Monday, May 05, 2008

By Joseph Farah

The FBI is warning us, through its Project Megiddo report, that right-wing Christians are dangerous terrorists prone to incite violence in the weeks ahead.

This warning is more than slanderous, bigoted and inciteful. It needs to be understood in context. That context is that the FBI has set up a system of self-fulfilling prophecies that permits the government to scapegoat groups of people who are enticed into committing illegal acts or conspiring about them by agents provocateur.

Whether the groups are organized militia outfits, Christian Identity, the White Aryan Resistance movement or some other misfit, would-be "terrorists," the tentacles of funding, control and conspiracy always seem to lead right back to the government -- whether it's the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms or some other similar agency.

This is the case with the most dramatic bombings in the recent history of our country -- from Oklahoma City to the World Trade Center.

On behalf of the BATF, Carol Howe infiltrated Timothy McVeigh's cell while it prepared to blow up federal buildings. She tried to testify at McVeigh's trial to tell what she knew about the conspiracy behind it and was thanked for her troubles with an indictment. Anyone who believes McVeigh was the mastermind of that operation is either poorly informed or a certified fool.

Howe identified as a participant in the plot a German former intelligence officer named Andreas Strassmeier. While in the U.S., he enjoyed full diplomatic immunity, carrying concealed weapons, talking about bombing the Murrah Building and practicing with explosives. Reporter Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the London Telegraph called Strassmeier after he returned to Germany. Here's how that conversation went, according to Evans-Pritchard's book, "The Secret Life of Bill Clinton."

Evans-Pritchard: "There comes a time in every botched operation when the informant has to speak out to save his own skin, and that's now, Andreas."

Strassmeier: "How can he? What happens if it was a sting operation from the very beginning? What happens if it comes out that the plant was a provocateur?"

Evans-Pritchard: "A provocateur?"

Strassmeier: "What if he talked and manipulated the others into it. ... The relatives of the victims are going to go crazy. He's going to be held responsible for the murder of 168 people. ... Of course the informant can't come forward. He's scared ... right now."

The most sensible conclusion anyone came to after examining evidence like this is that the Oklahoma City bombing was a sting operation that went wrong.

But, incredibly, the same conclusion can be drawn about the World Trade Center bombing.

According to tapes played at the trial of the "terrorists" in that case, the FBI planted Emad A. Salem to infiltrate an Arab group in New York. His job was to act, again, as an agent provocateur -- inciting violent attacks. It was Salem who convinced the other participants to bomb the World Trade Center. When he was asked to assemble the bomb, he went to the FBI to ask for harmless powder to avoid a catastrophe. The FBI essentially cut him off. To make a long, complicated story short and simple: The FBI spent $3 million of your tax money to blow up the World Trade Center.

The story's essentially the same at Waco, Ruby Ridge and other government-made disasters. This week we learned the FBI has spent a year involved in a militia cell in California "investigating" a plot to blow up a propane facility in hopes of sparking martial law. I won't be shocked to learn later that FBI agents were leading these so-called militiamen down the primrose path -- actually inviting terrorist activity, encouraging it, paying for it.

When will this insanity end? What is the overall objective of the FBI and government? Are these activities actually designed to thwart terrorism or encourage it? Who benefits most from terrorist activity?

Americans might be shocked to learn that their government is involved in such escapades. But those who study history should expect such things. It's been going on since the beginning of time. Planting seeds of fear among the people only helps those in government remain in power and grab more control over people's lives.

Remember this the next time you hear about a so-called "terrorist incident." And, tell your representatives and senators it's time to rein in the mad bombers and provocateurs in our own government.