Mainstream journalists expose 9/11 hoax

Several leading American mainstream journalists say that the US government is lying about 9/11 and the so-called war on terror. Unfortunately, media owners and editors won't let them report their findings.

The aftermath of the 9/11 attack.

Recently, Seymour Hersh, America's top mainstream investigative reporter, broke the news that the US government's claim to have killed Osama Bin Laden on May 2nd, 2011 is “a big lie. There is not one word of truth in it.”

Hersh went on to harshly criticize his long-time employer, the New York Times, and other big media outlets: “We lie about everything, lying has become the staple.” He said all big US media outlets should be shut down for lying to the American people.

Other mainstream journalists agree that the US government’s story of Osama Bin Laden and 9/11 is a big lie. Sherwood Ross, an award-winning journalist who has worked for the City News Bureau of Chicago, the Chicago Daily News, and for Reuters and other wire services, told me in a recent radio interview:

“It's very doubtful that Muslims were behind 9/11. Think about this for one minute: That President Bush's family had done business with the family of the man who allegedly made the terrorist attack, Osama Bin Laden. The Bin Laden family was actually on the board of Bush's oil company. How is it possible that of all the billions of families in the world, the one family that makes the attack on America has done business with the President of America. 

That sounds more like a favor than anything else. I don't think 9/11 was an Arab conspiracy or a Muslim conspiracy. I think it's an American conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States and install what is becoming a police state, and also to advance the imperial ambitions of the United States, to swindle the Middle East out of their energy resources.”

Ross explained that American journalists are no longer free to expose even the most outrageous official falsehoods and fabrications:

“You don't see any serious questioning by the mainstream media. I thought one of the tip-offs that it was a put-up job was when a cameraman from a little weekly in Pennsylvania went to the site where this airliner had supposedly crashed (on 9/11). And he said, 'I didn't see any airliner. I saw a hole in the ground. I didn't see any bodies. I didn't see any luggage.' All right, maybe that guy just made this up. 

But I don't think so. I think he was just doing his job. And then at the Pentagon, you had the claim that airliner hit it. But again, there was no wreckage. Reporters who worked in the Press Room at the Pentagon went out there on the lawn, and they couldn't see any airliner. So, over and over again, you have manufactured lies that the press largely is not reporting.”

I asked Ross whether he is allowed to express such views in his articles for the Miami Herald, the Chicago Daily News, or the wire services. He answered:

“Absolutely not. When I used to write for Reuters, covering workplace issues, for ten years, my columns were picked up from the New York Times to the L.A. Times. But if you write about 'why did 7 World Trade Center collapse when it wasn't hit by an airplane,' nobody will pick it up. So, now my columns are used on the Internet by bloggers, and they're used by Middle East wire services. I get phone calls from Press TV, and you can read my interviews there. But you won't see me quoted by the Associated Press.”

Another leading American journalist, Paul Craig Roberts, has also been banned from US mainstream media for telling the truth about 9/11. Dr. Roberts served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, won the French Legion of Honor and other awards for his contributions to economics, and has been a regular columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and other mainstream publications. But since he spoke out about the controlled demolitions of the three World Trade Center skyscrapers on 9/11, Paul Craig Roberts has been put on the mainstream media's no-publish list.

In a recent interview on my radio show, Dr. Roberts explained why the US mainstream media, as Seymour Hersh said, lies about everything:

“One of the worst things that ever happened (to America) was when President Clinton allowed five companies to concentrate the American media. That destroyed its independence. And ever since Clinton permitted that, which was totally against all American tradition, and totally against the antitrust law ... but in the United States, as we've seen, law doesn't mean anything anymore. The minute these five conglomerates concentrated the media, the independence of the media disappeared. 

It's no longer run by journalists, it's run by corporate advertising executives. The value of these media conglomerates resides in their federal broadcast licenses. And so they can't dare offend the government. Their licenses may not get renewed, and the entire multi-billion-dollar value of the companies would disappear. So, the so-called mainstream media is no longer the media. It doesn't tell you anything. It's a propaganda ministry - the Ministry of Propaganda. Gerald Celente calls them 'presstitutes.'”

Rather than writing for the mainstream media, Paul Craig Roberts is now exposing the fake killing of Osama Bin Laden and deconstructing the 9/11 false-flag operation for an independent outlet called the Institute for Political Economy. In a recent article published on the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Dr. Roberts wrote:

“The neoconservatives who advocate America’s hegemony over the world called for 'a new Pearl Harbor' that would allow them to launch wars of conquest ... No evidence exists that supports the government’s 9/11 story ... On this 12th anniversary of a false-flag event, it is unnecessary for me to report the voluminous evidence that conclusively proves that the official story is a lie. You can read it for yourself. It is available online. You can read what the architects and engineers (for 9/11 truth) have to say.

 You can read the scientists’ reports. You can hear from the first responders who were in the WTC towers. You can read the pilots who say that the maneuvers associated with the airliner that allegedly hit the Pentagon are beyond their skills and most certainly were not performed by inexperienced pilots. You can read David Griffin’s many books. You can watch the film produced by Richard Gage and Architects & Engineers for 9/11 truth. You can read the 9/11 Toronto Report, International Hearings on 9/11.”

But don't bother reading the mainstream media. As Seymour Hersh, Sherwood Ross, Paul Craig Roberts, and a rapidly growing number of ordinary Americans realize, the mainstream media's motto is now: “We lie about everything. Lying has become the staple.”

The government’s not demanding an investigation into an event that is the greatest embarrassment to a “superpower” in world history is a complete give-away that 9/11 was a false-flag event.

Above article by Dr. Kevin Barrett here.

Real Time Problems with Bill Maher? Yes.

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For some years, HBOs satirical weekly talk show host Bill Maher - of Real Time, has repeatedly vocalized his anger at those who question the government's account of the events of September 11th.

Whether its directed against a guest or used as a punch line, activists who try to tell the Truth of 9/11 have been lambasted as tin foil hat conspiracy theorists.

But, then again, Bill Maher also publicly states the Twin Towers burned for more than two hours. This would make little impact on national opinion if it were not for Maher's impressive viewership numbers. Ratings are the mark of a TV man and Bill is holding the high cards.

However, when it comes to documentation of what actually occurred on that tragic day and the alleged evidence that has since surfaced, it seems, the time has come for Maher to rethink his hand and call or fold.

Countless viewers and fans have contacted Real Time - and its producers over the years out of frustration and hope of getting any one - of a growing number, of experts invited onto his show as a guest to openly - without bias, discuss new evidence that appears to contradict most of what we have been told.

Maher and his team have not only refused to respond to any of their correspondence, but have also continued the live derision of a people, on a topic he has refused to research in any reputable way. So much so, that even after a $250,000 cash challenge issued by Jock Doubleday (to merely study the evidence), Maher continues his refusal to acknowledge on his show, all scientific evidence, the inconsistencies of the 9/11 Commission Report and the foreknowledge, cover-up, and/or the possible secret involvement of the United States Government in these attacks.

After more than a year of honest attempts, the 9/11 Truth Movement is done being belittled and used as television fodder for a comedian who seems to have taken on the 9/11 challenge and their message as a pet project to destroy.

UnSpun Newz's Adam Ruff and Cheri Roberts have picked up the challenge. This is their story.

Are there higher powers pushing the proverbial censorship buttons on Real Time? In viewing this newscast you will better understand the upcoming UnSpun Newz SPECIAL investigative report that will dig deeper into who signs Mr. Maher's paycheck and what exactly their ties are to 9/11 then - and 9/11 now.

Barrie Zwicker interviews MI5 Whistleblower Annie Machon at the University of Waterloo

Worth watching!

Presented by the University of Waterloo 9/11 Research Group
Hagey Hall Humanities Theatre, May 31st, 2009

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Frustrations of an Interview on the Mainstream Media when the Interviewer Doesn't Want the Truth to be Told

But at least Dr. David Ray Griffin was briefly on Tucker Carlson's MSNBC Show on Aug. 9,2006.

Griffin hold his own against the really irritating, judgemental and narrow minded interviewer.



By contrast, here's another interview that allowed more time to speak and the interviewer actually listened to the answers:

In this 20 minute Satellite TV interview by Canada's feisty Randall Mark of The Standard, Richard Gage, AIA (founder of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth) lays out all the evidence for the controlled demolition of the 3 WTC high-rises on 9/11. The next day Vancouver 9/11 Truth had to turn away 50 people in this standing room only venue of 300 at the famous Public Library.

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The Media Sings the Same 9/11 Song - from "The Nation" to Fox TV -

Written by Terry Hansen *

NOTE: Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth makes many efforts to promote its mission among and through the mainstream media. This article offers some reasons why that has proven to be a daunting and largely unsuccessful effort. Also see Operation Mockingbird.

The News Media at War

For many Americans, one of the strongest reasons for accepting the official story about the shocking events of Sept. 11, 2001, is their deep-seated belief in the free press. We are taught from an early age that the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution guarantees us many cherished freedoms, among which is freedom of the press.

If there were really any serious problems with the official 9-11 explanation, many Americans reason, this information wouldn't go unreported for long in our media-saturated society. Major news organizations such as CNN, Time, and the New York Times would most certainly investigate and report any serious problems almost immediately.

Nearly all major American news organizations have embraced the government's version of events with few questions asked. Consequently, many Americans naturally conclude that it's safe to accept the official story at face value.

There is a very serious flaw in this line of reasoning, however: The United States is at war and, for nearly a hundred years, the U.S. government, major media companies and leading journalists have joined forces with the military during wars and other national emergencies to shape public opinion by carefully controlling what Americans are told about world events.

Especially since World War I, whenever the U.S. government has chosen to take the nation to war, or to address some other major emergency, it has quietly called upon top journalists and media executives to help overcome anti-war sentiment, promote popular hostility toward a designated enemy, or simply calm public anxieties.

This may seem surprising to many readers, so it is worth reviewing a few historical examples of such media-government collusion.

Because deception is a fundamental technique of warfare, military organizations have sought control over war-related information virtually since the dawn of human history.

The Chinese writer Sun Tzu put it well in his classic work, The Art of War: “All war is based on deception,” he wrote. “Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near. Offer the enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him.” 1

In modern times, deception has always employed two fundamental stages: censorship followed by propaganda. Censorship deprives the public and enemies of accurate information about what is taking place. Once this information vacuum has been created, propaganda is injected into this conceptual void, thus creating a false but entirely believable picture of events.

In the age of mass media, this simply couldn't be achieved without the assistance of major news organizations, journalists, and other communication outlets. Thus, governments nearly always appeal to these organizations for help in this complex task.

The British Empire, which once ruled much of the planet, was for some centuries among the most skilled practitioners of this dark art. Unlike revolutionary America, imperial Britain never embraced the notion of a free press, since centralized control of news and information was essential to its global deception activities. According to Philip Knightly, author of The First Casualty: From Crimea to Vietnam: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker, Britain was so skilled in the use of propaganda during World War I that it became a major inspiration for the later efforts of Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. 2

The keystone to British deception plans was always a close but clandestine working relationship with newspaper publishers and other media organizations.

A War to End All Wars

Prior to World War I, when America's imperial aspirations were still relatively modest, the U.S. military was correspondingly unsophisticated in the uses of deception. With the coming of World Wars I and II, however, this situation changed drastically, mainly through the assistance of British intelligence which tutored its American counterparts, largely out of a desire for self-preservation.

In the early years of World War I, Britain was locked in a military stalemate with Germany from which it could not extricate itself without help from the United States. There was one problem, however: American citizens were overwhelmingly opposed to involvement in the war. To alter America public opinion and bring the U.S. into the war on its side, Britain retargeted its propaganda machine toward North America.

It also urged the U.S. government to create a home-grown censorship and propaganda apparatus, which it soon did with help from U.S. media organizations and journalists. First, though, the U.S. government cracked down on the anti-war press and public dissent using the then newly passed Espionage and Sedition Acts. 3 This nearly did away with free speech.

Once it was certain Americans could get little accurate news about the senseless bloodbath taking place across the Atlantic, President Wilson, largely through the influence of journalist and public-relations expert Walter Lippmann, soon set about creating a vast American propaganda machine similar to Britain's. Wilson, in what could be viewed as a political masterstroke, hired the noted progressive journalist George Creel to build and manage the new U.S. propaganda bureaucracy. This gave the organization instant credibility with the public and helped Creel recruit more top journalists into the program.

The new institution was given the innocent-sounding name, “the U.S. Committee on Public Information (CPI).” Creel staffed his new propaganda team with experts from all aspects of the U.S. media industry. Virtually all available modes of communication were soon put to work selling the war to the American public including newspapers, posters, cartoons, films, radio broadcasts, academic pamphlets, and even public speeches. 4

Looking back at the CPI's efforts from the perspective of some decades, communications scholar and author Stewart Ewen concluded, “In spite of Creel's consistent denials, the 'House of Truth' was perched not on a foundation of facts, but upon a swamp of emotions.” 5

After Pearl Harbor

With the coming of World War II, America's uses of deception became considerably more extensive and sophisticated, thanks again to help from British intelligence. World War II was total war and the already fuzzy dividing line between journalism and deception virtually disappeared. American journalists were now fighting on the same team as the generals.

Censorship and propaganda were by this time such large operations that they could no longer be managed by a single organization, such as the CPI. Media censorship was handled by the U.S. Office of Censorship, headed by Byron Price, formerly executive news editor of the Associated Press, later given the title Director of Censorship. Propaganda was by now a much more scientific business than it had been during World War I.

Foreign propaganda was initially created and distributed by a new super-intelligence agency called the Office of Coordinator of Information (COI), under the direction of Col. William “Wild Bill” Donovan. COI drew its staff from newspapers, radio-broadcasting organizations, and Hollywood studios who then happily set to work fighting “the good war” with carefully crafted (and often overtly racist) words and images. 6

Domestic propaganda, designed to keep the American public solidly behind the war effort, was managed by an organization called the Office of Facts and Figures (OFF), later renamed the Office of War Information (OWI). The overall job of promoting the war at home was given to Elmer Davis, an author, CBS radio announcer, news analyst, and former New York Times reporter. OFF / OWI was managed by poet Archibald Macleash, formerly head of the U.S. Library of Congress. 7, 8

Donovan's COI later became the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which, after the War, became the Central Intelligence Agency.

The job of censoring the news and creating war propaganda required the services of many thousands of journalists, editors, and media executives on both sides of the Atlantic.

This massive effort has been the subject of many books and scholarly articles, and could not possibly be adequately described here. Suffice it to say, however, that the American public never received an accurate account of World War II at the time it was being fought, and there is considerable evidence that they haven't been given the full story, even today. 9

What American journalists produced was essentially a carefully edited and largely fictional account of the war. Charles Lynch of Reuters news service later put it this way: “We were a propaganda arm of our governments. At the start, the censors enforced that, but by the end we were our own censors. We were cheerleaders. I suppose there wasn't an alternative at the time. It was total war. But, for God's sake, let's not glorify our role. It wasn't good journalism. It wasn't journalism at all.” 10

America emerged from World War II a very different country than it had been at the start. The new “military-industrial complex,” as President Eisenhower dubbed it in a famous 1961 speech, had achieved enormous size and frightening political influence. In the view of President Eisenhower, it threatened our traditional values of open, accountable government. The close ties between the news media and the military not only persisted but grew stronger during the Cold War.

In 1947, Congress passed the controversial National Security Act which created a powerful new organization from the bones of the old OSS: The Central Intelligence Agency. Although the Agency's title gives an impression it merely collects information, the CIA was, from the start, assigned the task of creating and disseminating propaganda.

In short order, the Agency set about forging secret alliances with hundreds of journalists, writers, media executives, news organizations, book publishers, and other influential organizations, with the stated aim of fighting Communism at all costs (though it dabbled in many other deception activities as well). Among these people and organizations were some of America's best-known media figures and most major news organizations.

Frank G. Wisner was the CIA's man in charge of the new propaganda effort and he once bragged that he could make the world's media play any tune he desired. Hence, the CIA's global propaganda machine came to be called “Wizner's Wurlitzer.” 11 Internally, the CIA's program was known as Operation Mockingbird. 12 The American public, of course, was kept completely in the dark about all this because, had they known, they'd have been less likely to trust those who were lying to them.

In 1975, the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Operations revealed much about the CIA's secret media connections but not everything. Disturbing details continue to emerge. In 2001, for example, the New York Times reported that the CIA had maintained a close working relationship with the leading news-wire services such that it could place propaganda stories directly onto the news wires.

This meant that newspaper editors and other media personnel would accept the false stories without question. 13 It should be stressed that, if this was possible, then covert censorship of the wire services was also possible.

Have such covert media relationships ceased as a result of exposure? The truth is, we can never be certain, particularly given the CIA's known history of secretive and often lawless activity. One thing is known, however: the CIA and the U.S. military have not exactly gone away, nor has their need to influence media content and shape American public opinion.

America, once a democratic republic, has gradually morphed into an empire with over 725 foreign military bases spread around the globe to protect its sprawling commercial interests. 14 It has boldly declared its right to invade any nation, at any time. It is now engaged in several major wars simultaneously, with no clear end in sight.

As the old saying goes, during war, the first casualty is always the truth. So, if you still trust the U.S. news media to expose government lies, you're making a serious mistake. For nearly a hundred years, they've actually been the ones assigned by the government to tell them.

There was a time during the George W. Bush years when both National Public Radio and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting were administered by former U.S. government propaganda experts. Some of them are still working there. Just a coincidence? Whatever the case, such connections shouldn't inspire confidence in the independence and accuracy of American news.

One final thought: A hallmark of an effective propaganda campaign is consistency of message across all media sources. The name of the game is to create what propaganda theorists call “a pseudo-environment.” That is to say, the public must not be exposed to any credible contradictory information, especially from news sources they've come to trust.

It is important, for example, that both the right- and left-leaning media are both carrying the same official message. To make the public believe official lies, all the media must be playing an identical tune, from The Nation to Fox TV.

It is deeply unsettling, then, that the American news media have been so remarkably consistent in endorsing the official 9-11 story, despite widespread dissent from thousands of technical experts, academics, eyewitnesses, government officials, military officers, intelligence analysts, and informed members of the general public.

If all this causes you to wonder what might be going on behind the printed pages, radio speakers, and TV screens of America . . . well, it certainly should.

Further Reading

Those who wish to learn more about the workings of government deceptions may find the following books useful:

Munitions of the Mind: A history of propaganda from the ancient world to the present day by Philip M. Taylor

The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist and Myth Maker by Philip Knightly.

PR! A Social History of Spin by Stuart Ewen

Secrecy by Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Secrets: The CIA's War at Home by Angus Mackenzie

The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA played America by Hugh Wilford

Secret Science: Federal Control of American Science and Technology by Herbert N. Foerstel

Deception: The invisible war between the KGB and the CIA by Edward Jay Epstein

Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War by John R. Macarthur

The Media Monopoly by Ben H. Bagdikian

Towers of Deception: The media cover-up of 9/11 by Barrie Zwicker

Bodyguard of Lies by Anthony Cave Brown

The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters by Frances Stonor Saunders

Deception in World War II by Charles Cruickshank

Footnotes

1Griffith, Samuel B., Sun Tzu: The Art of War; London: Oxford University Press, 1971, p. 66.

2Knightly, Philip, The First Casualty: From Crimea to Vietnam: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker, New York and London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975, p. 82

3Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, Secrecy, New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1998, pp. 96-106.

4Ewen, Stewart, PR! A Social History of Spin, New York: HarperCollins, 1996, pp. 111-115.

5Ewen, p. 125.

6Soley, Lawrence C., Radio Warfare: OSS and CIA Subversive Propaganda, New York: Praeger, 1989, pp. 48-60.

7Knightly, p. 275.

8Soley, p. 56.

9Stinnett, Robert B., Day of Deceit: The Truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor, New York: The Free Press, 2000.

10Knightly, p. 333.

11Loory, Stuart H., “The CIA's use of the press: A 'mighty Wurlitzer',” Columbia Journalism Review, September/October 1974.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird

13Weiner, Tim. CIA sought to plant news on Cuba in '61 New York Times, March 24, 2001.

14Johnson, Chalmers, The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic, New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004.

* Terry Hansen received a master's degree in science journalism from the University of Minnesota in 1984 and has subsequently worked as a media entrepreneur, reporter, editor and author. Original story found on 9/11 Blogger.

9/11 Truth on PBS

Wouldn't it be nice to see some coverage of the Truth more often? Perhaps your Truth Group can contact your local PBS Station and offer to help?

On March 5th 2009 the local PBS station, KBDI, in Denver Colorado broadcast the groundbreaking expose, America: Freedom To Fascism to raise funds for the station. They invited volunteers from Colorado 911 Visibility to run the phone bank. In this clip Earl Staelin is interviewed about the points of that day in September that we still don't have answers for.

Please consider sending a fan letter to KBDI or calling to thank them for broadcasting the message of truth to the American people or send them a contribution to encourage further exploration of the truth: 1-800-690-5234 or http://KBDI.org

CrossTalk on 9/11: Whodunit?

In this edition of CrossTalk host Peter Lavelle asks his guests why discussion of the events of 9/11 continue to attract so much attention but is all but banned in the mainstream media.

CAUGHT RED-HANDED: Pentagon-scripted TV News Interviews

The News and The Truth are not the same thing.
-Walt Lippman

April 26, 2008 — The New York Times has exposed a secret Pentagon campaign to infiltrate the media with pro-war propaganda. The scheme reaches all the way to the Bush White House, where top officials recruited dozens of "military analysts" to spread favorable views of the war via the news.

Many of these propaganda pundits didn't reveal that they were working from Pentagon scripts or lobbying for companies seeking to cash in on major military contracts.

Matt Thompson of Free Press.net, a group that advocates for media reform reports this is a violation of every conceivable standard of journalism — and possibly of federal law.



The Bush Administration, caught red-handed - makes the scripting the "official 9/11 story" easier to understand.

Willie Nelson Questions 9/11 Official Story. . . and

And Bill O'Reilly calls Willie Nelson a Pinhead because of this view:

Media Manipulation or Manipulated Media?

Good Example of Bad Reporting

But at least Nightline mentioned the subject:

Big Media and the Lies They Tell

Unspun Newz explores the dangers posed by corporate controlled media deception and propaganda. This report focuses on major cases of media deception such as, the now famous, Monsanto rBGH growth hormone case where FOX News actually fought for and won the right to lie on the news.

The report also details ABCs false reports about anthrax and how ABCs Brian Ross tried to link the anthrax attacks in 2001 to Iraq.

The report further explores the corporate media blackout on the recently released scientific evidence proving that high tech explosives were used to demolish the world trade center on 9/11.

Unspun highlights how media lies impact public health and how they were used to mislead the people into supporting war and how those deceptions have affected us and our troops.

Mainstream Corporate Media vs. The Founding Fathers

If Thomas Jefferson could see us now....

"In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy.

The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.

The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people.

Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell."

Justice Black. NYT v. US. 403 US 713

So what happened to the "free press?" Any honest discussion of the facts of 9/11 is censored in the media. These are dark times for democracy.

Whistle Blown on Secret 9/11 Unit with Power to Pressure U.S. Media

From Russia Today: The US government has allegedly set up a special security wing with the sole task of distancing Washington from any involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.



Special Reports: NSA continues surveillance of journalists; WMR editor subject of espionage investigation

By Wayne Madsen, Aug 20, 2008

(WMR) -- On May 10, 2005, WMR reported on the existence of a highly-classified database at the National Security Agency (NSA), formerly code-named “FIRSTFRUITS,” that monitored journalists who reported on the activities of the eavesdropping agency, as well as other intelligence matters.

A few weeks later, according to an executive-level source at the NSA, and confirmed by a related source within NSA’s “Q” Directorate, the Directorate for Security and Counterintelligence, this editor has been a subject of a national security investigation since June 2005 that remains ongoing. The investigation of this editor is classified at the level SECRET/COMINT (NOFORN). COMINT is “Communications Intelligence” and NOFORN denotes “Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals/Governments/Non-US Citizens.”

According to National Security Agency/Central Security Service Policy 1-27, dated March 20, 2006, and signed by NSA Chief of Staff Deborah Bonanni, the investigation of the public disclosure of the unconstitutional and illegal FIRSTFRUITS surveillance system is being coordinated by the NSA, Department of Defense, Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Justice.

The following are excerpts from the editor’s article that triggered the national security criminal investigation: “NSA maintains a database that tracks unofficial and negative articles written about the agency. Code named ‘FIRSTFRUITS,’ the database is operated by the Denial and Deception (D&D) unit within SID [Signals Intelligence Division]. High priority is given to articles written as a result of possible leaks from cleared personnel.

According to those familiar with FIRSTFRUITS, Bill Gertz of The Washington Times features prominently in the database. Before [NSA Director Michael] Hayden’s reign and during the Clinton administration, Gertz was often leaked classified documents by anti-Clinton intelligence officials in an attempt to demonstrate that collusion between the administration and China was hurting U.S. national security. NSA, perhaps legitimately, was concerned that China could actually benefit from such disclosures.

In order that the database did not violate United States Signals Intelligence Directive (USSID) 18, which specifies that the names of ‘U.S. persons’ are to be deleted through a process known as minimization, the names of subject journalists were blanked out. However, in a violation of USSID 18, certain high level users could unlock the database field through a super-user status and view the ‘phantom names’ of the journalists in question.

Some of the ‘source’ information in FIRSTFRUITS was classified -- an indication that some of the articles in the database were not obtained through open source means. In fact, NSA insiders report that the communications monitoring tasking system known as ECHELON is being used more frequently for purely political eavesdropping having nothing to do with national security or counter terrorism.

In addition, outside agencies and a ‘second party,’ Great Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), are permitted to access the journalist database. FIRSTFRUITS was originally developed by the CIA but given to NSA to operate with CIA funding. The database soon grew to capacity, was converted from a Lotus Notes to an Oracle system, and NSA took over complete ownership of the system from the CIA.

Tens of thousands of articles are found in FIRSTFRUITS and part of the upkeep of the system has been outsourced to outside contractors, such as Booz Allen, which periodically hosts inter-agency Foreign Denial and Deception meetings within its Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility or ‘SCIF’ in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia. Currently, in addition to NSA and GCHQ, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) routinely access the database, which is, in essence, a classified and more powerful version of the commercial NEXIS news search database.

In addition to Gertz, other journalists who feature prominently in the database include Seymour Hersh of The New Yorke,; author and journalist James Bamford, James Risen of The New York Times, Vernon Loeb of The Washington Post, John C. K. Daly of UPI, and this journalist [Wayne Madsen].

Since the disclosure of FIRSTFRUITS, NSA changed the cover name but the system remains in existence. Not only does the follow-on to FIRST FRUITS contain articles about NSA written by journalists, it has been expanded to include information gleaned from wiretaps on journalists, including sources with whom they communicate by phone, email, fax, and Voice-over-IP (VOIP), including Skype, which the NSA has managed to bring under easier surveillance due to some recent advances in VOIP surveillance technology, according to NSA sources.

This editor has, thanks to dozens of NSA sources, managed to report on the poor morale; overbearing Stasi-like conduct of NSA security personnel, including the wrongful prosecution and conviction of NSA Iraqi shop analyst Ken Ford, Jr.; contract mismanagement and fraud conducted by then-NSA Director General Michael Hayden; outrageous treatment of NSA whistleblowers by the NSA security and psychological staffs that work in the same fashion that the old Soviet KGB and psychiatric hospitals treated dissidents; and the outsourcing of sensitive signals intelligence contracts to companies with dubious links to foreign intelligence agencies, most importantly, those of Israel.

Federal investigators are apparently using the terms “espionage” and “treason” with regard to the investigation that includes this editor. The maximum penalty for espionage and treason, according to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, is death.

On January 12, 2006, this editor first reported on the criminal investigation being carried out by the Bush administration: “Informed intelligence sources have informed this editor that he has, since October 2005, been under an active federal criminal investigation as part of the Bush administration’s probe of leaks about illegal NSA surveillance of U.S. citizens.

To reiterate what I’ve stated before: I refuse to cede my First Amendment rights and will not cooperate with ANY grand jury asking questions about sources and I will refuse to turn over notebooks or other materials to any investigators, warrant or not. I’m willing to become a political prisoner rather than succumb to the fascist thugs in the Bush administration. WMR is working on a number of investigations involving The Carlyle Group, the Fellowship Foundation, and illegal surveillance. We will continue to publish until the Bush administration makes their move to shut us down. Again, your support has helped us to gain enough of a media presence to make the Bush administration nervous.”

This publication, not intimidated by NSA, the FBI, or other Bush administration entities, will continue to report on the misuse of America’s intelligence agencies for political purposes and the repeated violations of the U.S. Constitution by illegal surveillance of citizens, including First Amendment-protected journalists. WMR has learned today [Monday] that our colleague, New York journalist Joe Lauria, who has written a series of articles on the Turkish/Israeli intelligence network exposed by former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, is now also the subject of an FBI “leaks” investigation.

The FIRSTFRUITS journalist surveillance system was renamed after our exposure of its existence. According to our NSA source, who was involved in another operation designed to scan the media and academia for leaks, a program called “Cryptologic Insecurities,” FIRSTFRUITS exists within a new strategic program by NSA to surveil journalists, which may be the subject of a classified United States Signals Intelligence Directive (USSID 304P), dated June 7, 2007. One term used by NSA with regard to journalists in the FIRSTFRUITS follow-on surveillance system is the Orwellian-sounding ”media control.”

There is also reason to believe that additional journalists are now subject to FIRSTFRUITS surveillance and include Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times, Christiane Amanpour of CNN, and Lauria.

WMR has also learned that NSA has drastically cut the number of Hebrew and Russian linguists, with the Hebrew linguists suffering the greatest cuts. The result of this decision is that the two languages used most by international organized criminal syndicates that are part of the Russian-Israeli Mafia are virtually free to conduct their weapons, diamond, and drug smuggling operations, as well as financial fraud, without being subject to NSA surveillance.

Perhaps the fact that there exists a cabal within the U.S. District for Maryland, a few officials who have conspired to wrongfully prosecute NSA employees is not coincidental to the purge of Hebrew and Russian linguists at NSA. A triumvirate has emerged that suggests illegal collusion to prosecute NSA whistleblowers that includes U.S. Attorney for Maryland Rod Rosenstein, his assistant David Salem, and US Judge Peter Messitte, who, according to U.S. intelligence sources, carries, in addition to his U.S. passport, a passport issued by Portugal.

WMR has also learned that an NSA signals intelligence mission codenamed “SALAMANDER” and devoted to monitoring communications in Georgia, may have been misused to provide the neocon Georgian government of Mikheil Saakashvili with intelligence gleaned from NSA intercepts of Saakashvili’s political opponents, including alleged phone calls with Russian embassy officials in Tbilisi. Those targeted in the wiretaps include Labor Party leader Shalva Natelashvili, Freedom Party leader Konstantin Gamsakhurdia, the late Georgian opposition financier Badri Patarkatsishvili, and Conservative Party leader Zviad Dzidziguri.

The provision of U.S. SIGINT to a nation like Georgia, which is well outside the normal American “second party” and “third party” SIGINT partners, represents a dramatic departure from traditional U.S. intelligence management and may have provided sensitive sources and methods information to the Georgian government, one which includes a number of dual Georgian-Israeli nationals.

Live on CNN - Only Aired Once - Guess Why?

Explosion BEFORE the Plane Hit the Tower

Here is the important eye-witness account of Mr. William Rodriguez, a Janitor working in the North Tower. He was in the basement, when he heard an explosion - BEFORE the plane hit the building.

He is something of a hero on many levels, helping to rescue victims from the building - he also sued the Bush Administration for the attacks. You can see his website here.

On the day however, he clearly told the press about the first explosion - thought to be a bomb in the building - heard before the plane hit. However, in one famous TV news interview, his testimony is 'edited' in such a way, so as to suggest that he is saying that ONLY the plane hit the building.



Below is a newscast on 9/11/06 - five years later, William Rodriguez is featured on National Network News. His comments were cleverly edited after he says BOOM!! - which completely changes the meaning so that nobody will question the "official story."

And just to make sure that anything William says isn't to be taken seriously, the news reader brings up the current explosive issue of "undocumented workers" and links it to William Rodriguez. (You can thank the racist Lou Dobbs for making that an issue in order to distract the public from what is really happening in this country. Please see posts on "disinformation.")

Also, please note that William Rodriguez is a native of Puerto Rico and is, of course, an American citizen. He saved fifteen people by leading and helping them out of the Basement of Tower One. He was the only person at the site with the master key to the North Tower stairwells amd he bravely led firefighters up the stairwell, unlocking doors as they ascended. This brave act helped hundreds of people get out of that building alive. Rodriguez is believed to be the last person to exit the falling North Tower alive.



Anthony Saltalamacia was with Rodriguez in the basement. For the first time after 6 years, they meet and his recollection was taped.




William has a DVD he edited entitled, What really happened on 9/11? You can order it here:

"As part of the fundraising effort to spread the truth, I have edited a video of my presentation in California earlier this year. A very emotional video where I take you through the events of that day. After the event I needed some time to recover. I am asking a donation of 15 dollars for the video plus postage. Anybody donating will receive the DVD signed by me. I will forever be grateful for your order and I will personally sign each one of them that is ordered."
William Rodriguez

Did you know that William Rodriguez (after his job was demolished at the WTC) was homeless for a year? He spends all of his time and all of his money speaking about his experience on 9/11 in an effort to spread the truth that 9/11 was a controlled demolition!

The world could use a few more men like William Rodriguez, eh? Please support this man to spread his personal 9/11 Truth....the link can be found in his words above.

NSA Runs Amok to Plug Leaks About 9/11

The US Government has allegedly set up a special security wing of NSA with the sole task of distancing Washington from any involvement in the 9/11 attacks.



The silent corporate mainstream media on the subject of 9/11 suggests that the NSA Security Group has been effective.

How "Official" Disinformation Works

I found this letter in an Amazon Review of one of David Ray Griffin's books, "The New Pearl Harbor Revisited: 9/11, the Cover-Up, and the Exposé." The author (Kameelyun) is writing about a man who identifies himself as "James B" who writes reviews that promote the official story and he attempts to lie about and discredit those who examine the evidence and see the truth. Click here to view the source.

Dr. Griffin,

I've admired your work ever since NPH. I'm glad you set the record straight regarding the context of the exchanges between you and James B.

For those that aren't aware, James B is a well known online shill defender of the official theory, most likely paid to do so.* He along with Pat Curley are the main brainchilds behind the screw loose change blog and are regulars at the JREF conspiracy forum.

They along with Mark Roberts and Ron Wieck like to troll major internet sites like amazon and youtube and use O'Reilly-style spin, distortion, and half-truth in order to smear academics, engineers, pilots, ex air force, and regular citizens who question the official 9/11 story.

*A proven historical example of how "paid shills" (in this case the PR firm Hill & Knowleton) influence public opinion. People being paid to lie to millions.

(See video above)

It took the Canadian media to expose this American lie, because the US media just didn't have the guts. Things hadn't changed by 2001 and they still haven't today.

Editor's Footnote: Thanks Canada!

Read about the Eight Traits of the disinformationalist here.

Richard Gage on KMPH Fox 26 in Fresno, California

Richard Gage & other Architects & Engineers for 911 Truth, need to be on mainstream TV much more often. This local channel deserves a LOT of credit for putting him on.



"Reliable information on these issues is systematically missing in corporate media outlets, where the vast majority of the American people continue to turn for news and information.

Tens of thousands of Americans engaged in various social justice issues constantly witness how corporate media marginalize, denigrate, or simply ignore their concerns. Activist groups working on issues like 9/11 Truth have been systematically excluded from mainstream news and the national conversation leading to a genuine Truth Emergency in the country as a whole."

The comments above have been excerpted from an article entitled: "Inside the Military Media Industrial Complex: Impacts on Movements for Peace and Social Justice." You can read it here.