Re: Your theory of Masood assasination for escalting the low level terrorist operation into the WTC horror is fascinating and has some elements of probability.
Emile, I've not put it that squarely... but, considering Masood's aura --according to Belgian Senator Josy Dubie, Masood cast a palpable spell around him-- it's quite plausible that, once his henchmen heard of his assassination, they switched to a prearranged Plan B targeted at the very symbols of US/Western imperialism.
As for the primary beneficiaries of the Sept 11 terrorist plot, the usual "unholy trinity" comes first: Europe/France, Israel, and Russia. To start with, all three share a common sociological backdrop: a Judeo-Christian culture that feels threatened along two frontlines: American junk consumerism and obscurant Islam. As regards Russia proper, I've elaborated its basic incentive in the following post:
Message 16415278
As regards Israel, it's also clear that pitting the US against the Muslim world is likely one of Israel's key tenets in its war of attrition against its Arab neighbors. The worst thing that might unfold for Israel is a normalization between the US and the Arab world --both politically and culturally speaking. Hence the Jewish/Israeli lobby's unremitting endeavour to antagonize the US vis-a-vis the Muslim/Arab world and their current attempt to cast the Sept 11 attacks as an assault of Islamic barbarity on Western civilization. Indeed, for Sharon and his gang, no holds barred!
As regards France, one should first keep in mind the historical friendship between France and Russia that dates back to General De Gaulle... France's jingoist/sovereignist faction leans more towards Russia than towards the US. Former Minister and presidential hopeful Charles Pasqua is a personal friend of General Alexander Lebed. Actually, Charles Pasqua is at the center of a loose network of (far-)rightist politicos and wheelers-and-dealers from Russia, israel and his native Corsica. Hence the French referring to "les reseaux Pasqua" (the Pasqua Connection). Here's a link:
operation-angola.com
Furthermore, we should notice that all of Masood's high-profile visitors during the past two years came from France and her Belgian bailiwick: Jean-Francois Deniau, General Morillon (who was UN Commander-in-Chief in Bosnia), Belgian Senator Josy Dubie, etc. Not to mention Masood's red-carpet treatment in April 2001... So, although the incentive for France looks rather shaky, it's certainly not groundless: to be sure, Afghanistan is not --and never was-- in her sphere of influence... Yet, Africa has always been viewed by the French as their exclusive backyard. If the US gets heavily involved in Central Asia, the calculation goes, it won't probably overstretch into Africa... Next comes the Transatlantic lobby (Kissinger, Bilderberg and co) who, since the election of GW Bush, felt more and more uneasy about the growing rift between Europe and America: from WTO squabbles to the Kyoto accord to the missile-shield program. All the Bilderberg crowd needed was a common enemy --a surrogate Cold-War foe-- to reunite Uncle Sam and Ol'Ma Europe... Enter the (Islamic) Terrorist Bogey.
Here's a digest of my "Masood theory":
Message 16378676
Note that I don't believe that France and Israel expected the whole hijack scheme to swerve that far away... They'd have been too happy just to give the Yanks the thrill of domestic terrorism. However, I suspect the Russians --and especially former KGB insider Putin-- of anticipating Masood's wildcard twist to the whole plot... |
