Disinfo
From SkepticWiki
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
Disinfo : short for "disinformation". In its original sense this means false information deliberately spread by intelligence agencies or other bodies to obscure the truth, as distinct from misinformation, which is false information spread as a result of honest error.
"9/11 Truthers" consider more or less every aspect of the OCT to be disinformation in this wider sense, but more usually use the term in a narrower sense, to refer to disinformation spread from within their ranks by infiltrators; it is with this sense of the word that this article is chiefly concerned. The term COINTELPRO is often used with a similar meaning.
The word "disinfo" can also be used of people, as in: "You are disinfo"; this is more concise than saying: "You, while masquerading as a sincere member of the Truth Movement, are in fact a government plant with the purpose of disseminating false information within our ranks."
[edit] Truthers accused of "being disinfo"
We have compiled a partial list of Truthers accused by other Truthers of being complict or suspect of complicity with, well, whoever else is in the Great Big Conspiracy. You will observe that it is also a Who's Who of prominent 9/11 conspiracy theorists (see our article on 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists for more information on these characters):
- Dylan Avery [1][2][3][4][5][6]
- Kevin Barrett [7]
- Jason Bermas [8][9][10][11]
- Christopher Bollyn [12][13][14]
- James Fetzer [15][16][17][18][19][20]
- Richard Gage [21]
- Rosalee "Webfairy" Grable [22][23][24][25]
- David Ray Griffin [26][27]
- Nico Haupt [28][29][30][31]
- Jim Hoffman [32][33][34][35]
- Gerald Holmgren [36][37][38][39]
- Eric Hufschmidt [40][41][42][43]
- Phil Jayhan [44][45][46]
- Alex Jones [47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54]
- Steven Jones [55][56][57][58][59]
- Theirry Meyssan [60][61]
- Jeff Rense [62][63][64][65]
- Morgan Reynolds [66][67][68]
- William Rodriguez [69]
- Corey Rowe [70][71][72]
- Rick Seigel [73][74]
- Sofia Shafquat [75][76]
- Daryl Bradford Smith [77][78][79][80]
- Webster Tarpley [81][82][83]
- Judy Wood [84][85][86][87][88][89]
[edit] Quotations
- If 9/11 is ever exposed, we must investigate all of the 9/11 Truth Seekers. Almost all of them seem to be working for the criminal network. - Darryl Bradford Smith, Truther[90]
- All “leaders” in the “911truth” movement should be required to take the lie detector test. - Rick Seigel, Truther.[91]
- A truth movement filled with disinformation artists and FBI-funded infiltrators - Greg Szymanski, Truther[92]
- 99% of the 9-11 truth seekers are worthless. - Eric Huffschmidt, Truther [93]
- Is it possible the “truth movement” has been run by the 9/11 perpetrators since day one? - C B Brooklyn, Truther[94]
- 9/11 Truth is a cesspit ... There is not a shadow of a doubt that 9/11 “Truth” was planned simultaneously with 9/11 itself. That is why you have so many conflicting stories, points of view, arguments and discussions, etc. The Trolls were pre-ordained and planned. So were the major WebSites (e.g. 911Truth.org). It is a known fact that any grouping of five or more will be infiltrated. - Veronica Chapman, Truther [95]
[edit] Gatekeepers and Poison Pills
There are two basic kinds of "disinfo". Most Truther conflicts arise out of the series of binary choices a Truther has to make about how much reality to include in his theory: for example, the choice between being a Planer and a No-Planer. In such cases the Planer suspects the No-Planer of knowingly injecting silliness into the Truth Movement to discredit it (a so-called "poison-pill"); whereas the No-Planer suspects the Planer of suppressing an obvious smoking gun and so being a "gatekeeper" on behalf of the establishment.
Besides the obvious No Planer/Planer split[96], there are those "poison pills" who have really silly ways to demolish the Towers (silent nukes, DEWs) versus the "gatekeepers" who prefer conspiracies involving technology that actually exists (thermite, conventional explosives)[97]; those who wish to drag in other conspiracy theories such as the moon hoax, versus those who will settle for 9/11 being an inside job; between those who think that dressing all in black and wearing shades makes you look cool and those who think it makes the Truth Movement look silly[98]; between those who wish to blame the Jews and those who don't. As an example of the latter case, here is Eric Hufschmidt explaining why Webster Tarpley is disinfo of the "gatekeeper" variety:
- Webster Tarpley denies that Israel plays any role in world corruption. Supposedly, the Bush family, and a few other mysterious people, are behind the world's corruption, and Israel is an innocent victim. Tarpley is too intelligent to not realize that he is lying. He must be a member of some criminal network.[99]
Tarpley, then, is considered a disinfo merchant of the "gatekeeper" type by Hufschmidt; meanwhile, other Truthers consider Hufschmidt's own views to be disinfo of the "poison pill" variety:
- Take the Eric Hufschmidt character. He comes along and blows things open for 9/11 with his book/video. A lot of people use his material in his own work. And then, out of thin air, he's a hardcore holocaust denier ... So yes, Mr. Hufschmidt is DISINFO because only a DISINFO agent would push the urgency of the 9/11 message with the racist hokum of Holocaust Denial. By doing so, he casts a pall over ALL credible 9/11 work in the eyes of an outsider.[100]
A Truther describes the two faces of disinfo as coherently as a Truther can explain anything:
- It should go without saying that an investigation of a conspiracy like 9/11 will always a two-front war against disinformation. On one side are the gatekeepers pursuing a limited hangout. On the other side are crackpots and disinfo agents pushing bogus, discrediting evidence.[101]
Of course, the Truther who wrote this is certain that he is neither a gatekeeper nor a poison pill, and of course he's right, he isn't, he's just another darn Truther. But he will have some difficulty convincing his fellow-Truthers of this.
[edit] How Truthers identify disinfo
Generally, a man with a paranoid conspiracy theory finds it difficult to imagine that the people who disagree with him are just plain wrong, rather than complicit in the conspiracy. At first this seems strange. After all, the whole idea of a conspiracy theory is to posit that a massive deception has been practiced on the public. And this, surely, implies that some people were actually deceived.
However, this is not how the Truther mind works. To the typical Truther, the Truth, and his specific version of the Truth, is obvious from a survey of the evidence. This means that he can divide the world into three classes of people: sheeple (who haven't looked at the evidence) Truthers (who looked at the evidence, and came to exactly the same conclusion as he did) and shills (who looked at the evidence but won't admit that they know he's right because they're in the pay of the government).
A few quotations will demonstrate this attitude. Here is Ace Baker, who currently thinks that the Twin Towers were brought down by nuclear devices, writing of noted Truther Judy Wood, who favors death rays from outer space:
- Judy is not "wrong" about the Hutchison Effect. She is very smart, and she doesn't believe Hutchison's silly fake videos any more than I do. She is lying.[102]
Here the Truther Gerald Holmgren exposes the Truther Jim Hoffman as "disinfo":
- He has been caught over and over again, lying, plagiarizing, and taking positions so mutually contradictory that it cannot be stupidity ... Hoffamn is a cointelpro agent of some sort. [103]
Here Hufschmidt, Smith and Bollyn explain why their version of the Truth has not achieved universal recognition:
- There are not many ways to explain this. Either the other people are incredibly stupid, or they are Zionist agents. [104]
In general, the reasoning would seem to go like this:
- (1) Any intelligent people familiar with the relevant facts would agree with me.
- (2) My fellow-Truthers are intelligent people familiar with the relevant facts.
- (3) Therefore: if they say they disagree with me, they're lying.
There is no room in this worldview for dissent which is both informed and sincere. This also, of course, explains the pervasive Truther belief that debunkers are in the pay of the CIA.
