Ok, so it has been 5 years now since the fanatical Muslim extremists flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. You have seen the images, the still photos, the video footage of the second plane hitting the twin towers, the flames, the smoke and then the collapse of the buildings. These images, what media critic Barrie Zwicker calls "flashbulb moments" have contributed a distorted public view of not only what happened on September 11, 2001, but what the so-called War on Terror has been about over the past 5 years.

Let's revisit the claims made by the government and what the news media has trumpeted about what happened on 9/11. Guys with box cutters took over 4 planes and crashed 3 of them into buildings. The government claims it had no forewarning of these attacks, according to the 9/11 Truth Commission report. They, the terrorists hate us, they hate democracy. End of story. Now much has been written that challenges this, with books, websites and videos that cover everything from the government response time, to the mystery of building 7, the removal of steel beams from the wreckage so that no investigation could take place as to the cause of the building's collapse, etc. What has tended to happen is that these writers and independent investigators have been ignored or marginalized with labels such as "conspiracy theorists" or members of the "lunatic fringe." Books like The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions, Crossing the Rubicon, The War on Truth: 9/11, Disinformation, and the Anatomy of Terrorism, and Towers of Deception: The Media Cover-up of 9/11 have all looked at these issues but you won't find them being reviewed by the New York Review of Books any time soon.

What the public has been getting from corporate media is exactly what the government says. The short version of this is that there are terrorists that hate us and who will attack us at any cost, so we are now involved in a global war on terror. In many ways the global war on terror has just replaced the global war on communism that some of you might remember. If anything bad happened in the world the US would just blame it on the Soviets or communism. If the US wanted to invade another country, like Grenada in 1983 or use the CIA to overthrow another government, like Chile in 1973, we were told it was to stop communism. In fact, Henry Kissinger, as Sec. of the State during the CIA coup in Chile, said this "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist because of the irresponsibility of its own people." Kissinger, by the way, will be in Grand Rapids on October 24. If you want to find out what local actions are planned for this war criminal just go to www.mediamouse.org.

The failure of the national media in the US to challenge, question or verify the claims made by the government on the so-called war on terrorism is amazing. Did the public ever get any hard evidence that Osama bin Laden was responsible for 9/11? Was the US bombing, invasion and ongoing occupation of Afghanistan substantiated in the US media? Hell, do we ever hear about the US military occupation of Afghanistan? And of course it is never called an occupation by the US media. What you do here them call the invasion/occupation of Afghanistan is exactly what the US military calls it, Operation Infinite Justice. That goes along quite well with Operation Iraqi Liberation, Operation Just Cause (in Panama in 1990), and Operation PBSUCCESS (in Guatemala 1954).

The government's use of language and the media repetition of it is astounding. It is an amazing test case of propaganda. The government doesn't tell the media what to print or broadcast, but the fact that the media ends up being a stenographer for government policy is incredible. Look at the lead up to the US invasion in Iraq. The public was told over and over again that the US had to invade for reasons of national security. Colin Powell, when he spoke to the UN in February of 2003 had all kinds of maps and documents to prove that Iraq had WMDs. Did the news media scrutinize these claims? Hell no, they just kept repeating them over and over until people believed it. The rest of the story we now know.

Then there was the claim that Iraq and Saddam had something to do with 9/11. Another lie, but many people believed it because the Bush administration keeps saying it and the media doesn't challenge it. The current justification for staying in Iraq is to prevent Iraq from becoming the base camp for terrorists. If the news media asks you a question and you are not sure how to answer it, just say it's to stop the terrorists. You need an ID to buy a cell phone, because we have to protect ourselves from the terrorists.
In a March 20, 2006 in Cleveland Bush used the word terror 54 times in one speech, according to Guardian reporter Sidney Blumenthal. On Sunday, August 13 the front page headline of the GR Press read "Alleged Terrorists could have used cell phones in plan to target bridge." A few days later the charges were dropped, since it was now discovered that many people buy cell phones in quantity in order to cell them for a higher price and make a profit. Sounds like capitalism to me and that can't be equated with terrorism now can it?

So as the fifth anniversary of 9/11 rolls around don't just accept the government position, nor the media's reporting of that position without asking yourself some questions. When you see a story on Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba or Venezuela think about what language is used when a US government official speaks, or even how the news media frames these stories. See if opposing views are presented and by opposing I don't mean the Democratic Party version of "we'll win the war on terrorism better." Hunt down other sources of news, think for yourself, stay awake, and don't submit.

Jeff Smith does media monitory work in Grand Rapids. Does that make him a terrorist? He does have a beard and doesn't own a car... If you want his e-mail just ask the FBI.