-Caveat Lector- I don�t see how ramming a plane into the WTC would stop the building of a pipeline in Afghanistan. Assuming everything in the book was true, I don�t see how anyone could expect that particular action would lead to the result they wanted. It doesn�t add up.
on 7/24/02 3:51 AM, Alamaine at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > -Caveat Lector- > > From http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0230/cotts.php > > Press Clips > by Cynthia Cotts > Laundering the 'Truth' > 'The Nation' Defuses a French Bombshell > July 24 - 30, 2002 > > ccording to the back cover of Forbidden Truth, a bestseller published in > > France last fall and released in this country last week, a round of "secret > diplomacy between the Bush > administration and the Taliban" may have provoked Osama bin Laden into > launching the September 11 > attacks. > > As proof, authors Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasqui� point to a July > 2001 meeting of a UN initiative > known as Six Plus Two, formed to discuss Afghanistan's future and to offer > incentives for building a Central > Asian oil pipeline. The group that met in July included two former U.S. > ambassadors, ostensibly chosen to > float ideas that could not be traced to the U.S. government. At the meeting, > according to one participant, > one of the Americans informed the group, "Either you accept our offer of a > carpet of gold, or we bury you > under a carpet of bombs." And when news of this unusual military threat > reached bin Laden, the authors > imply, he launched a preemptive strike on the U.S. > > With an outrageous premise like that, it's no wonder that chapter six of > Forbidden Truth has been touted as > the smoking gun that proves Bush's indirect responsibility for 9-11�or that > Nation Books, the publishing arm > of The Nation, has just published the book in English. What's really > interesting is that after The Nation's hard- > nosed Washington editor, David Corn, denounced the authors as conspiracy > theorists, Nation Books neatly > excised the smoking-gun allegations from the text. > > The smoking-gun claim first appeared in the foreword of the book's original > edition, in which the authors > dubbed the 9-11 attacks "a foreseeable" and "tragic" "outcome" of the UN > initiative. But the foreword in the > Nation Books edition merely states that the 9-11 attacks were "possibly the > outcome" of the UN initiative, and > soberly calls for "further investigation." A similar text massage was > performed at the end of chapter six. > > Toning down of this sort is standard practice for conscientious editors, but > in this case it's the equivalent of > buying a manuscript that states unequivocally that the CIA killed John F. > Kennedy�and then publishing a > book that speculates that the CIA might have killed John Kennedy. > > Asked if he believes the central thesis of Forbidden Truth, Nation publisher > Victor Navasky said, "Based on > our reading of the book, the authors made some adjustments, so what may have > been a thesis is now a > speculation. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I believe Oswald killed Kennedy > and probably did it by himself, but > I think it's important to raise questions." > > And no one raised louder questions than Corn. A few months ago, after reading > a preliminary translation of > the book, Corn wrote an internal memo critiquing it and opposing its > publication. In May, he wrote a piece for > The Nation that debunked what he calls the 9-11 conspiracy theorists. > Describing Forbidden Truth, Corn later > wrote, "I have rarely seen such shoddy and lazy journalism," adding that the > book is "almost entirely > unsourced" and that the authors gave "no sense that they had interviewed any > single player in their tale." > For The Nation to promote such a book is "just plain exploitative," he told > the Los Angeles Times, which first > reported the dispute. Among other things, Corn is not convinced that the > diplomats in question were > speaking for the Bush administration. > > Corn declined to comment on The Nation's internal affairs. But when informed > that Truth has turned to > speculation in the English edition, he said, "I don't know whether to find it > heartening or curious that an > essential point of the book seems to have been changed. In the edition I read, > the authors said the 9-11 > attacks were a direct result of these talks, but now the book says they may > have been the direct result of > these talks. I still have my doubts about any reporting team that made the > first highly provocative statement > without being able to come close to supporting it." > > To be sure, one man's scandal is another man's brilliant career. Nation Books > editorial director Carl Bromley > says his goal is to be a "progressive popular publisher," offering books with > "political urgency." Because the > imprint is part of the nonprofit Nation Institute, Bromley has the luxury of > concentrating on building an > audience, which he describes as "the kind of people who read the Guardian > online." > > About Truth, Bromley said, "I worked very hard on the book, and I have no > problem publishing it. It's not a > conspiracy-theory book." Asked if he would have published it if he did not > believe it, Bromley said, "I'm sure > there are corporate publishers that do that, but I won't publish something if > I think it's a load of bullshit. I was > raised as a good Catholic boy and a Communist, so I'm not allowed to lie." > > Bromley said he had been intrigued since he read about the book in the > Guardian and Le Monde Diplomatique. > "Those for me are the most credible news sources." Then in November 2001, the > Voice's James Ridgeway > wrote that the authors "are big in the French spook world." Bromley recalled, > "That alerted me that these > guys aren't kooks. These are writers telling a story that really needed an > American audience." > > By March, Bromley had snapped up the North American rights to the book and > begun canvassing people to > review it. "David represented one extreme, while others were very > enthusiastic," he said. "The clincher was a > very serious and tough critic who is not a conspiracy theorist and hadn't been > following the story. We gave > him the book cold. He had some disagreements, but overall he felt the book was > important and had to be > published." Bromley declined to name the mystery vetter, but sources identify > him as Scott Sherman, a > contributing editor at The Columbia Journalism Review. Sherman responded, "I > was asked for my confidential > opinion and I gave it. " > > Then there was the fact checker. "With a book of this kind we have to be quite > scrupulous," Bromley > explained. "Some of the charges in the Saudi Arabia chapters are quite strong, > so we employed a fact > checker. The poor guy spent two months living and breathing this book. He must > have been psychologically > damaged." > > Bromley praises co-author Jean-Charles Brisard, 32, who worked with him on the > edit. (Apparently it was > Guillaume Dasqui� who wrote the "secret diplomacy" chapters, while Brisard was > responsible for the > confessions of former FBI official John P. O'Neill that appear in the prologue > and for the study of Saudi > Arabian financial networks that forms the second half of the book.) > > Brisard appears to be spoiling for a fight. In a letter posted on the Nation > Web site last week, he called Corn's > Nation article "irrelevant" and dubbed Corn a "nonprofessional on these > issues." His own credentials include > running Vivendi's corporate intelligence unit and writing a 1997 report on Al > Qaeda networks at the behest of > the French government. (Did I mention that Brisard often shows up on Salon?) > > "I like David and I don't want to get into a pissing match with him," said > Bromley. Navasky praised Corn's > "expertise in the intelligence area," adding, "There's nothing unusual about > the fact that two authors > disagree about something. You're talking about a magazine that has published > Cockburn and Hitchens for 20 > years." > > Tell us what you think. [EMAIL PROTECTED] > E-mail this story to a friend. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > A<>E<>R > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > Forwarded as information only; no automatic endorsement > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed > without charge or profit to those > who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for > non-profit research and > educational purposes only. > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. 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