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American Conspiracies

Page 27

by Jesse Ventura


  It’s about time people understand that, like anything in life, there’s more than one side to any story. This book presented an opportunity to tell the other sides to many stories and then say, you be the judge. Look at the big picture over time, and try to do so with clear judgment, without letting your emotions make the determination or your patriotism interfere.

  I consider myself a patriot, loyal to the values that built this country that I served as best I could as a Navy SEAL, a mayor and a governor. But I’m outraged when I hear about people like Van Jones being dismissed from his government position for signing a petition calling for an unbiased investigation into 9/11. What is our country turning into, when you can’t dissent from any official opinion? That’s again why I felt so compelled to write this book, because it’s bigger than even these stories—bigger, in that we’re not allowed to talk about them, or criticize.

  Also, we’ve got to have a more open government. Why can’t those 10,000 documents on Able Danger be released? The old excuse of “national security”? Shouldn’t there be some elected board that would say, “Okay, tell us why this falls under national security and we’ll make the determination whether it truly does, or is this simply a political cover-up?” When the government starts keeping too many secrets for us, that’s a big step on the road to losing more of our liberties.

  I’m sure I’ll be attacked as the messenger disseminating this information. Well, it’s not based on my opinion, folks, it all came from documentation. It was a matter of putting together the pieces that the media no longer pays attention to. So let the powers that be come at me. I’m not backing down. I’ll continue to fight against the “special interests” that have taken a choke-hold on our democracy. If you want good government, you’ve got to have an involved citizenry. You’ve got to have people willing to tell—and hear—the truth, much as this might shatter our illusions and trouble our sleep.

  Do you ever think that maybe our country needs a Truth Commission, to understand the crimes that were committed “in our name” over these recent decades? My hope is that some of you will stand with me in calling for accountability. The only way we can truly move forward is to come to grips with a recent past that’s brought us to the brink of losing it all.

  Maybe we ought to put ourselves in the position of the little Vietnamese farmer who did nothing but raise his rice. They handed him an AK-47 and in came the powerful United States, and we dropped more armaments on Vietnam that we did in World War II. We threw everything we had at this little rice farmer—and we couldn’t beat him, could we? When push came to shove, he outlasted us. Why? Because he had the resolve for freedom. That Vietnamese farmer wanted to self-govern, not be part of colonialism. Maybe we, in the United States, should start viewing our government as colonialists. Now the rest of us, in our own country, are becoming the colony. And somehow, some way, we’ve got to reclaim our nation.

  FURTHER READING

  THE LINCOLN ASSASSINATION

  Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by Edward Steers Jr., The University Press of Kentucky, 2001

  Lincoln and Booth: More Light on the Conspiracy, by H. Donald Winkler, Cumberland House: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003

  FDR AND THE BANKERS

  The Plot to Seize the White House, by Jules Archer, Skyhorse Publishing, 2007 Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Times, by Carroll Quigley, G.S.G. & Associates, 1975

  THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION

  JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, by James W. Douglass, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N.Y., 2008

  Harvey and Lee: How the CIA Framed Oswald, by John Armstrong, Qasar, Ltd., Arlington, Texas, 2003

  Legacy of Secrecy: The Long Shadow of the JFK Assassination, by Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann, Counterpoint: Berkeley, 2008 (Also covers later assassinations of sixties)

  Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, by David Talbot, Free Press, 2007

  The Man Who Knew Too Much, by Dick Russell, Carroll & Graf, revised edition 2003

  On the Trail of the JFK Assassins, by Dick Russell, Skyhorse Publishing, 2008 Not In Your Lifetime, by Anthony Summers, Marlowe & Co., N.Y., 1998 updated edition

  The Assassinations, Ed. by James DiEugenio and Lisa Pease, Feral House, Los Angeles, 2003 (Also covers other assassinations of sixties)

  THE ASSASSINATION OF MALCOLM X

  The Judas Factor: The Plot to Kill Malcolm X, by Karl Evanzz, Thunder’s Mouth Press, N.Y., 1992

  Conspiracys: Unravelling the Assassination of Malcolm X, by Baba Zak A. Kondo, Nubia Press, Washington, D.C., 1993

  THE ASSASSINATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING

  An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King, by William F. Pepper, Verso, London, 2008 updated edition

  Truth at Last: The Untold Story Behind James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., by John Larry Ray and Lyndon Barsten, The Lyons Press, Guilford, Ct., 2008

  The Martin Luther King Assassination: New Revelations on the Conspiracy and Cover-Up, 1968-1991, by Dr. Philip H. Melanson, Shapolsky Publishers, N.Y., 1991 updated version

  THE ROBERT KENNEDY ASSASSINATION

  Who Killed Bobby?: The Unsolved Murder of Robert F. Kennedy, by Shane O’Sullivan, Union Square Press, N.Y. & London, 2008

  The Robert F. Kennedy Assassination: New Revelations on the Conspiracy and Cover-Up, by Philip H. Melanson, Shapolsky Publishers, N.Y., 1991

  The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, by William W. Turner and Jonn G. Christian, Random House, N.Y., 1978

  WATERGATE REVISITED

  The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon, by Anthony Summers with Robbyn Swan, Viking, 2000

  Secret Agenda: Watergate, Deep Throat and the CIA, by Jim Hougan, Random House, 1984

  JONESTOWN AND CIA MIND CONTROL

  Was Jonestown a CIA Medical Experiment?: A Review of the Evidence, by Michael Meiers, Studies in American Religion, Vol. 35

  The Search for the “Manchurian Candidate”: The CIA and Mind Control, by John Marks, Norton PB, N.Y., 1991

  1980 ELECTION

  October Surprise, by Barbara Honegger, Tudor Publishing, N.Y. & L.A., 1989 October Surprise: America’s Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan, by Gary Sick, Crown Publishers, 1991

  GOVERNMENT AND DRUG DEALING

  Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras and the Crack Cocaine Explosion, by Gary Webb, Seven Stories Press, 2003 (second edition)

  Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies and the CIA in Central America, by Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall, University of California Press, 1998

  Drugs, Oil and War: The United States in Afghanistan, Colombia, and Indochina, by Peter Dale Scott, Rauman and Littlefield, 2003

  Powderburns: Cocaine, Contras and the Drug War, by Celerino Castillo and Dave Harmon, Sundial, 1994

  The Big White Lie: The Deep Cover Operation That Exposed the CIA Sabotage of the Drug War: An Undercover Odyssey, by Michael Levine, Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1994

  BUSH AND STOLEN ELECTIONS

  Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008, Edited by Mark Crispin Miller, Ig Publishing, Brooklyn, N.Y., 2008 Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform, by Mark Crispin Miller, Basic Books, 2007 paperback

  The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, by Greg Palast, Plume Book, 2003 revised American edition

  SEPTEMBER 11

  The New Pearl Harbor Revisited: 9/11, the Cover-Up and the Exposé, by David Ray Griffin, Olive Branch Press, Northampton, MA., 2008 9/11 Contradictions: An Open Letter to Congress and the Press, by David Ray Griffin, Olive Branch Press, 2008

  The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America, by Peter Dale Scott, University of California Press, 2007 (Includes material related to Continuity of Government plans)

  THE WALL STREET CONSPIRACY

  The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve, by G. Edward Griffin, American Media Fourth Edition, 2002

/>   Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country, by William Greider, Simon & Schuster, 1989

  The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, by Naomi Klein, Metropolitan Books, 2007

  The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008, by Paul Krugman, Norton, paperback 2009

  The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, by Niall Ferguson, Penguin, 2008

  THE SECRET PLANS TO END AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

  Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces that Put it in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America, by Russ Baker, Bloomsbury Press, 2009

  American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush, by Kevin Phillips, Viking, 2004

  Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, by Jeremy Scahill Nation Books, 2008 revised and updated edition

  The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, by Naomi Wolf, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007 paperback edition

  NOTES

  Chapter One

  1

  Lincoln attending Marble Heart: Lincoln and Booth, by H. Donald Winkler, Cumberland House: Nashville, Tennessee, 2003, p. 38.

  2

  Plot in Baltimore: Blood on the Moon, by Edward Steers Jr., University Press of Kentucky, 2005 paperback edition, pp. 17-18.

  3

  Biological warfare plot: Ibid., pp. 47-48.

  4

  Dahlgren papers: Ibid., p. 45.

  5

  Booth and Knights: Winkler, p. 44.

  6

  Early plots: Ibid., pp. 50-53.

  7

  No more kidnapping: Steers.

  8

  Booth meeting conspirators: Steers, pp. 110-112; Winkler, p. 99.

  9

  Drunk customer to Booth: Winkler, p. 102.

  10

  “highest sources in Washington”: Ibid., p. 95.

  11

  Booth and assassination: Ibid., pp. 112- 114.

  12

  Carter, Reagan, and Mudd: Ibid., p. 127.

  13

  Mudd responsible for coconspirators: Ibid., p. 149.

  14

  Atzerodt on Booth and Mudd: Ibid., p. 149.

  15

  Mudd later years: Ibid., p. 138.

  16

  Corbett on shooting Booth: Steers, p. 204.

  17

  Unsolved Mysteries theory: Ibid., p. 246, 250.

  18

  Bates’s story: Ibid., pp. 246-250.

  19

  Booth body ID: Ibid., pp. 265-267.

  20

  Stanton’s dragnet: Winkler,

  21

  Stanton prior knowledge: Winkler, p. 120-121.

  22

  Booth diary: Ibid., pp. 289-292.

  23

  Congressman Conness: Ibid., pp. 290- 292.

  24

  John Surratt: Ibid., pp. 235-248.

  25

  Come Retribution theory: Ibid., p. 14.

  26

  Atzerodt lost confession:“George Atzerodt’s Lost Confession,” http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln82.html.

  27

  Other theories on assassination: Ibid., Lincoln74.html.

  Chapter Two

  1

  Basis of chapter: The Plot to Seize the White House, by Jules Archer, Hawthorne Books, New York, 1973. Except where otherwise noted, all material quoted is from this book.

  2

  American Liberty League: Archer, p. 160.

  3

  Quigley on Round Table Groups: Tragedy and Hope, by Carroll Quigley, The MacMillan Co., New York, 1966, p. 950.

  4

  Cecil Rhodes: Quote in Griffin, p. 271, citing The Anglo-American Establishment: From Rhodes to Cliveden, Books in Focus, New York, 1981, pp. ix, 36.

  5

  Front for Morgan: Tragedy and Hope, pp. 951-952.

  6

  Quigley on goal of global financiers: Tragedy and Hope, p. 324.

  7

  Media: Ibid., p. 953.

  8

  Quigley on suppression: letters cited in The Creature from Jekyll Island, by G. Edward Griffin, American Media, Westlake Village, California, 24th printing May 2009, pp. 268-269. Griffin notes that the letters were first published in Summer 1976 issue of Conspiracy Digest, published by Peter McAlpine.

  9

  Rockefeller quote: The Bilderberg Group, by Daniel Estulin, TrineDay, 2009, North American Union Edition, p. 61.

  10

  Prescott Bush and plot: http://carnival-of-anarchy.blogspot.com/2008/01/smedley-butler-and-business-plot.html; “BBC: Bush’s Grandfather Planned Fascist Coup in America,” by Paul Joseph Watson, July 24, 2007, http://prisonplanet.com.

  11

  Walker and money men: American Dynasty, by Kevin Phillips, Viking, New York, 2004, p. 179.

  12

  “part of this cabal”: Ibid., p. 180.

  13

  Union Banking/Thyssen: Ibid., p. 180.

  14

  Brown Brothers Harriman merger: Ibid., p. 184.

  15

  Relationships with Nazis: Ibid., p. 192.

  16

  Prescott Bush and Nazis: Ibid., pp. 38- 39.

  17

  “German embroilments”: Ibid., p. 39.

  18

  Butler on war: Archer, p. 220.

  Chapter Three

  1

  “Magic bullet”: There are numerous sources on this, but one good one is Not In Your Lifetime, by Anthony Summers, updated edition, Marlowe & Co., New York, 1998, pp. 31-33.

  2

  Cyril Wecht: “Why Did Feds Persecute Celebrity Expert Cyril Wecht? Who’s Next,” by Andrew Kreig, www.huffingtonpost.com, October 18, 2009.

  3

  Humes burning autopsy notes: On the Trail of the JFK Assassins, by Dick Russell, Skyhorse Publishing, 2008, p. 280 (interview with Douglas Horne).

  4

  Zapruder film to CIA lab: Ibid., p. 293.

  5

  Oswald prints on rifle: Summers, pp. 44- 45.

  6

  LBJ on Oswald: Telephone recordings of Johnson White House, http://wwww.theatlantic.com/doc/200406/holland.

  7

  Nixon on Warren Commission: Nixon tapes, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1848157.stm.

  8

  Hoover on assassination: Summers, p. 376.

  9

  HaleBoggs: http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/1998-11-01.feature23.

  10

  Oswald as FBI informant: The Man Who Knew Too Much, by Dick Russell, Carroll & Graf, New York, 1992, p. 68.

  11

  Oswald at Stripling: Harvey and Lee, pp. 98-99. Dick Russell also interviewed Frank Kudlaty and received verification for this story.

  12

  Hoover imposter memo: FBI File No. 105-82555, addressed to: Office of Security, Department of State.

  13

  Slawson quote: New York Times, February 23, 1975.

  14

  Harvey and Lee name shifts: Russell, On the Trail pp. 127-128.

  15

  Robert Oswald: Ibid., p. 128.

  16

  Harvey and Lee: Ibid., pp. 128-129.

  17

  Height discrepancies: Khrushchev Killed Kennedy by Michael H.B. Eddowes (Dallas, TX, self-published, 1975), pp. 18, 96-97.

  18

  Groody story: told to author Jim Marrs.

  19

  Oswald burial: Russell, On the Trail pp. 130-132.

  20

  Burroughs on two Oswalds in theater: JFK and the Unspeakable, by James W. Douglass, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N.Y., 2008, pp. 291-93.

  21

  Bernard Haire on two Oswalds: Ibid., p. 293.

  22

  Media and cover-up: This story is all drawn from Russell, On the Trail, pp. 34- 40, “The Media, the CIA, and the Cover-up.”

  23

  Media and JFKfilm: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) report.

&nbs
p; Chapter Four

  1

  Gordon Parks, “I was a Zombie Then—Like All [Black] Muslims, I Was Hypnotized,” Life magazine, March 5, 1965, p. 28.

  2

  Sources for the chapter: I’m drawing heavily on an excellent article by James W. Douglass (“The Murder and Martyrdom of Malcolm X”), in a book called The Assassinations that I gave a cover endorsement for when it came out in 2003. Douglass summarizes the investigations recounted in several other books: The Judas Factor, by Karl Evanzz (1992), Conspiracys: Unravelling the Assassination of Malcolm X, by Baba Zak A. Kondo (1993), and the much earlier book by Louis E. Lomax, To Kill a Black Man (1968). Lomax was working on a documentary film alleging that the American intelligence community—specifically the FBI and CIA—had a hand in Malcolm X’s assassination, when he died after the brakes on his car suddenly failed while he was driving to the studio on July 31, 1970.

 

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