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9/11 AND CHERTOFF:  COUSIN WROTE 9/11 PROPAGANDA FOR PM

by Christopher Bollyn

Date: Friday, 4 March 2005, 1:36 p.m.

HOW THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION USES NEPOTISM
TO CONCEAL ITS DARK SECRETS ABOUT 9/11

By Christopher Bollyn
Exclusive to American Free Press

Dictators like Saddam Hussein have always used nepotism to protect their secrets and maintain control. Like a dictatorship, the inner cabal that directs the actions of the Bush administration uses the same tactics to confuse the public and conceal the truth of 9/11.

Dictators have always employed nepotism, the placing of family members in key positions, for one simple reason: only loyal family members can be trusted with the secrets that keep them in power. For this reason the shameless nepotism of the Bush administration should alarm Americans because it indicates that a dictatorship is encroaching upon the United States.

The Defense Department defines nepotism as the situation when relatives are in the same chain-of-command.

An egregious example of dictatorial-style nepotism occurred when George W. Bush won the White House – twice – thanks to the key "swing state" of Florida, where the presidential candidate's younger brother is governor. In 2000 and 2004, against all odds, Florida swung decisively, the Bush way.

The official canvass from the 2004 election in Florida, certified less than a fortnight after the election by three hand-picked lieutenants of Governor Jeb Bush, shows Republican Members of Congress winning, such as Tom Feeney, without congressional seats without even appearing on the ballot. In other races, a handful of candidates for the Florida state house won with 100 percent of the vote against write-in candidates who didn't even receive 1 vote.

With high federal offices being given to the wives, sons and daughters of senior members of the Bush administration, the Hearst Corporation executives that publish Popular Mechanics magazine probably didn't worry about the ethical considerations of hiring a cousin of Michael Chertoff, a former Assistant Attorney General and the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as senior researcher.

But the March 2005 issue of Popular Mechanics (PM) plumbs new depths of nepotism and Hearst-style "yellow journalism" with its cover story about 9/11. PM's senior researcher, 25-year-old Benjamin Chertoff, authored a propagandistic cover story entitled "Debunking 9/11 Lies" which seeks to discredit all independent 9/11 research that challenges the official version of events.

"Conspiracy theories can't stand up to the hard facts," the cover reads. "After an in-depth investigation, PM answers with the truth," it says. But the article fails to provide evidence to support its claims and doesn't answer the key question: What caused the collapses of the twin towers and the 47-story World Trade Center 7?

The lead editorial by James Meigs, Editor-in-Chief of PM carries the title "The Lies Are Out There." It continues: "As a society we accept the basic premise that a group of Islamist terrorists hijacked four airplanes and turned them into weapons against us."

But do we, "as a society" accept this basic premise? None of the 19 "Islamist terrorists" were even found on the passenger lists that day.

"Sadly," Meigs continues, "the noble search for truth is now being hijacked by a growing army of conspiracy theorists."

What Meigs fails to acknowledge is that while the fact that a conspiracy is behind the 9/11 attacks is obvious, the question being raised by independent researchers is: Who was involved in this conspiracy?

The Meigs' editorial concludes, "But those who peddle fantasies that this country encouraged, permitted or actually carried out the attacks are libeling the truth – and disgracing the memories of the thousands who died on that day."

Nobody says that the United States of America did anything on 9/11, Mr. Meigs. "This country," the USA doesn't do anything, Mr. Meigs, people do. In the case of 9/11 we are dealing with a very small group of people, perhaps no more than a dozen or so at the highest "architectural" level, and there is no guarantee that they are from any one country – most likely they are not.

The Chertoff article goes on to confront the "poisonous claims" of 16 "myths" spun by "extremist" 9/11 researchers like myself with "irrefutable facts," mostly provided by individuals in the employ of the U.S. government.

But who is Benjamin Chertoff, the "senior researcher" at Popular Mechanics who is behind the article? American Free Press has learned that he is none other than a cousin of Michael Chertoff, the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

This means that Hearst paid Benjamin Chertoff to write an article supporting the seriously flawed explanation that is based on a practically non-existent investigation of the terror event that directly led to the creation of the massive national security department his "cousin" now heads. This is exactly the kind of "journalism" one would expect to find in a dictatorship like that of Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Because the manager of public relations for Popular Mechanics didn't respond to repeated calls from American Free Press, I called Benjamin Chertoff, the magazine's "senior researcher," directly.

Chertoff said he was the "senior researcher" of the piece. When asked if he was related to Michael Chertoff, he said, "I don't know." Clearly uncomfortable about discussing the matter further, he told me that all questions about the article should be put to the publicist – the one who never answers the phone.

Benjamin's mother in Pelham, New York, however, was more willing to talk. Asked if Benjamin was related to the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Judy said, "Yes, of course, he is a cousin."

Finis


Ben Chertoff of Popular Mechanics - Cousin of Homeland Security Director, Michael Chertoff

From: Christopher Bollyn, American Free Press, Washington, D.C.
To: Mr. Art Bell, Coast to Coast Radio
Date: March 4, 2005

Re: Upcoming Radio Interview with 9/11 Propagandist
Benjamin Chertoff, cousin of Michael Chertoff, on Saturday, March 5, 2005

Dear Mr. Bell,

I see that you will interview Benjamin Chertoff, the 25-year-old "senior researcher" of Popular Mechanics and his research and role in producing the current cover story "Debunking the Lies of 9/11," on your show tomorrow night, Saturday, March 5.

As your Coast to Coast network website says about the upcoming Art Bell show: "Research editor for Popular Mechanics magazine, Ben Chertoff, will discuss the 16 most prevalent claims made by conspiratorial theorists regarding 9/11 and how the staff of Popular Mechanics debunked each of them."

COUSIN OF MICHAEL CHERTOFF

Because Benjamin Chertoff is a cousin of Michael Chertoff, the new head of the Dept. of Homeland Security, a massive bureaucratic security agency created as a result of 9/11, I'd like to ask you a few questions:

Do you condone the flagrant and undemocratic nepotism of the Bush administration, for example this Chertoff connection, whereby a senior government official's cousin has written a propaganda piece supporting the government's seriously flawed and incomplete investigation of the events of 9/11?

This is the kind of thing that Saddam Hussein was known for. This is not very American and at all honest journalism.

Will you ask Ben Chertoff about the journalistic ethics practiced by Hearst Corp. and Popular Mechanics in which a cousin of the "homeland security" czar has produced a major propaganda piece in Popular Mechanics which clearly seeks to discredit the citizens' 9/11 investigation and calls serious researchers like myself, Eric Hufschmid, and Dave von Kleist - liars and extremists?

Will you ask Ben, Popular Mechanics "senior researcher" about how "secondary fires" i.e. burning office furniture, supplies and paper, "induced the collapse" of the twin towers, as the FEMA-Building Performance Study conducted by a team headed by Dr. Gene Corely during ONE WEEK, concluded - including the complete collapse of the towers' 47 central columns? (Source: Executive Summary by Gene Corley, FEMA-BPS 2002)

I would advise you to ask him why the Windsor Building in Madrid endured a 24-hour inferno with temperatures of 1,000 Celsius, without collapsing, on Feb. 12-13, 2005.

Will you, on coast-to-coast radio ask Ben about his relationship with his cousin Michael Chertoff. And will you also ask about Mike's dual-national status as an Israeli national by virtue of the fact that his mother was the first hostess with Israel's El Al airlines and a Mossad operative in 1949-1950 during Operation Magic Carpet?

Tip: Ben's mom told me that Ben is a "cousin" of Michael Chertoff, the Sec. of DHS. Ben's mom, Judy Dargan, can be reached in Pelham, New York, where Ben graduated from high school in 1998. Judy told me that Ben's dad is Larry Chertoff. I think he is a senior executive with the NY EPA and deals with water issues, but I have not confirmed that.

For more information about Benjamin Chertoff and his ties to Michael Chertoff - and Michael's ties to Israel - and Mossad - please read the following:

9/11 AND CHERTOFF: COUSIN WROTE 9/11 PROPAGANDA FOR PM

CONTROLLED PRESS HIDES CHERTOFF'S ISRAELI ROOTS by C. Bollyn (AFP)

WILL ART BELL ASK BEN CHERTOFF ABOUT HIS TIES TO DHS?

Mr. Bell, I will be listening. If you fail to openly address and discuss these essential and troublesome facts, I will be forced to accept the conclusion that you are also part of the 9/11 cover up.

Respectfully,

Christopher Bollyn
American Free Press
Washington, D.C.
www.americanfreepress.net
 

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