Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility For Power Blackout In U.S.

[VermontDem2004]

A communiqué attributed to Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the power blackout that happened in the U.S. last Thursday, saying that the brigades of Abu Fahes Al Masri had hit two main power plants supplying the East of the U.S., as well as major industrial cities in the U.S. and Canada, "its ally in the war against Islam (New York and Toronto) and their neighbors."

The communiqué assured that the operation "was carried out on the orders of Osama bin Laden to hit the pillars of the U.S. economy," as "a realization of bin Laden's promise to offer the Iraqi people a present."

The statement, which Al-Hayat obtained from the website of the International Islamic Media Center, didn't specify the way the alleged sabotage was carried out. The communiqué read: "let the criminal Bush and his gang know that the punishment is the result of the action, the soldiers of God cut the power on these cities, they darkened the lives of the Americans as these criminals blackened the lives of the Muslim people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. The Americans lived a black day they will never forget. They lived a day of terror and fear… a state of chaos and confusion where looting and pillaging rampaged the cities, just like the capital of the caliphate Baghdad, and Afghanistan and Palestine were. Let the American people take a sip from the same glass."

It added: "we heard amazing statements made by the American and Canadian enemies which have nuclear physics universities and space agencies, that lightning hit and destroyed the two plants. And we are supposed to believe this nonsense. If the blackout occurred in one or two cities, their lie would have been credible. But the fact is that the blackout hit the entire East and part of Canada."

http://english.daralhayat.com/arab_news/08-2003/Article-20030818-14bdd659-c0a8-01ed-0079-6e1c903b7552/story.html

[searchingforlight]

1. "Canada - - - it's ally in the war against Islam"?

Give me a break.

[VermontDem2004]

3. They did send troops to Afghanistan I believe

or they supported the US when they did send troops to Afghanistan.

[arcane1]

21. yep, we even blew up a few of them

Osama bin Laden??? Whos is that, anyway? The name sounds vaguely familiar...

[Betty]

56. Blame Canada

nm.

[Drifter]

2. No chance ...

If this was terrorism, the state run media would have had the name and phone numbers of everyone involved out on the airwaves. Hell, who knows, maybe they did. I'm not sure, my power was out.

If there was even a slight chance of terrorism, AWOL would be riding the fear bandwagon.

Cheers
Drifter

[Soloflecks]

20. That's not right.

The admin and media only have all the information about the "terrorists" immediately after an attack when it is one orchestrated and/or carried out by members of our own government.

[kysrsoze]

33. I agree - we'd possibly never know

If it were terrorism and he could somehow cover things up, I think * et al would hide this one. The reason is b/c it's one thing to try and keep people in a general state of fear over potential terrorist attacks. It's another for people to actually start panicking b/c they see that Al Qaeda brought down electricity in 4 or 5 states. Imagine what kind of impact that would have on the financial markets, and the resulting impact on his re-electability.

[kysrsoze]

34. I agree - we'd possibly never know

If it were terrorism and he could somehow cover things up, I think * et al would hide this one. The reason is b/c it's one thing to try and keep people in a general state of fear over potential terrorist attacks. It's another for people to actually start panicking b/c they see that Al Qaeda brought down electricity in 4 or 5 states. Imagine what kind of impact that would have on the financial markets, and the resulting impact on his re-electability.

[knowledgeispower]

42. I disagree

Remember, Bush wants to seem like he is STRONG on defense and terrorism. How could people continue to blindly believe that if Al-Qaeda had managed to knock out vital infrastructure that severely disrupted the lives of 50 million Americans...and not to mention the disruption in the sacred economy as well.

The thing that got me was the part where they talked about Osama bin Laden promising the people of Iraq a present. That did happen...about a week or so before the blackout. Could be coincidence. Probably is coincidence. But I don't discount much of anything these days.

[Robb]

45. Here's the thing I don't get

I don't understand how the administration can say, in the first hour of the blackout, "it definitely wasn't terrorism".

How can you determine that so quickly?

[kysrsoze]

46. I think they didn't want a panic situation

What better than to flat-out deny it was terrorism? If it was, I'm sure they've got some way to shut people up or spin it. Again, I think it's all about keeping people think there is a huge risk for terrorism, but once that risk is realized, they have failed.

[FlaGranny]

4. Well, if there weren't so many inaccuracies

in this statement, it might have a little more credibility. That's not to say I don't believe they could have had a hand in it, but this sounds like pure propaganda and taking advantage of the situation.

[QuietStorm]

12. yes it could be true what you say

the article itself says on the website no specific statements were made regarding specifically how this was carried out. However, if picked up on an Al Qaeda website it might have given them ideas. I find it very interesting. The game of propaganda being played all the way around.

[tom_paine]

38. Yes, we are in trouble when the Amerikan Empire and an al-Quaeda

propaganda release have equal "veracity".

But the simple truth is, I'm not sure which set of murdering thugs to believe, the Busheviks or al-Quaeda. Perhaps they are both lying, which would be my guess.

[molok555]

5. Much like the Japanese Red Army

claiming responsibilty for 9/11. Opportunism. If you DID do it, tell us which plants.

[Dover]

6. Puhleeeeeeze..........

I think the only "terrist" here was Bush's crony who owns the Ohio plants.

[aquart]

24. Funny, so do I.

What a coincidence.

[TexasDem]

7. If it was Terrorism.. then it's *'s fault

and that would not be good PR. I think there is incentive for the * and group to NOT want it to be terrorism because then there will be another investigation and the main point would be that people pretty much feel that 9-11 could have happened whether it was bush or gore in office (not that I agree with that) and a 2nd act of terrorism would not be good ... we have invaded Iraq and Afghanistan and it still didn't stop terrorism.

During the 2004 election campaign it would be hard say keep * because he's keeping us safe.

And if it is terrorism it will foil his using this to push through his energy plan.

[TexasDem]

9. Investigation might lead them

to the real cause which is * and the energy fatcats. I see them trying to open the vault and squeeze the american people for profits.

[mightywurlitzer]

31. speaking of foil....

:tinfoilhat:

[DemonFighterLives]

8. Probably more Disinformation

Anyone could have played a part, but this smells of some energy industry scam. Act 2. Just an amazing amount of bad things happening in the last 2.5 years. Makes you wonder.

[QuietStorm]

15. yes but if the propaganda is coming from the energy industry

one would think that the DOD would get on board with this claim. on the other hand how stupid would the pentagon look, along with the FBI and the CIA, just after their "brilliant sting operation" to have missed ANOTHER terrorist strike on American soil, behind their last announcement that they had been picking up information regarding another strike using commercial liners again. It is sad really when you can not believe so much of what is written.

[Octafish]

10. They did get the "the criminal Bush" part right.

And Bush is a gangster. Other than that, though, their communique seems just a shot in the dark.

[QuietStorm]

11. WTF - IS THIS OFFICIALLY BEING REPORTED HERE OR

Is there any other reports on Al Qaeda having claimed responsibility for this black out. Has the Pentagon or Homeland Security made any statements regarding this claim. What is going on. Why would this not be reported in the States. Or has it and I am behind on this story?

[Caution]

13. They claimed responsibility to recruit followers not to scare americans

Frankly I'm surprised terrorists don't do this more often. By now I'm sure DU'ers have heard about the belief by Iraqi civilians that GI sunglasses can see through women's clothing? Islamic fundamentalist terrorists aren't just trying to frighten Americans, they are also trying to convince the ordinary muslim that they are right and that they are "winning" a jihad against the U.S. I'm surprised they don't claim responsibility for every little bad thing that happens in the U.S. The government of course will refute the Al-Qaeda statement but that is easily refuted by Al-Qaeda as more American lies.

Next thing you know they'll claim responsibility for Gigli.

[TeeYiYi]

26. I doubt even Al-Qaeda would want responsibility for that BOMB! . . .

re: "Next thing you know they'll claim responsibility for Gigli."

TYY :7

[starroute]

14. Some interesting speculation at Xymphora

http://xymphora.blogspot.com/2003_08_01_xymphora_archive.html#106119132082961612


Some thoughts:

1. Was the whole system intentionally shut down?

2. Did something really bad happen at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant? Was there a terrorist attack, or a threat of one? Was it necessary to find some sort of excuse to shut down all nuclear power plants in the northeast?

3. Bush and Cheney are keen to allow the construction of a whole new series of nuclear power plants. Any huge safety threat would bring back images of Three Mile Island, and scuttle their plans to enrich their greasy friends. Was the blackout a way of disguising some safety threat at a nuclear power plant?

<snip>

6. Is the whole story of the source of the problem, involving power lines in Ohio and power surges, just an elaborate construct of misinformation intended to hide some awful truth?

Looking over the internet, I am quite surprised at the lack of crazed conspiracy theories concerning the blackout. Are we actually starting to believe all the lies that we are being told, no matter how implausible they may be? The Official Story, which involves unlikely Bushian omniscience about terrorism, implausible official inability to immediately pinpoint the problem, the Canadian Minister of Defence spouting oddly specific nonsense, and simultaneous multinational failures of a system across widely-spaced geographical areas, is difficult to believe.

[Old and In the Way]

23. Interesting speculation.

Of course, if he's right, we will never be told the truth...in which case, those Al-Qaeda are doing Bush and the RNC another favor by taking credit for the problem. Funny thing is, they really need to tell us what they did if they want to be credible....will this be put in the next installment?

If I was Al-Qaeda, I think I'd spend a little more time becoming students of the American political system....why are they always enabling the Republicans and playing the fall guy for this administration? I mean, do they really perfer having Republicans running US energy policy? How is that in their long term interests?

[htuttle]

28. US Republicans act in al Queda's interest as follows:

The worse and more right wing our own government is, and the more atrocities they are 'perceived' to have committed to Muslims in the Middle East, the EASIER it is for al Queda to gain more power, members, money, etc...

Don't confuse al Queda with a run of the mill "Pro Arab Group" that's actually trying to do good things for the people they profess to represent (like the Red Crescent, as an attempt at a non-controversial example).

Ultimately, the worse that the United States acts, OR APPEARS TO ACT, the better off al Queda does.

One of the classic long term strategies for a guerilla 'war'/struggle is to bait the 'oppressor' into doing worse and worse things to the population, thereby bringing more people to your side in the struggle. Remember. The population is the 'sea' that the guerilla swims in. When the population is behind their goals and actions, they are not defeatable (since there will always be new recruits to take the place of those who've fallen...even HUNDREDS of years later...).

Every time that the US (or it's representatives, like the unfortunate Mr. Perle) does or says something outrageous, it discredits Arab moderates, and bolster's the extremist argument that there is no other way to proceed but through violence.

Long term, I'd imagine that they know that an attempt by the US to actively control/run the Middle East is unsustainable, and that the US will become more and more discredited by trying to do so.

[Old and In the Way]

35. A guess one could say that the Republicans and Al-Qaeda

are co-dependent enablers.....thet seem to be the only 2 groups who gain at the expense of world stability.....

[radwriter0555]

16. Ya know, al queda never took credit for the WTC event... and no

one ever noticed.

[QuietStorm]

very good to remind us of that ...

NO they never did take credit. OBL was joyous about the attack but did not claim responsibility for it. That is something many people forget. When one considers groups that resist by terror, that is the point of taking responsibility for attacks... in the absense of official armies, guerrilla tactic becomes their weapon and taking credit for the damage their tactics caused is part of their warfare. I always found it interesting OBL never did take credit for 9/11.

[radwriter0555]

22. WOW. MOST people think he did, to the point in debates, where I think

I'm losing my mind, when I say he clearly didn't.

I'm glad your recollection is like mine, when I so CLEARLY remember the October 3rd interview of him expressing his joy, but clearly saying he wasn't involved.

By the time the fukcs in DC got hold of the tape in december, they cleaned it up to make it sound like he took credit.

So if al queda is issuing a communique on a black out, why no communique on the WTC?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

17. but of course! look over here not over there at>>"Tony Alexander"

[ScotTissue]

18. The Iraqi Minister of Info insists this is credible

I mean really.

HEY, AL QAEDA! GET A FRIGGING LIFE!!

[TheBlob]

19. What the Hell are these guys talking about??

"They lived a day of terror and fear… a state of chaos and confusion where looting and pillaging rampaged the cities"

We did?
Here in NYC it was like New Year's Eve.
Everyone got along, helped each other, and actually made the best of it.
It was like one big block party on the streets downtown here.
Crime actually went DOWN in the city that day.
We'll probably also find out more people had sex that day than any other in the recent past.

Had the blackout gone on for days it would have been another story, but as it was we handled it all just fine.

Sure there were problems, but once you've been through 9/11 anything else is a cakewalk.

[aquart]

27. That's only partially true.

I'm having side effects like after a mugging. Cried when I walked into a supermarket because I didn't know what I could trust to eat.

I couldn't make myself take the subway this morning. Changed my clothes and took the bike instead.

My first reaction after a mugging is to feel hurt and numb. Later I cry. Later than that, the rage.

If there are more like me, something very nasty could be brewing.

[Tracer]

30. Aquart? You Felt That Way??!!

Just because the stupid lights went out?

Try living in my town, where the lights go out every time the transformers sniff a lightning bolt 3 towns away!

I've lived through snow storms when the power was out for a week Ñ in the winter!

We didn't cry, or whimper Ñ just got down to the business of keeping warm (fireplace, gas stove), fed, and amused (reading by candlelight).

Sorry, no sympathy here

[NYC]

47. No water.

You said: Just because the stupid lights went out?

Lack of light isn't so bad. Lack of water, especially in extremely hot weather, is significant. Anyone in a building taller than a brownstone loses water.

Walking up and down many flights of stairs in the dark is not possible for all people, and carrying water is heavy. For old or incapacitated people, it is impossible. Old people also suffer greatly during heat waves. During a blackout, there is no air conditioning and no electric fan. Most New York apartments do not get much of a breeze.

No water also means no flushing toilets.

No water means you can't eat rice, pasta, or other non-perishable foods to make do when the perishable foods have perished. (You also can't wash dishes.)

In tall buildings, elevators are important. Most staircases have no ambient light.

I was fine. I was able to put water in pots and the bathtub before the water tank drained. I'm also capable of walking long flights of stairs, if necessary.

Perhaps Aquart was not fine. Your "Sorry, no sympathy here" is extremely lacking in compassion.

[QuietStorm]

49. no water is big!

not little! big!

[kysrsoze]

54. Yeah, no sh*t

I've lived through a hurricane and had the lights out for almost a week. We also had a huge hole in our roof with water coming in. That's tough.

I also was in an ice storm during college and our power went out for 2 days. We had no fuckin' heat for 2 days! It was 20 degrees outside. We had to get a running start on the icy roads just to get up the hill down the street. Try that one on for size.

[Stephanie]

55. You sound like a compassionate conservative

Remember we don't have cars. And the trains were out and the buses were packed. It's not a matter of curling up by the fireplace and waiting it out. Not here. It was steaming hot. We don't have yards. Old people were in trouble - the heat was stifling. Commuters were stranded. My co-workers left work around five and got home at one a.m. (midtown to Queens). A co-worker who is 7 mos. pregnant walked home to Brooklyn, took her three hours. She would have stayed with me but she was too worried about her son. The son was on a day trip with his camp and they didn't get the kids back to Brooklyn til after 8:00.

It wasn't a lark where you curl up by the fireplace with a good book.


Motorists and pedestrians jam traffic on the Brooklyn bridge after New York City ground to a halt from a power outage. A failure in a power plant in upstate New York sparked the massive blackout Thursday across the northeastern United States and southern Canada(AFP/Mandel Ngan)


People watch a crowded bus pass them by on 125th street in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003, during the power outage. A sudden blackout robbed electricity from millions of people across a vast swath of the northern United States and southern Canada on Thursday, exposing them to stifling heat and jammed rush hour streets _ and then darkness. New Yorkers escaped silenced subways, and nuclear power plants in four states shut down. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)




Commuters sleep on the steps of the Post Office on 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue in New York during the early hours of Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 after being stranded following the city's electrical blackout. The blackout occurred across much of northeastern United States and Canada. (AP Photo/ Mike Appleton)


Christie Brown, left, of Pensecola Fla. feeds her daughter Whitney, 4, through a g astro tube, after being stranded at New York's LaGuardia Airport with other travelers due to a massive blackout that hit much of the Northeast, Friday, Aug. 15, 2003, in New York. Whitney, according to her mother, suffers from a metabolic disorder and came to New York for a doctor's appointment and has run out of her medication. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)




A dog and his owners try to cool off on a sidewalk outside their home in downtown New York. Huge power blackouts paralyzed New York and other major cities across the northeast United States and Canada after a massive failure of the regional electrical supply system(AFP/Mandel Ngan

[nolabels]

57. Good pics Stephanie, true life experiences of normal people with......

* and his cabal of energy bandits at work. In ways this seems more bombastic than what happened in California and way more acute to be sure

[Stephanie]

58. Thanks, nl. It was no joke.

I had a relatively easy time except for the duration - my power was out for 29 hours - but for others it was really an ordeal. And had it gone on any longer we would have been in real trouble.

[Rex]

25. Okay, now who REALLY wrote this?

It doesn't smell like terrorists.

[sattahipdeep]

29. A water leak

This article was originally published on May 14, 2002

As probably planned by someone, this is a post-September 11 series
that got side tracked due to everything else going on in the world. But
with the latest events that have taken place, we can only hope we
have enough time to get back on track in this war. The primary reason
this article was written at this time is due to several issues on my
mind, but what brought me back to reality and showed me where we
are losing was a minor incident that occurred here, an incident that
happens thousands of times each day.

A water leak.

Before we talk about that little water leak, let's review where we've all
been focused: anthrax, dirty bombs, bio/chemical warfare, suitcase
nukes, bad boys in Gitmo, Ground Zero Cleanup, color-coded
heightened security, and a federal budget at nosebleed levels. Of
course we can't forget the Israeli/Palestinian mess, and a healthy does
of U.S. propaganda. We are being told the war in Afghanistan is all but
won. Somehow, someday, we must go after Iraq, Iran, Cuba, Pakistan
- and that's just this week's menu. Yes, after September 11, America
went to war to stop all this. We, on the other hand, should get on
with our lives, wave a flag (oh - did you forget to do that?), pay our
taxes, don't complain, and have endless debates on what our policy
should be toward Israel and the Middle East. So let's ask the question
and get to where the rubber meets the road:

Do you feel any safer since September 11, 2001?

If you do, take this under consideration: the Director of Homeland
Security, Tom Ridge, recently gave a speech where he stated that
even if and after Bin Laden is gone, "We will be on alert for the
foreseeable future; possibly forever."

Translation: "We don't have a clue who's attacking us, where they are,
how many there are, or what they are up to- and you are on you're
own."

Is it just me that's noticing that our rail system seems to be
mysteriously having a large number of 'accidents' these days? Why
have oil refineries in South Texas just started burning on their own? Of
course, we don't want to panic anyone. As a loyal American, you
should only concern yourself with possible attacks on banks, shopping
malls, supermarkets, schools, trucks, planes, boats, embassies, buses,
bus stations, airports, churches, and anything else we can beat out of
a captured guy with one testicle. We told you about much of this
before, and it seems the government is just getting around to it.
We've received warning after warning of the bad guys going 'high tech'
in their covert warfare techniques, right?

http://www.sierratimes.com/03/08/15/article_jj.htm

Nuclear Regulatory Report for August 15, 2003
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2003/20030815en.html
"This is being reported under 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(xiii) as any event that
results in a major loss of emergency assessment capability, offsite response
capability, or offsite communications capability (loss of greater than 50%
of emergency sirens). It is also being reported under 10 CFR 50.72(b)(2)(xi)
as any event or situation, related to the health and safety of the public or
onsite personnel, or protection of the environment, for which a news release
is planned or notification to other government agencies has been or will be
made."

[jus_the_facts]

32. THIS was a HINT from somebody......sometime....somewhere.......

....for whatever the fuck it's worth....seems ya'll already have it all figured out...GO FIGURE! :eyes: :evilfrown:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=181831

THERE HAS BEEN AN UPSWING IN CHATTER AMONG ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS WEBSITES REGARDING OF A COMING "BLACK WIND". WHAT IS DISTURBING ABOUT IS THIS IS RELATED BELOW.

these translated messages from known terrorism sites: "Sheik Osama bin Laden has now sent message from the island (?) and speaks of a matter that will happen, an odor of perfume to be cast among the infidels. He has directed his successor to carry the events long in the planning. The Sheik spoke of his plans to carry out against the aggressor unjust country himself a strong blow that aims at the very top of America. The Sheik spoke of a blow to the joints of the American economy that we together listened. It was following that message he spoke Allah willing of the death blow he will decide when to carry through. I cannot deduce the timing, only know and pray to it be soon."

A second message read: "To you, the lovers of Allah, I say this: America will witness great events so great that they will be beyond the believable. They will exceed those ever imagined, and those of 11 September. We are ready to execute the events on orders. They will devastate the region, and I do not know if this Iraqi- American wawill lead to this event, it is not for me to decide. A great Black Wind will affect the infidels, the people of the book are awaiting this battle, a Armageddon, engaging the House of Saud, Palestinians and Israel. It will not be us, but America who will be effected. A Black Wind will blow across the land."
Muslims lodging in America, I say for them to take caution and stay alert. Do not cause alarm by leaving en masse. Take arms as the deathblow at the hand of Sheik Osama from the back, where least expected, is at hand. Some members (al Qaeda) have received orders to leave the United States for their positions in the United Kingdom and Europe, as they have special knowledge in these workings as a science."


.....this was posted on 8/8/03 and was posted in regards to an attack on Chicago.....but this nagged me to NO end last night because I couldn't remember it exactly and couldn't access the site I read it on untill this afternoon...hell they are making it a conspiracy themselves by all their assumptions of why this happened.

[samsingh]

36. the blackout cost our economy

Billions of dollars. this could have been al qaeda. Shrub's gang isn't going to tell us anything that makes them look as bad as they are. i would not be surprised if al qaeda was behind this - one of the biggest blackouts in history. Or it could have been caused by extreme incompetance by shrub and group.

[QuietStorm]

37. big blow to infrastructure that outage

most certainly true.

[knowledgeispower]

43. Why haven't we gotten an estimate?

You would think the media would be all over estimating how much money was lost from our economy as a result of the blackout. Yet, strangely, they have been mute on this subject. Why?

[Old and In the Way]

50. Since I believe the opposite if what they say is true.

The fact that they have ruled out terrorists makes me wonder if it might have been. Of course, they want to use the fear of terrorism for crass political purposes...they just couldn't possibly be truthful about it if it were.

Doubtful though that they could keep it hidden from the American public. If it were to be exposed now, rather than when the info became known, these guys are done.

[nolabels]

39. Wellcome to California , New York

I don't believe in squat the congentital Liars have to say from those places like Corporate Electric companies. California has already been through this, do the rest of the people want to go through it again?

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/18/1425202
AMY GOODMAN: Greg Palast, can you respond, you're assessment of the blackout, its causes and solutions.

GREG PALAST: Fred just gave you this third grade power 101. Let's look at the players here. It starts out at Toledo Edison, which, by the way, was the model for the film "The China Syndrome", about a company that faked its safety and reliability records, if you don't remember that. Then it moves to their division, Met Ed, which was the owner of, and still owns, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant. Then it really accelerates when it hits the Niagara Mohawk System, which I investigated for the state of New York, where they were lying about the costs of the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Plant. So what you have here is the Three Stooges of the electricity industry knocking their heads together. Toledo Edison had one hour of messing around with the downed power, Niagara Mohawk has lost 800 jobs to deregulation, almost its entire maintenance and service staff. That utility has been sucked dry by British owners, so that when that power surge came out of the Ohio region they couldn't handle it, and they just spread the disease of power failure like Typhoid Mary there. So what you're looking at here--I used to investigate these guys. I investigated Toledo Edison for the governor of Ohio and Pennsylvania system for the utility commission there. And what you have here, in the gold old days, we used to be able to catch these guys. We used to tell them how much exactly to spend on maintenance. We told them exactly how reliable their systems would be. And they were reliable. We have the cheapest, best electric system on this planet until a disease hit us called deregulation.

FRED SMITH: Oh, come on.

GREG PALAST: Just a second--pushed by Fred Smith’s funders. I that it would be helpful if Fred would admit that his funders include the guys that just blacked us out. And we have--and when you want to talk about the interplay of systems and networks, the big interplay is the interplay between cash for politicians and the deregulation scurge. We used to have a rule, set up by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Public Utility Holding Company Act, which said that electric companies could not give money to politicians. When that rule was eliminated--so it was deregulation not only of the pricing of the system, and the deregulation of the quality controls and budgeting of the system, but the deregulation of the political giving in the system, which ended up with a complete disaster--blackouts from California to New York. And this is the first of many coming.

AMY GOODMAN: Fred Smith, you have the right of response, head of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
(snip)

[PATRICK]

40. at least someone

is willing to take responsibility. Now insist the energy companies send them the bill and let the consumer alone.

Had the kneejerk US not blamed the Canadians with extremely ludicrous and lame stories I wouldn't so readily credit Palast. On the big picture he nails it. On the immediate cause it doesn't smell so good either. More like Flight 800.

[nolabels]

41. I more suspect more than a little Malfeasance.myself, but this is a...

good back drop on who could be involved and for what purpose, and most of having to do with money. Lots of things happen for reasons; it’s just the duty of us regular or otherwise to check it out, see what’s really going on.

Would you expect the company to come out say, yea we screwed up, it’s our entire fault. They would be libel for billions that way; smoke jobs like the story above is helping them

On edit, spelling

[Dancing_Dave]

44. If it was Al Qaeda, the CIA paid 'em to say it!

And isn't the "news" source here from Saudi Arabia? This says "Bush Propaganda Scam" all over it!

Lots of good stuff on these connections can be found at the respected research site http://globalresearch.ca .

[nolabels]

51. Thanks for another one Dave

Found this over there if anyone is looking for dots, leads or pieces to their puzzle

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/SEA308A.html

Did Bush & Cheney "Order" The Great Blackout?
by Cheryl Seal
Baltimore Indymedia, 17 August 2003
www.globalresearch.ca 19 August 2003
The URL of this article is: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/SEA308A.html


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The timing was way too convenient - just days to weeks before crucial votes on Bush's sweeping energy plan and Clear Skies Initiative - both designed to dramatically overempower and expand the fossil-fuel-driven electrical power generating industry. Afterall, if the 9/11 disaster got G.W. the Patriot Acts, why shouldn't a massive power outage get him "Energy Acts"? The timing of the Thursday blackout was amazingly coincidental. It occurred just weeks before Bush plans to shove a sweeping energy plan through Congress that wiill not only force America to be ever more dependent on fossil fuel for decades to come, but will turn the American electrical utility system into a giant megacorporation sans competition, sans recourse by consumers. It also occurred just as Bush's sick-joke of an alternative to the Clean Air Act, 'The Clear Skies Initiative' was facing a very uncertain future -as of August 5, Bush had resorted to using the EPA website as a 'sales promo' for the plan (see http://www.epa.gov/clearskies/ ).to try to drum up public support he was highly unlikely to obtain. The Clear Skies scheme, hiding behind its deceptive corporate euphemism, would give the electrical power generation industry a license to pollute: According to David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Clear Skies will allow power plant carbon emissions (the top greenhouse gas) to increase by up to 16 percent between 2000 and 2010 -and this at a time when the ravages of global warming are becoming alarmingly obvious and air pollution related asthmas among children have been steadily climbing. Says Vivian Stockman of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition: "If there were requirements for truth in government labeling, the 'Clear Skies' initiative would be called 'Clear Lies.' This is just another sadly typical case of doublespeak, which the administration uses in attempts to hide the truth about its environmental policies."
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[VermontDem2004]

48. I actually decided to go over to the LBN forum

and was surprised to see my thread get 48 replies.

[zekeson]

52. This, or any other act of terrorism during *'s watch

can only serve to make * as ineffectual and idiotic to the world as the rest of us on this board already see him.

I think that is why * jumped right out (ok, the white house, * was off trying to sober up) and said it wasn't terorism. I hope I am wrong, but I really think this time * will continue to scare us with terror threats, but will not go back to the MIHOP or LIHOP plan that worked so well on S-11. With all his funding (and that which he lied about delivering) and all his blustering and the pointless excursion into Iraq for the "war of terra" he should have this country sealed up like a drum...

[are_we_united_yet]

53. Yes it was a diabolical plot by Al-Queda(sp?)

They plugged in an additional 4 breadslice toaster and BAM! the whole Northeast grid bites the dust.

[genius]

59. Clearly Al Queda has infiltrated the power companies.

Time to re-regulate. I'm being sarcastic but I would like to re-regulate.