Look Around...It's Not What You See...It's What You Don't

I'd like to preface this thread by saying that in no way is it a prediction of an upcoming terrorist attack or an upcoming political scandal. Predictions are unnecessary in a world where such things have found comfortable homes as headlines and dinner conversation. No, this thread is about what to consider the next time something big does happen. To some extent it is a "heads up" to everyone, but I feel it is more of an awareness reminder for anyone with the potential of being an eyewitness to an historic event.

In the whole of human history, the clever use of distraction has been one of mankind's greatest assets and our modern times make no exception. From the use of a pseudo-battle group trailing Japanese warships to Alaska to convince their Navy that the US Navy was unaware of the attack on Midway, to the timely revalations of terror related audio and video tapes to distract the constituency from scandal and graft it is clear that these tactics have found a home in the institution that is the American Government.

Unfortunately, along with the penchant for diversion, the American Government also has a penchant for sacrifice. Again in the case of the Battle of Midway, once the US Navy had called off their pursuit of Japanese vessels to Alaska, they immediately forfeited the Aleutian Islands to those soldiers. Fortunately, the Japanese soldiers, cold and hungry, abandoned the Islands not long after. Unfortunately, that was not the only sacrifice of the battle. The Japanese were allowed to execute an entire air raid on Midway in order to ensure that the decks of their carriers were cluttered with fuel lines and ordinance during the U.S. surprise attack shortly thereafter.

In the case of Midway, history has shown the clever calculations of the US Navy to have been correct and the battle was seen by many as the tipping point in the Pacific Theater of World War II. This is not to say that I condone sacrifice for strategic purpose, but to say that I understand that, as Spock once said, "logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Unfortunately, modern times have found us in a position where the sacrifices made by those few who have given their lives are not impacting the many of us left behind. The world trembles in fear, Oil prices skyrocket while we consume at even greater levels, two nations Iraq and Afghanistan lay in shambles while another sits in the crosshairs of what is becoming another imperialist nation.

But I digress.

It seems that in this time of uncertainty, this time of terror, and, make no mistake about it, this is and will remain for some time a time of terror, the likelyhood of clever use of distraction will come upon us again. Fortunately, I have the pleasure of being a part of a vigilant and keen-eyed citizenry in ATS and that is why my call goes to you. When the next big thing happens, if any of you are witness to the event, please do us all a favor...look away.

This is not to say that you should shield your eyes from the spectacle before you, but to say: look for the spectacle behind you. Life is not television and though the explosions shown to the world on its city streets are just as spectacular, we should not suspend disbelief. We should continually strive to pay attention to the man behind the curtain, to find the fishing wires which hold our politicians up so high above us. We have a choice in our lives. We can either sit like couch-potato automotons and unblinkingly absorb the circus paraded before us, or we can sneak behind the scenes to look for the "Almighty Oz." Trust me, when you get home, you will be treated with plenty of footage of the illusion, but not the trapdoor.

These days the dual tactics of distraction and sacrifice are alive and well, but by falling for every illusion before you, you are sacrificing your integrity. It is clear that the divide between the affluent and the struggling, the industrial nations and the gritty third-world is growing larger every day and despite logic, the needs of the few are being fed by the neglect of the needs of the many. The only way to right the imbalance is to regain our vigilance and our courage.

Terrorists are not Arabs or Jihadists of Environmentalists, they are people who capitalize on fear to achieve their goals. Some wear turbans while others wear Brooks Brothers suits, but rest assured, their goal is the same: control.

So to conclude my call to those who witness history to look behind the smoke and mirrors to see the wires and trapdoors I offer you a paraphrase and a few quotes:

South Park Kids: Isn't using fear to get people to do what you want like terrorism? No it IS terrorism.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself!"

GW Bush: "Make no mistake about it, we are at war. We're at war with an enemy that attacked us on September the 11th, 2001. We're at war against an enemy that, since that day, has continued to kill."

Distraction. Sacrifice. Fear.

With today's announcement of the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, I am bumping this thread. On days like today, we need to be hyper-vigilant. What else is happening around the world today? What important event is being eclipsed by this announcement? What truth is being shielded by this non-sequitor?

*Keep in mind that despite US contentions that Zarqawi is the root of all insurgency in Iraq, his death is not likely to affect the insurgency one iota. Much like the death/capture of bin Ladin won't signal the end of the War on Terror, Zarqawi has been a long-held distraction whose death provides one final uber-distraction for those behind the curtain. What don't they want us to notice?

Bump

I'm a newbie so this won't be worth too much:
This is the best post I've read since I joined. Reminded me of a quote that constantly lurks in the back of my head;

"Let every eye negotiate for itself
And trust no agent; for beauty is a witch
Against whose charms faith melteth into blood.
This is an accident of hourly proof"

-Bill Shakespeare(et al?)
Much Ado About Nothing

Oh come on... stating the obivous, reinventing the wheel of knowledge...this gets boring.... OF COURSE THEIR WILL BE SNEAK ATTACKS UPON US AND OTHERS , NOW THAT ITS THE NEW IDEOLOGY, THE NEW MANTRA, THE NEW METHOD OF OR ENEMYS TO BRING TERROR TYPE ATTACKS UPON THOSE THEY HATE, IT DOSNT TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO FIGURE THIS OUT... AND OH... BY THE WAY..
THATS THE NATURE OF WAR... TO BREAK THINGS..DESTROY INFRASTRUCTURE, AND KILL PEOPLE, SO THE END RESULT ISNT UNEXPECTED EITHER.
WHAT YOU FAIL TO NOTE IS THE MASSIVE, SEVERE, GLOBAL.. WORLDWIDE
COVERT OPERATION TO KILL THEM WHEREEVER THEY ARE FOUND.. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY THOUSANDS WORLD WIDE THAT HAVE BEEN HUNTED DOWN AND KILLED, COVERTLY.... BY OUR BLACK OPS MILITARY AND QUASI-MILITARY GROUPS, SO SON... ID SAY THAT WE ARE TAKING YOUR IDEA AND BURNING IT INTO THEIR ASS...WORLDWIDE... AS OUR MANTRA ISNT PRAISE ALLA... ITS
DO UNTO THEM BEFORE THEY DO UNTO US....

AND TRUST ME.. WE ARE DOING UNTO THEM... GLOBALLY.. ITS WHY WE ARE STILL SAFE FROM BEING ATTACKED SINCE 9-11...

AN ISRALIE MOSSAD AGENT SAID ONE DAY "we cant get any good intel from them becuse all the americans want to do is kill them wherever they find them..and their looking everywhere...."

Mod Note: All Caps – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 8/6/2006 by Mirthful Me]

Originally posted by Agent Provactuer
AN ISRALIE MOSSAD AGENT SAID ONE DAY...

"By way of deception shall you Conquer."


Great post chaosrain.

Nice read there, although I am really wondering why you would post this in a place where suspicion, skepticism, and intellectual conspiratorial insight are more the norm rather than the exception. No need IMO to urge us to pay attention to what's behind the curtain; that's what this site is all about. It's kinda like preaching to the choir.

In contrast, I would like to simply ask that if you, yeah YOU reading this, ever happen to be witness to any "terrorist" attack, especially anything on the scale or bigger than 9/11, that this time around you really take the time to document however you can as much as humanly possible. Use your video phone, your digital camera, your notebook, or anything at all you can think of to capture as many details as possible. What may not matter now could become quite huge later! And please back them up, safely and securely RIGHT AWAY. That said, I am in no way condoning witholding any information from authorities.

I think as a requirement to be an ATS member, we should all take a vow to carry at least a digital camera with us everywhere we go. Imagine that, a worldwide army of keen-eyed, ready-at-a-moment's-notice ATS photographers. Note that video phones are quite small, easily concealed, and can capture stills and short videos. And yet even so, the old 35mm film camera is a little tougher to argue against because of the negatives, whereas digital images can be more easily manipulated. For that reason once technology can do it, I think that they need to institute some kind of permanent, tamperproof memory in digital cameras that stores a permanent record of the photos that camera took. Sort of a digital parallel to "negatives".

Imagine if someone would have secretly taken pictures or video of the 9/11 scenes BEFORE any officials arrived. What might have been shown that could have made a real difference? A close up of an untouched fallen steel beam in place where it fell at ground zero, for example may have yielded more supporting information for the thermite/thermate theory. Again I wonder what is on those confiscated videos from the gas station near the pentagon, that they will not release...

In closing, while I can empathize with your post, I write this as a reminder that "what you don't see," as you put it, is often in plain sight. Document now, analyze later.

Edit: added forgotten word "the"

[edit on 8-6-2006 by TrueAmerican]

Pretty good, and there are a few well worded thought strings in your presentation...

but your message, which has the feel of a Book Jacket Cover teaser,
can't just dangle there...

?Where's the Beef? What content, what direction do you wish to point out to us?

I think that TrueAmerican put it best. In short:

Keep your digital cameras handy...
Be aware of the concept of gravitational lensing...some events are displayed before us with an intent toward maximizing their gravity and, thereby, distorting or obscuring all neighboring events...

If you're asking me to point you solidly in the direction of events hidden behind illusion, well, that's beyond me. If I could see all, know all and do all, I'd change my handle to GOD. All I can do is attempt to awaken the ATS community to the massive reality that continuous efforts are at work to distract us from those events which will facilitate our freedom and direct us to events which seek to enslave us.

If you're looking for a relevant event which puts my warning into context, note the tremendous NOISE being created by the death of Zarqawi. Heck, my fiancee told me that even Regis from Regis and Kelly fame made a point of leading with the death of Zarqawi today and anyone who has seen his show knows that it is unadulterated fluff. Have you heard any news reports of impending global financial collapse? Me neither...the stink of Zarqawi's corpse is overwhelming them.

Markets Tumble: Recession Ahead?

So when the attack or dollar collapse or alien invasion or what ever crazy thing you dreamt up, doesn’t happen, tomorrow, next week, the 19th, or next year, will any of you tin-foil types even pause a MOMENT to consider that you might just be wrong?

You conspiracy types remind me of Ptolemaic astronomers, who had to construct ever more complicate model of the universe so that it would be consistent with their observations. You begin with the conclusion and then construct the explination.

Whom do you think William of Ockham would be more likely to agree with? You: who’s model of the world requires an ever more elaborate Rube Goldberg conspiracy contraption involving thousands (more?) of people all of whom keep the secret OR me: who’s model involves a terrorist organization that declared war on America and seeks out her destruction?

False flag ops with a fully complicit media become very difficult to now question let alone prove. Of course there will be an operation conducted before the November election. It is vital to the Neocon stranglehold in Washington. Groups who control find ways to retain control. Again look for something big around Labor day. That gives them two months til the election to once again say thank god we're here to protect you and can you imagine how much worse this could have been if Democrats ran Congress. It's just getting too easy to see through the filthy celophane!

Originally posted by Number23Whom do you think William of Ockham would be more likely to agree with? You: who’s model of the world requires an ever more elaborate Rube Goldberg conspiracy contraption involving thousands (more?) of people all of whom keep the secret OR me: who’s model involves a terrorist organization that declared war on America and seeks out her destruction?

In this case "23" I think Wm. of Ockham would probably side with the tinfoil hat crowd after seeing and hearing the lies, deceptions, patriotic pandering and transparent propaganda of the Washington elite.

YIAWETA, little thumbs up sign here.

Just because you're paranoid doesnt mean they're not out to get you.

Originally posted by Number23
So when the attack or dollar collapse or alien invasion or what ever crazy thing you dreamt up, doesn’t happen, tomorrow, next week, the 19th, or next year, will any of you tin-foil types even pause a MOMENT to consider that you might just be wrong?

Number23,

I understand your frustration with the notion of conspiracy, but at no point did I attempt to offer any dire predictions or fortellings of despair. It's not necessary. Some sort of catastrophe is always waiting around the corner...such is life.

Additionally, history has demonstrated to us that many people have found avenues to capitalize on catastrophy and, upon some investigation it is slowly being revealed that there are individuals who have taken the prospect one step further and have actually manufactured catastrophy from which they could capitalize. Again, I point to the battle of Midway where the inhabitants of that small island were left to slaughter during the initial Japanese assault so the US Navy had the opportunity to bomb the fuel and ordinance laden Japanese carriers awaiting the return of their airwing. Those who died as a result of the intial Japanese bombing wave will never know that their deaths were specifically "allowed to happen." Not knowing that they were the victims of a strategic military conspiracy likely did not make their dying breaths any sweeter, but the fact that the truth has been uncovered provides at least a sliver of opportunity for those who remain to avoid a similar "sacrifice" in the future. Isn't that worthy of consideration and thought?

It has happened before and will happen again. All we can hope for is the opportunity to see these situations for what they are, and expose those who are responsible in hopes of deterring their successors from making similar decisions.

Finally, I'm not advocating the adoption of wild "Tin-Foil-Hat" conspiracy mongering. I do think that some of the "conspiracies" which have been offered for consideration both on this site and others can go a bit overboard. I do, however, implore you to look at the structure of power throughout history. People will do the most distasteful things to gain it and then surprise even themselves with the depths to which they will go to maintain it. To deny this would be to deny human nature.

If you truly believe that there is no merit to noodling over possible conspiracy and collusion and that the world is EXACTLY as it seems...two things:

1) I've got a bridge in NYC that I'd like to sell you.
2) Why do you have an account on ATS when MySpace and MSN seem to be more your speed?

On the battle of Midway the US had three operational carriers (counting the damaged Yorktown). To say the US allowed the Japanese to bomb Midway is idiotic.

The Japanese naval force was considerably stronger, and dictated its own position and time table. The Japanese were looking for the a more decisive battle after the Doolittle air raids on Tokyo earlier. The Americns having broke some of the Japanese code knew the main attack was to be on Midway.

Catching and actually sinking all of those Japanese aircraft carriers was not a conspiracy.

It was determination, training and a lot of luck.

The battle could have gone the other way quite easily.

You have voted chaosrain for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

sbob,

I completely agree with your statements regarding the massive imbalance of Pacific naval power at that stage during the war. As such, I will admit that saying that the US "allowed" the Japanese to bomb Midway is less than entirely accurate.

Based upon coded radio intercepts broken by the US Navy, it is clear that the US was aware of the Japanese effort to attack. This foreknowledge is evidenced by the Navy's effort to follow a Japanese diversionary force part-way to the Aleutians to make the Japanese believe that our ships intended to thwart that effort. Shortly after taking up the hunt and trailing those vessels, however, the US warships turned and headed to Midway. Upon their arrival, the US ships "hid" behind Midway and waited for the Japanese attack. Then, as the Japanese began refueling and rearming their planes, the US launched a bombing attack against the Japanese carriers. The attack resulted in the loss of four Japanese carriers to the US loss of only one. The battle shifted the balance of power in the Pacific to a more level playing field and, some say, was the pivotal moment in the Pacific theater of WWII.

I agree that the US got lucky that day and found success in making some calculated risks. I also agree that, ultimately, the battle proved to be a demonstration of the determination, training and luck of the American forces. Part of the success of that battle, however, was the American determination to not attempt to stop the initial bombing runs of the Japanese; a battle they would have surely lost. Instead, US forces lay in wait until those planes returned so that the decks of the Japanese carriers would be loaded with fuel and ordinance.

However distasteful it may sound, it is clear that the lives lost during the initial Japanese bombing runs were part of a calculated strategy. The strategy worked and the plan was deemed to be a success, but that does not mitigate the lives lost that day. Anyway you slice it, those people were "sacrificed" for a greater strategic goal.

Now we could spend days arguing the philisophical merits of the contention that the ends justify the means. We could also battle it out over whether the strategy employed that day was the correct one. All I am saying is that at times in human history decisions have been made which effectively lead to the loss of life for a greater good. What I am arguing is that absolutely no bad can come from questioning those decisions regardless as to their outcome. Nor will the human race find itself weaker for the effort. To simply say that the outcome of a situation justifies the tactics used to get there is horribly fatalistic.

So, congratulations to the courageous sailors of the US Navy for their victory that day! But to those who died in the initial Japanese bombing run and their families, my condolences go out. I appreciate the sacrifice everyone made that day, but I will still seek to uncover and even undermine efforts to willingly sacrifice human life for a "greater good." Beyond that, the Battle of Midway was not just a turning point in WWII, but a turning point for all Americans. On that day it became clear that, under certain circumstances, our fellow citizens demonstrated a willingness (likely a hesitant willingness) to sacrifice the lives of their countrymen for a strategic purpose.

Though I believe the foes of WWII to be formidable and determined, I suspect that those we face on the battlefields of the War on Terror are less lethal than those tasked with protecting us from them. WWI was a war. WWII was a war. Vietnam, Korea, 1812...all real wars. A "War on ___" is an excuse to change the balance of power and to distract the popuation from the enemy within. (fill in the blank, Drugs, Poverty, Terrorism) None of these "Wars on ____" are ever supposed to end as they are not fought to kill, debilitate, or even weaken an enemy. The drug trade has not ever slowed and street prices stay high while the War on Drugs is on. The disparity of wealth has not abated, but has been enhanced by the War on Poverty. Terrorism and international hatred for US policies flourish under the War on Terror.

What I fear is that the strategic, calculating minds who have led our nation to victory on battlefields and in marketplaces are now manufacturing conflicts to ensure job security and economic prosperity. Those minds have already shown that they are willing to sacrifice the lives of soldiers and civilians for strategic purpose and, at times, I understand the need for such sacrifices. The world becomes a very dangerous place, however, when that willingness to sacrifice melds with a nebulous conflict and a manufactured enemy.

I'm back with another installment in Look Around...this time with a bit of a call-to-arms surrounding some recent dodging and misdirection.

As many of you are aware, we have been fortunate to host Paul "Dave" Gaubatz in an exclusive interview on our humble site and have even seen Mr. Gaubatz join the forum as a member. For those of you not up to date on this story, you can follow along here.

Soon ATS will offer a summary thread of this interview and the direction the discussion has taken and I will return to add a link to it when it is available.

All is not well in the world of spin, counter-spin, obfuscation and ruse, however.

It seems that in an effort to deflect some of the impact of Mr. Gaubatz's warnings, FoxNews has assisted in facilitating yet another media distraction with their news release yesterday surrounding Hundreds of WMD's Found in Iraq. Against the context of our interview with Mr. Gaubatz, it is highly suspicious that the network to break the story was FoxNews and the Senator who requested the declassification of "key points" from a National Ground Intelligence Center report is one oft maligned Republican, Rick Santorum.

Additionally, it seems that Mr. Gaubatz has stepped up his assault on those who wish to deflect attention from his mission this morning and those who seek to bury the story are not running with his information, but instead are offering up a Breaking News story about General George Casey declaring that we may reduce troop levels in Iraq by 6,000-10,000 troops by the end of the year. I think we can all agree that getting our men and women back from Iraq is a good thing. I think we can all also agree that of the nearly 130,000 troops currently in theater there, even 10,000 is a nominal amount and not truly indicative of a real effort to withdraw.

So again I ask the vigilant community of ATS to look around. Hunt for the story behind the BREAKING NEWS. Look for the strings on the marionettes and pull back the curtains.

Strange days have found us
Strange days have tracked us down
Theyre going to destroy
Our casual joys
We shall go on playing
Or find a new town
-The Doors

Originally posted by Number23
So when the attack or dollar collapse or alien invasion or what ever crazy thing you dreamt up, doesn’t happen, tomorrow, next week, the 19th, or next year, will any of you tin-foil types even pause a MOMENT to consider that you might just be wrong?

They will never admit they're wrong.

Finding out something like 9/11 was really a terrorist attack would be devestating to them. (Why do you think they never discuss the terrorists and their plannings?)

You conspiracy types remind me of Ptolemaic astronomers, who had to construct ever more complicate model of the universe so that it would be consistent with their observations. You begin with the conclusion and then construct the explination.

You hit the nail on the head.

Say (God forbid) another attack happens here. Instead of starting with a blank slate and researching who or what was behind they attack, they already have the mindset that the Government is behind everything. So they twist and manipulate what they find to fit their belief that the gov was behind the attack even though the gov may not have had anything to do with it.

ThatsJustWierd,

Thanks for your response, but I think that you and Number 23 are missing the point. This thread is not about predicting the next terrorist attack, or catastrophic event. I hate that stuff. Only those who carry out the attacks have any idea as to when they might occur as they plan their moves toward the greatest chance of success not numerological or cosmic happenstance.

This thread is about realizing that, often times, a highly coordinated effort is undergone to steer the media, public opinion and focus away from real and damaging issues. Don't believe me? Catch a Daily Show montage of talking heads repeating the same two sentence talking points (they've done more than one) and you'll get a feel for what I'm talking about.

And, if you don't like noodling on conspiracy, obfuscation and ruse, I am confused as to what value you find in visiting ATS. I appreciate a counter-point as much as anyone, but it seems your sole goal here is to find discussions of conspiracy and strike them down with counter-points.

I'll admit that as conspiracists, we're probably wrong more than we're right, but to say that everything is EXACTLY AS IT APPEARS dismisses historical evidence of conspiracy from the oddities of the JFK assassination, to the Reichstag fire, to the Iran Contra scandal.

These things are real, there are some folks who are waging an active war on information and engaging in spin doctoring to the highest degree. Some are conspirators and some are conspiracists, but to deny that fact flies in the face of ATS's central theme of Deny Ignorance.

Originally posted by chaosrain
ThatsJustWierd,

Thanks for your response, but I think that you and Number 23 are missing the point. This thread is not about predicting the next terrorist attack, or catastrophic event. I hate that stuff. Only those who carry out the attacks have any idea as to when they might occur as they plan their moves toward the greatest chance of success not numerological or cosmic happenstance.

I know and agree. My post wasn't about prediciting the next event

This thread is about realizing that, often times, a highly coordinated effort is undergone to steer the media, public opinion and focus away from real and damaging issues. Don't believe me? Catch a Daily Show montage of talking heads repeating the same two sentence talking points (they've done more than one) and you'll get a feel for what I'm talking about.

Again, I agree with this point. My point was just that, that doesn't happen everytime. Sometimes things really do happen. This is a huge world, and unpredictable world, with over 6 billion people on it. Each person with their own beliefs, traditions, etc. Stuff is GOING to happen. Just because something happens doesn't mean you automatically look to place the blame at one source. No one is that powerful.

, if you don't like noodling on conspiracy, obfuscation and ruse, I am confused as to what value you find in visiting ATS. I appreciate a counter-point as much as anyone, but it seems your sole goal here is to find discussions of conspiracy and strike them down with counter-points.

Are you kidding? I love conpiricies. I just like it better when people use common sense and not believe everything they read or hear. I like it when people present their evidence instead of just saying something and hoping people would take their word for it. I like it when that evidence is at least somewhat credible. If it's not of course I'm going to say something. Deny Ignoance is the theme of this site.