www.thornwalker.com/ditch/snieg_frankie.htm
Editor's note
In my boilerplate note inviting letters to the editor, which I run at the bottom of all TLD articles, I say that "we will be looking for those [letters] that are the most thought-provoking, pro or con." Unfortunately, however, it is often the case that all the truly thought-provoking letters we receive in response to an article fall into the "pro" category. I believe it is unfair to consistently exclude "con" letters from the debate simply because they neither reflect nor provoke much thought.
In fact, some such letters may provoke thought, after all — just not in the way their writers intend. They may help us assess the state of the debate.
What follows is an exchange between a reader known to us only as "Frankie" and Dr. Stephen J. Sniegoski. I am not running all of Mr. Frankie's communiques or all of my replies. Suffice it to say that the last few exchanges focus on a tiresome and profitless discussion about the distinction between "doctor" and "professor." In all fairness, I must report that, in response to a direct question from me, Mr. Frankie confessed that English is not his native language.
To the editor
...
Concerning Dr. Stephen J. Sniegoski's "The United States: God's instrument — or God?"
It is dangerous evil bullsh*t .................. a conspiracy theory if ever i saw one .......... professor of what???? Professor of hate-speech ....... please forward this to "The Professor."
Frankie
South Africa
March 13, 2003
Nicholas Strakon's e-mail reply
Dear Mr. Frankie:
I'm not sure whom you're referring to with "The Professor," but as it seems you are responding to Dr. Sniegoski's "theology of empire" piece ["The United States: God's instrument — or God?"], I will forward your temperate, highly civil, closely reasoned arguments to him for his consideration and possible reply. Perhaps he has not thought of some of the clever points you raise, or seen some of the interesting documentation you provide.
Concerning Dr. Sniegoski's "The Israeli spy ring and September 11"
A less conspiracy-minded observer might point out that the longstanding Bushite animosity toward Iraq is complex and hardly secret, and the fact that USA interests coincide with Israel's does not mean that a Zionist fifth column has hijacked the president's brain.
Sniegoski is a dangerous person that the world can do without! On top of which he is asking for contributions to spread his propaganda.
Let's see if this is published on his website?
Frankie
South Africa
March 13, 2002
Nicholas Strakon's e-mail reply
Dear Mr. Frankie:
Thanks for your comments, which I will pass along to Dr. Sniegoski for his consideration and possible reply.
By the way, to my knowledge Dr. Sniegoski does not operate a Website.
Mr. Frankie sallies forth again
Didn't bother to read all of it ["The United States: God's instrument — or God?"] ....... wouldn't waste my time ...... who are you and why are you disseminating this? What is Professor Sniegoski a Professor of ...... please forward his credentials. Why should people send you donations?
Frankie
South Africa
March 13, 2002
Dr. Sniegoski replies
It would appear that Mr. Frankie looks at the same facts differently from the way I do. Note that he does not dispute anything I wrote — which would be hard to do, since it is openly stated by the neoconservative/Likudnik warhawks. Mr. Frankie simply says that the interests of Israel and the United States "coincide." He must be implying that the interests of the Sharon government and the American people are the same; so from his point of view, there would be nothing wrong with having individuals connected to the Israeli Right such as Richard Perle directing U.S. foreign policy. Again, Mr. Frankie does not dispute the facts that I have laid out, only my ultimate evaluation of the war policy as being harmful to the United States. To him, that constitutes "hate speech." Of course, his allegation that I claim a "Zionist fifth column has hijacked the president's brain" is absolutely false — it being impossible to "hijack" something that simply doesn't exist.
With the United States on the verge of launching a war that could lead to the destabilization of the Middle East and tens if not hundreds of thousands of deaths, it is inconceivable how my writing against that great atrocity in a small webzine makes me "a dangerous person." I can only suppose that, to the minions of the War Party, a truthful analysis of the impending war, even by the humblest of commentators, must be seen as "dangerous." For if a large body of people were to come to the same conclusion, the United States would be faced with the awful prospect of PEACE. To someone such as Mr. Frankie, what else can the advocacy of peace be but "hate speech"?
All posted March 19, 2003
Reader comment on this exchange.
Would you like to offer a comment of your own?
To the relevant articles by Dr.
Sniegoski:
To the editor
...
I read Dr. Sniegoski's "article," and I have a response and would love to know what he thinks about my comment. If the U.S. government knew [about] and was monitoring the Israeli spy ring, then one could assume, just as Dr. Sniegoski makes so many assumptions, that the U.S. government would be smart enough to look into who it was that this Israeli spy ring was looking after and helping, namely the terrorists responsible for 9/11. Dr. Sniegoski claims that the government knew about and tolerated the Israeli presence in the United States before 9/11 and only arrested them after 9/11. It would seem that the U.S. government could have simply arrested both the terrorists and the spies and prevented 9/11 altogether. This is a huge logical flaw in the article, large enough to nullify all of Dr. Sniegoski's "analysis." I would love to hear his response.
A perplexed man
Dr. Sniegoski replies
It is conceivable that the U.S. government could have arrested the Israeli
spies and the terrorists prior to September 11 but chose not to do so. Is
that what actually occurred? Well, such a claim was not made. Moreover, much of my article was labeled as speculation.
Of course, it seems self-evident that if the 9/11 terrorists had been
arrested, the 9/11 terrorism would not have taken place. But even if U.S.
authorities possessed foreknowledge of Israeli spies and Islamic terrorists, that does not mean that they expected the latter group to kill 3,000 Americans.
I encourage my correspondent to read the passage from my original article more slowly to allow proper comprehension of the speculative nature of what I wrote:
October 21, 2004
To our home page.
"The Israeli spy ring and September 11"
"The United States: God's instrument — or
God?"
October 19, 2004
There is no conclusive evidence for the preceding scenario. It is speculation. But it is speculation of the informed sort, and certainly the evidence suggests its plausibility. It could serve as a hypothesis for further study by a host of scholars and investigators, though such a flourishing of free inquiry is doubtful in light of our society's dominant taboos.