Author Rips Apart Conventional ‘War on Terror’ Beliefs
Lone Rock, WI, Was America ’s War on Terror a ghastly mistake? Did the United States sacrifice thousands of lives and billions of dollars for nothing? These are among the suppositions that author Kevin Barrett, a Ph.D. and Arabist-Islamologist, examines in his new book, Questioning the War on Terror: A Primer for Obama Voters.
Dr. Barrett knows his conclusions will stir up controversy and bring emotions to a boil. He has appeared on Fox, CNN, PBS and other television networks to defend his research and will continue his quest to open the media’s eyes to possibilities they have dismissed.
Writing in a down-to-earth style, Dr. Barrett offers extensive, scholarly documentation to support such startling conclusions as:
*The War on Terror triggered our current economic catastrophe
*Terrorism is less of a threat than lighting bolts and bathtubs
*There is no connection whatsoever between Islam/Muslims and terrorism
*The only significant terrorists in today’s world are governments
*Osama Bin Laden repeatedly denied and deplored 9/11, and the FBI agrees he didn’t do it
*Historians agree that many of the biggest terrorist attacks in history may have been false-flag “inside jobs” committed by the enemies of the people blamed for the attacks
Because these conclusions are so radically different from the worldview of the mainstream media, readers may appreciate that in Questioning the War on Terror: A Primer for Obama Voters, they are framed as open-ended questions rather than dogmatic assertions.“Americans are 30 times more likely to die from lightning strikes, and 10 times more likely to drown in their bathtubs, than to be killed by terrorists,” Dr. Barrett said. “Should we declare war against lightning bolts and bathtubs? Should we install PA systems in our bathrooms reminding us that the threat level of bathtub drowning has been raised to orange? Should we create a new Department of Bathtub Security empowered to do sneak-and-peak, warrantless searches of our bathrooms to make sure that we’re using no-slip bath-mats? Would this be any crazier than what we’re doing now?”
Using the Socratic method, Questioning the War on Terror asks 54 hard questions that, taken together, attack the central notion on which our post-9/11 political life has been based. It concludes with a list of 22 concrete actions that readers can take to end the War on Terror and achieve the change they voted for in the 2008 presidential election.
Kevin Barrett, Ph.D., is one of America ’s best-known critics of the War on Terror. He taught at colleges and universities in San Francisco , Paris and Wisconsin , where he ran for Congress in 2008. Dr. Barrett currently works as a nonprofit organizer, public speaker, author and talk radio host. His website is http://www.truthjihad.com
“Kevin Barrett is taking on a big sacred cow, one that hardly anyone in the mainstream media or in Congress would dare to seriously question — the War on Terror, which in the past eight years has joined the flag, motherhood and apple pie as things an American dares question only at the risk of being labeled ‘unpatriotic’ or a ’supporter of terrorism.’ Barrett delves into many of the assumptions behind the War on Terror: the myths, the lies, the propaganda. The reader should be prepared to question some of his favorite political beliefs.” – William Blum, author, Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II
Well-known 9/11 activist Carol Brouillet writes that Barrett’s book contains “dubious” quotes that make her “cringe”.
http://www.communitycurrency.org/9-11.html#UP
Since Brouillet has shown an amazing tolerance for Barrett’s sloppy scholarship and loony antics in the past, these must be real doozies. Brouillet also notes that the book alleges links between the Mossad and 9/11. It is a telling measure of Barrett’s honesty that he does not mention this issue in his writeup.
Check out Barrett’s blog truthjihad.blogspot.com for indications of the quality of his scholarship. In his 9/4/09 post he completely misrepresents his own statements in the article above.
Barrett believes the Mossad blew up the World Trade Center, and that Jews run the news media and the political apparatus.
He is very discrediting to the causes he claims to serve, and he lacks the guts to debate his destructive actions in writing.
Kevin, when you make ignorant statements like “The FBI agrees [Osama] didn’t do [9/11]” you make Truthers look like idiots. What Rex Tomb said was that they didn’t have hard evidence that Osama did it. They didn’t investigate it. Do you not know the difference, are you too lazy to care, or are you being dishonest?
I’m sorry to embarrass you in public but you have been so allergic to quiet criticism within the movement that it forces some of us follow you around trying to do damage control where you are.
When you proclaim “There is no connection whatsoever between Islam/Muslims and terrorism” you make the impression in the mainstream that you live in an ideologically-based fantasy world–like a neocon does.
People in the 9/11 Truth movement repudiate such nonsense. You’re an embarrassment, and your refusal to be accountable for your damage to the credibility of the movement is despicable.
No connection between Muslims and terrorism? Did you ever hear of Black September? They killed a friend of mine when they tossed a phosphorous bomb into an airliner cabin in the Rome airport.
What about the Blind Sheikh and the 1993 WTC bombing?
How about the Khobar Towers bombing and the African embassy bombings?
Barrett, you’re out of touch with reality. I don’t know if you’re spending too much time at the tavern or not enough, but I don’t think Lone Rock is a healthy environment for you.