What is the government up to?!

That was the question on conservative radio talk shows and conspiracy-oriented Internet web sites when the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned that domestic terrorists were preparing to strike on New Years Eve or early in the Year 2000. In late October, the FBI released an edited version of a report titled Project Megiddo (www.fbi.gov). It warned that anti-New World Order militias and Apocalyptic Christians are plotting to trigger a race war and destroy the country. "The FBI has urged police to be alert to changes in behavior of known militias and cult groups and to the possible stockpiling of weapons," USA Today reported on October 20.

The Portland Police Bureau is taking the warning seriously, although it expects the trouble to come from so-called "Lone Wolf" terrorists. "What we're looking for is not so much the organized groups that are out there, but the inpidual who might have an agenda," Assistant Police Chief Bruce Prunk told KXL radio. "That would be the kind of event we're trying to prepare for here in Portland."

But to anyone who has followed the government's misinformation campaigns over the years, the FBI report has another meaning. By releasing it to the public, the government is creating a bogeyman to blame for anything that goes wrong in the new Millennium. President Bill Clinton has publicly declared that the Y2K computer glitch won't cause any serious problems. "American is well on its way to being Y2K ready," he said on November 10. Now the President has an excuse if the Y2K bug causes widespread power failures, bank shutdowns, urban riots and other major problems. Clinton can blame them on terrorist attacks by Apocalyptic extremists. And he can cite the FBI's Project Megiddo report to justify suspending the U.S. Constitution and imposing martial law.

But it's possible the FBI has something even more sinister in mind--staging such attacks themselves. "Remember the joke about the membership of the Communist Party USA being comprised of more FBI undercover guys than commies?" asks Dan Gifford, co-producer of the eye-opening documentary, Waco: The Rules of Engagement. "Apply that same fact to the militias mentioned in USA Today. Snitches galore. It's not a matter of if there is militia violence, it's a matter of when the FBI provocateurs need an incident to scare the public."

Gifford has a point. Most of the extremist groups mentioned in the FBI report have been infiltrated by government operatives for years. For example, in the late 1980's, an FBI informant named George Weston joined the racist Aryan Nations and became a bodyguard for the group's founder, Richard Butler. An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms named Robert Rodriegez infiltrated the Branch Davidians. And a BATF informant named Carol Howe told her handlers that Tim McVeigh was planning to bomb the Oklahoma City office building. Although she knew him as Tim Tuttle, Howe provided details of the plot to the BATF weeks before the bombing.

This level of infiltration suggests that the government actually controls many of the groups cited in the Project Megiddo report. That's what Texas radio talk show host Alex Jones believes. When he posted a story on the report on his website (www.infowars.com), he wrote, "Alert! FBI prepares to blame the victims--to sacrifice provocateurs to vilify New World Order conspiracy theorists! See the report that paves the way!"

*****

The new Waco documentary cited in last issue's column is now available. Waco: A New Revelation includes proof that government agents set the fire at the Branch Davidian complex and shot everyone trying to flee the blaze. Produced by researcher Mike McNulty and narrated by FBI whistleblower Fred Whitehurst, it can be ordered for $24.95 (plus shipping) at 1-800-277-9802.

EXOTIC MAGAZINE