NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) held a training exercise
just over a month before September 11, 2001, which had some uncanny
similarities to the 9/11 attacks. The exercise, called Fertile Rice, was
based around the scenario of Osama bin Laden--the man who supposedly
ordered the 9/11 attacks--organizing an aerial attack on a high-profile
government building in Washington, DC--one of the cities attacked on
September 11.
NEADS personnel were scheduled to take part in an exercise on
September 11. We therefore need to consider whether the similarities
between the scenario for the Fertile Rice exercise and some of the
incidents they had to deal with on the morning of September 11 caused
them to mistake real-world events for part of the day's exercise and
thereby impaired their ability to respond to the 9/11 attacks.
EXERCISE INVOLVED BIN LADEN PLANNING TO ATTACK WASHINGTON WITH A DRONE AIRCRAFT
NEADS, based in Rome, New York, was responsible for monitoring and
defending the airspace in which the hijackings occurred on September 11,
and was consequently responsible for coordinating the U.S. military's
response to the 9/11 attacks. [1] It ran an exercise called Fertile Rice
each week. [2] On August 4, 2001--five and a half weeks before
9/11--Fertile Rice was based around the scenario of Osama bin Laden's
operatives attacking a target in Washington. [3]
An information sheet on the exercise outlined the details. It stated
that the scenario for the exercise involved an "Osama bin Laden threat
to [the] U.S." Bin Laden had "reportedly acquired at least one and
possibly two" unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The UAV he'd obtained was
believed to be the Russian-developed "Colibri," which had been modified
to be launched off a ship.
Bin Laden's operatives intended to carry out an attack in the next 24
to 36 hours. Although their exact target was unknown, it was believed
that they intended to strike a "highly visible U.S. government target"
that was probably in the Washington area.
The Colibri they would use to carry out the attack was a
propeller-driven drone aircraft designed to perform various military and
civilian missions. It was 4.25 meters long, had a wingspan of 5.9
meters, and its maximum speed was 155 miles per hour. It was fitted with
sophisticated electronic jamming equipment, as well as equipment for
monitoring electronic communications and radar.
The ship transporting the Colibri to the Washington area had left a
port in the Middle East and was set to rendezvous with one of the
terrorists off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, on August 4. This person
would provide the final targeting information that would be programmed
into the Colibri. The ship was believed to be carrying additional
military equipment, including shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles,
rocket-propelled grenades, automatic weapons, and plastic explosives.
The Colibri's "weapon payload" was "reportedly some type of fuel-air
explosive" that would be "activated with an altimeter device." [4]
Fuel-air explosives are highly destructive weapons. They spray an
explosive mist and then ignite the vapor, thereby creating a blast far
larger than a conventional weapon produces. [5]
The exact form that the Colibri's "weapon payload" would take in the
scenario is unstated in the information sheet. It could perhaps have
been a fuel-air bomb that the UAV would drop onto its target.
Alternatively, the mock terrorists' intention may have been to fly the
Colibri into its target such that the fuel-air explosive it carried
would detonate on impact.
AUGUST 4 EXERCISE HAD SIMILARITIES TO THE 9/11 ATTACKS
It is worth considering whether the similarities between the scenario
for the Fertile Rice exercise on August 4 and some of the incidents
NEADS had to deal with on September 11 had a detrimental effect on how
NEADS personnel responded to the 9/11 attacks.
NEADS personnel are known to have been in the middle of a major air
defense exercise on September 11, called Vigilant Guardian, which
simulated an attack on the United States. [6] Most of the staffers on
the NEADS operations floor on the morning of September 11 had no idea
what the exercise was going to involve that day, according to the Utica Observer-Dispatch. [7] They could presumably therefore have thought any suspicious reports they received were part of the exercise.
We can see that the August 4 exercise resembled the 9/11 attacks--or
at least the official account of the attacks--in several ways. These
similarities may have caused NEADS personnel to mistakenly think events
on September 11 were part of that day's exercise, since these personnel
might have thought they were being tested on a similar scenario.
The first similarity was that while Fertile Rice was based around a
scenario in which Osama bin Laden's operatives attacked the United
States, the attacks on the U.S. that occurred on September 11 were,
according to the official account, ordered by bin Laden and carried out
by members of his al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Secondly, the scenario for Fertile Rice and the 9/11 attacks both
involved America being attacked from the air. In the exercise, the
simulated attack was going to be carried out using an unmanned drone
aircraft; on September 11, the attacks were carried out using commercial
aircraft.
Thirdly, Fertile Rice and the 9/11 attacks both involved terrorists
attacking prominent government buildings in the Washington area. In
Fertile Rice, the exact target is unstated. However, the information
sheet on the exercise specified that it was a "highly visible U.S.
government target" that was likely in the Washington area. [8] This
could well have been the Pentagon, the White House, or the Capitol
building--three of the most "visible" government buildings in the
Washington area.
On September 11, meanwhile, the Pentagon was one of the buildings
that were attacked. At 9:37 a.m., according to the official account,
American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into its west wall. [9] And it has
been claimed that either the White House or the Capitol building was the
most likely target for United Airlines Flight 93--the fourth and final
plane to be hijacked, which failed to reach its target and supposedly
crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. [10]
NEADS RECEIVED NUMEROUS REPORTS OF SUSPICIOUS AIRCRAFT IN THE WASHINGTON AREA ON SEPTEMBER 11
NEADS personnel were alerted to suspicious aircraft that were
approaching or over Washington at least four times on the morning of
September 11. Since these incidents presumably resembled the scenario
they had encountered in Fertile Rice on August 4, we need to consider
whether that exercise affected how they evaluated them. For example, did
they think the reports of suspicious aircraft were simulated, as part
of a scenario like the one they'd encountered in Fertile Rice?
Some, or perhaps all, of the reports NEADS received of suspicious
aircraft over or approaching Washington on September 11 might even have
been part of the exercise taking place that day. Close analysis of these
reports reveals many oddities, which indicate they may indeed have been
related to the exercise, rather than to actual events.
FLIGHT 11 WAS REPORTED AS FLYING TOWARD WASHINGTON LONG AFTER IT CRASHED
The first one of these reports came at around 9:21 a.m.--18 minutes
after a second plane crashed into the World Trade Center and 16 minutes
before the Pentagon was attacked.
Colin Scoggins, the military liaison at the FAA's Boston Air Route
Traffic Control Center, incorrectly told NEADS that American Airlines
Flight 11--which crashed into the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m.--was
still airborne and was flying south toward Washington. "It was evidently
another aircraft that hit the tower," he said. [11]
Scoggins, however, had no solid evidence that Flight 11 was heading
for the capital. Air traffic controllers "were never tracking an actual
plane on the radar after losing American 11 near Manhattan," Vanity Fair
magazine reported. But, "The plane's course, had it continued south
past New York in the direction it was flying before it dipped below
radar coverage, would have had it headed on a straight course toward
DC." [12]
The 9/11 Commission stated that it had "been unable to identify the
source of this mistaken FAA information." [13] But according to Vanity Fair,
"Colin Scoggins ... made the mistaken call." Scoggins told the magazine
he had been monitoring a conference call between FAA centers "when the
word came across--from whom or where isn't clear--that American 11 was
thought to be headed for Washington." [14]
NEADS WAS ALERTED TO AN AIRCRAFT FLYING AWAY FROM THE WHITE HOUSE
NEADS personnel were alerted to a suspicious aircraft flying over or
toward Washington for a second time just before 9:36 a.m., about two
minutes before the Pentagon was hit. Again, the source of the
information was Colin Scoggins.
Scoggins initially told ID technician Stacia Rountree that the
"latest report" was of an aircraft "six miles southeast of the White
House" that was "moving away" from the White House. But, seconds later,
he said the aircraft was in fact six miles southwest of the White
House and "deviating away." Asked if he knew the identity of the
aircraft, he replied: "Nothing. ... I have no clue." He suggested that
NEADS contact the FAA's Washington Center for more information.
Rountree promptly called the Washington Center and asked about the
suspicious aircraft, but the person who answered the call told her: "We
don't know anything about that. ... It's probably just a rumor." They
were surprised that Scoggins had alerted NEADS to the aircraft, since,
they said, Boston Center's "airspace doesn't even come close to
[Washington]." "I don't know how they got that information," they added.
Scoggins had told Rountree that Boston Center controllers didn't even
have a blip for the suspicious aircraft on their radar screens. Boston
Center personnel had just heard about the aircraft over a teleconference
and wanted to pass on the information to NEADS, he'd said. [15]
The aircraft was later determined to have been Flight 77--the plane that supposedly crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. [16]
NEADS WAS ALERTED TO AN AIRCRAFT FLYING OUT OF CANADA
The third report of a suspicious aircraft approaching or over Washington
came at around 10:00 a.m., when a NORAD unit in Canada contacted NEADS
and told it an aircraft was heading south from Canada into the United
States. [17]
A member of staff at NEADS relayed the details to their colleagues.
The aircraft, from an "unknown departure airport," was "heading towards
Washington," they said, but nothing else was known about it. [18]
Another member of staff at NEADS called the Canadian NORAD unit, seeking
more information, but an officer at the unit could provide few details.
He said he had seen "something on the chat." (He was presumably
referring to NORAD's computer chat system.) The information he'd seen
was that his unit's intelligence officers were "assessing that there's a
possible aircraft." [19]
The report turned out to be a false alarm. At around 10:10 a.m., the
officer at the Canadian NORAD unit called NEADS and said his unit's
intelligence officers were "not assessing that there is an actual
aircraft problem." It was simply the case that "there could be problems
from our area." "There's no actual aircraft that we suspect as being a
danger," he added. [20]
A SUSPICIOUS AIRCRAFT WAS REPORTEDLY FLYING OVER THE WHITE HOUSE
The fourth report alerted NEADS personnel to a suspicious aircraft that
was supposedly flying over the White House. This report was received at
10:07 a.m.--four minutes after Flight 93, the final aircraft to be
hijacked that day, supposedly crashed in Pennsylvania. So by then the
terrorist attacks were already over.
A pilot in one of three fighter jets that had taken off from Langley
Air Force Base, Virginia, and were flying a combat air patrol over
Washington called NEADS. He said a controller at the FAA's Washington
Center was "saying something about an aircraft over the White House" and
asked if NEADS had any instructions for him. NEADS immediately ordered
him to intercept the aircraft and divert it away from the White House.
While the fighters from Langley Air Force Base were heading toward
the White House, a member of staff at NEADS suggested to his colleagues
that the suspicious aircraft, which was flying "very low," was "probably
a helicopter." But a few minutes later, NEADS personnel concluded that
the aircraft was in fact one of the fighters from Langley Air Force
Base, which the controller at the Washington Center had mistakenly
reported because they were unaware fighters had been launched to protect
the airspace over Washington. "It was our guys they saw, [Washington]
Center saw," a member of staff at NEADS commented. [21]
The evidence that these four reports were part of the exercise NEADS
was participating in on September 11--and were presumably related to
simulated attacks on Washington--is, of course, inconclusive. The 9:36
a.m. report, for example, may have related to real-world events, when an
aircraft involved in the actual attacks was near Washington.
Regardless of the reasons for the reports, though, the fact that
Fertile Rice on August 4 included a simulated aerial attack on
Washington would surely have increased the likelihood that NEADS
personnel would think any reports of suspicious aircraft over or
approaching Washington that they received on September 11 were part of
the day's exercise.
NEADS PERSONNEL SUGGESTED BIN LADEN WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE 9/11 ATTACKS BEFORE ANY BLAME HAD BEEN ATTRIBUTED
Some evidence suggests the Fertile Rice exercise on August 4 did indeed
influence the reactions of NEADS personnel to the crisis on September
11. Specifically, the fact that its scenario involved an attack that
would be perpetrated by Osama bin Laden and his operatives may have led
NEADS personnel to attribute the events of September 11 to bin Laden and
Arab terrorists before any official allocation of blame was made.
Even while the terrorist attacks were taking place on the morning of
September 11, at least one person at NEADS appears to have concluded
that bin Laden was to blame for what was happening. At 9:28 a.m.,
Sergeant Steve Bianchi told his colleagues, "I think it's time we lost
Osama bin Laden." [22] Later on, at 11:11 a.m., someone at NEADS told a
colleague, "I think we're getting to the point we ought to start
shooting all the ragheads." [23] ("Ragheads" is an offensive term for
Muslims, Arabs, or Middle Easterners.)
And yet at these times, NEADS personnel had apparently received no
information indicating that bin Laden and his terrorist organization
were responsible for the attacks. Transcripts of tape recordings of the
NEADS operations floor from the morning of September 11 show no examples
of personnel inquiring about who was behind the events they were
dealing with or being told who was thought to be responsible for the
attacks. [24]
Furthermore, the first report on television firmly indicating that
bin Laden and al-Qaeda were responsible appears to have only occurred
just after 11:30 a.m. At that time, former NATO commander General Wesley
Clark told CNN, "There is only one group that has ever indicated that
it has this kind of ability [to carry out such a large-scale coordinated
attack] and that's Osama bin Laden's." [25] A clear statement of blame
appears to have first been made late that afternoon. At around 4:00
p.m., CNN correspondent David Ensor reported, "U.S. officials are saying
that they now have new and specific information ... that people with
links to Osama bin Laden may have been responsible for these attacks."
[26]
In light of this information, it is worth considering whether NEADS
personnel indicated that they thought bin Laden and "the ragheads" were
behind the terrorist attacks so early on September 11 because they
remembered that bin Laden and his operatives were behind the simulated
attack in the Fertile Rice exercise on August 4.
It might also be worth considering whether the exercise NEADS was
participating in on September 11 included a scenario, which, like the
one in the August 4 exercise, involved an attack on the U.S. perpetrated
by bin Laden and his terrorist organization. Even if it didn't, NEADS
personnel may have mistakenly thought it did, based on their experiences
in the August 4 exercise, in which bin Laden's operatives planned to
attack "a highly visible U.S. government target" in the Washington area.
The comments "I think it's time we lost Osama bin Laden" and "I think
we're getting to the point we ought to start shooting all the ragheads"
could therefore have reflected the fact that NEADS personnel thought the
incidents they were dealing with on September 11 were part of an
exercise scenario based around bin Laden launching an attack in the U.S.
DID THE AUGUST 4 EXERCISE AFFECT HOW NEADS PERSONNEL RESPONDED TO THE EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11?
The similarities between the Fertile Rice exercise that NEADS personnel
participated in on August 4, 2001, and the 9/11 attacks, five and a half
weeks later, give rise to important questions.
For example, were the similarities just a coincidence or were they
the result of something more sinister? Might the exercise have been
intended to, in some way, impair the ability of NEADS personnel to stop
the 9/11 attacks? If so, this would indicate that rogue individuals in
the U.S. military were involved with planning the 9/11 attacks and
designed the August 4 exercise to increase the likelihood of the attacks
being successfully carried out.
We can certainly see several goals the exercise may have achieved
toward facilitating the 9/11 attacks. To begin with, since it involved a
hostile aircraft aiming for a target in Washington, Fertile Rice could
have increased the likelihood that NEADS personnel would think any
reports they received of suspicious aircraft approaching Washington or
in the Washington area on September 11 were part of that day's exercise,
rather than being attempts to alert them to real events. And if they
thought any of the incidents they had to deal with on September 11 were
simulated, NEADS personnel may have responded to them differently than
if they knew they were real. They may, for example, have reacted with
less urgency.
Secondly, the exercise could have helped convince NEADS personnel
that Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organization were capable of
carrying out sophisticated attacks in the United States. Fertile Rice
involved bin Laden organizing an elaborate and audacious aerial attack
on a government building in Washington--an area that should have been
particularly well protected. This may have led NEADS personnel to
believe it had been determined that bin Laden was capable of carrying
out highly sophisticated attacks in the U.S.
If they believed this, they would presumably have been more likely to
accept the official explanation of who was behind the 9/11 attacks and
less likely to raise questions about the validity of this explanation.
They would therefore have been less likely to wonder if a rogue group
within the U.S. military and other government agencies was responsible
for the attacks.
NEADS personnel received a briefing in July 2001 that may have been
intended to fulfill the same purpose--convincing them that bin Laden was
capable of carrying out an aerial attack in the U.S. Lieutenant Colonel
Mark Stuart, an intelligence officer at NEADS, told the 9/11 Commission
that "the last Osama bin Laden [Continental United States NORAD Region]
threat briefing" before 9/11 was on July 14, "as part of the increased
threat warning during summer 2001." The increased threat level "was
briefed at NEADS," he said. [27] Since the briefing was given to
personnel whose job was to defend the airspace over North America, it
presumably warned about the possibility of bin Laden specifically
carrying out an aerial attack in the U.S.
DID OTHER EXERCISES HAVE SIMILARITIES WITH THE 9/11 ATTACKS?
The details that are available about the Fertile Rice exercise held at
NEADS on August 4, 2001, give rise to many questions. For example, did
the similarities between the scenario around which Fertile Rice was
based and some of the incidents they encountered on September 11 lead
NEADS personnel to think these incidents were part of the Vigilant
Guardian exercise taking place that day? Also, who came up with the
scenario for the August 4 exercise and who was responsible for preparing
the exercise?
Fertile Rice exercises were held weekly at NEADS, so numerous
scenarios must have been included in them in the months leading up to
9/11 besides the one in the August 4 exercise. What were these scenarios
and did any of them resemble the 9/11 attacks? Master Sergeant Joe
McCain, the mission crew commander technician at NEADS, indicated that
Fertile Rice exercises prior to September 11 had at least some
similarities to the 9/11 attacks. He said they included simulated
hijackings, although only one plane would be hijacked in the scenarios.
Occasionally, he said, the aircraft hijacked in the simulation had taken
off from within the United States--like the four planes that were
hijacked on September 11. [28] So did their participation in these
exercises lead NEADS personnel to think the hijackings on September 11
were part of that day's exercise?
Additionally, did NEADS conduct any other exercises in the months
leading up to September 11, besides its Fertile Rice exercises, that
were based around scenarios resembling the 9/11 attacks? It regularly
held exercises called Fertile Spade, Fertile Angel, and Fertile Gain.
[29] What scenarios did these exercises involve in the months before
9/11? If any of the scenarios resembled the 9/11 attacks, did this cause
NEADS personnel to mistake events on September 11 for part of an
exercise?
Furthermore, were any of the reports of suspicious aircraft
approaching or over Washington that NEADS received on September 11 part
of an exercise, such as Vigilant Guardian? If so, this would mean the
exercise was allowed to continue after the second hijacked plane crashed
into the World Trade Center--at 9:03 a.m.--and it became obvious that
the U.S. was under attack. The exercise may in fact have still been
going on at 10:07 a.m., when NEADS was alerted to a supposedly
suspicious aircraft flying over the White House. If the exercise did
indeed continue even though the U.S. was clearly under attack, why was
this? Whose job should it have been to cancel it?
A new investigation of 9/11 is necessary to address questions like
these. Investigators would need to have access to all relevant
documents, and individuals who worked at NEADS on September 11 and in
the months before then would need to be able to speak freely about their
experiences. Examination of military training exercises and their
possible connections to what happened on September 11 may reveal a lot
of important information about the 9/11 attacks and who was responsible
for them.
NOTES
[1] James Bamford,
A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies. New York: Doubleday, 2004, pp. 3-4;
Michael Bronner, "9/11 Live: The NORAD Tapes." Vanity Fair, August 2006; Philip Shenon,
The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation. New York: Twelve, 2008, p. 203.
[2]
Interview with Master Sergeant Joe McCain, written notes. 9/11 Commission, October 28, 2003;
"Memorandum for the Record: Interview With MSgt. Joe McCain." 9/11 Commission, October 28, 2003.
[3]
"Exercise Fertile Rice: Startex Intel Summary." Northeast Air Defense Sector, August 4, 2001;
Interview with Col. Mark E. Stuart, written notes. 9/11 Commission, October 30, 2003;
"Memorandum
for the Record: Interview With Lt. Col. Mark E. Stuart, USAF,
Intelligence Officer, Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS)." 9/11
Commission, October 30, 2003.
[4]
"Exercise Fertile Rice";
"Intelligence Update: Exercise: Fertile Rice." Northeast Air Defense Sector, August 5, 2001.
[5]
Tom Fiedler and Mark Thompson, "Despite Iraq's Offer, Gulf War Rages." Philadelphia Inquirer, February 16, 1991.
[6] Leslie Filson,
Air War Over America: Sept. 11 Alters Face of Air Defense Mission. Tyndall Air Force Base, FL: 1st Air Force, 2003, p. 122; 9/11 Commission,
The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004, p. 458; James Bamford,
A Pretext for War, p. 4; William M. Arkin,
Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs, and Operations in the 9/11 World. Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press, 2005, p. 545.
[7] Elizabeth Cooper, "NEADS on 9/11: Professionalism and Helplessness."
Utica Observer-Dispatch, August 5, 2004.
[8]
"Exercise Fertile Rice."
[9] 9/11 Commission,
The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 314.
[10]
Rachel Clarke, "The Ambassadors of Flight 93." BBC News, September 5, 2003; 9/11 Commission,
The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 14;
Guy Trebay, "A Moment in Time Captured in Pieces." New York Times, August 13, 2014;
Lauren Raab and James Queally, "No Indication of Arson Found at Flight 93 Memorial." Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2014.
[11] 9/11 Commission,
The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 26;
Priscilla D. Jones, The First 109 Minutes: 9/11 and the U.S. Air Force. Washington, DC: Air Force History and Museums Program, 2011, p. 37.
[12]
Michael Bronner, "9/11 Live."
[13] 9/11 Commission,
The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 26.
[14]
Michael Bronner, "9/11 Live."
[15]
NEADS Audio File, Identification Technician Position, Channel 7. North American Aerospace Defense Command, September 11, 2001;
Michael Bronner, "9/11 Live."
[16] Priscilla D. Jones,
The First 109 Minutes, p. 39.
[17]
"Transcripts
From Voice Recorder, 11 September 2001 1227Z-1417Z, Northeast Air
Defense Sector, Rome, NY." North American Aerospace Defense Command,
September 11, 2001; Priscilla D. Jones,
The First 109 Minutes, p. 44.
[18]
NEADS Audio File, Mission Crew Commander Position, Channel 2. North American Aerospace Defense Command, September 11, 2001.
[19]
NEADS Audio File, Identification Technician Position, Channel 4. North American Aerospace Defense Command, September 11, 2001.
[20]
NEADS Audio File, Identification Technician Position, Channel 5. North American Aerospace Defense Command, September 11, 2001.
[21]
NEADS Audio File, Weapons Director Position, Channel 3. North American Aerospace Defense Command, September 11, 2001;
Michael Bronner, "9/11 Live."
[22]
NEADS Audio File, Identification Technician Position, Channel 4.
[23]
NEADS Audio File, Tracking Technician Position, Channel 21. North American Aerospace Defense Command, September 11, 2001.
[24] Transcripts available at the
9/11 Document Archive.
[25]
"10:53 a.m.-11:34 a.m." CNN, September 11, 2001;
"Gen. Wesley Clark Discusses Ongoing Terrorist Situation." Breaking News, CNN, September 11, 2001;
"Timeline of Chaos." Ottawa Citizen, September 11, 2001.
[26]
"3:45 p.m.-4:26 p.m." CNN, September 11, 2001;
"Karen Hughes Delivers Remarks on Terrorist Attacks." Breaking News, CNN, September 11, 2001;
"September 11: Chronology of Terror." CNN, September 12, 2001.
[27]
Interview with Col. Mark E. Stuart, written notes;
"Memorandum
for the Record: Interview With Lt. Col. Mark E. Stuart, USAF,
Intelligence Officer, Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS)."
[28]
Interview with Master Sergeant Joe McCain, written notes;
"Memorandum for the Record: Interview With MSgt. Joe McCain."
[29]
"Memorandum: Fertile Spade 97-26." Northeast Air Defense Sector, June 18, 1997;
"Memorandum:
No-Notice Air Defense Exercise, Fertile Angel 99-01 and Fertile Spade
99-07." Northeast Air Defense Sector, November 30, 1998;
"Memorandum: Fertile Gain 99-05 After-Action Report." Northeast Air Defense Sector, September 21, 1999.
Posts
No sooner does one post a blog or an analysis these days, then
the story is either expanded and corroborated, or some detail is
amended, or another dot appears to connect to the whole puzzle that is a
world gone mad. Well, that's true today. Just last Thursday in my News and Views from the Nefarium
I speculated that the Bundesbank, which has hitherto refused to publish
anything like an inventory of its gold bars held in Germany, France,
the Old Lady of Threadneedle, and the NY Fed, finally did do so, a tome
of some 2,300 pages in fact. And I speculated that this might be a bit
of a message, a shot across the bow, so to speak, that the Bundesbank
know something is hugley awry with the western system, and that there's a
slight malodorous air wafting to Europe from Wall Street. Indeed, as
some commenters here have suggested, there does seem to be some sort of
quiet back-channel economic warfare going on between the USA and
Germany, evident in the vast fines imposed on Deutschebank, and more
recently, the "emissions" scandal engulfing Volkswagen. I suspect
readers here know what the real concern in the District of Corruption
is, namely, to head off, by any means possible, any Russo-German
rapprochement, and to keep the NATO choir singing Washington's chorales.
/051503_Oregon_shooter_mainstream_media_psych_drugs.html
