Disinfo Roundtable: US Terrorist Bombings
12/09/2001
Dear Friends,
The tragic bomb attacks on New York City and Washington DC on September 11 2001 have raised many disturbing questions, and like Florida 2000, prompted me to assemble a Disinfo.com "roundtable" of analyses, comments and responses.
This email is an invitation for you to add your thoughts to the growing list, which I'll be publishing when our NYC-based servers come back on-line. I publish responses "as-is" with a brief by-line and email/web site link if provided by you. Some possible avenues:
1. What are the ramifications for the US domestic situation?
2. How will this incident affect plans for an NMD?
3. Should US humint (human intelligence-gathering) resources be strengthened? Was this a failure by US humint to predict and prepare for "blowback"?
4. What implications are there for US media coverage? Is the US press relying on "jihad" framing as an explanation?
5. How will this incident affect the geopolitical "balance of power"?
Please send any responses to .
Due to some trans-Pacific difficulties, I've not had access to email since August 16 (which is why you may not have heard from me). Please use for any regular correspondence until further notice.
Here are some examples of our roundtable format:
Disinformation Roundtable: Votescam in Florida?
http://www.disinfo.com/pages/article/id514/pg1/
Will Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
http://www.disinfo.com/pages/article/id1109/pg1/
Three resources of interest: Susan D. Moeller's excellent book "Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death" (New York: Routledge, 1998) explains why US press coverage of international relations is so poor, and also details the four-stage "reportage cycle" that is now unfolding on our television screens. Moeller's book is crucial to understanding what "frames" and metaphors the US media has utilized over the past 24 hours. Lloyd deMause's Psychohistory.com site has some interesting papers on symbol analysis and war reportage. National Values Center cofounders Dr. Don Beck and Chris Cowan have written an informative "multidimensional" paper on terrorism and values systems:
Thanks for your time and considering this request. I hope that you, family, and friends are safe.
