I am someone who has never been inclined to believe John Titor as anything other than a good hoax. However, when reading one of Assassin's posts, I
saw something that is really rather spooky.
While I'm inclined to continue to believe that the "Titor" author was very good, I now have a new found respect for the level of detail used in his
writing. Let me explain:
Assassin presented the following Titor quote:
Originally posted by Assassin
Does the current relationship between Arabs and Jews have anything to do with the coming war?
...Wavering western support for Israel is what gives Israel's neighbors the confidence to attack. The last resort for a defensive Israel and its
offensive Arab neighbors is to use weapons of mass destruction. In the grand scheme of things, the war in the Middle East is a part of what's
to come, not the cause.
What struck me was that JT used the phrase
"weapons of mass destruction" at a time when that phrase wasn't really a part of the common
consciousness. I find that fascinating!
JT's use of the phrase, I believe, occurred in a post dated December 13, 2000 12:44.
www.johntitor.com...
According to this, the phrase really didn't become common place until after the invasion of Iraq. JT uses it nearly a full two years earlier.
Weapon of Mass Destruction
This term for a nuclear, biological, or chemical weapon is older than you might think. It actually dates to 1937, before the existence of nuclear or
biological weapons. It was first used by the London Times on 28 December of that year, "Who can think without horror of what another widespread war
would mean, waged as it would be with all the new weapons of mass destruction?" The original reference is to aerial bombing of cities, which had
become a reality that year in the Spanish Civil War, chemicals, and other modern weaponry.
In the 1960s, the term weapons of mass destruction became a jargon term of the arms control community. Throughout the rest of the 20th century, the
term pretty much remained an arms control jargon term, until 2002 when events in Iraq brought the term into the public eye.
www.wordorigins.org...
This obviously "proves" nothing. However, at a minimum, JT was a skilled hoaxer to have selected such an important phrase in advance of its
widespread public acceptance and use. Beyond the minimum, if JT is real, then use of the phrase would have been as natural to him as it is now for all
of us....
Food for thought....
[edit on 5-11-2004 by loam]