HEIGHTENED WORLDWIDE INTEREST OF LATE: A WEEK IN THE LIFE

HEIGHTENED WORLDWIDE INTEREST OF LATE: A WEEK IN THE LIFE

by James Hufferd, Ph.D.

Coordinator, 911 Truth Grassroots Organization

     One of those unexplained things – last week, chronologically in the wake of the president’s Osama bin Laden bombshell – was  simply astounding for me.  I had no more than posted my modest and moderate commentary thereupon on the 911 Truth Grassroots web site (www.911grassroots.org) – indecisive in its conclusions due to a near-total lack of evidence to judge by – when things started happening fast. First, I received an email out of the blue from a programme producer at BBC in London inviting me to participate in a live on-air “interview” (which turned out to be a panel discussion), topic not stated. Never even thinking that it could be a joke, I responded that I would, of course, be honored and delighted to participate.

     Then, within about an hour, I received a phone call from Johannesburg, requesting an interview (which did turn out to be a half-hour taped actual interview to be aired a few days hence in 154 countries) by Channel Islam International Radio.

     The BBC discussion turned out to be a bust. The panel consisted of two or three complete government mouthpieces, all British, and me, introduced as representing the 911 Truth Movement. The topic was what to make of The Incident. I said, when asked, that I had found it a confusing affair, especially in light of it being a killing without a body for any coroners or forensic experts to express findings concerning. (Forensic experts demurred later that to have extracted DNA even preliminarily analyzed would have required at a minimum two days.) I had no more than said this when one of the other participants abruptly identified me as a “conspiracy theorist” and stated that my ilk could never be persuaded by reasonable arguments. A bit taken aback, I tried to break into the succeeding  staccato rapid fire of English-accented points and counterpoints a minute later to object that I probably could be persuaded by some bona fide forensic experts’ evidence-based judgments , but found that my microphone had been turned off. A moment later, a man’s voice came on, calling me “Jack” and thanking me for my participation, followed by a dial tone. Fox News would have been proud as punch!

     I emailed the cordial female programme producer later to complain. She responded that she thought I’d made some good points (it must have been in my pre-airtime questionnaire), and said she would keep my contact info on file for possible future commentary.

     I was apprehensive, but my interview on the same topic the next day with Channel Islam International went like a dream. The host was actually more convinced that I that the Osama Killing Operation was really a ruse, its nature betrayed by the haste with which the “sea burial” – totally unmindful of Muslim practice – was ostensibly carried out. He followed by asking how I thought the incident fit into the larger context of dramatic happenings in the current Middle East, and I laid out precisely what I’d stated in my web site article. I even got to make a strong plug for rallies, signs, and chants boldly declaring that “Muslims Didn’t Do It!”, encouraging my Muslim listeners to so proclaim to the world, loud and proud – and learn to back it up with a recitation of the evidentiary facts.

     Then, a couple of days later, I received an email requesting an interview from a leading female print journalist in Brazil, who had interviewed Obama at the White House in ’09. She gave me a list of questions in advance, and was interested in a summary interpretation, from a 911 Truth point of view, of the events of September 11, ’01. I was careful not to interject my own personal views as representing all of 911 Truth.

     My recent comments and experiences have since become the subject of a leading columnist’s blog on the Des Moines Register web site, drawing an unexpected level of reader support, and my letter to the editor of the same paper finally made it into print yesterday, reminding that “justice” could hardly be served, as ubiquitously declared, when the man wantonly shot had neither been convicted nor charged with perpetrating the crimes of 9/11, due to a total lack of evidence of any such thing. That letter, sorry to say, has drawn little by catcalls and a flurry of unflattering names in its accompanying online blog.

     Additionally, closer to home, with our local monthly meeting coming up Wednesday night, my phone has been ringing off the hook with enthusiastic calls from our attendees -- far from the usual uninspiring silence.

     My take on all of this sudden, unbelievable surge? I’m inclined to believe that, even subliminally, there’s been a sudden new awakening of interest , curiosity, and, of necessity, doubt regarding the limited amount the U.S. and world public believes it knows about the background topic of 9/11. And, fleeting though it may prove to be, that’s our best environment in which to operate as an educational endeavor. So, let’s all make hay while we can!

     By the way – please check out the announcement of the upcoming and promising Toronto 9/11 Hearings, and the testimonial letter of one of the brand-new 911 Grassroots Organizers on our growing list, Daniel Cardenas, immediately below this article on our web site, www.911grassroots.org. And don’t forget to write!

Jlh / 5/17/11