An Interview with 9/11 Truth Activist Carol Brouillet

http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/680/

Written by Bob Feldman
Monday, 28 November 2005

A co-founder of both the International Media Project, Making Contact alternative media group and the Northern California 9-11 Truth Alliance, Carol Brouillet is one of the most energetic, creative and politically productive West Coast-based anti-war activists.

Toward Freedom: Since October 2001, you've been organizing weekly "Listening For Peace" anti-war protests in Downtown Palo Alto, California. In what various ways have people in Palo Alto responded to your weekly "Listening For Peace" actions during the last four years?

Carol Brouillet: In the wake of the passage of the PATRIOT Act, I thought it was important to exercise our First Amendment Rights, before they were gone, forever. I was inspired by a woman from Colombia who did a "Listening Project" there to defuse violence. I set up tables, chairs, banners, have free food, free literature, and educational materials on the tables. But mainly I try to get people to respond to 3 questions which haven't changed in 4 years: "What do you think/feel about the events of September 11th and the U.S. government's response? How could we defuse terrorism? How could we create a safer/better world for our children and all children?" I write down their responses, and usually by the time they have answered those questions, I have some idea of how receptive they will be to the information, ideas that I would like to share with them. Sometimes people come to help me, as listeners, or just to engage in discussions with people attracted to the table. Sometimes, I launch rallies or marches from my spot in Lytton Plaza. I do recruit volunteers who have helped me immeasurably to table at anti-war rallies, organize other events. Just to create a weekly time and place for serious discussion on the political issues that we find most important, I believe is my own idea of "public service."

Responses vary dramatically from the rare obscenities shouted by a passing SUV to intense, powerful hour-long conversations from which lasting friendships have been born. A friend would like to write a book, chronicling the notebooks filled with the varied responses to the questions. Some people have no clue as to what is happening and what they could do. Some people are very well informed and have brilliant ideas about solving the problems we face. Generally responses depend on where people are getting their information from; I do feel we are on the cusp of a media revolution, as the corporate press is rapidly losing whatever credibility it once had.

It is very noticeable how consciousness has risen over the past four years and I do feel my work is very much appreciated by the public, in general. At the last big anti-war rally, there were so many volunteers, that I was able to take a microphone and banner and actually participate in the whole march, while six or seven people minded the table. Now, the donations go into the Northern California 9-11 Truth Alliance account, the group meets twice a month and democratically votes on where to put our time, energy and resources; there is a 9-11 Truth community and I am glad to be a part of it.

TF: You wrote in a March 6, 2005 article that "only in 1992, after seeing the film JFK, did I begin to wake up, began researching the CIA, and became an activist." What did you discover by researching the CIA and do you think U.S. anti-war movement activists should be demanding that the CIA be abolished?

CB: I discovered Chomsky and Peter Dale Scott's work. Between terrorizing Third World countries and installing brutal military dictators and trafficking in drugs; it is fairly clear that the CIA is basically a ruthless criminal organization and deserves to be abolished. At least, there is an effort to shut down the School of the Americas. Frank Dorrell's Addicted to War comic book is the best tool we have to unmask the CIA and the US's dependence on a "War Economy."

TF: You also wrote that "for years I focused on `the global economy,' changing the monetary system, challenging the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO." Do you think there are any lessons for U.S. anti-war activists from the pre-September 11, 2001 street protests against the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO?

CB: I believe that 9-11 was, in many ways, a reaction to the success of the Global Justice Movement. 9-11 was an act of fear by a global elite who saw themselves losing power, who decided to use "terror" and "war" to maintain their power and frighten or silence dissent by re-labeling those opposed to government or corporate policies, "terrorists." Awful as the PATRIOT Act was, it was mirrored in the UK, Canada, countries throughout the world. Homeland Security, "the surveillance/security industry" is booming, mainly outside the US. The corruption, hypocrisy, Orwellian language is more flagrant than ever. But more people than ever are seeing through it and organizing opposition to it.

TF: In your March 6, 2005 article, you wrote that "those of us in the 9-11 Truth Movement hope that by exposing the truth about -9-11, we can end the `War Game,' once and for all." What led you to conclude that the Bush Administration's initial account of what actually happened on September 1, 2001 was false and how did anti-war activists go about creating the 9-11 Truth Movement?

CB: A friend of mine, Dave Ratcliffe, wrote a book called "UNDERSTANDING SPECIAL OPERATIONS And Their Impact on The Vietnam War Era:1989 Interview with L. Fletcher Prouty." In the film, JFK, Prouty "Mr. X" was played by Donald Sutherland and he patiently explained to the investigating attorney, Jim Garrison, how he thought the assassination of JFK bore all the "fingerprints" of a special operation. The same "fingerprints"- violation of standard operating procedures, the stand-down of the defenses of the US military, the quick cover story, the destruction of evidence and the cover-up, all point to the whole thing being a "black op." After receiving many emails, especially the ones by Michel Chossudovsky which viewed Al Qaeda as a CIA asset, and doing research on my own, listening to Michael Ruppert, it seems the most logical, feasible explanation of what happened.

The 9-11 Truth movement was born in many minds, in many places, but most visibly manifested on the internet. The march I organized on Senator Feinstein's office demanding a Congressional Investigation of 9-11, got some press coverage, and my indymedia article got a lot of attention; I began getting hundreds of emails a day on 9-11. Radio-journalists, Barrie Zwicker, who had done the first televised challenges to the official narrative (aside from Alex Jones who predicted it and tried to prevent it)--We all began to communicate with one another via phone calls, and to link our sites.

The "Deception Dollar" was the best tool we came up with for public outreach and to promote the best 9-11 websites, and to fund the webmasters and research. There was very strong, clear sense of shared purpose amongst the 9-11 truth activists, a spirit of cooperation and community; there was a healthy sense of competition, people wanted to be able to contribute pieces to the incredibly complex puzzle that we were trying to put together.

The media censorship was so extreme. People were being terrified by the press. Politicians continually tried to scare us by guaranteeing another horrific attack. Research was being done all over the world; there were several areas of great disagreement and controversy, but most researchers agreed that "9-11 was an inside job." Nicholas Levis organized the first major 9-11 conference in Berlin. I organized the San Francisco International Inquiry into 9-11 in San Francisco. Barrie Zwicker and Ian Woods organized the Toronto Inquiry, they all helped bring people together, face to face, nurture cooperative relationships, build a movement in a very organic way.

TF: You also noted that "last year we organized the San Francisco International Inquiry into 9-11 Phase One." What was this event like?

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