-5- The consequences of 9/11
5.1 “It was bin Laden”

Just eight hours after the WTC attacks, US officials claimed it was bin Laden. (see 4.1, 4.p.m.)
The first “hard” evidence was a video released in December after the WTC attacks. It shows Osama Bin Laden who claims to be responsible for 9/11. He is talking about the damage done to the WTC and names nine pilots who were verified to have been on those planes.
“”I was thinking that the fire from the gas in the plane would melt the iron structure of the building and collapse the area where the plane hit and all the floors above it only,” he said, according to a U.S. government translation.” – CNN. The video which is available to the public shows him smiling and generally happy about what had happened.32
As Ari Fleischer says, that the video is nothing new to the president, because Bush already knew that bin Laden was responsible for the attacks.
“Another discovered videotape is “one more piece of evidence” that Osama bin Laden was behind the attacks on Washington and New York, Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday (9th December 2001, CNN). Hence bin Laden has his origin in Afghanistan, it was clear that war with the Taliban regime, that gives asylum to bin Laden, was imminent. Bin Laden was condemned too fast, and then had been setup as a scapegoat. Based on those two videotapes, Bush launched a war against Afghanistan, which already was his first step in the “war on terrorism”.33

5.2 War in Afghanistan

On September 12th, 2001 President George W. Bush announced “he will make no distinction between the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks and those who harbour them.”
Roughly a month later, after the Taliban regime had refused to turn over Osama bin Laden to the US, the British and American military started the bombing of several targets in Afghanistan.
The fighting continued until the end of November and Taliban forces are pushed back. It wasthen decided that an interim administration should govern Afghanistan for six months.
On December the 22nd, the Pashtun leader, Hamid Karzai, became the head of Afghanistan’s new “broad-based government”.
Until the date of writing, the coursework there were continuous small fights around several cities showing that the Taliban forces have not yet been 100%ly eliminated. Also, just in time for the US election in 2004, the hunt for the world’s most wanted criminal34 mastermind continues. Yet he has not been seized, which shows that the Bush administration has either lost interest in bin Laden or is not capable of capturing him and fully destroying his network – Al-Qaida.

5.3 Patriot Act

Patriot Act is the short title for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001″.
The senate welcomed this law by 98 to 1 votes. I am not going to talk about the Patriot Act here in details, as it is written on 342 pages cross-referring to other laws, bills and acts released over the past 200 years in America.35 The Patriot Act allows the law enforcement to use any surveillance methods they wish (may that be bugging the telephone, questioning other people, intercepting mail, reading email, planting Trojan virus devices in pc, etc.), also no permission from court is needed anymore.
If law enforcement decides it is necessary to either use surveillance or do a raid, they can use their new “instant special Patriot Act permissions”.
Due to the Patriot Act, any data accessible to the law enforcement can and may be used to check your background. For example, the law enforcement now has information about what books you read, how frequently you visit the doctor, what medicine you buy, what goods you buy in the supermarket (via your credit card) and so on. Most of the libraries and doctors offices have those special new notes (saying that under the Patriot Act law enforcement is allowed to look at your data) printed in small letters under their usual information. This newly invented Patriot Act is a violation to the independent way of life36, which America once was famous for. With this act being active, the rights of every citizen are restricted to a minimum, as you have to watch out what you do and when you do it.So many experts consider it a joke to call the website informing about the Patriot Act “www.lifeandliberty.gov”.

5.4 Homeland security (Act of 2002)

The Homeland security Act is similar to the Patriot Act, but enhances more the military the law as mentioned in 5.3.
The act, which is accessible at http://thomas.loc.gov describes the procedure and acts that will take place after a certain event, e.g. a nuclear / biological war.
The Homeland security act was also released to justify the big increase in military and border control spending in the years 2002. The website www.dhs.gov (made by the homeland security task force, which was created after the release of the bill) informs about this act and show a “thread advisory”, a newly developed mark by the homeland security task force on their website. This mark shows the current level of “danger and possible terrorist activity” in the US. Another creation of the newly created task force is the site www.ready.gov , which gives information on possible dangerous and hazardous situation in the US. For example, it tells the citizens what to do in the case of a nuclear blast, etc.

5.5 “Osama bin Forgotten”

At some point the Bush administration stopped chasing the most wanted criminal of the world and decided to target another person to blame. This person became Saddam Hussein, former leader of the Iraq. (Based on “The Administration’s attention shifted to building support for the war in Iraq, and Saddam Hussein seemed to replace bin Laden in the role of the world’s most notorious “evildoer.” Indeed, Bush’s reticence on the subject of bin Laden grew so conspicuous that critics, such as the Democratic Presidential candidate Bob Graham, began referring to the terrorist as “Osama bin Forgotten.”")37

5.6 “Weapons of Mass distraction (WMD)”

To justify a war against Iraq, the Bush administration came up with a great story: At first they used the argument that Saddam Hussein was affiliated to the 9/11 attacks, then they kept on saying that the Iraq would maintain Weapons of Mass destruction. Due to the fact that most of the news companies, such as CNN, CBS, Fox and others are depended on the White House and their information (it’s simple as this: if you don’t publish what they want you to, you are no longer invited to the White House press briefings), they kept on repeating the fake story about WMD. Head inspector Blix said in his report released to the UN and accessible to the White House, that there were no WMD at all.38
Just to name some more cases where fake evidence was used to justify an action wanted to be undone today: Guatemala, Cuba, El Salvador and Gulf War I / Kuwait. The U.S. has a long history of fabricating evidence to justify foreign adventures.
Thus, you can say that the Bush administration used the Weapons of Mass destruction as Weapons of Mass distraction. To quote the LA times:
“Yet the crucial point is that, so far, none of Miller’s big WMD exclusives has proved to be true — nobody’s found nuthin’ — and she increasingly looks like a Pentagon flack who helped sell the war. By comparison, Blair’s inaccurate description of a suburban driveway and Bragg’s sub-Faulknerian maundering about Gulf Coast oystermen feel positively benign. Where these guys were simply promoting themselves, Miller’s work looks suspiciously like Bush administration propaganda.”39
It’s funny to see how the Bush administration contradicts themselves; in January 2001 and June 2001, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, said on TV, that the Iraq has no WMD, and is not a thread at all.40 Then in late 2002 and early 2003 they say the complete opposite, despite Blix’s report. Seeing as until today no one has found any WMD in or near Iraq, someone must have lied.

Read on | The consequences of 9/11

I browsed some news sites as usual, I do so on a daily basis after I get up and read the following article on cnn (sucks):

DOHA, Qatar (CNN) — Despite resistance from Iraqi units and rising coalition casualties, U.S. military officials expressed satisfaction Monday with the pace of the war effort.
“Progress toward our objectives has been rapid and in some cases dramatic,” said Gen. Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command. U.S. military officials showcased images of successful airstrikes on Iraqi military and leadership targets and said coalition ground forces have made significant gains in southern Iraq. U.S., British and Australian Special Operations forces operating in small, mobile teams are “about their business, from the left to the right and top to bottom” in Iraq, Franks said. Franks said there is “nothing at all unexpected” about the “sporadic resistance” encountered so far, adding that coalition forces will continue to “fight this on our terms.” The tenor of the U.S. Central Command briefing contrasted with a defiant speech by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein aired hours earlier Monday on Iraqi television. “After they underestimated you, you Iraqis, now they’ve come on land; this attempt is our chance to incur losses on them,” Saddam said. “They are in a dilemma; they are in trouble now. Hate them and strike them.” It was not immediately clear whether the speech was broadcast live or had been taped. Saddam talked about current battles and referred to “setbacks” for his “enemies.” (Full story) Fighting continued Monday in the southeastern Iraqi city of Nasiriya, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad. The U.S. military said at least 10 Marines died in what a senior U.S. officer called “the sharpest engagement of the war thus far.” Up to 16 troops were reported missing after Sunday’s fighting. (Full story) About 60 miles south of the Iraqi capital, elements of the Republican Guard, the strongest and most loyal arm of the Iraqi military, fought off a fierce assault by U.S. Apache attack helicopters. The U.S. Army’s V Corps, 11th Attack Helicopter Regiment, targeted Iraq’s 2nd Armored Brigade of the elite Medina Division before dawn Monday, targeting positions between the cities of Karbala and Al Hillah. One U.S. pilot described the situation as a “hornet’s nest,” with the Iraqis peppering the helicopters with small arms and anti-aircraft fire from “all sides.” Most pilots said they sustained 15 to 20 rounds, including a rocket-propelled grenade in one instance. (Full story) Iraqi TV showed video of what appeared to be a downed Apache helicopter, intact and upright, reporting that it went down near Karbala. Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said Iraqi villagers shot down two Apaches. U.S. Central Command confirmed that one Apache is missing in Iraq but had no details on the crew or the reported second missing helicopter. (Full story) Thirty-eight U.S. and British military personnel have been confirmed killed since the Iraqi conflict began. (Coalition casualties) Other developments? U.S. Marine Maj. Gen. Henry Pete Osman, in charge of military coordination and liaison for Iraq’s northern front, arrived in the area Monday, signaling the much-anticipated opening of a second front. More than 200 U.S. forces are now in northern Iraq. Until recently, some 20 to 30 Special Operations forces were in the region. The development came amid discussions between U.S. and Turkish officials on how to deal with northern Iraq. (Full story) ? The first group of wounded U.S. troops arrived Monday at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Their arrival was broadcast live, showing 12 injured people being carried off a C-141 cargo plane by stretcher and placed onto waiting medical evacuation buses. (Full story) ? President Bush plans to have lunch Monday with the military’s top officers to discuss the war in Iraq and also brief key members of Congress on an emergency war budget request officials said will be for roughly $75 billion. Bush will visit the Pentagon on Tuesday and U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, on Wednesday. (Full story) ? Three fresh explosions rocked Baghdad around 2:30 p.m. (6:30 a.m. EST) Monday. The blasts came more than 11 hours after witnesses reported a round of airstrikes in the Iraqi capital that hit an Iraqi air force building and other buildings southeast of the city. ? U.S. Patriot missile batteries Monday shot down three Iraqi ballistic missiles in Kuwaiti airspace, a U.S. military source said. The first injured U.S. troops arrive at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. ? Kuwait firefighters in south Rumaylah succeeded Monday in extinguishing their first Iraqi oil well set ablaze by Iraqi forces, according to Kuwait fire authorities. ? The Australian navy has been working with the United States to clear Umm Qasr in preparation for humanitarian aid shipments, the commander of Australian forces in the Middle East said Monday. U.S. Marines have captured the regional headquarters of the ruling Baath Party in the key port city, seizing documents, a weapons cache and other material. (Full story) ? The Iraqi information minister said Monday that at least 62 civilians had died, and many more have been wounded, in the coalition invasion. CNN has been unable to confirm these reports. (Full story) ? A steady rumbling of bombs fell on Iraqi front-line positions near Chamchamal in northern Iraq. Sources from Pesh Murga, the militia for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said Iraqi soldiers armed with heavy machine guns moved injured comrades from a ridge. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is one of the two main ruling Kurdish parties in northern Iraq. ? An unmanned, remote-controlled U.S. Air Force Predator drone spotted and destroyed a radar-guided, anti-aircraft artillery piece in southern Iraq on Saturday, the Pentagon reported Sunday — the first time a Predator has fired in the war. ? Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based, Arabic-language satellite network, broadcast pictures Sunday of U.S. soldiers recorded by Iraqi television. Iraqi TV said the soldiers were killed in action or captured near Nasiriya on the Euphrates River. The video showed five captured U.S. soldiers, who said their names, as well as the bodies of four soldiers, some of whom had gunshot wounds to their foreheads. CNN Correspondents Jason Bellini, Karl Penhaul, Nic Robertson, Walter Rodgers, Brent Sadler, Martin Savidge, Kevin Sites, Barbara Starr and Alessio Vinci contributed to this report. EDITOR’S NOTE: CNN’s policy is to not report information that puts operational security at risk.

Read on | How I expirienced the beginning of the war in iraq