Month: May 2007

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A Sweetheart Like You: Hanna Reitsch

Reitsch promptly formed a Suicide Group, and was herself the first person to take the pledge: “I hereby… voluntarily apply to be enrolled in the suicide group as a pilot of a human glider-bomb. I fully understand that employment in this capacity will entail my own death.”

Some Christians are convinced that anyone who does not believe in an after-life cannot really feel that his or her life is meaningful. When you die– that’s it. There is no transcendent, eternal purpose to what you have been and what you have accomplished.

So why would a Nazi like Hanna Reitsch offer to kill herself on behalf of the most jaded ideology to ever see the light of day? What’s in it for her?

The trouble is, Hanna was not that unusual. At least one study (sorry– can’t remember where I read about it– probably NY Times website) has come to the conclusion that many “Islamic” suicide bombers are not necessarily devout Moslems, and many of them do not believe they are really going to ascend to heaven at the instant of death to be greeted by 47 beautiful virgins. What they do have in common is little prospect of any kind of meaningful, long-term employment or prosperity. Many are poorly educated (hence, gullible, I suppose). They are all young– how many 38-year-old suicide bombers do you remember hearing about? Hence gullible, again. Hence passionate. Hence foolish.

The same equation always applies, to old white Republicans or old Arab Imans: impotent, self-aggrandizing old men send impressionable young men and women off to die for their causes.

It is amazing how many young people find these old men convincing, when the overwhelming fact staring them right in the face is that none of the old men are going to volunteer to do it. They are not going to lead by example.

Hanna Reitsch was a beautiful, petite blonde and Hitler’s favorite test pilot. When they were working on the V-1 rocket and having great difficulty calibrating the navigation system, she volunteered to fly one. I am not making this up.  She climbed inside, and it was launched from a bomber, and she landed it. The data she accumulated during this test flight proved crucial to the eventual “success” of the weapon. At least– now that I think about it– that’s what they told Hanna.

She also flew an airplane into Berlin during the last days of the war, and then flew one out. She said she realized then that the Fuehrer was a little whacko. Really? What tipped you off?  Did you really think that at the time, or after the war, when it suited your own post-Nazi narrative?

Way after the war, John Kennedy invited her to the White House. If you think she might have explained to him how smart, daring, devoted people like herself were duped by Hitler into supporting a vicious political ideology, and a lost cause, think again. Towards the end of her life, she told a journalist, after questioning the manhood of German men in the post-war era, “Many Germans feel guilty about the war. But they don’t explain the real guilt we share – that we lost.”

Her lover, the last Field Marshall appointed by Hitler, Robert Ritter Von Greim, committed suicide rather than allow himself to be turned over to the Soviets.

When she was young, Hannah wanted to be a flying missionary doctor. That didn’t work out, so she became a Nazi test pilot instead. I’ll bet a lot of missionaries have secret ambitions of becoming Nazi test pilots….

“We should all kneel down in reverence and prayer before the altar of the Fatherland.” Hanna Reitsch.

She clarified this to mean “why, the Fuhrer’s bunker!”.

 

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B02092, Hanna Reitsch.jpg

Hanna’s Wiki Entry

 

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Oswald Reconsidered

When you are young and you arrive at the idea that there might be a conspiracy involved in some sensational crime, only it has been covered up– you probably think you know it’s a conspiracy because you are smarter than most people. You see the clues. You read between the lines.

It is only later in life that you begin to realize that, if there is a conspiracy out there, the people conspiring might be as smart or smarter than you. They might be ahead of you.

They might realize that the best way to prevent anyone from ever “proving” that there is a conspiracy is not to deny that there is a conspiracy, but to fill the world with conspiracy theories until most sensible people are nauseated and exasperated.

No one says, “how can you believe there was a conspiracy to kill John F. Kennedy when J. Edgar Hoover himself denied it?” No, no, no. But people might say, “oh– you believe that the CIA stole his body on the aircraft flying back to Washington, surgically altered the body to make it look like the shots came from the front, and then snuck it back into the coffin without Jackie noticing?” Or that both the Mafia and the Cubans were involved, and the CIA for good measure, as well as Naval Intelligence and the oil industry.

On the other, hand read a credible biography of James Angleton, or of Reinhard Gehlen, or Allan Dulles, or George de Mohrenschildt. You don’t need to read a biography by a whacky conspiracy theorist. Find one written by a reputable, serious, accountable journalist who doesn’t believe in conspiracies. You will see the whacky become real. You will realize that there are people out there who would seriously contemplate assassination as a political strategy.

You have to realize, as well, that “proof” isn’t the point. I have never heard a JFK conspiracy theorist discuss this important point: what is proof, really? It is the evidence you use to apply force. The force is the police, the army, the FBI. Without the power to arrest and detain people and seize evidence, there can be no “proof”.

Suppose, for example, a couple of investigators went to a federal judge in Washington DC shortly after the assassination and asked for a warrant to search the offices of J. Edgar Hoover, because someone had provided the investigators with evidence that the FBI did have a file on Oswald and that J. Edgar Hoover had lied to the investigators. A lot of people, reading of his arrest, would have come to believe that J. Edgar must have done something seriously wrong, or why would he have been arrested?

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If Oswald Acted Alone…

–and I’m not saying he didn’t– he was essentially a lone nut. No conspiracy. Some whacko just got it into his head to kill the president, because he could, and because he happened to work in a building that was right on the parade route. And he happened to be a former marine, and a defector to the Soviet Union, and he had a close relationship with George de Mohrenschildt… who, among other things, had a personal acquaintanceship with Jackie Bouvier, and whose father was imprisoned by the Soviets as an anti-communist. And whose wife and daughter were immediately taken in by a couple with direct links to a military contractor, Bell Helicopter, which also happened to employ an ex-Nazi rocket designer, General General Walter Dornberger.

In your own entire life, have you ever met anyone who claimed to even know someone who directly knew someone involved in intelligence work, or in building V-2 rockets, or conducting overseas operations for the CIA? All the time, right?

Sure, Oswald could have acted alone. Maybe all of this contact with the Marines and the Russians and the CIA and Clay Shaw and so on contributed to his frustrated delusions of grandeur.

Or he was the ideal patsy, an operative who carried out various missions for the U.S. intelligence community, who wasn’t too bright, and came to be exactly what he claimed to be: a patsy.

The Nazi Connection to the JFK Assassination

This is a Relatively Serious and Thoughtful Collection of Research on the subject of the JFK Assassination.

On the remarkable Major General Dr. Walter Dornberger.  If you are a devoted Nazi and you are going to commit war crimes– like leading the effort to bomb civilians in London– you better be smart.  That way, after you have surrendered, instead of being hanged as a criminal, you get to move to Dallas, Texas and work for Bell Helicopter.

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And $2000 for you and you and you…

In this wacky world of George Bush and terrorism and opium and heroin and suicide bombers and queens and Karl Rove, this story somehow seems just right: the Americans apologized to the families of the 19 dead and 50 injured and offered them $2,000 for each dead family member as “condolence pay”.

This conjures, for me, the image of Americans cruising around this godforsaken country in their Humvees, suddenly being attacked by suicide bombers, retaliating by shooting indiscriminately in all directions, followed by a phalanx of lawyers with their wallets out: $2,000 for you… and you… and you…. and then, on we go to the next rescue mission.

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The Fort Dix Plot

If you are George W. Bush you are delighted: “6 Arrested in Plot to Attack Fort Dix”.

That’s from the relatively sober New York Times.

“We Dodged a Bullet- FBI Says of Foiled Ft. Dix Terror Plot” says USA Today.

That’s as much as many people will read. George W. Bush to the rescue: the Patriot Act is working! We’re safe again.

Maybe.

It might be that these six men were actually, truly, really plotting to attack Fort Dix with RPG’s and automatic rifles and submachine guns.

It might be that once again a paid informant found a bunch of young Islamic loudmouths who could be infiltrated and manipulated, and cajoled into shooting off their mouths and making ridiculous statements that the FBI solemnly believe are genuine threats.

The evidence against the men is truly as magnificent as can be. They acquired guns and practiced with them. Guilty. Seriously, it’s a little odd to read this part of the criminal complaint because… well, isn’t it as American as apple pie to acquire a gun and go shoot it somewhere? The complaint notes that they did so “militia-like style” while shouting “God is great”. I suppose if they had been drinking beer instead, and shouting “Go Bears”, the FBI would have ignored them.

Do I even need to point out that the U.S. is full of “militia-like” groups who wear camouflage and go to shooting ranges?

At least three of the men are illegal aliens. The men are from Albania, Turkey, Kosovo. They are not from Indiana.

Why I don’t believe the indictment. Yet. I might. But I doubt it.

1. Two men, designated as CW-1 and CW-2 are identified as “cooperative witnesses” who willingly infiltrated the group. Doesn’t that sound nice? Good citizens, I bet. The trouble is that in many of these cases, it is eventually revealed that the “cooperating witness” is actually a paid informant, with a clear incentive to provide the FBI with the goods. They are paid some money, then more, and then more, depending on whether they find a hot suspect that can eventually be prosecuted. It is clear that the gravy train stops if he doesn’t get the goods on the suspects. So what happens is, he starts to “encourage” the suspects– always young Islamic men– to make more and more provocative statements.

Consider this: the gang asked CW-1 to lead the attack. Curious, don’t you think? If CW-1 is just dropping in and listening to a group of hard-core jihadists plot a violent assault on Fort Dix— and they just happen to think he would be a fine leader, out of the blue.

2. The conspirators allowed CW-1 to record conversations in which details of the plot are discussed. Okay– that CW-1 is a very convincing infiltrator. Or these young men are exceptionally stupid. Or both.

You are seriously plotting to attack a U.S. army base. A guy you barely know joins your group and asks, “do you mind if I record the plot?” You say, “sure.” Maybe there’s an explanation for this.

3. They chose Fort Dix because one of the men, Serdar, used to deliver pizzas there. That sinister “map of Fort Dix” they acquired to plan the attack? It came from the Pizza Shop. The FBI seemed to get very aroused by this map. They recorded the actual time of the cell-phone call that CW-1 received to tell him that Tartar had acquired the map and delivered it to him. They took the map, copied it, and then returned it. This is the map from the pizza restaurant.

4. One of the FBI informants brought up the idea of getting some firearms and told the gang he knew someone who could supply them. Once again, it is the informant who initiates the first concrete step towards a real act of terrorism.  That is textbook entrapment.

5. According to the criminal complaint, the suspects did not actually pay for the weapons nor acquire them. It would have been more interesting to me if they had handed over $5,000 or so for these weapons, and clearly demanded delivery of them. It would be logical to arrest them when they arrive for the weapons and charge them with…. ta da… trying to buy guns. In America. Okay. They could be charged with something like…. I don’t know. Making threats?

The truth is, they should be charged with the minor offenses that actually stick to them: overstaying their visas. Illegal possession of weapons. (Will the NRA step in here or not? Why are they so silent on the rights of these red-blooded men to own weapons?)

The truth is that if the FBI started investigating those red-blooded all-American white militia groups and their weapons and paintball and camouflage and confederate flags and so on, and decided to make them into something sinister, it would be easily done.  But we know why that will never happen.

The Bush administration would like you to believe that we now live in an era where we can no longer wait for crimes to be committed before arresting the…. what? The what? The person we think might commit a crime in the future?

Bullshit. It will never be right or wise or good to arrest people for crimes they have not actually committed. Never. It only took Western civilization about 5,000 years to learn it. It has taken George Bush and his governing thugs less than six months to unlearn it.

Now we start over. Why is it wise to presume innocence?

“CW-2 [one of the informants] observed that Shnewer seemed to enjoy watching the video and smiled during the viewing.” From the criminal complaint.

When CW-1 asked Shain Duka if he was with them, Shain Duka responded, “God willing, we will see.”

Eljvir Duka stated that they would need a “fatwa” before they could proceed.

Here it is– I was waiting for it: “When CW-1 mentioned that CW-1 might have a source that could supply firearms, Shnewer expressed interest.”

I will believe that a crime is committed when a person freely and willingly commits a crime. When a female undercover cop goes after men for soliciting sex, she never offers sex for money. She just stands there and waits and lets the man talk. If she offers sex for money, and he says yes– it’s called entrapment and usually the charges won’t stick. If he says, without prompting, “I’ll give you $100 for sex”, he is soliciting for sex and can be successfully charged.

“Towards the end of the meeting, Shain Duka suggested they could also join the army and ‘do them, yes we can’. ” That’s pretty amazing to me. They planned to infiltrate the army. That’s long-range planning.

The really odd thing is this: if these men were really intent on committing terrorist acts in America, against Americans, and they really were only prevented from doing so by the chance act of asking a video store owner to copy a VHS tape to DVD for them, where are all the men who were not stupid enough to take a jihadist video to a commercial video store?

What’s with the paintball? One of the supposedly incriminating acts committed by the Canadian Terrorist Conspiracy was a game of paintball– obviously, they were training for jihad.

Is a pattern emerging? Are these groups linked? Or are the authorities linked?

I’ll bet the FBI now monitors paintball games very, very closely.

There is almost nothing in the criminal complaint about what CW-1 or CW-2 said or did. That’s not surprising. If there will be a trial– and there won’t be– I almost guarantee it (there will be a plea bargain on lesser charges so the government can claim they confessed) — but if there was a trial, we would find out just how much “encouragement” they offered to this group.

It doesn’t say they were paid– I will be very, very shocked if we find out they were not. I will guess that each of them got at least $30,000 and maybe more than $100,000, and both of them will claim that the money didn’t matter at all, and both of them will be lying through their teeth when they say that, because if it were true, I would not be so sure of myself when I tell you that you will find out they were paid.

They will have been paid. It is less likely, but also probable, that either or both of them are facing unrelated charges for petty crimes and both of them will have the charges dropped in exchange for their “objective” testimony.

Furthermore, Americans will read about their convictions with satisfaction as they sing their anthems and wave their flag in fervent admiration of the rights and freedoms generations of people fought bitterly for and which they now, with the cavalier disregard of a hunter swatting an insect, discard.