from the bigdumbHoosier Archive - 09.20.2001
Mercenaries
The September 11th attack on the World Trade Center killed thousands and has taken us to the brink of war against a shadowy network of terrorist, insurgent and more or less revolutionary organizations. But what motivated the attack? It was a vicious, callous, immoral act; but there's no denying that it was also conceived and executed with extensive planning and suicidal dedication.
no credit, no demands
It's easy to point to the targets (the airline companies as well as the towers) and say they are 'symbols' of American culture, ideals and economic might. It's easy to say the attackers are Islamic fundamentalists, and yet there is not even a suggestion that any prominent Islamic cleric is in any way involved.
It's easy to underestimate your enemy, and it's very dangerous. The attackers made every effort to shroud their identities. If they were politically motivated, wouldn't they take 'credit' or at least make demands? If we were attacked by a deranged zealot, would we expect silence or bombast? We hear no bragging, only denials. We receive no demands. The obvious explanations simply aren't very satisfying.
Some will say, "yes, but things are different now." I don't believe that. Technology changes, but the basic things that motivate people to violence and destruction do not.
The motive behind this atrocity is now beginning to take shape and it is even more shocking than zealotry, jingoism or mere megalomania. It's a motive as old as crime. They did it for money.
a dirty war
It's recently been revealed that an extraordinary number of 'put' calls were made on UAL (parent company of United Airlines), American Airlines, Morgan Stanley, and several reinsurance companies.
A 'put' call is an option device for selling short. Simply stated, it's a market contract that bets that the value of a company's stock is going to drop. It's a risky game, assuming you're not illegally trading on inside information, but one that can be very profitable. Obviously, it's also quite vulnerable to insider trading. The extraordinary number of put calls placed on these targeted companies shortly before the attacks has only one reasonable interpretation - these so-called 'terrorists' are actually profiteers so ruthless and amoral that their behavior goes far beyond what even the most hardened capitalist would consider.
They knew that if their attack was successful, stock in the already struggling airlines would drop significantly. They knew the reinsurance companies (mostly European) would take significant losses in paying the huge number of claims. They knew that Morgan Stanley would be damaged simply by the loss of people and the value their talent represents to that company.
Thousands of lives snuffed out - millions of dollars in profit, all quickly laundered and rendered untraceable. Much of the money, no doubt, will be funneled back into future attacks. It seems unlikely that much of this money can be recovered. U.S. taxpayers will end up funding a bailout of the airlines. This may be necessary to preserve this important industry, but it means that we are indirectly funding the 'terrorist' attacks.
Nothing holy about this war - it's a dirty as they come.
call it organized crime
In fact, it's inaccurate to call these attacks terrorism, or even war. It's a huge, complex, and blood-soaked conspiracy motivated by profits. Murder, insider trading, money laundering, smuggling. Is this starting to sound familiar? Forget about religion, it's organized crime. "Terrorism" operates under the guise of religious piety, but it's really just a front, and a way to help recruit. Judged by their behavior these people are self-employed mercenaries. War is their business, and they know how to make it pay. They don't want peace.
One of the first actions that needs to be taken is that 'put' calls should be abolished, at least temporarily. The right to bet that a company's stock is going to tank is a right we can do without.
