-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I didn't say 'invalidates,' I said 'renders dubious.' There's a difference.
So far, that's the only place I've seen that book reviewed.. but I'll keep looking.
It is, though, my general opinion that if you find a source which is frequently (primarily) quoted by nutballs, it's likely a nutball source.
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
This was the most interesting part of this article, the rest is mostly names places and alleged negotiations.
quote:By way of corroboration, one should note the curious fact that neither the Clinton administration nor the Bush administration ever placed Afghanistan on the official State Department list of states charged with sponsoring terrorism, despite the acknowledged presence of Osama bin Laden as a guest of the Taliban regime. Such a designation would have made it impossible for an American oil or construction company to sign a deal with Kabul for a pipeline to the Central Asian oil and gas fields.
It's like... oh, the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." A source frequently quoted by all sorts of nutball groups to 'prove' that the Jews are out to take over the world, slay all the goyim, and sacrifice people to Satan. That the book is entirely fictional, and well-debunked, is generally ignored or not even known. But sometimes, even semi-rational people quote from it.
Anyway, I just went and seached for more reviews of this book. Though most were either simple statements of the books existence, (or worse, their "review" just restated what the book said with no critical analysis) and most were on what I could generously call 'fringe' sites, "astrologyforthepeople" and "freemasonwatch" for two... there were a few balanced reviews.
[ March 05, 2002, 13:32: Message edited by: First of Two ]
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Strange, this reminds me of a news report I saw today regarding a Russian businessman, Boris Berezovsky, who is now in London and making claims that the 1999 bombings of some blocks of flats in Russia, blamed on Chechen-backed Islamic terrorists, which led to an offensive against Chechnya and fostered a mood that lead to the election of Vladimir Putin, was actually carried out by elements of the Russian government. He can't prove - and oesn't really suugest - that Putin was directly involved or instigated the act, just that a firm intention was to help him come to power.
posted
That was the only review he found that he could find a way to sound sincere about giving us a review, but be able to discredit at the end. Strangely he then finds another review, quickly that totally discredits the book, and from some posslbe leftwing entity. Makes you wonder if he's not from the OSI.
-------------------- "and none of your usual boobery." M. Burns
Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Actually, the second review was the only "review" I could find, since LJ and PW don't seem to have reviewed it yet. None of the others were real reviews, just restatements of the contents.
The newspaper says that the OSI (or at least, the rumors about it) proved so unpopular that the Pentagon has already given up on the idea.
Of course, the fringies will say "See? It's the disinformation campaign! It's already STARTED!!" *gasp* *boggle*
Then they'll all put on their Nikes, eat their pudding, and have a nice, long rest.
[ March 06, 2002, 12:14: Message edited by: First of Two ]
Registered: Mar 1999
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-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Remind me never to hire you as a research librarian there Robespierre.
Your link, first article:
quote:U.S. Policy on Taliban Influenced by Oil" By Julio Godoy
(first two paragraphs)
Under the influence of United States oil companies, the government of President George W. Bush initially blocked intelligence agencies' investigations on terrorism while it bargained with the Taliban on the delivery of Osama bin Laden in exchange for political recognition and economic aid, two French intelligence analysts claim.
In the book, "Bin Laden, La Verite Interdite" (Bin Laden, the Forbidden Truth), that was released recently, the authors, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Deputy Director John O'Neill resigned in July in protest over the obstruction.
which is, let's see, copywrited 2001 Asia Times Online Co. Ltd
My Asia Times link:
quote:US policy on Taliban influenced by oil - authors By Julio Godoy
(first two paragraphs)
PARIS - Under the influence of United States oil companies, the government of President George W Bush initially blocked intelligence agencies' investigations on terrorism while it bargained with the Taliban on the delivery of Osama bin Laden in exchange for political recognition and economic aid, two French intelligence analysts claim.
In the book Bin Laden, la verite interdite (Bin Laden, the forbidden truth), that was released recently, the authors, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, reveal that the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) deputy director John O'Neill resigned in July in protest over the obstruction.
Your link, second article:
quote:U.S. Efforts to Make Peace Summed up by 'OIL' By Lara Marlowe
(first two paragraphs)
The fate of John O'Neill, the Irish-American FBI agent who for years led U.S. investigations into Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, is the most chilling revelation in the book Bin Laden: The Hidden Truth, published in Paris this week.
O'Neill investigated the bombings of the World Trade Centre in 1993, a US base in Saudi Arabia in 1996, the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam in 1998, and the USS Cole last year.
oddly enough, this was copywrited 2001 ireland.com.
My Irish Times link:
quote:US efforts to make peace summed up by 'oil'
A new book alleges years of attempts to arrest Osama bin Laden being blocked by the US , one of the authors tells Lara Marlowe
(first two paragraphs)
ANALYSIS: The fate of John O'Neill, the Irish-American FBI agent who for years led US investigations into Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, is the most chilling revelation in the book Bin Laden: The Hidden Truth, published in Paris this week.
O'Neill investigated the bombings of the World Trade Centre in 1993, a US base in Saudi Arabia in 1996, the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam in 1998, and the USS Cole last year.
The only one you missed re-posting is the article by Dr. Firoz Osman on the Islam Web link.
The Truthout link is a double of the Godoy article.
For full disclosure, the Lara Marlowe on Serendipity does contain an extra paragraph or two, but not enough for anyone to call them different articles.
The Asia Times and the Irish Times are what I like to call root links. I posted these to allow the reader more information about the entity that ran the article...and which you, Rob, apparently did not read.
Even when I said they were the same.
Odd that.
[ March 06, 2002, 19:22: Message edited by: Jay the Obscure ]
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Has it ever occurred to you, way down deep in the dark crannies of your cerebral cortex, that I said "reviews _I_ found" because your reviews had already been posted, and I was looking on DIFFERENT sites?
Just because the articles quoted are from the same source file does NOT mean that the URL's or the surrounding materials are the same, which is what I was getting at.
If two people writing books/articles/webpages about the same topic both quote the same source, this to be EXPECTED, it is NOT bad research. It is the convergence of similar sets.
The fact that the webpages drew from the same sources means virtually nil. The actual COMMENT on the pages, ABOUT the article abstract is what's relevant, NOT the abstract itself.
For instance, you'll notice that the "serendipity" article LEAVES OUT the part of the review in the Irish Times that says:
quote: "Less convincingly, they conjecture that the September 11th suicide attacks were the result of the failure of those negotiations."
They also leave out this entire bit:
quote:For the Taliban - assuming its leadership had advance knowledge of the suicide attacks - September 11th was a sort of pre-emptive strike.
Brisard and Dasqui� claim a significant part of the Saudi royal family supports bin Laden. "Saudi Arabia has always protected bin Laden - or protected itself from him," says Brisard. He points out that attacks inside the kingdom targeted US interests, never the Saudis.
Khalid bin Mahfouz is the former chairman of the kingdom's biggest bank, the National Commercial Bank, who, with 10 family members received Irish citizenship in December 1990. Brisard and Dasqui� call him "the banker of terror".
The 73-year-old Mahfouz is now under house arrest in the Saudi resort of Taif, accused by the FBI and CIA of having diverted $2 billion to Islamic charities that helped bin Laden.
I notice you make no mention of my second post. Good. That's the one I actually found a REVIEW in, after all.
[ March 07, 2002, 12:59: Message edited by: First of Two ]
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
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