Sunday, April 13, 2008

The World According to ANSWER

Yesterday, I reached all limits of being a political junkie by attending a speech sponsored by ANSWER Chicago. ANSWER is a group that I have only been familiar with because they are always in the middle of anti Iraq war rallies however the group is so much more than that. In fact, they have an entire ideology that looks to radically change our country around because in their view our country is not merely flawed but in fact a country built on a devious and false premise. Their ideology is part Ron Paul, part La Raza, and finally part Karl Marx, and if they had their way not only would the country change dramatically but likely wouldn't survive for too long.

ANSWER (which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) sees the Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan as extension of an imperialist foreign policy. They see these two conflicts as extensions of the U.S. plans to not only colonialize the Middle East but to control oil. In fact, ANSWER sees very little difference between the Republicans and the Democrats. In fact, they see this as a systemic imperialistic foreign policy that frankly in their perspective goes back to the late 1950's. That's when Iraq went through a revolution and freed itself from British rule.

In the mind of ANSWER, the dots of this Iraq war connect to events like the Afghan war in the eighties, our military presence in Lebanon in the '80's, and of course our continued to support of Israel. To ANSWER Israel is nothing more than our proxy in the Middle East. ANSWER believes that we should be more even handed in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and that of course is code for giving the Palestinians what they want. That's because ANSWER doesn't see much legitimacy in Israel in the first place. To them, Israel is nothing more than a U.S. creation for geopolitical reasons in the Middle East.

If ANSWER had their way, we would withdraw all our military capabilities from the Middle East and begin significant dialogue with most of the countries that we now consider our enemies: Syria, Iran, and of course Palestine. Furthermore, our plans in the Middle East are part of a larger imperialist foreign policy in the world. They saw the disintegration of the Soviet Union as nothing more than an attempt by the U.S. to create one super power. In fact, they believe that the U.S. has the same plans for China.

Furthermore, ANSWER sees most free trade pacts as an extension of our own imperialism. In fact, they see Colombia as the Israel of South America. That is another U.S. puppet meant to extend our interests there. To them, Hugo Chavez is not thug but rather a populist leader that has brought great good to many in his nation. They see our aggression against him not as trying to limit the spread of Marxist ideology and tyranny in South America but rather as another imperialist aggressive action against a legitimate leader.

This brings me to the Marxist ideology. ANSWER sees capitalism as flawed and Marxism as the proper economic system. Throughout the speech, the environment was constantly pointed to as a casualty of capitalism. They see capitalism much like Marx did, and that is a system that benefits the few at the expense of the many. They take many of today's problems: the weak dollar, the housing crisis, high gas prices, and food prices as proof of the flaws of capitalism.

Finally, ANSWER believes that all illegal immigrants should have full citizenship rights, and in fact, they see opposition to them as nothing more than racism. In fact, the Racism in ANSWER is a euphemism for legalizing illegal immigrants. Of course, it goes without saying that ILLEGAL immigrants are merely referred to as immigrants.

So, in conclusion, this is a group that wants us to retreat from the world. Recognize our enemies not as thugs but as honest partners in dialogue. They see any and all free trade agreements as nothing more than part of an imperialistic foreign policy and thus would retreat from free trade. They want to create a nanny state and open our borders wide to all including those that we would cut off free trade to. Now, imagine how quickly the U.S. would disintegrate if ANSWER actually got its wish.

This is important because ANSWER is behind not only many of the anti Iraq war rallies but were a major organizer of the illegal immigrant marches. Many of their protests draw hundreds of thousands. Most of the protestors have no idea what their entire agenda is. This group sees our country as not merely flawed, but as created by miscreants. In fact, the speaker took several shots at our founding fathers, and made sure to mention that most were slave owners.

I found much of the group's philosophy and the speaker especially to be built on hubris, delusion and hypocrisy. For instance, while everything that the U.S. does is always imperialistic, Saddam was excused for his aggressive action in Kuwait in 1990 because most Iraqis felt that Kuwait was part of Iraq. In other words, in the view of ANSWER every U.S. foreign policy maneuver is imperialistic, but Saddam was perfectly within his rights to invade Kuwait. I suppose by that extension Mexico should cede Texas since most Mexicans feel the same way about that state.

The speaker proceeded to tell me , a mortgage broker, was wrong about the roots of the mortgage crisis. He cut me off and went on a long rant that made the crisis a conspiracy theory between the Fed and the large banks. While ANSWER remains a fringe group, its goals must not be minimized. They were successful in rallying hundreds of thousands to the illegal immigrant marches. Their anti war rallies also attract thousands. Anyone that gets into bed with them must know their entire ideology, as it is dangerous and must be confronted.

2 comments:

  1. Sadaam invaded Kuwait in 1990.

    I compliment you to sit through that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Doesn’t the jpeg below look strikingly similar to what the U.S. did to that re-entering satellite several weeks ago? (See jpeg at Amazon.com, Borders.com or Barnesandnoble.com.)


    Publisher’s Note: Our author had it right in 1987, but couldn’t get published because they said the events he predicted could not possibly happen. Well, they did, and we finally published him when we discovered the manuscript. Mr. Spirko tells us that Bush’s motive for trying the peace initiative is not so much his seeking a favorable legacy, but rather that this is probably the last chance for peace in the Middle East before a catastrophic World War III event takes place. Spirko says, “It is never too late for peace.” Most of the ideas that will be used at Annapolis and the continuing peace talks are from Spirko’s book.


    SAN FRANCISCO – THE PALESTINE CONSPIRACY, a genre spy-thriller by Robert Spirko, is now in its second printing and was fourth on the best-seller list at Atlasbooks, Inc., a national book distributor. Ingram Books is the worldwide distributor.

    Spirko, a financial and geo-political analyst who has given his advice to the National Security Council, turned his attention to the Middle East in 1987, after discovering several common elements related to the Middle East question. He wrote down his analysis, and when he was finished, he not only had a solution to the quagmire, he had a story to tell. THE PALESTINE CONSPIRACY foreshadowed the Persian Gulf War by three years, and the resultant Iraq War followed by the Sept. 11 attack.

    Spirko states, "The chief threat in the region I see right now is the threat to Saudi Arabia by Iran and Al Qaeda. If Al Qaeda were to overthrow the present royal family in Saudi Arabia or attack the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off the oil supply to western nations including Japan and China, it would bring down entire world economies. France and Germany would be begging us to go to war to retake those oil wells. It would be World War III."

    “If such a scenario were to occur,” he reiterates, “France and the European economies would collapse in a matter of weeks.”

    “Another looming concern is Iran which wants to develop nuclear weapons to couple with their Shahab 4, 5 & 6 missiles on the drawing boards which have a range to hit London, Israel, all of Europe, southern Russia and the United States. Also, the Iranian government has said it initially had 300 centrifuges to enrich uranium to weapons grade material. They have increased that to 3,000. They will soon increase that again to 10,000 centrifuges,” Spirko says. “They have the additional capacity to add another 20,000 centrifuges in mass production techniques that will enable them to produce at least seven nuclear bombs in about a year. Where did they get these centrifuges?”

    Spirko answers that question by stating an Arab proverb, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

    “Simply put,” Spirko explains, “they probably got them from Saddam Hussein before the Iraq War started and were probably smuggled out of Iraq and into Iran just like he did his air force of 600 Soviet fighter planes. In other words, he gave them to his former enemy rather than let them be destroyed on the ground.”

    “Why would he have done any differently with the 30,000 centrifuges he supposedly had on a decentralized basis inside Iraq before the war?” Spirko asks. “Isn’t it strange that Iran could come up with a nuclear weapons program in about six months to a year when it took the United States six years under the Manhattan Project with 5,000 of the world’s most brilliant scientists like Robert Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr, Seaborg, Einstein, Fermi, and others working on it?”

    Another point Spirko makes on the Mideast is that, “It is time for the Israelis and Palestinians to return to the Peace Talks, resume where they left off and "freeze in place" the already-agreed-upon negotiating points,” Spirko says.

    "And, it's all related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict which I said back in 1987 was the crux of my book. It always has been, and always will be until it's settled,” Spirko says. “That linkage is exactly what Osama Bin Laden stated in a taped message aired the weekend before the election in November of 2004. Whether you believe him or not is beside the point. That's what's he told us, and we'd better take that into account."

    The novel is a mass market paperback produced by Olive Grove Publishers, and can be purchased at area bookstores through Ingram Book Group, New Leaf Distribution, and Baker and Taylor, priced at $14.99, ISBN 0-9752508-0-9. THE PALESTINE CONSPIRACY can also be ordered on the web at www.atlasbooks.com, or email orders from: order@bookmasters.com, or from Barnes & Nobles, Border's, Dalton's, efollett.com & Follett bookstores at colleges and universities, WaldenBooks, Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Target.com and other popular retail bookstores. Or, readers and store managers can call 1-800-BOOKLOG, or 800-247-6553 direct, to order.

    SAN FRANCISCO - When it comes to spy novels and Middle East intrigue, after 16 spell-binding years, the gripping story behind the Middle East quagmire - its issues of nuclear weapons and the quest for a Palestinian State - is finally being told in a ground-breaking new book entitled, THE PALESTINE CONSPIRACY.

    Author Robert Spirko created the work in such a way that every reader in the world would understand all the intricate issues in the Middle East and how close the region actually came to the brink of nuclear Armageddon. THE PALESTINE CONSPIRACY, a genre spy-thriller by Robert Spirko, was fourth on the best-seller list at Atlasbooks, Inc., a national book distributor. Ingram Books is the worldwide distributor.

    Mr. Spirko has a unique way of holding the reader in his grasp as the plot of THE PALESTINE CONSPIRACY unfolds. He literally takes you from your armchair and immerses you into the lifestyle of the Bedouin, the Israeli, the PLO and the mindset of the Middle-Easterner.

    THE PALESTINE CONSPIRACY is not just another spy-novel; it is the quintessential spy-thriller because it forces the reader to understand how both sides "think" and why that thinking ultimately led to repeated wars in the Middle East.

    Spirko, a financial and geo-political analyst, turned his attention to the Middle East in 1987, after discovering several common elements related to the Middle East question. In working for peace, and after several frustrating years, he put down his analysis in writing and when he was finished, he not only had a solution to the quagmire, he had a story to tell.

    But, nobody was listening.

    Today, all that has changed, thanks to Olive Grove Publishers who decided to give his book a chance.

    When the Palestinian question came to a festering crisis in 1990, he had already predicted several of the actual events before they occurred. For instance, Spirko predicted the Intifada and Persian Gulf War, missing the actual invasion date of Kuwait by only one week. He did this through spectacular supposition, analysis and prediction based on what he was "seeing" in the region.

    When Spirko typed his manuscript, he set the work to fiction, about what he thought might occur soon in the Middle East involving weapons of mass destruction, nuclear proliferation, the Palestinian uprising before it occurred, and how the Palestinian question begged to be answered, little did he realize that every event he described in the book would eventually transpire.

    His story of what was really happening behind the scenes in the Middle East is truly astounding and remarkable, and his contribution to the Camp David Peace Talks in 2000, formulated a solution to the Jerusalem question. When the BBC got wind of it, they termed it "as nothing short of brilliant" - Jerusalem becoming the simultaneous capitals of both Israel and Palestine in congruous or concentric zones.

    Spirko originally copyrighted his book on October 20, 1987, in the U. S.
    Library of Congress where intelligence agencies reviewed his work.

    Today, finally, somebody is listening.

    Spirko feels that both sides must return to the Peace Talks and resume where they left off and "freeze in place" the already-agreed-upon negotiating points.

    “It's like a marriage where both spouses storm away mad in an argument.
    They don't divorce and then try to resume their relationship, they come back together, settle their differences, and resume their marriage. It must be the same for the Middle East Peace talks," Spirko says.

    The story begins in Beirut, Lebanon, once a great financial capital of the Middle East, which lay in ruin, having been systematically blasted to rubble during 20 years of inexhaustible civil war and siege by Israel, the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah and Lebanese factions. Soon, the quest for a Palestinian State would be framed by these events; namely, the invasion of Kuwait by a neighboring rogue state, Iraq, with Saddam Hussein's goal of seeking nuclear parity with Israel.

    In Mr. Spirko's story, Rick Waite, a forgotten UPI correspondent, and Adrienne Waters, a Pulitzer Prize journalist from the London Times, meet-up in Beirut with a PLO operative named Ahmed, who discovers a secret intelligence memo about a secret plan to destroy Israel.

    In the ensuing chase to find the answer to this secret communiqué and what it means, a deadly race against time begins as the unlikely trio tries to halt the launch of a secret weapon from a hidden PLO base camp in the Syrian Desert. U. S. and British intelligence operatives have their own agenda, and attempt to stop whatever is going on to save the entire region from a nuclear holocaust.

    Spirko weaves a tale of chilling duplicity and thrilling action, as the characters evade and devise a method to announce the discovery of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles to the rest of the world - all while United Nations' delegates bicker endlessly.

    An executive at BookMasters, Inc., says, "The book is absolutely stunning in the manner in which Mr. Spirko, tells his tale. He is truly a master as an analyst, and it's totally unlike anything else we've ever read in a spy-thriller. It keeps you turning pages and won't let you quit - until the very end. And, what an ending it is! If you crave twisting plots, thrilling spy-action and intriguing characters, then this is the book for you."

    Spirko, whose own background includes a stint in the U. S. Air Force and has given his advice to the National Security Council in Washington, D. C., has a degree in journalism and knows first-hand about the newsroom and what it takes to be an intelligence field agent. His knowledge of the trade makes the story real, daunting, and strikingly similar to "The Year of Living Dangerously."

    "THE PALESTINE CONSPIRACY drips with reality," quips a book reviewer from Olive Grove Publishers. "If books were rated by Siskel & Roeper, it would be given a two-thumbs up."

    Not since, Casablanca, do characters as earthy as Rick Waite, or as beautifully mysterious as London Times reporter, Adrienne Waters, or as desperate as PLO operative, Ahmed, bring fresh characters to a story that will be remembered by readers for a long time.

    The novel is a mass market paperback produced by Olive Grove Publishers, and can be purchased at area bookstores through Ingram Book Group, New Leaf Distribution, and Baker and Taylor, priced at $14.99, ISBN 0-9752508-0-9. THE PALESTINE CONSPIRACY can also be ordered on the web at www.atlasbooks.com, or email orders from: order@bookmasters.com, or from Barnes & Nobles, Border's, Dalton's, efollett.com & Follett bookstores at colleges and universities, WaldenBooks, Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Target.com and other popular retail bookstores. Or, readers and store managers can call 1-800-BOOKLOG, or 800-247-6553 direct, to order.

    For readers who want to know what was really going on in the Middle East prior to the Persian Gulf War, Sept. 11th, and Iraq War, THE PALESTINE CONSPIRACY, is a must read.

    ReplyDelete