No, It's Not Pretty. Not Pretty At All

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When I finished Jim Bush's column 911 Conspiracy, Who We Are, Where We Are At, And What We Must Do (OpEd News 9/14/2010) I leaned back in my chair and thought "Guy can turn a phrase... and it's an interesting take. Only one problem -- he's wrong".

How is he wrong? Simple answer, I'm afraid. So simple nobody even wants to get near it, much less embrace it. I'm gonna do both -- and I'll probably get my rear kicked for it -- but here goes nothing...

What does everyone think about the idea that liberal great Franklin Delano Roosevelt had his own 911? Getting queasy yet? Well, he did. It's called Pearl Harbor and it was about as much of a surprise as getting wet in the rain.

Now before those keyboards get-a clacking, hear me out.

First, a little background: FDR was in trouble by 1938. The rich (corporations) hated him, doing everything possible to ruin his New Deal, which wasn't working awfully well to begin with. He was being "obamatized" at every turn by his generation's "usual suspects" and it was getting ugly (er).

Worse, fascism was brewing beneath the American dream, the hero (and political wannabe) of the moment -- aviator Charles Lindbergh -- as much as said he would happily sit down to dinner with Hitler (Field Marshal Hermann Goering eventually subbed for him) enjoy the entree and then dawdle over dessert and coffee as Adolph outlined his plan for dealing with the "American Jewish Problem".

Still worse was the rise of the Japan in the East. They were young, militant and hungry. Coveting American possessions in the Pacific like the Philippines while warning the world off it's conquest of China, Japan was making its play. And the West was none too pleased, especially when the The Empire of the Rising Sun made common cause with Hitler's Germany.

Now let's add up the figures. New Deal caving, rich (corporations) winning, homeland fascism dawning, Japanese flexing muscles... mmmm, what to do?

It was so simple, so easy, that in retrospect it's almost laughable. War with Japanese meant war with Germany. War also meant big bucks for the corporatists. And it also meant Roosevelt would have, essentially, unlimited power. Think about it:

A) Rich shut up. There's cash to be made.
B) Lindbergh gets his comeuppance. American Fascism down the tubes with Hitler's declaration of war
C) Money floods all sectors for war effort.
D) Japanese problem dealt with forcefully. Most likely negated.
E) War effort means jobs, jobs, jobs.

Charming, right? But it was expedient. Poke and prod the Japanese until they get the idea America would be an easy take-down. Use spies to get the timing right. Move all your aircraft carriers (with which you'll use to defeat the Japanese eventually) out to sea a day or two beforehand. Enemy behaves as expected and BINGO -- you just won the hand... in one messy, bloody but brilliant move.

We won the whole game actually, and got everything FDR promised. Cost? World War ll. Not so bad in retrospect, right? That's just what the neocons were thinking as they planned for the invasion of Iraq.

Of the genesis of 911 as a response to "Peak Oil" (must I?), Michael Ruppert wrote:

"Within their own mindset... these men, led by Dick Cheney, chose what they thought was their only logical option. I believe it (911) seemed to them the 'right' thing for them to do; after all, it was only few thousand lives. Other rulers have made similar choices in the past."

These guys knew what they doing. The had a problem (Peak Oil). They needed an expedient way of dealing with it, do a little triple tasking like their old nemesis FDR and win the whole hand. So, they tried it.

Look, I think FDR was the 20th Century's greatest president. I think we all would have been -- and would be -- utterly lost without his wisdom and foresight. But I still think he planned Pearl Harbor.

Why? Ultimately, as Ruppert points out per Cheney and associates, it made sense. It was expedient. It was the only way to get the job done. Otherwise...

Yes, I believe Cheney and company (with no small amount of assistance from Israel) engineered 911. And yes, as stated, I believe FDR engineered Pearl Harbor. Why? Because, in both instances, it made sense -- it was expedient.

Politicians aren't like regular people. World's a game of chess to most of them and they behave (despite their protestations) accordingly -- shifting this way and that as the wind blows and the consensus flows, their morality as shaky as their morals. We're nothing but votes to most of them, the country, and consequently the ages, their concern, their legacy.

When great power is given to individuals they almost invariably misbehave. It seems hard-wired into us. Just take a look at a history book sometime. In the end, what both Roosevelt and Cheney did was beyond reproach. As human beings there is no justification whatsoever.

But it was expedient.

Authors Bio:
Tom Aiken is a writer based in Austin, Texas. He has written for numerous publications including The Village Voice, Heavy Metal amd M'Zine (RIP). Mr. Aiken also has a spanking new blog -- AikenLand -- for publication of his more unpublishable work. Visit often.