War on words deception

July 23 2003

A recently published book looking at a shadowy outfit with close CIA links suggests truth is a continuing casualty of wars, including Iraq, writes Tony Stephens.

John Rendon, an adviser to the United States National Security Council and contracted to the Central Intelligence Agency, flew to Australia in April to attend the funeral for the Australian TV cameraman Paul Moran, who had been killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq.

Rendon heads the public relations Rendon Group, whose clients include the Pentagon and the CIA. He calls himself an "information warrior and a perception manager".

It was Rendon who provided the US flags for hundreds of Kuwaitis to wave when American troops rolled into Kuwait City at the end of the first Gulf War, signalling to the world that the Americans were liberating heroes.

And when President George Bush snr ordered the CIA in 1991 to run a covert operation to unseat Saddam Hussein, the CIA hired Rendon to organise anti-Saddam propaganda inside Iraq.

All these links are made clear in a book published in the US and Australia this week. Weapons of Mass Deception, by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, is subtitled "The uses of propaganda in Bush's war on Iraq". Stauber directs the Centre for Media and Democracy and the pair won the 2001 George Orwell Award for exposing the use of doublespeak in American life.


The book describes how Rendon helped opposition groups 11 years ago to form the Iraqi National Congress, headed by Ahmed Chalabi. Chalabi, who has been convicted in Jordan of fraud and embezzlement, remains the US choice to head a new Iraqi administration.

Chalabi's fortunes improved after the formation in 1997 of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). Its founder was William Kristol, who edited the political affairs magazine The Weekly Standard, underwritten by Rupert Murdoch. Members included Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and Pentagon adviser Richard Perle. PNAC lobbied for "regime change" in Iraq.

The post-September 11 "war on terror" brought new work for Rendon, in Afghanistan for a start. His presence at Moran's funeral in Adelaide hinted at his firm's activities in Iraq.

Colin James wrote in The Advertiser, Adelaide, of "Moran's Secret Crusade Against the Tyranny of Saddam". James quoted "a close friend, Rob Buchan" saying that Rendon's presence indicated the regard in which Moran was held in US political circles, including Congress.

Two days before Saddam's regime crumbled in Baghdad, The New York Times reported that the Iraqi National Congress, the organisation the Rendon Group had named and packaged, had returned to the country.

Wolfowitz and Perle backed the Chalabi view that any opposition to liberation/invasion would vanish quickly with Saddam's fall. Instead, Iraq now borders on guerilla war.

Rampton and Stauber have no way of knowing whether any propaganda outfit was behind the memorable toppling of Saddam's statue in Baghdad's Firdos Square.

They question, however, headlines such as "Jubilant Iraqis Swarm the Streets of Capital". A Reuters photograph taken with a long lens showed the square to be nearly empty, while 20,000 Shi'ites in Nasiriyah rallied against the coalition presence

...

Copyright © 2003. The Sydney Morning Herald.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/22/1058853076257.html

Steel Not Seen As Factor in WTC Collapse

By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) -- Early tests on steel beams from the World Trade Center show they generally met or were stronger than design requirements, ruling them out as a contributing cause of the collapse of the towers, federal investigators said Wednesday.

Engineers with the National Institute of Standards and Technology have conducted preliminary tests on some of the 236 pieces of steel from the wreckage, said Frank Gayle, who is leading NIST's review of the steel.

The tests found that, typical for construction steel used in the 1960s when the World Trade Center was erected, the steel beams exceeded requirements to bear 36,000 pounds per square inch. Often they were capable of bearing around 42,000 pounds per square inch.

"What that is showing us is that the steel that was applied certainly met the specifications, but was also significantly higher in some instances," lead investigator Shyam Sunder said.

A group of victims' families, the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, had complained that a majority of the beams from the site were quickly shipped off and reprocessed into new steel before it could be tested.



Sunder cautioned the NIST's results were preliminary, but said if those findings continue in further testing, that would rule out weak steel as a contributing factor in the collapse.

...

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ATTACKS_COLLAPSE?SITE=WIMIL&SECTION=HOME

IAEA conference to discuss Israeli nukes for first time

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, August 28, 2003

LONDON — The International Atomic Energy Agency has decided to discuss Israeli nuclear capabilities in its next major conference.

Diplomatic sources said the IAEA has placed on the agenda of its General Conference and Regular Session the subject of "Israeli Nuclear Capabilities and Threats." The subject will be discussed at the conference in Vienna in September.

The sources said this is the first time in decades that the IAEA has placed Israel's nuclear programs on the agenda of its general conference.
Health insurance for the self-employed: Special offer
The conference has been planned from Sept. 15 to Sept. 19, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the subject was placed at the behest of Arab and Islamic states.

The proposal to discuss Israel's nuclear programs came from the Arab League, the diplomats said. Oman was said to have submitted the request.

The IAEA has reserved the conference to also discuss Iran's nuclear program and U.S. charges that Teheran is developing nuclear weapons. In response, Iran and Arab states have criticized the agency for failing to address Israel's purported nuclear arsenal.

In a recent meeting, the Arab League has asserted that Israel has stockpiled up to 300 nuclear warheads. The league said Israel now has the capability of producing hydrogen bombs.

The sources said the Arab League plans to distribute a study on Israel's nuclear programs to participants at the IAEA conference. The league will also demand that Israel sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

http://216.26.163.62/2003/me_israel_08_28.html

Halliburton's Deals Greater Than Thought

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 28, 2003; Page A01

Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Cheney, has won contracts worth more than $1.7 billion under Operation Iraqi Freedom and stands to make hundreds of millions more dollars under a no-bid contract awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to newly available documents.

...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56429-2003Aug27.html

Classified Spending On the Rise

Report: Defense to Get $23.2 Billion

By Dan Morgan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 27, 2003; Page A23

"Black," or classified, programs requested in President Bush's 2004 defense budget are at the highest level since 1988, according to a report prepared by the independent Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.


The center concluded that classified spending next fiscal year will reach about $23.2 billion of the Pentagon's total request for procurement and research funding. When adjusted for inflation, that is the largest dollar figure since the peak reached during President Ronald Reagan's defense buildup 16 years ago. The amount in 1988 was $19.7 billion, or $26.7 billion if adjusted for inflation, according to the center.

"It's puzzling. It sets the mind to wondering where the money's going and what sort of politically controversial things the administration is doing because they're not telling anybody," said John E. Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a research group in Alexandria that has been critical of the administration's defense priorities.

Pike said part of the surge in the classified budget probably can be explained by increases for the Central Intelligence Agency's covert action programs, which are central to the war on terrorism. Traditionally, Pike said, much of the funding for the CIA is hidden in Air Force weapons procurement accounts.

...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A50108-2003Aug26?language=printer

Borrowers pile up debt to pay off bills

Press Association
Wednesday August 27, 2003

Nearly one in four people are turning to loans and credit cards just to pay their household bills or meet day-to-day living costs, research said today.

According to accountancy firm KPMG, just over half of the 2,000 people questioned owed up to £10,000, excluding their mortgage, while 16% had accumulated debts of between £10,00 and £40,000.

Fifteen per cent of people said their debts were spiralling out of control or keeping them awake at night, while 45% admitted they regularly failed to check their bank statements and credit card bills.

"These figures do not surprise me. Net pay is falling in relative terms partly due to the increase in national insurance contributions and people are opting for credit and loans to top up their incomes," said KPMG adviser Carolyn Steppler.

"In this low interest rate climate that is a worrying trend, but it could become a huge burden if the economy takes a turn for the worse. Many people may struggle to pay back these loans."

One in seven people said they had taken advantage of credit because they enjoyed spending, while 16% had done so to buy a car and 8% had used a credit card or loan to pay for a holiday.

Around 84% of those questioned said they hoped to pay off their debts within five years, with 22% saying they would work overtime, or try to get a new job or a promotion to pay them off.

Just under one in 10 said they would consolidate their debt into one loan, while 7% planned to sell their home or remortgage it to clear their other borrowings.

More than a third of people said they either had no idea or only a rough idea how much interest they were paying on their debt, while 94% said they thought there should be some form of financial education on the national curriculum.

http://money.guardian.co.uk/creditanddebt/debt/story/0,1456,1030155,00.html

TSOG



The Thing That Ate the Constitution
Robert Anton Wilson

WHAT IS TSOG? (And how the hell is it pronounced?) It's the "Tsarist Occupational Government", those wonderful folks in Washington B.C. (oops, sorry, that's D.C.) who, OF COURSE, always have your best interest at heart. Of course. (And, oh, it's pronounced like 'zog'.)

TSOG is Bob's most powerful political statement to date. What is happening RIGHT NOW to human freedom? What in the world is the U.S. doing with a drug TSAR(!) who routinely and gleefully destroys millions of lives and bullies the governments of the rest of the world into prosecuting an insane war on [some] drugs? How did a Nazi spy come to have an enormous influence on current U.S. foreign policy? Will the 'war on terrorism' put the last nail in the coffin of YOUR rights? Would Hannibal Lecter make a better president than George W. Bush?

Bob's keen wit skewers those who are forcing us all into slavery, and warns us that there is little time left. How long will it be before Bob's books are banned as 'literary terrorism'?

"The master satirist shines light on the recent parapolitical history of the TSOG---the 'Tsarist Occupation Government'---that now masquerades as the U.S. political and cultural leadership. It's all here with familiar humor and new insight. Like the Id-creature in Forbidden Planet, Wilson's brilliance reveals the outline of the monster right now chomping on America."
--- Kenn Thomas, Steamshovel Press

"I have learned more from him than from any other source. As this book demonstrates, he continues to produce intelligent, cranky, inspired thought."
--- George Carlin

"When it comes to intelligent dissent, Wilson is the motherload. More importantly, he's funnier than a barrel of monkeys reciting the pledge of allegiance on the capital steps."
--- RU Sirius, Editor, Mondo 2000

"TSOG is a five-alarm wake-up call. Read this book---quickly---before it's outlawed, and all your precious constitutional rights have been gobbled away."
--- David Jay Brown, author of Brainchild and Virus

ISBN 1-56184-169-2 192 pages $16.95

http://www.newfalcon.com/books/tsog.htm

Remember how soon after those attacks that US authorities were very sure that Bin Laden was behind the events of the 11th September? The links were established according to authorities at the time because of links between those alleged to have been the hijackers of those 4 flights, and Bin Ladens Al Qaeda group, but we must be aware that some of those alleged to have been involved in hijacking those 4 flights have turned up alive elsewhere, and yet all the original list of names released by authorities, together with all their photos still appear on the FBI website!

http://geocities.com/justicepeacedemocracy/Spotlight.html

;)

Report: U.S suspects Iraqi WMD in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, August 26, 2003

U.S. intelligence suspects Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have finally been located.

Unfortunately, getting to them will be nearly impossible for the United States and its allies, because the containers with the strategic materials are not in Iraq.

Instead they are located in Lebanon's heavily-fortified Bekaa Valley, swarming with Iranian and Syrian forces, and Hizbullah and ex-Iraqi agents, Geostrategy-Direct.com will report in Wednesday's new weekly edition.

U.S. intelligence first identified a stream of tractor-trailer trucks moving from Iraq to Syria to Lebaon in January 2003. The significance of this sighting did not register on the CIA at the time.

U.S. intelligence sources believe the area contains extended-range Scud-based missiles and parts for chemical and biological warheads.


Mutually-lucrative Iraqi-Syrian arms transactions are nothing new. Firas Tlas, son of Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas, has been the key to Syria's rogue alliance with Iraq. He and Assad made hundreds of millions of dollars selling weapons, oil and drugs to and from Iraq, according to the May 13, 2003 edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com.

The CIA now believes a multi-million dollar deal between Iraq and Syria provided for the hiding and safekeeping of Saddam's strategic weapons.

Not surprisingly, U.S. inquiries in Beirut and Syria are being met with little substantive response, U.S. officials said.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_1.html

Bush, Speaking to Veterans, Says Iraq May Not Be Last Strike

By DAVID STOUT

ASHINGTON, Aug. 26 - President Bush defended his policy on Iraq today, declaring that the United States had struck a blow against terrorism in overthrowing the government of Saddam Hussein. And Mr. Bush said the United States might carry out other pre-emptive strikes.

``No nation can be neutral in the struggle between civilization and chaos,'' Mr. Bush told members of the American Legion gathered in St. Louis for the group's convention.


``We've adopted a new strategy for a new kind of war,'' Mr. Bush said, to loud applause. ``We will not wait for known enemies to strike us again. We will strike them in their camps or caves or wherever they hide, before they hit more of our cities and kill more of our citizens.''

``We will do everything in our power to deny terrorists weapons of mass destruction before they can commit murder on an unimaginable scale,'' Mr. Bush said. ``The security of this nation, and our friends, requires decisive action, and with a broad coalition, we're taking that action around the globe. We are on the offensive against terror, and we will stay on the offensive against terror.''

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/26/politics/26CND-BUSH.html?ex=1062561600&en=a67d20396725c83f&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

Al Qaeda Web Site Claims U.N. Bombing in Baghdad

Reuters
Monday, August 25, 2003; 1:28 PM

By Amil Khan

CAIRO (Reuters) - A statement posted on the Internet in the name of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network has claimed responsibility for an attack on the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad last week that killed 23 people, including the head of mission.


It was posted in Arabic late Sunday on the discussion Web site www.myislah.org and dated Aug. 19, the day of the attack on the U.N. headquarters.

The statement's authenticity could not be verified. On Thursday, an Arabic television channel reported a previously unknown Iraqi group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Written in heavily symbolic and oblique language, the statement was signed by Brigades of Abu Hafs al-Masri and followed by the words al Qaeda in parentheses.

It referred to a previous warning issued on August 15 in which it said it would "exhaust and confuse" America and its "henchmen."

"We meant that we would carry out such a lethal and surprising attack that the enemy will not know where, when and how we will strike," the statement said.

...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42490-2003Aug25.html

*******************

The week before 9-11, the FBI shut down dozens of Arab web sites without explanation. But the "official (Honest) Al Qaeda" web site remains up and running? UPDATE: A quick search shows that the name servers for this supposed Al Qaida web site are from a company in Houston, Texas.

New Iraq may recognize Israel, bring financial relief

DOUGLAS DAVIS

Jerusalem Post Service

JERUSALEM -- A peace treaty with Israel will be "top of the agenda" for a new Iraqi government, according to the New York Observer newpaper.

Quoting State Department sources, the paper said Iraqi National Congress head Ahmed Chalabi, who is favored by the Pentagon to lead a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, "is known to have discussed Iraq's recognition of the state of Israel."

U.S. intelligence sources also told the newspaper that Chalabi and other senior INC figures are understood to be involved in talks with Washington and Jerusalem over the construction of an oil pipeline from Mosul to a terminal in Haifa.

A pipeline that linked Mosul and Haifa during the British Mandate has been inactive since the establishment of Israel in 1948, when the pipeline was redirected to Syria.

The paper noted that the resuscitation of the old pipeline would transform economic power in the region, bringing revenue to Iraq, cutting out Syria, solving Israel's energy needs, and reducing domestic energy costs by more than 25 percent. It would also create an easily accessible source of oil for the United States.

A former senior CIA official was quoted as saying that "it has long been a dream of a powerful section of the people now driving this administration and the war in Iraq to safeguard Israel's energy supply as well as that of the United States.

"The Haifa pipeline was something that existed, was resurrected as a dream, and is now a viable project, albeit with a lot of building to do."

...

http://www.jewishsf.com/bk030425/i20a.shtml

...

We are informed, in Victor Ostrovsky's next book "The Other Side of Deception," that the Mossad was the controlling force responsible for the American action against both Libya and Iraq. It is a remarkable story of how American sentiment was manipulated by the subterfuges of a foreign country, the outcome of which could only entail the risking of American lives (Iraq: at least 600 dead) and the enmity of the Arab world --the very people who supply us with oil.

The Mossad placed a transmitter on Libyan soil which made it appear that Libya was sending terrorist orders to its various embassies, which the gullible Americans decoded and considered to be real, even though they failed to predict the attack on Le Discotheque in West Germany which --ironically-- was the very "provocation" which was used to justify the strike.

Only the French, whose secret service is more astute at recognizing the hand of Mossad, were not fooled. And this was the reason why the French did not allow the United States to use their airspace for what was, in essence, an aggressive act against an innocent party --An act which resulted in the death of three Americans and forty Libyan civilians, including Qadhafi's adopted daughter.

...

http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?id=1032

Feds sued over anthrax documents

Legal group wonders why White House took Cipro before attacks

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?article_id=27888

Biometric passport 'back door to ID cards'

By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor
(Filed: 28/08/2003)

David Blunkett was accused yesterday of using a pilot scheme for a new biometric passport as a test run for a national identity card. Civil liberties campaigners said the Home Secretary was disguising his true purposes in a backdoor attempt to gauge public reaction to ID cards.

Over the next few years, passports are to be adapted to resemble credit cards containing biometric information, such as iris patterns or fingerprints.

Trials of the technology required are to be carried out in an unidentified small market town with a population of about 10,000. The technology is the same as that required for an ID card, which ministers also want to contain biometric details.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/08/28/ncard28.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/08/28/ixhome.html

CNN's portrayal of Bush in Portland

http://www.underreported.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1117&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Biometric ID soon to be reality

NEW YORK (AP) -- Biometric technology that scans faces, fingerprints or other physical characteristics to confirm people's identities is about to get its biggest, most public test: at U.S. border checkpoints.

Yet significant questions loom about whether the U.S. and foreign governments can meet an Oct. 26, 2004, deadline set by Congress for upgrading passports and visas to include biometrics.

"This is the mother of all projects -- there's no question about it," said Joseph Atick, chief of Identix Corp., a maker of biometric systems.

...

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/08/26/biz.trav.biometric.id.ap/

Extra Eye in the Classroom Strikes Conservative Group as 'Orwellian'

By Nathan C. Masters
CNSNews.com Correspondent
August 25, 2003

(CNSNews.com) - Some American schoolchildren who return to class Monday may have to adjust to more than just new teachers and classmates. They will find new surveillance video cameras in their classrooms - the latest trend allowing school administrators more ability to keep an eye on unruly kids.

But while one school official hailed the effectiveness of the cameras, a conservative group in Washington, D.C., criticized their use as "Orwellian."

The Biloxi, Miss., school district became one of the nation's first to use the cameras when they were installed in all public school classrooms last year.

"I think it basically helps honest people be a little more honest...and it makes sure that we can provide as safe an environment as we can," said Biloxi Public Schools Superintendent Larry Drawdy.

Drawdy added that the cameras, which he touted as "an additional pair of eyes" for school administrators, have not generated any complaints.

"They've been well received by our community; the teachers and staff have reported no problems with them, and students are kind of indifferent to them," he said.

...

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200308\NAT20030825a.html

Číst na veřejnosti nevhodné věci může mít následky

FBI se dívá...

23.8.2003
Marc Schultz

Je tady FBI," sdělila mi do telefonu matka. Okamžitě jsem si dokázal představit svou matku jak hovoří otočena zády ke dvěma postavám v černých oblecích a černými brýlemi, a jak její ruka zakrývá mluvítko docela jako Grace Kelly ve filmu Dial M for Murder. To musí být vtip, myslím si. Ale není to vtip. Matka takhle nežertuje.

"Kdo?", ptám se.

"Dva agenti FBI. Říkají, že se nemáš čeho bát. Jen by si rádi s tebou pohovořili. Chtěli by tě navštívit rovnou v obchodě."

Pracuji v malém, nezávislém obchodě s knihami, a protože je právě líné čtvrteční odpoledne, kdy se zákazníci nehrnou, rychle se rozhoduji. "Jistě." Asi někdo, koho znám, dostal nějakou zakázku pro státní sektor, myslím si. Neříkal nedávno kolega konzultant něco o nějaké vládní zakázce? Jistě, jde jen o formalitu, uklidňuji sám sebe. Prostě taková lustrace. Chtějí vědět názor jeho známých... To je normální, ne? Malinko se před svými spolupracovníky vytáhnu, ať je polekám.

"To byla matka," říkám nahlas. "Jde po mně FBI." Smějí se tomu jako dobrému vtipu. Ale úsměv jim ztuhne na tvářích, když se ve dveřích opravdu objeví FBI. Nevypadají jako vrahouni, jak jsem čekal. Jsou oblečeni docela neformálně, hovoří nenuceně, ale jsou to chlapi jak hory. Ten, co je mi blíže, může mít přes dva metry, jeho partner má volnou košili a kalhoty, ale pod nimi se rýsuje postava buldoka.

"Vy jste Marc Schultz?", ptá se mě ten vyšší. Vyloví odznak a představí se jako zvláštní agent Clay Trippi. Poté, co mne ujistí, že "nejdou po mně", se ptá, zda je tady někde nějaké klidné místo, kde bychom si mohli popovídat. Vedu je dozadu, kde improvizujeme prostor sestavením tří židlí ke stolu. Všichni usedáme. Znovu mne uklidňují, že nic proti mně nemají.

Pak agent Trippi položí otázku: "Máte černého Nissana Altimu?" Uvědomuji si, že tahle schůzka není o kolegovi. Přes jejich ujištění a přes vědomí, že jsem nespáchal žádný federální zločin (pokud vím), se mi malinko roztřesou kolena.

Ptají se mě, zda jsem někam jel v sobotu. Jsem jsem si téměř jistý že ano. Ptají se, kam a já na okamžik lovím v paměti. Pokouším se o nepříliš podařený vtip, jak všechny dny pro nezaměstnaného splývají. Zdvořile se usmějí. Pracoval jsem v sobotu? Myslím, že ano.

"Byl jste v palubním baru Caribou Coffee při přepravě na pevninu?", ptá se agent Trippi. Tam si obvykle dávám cestou do práce kávu, takže odpovídám ano, zřejmě ano. A hned nato si vzpomínám: sobota - to byl den, kdy se začal prodávat Harry Potter. Otevírali jsme dříve, už v 8:30.

Takže zcela jistě jsem tu sobotu opravdu pil kafe se smetanou v Caribou Coffee. Tahle informace mé agenty zjevně potěšila.

"Všiml jste si v tu sobotu něčeho neobvyklého? Něčeho, o čem byste se snad měl zmínit?" Je to dobré, myslím si. Jdou po nějakém divném chlápkovi, ne po mně. Usilovně se snažím vybavit si, zda to bylo v sobotu, kdy jsem viděl muže na skvělém invalidním vozíku, který mi připomněl Jamese Bonda. Ale ne, to bylo v pondělí.

Další otázka, zda jsem s sebou něco měl, když jsem to kafe pil, nás přivádí zpátky k mé osobě.

Myšlenky se mi roztočily na plné obrátky. Přemýšlím: nůž? bombu? narkotika? Ale ne, nic z toho nevlastním. "Sluneční brýle," odpovídám. "Možná mobil."

Ne, to není to, co chtějí slyšet. Jsem teď už viditelně nervózní. Přemýšlím, jak se jim asi jevím: průměrný muž mezi dvaceti a třiceti, nenáročný prodavač. Co bych tak mohl s sebou mít?

Promluvil ten druhý: "Něco ke čtení?" Myslím, že ne. Nato se Trippi rozhodl ukázat barvu: "Tak se podívejte, Marcu. Někdo v tom coffee shopu viděl, že čtete. A to, co jste četl, se mu zdálo natolik podezřelé, že nás uvědomil. A proto jsme teď tady. Jak už jsem řekl, nemusíte se bát, nic proti vám nemáme. Jen bychom se rádi dostali k věci. Potřebujeme vědět, co a jak. Pokud to nepůjde snadno, možná byste mohl mít nějaké problémy. A já bych vám nerad ublížil."

Nechceš mi ublížit? Copak mi FBI zrovna teď nevyhrožuje? Zmatení, šok a panika v mé hlavě způsobily, že jsem nebyl schopen dostat ze sebe slovo. Opravdu jsem něco četl? Něco, co by mě mohlo přivést do problémů?

Znovu promluvil ten druhý: "Možná něco vytištěného na počítačové tiskárně?"

A v té chvíli se mi rozsvítilo. Četl jsem. Byl to článek, který otec našel na Internetu a zdál se mu natolik zajímavý, že jej pro mne vytiskl. Vybavuji si teď jasně, že jsem ten text měl s sebou a zběžně jsem v něm četl, čekaje ve frontě na kávu a i později, když jsem seděl u stolku. Vzpomínám si, že jsem to pak vzal s sebou do obchodu a dočetl ještě před otevřením. Nemohu si vzpomenout, o čem ten článek byl, ale jsem si jistý, že to byl nějaký levicový redaktor. Pro tenhle druh autorů nejsem dobrá kořist. Nedaří se jim přesvědčit mě o své pravdě a vybudit patřičnou dávku hněvu a pobouření nad stavem naší země.

Říkám jim vše po pravdě, ale nestačí to. Chtějí titul, jméno autora a nějaký stručný obsah, ale v tom jim nemohu pomoci. Čtu mnoho věcí.

"Máte ještě ten článek?" "Myslím že ne, ale podívám se za pult." Nic tam není. V tom mne napadne spásná myšlenka: zavolám otci do práce, snad si vzpomene. Když mu vysvětlím, že mne tady vyslýchá FBI, je zmrazený hrůzou a není schopen vypravit ze sebe větu.

"FBI?", ptá se pořád dokola. Konečně se mi podaří ukončit hovor. Možná je ten článek v ještě mém autě. Oba mě následují na parkoviště. Trippi klade otázku, zda je ve voze něco, o čem by snad měli vědět.

"Zbraně? Drogy? Nic se vám nestane, když nám to povíte předem. Ale jestli teď řeknete, že tam nic není a my něco najdeme, tak počítejte s potížemi." Ujišťuji ho, že nic ve voze nemám a vybavuje se mi, že stejná věta zazněla ve hře Rudyho Raye Moore Dolemite: "Nic ve voze nemám, pane."

Výslech a nervozita z otázek způsobily, že pociťuji slabé závratě. Téměř vybuchnu hysterickým smíchem, když mě vyzývají, abych otevřel kufr.

Samozřejmě že nic ve voze nemám. Zatímco se prohrabuji obsahem kufru, snažím se vzpomenout si, o čem ten článek byl. "Bylo to o tom, co všechno se vědělo, a kdy se to vědělo před začátkem války s Irákem", říkám. Trippi přikyvuje, ale spokojený není. Vytahuji nějaké papíry z univerzity v Georgii, kde bych měl začít studovat. Ptají se mě, co chci studovat.

"Žurnalistiku," odpovídám. A jak se znovu nořím do vnitřku vozu, zaslechnu Trippiho, jak říká kolegovi: "Chystá se studovat novinařinu na UGA (Univerzita v Georgii)." Ale říká to tak, že si nejsem jistý, zda to není přitěžující okolnost.

Zpátky v obchodě. Trippi vytahuje vizitku. Mám mu zavolat, vzpomenu-li si. Poté, co oba odejdou, volám otci. Možná se už uklidnil a vzpomene si. Oba si pracně vybavujeme detaily o článku a nakonec se nám podaří dát dohromady nejen názve článku, ale i autora. Byl to Weapons of Mass Stupidity, autorem byl Hal Crowther, a vyšlo to na Weekly planet, což je nezávislý tisk tady na Tampě. Následně se mi zpětně vybavuje i kousavý tón, jakým je článek napsán. Autor kritizuje korporační zájmy, které zničily nezávislé sdělovací prostředky v Americe, zaměřuje se především na Fox News a Ruperta Murdocha. Bylo to napsáno pěkně ostře a co věta, to zásah do černého. Přesně vystihl situaci v americké žurnalistice v období po 9/11. Následně jsem zavolal na číslo z vizitky a zanechal na záznamníku zprávu. Uvedl jsem jméno autora, název článku a odkaz na původní zdroj. Připojil jsem doušku, ať mi agent Trippi zavolá, bude-li mít další otázky.

Popravdě řečeno, byl bych docela rád, kdyby zavolal. Když pro nic jiného, tedy alespoň proto, abych se ho zeptal, proč někomu připadá článek o kritice médií podezřelý. Skutečným patriotům možná stačí jen vidět člověka číst na veřejnosti - a v jejich hlavách vzklíčí okamžitě podezření.

Craig, kolega z práce, se domnívá, že bychom možná měli být FBI za její ostražitost vděčni. Odporuji mu, že to spíše připomíná dobu temna, když američtí občané považují čtení za hrozbu a upřímně takové prohřešky hlásí federální vládě.

Zvláštní agent Trippi se už neozval. A mluvčí FBI v Atlantě, zvláštní agent Joe Paris, zdůraznil, že určitá vyšetřování FBI jsou důvěrná. Výslech, kterým Marc Schultz prošel, ani nevyvrátil, ani nepotvrdil.

"V této době po útoku z 9/11 je FBI povinná sledovat každou stopu teroristické aktivity," řekl. "Jsou lidé ochotni slevit ze svých práv i když to není pro ně zrovna příjemné? Ale ano... Protože určitý ústupek v tom směru je na druhé straně vyvážen vyšší bezpečností."

Článek Careful: The FB-eye may be watching vyšel 17.7. na serveru

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info

http://www.zvedavec.org/zpravySQL.php?clanek_id=666


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