Boiling Blood Pressure

I 've REALLY got to be more careful about what books I buy. My blood pressure is normally pretty good, but some of the books I read, get my blood boiling and who knows what that does to the old BP!

The latest one is "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Palast, a winner of the George Orwell Courage in Journalism award for his BBC investigations. Palast is also the author of a NY Times Bestseller: "The Best Democrasy Money Can Buy." What I find interesting about his writing is that, as a non-citizen of the U.S., he has no personal stake in the issues facing us politically. In fact, he notes that in the 2004 election, "I don't care which rich, white kid won the election."

But, unlike many Americans of both political stripes, Palast doesn't just spout opinions. He documents what he says and prints the documentation along side of his stories.

Palast notes that in early 2001, a member of the transition team (a former Reagan defense offical) said his only real problem with Bill Clinton was his obsession with Osama bin Laden. He quotes and provides documents that CIA and FBI and DIA were all told to back off of the investigations of bin Laden and al Quaeda for fear of offending the Saudi's. None of this is saying the 9/11 could have been prevented, but for God's sake, we'll never know what might have happened if the investigations had proceeded.

Osama's Mission Accomplished

And his comments about what drives bin Laden are equally damning. To quote from the book: "On Thursday, May 1, 2003, President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln.... the scene was so exiting that the media had failed to notice that the War on Terror had ended on the previous Tuesday.

"On that day, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld quietly acknowledged that he was withdrawing America's armed forces from Saudi Arabia."

What does Ossama want? The al Quaeda Web site spells out their mission statement: "DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST THE AMERICNS OCCUPYING THE LAND OF THE TWO HOLY PLACES - EXPEL THE INFIDELS FROM THE ARAB PENINSULA"

Palast says the "two holy places" are Mecca and Medina, and their "land" is Saudia Arabia.

"Bin Laden issued his demand on August 23, 1996; and on April 29, 2003, the Tuesday before the President was chauffered by fighter jet onto the deck of the Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Bush gave bin Laden exactly what he wanted: U.S. troops sent packing from the Land of the Holy Places."

Why has the U.S. not been attacked again? Maybe it isnt because of the bloated Department of Homeland Security. Maybe it is simply that al Quaeda's mission has been accomplished without fanfare.

There is more to this story.... much more.... and I'm not going to sit here and copy the whole book. It is well written; it is well documented; and it points the finger of justice directly at the current Administration. I'm only a little way into the book. Later chapters deal with the 2004 election ("Kerry won, get over it!") and plan to steal the 2008 election. It is all in detail and it is all documented.

It is well worth the money ($25.95 at Border's), if you do'n't have serious medical problems which might be aggravated by the elevation of your heart rate and blood pressure.