A tragedy in Austin, Texas where a man flew a light aeroplane into an office building. Reports – which may or may not be confirmed – indicate that the man set fire to his home first, and left a suicide note. The building included Federal government offices.
At least the apparent suicide is dead. But the White House’s immediate reaction that
“the crash did not appear to be an act of terrorism”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8522746.stm
bears a little bit more thought. If Joseph Andrew Stack, a deranged man with a grudge against the IRS, had been a deranged Muslim, would this apparent suicide attack have been “Not terrorism”?
UPDATE
I do not vouch for the authenticity of this, but this is alleged to be from his “suicide note”.
Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.
http://www.legitgov.org/joseph_andrew_stack_manifesto_180210.html
That is the CLG site; I subscribe to the newsfeed, as can you at the bottom of that page. I recommend the feed as an excellent source of leads to alternative stories for the intellectually curious.
“Written by an acquaintance of mine, actually.”
Is that right?
I’ve just linked to that in a post that I finally finished off.
I think if Alex Jones can play the “false flag” card here then I can question where Alex Jones was at the time of this incident and how he knew this would take place:
http://angrysoba.blogspot.com/2010/02/coincidence-theory.html
Please do not endorse CLG. Under the administration of Lori Price, it has become an anti-Semitic hate site.
For example:
During the Iranian Holocaust Denial Convention of Dec. 11 2006, CLG accused Israel of committing genocide using depleted uranium.
The bodies had not yet been buried before CLG was blaming Israel for the Mumbai attacks, citing the anti-Semite, and Holocaust minimizer Michael A Hoffman II.
On CLG’s “Political Education” page, a link to Marx’s “On the Jewish Question” sends its readers to Ahmed Rami’s “RadioIslam” which the Southern Poverty Law Center has called “the most vicious anti Jewish campaign in Europe since the Third Reich”.
Lori Price has shown solidarity with the Aftenbladet “organ harvesting” story.
She gave a full throated support of Hezbollah during the 2006 war, posting their propaganda on CLG.
I have written to Ms Price about this for over three years now, and while she says she will “look into it”, or that it is “an oversight” nothing changes.
There are many other examples of this kind of thing on CLG.
For the intellectually curious, one might read chapter nine of Simon Winchester’s “Krakatoa” to see that Islamic terror is not new, and has little to do with Joseph Andrew Stack.
“Lori Price has shown solidarity with the Aftenbladet “organ harvesting” story.
She gave a full throated support of Hezbollah during the 2006 war, posting their propaganda on CLG.
I have written to Ms Price about this for over three years now, and while she says she will “look into it”, or that it is “an oversight” nothing changes.”
Can’t say I’m surprised. Looking at Ms. Price’s comments to news she links to:
“Yeah, letting the US in to ‘help’ is like letting 40 child molesters loose on a playground.” is one comment by her on the US’ involvement in aid to Haiti after the earthquake.
Why do they hate their own freedoms ?
The ‘double-standard’ goes both ways.
Or rather, only Craig Murray and others of a similar ideology actually employ a double-standard in regard to the definition of terrorism.
The Obama govt, for its part, is being totally consistent: the ‘underwear’ bomber, they said, was or is not a terrorist; the IRS plane guy was not a terrorist, either.
I have no problem labelling both men as terrorists, but it seems that Craig Murray, and others in the U.S. who echo his point of view, only want to label one guy – the white guy – as a terrorist.
Perhaps I am wrong; but if not Craig Murray, than for many others of his ideology, you practically had to pull their teeth out before they would name the rampage of Major Hassan at Ft. Hood last year as a terrorist act (it was ‘post traumatic stress disorder’, they claimed… even tho Hassan had not yet been in combat).
But, a white guy drives his plane into a govt building and up pops Murray and the rest of the clowns, screaming ‘terrorist!’
Somehow, if this IRS freak was from the Middle East, their responses would have been more circumspect.
But, perhaps I am wrong.
R B Glennie,
you surmise wrongly – I agree with you they were both terrorists.
Very well then, Amb. Murray.
What about Major Hassan?
And, will you agree also that many on the liberal-left, not including Craig Murray, were very reluctant to admit that Hassan was a terrorist?
Further, that many who share your views are very quick to label violent whites as not only terrorists, but also, as being inspired by mainstream conservative views (ie. the commentary that the IRS dink’s views were ‘inspired by “tea-baggers” or that cons. radio hosts inspired the freak who shot up the Holocaust museum in DC last year?)
I don’t expect you will agree – or you will cop out (‘I’m not responsible for what others say…’).
The problem is, that I strongly suspect that the people you refer to as “those who share my views” do not share my views. Of course Major Hassan was a terrorist.
RB Glennie, the irony (one of several actually, but let’s not bloat ourselves)in relation to the recent ‘plane incident in the USA, resides in the lack of ‘This is the eve of destruction/ national emergency/ let’s tag all white males’ hysteria that usually accompanies a Muslim person speaking in Arabic/Urdu/Persian/Kurdish/Swahili on ‘planes, trains and automobiles. If a Muslim person sneezes the wrong way at an airport, or writes a stupid poem, or indulges in some risque and /or immature bravado debate on the web, they are at risk of being picked-up and charged with ‘The Prevention of Globally Evil Thoughts and Witchcraft Act, 2009’. Don’t try and invert the paradigm in an attempt to obscure the dynamic. Btw, and for the record, Major Hassan, George W. Bush and Tony Blair are all terrorists and should be put in a cell together in a very cold place so that they can share stories for the next 50 years.
“If a Muslim person sneezes the wrong way at an airport, or writes a stupid poem, or indulges in some risque and /or immature bravado debate on the web, they are at risk of being picked-up and charged with ‘The Prevention of Globally Evil Thoughts and Witchcraft Act, 2009’.”
What the fuck are you whining about? I suppose that you might have a few examples that could be painted as such, but certainly not enough to justify your pathetic whining.
“If a Muslim person sneezes the wrong way at an airport . . .”
Muslims playing the victum again?
It does get tiresome.
Suhayl Saadi, don’t forget that, in the U.S., apparently you can put explosives in your underwear and you’ll still get lawyer and other rights under civilian criminal law.
But never mind – a pathetic person like you will still whine.
Larry, Suhayl Saadi is right about people getting booted off of planes for speaking Arabic (or even what “sounded like Arabic or sumfink”) because some passengers complained. And a woman did get arrested for writing poetry (she was a bit silly to refer to herself as the Lyrical Terrorist and she did come out with some pretty stupid stuff but still…). I haven’t heard of anyone being arrested for sneezing the wrong way though but we’re all allowed a bit of hyperbole.
Anyway, I think it is quite possible to call Joe Stack a terrorist, especially if he has some kind of political agenda. Clearly there are different kinds of terrorism, though. Is somebody part of an organization and taking orders from somewhere? If so, clearly there is a distinction between someone who acts on their own made-up political ideology and those acting according to a political ideology of an organization.
The only people who would equate Joseph Stack with jihad are doddering fools, and well, Muslims.
It is just another example of the false equivalences we constantly get from Muslims and their sympathizers.
Here is an example of how unfairly Muslims are treated.
Lockerbie bomber Megrahi living in luxury villa six months after being at ‘death’s door’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/7279123/Lockerbie-bomber-Megrahi-living-in-luxury-villa-six-months-after-being-at-deaths-door.html
“The only people who would equate Joseph Stack with jihad are doddering fools”
Certainly. Jihadists have incorporated a violent ideology. They preach it, talk about it and act on it.
Lone nuts like Joe Stack are harder to predict and are always going to exist in (despite what Stack might have thought) non-totalitarian societies.
“The only people who would equate Joseph Stack with jihad are doddering fools, and well, Muslims. … It is just another example of the false equivalences we constantly get”
That would be sort of like the way you go veering off talking about “jihad” when the question was “terrorism” ?
I don’t think I am “veering off”, but rather getting to point.
Craig Murray has taken a left turn slamming the story of Joseph Stack into Muslims, and terror.
And to what purpose? If he is not trying to imply that Muslims are judged by a double standard, or that Joseph Stack’s actions are like those of Osama bin Laden, what IS he trying to say?
Joseph Stack has nothing to do with Muslims, or jihad.
As the first commenter asked, “What is your point?”
“What is your point?”
That complaints against other people offering false equivalences are probably more effectively pursued by means other than the offering of false equivalences.
Glad to find you on here!
Steven,
Savannah, GA
It might interest you to know that you share the view of CAIR, a Muslim Brotherhood front operating in the US.
Craig Murry is providing intellectual coverage for an Islamist agenda, and endoresing websites that promote Holocaust denial.
I am not impressed.
QED.
No.
There is no reason to play your cards so close to your vest.
Show us what you have.
What are you trying say?
Do you need help?
I think I have been clear enough.
It is time for you to do the same.
Do you have any ability to respond to what somebody else says ?
Achooo!!
Sorry, I have a cold.
Gosh, could it be that Sir Lawrence, recently invested with an Honorary KBE, expresses a penchant for explosive underwear? Does Sir Lawrence believe in witches, one wonders? Or in the efficacy of the Malleus Malleficarum?
Whatever gets you thru’ the night…
Get me my broom!
What the world needs now, a good 2-dollar broom.
Absolutely, Richard! Veritably, it is the 13th Labour of Heracles.
Perhaps also, we need a Gorgon’s Head, to turn the guns to stone.
Thanks also, angrysoba. I agree with the points you’ve made in both paragraphs of your 1235am post.
Also, arabic writing on a tshirt just *got* to be a terroristy slogan. I think he saw them in court for that and won, finally.
It’s entirely bizarre. Person kills themself flying plane into government building, in hopes, apparently, of encouraging other people to not put up with said government. So, what on earth is it that leads people to pronounce one case “obviously terrorist”, and another “obviously not” ?
But then, there were people arrested round here (Lancashire) a couple of years ago. Said, in the local papers, to be the biggest collection of “stuff to make explosives out of” ever busted in the country. BNP bloke, stockpiling for “the coming race war”. Shockhorrorterror all over the headlines ? Anybody remember noticing it, at all ? The resulting trial hardly seemed to be covered at all. I’d still like to know why the coppers guarding the house told all the neighbours it was “obviously” not a terrorist thing.
Got to keep sweeping and sweeping, but there’s just too many feet.
“So, what on earth is it that leads people to pronounce one case “obviously terrorist”, and another “obviously not” ?”
It is a good question.
Suhayl Saadi seems to have a particularly hard time at this.
I believe he was referring to the “lyrical terrorist” in a previous comment at February 22, 2010 6:30 PM about someone writing a “silly poem.”
That would be Samina Malik who “was a perfectly placed terror insider at one of the world’s largest airports. She wrote poems about beheadings, poison bullets and martyrdom, posting them to “attract men.” ”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,325329,00.html
As it turns out she was to come in contact with Sohail Qureshi who “police had . . . under surveillance when he contacted Malik to ask about security at the airport. Recent testimony revealed that the dangerous duo was in e-mail contact.”
“Just before his arrest, Qureshi asked Malik, “What is the system like at work? Is the checking still very harsh or have things calmed down a bit?”
“Describing his “vacation” in an e-mail, Qureshi wrote, “Pray that I kill many, brother. Revenge, revenge, revenge.””
This is not just writing poems, or engaging in braggadocio, and is nothing to sneeze at.
And, in light of recent events like Ft Hood, people who are semaphoring their desire to commit violent jihad should be arrested. It is jihad and that is what we should be talking about when discussing Muslims and terror.
However, if it is any consolation to you the difficulty in distinguishing between random acts of violence and jihad appears to be quite common.
I say “terrorism”, you say “jihad”. Let’s call the whole thing off.