Our condolences go out to the families and friends of those killed and injured in the horrific attack in the French Quarter of New Orleans. We condemn it completely.
We also call upon all people of conscience to be skeptical of the official FBI account. We especially warn against this attack being used as a pretext for the persecution of Middle Eastern people, Muslims, and immigrants, or to repress protests against Israeli genocide of Palestinians or justify martial law enforced by National Guard troops as requested by Governor Landry.
Bush Admitted Iraq Not Responsible for WTC Attack
We can see that the statements of Trump, Landry, and local officials, and of the media and Congress represent yet another dangerous attempt to use a tragedy to carry out violence and harassment. Trump is already using this to carry out his vicious campaign of mass deportation, falsely suggesting that the alleged killer is an illegal immigrant.
Today let us remember the words of Ryan Amundson, who lost family members on 9/11: “The loss of our family members has been used to justify war in Iraq, which has nothing to do with September 11. That’s why we are here… to say, not in my name, not in our name.”
On the televised anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, President Bush said, “I am often asked why are we in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the World Trade Center attacks….” The answer is that the US bombed and invaded Iraq to plunder its wealth, especially its oil, not because of the victims of 9/11, for whom Iraq was not responsible. More than a million Iraqis were killed. 4,000 US soldiers died. Many still suffer from exposure to depleted uranium and others have died by suicide because of what they suffered during the war and occupation of Iraq.
In a Brookings Institute article from September 17, 2021, Bruce Reidel, National Security Advisor to Bush, wrote, “The Bush administration was eager to mobilize the anguish of the 9/11 attack to support the war. Despite the intelligence community’s unequivocal conclusion that Iraq had nothing to do with either 9/11 or al-Qaida, the administration let Americans believe the contrary.”
US wars always start with lies and often start with false-flag operations. The Spanish-American war (the sinking of the USS Maine) and the Vietnam war (the Bay of Tonkin “incident”) are just two examples. The truth is that the 9/11 attackers were part of a network of terrorists trained, armed, and funded by the CIA in an effort (code named “Operation Cyclone”) to crush a popular revolution in Afghanistan.
The Truth About the US and ISIS
Officials have acknowledged that the alleged killer was a citizen and US Army reservist who worked on classified tech projects for the military. It is claimed he had an ISIS flag. It is very important that people know the real relationship of the US with ISIS.
ISIS is a terrorist group that has been operating in the US-occupied part of Syria and in Iraq since the US occupation of Iraq. In 2012, Wikileaks exposed memos between the current National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that showed the US was funding ISIS forces in an effort to overturn the Syrian government. These are the same forces that last month came to power in Syria with the assistance of US special forces. Abu Mohammed al-Julani, the man who led the overthrow of the Syrian government, hails from the US-armed branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria formerly named Al-Nusra front.
Why, in light of the current heartbreaking tragedy, are we raising this? Because it is important that we deal with this tragedy honestly and not allow it to be used to fulfill a policy objective of the Pentagon. We raise it because it important that we know not to expect the US government to put our safety first when in reality they are training and arming the very people they claim to be fighting, resulting in more lives lost.
We are raising this because we don’t want the US using our money to arm the genocidal Israeli assault on Palestinians nor their murderous bombings and campaign of land theft in Lebanon and Syria.
We are raising this because Landry, despite his crocodile tears, will use our grief and fear over this unjustifiable murder to flood New Orleans with the National Guard to carry out racial profiling, mass arrests and repression of our rights. Trump will use the same excuse to carry out deportations and send soldiers to Syria and Lebanon.
We are raising this because the victims and their families do not deserve this. And because none of the false flags or lies about immigrants will do anything to improve the conditions or safety of the US working class. They are used to justify militarism, impoverishment and repression for us all.
Today’s tragic attack requires a thorough and transparent investigation. Any assistance families need should be given immediately. In order to honor the victims, we must be vigilant not to allow their loss to be used to create more fear, violence, racism and war.