Attentats de Paris, vous nous prenez vraiment pour des neuneus! 

by James Tracy • Home • Tags: false flag terror, geopolitics, propaganda, terrorism, war on terror

Paris Attacks, you truly take us to be dorks!

Laurent Freeman to Stop Mensonges! Partagez vos recherches ici! (Stop Lies! Share Your Research Here!)
http://stopmensonges.com/attentats-de-paris-vous-nous-prenez-vraiment-pour-des-neuneus
Translation by Vic Sadot, Truth Troubadour Blog, Berkeley, California.

Image Credit: Peter Klein

Francois Hollande announced yesterday in his war “without thank yous” speech that he intends to wage against terrorism even now that we know it was France itself that delivered weapons to Syrian “Al Qaida” rebels. Should he not order his own arrest also as an accomplice???
This morning the main stream media announced that a French Syrian passport was found, the terrorists would therefore be Syrians. Decidedly, these terrorists are accustomed to walk around with their passports like they did on September 11, Charlie (Hebdo 1-07-15), and those of yesterday. These terrorists simply love to leave their passports everywhere!

Obama, who was the first to speak publicly following the attacks in Paris, announced that he is prepared to militarily “help France” in its fight against terrorism. But do not tremble too much when Obama makes this announcement, knowing that the United States is the number one terrorist state in the world. Here there is no confusion, as I recall, because the American people, like all the French now, are the victims of their criminal government. No judgment on our peoples. It is the same for all countries, including Israel.
A few weeks before the attacks, we learned that the French police will now have the right to shoot live ammunitions against the French population. As is done in the United States for a long time now, the crimes committed by the police are countless.
France is being “Americanized” in everything about that country that is for the worse.
It is clear that the “US” does not want to bloody itself directly against Russia and China in Syria. However, the New World Order is determined to trigger World War III. But they need a super good excuse to go, the ideal is always a false-flag attack, as was the case with Pearl Harbor for World War II, or September 11 for Iraq.
The French government is a toy totally subject to the US. We have been used to destroy Libya. History will remember that the blood of Libyans is on the hands of French (via the Zionist criminal Sakozy trained by the CIA), and not the Americans and their other sponsors / Saudi / Israeli (here I quote the countries but in reality you can forget these countries and call it “The Cabal”, which in reality is international and gangrene in all these countries. That is more accurate and precise.
The problem is now created with these attacks (ACTION – REACTION – SOLUTION), the Netherlands pawn now in charge of getting a bunch of disgusting measures in France, both economic as with TAFTA, whether for population monitoring, increased repression, and new security measures that will once again take away the rights and freedoms of all citizens. But above all, that will give Francois Hollande the power to start a war in Syria. And I am not even talking about the media that will push our country into hatred between our communities. You can be sure that freedom of expression and the Internet will suffer too.
Clearly for me, Hollande will try to pass on to very serious things in the coming weeks. Maybe he will declare war in Syria? No matter what he does, it will not be his decision, but under the orders of the New World Order that will follow. Holland is a puppet. He obeyed. It follows the plan. He does what he is ordered to do.
What will happen?
I do not want to prophesy, but just share my views on what will happen soon in the world.
I forge my perspective based on the many sources of information that I am for years observing taking place “behind the scenes”.
Things will get worse in the weeks and months to come because the Cabal is totally hopeless. In fact, the majority of them know they have already lost. Some have already visited. But there remains a hard core of Kabbalah who refuses to surrender and the only way for them to get away with it would be the third world war.
There will be no third world war.
Since the attacks of September 11, 2001 which were to trigger a third world war it is clear that the Cabal cannot. There are splits within the same ruling Cabal, fratricidal conflicts between them. We also see that the US military, the Pentagon, and the CIA are also divided, resistant factions within each group clash, the chain of command is often broken and generals refuse to obey orders.
Meanwhile, the resistance is organized, Russia and China have chosen their sides, followed by other countries that make up the BRICS, and they are now ready to replace the Criminal banking system of the EDF.
The information, real information, is too much circulated on the Internet and the critical mass of people needed to be awake is now reached.
Disclosure is now everywhere, and all over the place, on all subjects. This is a tidal tide.
Time will tell if I am right or not. But in any case my view is that their end is very close. But we still have tests to pass before we get there. Maybe it will start a civil war in some countries, or a localized war, most importantly in the Middle East, or elsewhere. Yes, it is possible. But that will never lead to a third world war, in my opinion, but rather lead to other sources of resistance.
We (The Resistance) are too many and too strong now!
Each action by the Cabal causes a reaction of The Resistance.
You can be sure that new disclosures of The Resistance will arrive quickly. I am thinking of Edward Snowden… information that has been decrypted will be released shortly. But not only that … Plenty of evidence about the Cabal’s crimes will continue to go out. And it is for each of us to relay this information to the maximum, rather than following the herd of stupid “Charlies”.
Anyone who wakes up and shares the information of the Resistance instead of focusing on state propaganda from the main stream media is The RESISTANCE.
More than ever, remain focused and concentrated.
Victory is near!
Namasté (Brotherly & Sisterly Human Love)
Laurent

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Vic Sadot is a singer-songwriter based in Berkeley, CA who is known for his “9/11 Truth & Justice Songs” CD released on 9/11/11 featuring “Blowback or Bloody Treason” inspired by Michael C. Ruppert’s Crossing the Rubicon, the “Mad Cowboy Disease 2013” update video on Obama the drone bomber, and his 9/11 Truth hit on internet-only www.NoLiesRadio.org , “Cheney’s in the Bunker“. Vic is available for solo bookings & political protests in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to gmail, Vic is TruthTroubadour at Blogspot, YouTube, and Twitter. Vic Sadot is active on Vic Sadot on Facebook and with the Northern California 9/11 Truth Alliance on Facebook at www.SF911Truth.org His home website is www.vicsadot.com

9 Reasons To Question The Paris Terror Attacks 

by James Tracy • Guest Posts • http://memoryholeblog.com/2015/11/14/9-reasons-to-question-the-paris-terror-attacks/#more-20617

Author Brandon Turbeville will be a guest on this Monday’s Real Politik.-JFT

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
As France finds itself in the grips of martial law and its first mandatory curfew since it was occupied by the Nazis in 1944, there exists a number of questionable details surrounding the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.
Only hours after the first shots were fired, stories and reports are beginning to change and contradict one another. Considering the history of the French government, French Intelligence agencies and the Anglo-American/NATO Intelligence apparatus, particularly the recent events surrounding the Charlie Hebdo attacks that were exposed as false flags, one would be justified in wondering whether or not these recent attacks in Paris were of the same variety.
Below are a number of reasons to question the official story of the Paris terror attacks.

1.) How many gunmen? Already, the number of individuals involved in the Paris attacks is in question. While some reports suggested four shooters were involved, others suggested three. The majority of mainstream reports seem to be only acknowledging two shooters. So how many shooters were there? Two, three or four? One witness, Pierre Marie Bertin, a 36-year-old who was at the theater when the shooting began, stated that there were as many as four gunmen. Bertin described some male hostages who “went onto the balcony and tried to negotiate for the life of their wives with one of the guys [terrorists]. It was sickening.” Bertin recounted somewhat more detail than some other witnesses and was clear that there were as many as four gunmen. Australian news media is reporting that three gunmen have been killed.
This might seem inconsequential to many readers, but in informed researching circles it is well-known that the information that comes out shortly after the event is usually the most reliable. This is not to discount the existence of confusion related to panicked reports coming from eyewitnesses and the like. However, the information coming out early on has not yet been subjected to the top-down media revision that will inevitably take place as the story becomes molded to fit the narrative pushed by the individuals who either directed the attack at the higher levels or at least have connections with those who are able to control the manner in which various media outlets report the event. For instance, in times of false flag attacks, the initial reports may point to 5 gunmen. Very shortly after, reports may only mention two. Only a few hours after the attack, however, all references to more than one gunmen are removed entirely, with only the “lone gunman” story remaining. Any other mention of additional gunmen after this point is ridiculed as “conspiracy theory.”
2.) The types of weapons used – While some reports suggest that the attackers were using AK-47s, other reports are suggesting that shotguns were used. While the contradiction in reports can certainly be attributed to victims and witnesses simply not being aware of the type of weapons being used in the attacks and panic in the heat of the moment, there is none the less contradiction in the reports being issued. As of the time of the writing of this article there has been no clarification as to what type of weapons were used. Since the assailants were supposedly killed by police it should be clear what weapons they used.
3.) Were the gunmen killed or arrested? While the number of gunmen itself is in doubt, news reports coming from Fox and Sky are suggesting that a suspected gunmen was actually arrested. In fact, the suspect allegedly stated to police, “I am from ISIS” giving us all the information we need as for who is responsible for this attack.
4.) Gunmen connected to ISIS, gunmen connected to Syria – Along with the very convenient and immediate statement by an allegedly arrested suspect that he was from ISIS, we also have screams of a shooter that “This is for Syria!” This gives us all the information that we need regarding the motivation of the alleged attackers. They are from ISIS. They hate the French because the French are “attacking” ISIS and because somewhere in France in a very darkened corner, under the sofa, there are freedoms. ISIS hates freedoms. This is quite coincidental considering the fact that a Russian airliner was recently bombed, allegedly by ISIS – at least according to the West.
5.) The timing of the event – Aside from the obvious connotations derived from the attacks occurring on Friday the 13th, the Paris massacre has taken place shortly before a major climate summit that was set to take place in France. The French government was expecting massive protests they alleged could potentially become violent, by activists opposed to globalization and energy austerity. Interestingly enough, France had already planned to impose border controls starting on November 30th in anticipation of the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Paris “because of the terrorist threat or risk of public disorder.” Needless to say, there will be no massive protest now considering the fact that 2015 France resembles the 1943 version of itself more than anything else.
6.) Security – Considering the fact that the security had been so heightened both on the heels of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the anticipation of disorder for the U.N. Conference on Climate Change, how on earth did such a major terror attack slip through the hands of the DGSE? After all, France is nothing if not a police state. It is also giving the United States a run for its money in the contest for how much information it is able to nab up on its citizens. No doubt, we will be sold the line of “pre-civilized savages outsmarted first-world high end military surveillance states.”
7.) Drills – One hallmark of the false flag operation is the running of drills shortly before or during the actual attack. Many times, these drills will involve the actual sequence of events that takes place during the real life attack . These drills have been present on large scale false flags such as 9/11 as well as smaller scale attacks like the Aurora shooting.
For instance, as Webster Tarpley documents in his book 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made In USA, at least 46 drills were underway in the months leading up to 9/11 and on the morning of the attack. These 46 drills were all directly related to the events which took place on 9/11 in some way or other. Likewise, the 7/7 bombings in London were running drills of exactly the same scenario that was occurring at exactly the same times and locations.
Although one reason may take precedence over the other depending on the nature and purpose of the operation drills are used by false flag operators for at least two reasons. One such purpose is the creation of intentional confusion if the drill is taking place during the actual attack. The other, more effective aspect, however, is using the drill as a cloak to plan the attack or even “go live” when it comes time to launch the event. Even more so, it gives the individuals who are involved in the planning of the event an element of cover, especially with the military/intelligence agency’s tight chain of command structure and need-to-know basis. If a loyal military officer or intelligence agent stumbles upon the planning of the attack, that individual can always be told that what he has witnessed is nothing more than the planning of a training exercise. This deniability continues all the way through to the actual “going live” of the drill. After the completion of the false flag attack, Coincidence Theory is used to explain away the tragic results.
All of this must be considered, when one reads reports suggesting that the UK conducted counter-terrorism drills earlier this year that included scenarios that involved terror attacks in Paris similar to those that took place on the Charlie Hebdo massacre. As the reports surrounding the UK drills were released, a number 10 spokesman confirmed “it had been agreed that future exercises, which take place on a regular basis, should seek to learn from events in France.” David Cameron himself stated that there was a need for police “to call on military help if there was a major emergency.”
8.) Charlie Hebdo – The recent Paris attacks were similar to the Charlie Hebdo massacre that occurred earlier this year. The Charlie Hebdo attacks, however, were largely revealed as a false flag operation. Evidence for which can be seen in my article “15 Signs the Charlie Hebdo Attack Was a False Flag.” Thus, there exists a clear precedent for such attacks in France, albeit on a much larger scale.
9.) Who controls ISIS? For many, claims that the attackers belong to ISIS is a deal breaker. For these individuals, ISIS is a shadowy terrorist organization that supports itself and has created a caliphate in eastern Syria and western Iraq that can scarcely be defeated (except when the Russians bomb it). However, the facts do not support such a shallow understanding of the ISIS terrorist organization. ISIS was entirely created, funded and directed by the United States, Britain, France and other NATO countries. Its actions have been coordinated by the Anglo-American Intelligence apparatus for geopolitical purposes all across the world both at home and abroad. For this reason, the declaration that ISIS committed a terrorist attack in Paris is by no means a get-out-of-jail-free card for the Western Intelligence apparatus. Instead, it is the trademark of their handiwork. Please see these articles for more information on the nature of ISIS: here, here, here and here.
While the information presented above may not be enough evidence to conclude that the Paris attacks were false flag attacks, it is reason enough to question the official story thus far. If these attacks are indeed placed in the lap of ISIS, however, all fingers should immediately point to NATO and the Atlanticist Intelligence apparatus. It is they who control ISIS and they who bear the responsibility for its actions.
Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions andDispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President. Turbeville has published over 500 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST atUCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.

Why Anyone Who Questions the Safety of GMOs is Labeled Anti-Science

And why everyone should question GMOs

By Christina Sarich

Global Research, November 16, 2015

Natural Society 13 November 2015

Theme: Biotechnology and GMO

How do you continue to push GM crops on a population that has overwhelmingly voted against them in poll after poll? You start a campaign similar to the one the tobacco industry began in the 1920’s with the help of Edward Bernays to discredit any naysayers and even put doctors in commercials smoking cigarettes. You also do whatever it takes to buy out ‘real’ scientists and call those into question who inquire about the true safety of GM foods. You label them anti-science and discredit their credentials.
As GMWatch.org states:

“First, there has been a tendency to label anyone who dislikes GMOs as anti-science — and put them in the anti-antibiotics, anti-vaccine, even Luddite category. There is, of course, nothing scientific about the comparison. Nor is the scholastic invocation of a “consensus” a valid scientific argument.
Interestingly, there are similarities between arguments that are pro-GMO and snake oil, the latter having relied on a cosmetic definition of science. The charge of “therapeutic nihilism” was leveled at people who contested snake oil medicine at the turn of the 20th century. (At that time, anything with the appearance of sophistication was considered “progress”.)”

Just like with tobacco, the government agencies which are meant to police our food and water supply have been infiltrated with biotech interests. Bernays, and propaganda theorist Walter Lippman were members of the U.S. Government’s Committee on Public Information (CPI) that helped to promote cigarettes, especially to women, through a war-like propaganda campaign. This is so similar to what Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, Syngenta, Cargill, etc. do now. It seems biotech has looked at the Marlboro Man playbook for tips. [1]
So who does the PR?

• Hugh Grant, the CEO
• Janet M Holloway, Sr. VP, Chief of Staff of Community Relations
• Kerry J Preete, Sr. VP of Global Strategy
• And others

Grant recently said the following to CNBC:

“Twenty years since the first crops were planted in ’96, the intensity and use of chemistry has actually declined during that time so growers now are applying less. The next turn in this, the next breakthrough is how you apply less than an acre, how you apply it much more precisely. And I think the Monsanto Syngenta combination completely redefines the industry one more time in how we use chemistry and link it much more intimately to seed.”

Too bad that merger failed, and farmers are having to resort to more toxic versions of herbicides to try to get their jobs done. Monsanto is spending another $1 billion on a new dicamba herbicide after the WHO declared the best-selling product, Roundup, was probably carcinogenic.
Alas, are we to be lemmings, led off the edge of the cliff, and forced to jump off while Monsanto, just like in old cigarette ads, assures us all these chemicals and GMOs are safe?
Forgive me, but it doesn’t take a scientist to figure out this insanity. I can be called anti-science all day long, but at this point it boils down to some simple common sense.

Notes:

[1] TheSocietyPages

The original source of this article is Natural Society

Copyright © Christina Sarich, Natural Society, 2015

Stop and seize

Posted by George Freund on November 16, 2015

Aggressive police take hundreds of millions of dollars from motorists not charged with crimes

Story by Michael Sallah, Robert O'Harrow Jr., Steven Rich, Gabe Silverman

Published on September 6, 2014
  
After the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the government called on police to become the eyes and ears of homeland security on America’s highways.

Local officers, county deputies and state troopers were encouraged to act more aggressively in searching for suspicious people, drugs and other contraband. The departments of Homeland Security and Justice spent millions on police training.

The effort succeeded, but it had an impact that has been largely hidden from public view: the spread of an aggressive brand of policing that has spurred the seizure of hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from motorists and others not charged with crimes, a Washington Post investigation found. Thousands of people have been forced to fight legal battles that can last more than a year to get their money back.

Behind the rise in seizures is a little-known cottage industry of private police-training firms that teach the techniques of “highway interdiction” to departments across the country.

One of those firms created a private intelligence network known as Black Asphalt Electronic Networking & Notification System that enabled police nationwide to share detailed reports about American motorists — criminals and the innocent alike — including their Social Security numbers, addresses and identifying tattoos, as well as hunches about which drivers to stop.

Many of the reports have been funneled to federal agencies and fusion centers as part of the government’s burgeoning law enforcement intelligence systems — despite warnings from state and federal authorities that the information could violate privacy and constitutional protections.

A thriving subculture of road officers on the network now competes to see who can seize the most cash and contraband, describing their exploits in the network’s chat rooms and sharing “trophy shots” of money and drugs. Some police advocate highway interdiction as a way of raising revenue for cash-strapped municipalities.

“All of our home towns are sitting on a tax-liberating gold mine,” Deputy Ron Hain of Kane County, Ill., wrote in a self-published book under a pseudonym. Hain is a marketing specialist for Desert Snow, a leading interdiction training firm based in Guthrie, Okla., whose founders also created Black Asphalt.

Hain’s book calls for “turning our police forces into present-day Robin Hoods.”

Cash seizures can be made under state or federal civil law. One of the primary ways police departments are able to seize money and share in the proceeds at the federal level is through a long-standing Justice Department civil asset forfeiture program known as Equitable Sharing. Asset forfeiture is an extraordinarily powerful law enforcement tool that allows the government to take cash and property without pressing criminal charges and then requires the owners to prove their possessions were legally acquired.

The practice has been controversial since its inception at the height of the drug war more than three decades ago, and its abuses have been the subject of journalistic exposés and congressional hearings. But unexplored until now is the role of the federal government and the private police trainers in encouraging officers to target cash on the nation’s highways since 9/11.

“Those laws were meant to take a guy out for selling $1 million in cocaine or who was trying to launder large amounts of money,” said Mark Overton, the police chief in Bal Harbour, Fla., who once oversaw a federal drug task force in South Florida. “It was never meant for a street cop to take a few thousand dollars from a driver by the side of the road.”

To examine the scope of asset forfeiture since the terror attacks, The Post analyzed a database of hundreds of thousands of seizure records at the Justice Department, reviewed hundreds of federal court cases, obtained internal records from training firms and interviewed scores of police officers, prosecutors and motorists.

CONTINUED AT LINK:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/

The Mysterious Secret Society of Assassins

The Mysterious Secret Society of Assassins

• http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/11/the-mysterious-secret-society-of-assassins/
•  November 16, 2015
•  Brent Swancer

 

Secret societies are mysterious enough, but sometimes they go beyond merely enigmatic, spooky organizations and gather a dark reputation as being a lethal force to be reckoned with, reaching out to deal death to those who oppose them. Such is the story of a shadowy secret order of assassins which was formed in ancient Persia and which kept the region under the grip of terror for over a century. Always lurking in the shadows, they could be anyone, and they were always ready to pounce, patiently waiting for word from their master to bloom outwards from the darkness and shadows to deliver death at a moment’s notice. Let us delve into some of the murky history of one of the most secretive and lethal secret orders of the ancient world and indeed history as a whole.
The road to the formation of one of the most terrifying secret societies the world would ever know began in Egypt in the first millennium AD, which was then under the control of the Ismaili sect of Shiite Islam, which had long been a small minority group within the religion, who followed Ismail bin Jafar, an iman who was not recognized by the larger Shiite group, and practiced a faith marked by radical egalitarianism and shunning of the luxury in which the ruling Sunni Abbasid caliphs enjoyed. At the time, the Ismaili sect had long been despised and persecuted by both the Sunnis and other Shiites alike, and they were considered to be revolutionary heretics. Mostly scattered and powerless, this sect had lived on the fringes of Islam for years, secretly preaching their ideology through missionaries known as da’is. It was one of these da’is by the name of Ubayd Allah who would launch a successful revolt to overthrow the local Sunni dynasty of what is now Tunisia and subsequently start the Fatimid caliphate in 910 AD, which quickly went on to conquer Egypt, Palestine, the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and parts of Syriainto, from which they spread their brand of theology.

Hassan-i Sabbah

It was in the base of Ismaili operations that Hassan-i Sabbah was born between 1040 and 1050, and converted to the Ismaili sect as a young man. Charismatic, intelligent, and intense, Hassan quickly rose in prominence within the Ismaili community and garnered a reputation in western Persia as being a firebrand missionary, known for his fierce intelligence, debating skills, fanatical fervor, hot temper, and toughness. It was these qualities that would land him in trouble at times, as he was known to have intense religious arguments with his instructors and he was even arrested at one point to spend a stint in a political prison after offending the local Chief of the Army, Badr al-Jamalī. He was subsequently kicked out of Cairo, where he had received advanced instruction in the ways of missionary work. Nevertheless, despite his exile from Cairo, Hassan went on to be one of Ismaili’s most valued missionaries, carrying out his work all over Persia.
At the time, the Ismailis were somewhat in decline, which was brought about by internal disputes among its leaders, a schism in ideologies, with the group gradually dividing into the Mustali Ismailis and the Nizari Ismailis due to conflict over who should be the heir to the caliphate, and an increasing loss of territory to the intruding Sunni Abbasid caliphs. In his zealous drive to spread the word of his Ismaili sect, Hassan went about trying to create a stronghold, a base of operations from which he and his followers could continue their dangerous work and raise the prominence of their doctrine throughout the region in safety. After traversing the land looking for a suitable location, Sabbah found it in the mountains of northern Persia near the Shah River in the form of an impressive citadel by the name of Alamut, which was perched atop soaring cliffs high above a valley floor, making it virtually inaccessible to enemies. Easily defendable, with a clear view for miles over the landscape below, it was seen as the perfect spot from which to launch their operation.
However, there was a problem. First of all, Alamut belonged to the the Seljuk Empire, who obviously were not just going to give it to them. Second, Hassan and his men were badly outnumbered, and considering that Alamut was well-defended and difficult to reach they had no chance at all of taking it by force. Most would have realized the futility of trying to gain the citadel, but for Hassan these were merely minor annoyances, and he went about an elaborate campaign to just go ahead and steal it anyway. The first step to this plan involved sending out missionaries into the surrounding areas in order to fan out and win over converts from the local populace, especially village leaders and other people of prominence. The next step was more daring, with Sabbah and his men actually secretly infiltrating the citadel and converting members of the defending garrison.

The commander of the fort began to suspect something suspicious was going on, but he was powerless to do anything about it because by that time most of the garrison and the local populace had already converted to the Ismaili cause and now followed Hassan. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the commander had no choice but to surrender the fort, and thus after nearly two years of patiently enacting his plan, Hassan had gained his prize without bloodshed or violence. The account of the taking of Alamut has often been romanticized. One popular legend concerning the acquisition of Alamut is that Hassan offered the owner of the fort 3,000 dinars for an amount of land that could fill a buffalo hide. The owner accepted, thinking that this would turn him over a tidy profit, after which Hassan cut a buffalo hide into long, thin strips which he then linked together around the perimeter of the fort before paying the promised money and sending the outsmarted owner on his way.
With Alamut secured, Hassan knew that it was only a matter of time before the Seljuks would come to take it back, and indeed an enraged Seljuk emir came rampaging through the valley in revenge, destroying towns, razing crops, and brutally slaughtering any Ismailis he could find, but Alamut proved to be just as impenetrable as Hassan had hoped, repelling the attack and sending the emir home in frustrated defeat. In the aftermath of this attack, with many of the crops and homes in the valley lying in smoking ruin, Hassan launched a campaign to increase his presence and capture other fortified positions within the region, sometimes through tact or propaganda and at other times through force, until he had created practically his own miniature state. As the Ismaili presence in the region spread, the Seljuks began to realize the threat they posed and decided on a more powerful response. Two armies were dispatched to the region to squash the Ismailis and Alamut was held under siege, yet Hassan in his impregnable fortress was able to ultimately thwart all such aggression. It was at around this time that he would turn to a new way to fight his enemies, and which would lead to the formation of his order of assassins.
It came to Hassan’s attention that one of his worst enemies, a Vizier Nizam al-Mulk, was traveling from the Seljuk capital of Isfahan to the Abbasid caliph’s residence in Baghdad along with the Sultan Malik Shah. Hassan then sent one of his most trusted assistants, a young man named Bu-Tahir, to infiltrate the entourage dressed as a Sufi mystic and armed with a concealed dagger. On the morning of October of 1092, when Nizam had just finished having breakfast with the Sultan and was on his way back to his tent, the disguised Bu-Tahir approached with a paper in his hand, claiming it was a petition that he wanted the vizier to look at. When Nizam reached out for it, Bu-Tahir grabbed him and fatally stabbed him through the heart before being promptly subdued and killed by the vizier’s men. Although this operation had left its agent dead, it had fulfilled its purpose and had a powerful psychological effect on the Seljuks, and indeed any others who would oppose Hassan. The Ismailis had shown that they had the ability and the determination and fearlessness to silently reach out and deal death as they pleased, despite their inferior numbers and relatively small territory.

Encouraged by the success of this first assassination, Hassan went about forging an elite group of individuals who could be called upon to undertake similar missions. Recruits for this new group were gathered from among Hassan’s own men, as well as the surrounding villages. The most prized traits in these potential recruits were resourcefulness, intelligence, ruthlessness, fearlessness, and religious zeal. In some cases, it is said that young boys were recruited, who could be more completely indoctrinated and trained in the ways of death. The recruits were trained in the use of various weapons, hand-to-hand combat, stealth, disguise, intelligence gathering, and psychological warfare, but the most important training they received was the the intense ideological commitment and fanaticism which was fostered within them through constant bombardment of propaganda and religiously fired up speeches. Hassan sought to make them totally obedient to him and the cause, going to great lengths to convince them that he was their one true savior, and that only by dying under his servitude would they achieve heavenly bliss.
At the end of all of this training, ideally the recruit would have been transformed into a stealthy, deadly killer who was disciplined, fanatical, totally committed to his cause, not afraid to die, and ready to follow any orders given without question. Such newly forged human weapons of war were called the fidaiyn, which roughly translates to “sacrifice,” or more to the point “those who risk their lives voluntarily,” and which is typically spelled today as fedayeen. This group of assassins would then go on to be called the Hashashin, which means “followers of Hassan,” and is the word from which the English word “assassin” likely originates.

Since much of the history of how this group was really trained is lost or has been tainted and clouded by the biased observations of the Crusaders, European explorers, and most notably the accounts of Marco Polo, which are probably mixed with some amount of fanciful fiction, there have been many legends that have sprung up about their training methods. For instance, it was said that the assassin recruit would be tricked into thinking they had died, only to wake up in a luxurious, opulent garden, which they would think was heaven. There Hassan would be waiting for them and the recruit would think he was some divine entity with the power to send them back to the land of the living, thus cementing their loyalty. Other stories explain that young boys spent all of their time in this garden, living in luxury until they were cast out and told that if they did not obey their master they would never return. In another tale, Hassan was said to have lowered a man into a hole in the ground with only his head showing, which was then surrounded with blood to make it seem as if he had been decapitated. The recruits were then shown the head and Hassan would appear to make the “head” speak and move, thereby proving in their minds that their master had great powers. To make it seem even more convincing, when the recruits left the room, Hassan supposedly had the cooperative person actually killed and decapitated, his head paraded about on a pole in order to show that he was really dead. It was also said that the assassins constantly smoked hashish, which you most likely know as marijuana, in order to take the edge off, make them more easily manipulated, and increase fearlessness. In fact, it is this tale that has given rise to the idea that the name Hashashin actually comes from the Arabic word hashishi, meaning “hashish users,” although this would have been very against the Muslim tradition of eschewing intoxicants. It is uncertain just how much truth any of these stories hold, but it shows how much power the Hashashin had to fire up the imagination.
When they were finally sent into the field, the Hashashin, or Assassins, were extremely bold, preferring to attack targets in very public areas with a lot of bystanders, such as mosques or city streets, in order to strengthen the psychological impact of their strikes, cultivate their sinister reputation, and sow terror, although they went through great lengths to ensure that no innocent person was harmed. In fact, it was very important to them that innocents be spared and that there be no killing of those not specifically targeted. This habit of killing where many could witness the act ensured that word of mouth spread quickly and further showed everyone that the Hashashin could be anywhere at anytime. Killings were meticulous and almost always carried out with a close quarter weapon such as a dagger, and they avoided any weapons which would allow the victim to possibly escape, such as bows or poisons. This was all done with complete lack of fear, and although the Assassin would try to escape if they could, they were not afraid to die at the hands of their enemy, although they would never commit suicide.

Assassinations were not always such straightforward affairs. Sometimes the Assassin would spend years learning the language and culture of the place they wished to infiltrate and getting close to their intended target, penetrating the inner circle and getting through the veil of security. To this end, they were masters of deceit and disguise, using whatever costume or cover they had to in order to patiently and inexorably get within striking distance. Blending in with their enemy, they could be peasants working the fields, soldiers, or loyal trusted servants. They could be anybody. The fact that the Hashashin were not afraid to die and that indeed, considering their high profile targets, were most certainly ensured of it, also added to the terror they invoked. It drove home the fact that there was no escape, and that anyone targeted for assassination was doomed no matter what they did.
On many occasions, the Hashashin did not kill at all, but rather relied on psychological warfare, with which they were well versed. One example of this was to infiltrate the quarters of a person of prominence and leave a dagger upon their pillow, usually with a message such as “You have been warned,” “You are in our grip,” or something menacing to that effect, leaving the potential victim terrified. These sorts of terror tactics were so effective that they allowed the Hashashin to exert influence on political figures or people of prominence without having to rely upon violence at all. In other cases, an assassination would be intentionally botched, with the victim being allowed to escape an attack with just a few injuries, making them very aware that they could be killed at any time and keeping them in the constant grip of fear, sometimes with them resorting to wearing armor under their clothes or keeping bodyguards to watch over them 24 hours a day. Even then, it was never apparent where an attack might come from, and since no one knew who could be an Assassin, since even a bodyguard or trusted advisor or servant could be one, there was a good amount of paranoia. For even the most well-protected and powerful rulers, no one ever knew just which one their faithful entourage might be an Assassin waiting for word to strike.

Assassination attempt on Edward I of England

These terror tactics were remarkably effective, and often just a mere mention of the Hashashin was enough to keep many in line, to keep them submissive without these shadowy assassins having to do anything at all. In many cases, it became easier to just bend to their demands or forms truces with Hassan rather than face the possibility of an attack at any time. This constant threat of assassination and never-ending state of fear instilled in his enemies had a potent deterrent effect, and became a powerful bargaining chip for Hassan, allowing him to wield far more clout against far larger, more formidable enemies than his inferior numbers and relative low military might would suggest. It also ensured that far fewer lives were risked or lost than conventional military action.
The list of victims targeted by the Hashashin included religious leaders, emirs, sharifs, caliphs, high ranking political or military leaders, and just about anyone else who was a potential threat to Hassan or his Ismaili faith, but this list was always changing depending on his agenda. Even the the great Muslim general Saladin faced several attempts on his life by the Hashashin. During the Crusades, the Hashashin had a tenuous relationship with the Crusaders, sometimes working for them and sometimes targeting them, whatever best aided them in maintaining the balance of power or suited their interests. In fact, some of the most famous Hashashin targets came about at this time. One well-known assassination by the Hashashin at this time was that of the Crusader military commander from northern Italy, Conrad of Montferrat, who had been elected King of Jerusalem in April of 1192. Two Hashashin disguised as monks spent 6 months getting close to him, going so far as to convert to Christianity in order to allay any suspicions, before cutting him down as he walked home from a friend’s house escorted by two knights. It has often been speculated that these Assassins had been working for one of his many Christian enemies, such as Richard the Lionheart and Henry of Champagne. Another famous assassination attempt by the Hashashin was that of Edward I of England, who was wounded by a dagger in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to end his life in 1271.

The Hashashin would operate in the region and keep all of the Middle East in the grip of fear for over 125 years, under the guidance of a total of 8 grand masters. Their reign of fear was all encompassing, but all things must come to an end. Towards the beginning of the 13th century, a terrifying new power was sweeping across the land, the armies of the Mongols, under their ferocious leader Genghis Kahn, against whom the Hashashin would ultimately prove to be powerless. At first, the Hashashin had little to worry about. Although the Mongol armies were laying waste to vast swaths of central Asia between 1219 and 1223, the Hashashin remained relatively unaffected, with the Mongols’ attention focused elsewhere. However, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Mongke Khan, began to set his sights on invading Islamic territory and hoped to eventually conquer Baghdad. When the Hashashin learned of this new threat, they made an attempt to assassinate Mongke by sending a team of assassins to pose as citizens offering submission and surrender to the warlord before killing him. Things did not go according to plan. The team was turned away by the suspicious guards and the assassination was a failure. It was with this close call, in addition to word spreading to the Mongols of the deadly threat posed by the Hashashin, that they became more interested in wiping this shadowy, lethal group out. Mongke ordered his brother, Hülegü Khan, to go to Alamut and decisively destroy the Hashashin sect once and for all. In early 1256, the Mongols came at the Hashashin in their Alamut fortress with all of their might, and they were smashed under such a relentless force. The Hashashin grandmaster at the time, a Khur-Shah, who was considered to be rather weak willed compared to his predecessors, desperately tried to negotiate with the invading Mongols, offering his surrender in exchange for mercy, but the enemy did not honor this bargain and slaughtered the grandmaster in the wilds. They then went about hunting down and killing any Assassins or indeed any Ismailis they could find in a ruthless orgy of blood. The remaining Hashashin were scattered all over Asia, including India, Afghanistan, and the Himalayas, and their age ended.
In the ensuing madness, the stronghold of the Hashashin, Alamut, was razed to the ground and its vast libraries and records totally destroyed, leaving us with an incomplete picture of their history and practices. Indeed when looking at the saga of the Hashashin order of assassins, its history is murky, muddied by the accounts of the Crusaders, who were largely ignorant of Muslim culture and prone to exaggeration and romanticization of the order, as well as unreliable accounts by explorers such as Marco Polo, which were exaggerated and colored to the point where it is difficult to disentangle fact from fiction. Their history remains shadowy, cloaked in legend, myths, misinformation, and misunderstanding. The dramatic notion of an outnumbered secret society of assassins causing their more powerful enemies to cower before their might with the threat of stealthy agents of death certainly lends itself to exaggeration and legend, and when looking at their history, the lack of any solid information certainly makes it difficult to get a clear picture of the reality of this shadowy group. It is easy to get caught up in the swashbuckling cinematic quality of it all. In modern times, this romantic, dramatized view of the Hashashinin can still be seen in popular culture, such as in the popular video game Assassin’s Creed.

Yet for all of the misinformation and gaps in our knowledge of the Hashashin and their ways, they most certainly did exist. Perhaps the Hashashin’s legacy in the modern world can best be seen in the turmoil it faces. After all, they were the first pioneers of using terror tactics, insidious psychological warfare, the use of cells embedded within their enemies ready to strike, and suicide attacks, which can all still be seen in terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda, although the Hashashin would have no doubt frowned upon the blatant imperiling of innocent bystanders that seems to be common practice today. The Hashashin have also proved to be the potential inspiration behind various other secret cults and societies, having a pronounced impact on how we see these secretive groups and how they operate. Author West Moore said of this in his book Disinformation:

During the Crusades, the Hashshashins fought both for and against the Crusaders, whichever suited their agenda. As a result, the Crusaders brought back to Europe the Assassins’ system, which would be passed down and mimicked by numerous secret societies in the West. The Templars, the Society of Jesus, Priory de Sion, the Freemasons, the Rosicrucians, etc. all owe their organizational efficiency to Hasan.

We may never have a full, clear picture of this mysterious order of assassins. The Hashashin remain just as shadowy in death as they were in life, with their myth and legend overshadowing any truths that we are able to glean from them. Now they are just a dark, romanticized footnote in history, but in their day the Hashashin were one of the most secretive, ingenious, and deadly secret orders in the world, their mere presence enough to shift the balance of power and change history, the potential for death to come for anyone at any time enough to influence politics and mold ancient Persia. They remain a fascinating account of a secret society that not only thrived, but was a powerful transforming force of history.

Stranger Than Fiction – Why Zombies are Our Future

November 8, 2015   https://decryptedmatrix.com/stranger-than-fiction-why-zombies-are-our-future/

From its humble folkloric beginnings to the release George Romero’s classic Night of the Living Dead in 1968, today’s current Walking Dead craze has taken zombie culture in America to new heights. And now that Halloween has arrived, our taste for adventures involving hordes of the undead has doubled. Whether you’re searching for candy treats or goodies of a fleshier variety, it’s the ideal time of year to dig a little deeper into the zombie phenomenon as it continues to fill up our film screens, televisions, and literature.

The zombie myth is timeless, with references to the dead rising up again found throughout the histories of various cultures. However, the actual term “zombie” has more specific roots in Haitian Creole traditions and African religious customs, where the zombies were simply mindless slaves rather than the insatiable, flesh-eating monsters they would become in the hands of American pop culture creators.

Regardless of origin, there’s no denying the zombie has come into its own in the last few decades, serving as a metaphor for everything from the danger of mindless consumerism to economic disasters and epidemics on an international scale. And while zombies still operate effectively as metaphors for large scale disasters, global, environmental, and otherwise, there’s are also more immediate messages in shows like The Walking Dead. As we as a society find ourselves relying more and more on automation and less and less on our own intellect, we’re in danger of becoming just as mindless as the monsters we fear.

We’re increasingly producing devices and systems designed to make our lives easier and safer, but at what cost? Automated home security systems that are designed to do our thinking for us in case of a threat to our family members or property are a prime example of the double-edged sword . By allowing an “intelligent” machine system to do the thinking, we decrease the possibility that we’d be able to respond appropriately to a threat should the system no longer operate.

The risk is also inherent in other types of so-called advanced technology, such as increasingly automated features on the vehicles we drive and labor saving machines replacing the humans in our factories. By allowing the machines to think for us, we run the risk of decreasing our own capacity for innovation and creative thinking and thus our ability to operate without technology. We’re in danger of becoming slaves to the technologies that were intended to serve us instead.

On some subtle level, we seem to be aware of and fear the dangers of our overreliance on automation, as witnessed by the popularity of television shows like The Walking Dead, a show supposedly about zombies but that focuses instead on the survivors of the global apocalypse rather than the cause of it. The main characters, although always in danger, nonetheless present a message that the more willing they are to adapt to a world without the technologies and creature comforts they no doubt relied on prior to the world disaster, the more likely they are to be able to survive the new reality. And it’s no accident that the ones most able to survive from the beginning are the Daryl Dixons and Glenn Rhees of the show, those willing to think creatively and who had lived life prior to the apocalypse without an over-reliance on technology.

While the newest zombie-based show on the scene has only aired its first six-episode season thus far, there’s likely an even stronger possibility of exploring the characteristics required to survive a global loss of technology that accompanies a zombie apocalypse. Fear the Walking Dead is set in the same universe as the original The Walking Dead but with a backed-up timeline meant to show the first days of the epidemic. So, while technology had begun to fail by the end of the first season, characters were not yet completely cut off.

There’s no doubt that advances in technology have numerous benefits for mankind, but when the technology is capable of more advanced thinking than we ourselves are, the dangers may just outweigh some of the benefits. If we want to avoid becoming mindless zombie slaves to technology, we have to be able to do our own thinking.

via Branden Engel