"if bin Laden wasn't on the payroll of (...) large defense contractors he deserves to have been"

[Andre II]

"Not to stoke any of the inane conspiracy theories running wild on the Internet, but if Osama bin Laden wasn't on the payroll of Lockheed Martin or some other large defense contractor, he deserves to have been. What a boondoggle 9/11 has been for the merchants of war, who this week announced yet another quarter of whopping profits made possible by George Bush's pretending to fight terrorism by throwing money at outdated cold war-style weapons systems. Lockheed Martin, the nation's top weapons manufacturer, reaped a 22 percent increase in profits, while rivals for the defense buck, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics, increased profits by 62 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Boeing's profits jumped 61 percent, spiked this quarter by its commercial division, but Boeing's military division, like the others, has been doing very well indeed since the terrorist attacks. As Newsweek International put in August: "Since 9/11 and the U.S.-led wars that followed, shares in American defense companies have outperformed both the Nasdaq and Standard & Poor's stock indices by some 40 percent. Prior to the recent cascade of stock prices worldwide, Boeing's share prices had tripled over the past five years while Raytheon's had doubled."(...)
"The Pentagon currently absorbs more than half of the federal government's discretionary budget," writes Lawrence J. Korb, "surpassing the heights reached when I was President Reagan's assistant secretary of defense. ... And, much like the 1980s, we are spending billions of dollars on weapons systems designed to fight the Soviet superpower."

Thanks to bin Laden and Bush's exploitation of "war on terror" hysteria, the taxpayers have been hoodwinked into paying for a sophisticated military arsenal to fight a Soviet enemy that no longer exists. The Institute for Policy Studies calculated last year that the top 34 CEOs of the defense industry have earned a combined billion dollars since 9/11; they should give bin Laden his cut."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071112/truthdig


:grr: :grr: :grr:

[MrSlayer]

1. Yes for use of his name only.

It's all such bullshit.

[formercia]

2. The Bin Laden family was heavily invested in Carlyle

I'm sure they made a bundle and Poppy continued to advise the family after 9/11.

[JohnyCanuck]

3. I wonder if the author considers it an "inane conspiracy theory"

to posit that the official explanation offered by the Bush Administration, the Keane Commission and the corporate media re. the circumstances surrounding the 9/11 attacks is a cover up of what can be described at best as mind boggling malfeasance (for which no one has been punished), and at worst as treason, at the highest levels of government and the military.

Former high-level officials challenge the conventional explanation of how and why the twin towers fell

by Richard Clark
(FYI: not to be confused with the Bush Administration counter terrorism adviser Richard Clarke)

A 2,000 word article, Seven CIA Veterans Challenge 9/11 Commission Report, appeared September 23, 2007 in OpEdNews. The article details severe criticism of the 9/11 Commission Report by seven CIA veterans and calls for a new investigation. Here follows a brief quote or two from several of the individuals whose testimony is included in the article:

Ray McGovern, former Chairman of the National Intelligence Council and 27-year CIA veteran: "The 9/11 Report is a joke." “It has long been clear that the Bush-Cheney administration cynically exploited the attacks of 9/11 to promote its imperial designs. . . (And there is) evidence for an even more disturbing conclusion: that the 9/11 attacks were themselves orchestrated by this administration precisely so they could be thus exploited.”

William Christison, former National Intelligence Officer (NIO) and former Director of the CIA's Office of Regional and Political, and 29-year CIA veteran: "We very seriously need an entirely new, very high level, and truly independent investigation of the events of 9/11. I think you almost have to look at the 9/11 Commission Report as a joke and not a serious piece of analysis at all." “The North and South Towers of the World Trade Center almost certainly did not collapse and fall to earth because hijacked aircraft hit them.”

Robert Baer, 21-year CIA veteran and specialist in the Middle East, was awarded the Career Intelligence Medal upon his retirement in 1997. During an interview by Thom Hartmann, Baer, after commenting on the financial profits being made from 9/11, was asked: “What about political profit? There are those who suggest that someone in (the U.S.) chain of command had pretty good knowledge that 9/11 was going to happen -- and really didn't do much to stop it -- or even obstructed efforts to stop it because they thought it would lend legitimacy to Bush's failing presidency.” Baer replied: “Absolutely.” Hartmann then asked, “So you are personally of the opinion that there was an aspect of 'inside job' to 9/11 within the U.S. government?" To which Baer replied, "There is that possibility, the evidence points at it." When Hartmann continued, "And why is this not being investigated?” Baer replied, "Why isn't the WMD story being investigated? Why hasn't anybody been held accountable for 9/11? We held people accountable after Pearl Harbor. Why has there been no change in command? Why have there been no political repercussions? Why has there been not been any sort of exposure on all this? It really makes you wonder."

Robert David Steele has 25 years of combined service in the CIA and the U.S. Marine Corps. Second ranking civilian in U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence from 1988 - 1992. Member of the Adjunct Faculty of Marine Corps University. His comment: "I am forced to conclude that 9/11 was at a minimum allowed to happen as a pretext for war. "I'm absolutely certain that WTC 7 was brought down by controlled demolition. There's no way that building could have come down without controlled demolition."

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_richard__071103_former_high_level_of.htm

[MadHound]

4. Well, bin Laden was on the payroll of the CIA at one time

And you what they say about being in the CIA, once CIA, always CIA:shrug: Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if bin Laden isn't at Bebe Robozo's old place in Boca Raton Florida, kicking back by the pool and having a grand time.

[Andre II]

5. Yes, indeed

but no media coverage at all.

[Twist_U_Up]

9. google : tim osman

[Andre II]

11. You mean this?

Is this a genuine document?

[Mrs. Overall]

6. My friend's neighbor, who is an officer, just returned from his third tour of duty in Iraq

and he has told several people, quite freely, that he and other officers believe that Bin Laden is on the payroll of the bush administration. My friend was shocked to hear him say this, since he is a republican and had voted for bush.

[Rex]

7. Well he did work for the CIA.

If that still counts for anything.

[Andre II]

8. "Arms makers winning war on terrorism"

The world's biggest arms maker, Lockheed Martin in the US, maker of fighter jets including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which Australia is buying, announced last week it had increased third-quarter profits by 22 per cent to $US11.1 billion ($12.1 billion).

Northrop Grumman, maker of aircraft carriers, submarines and bombers, increased profits 62 per cent to $US489 million.

At General Dynamics, maker of the Abrams tank, which Australia has just bought, profits climbed 24 per cent to $US544 million.

Britain's BAE said its profits were up 27 per cent to £657 million ($1.23 billion)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/arms-makers-winning-war-on-terrorism/2007/11/03/1193619200266.html

[Disturbed]

10. How do we know that Osama isn't getting his cut of pie?

We don't.