Zeitgeist: Addendum - Part Two - Page 8

This is the eighth page of part two in my series of articles on Zeitgeist: Addendum. Please refer to the introduction if you were lead to this page.

There is no "myth", thousands of people around the world every year are killed by acts of terrorism[81]. The reason Al Qaeda is talked about so much is because of their success with attacking America on 9/11 and capturing the hearts and minds of people who desperately hate America all around the world, most specifically Islamic fundamentalists (usually for Americans bombing the hell out of them and America's support of Israel). Al Qaeda is no longer just a group, but an idea, a vanguard for those willing to sacrifice their lives to kill those in the west they deem enemies[87].

Just because you declare Al Qaeda a fantasy doesn't make the new followers any less real. Even if Osama bin Laden is just a CIA employee, dummy, or computer generated (different conspiracy claims) doesn't change the fact that there are thousands of people willing to take his place to kill others.

Al Qaeda isn't the only group out there or the only one talked about. Islamic Jihad which killed 241 Americans in 1983 in Beirut[88] is one but of several groups which currently threaten Americans abroad. Al Qaeda stands out because they attacked the US on their own soil and with a horrendous death toll. 

One can talk all night and day about how Al Qaeda doesn't exist, but that doesn't change the fact that people using their battle cry have killed thousands all over the planet, even before 9/11.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey wanted Congress to declare an official state of conflict with Al Qaeda as to reaffirm the United States' stance against the group[90]. This position wasn't taken, which is a good thing, because declaring war on an idea is pretty stupid.

The terrorist watch list is a really stupid answer to a really important question, that being, "Who amongst us is actually considerably dangerous?" After 9/11 there was a mad rush by pretty much every agency to add everyone that's a conceivable threat and may commit any crime. These of course included every extremist group in the United States (skinheads, klansmen, etc) and pretty much everyone else that was a part of any group on the extreme parts of the spectrum and any group or person on the left which used the words "direct action." Making things worse, names like "Bob Smith" are known to have appeared on the list, and without any other real details it makes it almost impossible to figure out who's being talked about.

The terrorist watch list really has become a joke and a way to hold up people at the airport in the last few years for sure, even though it only got to 1 million in March, 2009, even before that people claimed it was at 1 million, but it wasn't[89].

Millions have not be slaughtered. There's a wide range of total death amounts, ranging from 92,489 (June 2009) to 1,033,000 (September 2007) in the Iraq War and 5,282 - 8,074 with the war in Afghanistan. The highest numbers, which tend to be in the millions originate from polls which ask Iraqis how many they think have been killed[91][92], which is hardly scientific, but it's the most popular result used by those who oppose the Iraq War because it has the highest body count. If you want to believe a bunch of people on the street, however, then I suggest going out and polling Americans on how many American soldiers they believe have died in the Iraq War. I bet you'll get numbers much different than the current tally. If you actually do this I'd like to see the results. I personally trust Iraq Body Count more because it uses both English and Arabic sources for death tolls.

Even though I've opposed the war since well before the invasion took place, that doesn't mean I throw my skepticism and rationality, when it comes to people offering their "best guess", out the window. Sources that don't just ask people their opinions have the death toll in Iraq falling some where between 92,489 and 110,600. Iraq Body Count currently rests between 92,519 - 101,006 (as of 8/1/2009)[93] and the Associated Press reported 110,600 (as of April 2009)[94].

Taking the highest number out of these, being 110,600 and adding it with the current death count estimate in Afghanistan 8,773 - 31,357[95], this gives us a result of some where between 119,373 and 141,957. Even if we double these numbers, we still come out to 238,746 to 283,914, which is a lot of dead people, but still not "millions." 

The primary reason for the original expansion of opium into Afghanistan during the USSR-Afghan war was to generate money to buy arms[96]. As the war continued and the CIA began to get involved they essentially turned a blind eye to the production of opium for the sake of crippling the local communist forces and forcing the USSR to withdraw, sort of a payback for Viet Nam. After the USSR left in 1989, the CIA left as well, so a power vacuum was created where various Mujahideen forces began fighting each other and, again to fund their arms, they expanded their poppy production even more[97].

The Taliban essentially decided that opium was a form of intoxication and because intoxication is forbidden in Islam, then so opium is as well[98][99]. After Mullah Omar declared poppies to be unislamic, a massive campaign to destroy the crops went underway and by mid 2001 production was nearly zero[99][100]. 

Ironically, the report that this even happened originates from the 9/11 Commission[101]. I find it highly hypocritical that conspiracy theorists dismiss everything from the 9/11 Commission report out of hand, but then turn around and use a report by the same exact people as proof of something.

Prior to September 11th, the Bush administration had been planning on asking the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden and failing that essentially funding the various anti-Taliban groups to wage a civil war within Afghanistan (again)[101]. Plans like this had been discussed off and on since well into the middle of the Clinton administration. In March 2001 (4 months before the Taliban banned poppies) there was an article in Jane's periodicals that discussed US plans to take action against the Taliban; at the time the US was giving the Northern Alliance (an anti-Taliban group) information and logistics concerning their fighting force with involvement of India[102].

Within several months of the US invasion, Afghanistan was in economic ruin and naturally, families that previously were involved with poppy production went right back to doing it again. This time with no real government to stop them Afghanistan, by 2007, was cultivating 93% of all poppies in the world[103]. All of these poppies creates about $4 billion revenue, about $1 billion to farmers themselves and the rest being split up between insurgents, war lords, drug traffickers, and so on[104].

This whole issue has been used by conspiracy theorists as a reason for the US to invade Afghanistan. The problem is heroin isn't as big as a cash cow as other drugs. Less than $4 billion is hardly enough to warrant a worldwide conspiracy to invade the country. For example cocaine has a $70 billion market in the US alone (as of 2005), so Columbia would have been a better choice for invasion instead of Afghanistan[105].

I suggest not buying from companies that have sweatshops, and similar means. Google about sweatshops for more information.

I guess he's implying he still believes that the Twin Towers were brought down by explosives? I have a whole page discussing that.

You can learn more about the listed organizations on my NWO page.

Let's continue on to Part III.

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