour, and very soon at that; and concerns that Pakistan is on the verge of collapse, would it not make sense to downgrade the trumped up assessment of Iran to ensure that any change in the status of Pakistan does not expose more than the Bush administration wishes to be known?

All of this, of course, is speculation. However, it is most curious that the only major development in world politics of great significance in the months prior to this reversal is the turmoil and upheaval in Pakistan. What cards does Bhutto hold, is Musharraf bluffing or will he be forced to fold? Has Iran been playing it straight all this time simply to see how the others at the table are showing their hand? One thing is certain; this administration has the worst poker face ever seen. They bluff when they should fold, raise when they only have a pair of twos, they fold with a king high full house and Bush can’t even do an overhand shuffle without the cards flying all over the table.

Mel Sembler, The CIA, Mind Control and Scientology. What a lovely tea party that makes.

Here is an odd and enlightening set of timelines for a group of notable events. Do the folks of DeKalb county really want someone with such a notorious past, with such unseemly connections, to have such a major impact on the county's future as Mel Sembler might have if the Sembler Company's plans go ahead? Talk about a wild set of parallel connections.

1832 – Skull and Bones is founded at Yale University.

1875 – Beginning in San Francisco, opium trafficking by Chinese immigrants is outlawed in the United States.

1880 – The US and China sign an agreement that prohibits the shipment of opium between both countries.

1914 – The Harrison Narcotic Act is passed into law requiring sellers of opiates to become licensed.

1917 – Prescott Bush tapped for Skull and Bones.

1937 – The Marijuana Tax Act is signed into law.

1948 – George H.W. Bush tapped for Skull and Bones.

1950 – The CIA begins the MKUltra program.

1953 – The Church of Scientology is founded. Founder L. Ron Hubbard forms special Celebrity Centers to cater to and recruit celebrities, musicians, artists, politicians and various professional positions.

1953 – Zapata Oil is founded.

1955 – The Peoples Temple is founded by Reverend Jim Jones in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1958 – Charles Dederich founds Synanon in Santa Monica California. Synanon was created to provide drug addicts with a recovery program. It eventually turns into a cult that used violence and “tough love” against its members/patients.

1961 The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty banning the illicit manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs, is adopted.

1964 – The CIA renames MKUltra to MKSearch.

Mid 60’s through mid 80’s – Future President George W. Bush is reported to have suffered substance abuse problems (alcohol and drugs).

1966 – The Church of Scientology creates NARCONON, a drug rehabilitation program that is based on the writings of Hubbard and was tested on drug abusers in the Arizona State Prison system.

1967 – The Peoples Temple moves from Indianapolis to Redwood Valley, California.

1968 – George W. Bush tapped for Skull and Bones.

Late 60’s and early 70’s – Youth offenders on drug charges are routinely sent to Synanon by court order. Celebrities, musicians and various professionals are recruited and openly invited to Synanon properties and events.

1969 – The State of New Jersey releases a study that shows only 10% to 15% of Synanon’s participants actually end their addictions.

1970 – The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 is signed into law.

Early 70’s – The US Government funds a program known as “The Seed” that follows the tactics and example of Synanon, located in Florida.

Early 70’s – The Peoples Temple makes attempts at becoming mainstream by creating a state licensed facility for developmentally disabled persons, community outreach programs, drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs and Jones’ involvement as a community social and political leader in San Francisco.

1971 – President Richard Nixon coins the phrase, “War on Drugs”

1972 – George H. W. Bush is named Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

1973 – CIA Director Richard Helms orders all MKUltra files destroyed. The US Government claims that the program has ended.

1973 – The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is created as a law enforcement agency within the Justice Department as a result of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The position of “Drug Czar” is created by President Richard Nixon.

1974 - Filmmaker Robert Altman uses members of Synanon as extras for the making of his film California Split.

1974 – Investigations begin into the inner-workings of Synanon. Cult activities begin to appear at around this time. Women are forced to shave their heads, men were given forced vasectomies and there is a communal lifestyle with multiple compounds in possession of the organization.

1974 – Sen. Sam Ervin presents a report to Congress titled, “Individual Rights and the Federal Role in Behavior Modification”. Among the findings were that programs like The Seed, “begin by subjecting the individual to isolation and humiliation in a conscious effort to break down his psychological defenses.” and such programs are “similar to the highly refined brainwashing techniques employed by the North Koreans in the early 1950’s.” Funding for The Seed is soon cut off.

1975 – Synanon files to revise its tax status, attempting to make itself a church, The Church of Synanon.

1976 – The Church of Scientology locates its “Worldwide spiritual headquarters” in Clearwater Florida. The Church of Scientology has since become a major landowner in the Clearwater area.

1976 – Mel Sembler and Joseph Zappala found a program known as Straight Incorporated, using The Seed as it’s guide and former Seed employees to staff the new company. Funding for the program comes from the same federal agency that funded The Seed. Sembler bases his operations out of Clearwater Florida, also the new home of The Church of Scientology.

1976 – George H.W. Bush becomes the Director of the CIA.

1978 – First reports surface of child abuse at Synanon facilities and the money flow to its founder is exposed. Synanon begins a campaign of threats and physical attacks on outspoken former members and whistle blowers as well as filing lawsuits against media outlets that expose the activities of the organization.

1978 – US Congressman Leo Ryan is among the more than 900 victims of the Jonestown Massacre. Ryan’s assassination at the order of Jim Jones precipitates the ordered mass suicide of the congregation.

1978 – George W. Bush unsuccessfully runs for Congress, campaign managed by brother Neil Bush, who lives in Lubbock, Texas. At the time of this political campaign, John Hinckley Jr. also resides in Lubbock.

1979 – The Church of Scientology incorporates the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises. Among the organizations that later will fall under the WISE umbrella is the Clearwater Business Association.

Late 1970's - Mark David Chapman works with Vietnamese refugees at Fort Chafee Arkansas.

1980 – In an eerie mirroring of the plot of Robert Altman’s classic film Nashville, John Hinckley Jr. is arrested in Nashville on firearms charges. He later admits that he had already formed a plan to assassinate President Jimmy Carter to impress actress Jodie Foster and had come to Nashville because of Carter’s appearance in that city.

1980 – George H.W. Bush announces plans to run for President of the United States. Among his political and financial supporters are John W. Hinckley Sr., Chairman and President of Vanderbilt Energy Corporation, formerly Hinckley Oil.

1980 - George H.W. Bush is elected Vice President of the United States.

1980 – John Lennon is assassinated by Mark David Chapman.

1981 – Assassination attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan. Would be assassin John Hinckley Jr. is held. On the date of the attempt on Reagan’s life, the brother of John Hinckley Jr., Scott Hinckley, and the son of Vice President Bush, Neil Bush; were scheduled to have dinner together.

1981 – Son of President George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush; enters the real estate industry in Florida, eventually becoming a partner with Cuban immigrant Armando Cordina. In later years Bush would become a real estate consultant for Cuban exile Miguel Recarey, who assisted the CIA in attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro.

Early 80’s – The CIA provides weapons, training and money to the Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation. The trained and funded fighters ultimately organize the Taliban, who take control of Afghanistan in 1996 after seizing the capital, Kabul

Early 80’s – The CIA decides to fund their overt war in Afghanistan by assisting in the production and smuggling of opium made from Afghanistan poppy production.

Mid 80’s – Florida developer and co-founder of Straight Incorporated, serves on the White House Conference for a Drug Free America.

1988 – Mel Sembler serves on the National Steering Committee and the national Finance Committee for the Presidential campaign of George H.W. Bush.

1988 – George H.W. Bush is elected as the 41st President of the United States.

1989 – The state of New Jersey bars Synanon from doing business with NJ casinos after it is discovered they had a contract with Showboat Casino to provide a “Motivational program” to it’s employees. Through ADGAP, Synanon also sells about $30,000.00 worth of pens, pencils, key chains and other items.

1989 – The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations reports that members of the State Department provided support for the Contras by the use of drug trafficking.

Early 90’s – Military style “boot camps” for youth offenders become an option for the courts to send troubled kids. A 1997 Justice Department report finds that these boot camp style treatment programs are no more effective than juvenile prisons.

1992 – Bill Clinton defeats George H.W. Bush in the Presidential election. Clinton becomes the 42nd President of the United States.

1992 – The World Literacy Crusade is formed as a non-profit organization devoted to study technologies and drug rehabilitation technologies developed by L. Ron Hubbard.

1993 – Federal funding for Straight Incorporated is halted and the organization goes out of operation. Key employees and staff members immediately create new programs identical to Straight Incorporated and in some cases re-open in the same location as Straight Incorporated. Straight Incorporated becomes the Drug Free America Foundation. Board members of the Drug Free America Foundation include former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

1994 – One million Americans are incarcerated yearly on drug related offences.

1994 – Republican Mark Foley is elected to Congress. Before being elected to public office, Foley was involved in Florida real estate in the 80’s and later spearheaded Congressional work regarding laws against the sexual exploitation of children.

Mid 90’s – Synanon dies out as an organization.

1997 – Charles Dederich, founder of Synanon, dies.

1997 – The Wall Street Journal reports on the use of Mena, Arkansas in the trafficking of illegal drugs by the Contras, the CIA and the cover-up of these activities by then Arkansas Governor, Bill Clinton.

1997 to 2000 – Mel Sembler operates at the Finance Chairman for the Republican National Committee.

1998 – The CIA Inspector General published a two-volume report that describes the contra and contra-related entities that were involved in drug trafficking and protected by US law enforcement on orders from the Reagan and Bush administration.

2000 – George W. Bush is elected 43rd President of the United States.

2000 – The Taliban issues a decree banning opium poppy cultivation. At the time of the decree, Afghanistan supplied 75% of the world’s supply of opium.

2001 – The US Government gives Afghanistan $48 million dollars for reducing their opium production by 99.89%.

2001 – 9/11 attacks lead to the invasion of Afghanistan.

2001 – The Taliban are chased from power in Afghanistan.

2001 - Mel Sembler named US Ambassador to Italy.

2003 - The infamous forged Nigerian uranium yellowcake documents were reportedly recieved in a Rome apartment by an Itallian agent, Rocco Martino.

2003 – World Wide Association of Specialty Programs (WWASP) reports revenue of $80 million dollars. The WWASP Dundee Ranch Academy in Costa Rica is raided by child welfare authorities. The owner of the facility is arrested on charges of human rights violations.

2003 – Florida Congressman Mark Foley is given a special dinner by the Clearwater Business Association at the FLAG Land Base of the Church of Scientology.

2005 – The cost of waging the “War on Drugs” for the year 2005 totals $12 billion dollars, the cost of incarcerating drug law offenders is $30 billion dollars, $9 billion dollars for police protection, $4.5 billion for the legal expenses and $11 billion for state and federal correctional facilities. The total for all these activities is over $45 billion dollars.

2005 - Mel Sembler heads up the Scooter Libby defense fund raiser efforts. Several million are netted, Scooter walks on the charges after President Bush commutes his sentence.

2006 – The supply of opium from Afghanistan has increased dramatically. Before the rise of the Taliban, Afghanistan supplied 75% of the world’s opium supply. As of 2006 90% of the world’s opium comes from Afghanistan.

2006 – Florida Congressman Mark Foley resigns from his position following a scandal in which he solicited sex from young male Congressional Pages. Foley claims he has an alcohol problem and was molested by a Catholic priest when he was young.

2007 – The Taliban is in resurgence in Afghanistan.

Sleepers awake

Click the image for a closer and more detailed view.

It is important for all of us to be concerned about Iranian President Ahmadinejab’s visit to the US, in particular the guarantee of his safety by US Law Enforcement. I believe that sometimes we can gauge the overall mood or concerns of the country by doing a scan of keywords from local and national news outlets, whether they be print, televised or electronic. With this in mind pay close attention to this headlines screen capture of the MSNBC website this morning. Do you see keywords and an overall tone that can be gathered by this screen cap?

Of course the graphic and the Newsweek story concern religion and more to the point, evangelicals. Is there a more radical Christian group in America than evangelicals? Look to the “More Top Stories” banner and check the content/tone of those headlines. US, Baiting, Insugents, Iraq. Angry, Welcome, Awaits, Iran. Strike, Deadline, Today. DEA, Nabs, Crackdown. More, Funerals, Home. Halo, Satisfying, Finale.

The keywords, even if not intentionally chosen with an agenda; incite or reflect fear, certainty of death and violence in their placement and order. Is this an example of the media instilling thoughts in the minds of the reader or is it just a coincidence? Would this be a message for a Manchurian Agent, a call for a sleeper to awake and move forward? The age of the assassin is returning, I have no doubt about that, just what would be the fallout if Iran lost it’s leader on American soil to a “lone nut gunman”?

Be on your toes and keep an eye out, folks. The signs are all around you.

Osama bin buying Just For Men, For Beards

“What are you going to do when your style gets old?” Those are the immortal words of the great Bootsy Collins. It appears that the sociopaths of Washington are hitting the same delimma as the American public is slowly waking up and asking what the fuck, dude?! Now, 4 days before the anniversary of the 911 attacks, our old boogy man and all around scary olive skinned guy with a big beard is popping his head in the door, saying hello. He’s back, ladies and germs…you know him, you love him, you can’t live without him…Osama Bin Laden has dropped his newest CD.

There is a catch to this new video. It appears Osama bin buying Just For Men and has apparently done the rounds at the cosmetic surgeon offices of Jalalabad. Folks, this new and improved OBL is a red herring. Look at that picture comparison and tell me those are the same two men. The photo on the right is the fancy pants new OBL, fresh from his vacation at the Tora Bora Club Med. The one on the left? Well, maybe it is the Binster and maybe it ‘aint. The boys at the CIA say it’s so and who am I to disagree?

The CIA did get one thing right when they scotch taped this video together on a drunken weekend visit to Pakistan and that’s the Obi-Wan Kenobi robes. How many times did the boys at Langley look at the updated double trilogy before they realized that old Obi-Wan wears the same threads as OBL? Go figure!

Other than the costume they must be having trouble finding OBL look alikes. I assume the Rangers have bagged dozens of men that sorta kinda maybe looked like “Ossammer” through a long range scope just before Pvt. PoBoy from Louisiana went all kill crazy on them, thus making the supply of OBL doubles more and more difficult for the CIA to get for their gigs.

What should we make of this new video? Honestly, we need to spit this one back in the face of the masters. The shoddy production values have slipped further than the 4th movie in a Hollywood franchise and now the gubbmint is doing the old, “No really, it’s him! It’s really him! Why don’t you believe me?” routine. Just how fucking stupid do they think we really are?

Low rumbles on the horizon

I’m trying to stay away from the purely political posts for at least a few days. The recent Libby commutation of sentence still has my blood boiling. I still need to spend some time digesting the CIA “Family Jewels” release and I haven’t even made the time to do that yet. So let’s go off in a different direction today.

Courtesy of Kent Steadman’s website we have some interesting information that has come to light regarding the Roswell incident. For those who have followed the players in the case, the name of Col. Walter Haut will ring a bell. Col. Haut’s “deathbed confession” has been released. He wrote an affidavit before he passed away which explains the things he saw and did surrounding the infamous incident.

The British media are reporting the details of this affidavit in surprising depth. The American media are, as par for the course, ignoring it. It’s quite interesting to read the Col.’s comments and it’s even more interesting to consider whether his affidavit is a real confession, disinfo or a prank.

The timing of this release is extremely curious considering some of the related and non-related events of the past two weeks. We first had the botched automobile-as-a-Molotov-cocktail “attacks” in the UK, followed by the detainment of a number of conspirators that include physicians and this was book ended by a new al-Quaeda video being released; an abnormally long video at that. The American political scene has given us the insulting Libby commutation, a potential physical threat on the life of Presidential hopeful Barrack Obama and a meeting in Kennebunkport between the Bush clan and Vladimir Putin. The UFOlogy field has also had two new stories to follow with the sudden emergence (and quiet follow-up) of the “Drones” photos and sightings which were accompanied by a release of documents purportedly by a former “insider”.

It’s quite obvious that some of these stories are plants and distractions. Which story is the real McCoy is a question up for debate. We are being distracted, intentionally, for a reason. The Libby story surprises me not in the least bit, but it still infuriates me. The hypocrisy of those in power knows no bounds and the overt in your face attitude is stunning. The Obama story, which I first learned of last night, troubles me the most.

I have feared since the VaTech massacre that we will soon be seeing a return to the days of assassins, where the leaders who appeal to the populace and those with a certain charismatic appeal to the masses, will be gunned down. The threats to all of us are lined up like rings, each one a barrier to keep us in line and under control. Assassination of our own leaders in America is a tactic we have not seen in a generation. Enough time has passed and it is of great concern to me.

The CIA reports are now available online

A word of caution before clicking the link to the "Family Jewels" reports, the pages of the report have been converted into .gif files which will load in your browser. There are over 700 pages so I would recommend dial-up users using a different URL to view/download the files. If I can find a Table of Contents style index page for the reports I'll post it. For those with a broadband connection, here you go: Selected excerpts from the CIA "Family Jewels" report.

Also keep in mind that you are viting the CIA's public website when viewing these documents.

The infamous Family Jewels reports see the light of day. Did hell freeze over?

The Washington Post and MSNBC are reporting that DCI Michael Hayden is about to okay the release of several hundred pages from the CIA's infamous "Family Jewels" reports. Backstory on these reports and their history can be found in the link.

This is a very curious development, especially at this critical juncture in US history. We have major Constitutional questions that the agency are a central component of in their actions in this "War on Terror". Most specifically we know some details of the extraordinary rendition program being run by the agency. Several CIA agents are currently being tried in abstentina in an Italian court for kidnapping suspected terrorists from that country.

We also have VP Cheney's foreboding comments from 2001 where he stated the US Intelligence Community would have to work in "the dark side" from that point on. If Abu Grahib, Guantanamo Bay, the spying on Americans and rendition strategies is only the tip of the iceberg, and who's to say it isn't, there could be things going on that make even the Family Jewels reports seem tame in comparison.

The timing of this release of historical info is also interesting. Perhaps the agency sees the writing is on the wall regarding their activities since 9/11/2001 and they know it will be sooner than later before the word leaks out and they wish to soften the blow by desensitizing us to what is coming? Perhaps they know a leak is in the works already? Who knows.

All that can be said is that the agency releases information of their own choice about as often as Haley's Comet swings around in view. Something is driving this release and it isn't patriotism or a belief that state secrets are damaging to a Democracy. The trick in this case is trying to understand why they want to release it.

Once the papers are released I am certainly going to have a look and I highly recommend that all Conspiracy Theory researchers and enthusiasts do the same, even if the agency or government theories are not your main subject of interest. Red herrings, misdirection, disinfo and manipulation should be things we all keep in mind while digesting the documents. Whatever reason the agency has in releasing these documents there has to be an ulterior motive and we need to step back and think of their place in the big picture.

Silence of conspirators, how it is achieved

Over the weekend I thought a bit about a central argument that arises in the discussion and debate regarding the validity of Conspiracy Theories. The argument involves the necessity of co-conspirators who are able to maintain silence. Time and time again we hear how a massive conspiracy could not be pulled off because it would be impossible to maintain secrecy, that someone would sooner or later spill the beans and the secret would be out. I believe a major conspiracy can indeed be pulled off where a large number of people are able to maintain silence and we actually have real world examples of big secrets being kept for quite a while.

The Manhattan Project is one such example. Before a single person in Congress knew of the existence of the project, two years of funding and research had gone into the work of creating the first atomic bomb. Before the American public knew of its existence almost than $2 billion dollars had been spent over 5 years. Adjusted for inflation this would equal $23 billion dollars in 2007. More than 130,000 people were employed by and involved in this project and yet John Q. Public was completely in the dark with regards to its existence.

The creation of, and work performed at, Oak Ridge alone is worthy of mention. Anyone who has seen this massive set of facilities can attest to the incredible level of security that was maintained to keep this location and it's role, a secret. Some civic leaders as close as Chattanooga and Knoxville may have known small and general details of what was going on at Oak Ridge but very few who did not need to know actually knew what was going on there.

I believe it’s easier to gain and maintain silence from co-conspirators than credit is being given on this subject. The use of threats and the stroking of patriotic emotions can of course go a long way in gaining silence but there is one other aspect of how these secrets are kept that I believe have been downplayed by many debunkers and CT enthusiasts.

One way of maintaining silence is blackmail. With the recent sex scandals erupting from Washington since last year’s outing of Florida Representative Mark Foley, the possible use of blackmail from sexual adventures is very much in my mind these days. The recent DC Madame case has exposed several high value DC politicos and there are hints that VP Cheney is among the clients. Ultra-conservative minister Ted Haggard was also exposed in his own sex and drugs scandal. This is an old trick, one that the CIA also perfected and expanded on with Operation MIDNIGHT CLIMAX and I believe the descendants of that program are being used this very day.

What type of sexual blackmail would be sufficient to earn the silence of a co-conspirator? The Franklin sex scandal is a good indicator of what could be used in a most extreme fashion. In the Franklin case we have seen much evidence that an underground pedophilia ring once (still?) existed in which a number of politicians and power brokers were involved in a child sex ring that found its victims via kidnapping. The old saying in politics was that the only way a sex scandal could harm a politician would be if he were found in bed with a dead girl or a live boy comes to mind. I can’t help but think that there is a bit of background truth, and a cautionary tale, to this old joke.

The exact nature of how sexual blackmail is used would be a case-by-case scenario. For some people, the simple use of a prostitute and a heterosexual relationship would be sufficient. In the case of Ted Haggard we had an anti-gay minister caught in a homosexual scandal, illicit drugs were also involved. To the Intelligence Community a person’s weakness is their greatest point of blackmail.

Of course, sexual blackmail is just one form of behavior modification that can be used to gain the silence of a number of people. Bribery with money and promises of advancement to more powerful positions in government and business is another. Possibly even the promise to turn a blind eye, or an open invitation to join in even more exotic sexual behavior is yet another bribery angle that could be used. Stanley Kubrick’s film Eyes Wide Shut directly referred to this notion in regard to the participants of the orgies depicted in the film.

There are a number of methods at the disposal of conspirators to ensure the silence of its participants, all of them valid, all of them easily attained. Dismissing conspiracy theories out of hand based on the argument that people just can’t keep their mouths shut does not hold water when you consider the varieties of methods that can be used to ensure silence.

Is the CIA behind the "DC Madam" scandal?

Last week I posted that the VaTech shooter's use of a prostitute was a similar behavioral pattern shared with other possible mind control subjects. This has made me think a bit more seriously about the still simmering "DC Madam" scandal. Is it possible that some of the remaining veteran spooks at Langley are using the oldest trick in the book (no pun intended) to get back at the neocon hypocrites?

For those unfamiliar with the DC Madam story the short explanation is that a woman by the name of Deborah Jeane Palfrey was recently arrested for running an escort service in the DC area. Her clientele is rumored to consist of high level government officials. Among the first to be stung for their dalliances is Deputy of Secretary of State Randall Tobias. Tobias, the Presidential appointed "AIDS Czar", who was quoted as saying that being "faithful" is a way to prevent AIDS, seems to not know the meaning of the word hypocrite.

On Thursday of last week, Tobias admitted he did use the escort service run by Palfrey and would call up "to have gals come over to the condo to give me a massage." He claimed there was "no sex" in these massage encounters. Yeah...right...Ted Haggard already tried that one when the gay prostitute and crystal meth story first broke last year. It didn't work too well for him either.

Palfrey was pretty smart, apparently she maintained detailed lists of her clients. I don't know if this will be the equivalent of a "Get out of jail free" card but at the least she can have the pleasure of bringing down the hypocrites with her if she gets the heat over this. ABC news has possession of a copy of her list. Why they do no not provide a true service to this country by naming names I can only guess.

So, is this an example of Operation Midnight Climax being carried out in 2007? So far nothing leads me to believe that it is an agency job. The curious thing is that the rank and file career minded spooks are among the walking wounded from the Christian Coalition drones and Neocon lovers of the Bush administration. Would it be beneath them to pull out the oldest trick in their little black book of dirty tricks? Of course not. Whether the agency set this in motion or it just happened as so many criminal enterprises eventually lead to is possibly a side story in what could be the best Washington sex scandal in many years.

At least this one isn't as dark and disturbing as some others. Even the Minnesota Monitor is pondering the possibility that the emerging scandal is being smokescreened to take away its attention by giving us some al-Qaeda capture stories.

Did Operation Midnight Climax ever end?

One of the more curious side stories to the background of the VaTech shooter is the revelation that approximately a month before the shootings, Cho hired the services of a prostitute. On the surface this isn’t odd but when placed in the context of past CIA activities and certain assassins and killers this revelation becomes important.

One component of the MKULTRA program was Operation Midnight Climax. This operation consisted of CIA safehouses located in several major US cities where prostitutes were used to lure unknowing test subjects into LSD induced experiments. Blackmail was employed against the men who were the victims of these tests and the CIA developed many new mind control techniques in this project. What makes this even more enlightening is that Arthur Bremer and John Hinckley also sought the services of a prostitute within weeks of their respective crimes.

What we have is yet one more “coincidence” that links the most notorious killers and assassins in US history.

From the Archives - A look back at Corpsewood

In December of 1982, Sheriff’s Deputies of Chattooga County Georgia were dispatched to a remote location on Taylor’s Ridge, also known as Corpsewood. The occupants of Corpsewood; Dr. Charles L. Scudder and Joseph Odom, had become mysterious and strange transplants into a community unaccustomed to outsiders moving into the area. Rumors swirled around the small, rural county that the men were Satanists. When the Deputies arrived they found the bodies of both men, dead from gunshot wounds.

While the story has become local legend within the county and the bordering counties, there is another aspect of the slayings that gained very little media attention and fits into a small corner of the history of MKULTRA. Dr. Scudder’s past and evidence found at the scene of the crime place the Dr. into the early days of the project.

Dr. Scudder was a professor of pharmacology at Loyola University prior to moving to Georgia in the mid 1970’s. His work at the University began at some point in the late 1940’s. Loyola helped to play a part in the MKULTRA program by working to recreate LSD-25 which the CIA had bought from Sandoz Laboratories. His later work centered around the study of mice in controlled environments.

Finding the research papers of Dr. Scudder has been difficult for me over the years, with only tantalizing glimpses of his work popping up from time to time. The greatest and most intriguing has been the detailed listings of the Stafford Beer collection at Liverpool John Moores University. Among the items in the collection is a series of papers, letters and research materials for a project named “Challenge to Paradigm”, which was planned to be published as a book. Scudder was among the 7 contributors to this book project, which was also comprised of 4 other University professors and musician Brian Eno.

The titles of the papers that Dr. Scudder was to contribute to the book are interesting to say the least, "The mind an evolving system of models","Mindless meaning; meaningless mind", "On the environmental mind” and "The brain: a neurohumorally regulated ultrahomeostat". It’s worth noting that with Scudder’s background and work with psycho-reactive drugs and neurophysiology, he would have been of serious interest to the CIA.

Among the items found in Corpsewood were several vials of a clear liquid. When the state crime lab analyzed these vials it was learned that the liquid was highly purified LSD-25 and it was believed that based on the chemical signature the vials were from one of the original batches of the drug which was imported by the CIA.

So, how did this researcher wind up in the hills of north Georgia, only to be murdered? In the mid-1970’s, Scudder had decided to move a remote location, one that was away from the hustle of everyday life. In a 1976 interview with Mother Earth News, Scudder detailed the process of becoming sick of modern life and his efforts to build his home and live off the land in the hills.

In the end, Scudder and Odom’s deaths were as violent and as senseless as any murder that could occur in Chicago, the city he escaped to live a quiet country lifestyle. The killers were two local men who planned to rob them at gunpoint. Scudder and Odom were known to host small parties with the local youths which involved wine and drugs. The killers used this as part of their plan to gain entry to their home however, once the drugs and alcohol took hold things got out of hand, which resulted in the deaths of both men.

The side story that Scudder left behind, his death, is almost as interesting as the research career he had.

Another random thoughts post

The news glut regarding the VaTech Massacre from the major media outlets has been waning in recent days, which is curious when you compare it to the coverage of Columbine, which was "four walled" for weeks after it occurred. It’s easy to blame the current world events for this, with wars being conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan and the constant political scandals. But the current events of spring 1999 were not much different than today.

At the time of the Columbine massacre there was growing anger and outrage from the political right over the US involvement in Kosovo peacekeeping activities, especially the bombing campaign. In one of those bomb runs the Chinese Embassy was attacked. And let’s not forget the Monica Lewinski story and the impeachment of President Clinton. The 2000 Presidential Elections were just around the corner as well. So the environment was somewhat of a mirror image of what we have today. Political scandal and US military operations being conducted overseas were the top stories of the day.

Claims are being tossed around that NBC took a lot of heat for showing “too much” of the documents and videos sent to them by the shooter. Yet the shooter sent approximately 26 minutes worth of video footage and NBC only aired about 1 minute, or 3% of that footage. Not all of the photographs were released and even on their websites where NBC blacked out vulgar language, very little was actually shown. The 1800 word manifesto hasn’t been published. So only a fraction of the information was released.

And yet NBC posted enormous TV ratings from this data dump and I can say that the hit rate for this blog, which is still less than 3 weeks old, skyrocketed. NBC may say that they have come under fire from the public but from the eyes I see through public interest in this event is enormous. Our short attention span will cause this event to eventually fade away, only to be studied by people who have specialized interest in the case, but this is normal.

There has still been no media discussion about the stunningly well skilled and methodical action shown by Cho during his attack. To the Big 5 of the mass media he was just a disturbed and mixed up college kid, to those looking at his capabilities as a shooter we are left with very few explanations for such a high level of skill. And now I have even read comments made by someone who supposedly saw him shooting at a local firing range that Cho was an awful shooter who wouldn’t even use a target at the range. The source says that Cho would just shoot downrange at safety berm. Statements like that contradict what we know and I can’t help but wonder about the true nature of such “witness statements”.

I’m still looking more in depth at the connections between the US Intelligence Community (IC) and the extreme right wing religious movement to Cho. The more I look in that direction the more I see that is troubling. Collecting the data is a tedious process, weaving the connections is confusing and I’m only able to maintain the connections by using Visio to create flowcharts.

Its times like this that boost the appreciation I have for the late Danny Cosolaro and Gary Webb. They unpeeled much larger onions than this and in the glare of attention that makes blogging the equivalent of hanging out in an alley on the outskirts of town.

News - Was Cho Seung-Hui a member of the Unification Church (Moonie)?

(Update by the CT Blogger: For more details on the VATech shooter's religious connections, click here.

For details on the VaTech shooter's connections to US Intelligence Agencies, click here.)

(update by The CT Blogger - 5/7/2007 - New update on the shooter's background in the Evangelical movement can be found here)

While downloading and categorizing some new mainstream media reports on the VATech shooter I came across some curious tidbits of information about his family that is raising red flags with me. I have no media reports on this theory to date but there are some strong indications that I believe may lead to a connection with the Unification Church and the shooter. I think there is enough circumstantial evidence of this to at least get this idea out on the web right now.

Cho's parents were wed under an arranged marriage. This is a common practice with the Unification Church. The church was founded in Korea. The DC area is a particular place of interest for the church due to it's political connections with the church's leader. Mind control has also been a tactic used by the church. The Unification Church has a direct connection to Bush 41, ex-CIA chief and ultra-deep insider of the US Intelligence Community (IC). The connections between the Unification Church and the CIA are too numerous to mention.

I'm going to keep looking at this facet and see what comes up. Has anyone looked at the Washington Times' coverage of the shooting? I wish I had made the Korean connection much sooner so that I could have archived that paper's reaction for future study. Why didn't we consider this earlier? Is Cho's sister, Sun, named after the church's leader and founder?

Other Blogs - Mack White comments on the JFK assasination

The JFK assassination has made the news once again as the result of a Rolling Stone article about the deathbed confessions of alleged co-conspirator of the assassination, E. Howard Hunt. Hunt is one of those intelligence players who shows up in many conspiracy theories and in stories about the dark arts plied by intelligence agencies. Mack White has commented on the article and his insights are worth noting. His posting on the subject can be found here:

http://mackwhite.blogspot.com/2007/04/e-howard-hunts-deathbed-disinformation.html

The Rolling Stone article can be found here:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/13893143/the_last_confessions_of_e_howard_hunt


Highlights of White's comments

A few statements of particular interest written by White:

"As a spy and a dirty trickster, his entire career was built on deception, therefore anything said by this professional liar, even on his deathbed, is automatically suspect. "

and,

"But there’s someone missing from the list: Hunt himself. "

In two sentences, White has summed up the most important nugget of the article and has gone to the heart of what any conspiracy theorist must do when studying the web of deceit in CT, never forget the true nature of the beast you are dealing with.

Further into the posting, White once again sums up what I believe is the most important aspect of identification of the cabal behind the conspiracy:

"The “Johnson plot” is a limited hangout that better explains certain things, such as the involvement of the CIA and Mafia, but doesn't mention the more important involvement of the military-industrial complex--and no wonder. The same companies are still doing their dirty business today. " (emphasis mine - The CT Blogger)

Big kudos to Mack White for a fantastic post.

News - al-Qaeda claims responsibility in Algiers blasts

While searching for updates on al-Qaeda's claim of responsibility in today's bombings in Algiers I came across an interesting article regarding al-Qaeda's reach into northern Africa that has been ignored by corporate news:

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/50490.html

Moroccans felt relatively safe from the Islamist terrorism plaguing
neighbouring Algeria, but that sense of security is now definitively gone. A
recent string of suicide bombings and arrests has exposed the vulnerability of
the kingdom in a region where al-Qaeda is extending its reach.

Moroccan terrorists are still amateurish, but widespread poverty and a lack
of opportunities for young people provide a fertile ground for extremism to
grow, local analysts said. (Emphasis added)

An Algerian-based, al-Qaeda-linked umbrella organization is now coordinating
North African Islamist cells which are also believed to train their activists in
Africa's Sahel countries.

I've posted a few entries to the blog over the past few days which discuss not only the fascination that al-Qaeda has with attacks on the 11th, but also about the methods of recruitment and indoctrination that link al-Qadea's efforts to create Manchurian Agents with the CIAs MKULTRA program. Links to both posts listed below:

Mind control:

http://theconspiratorsnest.blogspot.com/2007/04/commentary-mind-control.html#links

al-Qaeda and numerology:

http://theconspiratorsnest.blogspot.com/2007/04/ct-dates-pick-number-from-1-to-infinity.html#links

Commentary - Mind Control

The year 1959 saw the release of Richard Condon's novel The Manchurian Candidate; five years earlier a CIA behavioral researcher and guru, Morse Allen, made his first attempt to create a programmed assassin by using hypnosis within the auspices of Project ARTICHOKE. By time Condon's novel had been turned into a film and was in theaters the CIA's MKULTRA project was in full swing. Allen had been pushed aside in the development of creating a process to hypnotize an unwitting subject into performing covert operations for the agency. Condon's novel is fiction. Project ARTICHOKE, MKULTRA and the CIA's efforts to create hypnotized assassins and covert operatives is real. The creation of a Manchurian Agent is the result of this work.

What became of this program? There is no known end date for MKULTRA. The last report I have been able to find which mentions the project's activities is a 1994 GAO report which states that human experiments were still being conducted in 1974. As we have seen with John Poindexter's pet DARPA project, Total Information Awareness, a project can be birthed, grown, exposed, banished and re-birthed under a new name, new agency and a new focus. A project such as MKULTRA, which specializes in methods of controlling the minds and actions of human beings, holds a seductive promise that would be impossible for the agency to relinquish. This is the type of power that no agency or organization would ever want to part with. It can be argued that the project is still alive in one form or another after reviewing several events of the past 15 years which have glaring similarities to suspected MKULTRA projects.

The assassination of Itzchak Rabin in 1995 has many of the hallmarks of an MKULTRA based operation. Assassin Yigal Amir fits the "lone nut" profile. He has connections and close ties to extremist organizations. There are numerous inconsistencies surrounding official reports of Rabin's assassination. The methods used to recruit radical Islamic suicide bombers appear to match methods developed in Project BLUEBIRD and Project ARTICHOKE. The "lone nut" (Manchurian Agent) method of assassination (JFK, RFK, MLK, Wallace, Reagan, Rabin) appears to still be the preferred method in western or westernized societies but in emerging third world nations and in the Arab and Persian states, the "Groupthink" style of Manchurian Agent operations and indoctrination appears to be preferred for assassinations as well as day to day operations.

Beginning with the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis and continuing today with the Iraq insurgency and al-Qaeda attacks, what we see emerging is a pattern of attack methods in which groups of individuals or individuals who align their actions with the dogma of radical groups and perform advanced strategic operations, are taking center stage. The methods of luring individuals into these radical groups use aspects of Project BLUEBIRD as well as the writings of many researchers and psychologists who study "Groupthink". Confused, disenfranchised and impoverished people are indoctrinated into movements in which they are made to feel a part of something greater than themselves. The promise of acceptance, righteousness and social justice are cornerstones of this method. Once they become a member of the group, advanced techniques can be employed which condition the subject into accepting the idea of sacrificing their life for the greater good of the group. A Manchurian Agent is created in this way.

I don't believe that the suicide bombers of the middle east are CIA manufactured Manchurian Agents. I do however, believe that the techniques used by the CIA were passed down to members of the radical groups which utilize Manchurian Agents to carry out suicide missions throughout the world. The outcome of the Jonestown Massacre was all the proof that the CIA needed to focus on a method of psychological indoctrination rather than biological or chemical agents as an effective, low-risk solution. It's no secret that the agency was active in Afghanistan in the 80's and their presence in Afghanistan coincided with the emergence of the main al-Qaeda players. Osama Bin Laden was even trained by the agency during this time frame. I think it safe to assume that of the individuals who were trained in the psychological methods of indoctrination, many turned into Agent Provocateurs, willing to freelance their work to meet their own goals and needs. The connections made by Bin Laden during the Soviet Afghan War later found their way home in the early 90's as he began to form the foundation to al-Qaeda. Those trained in mind control techniques would have found their way to Bin laden or he would have actively sought them through his connections.

Would the Groupthink method be viable for use in America against Americans? I think there are signs that it would. American's have lost the perspective and insight needed to even recognize basic propaganda disseminated by their own government. Constant negative and positive reinforcement of following leaders and aligning oneself to political parties and moral absolutes is a 24 hour a day business on the corporate news outlets of cable news channels. Dissenters from any side of the political spectrum are shunned, mocked and verbally assaulted by the "true believers". Maintaining a specific and all-encompassing belief system is not yet the norm in America, but maintain AN all-encompassing belief system is the norm in America. The worst thing a person can say in today's cultural climate in America is "I don't have an opinion of that subject." It is expected and mandatory that you have an opinion on any subject, even the ones which do not effect you in any way. You have to have an opinion on abortion, the economy and foreign policy. Even sports, a pastime, is an area where everyone must have some type of opinion.

All that is needed to push the Groupthink training into action is a single event and action will occur. It's happened before, within the past 7 years. Think of 9/11 and how you and those around you reacted. No one had a unique experience, no one has unique memories of the events of that day. Every single American recalls that day in words in the exact same way.

"I remember seeing the planes crash into the buildings."
"My mind couldn't comprehend what I was seeing."
"All I wanted to see was justice brought to the people who did it."
"I fully gave my support to the President."

To quote from The Manchurian Candidate, "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, warmest, most wonderful person I have ever met."

In America, we have become a nation of Manchurian Agents.

Television - Jonestown documentary to air tonight on PBS

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_americanexperiencejonestownthelifeanddeathofpeoplestemple_2007-04-09

Aficionados of cults, mind control and CIA studies will have the chance to watch a new documentary this evening, produced for PBS' American Experience series. The documentary will include interviews with former Peoples Temple members, including survivors of the massacre.

I may take notes and post some thoughts here on the blog.

Don't drink the Kool-Aid, folks.