Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil

Rating:
Summary: Thorough, and heartfelt too
Review: Anyone who has a keen taste for reality will appreciate this effort. Ruppert makes the case to a hypothetical DA of the means, motive and opportunity for the commission of the crimes of 9/11. This book is to that day what Joy of Cooking is to all the days when one is faced with a big dead animal that needs preparation.

We can see in retrospect many of the lies which led to the Iraq War. We can find the State of the Union addresses with the false assertions.

But who can doubt the need for a War on Terror after 9/11? Who dares question the inhuman reach of Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda octopus? Isn't this at least the truth? Do the pictures not say it all?

Yet we can find those questioning the physical evidence of the 9/11 scenario (Key Dewdney, Canadian professor and mathematician), as well as those who have punctured the legend of the 19 hijackers blissed out on the prospect of virgins waiting in paradise (mainly because they seemed happier with strippers in Florida)(Hopsicker of Mad Cow News). How can sense be made of such exotic people? Such aliens with inscrutable motives?

How about a criminal investigation? Bearing in mind the actors of Iran-Contra and their ongoing scams? Bearing in mind the functioning of a corrupt government, and footnoting the facts, Ruppert is your man.

This is a book to read three times. The first for the shock and awe and confusion, to help you get over the idea that there are easily assigned categories of good guys and bad guys in this "war on terror." The second for nuggets of absolutely introvertible truth: that war games including live-flies were done on 9/11 and that this was suppressed in the 9/11 hearings (the report of which was praised by the press as a classic prose work ranking with the best histories of all time). The third for -- well I haven't gotten there yet, but I will. The third time is for knowing it cold so that you will remember to do something about it.

Rating:
Summary: Death of the Republic
Review: As this book has been extensively reviewed, I'll try to stress original points. First, as a negative, the book is long and somewhat disorganized. The removal of secondary and excessively speculative material could have shortened and strengthened Ruppert's case. As a researcher, he is sometimes problematic. Much of his work is diligent and superbly argued; some of his findings, however, are shaky and speculative. For example, I was unimpressed by his attempt to weave rogue "agent" Mike Vreeland into his scenario. The payoff is hardly worth the effort. To his credit, however, Ruppert also forcefully presents a massive array of compelling and well-documented information to build his case against the "official" conspiracy theory.

Building on the research of people such as Paul Thompson and Nafeez Ahmed, Ruppert completely demolishes the credibility of the official conspiracy "narrative". Ruppert has also done extensive original research, which includes contacts with key individuals in the military, law enforcement, and aviation. One of the grave difficulties for anyone trying to understand 9/11 is the aggressive suppression of essential information: relevant documents are classified; key materials such as airliner black boxes, radio transcripts, tapes, video, etc. locked away or destroyed; widespread gag orders prevent individuals in the FAA, law enforcement, the military, etc. to speak openly without fear of prosecution and/or job loss. And our magnificent leaders Cheney and Bush refuse to answer questions in public and under oath about 9/11 (perfectly understandable if Ruppert is right), despite their public responsibilities.

Still, anyone who scrutinizes the "official" conspiracy theory with an open mind cannot help but conclude that it is simply not credible. The fact that hijacked airliners flew around for nearly 1 hour and 40 minutes without a single interception (routine interceptions of wayward aircraft typically take 10 minutes or so) has never been explained. The manipulation of timelines (as Ruppert shows 3 different "official" versions have been released) by NORAD and the FAA is particularly damning. These times are recorded and logged on the most sophisticated computer/communication systems in existence; they do not depend on recollection or interpretation. The notion that Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Richard Myers wandered about completely oblivious to most of the crisis (according to their own claims) is simply impossible without a fundamental breakdown of all military and security protocol on the morning of 9/11. Numerous pre-9/11 warnings of impending attacks using airplanes poured into the Bush Administration, yet they were ignored and even subsequently denied. The list of improbabilities and "coincidences" can run to hundreds of pages--as Ruppert demonstrates.

Critics of Ruppert typically attack the weakest facets of his case and avoid confronting the massive bulk of evidence buttressing his arguments. Emboldened that they've weakened one argument, they then pretend that the entire case is suspect. However, this simply will not do. His case is not a chain of logical inferences each dependent on prior links. It is a powerful cumulative argument and honest critics should confront the strongest material, not avoid it.

For example, in the Amazon reviews, R. Watson demands of Ruppert to explain why Bush/Cheney didn't just plant WMD in Iraq instead of orchestrating 9/11. First, 9/11 was a catalytic and galvanizing event: America was attacked by "terrorists" and thousands of people were killed. The event was used to justify an endless "war on terror" that will not end in our lifetimes (according to Cheney), massive military spending, two invasions (with more in the works?), the gutting of the Bill of Rights, the Patriot Act, torture, American gulags and suspension of habeas corpus, etc. How would planting of WMD in Iraq have an equivalent effect? The objection is absurd. With 9/11, Bush/Cheney got their invasion of Iraq, and so much more.

Raquel Baranow's review attacks Ruppert for bad research by citing puzzling numbers about public debt on page 499. These numbers, according to her, justify rejecting his entire case. If she bothered to read page 497, however, she would notice that Ruppert acknowledges the surprising numbers and then lucidly accounts for them.

Crossing the Rubicon, in spite of flaws, is absolutely essential for anyone seriously trying to understand the origin and aftermath of 9/11. We have been told by Bush and his supporters that 9/11 is an event that justifies endless war and suppression of our Bill of Rights, the Geneva Conventions, etc. If you care anything at all about the American Republic, then you owe it to yourself and everyone you know to read this book with an open mind and consider its arguments. If you're still convinced that the Bush Administration has told the truth and is acting in our "interests", then I'll be greatly impressed.

Rating:
Summary: The most crucial commentary on the times
Review: First of all, this is a very comprehensive book, and most of what I would have said about its subject matter is satisfactorily contained in the other reviews for it found here, which are, on average, of excellent description; so I refer the reader to them. Though many won't realise in these turbulent times, this is an extremely crucial book of its time, for both Americans and every understanding person on this planet.

Michael Ruppert rightly terms the USA as an empire. It is in fact The Evil Empire, an epithet which the late great Ronald Reagan very artfully coined and employed to frame the Soviet Union with, in the eyes of the world. Now many ordinary American citizens are also starting to realise this, but even though as the finale for the current global scenario draws close, the majority seems confused and manipulated as George W. Bush's re-election demonstrates.

This empire (together with its many local vassals and proxies such as the anglophone robber elite ruler-class of Pakistan) is self-ruinous, as Ruppert demonstrates, destroying the prospects of its own future together with those of the rest of the entire world. Michael Ruppert's book shows that an empire of such dimensions, with such global and technological reach as the USA - unprecedented in recorded history - will only end up in wreaking wholesale destruction if its power continues to be used primarily in the service of its selfish greed. But unfortunately, as Ruppert makes clear, the "Point of No Return" in that regard seems to have been reached already, quite a while ago...

This book employs a simple, elegant prose in its rendition, which makes it pleasureable to read. This is a rarity in an age when most American and other current writing is couched in foul-mouthed slang of one or another variety, and/or it characteristically employs the excessive use of hype and highflown jargon. We find no such pollutants here. For this, I commend the author.

Rating:
Summary: First Rate Insight and Research - Ten Stars
Review: I am extremely impressed by the perspicacity of Michael Ruppert, and the tenacity he has displayed in researching the information contained in this book. His courage in truth-telling puts the cowards in media in perspective. His work is a new benchmark and few researchers will be capable, or willing, to stretch themselves to conform to his standard. Let his detractors be dashed against this rock-solid work -- yes, let them be smashed to pieces.

Rating:
Summary: Ruppert's Crossing the Rubicon is a must read
Review: I have just finished reading Crossing the Rubicon. This is an astounding book. Why do I think that this is must reading for everybody? Because it is painstakingly researched and meticulously documented, because the plain record of the official account of the facts surrounding 9-11, like most of the assertions of the Bush administration, is curiously - criminally - flawed and does not withstand scrutiny, because this six-hundred plus page book has been out for three or four months and no one in any conventional media source has given it the time of day apparently dismissing it without reading it and regarding it because of its reported content as beyond respectable recognition, because we are in deep trouble as a nation and as a species and Ruppert raises the most directly relevant issues about our plight and honestly confronts them, because he has also confronted his critics, like Norman Solomon and David Corn and answered them very effectively, and because I can't see that anyone would not be appalled and intensely concerned about the findings reported in this book if they bothered to read it. This book will in time be seen for what it is, a cry From the Wilderness that we ignore at our peril.

Rating:
Summary: Take a closer look at the author
Review: I myself tend towards the theory that 911 was an inside job. But I would encourage sincere researchers to read the following information concerning Micheal Ruppert:

http://69.28.73.17/ruppertwingtv.html

Rating:
Summary: Be scared...!!!!
Review: I read this book (600+ pages)very fast. A lot of the things exposed in it were already mentioned in other books by other authors. But this time, Mr. Ruppert did a superb job in scaring and amazing me ....the way he presents the facts to build his case is brilliant..
And now I find it very difficult to sleep at night... What kind of future our children are going to inherit???
Read it and be scared..I just see no way out.

Rating:
Summary: personal responsability and psychic schisms
Review: Mike Rupert's work is outstanding. If there is one thing that I took from this book, it is that we have a torn and delusiary notion of who determines world events and how, in our cultural psyche. Rupert's work cuts through these delusions with painstaking, indefatigable research and becomes the prophetic voice in the wilderness his website so suitably is named for. The last point he makes in the book is perhaps his most poignant, namely that by choosing to live a lifestyle inextricable from oil and the mass marketing of illegal drugs, we as a nation become culpable in endorsing these methodologies in providing us with the very luxuries these demons create. But as we all know, Faust's deal with the devil comes at a terrible price...
This is powerful and lifechanging information which, as all such messages tend to do, reveals the most horrifying truth about ourselves as a nation and the world as a whole. If there is one book you read this year, you had best be sure it is this one, because ignorance is a bliss that we can no longer afford.


Rating:
Summary: Law & Order: 9-11 Unit
Review: One of New Society Publishers' latest offerings asks an odd question. What would happen if Dick Wolf adapted the September 11th terrorist attacks? The answer -- Law & Order: 9-11 Unit, AKA Crossing the Rubicon.

In Rubicon former LAPD narcotics investigator Michael C Ruppert adopts the hybrid role of Sherlock Holmes and Winston Smith to investigate `the day that changed America', attempting to raise reasonable doubt in the reader regarding the official 9-11 narrative. Structured similar an episode of Law & Order, Rubicon adds to the original list of suspects (Osama and Al Qaeda), expanding it to include foreign intelligence agencies and elements of the US government, specifically naming Dick Cheney as a key suspect.

Normally such a controversial thesis would seem absurd, but Ruppert steers well clear of overly speculative conspiracies and is very meticulous in his documentation. Past Rubicon's 594 page case, which features an assortment of maps, graphs and letters, is 3 document appendixes and 1,000 endnotes. Each of these endnotes, writes Ruppert, should be viewed as an exhibit in a court case.

And some of the `exhibits' are jaw-dropping; including, but certainly not limited to, the documentation of how evidence in the Enron case was purchased out of the FBI's hands, the over 4.6trillion dollars that went "missing" from the US economy, or how the US military is planning to provoke terrorist attacks in the future.

However not all of Ruppert's case is thought-provoking. His introduction lacks an inviting quality and his lengthy conclusion could have been split into two parts. Some chapters, like the two detailing a man named Delmart Vreeland and the main chapter on PROMIS software, might repel readers who can't verify the information as easily as they can the rest of the author`s claims. And though Rubicon features incredible documentation, there are a few lines which would be enhanced by an endnote or two.

An excellent microcosm of Rubicon's strengths and weaknesses is chapter 12: The weaker arguments seem all the more flimsy when juxtaposed against other, incredibly strong elements.

Other sections that proved strong despite their brevity were those concerning Wall Street, the global narcotics trade, the CIA, the official 9-11 commission (which Rubicon unquestionably rips to shreds and renders void) and, most importantly, the world's dwindling oil supply.

For Canadians Ruppert's case could prove especially eye-opening as one of the important figures mentioned within, Ralph Eberhart, now holds a frightening amount of leverage over Canadian sovereignty.

Ultimately, Ruppert makes an imperfect but very strong case. And after reading Rubicon, if you still disagree with the thesis, you'll have not only a more broad and complete view of the world around you, but also a treasure trove of additional information pertinent to everything from 9-11 and geopolitics to finance and geology.

Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil is a must read. Highly recommended.

Personal and overly anal observations:

Every endnote I attempted to verify checked out, all were incredibly revealing and expanded a great deal on the info in the book, even the stuff that seemed completely insane.

I would have preferred an endnote on the price of rice in Haiti (pg 24); the background on the Dulles brothers, especially the info about work with the Nazis (pg 53); the origin of Allen Dulles' quote on page 54. Though I'd already heard about it, some folks might have liked an endnote regarding Dyncorp and Lockheed Martin doing some accounting work for the Pentagon (pg 79). The mention of `numerous papers in Europe' should have been followed up with documentation (pg 229). I'd like to know where the author got his history and etymology of Judaism (pg 254/5). Though I'd already seen it, some might have trouble with the Secret Service occupying space in WTC 7, so an endnote would be handy (pg 433). I would have liked to have seen an endnote or direct quote of the press conference question asking about Clinton's involvement in drug running (pg 453). `I can't do everything myself' is a cop-out, especially for historical purposes and the info about Flight 93 should have been fleshed out a little or supplemented (pg 589).

There's an error -- the only one I spotted -- on page 255. Chris Matthews does not and has not, as far as I know, worked for FOX news. Though the claim was mentioned second-hand, Ruppert should have verified it.


Rating:
Summary: He is a gatekeeper as Michael Moore is a gatekeeper
Review: The focus on oil can be intuitively understood. But we expect more from someone welcomed by the Commonwealth Club; and we expect more from Commonwealth Club who welcomed such odious figures such as those who try to sell us on a war with Iran.

We expected to see an expose of an ideology more dangerous than just simply utilitarian urges. We expected to see an analysis of the psychology of those who moved us irrevocably in the direction of war: their unsavory ties to Israel and their personal crusades rising from the ashes of the most-elevated human catastrophy, the Holocaust.

It is a war chosen by the ideologues, not the pragmatists.

Oil is not the end goal.

It is also an overestimation of the modern day colonialist's ability to actually control the resources of an occupied nation.

In other words, the author might have provided one motive, but he never bothered to articulate just how a US influenced Iraqi government might lead to the control of oil.

This friendly government however can carry out more of the oppressions on behalf of US, can lean towards Israel and give up its regional political ambitions, such as being nuclear armed.

It is amazing how Michael Moore could miss the neocon's professed agenda set out in manifesto after manifesto entirely. It is hard to believe it was anything but intentional. It is just as amazing how the author chose to ignore the same reality.

So, I agree with some of the reviewers: Facts very convincingly pointed to 9-11 complicity or omission.

However, beware that the author might be a gatekeeper and was trying to avert your attention from what he did not want you to see.

Oil is the distracter.