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MOTIVES
1997 - CFR & Trilateral Comm member Zbigniew Brzezinski publishes a book urging the US to control the world's natural resources to maintain global domination despite public's uneasiness about US projecting external power and cautions it will become more difficult to get consensus on foreign policy with an increasingly diverse US society unless public perceives a massive direct external threat. (Brzezinski: 'Grand Chessboard') Sept 14 - Council on Foreign Relation member Gary Hart says 9/11 attacks is chance for Bush to carry out a "new world order." (CFR)
Sept 10 - Donald Rumsfeld announces Pentagon has lost track of $2.3 trillion (CBS, DoD), attacks came near end of fiscal year & important budget information was located in the damaged area (Arlington County), large number of fatalities at Pentagon were civilian accountants, bookkeepers and budget analysts. (Pitt Post-Gazette)
Oct '01 - Only 1 1/2 months after 9/11, the 342 page USA PATRIOT ACT is signed into law. (White House)
Oct '01 - Hundreds of gold bars that was stored under WTC 4 are discovered in a delivery tunnel under WTC 5 that was being transported on the morning of 9/11 by a 10-wheel truck that was crushed along with several other cars by debris, yet no bodies were recovered. (NY Daily News, Times Online)
WTC leaseholder Larry Silverstein seeks $7.2 billion in insurance, double his coverage, claiming the attacks count as two separate events. (Insurance Journal) June '02 - Silverstein receives $861 million settlement for WTC 7, debt on it is only $383 million (Insurance Journal), May '04 - Silverstein awarded single payout of $3.5 billion for WTC (CNN), Dec '04 - Silverstein wins extra $1.1 billion from court ruling saying attacks constituted 'two separate events'. (USA Today) The new WTC is projected to cost between $9-12 billion with $5 billion coming from government sources. (MSNBC, NYSCPA)
Bush administration has taken away multiple rights of the people since 9/11. (Newsday) U.S. ranks 17th in press freedoms largely due to 9/11. (CNS)
Nov '02 - Dept of Homeland Security is created to lead the fight against domestic terrorism. (CBS)
Poll Cites GOP Gains Since 9/11 (Washington Post), Gov't terrorist warnings boost Bush's approval ratings. (Cornell U) '9/11 effect' won Bush votes on Democratic turf near Ground Zero. (New York Post)
Military budget increase:
Sept '00 - PNAC calls to increase US defense budget, but says won't happen absent a catastrophic event like a "new Pearl Harbor." (ABC, PNAC)
Sept 5, '01 - Rumsfeld asks Senate to approve new '02 defense budget which has largest spending increase since the mid 80's. (DoD)
FY 2002 budget request is a $37.8 billion, or 11.5% increase from '01 request. (DoD)
FY 2003 budget request is a $40.1 billion, or 10.9% increase from '02 request. (DoD)
Afghanistan, opium, pipeline
July '01 - US plans to invade Afghanistan by Oct '01 (BBC, Guardian), Sept 4 - White House approves plan to invade Afghanistan (CBS, USA Today), Sept 10 - Plan awaits Bush's approval (MSNBC), Oct '01 - US invades Afghanistan. (DoD) War in Afghanistan would have been politically impossible pre-9/11. (USA Today)
July '00 - Taliban bans cultivation of opium poppies in Afghanistan (BBC), Mar '05, Afghanistan opium production surges. (USA Today)
Afghanistan has huge strategic importance for the west as a corridor to the untapped fuel reserves in central Asia. (Guardian)
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9/11 was the "Reichstag Fire" of USA Nazi?