From Peace to Truth:
Our Interview with Leading Canadian Peace Intellectual Graeme MacQueen
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Graeme, you were a peace activist first, and then you came around to also being a "Truth" activist as well. What was the impediment to questioning 9/11 at first?
I felt it was extremely urgent to try to prevent the invasion of Afghanistan. (I’d been involved in Afghanistan prior to 9/11 and had a special interest in it.) Then I went right from that to trying to stop the invasion of Iraq. I felt I didn’t have the time to be distracted by complex and time-consuming issues. That’s what the alternative views of 9/11 seemed to me: complex, hard to get to the bottom of, and very time-consuming. So it took me a few years to really focus on 9/11, even though I began questioning it in little bits and pieces quite early.
I did not find it hard to believe that elites in the US (and possibly other countries) would be morally capable of killing a large number of Americans on 9/11. I’d spent too much time studying modern wars to find this surprising. But I was surprised these elites were willing to put themselves at risk in this way—to take the risk of going down in history as traitors and murderers, or even of being executed for their deeds.
What won you over?
In terms of readings, Griffin’s work and Jones’ work. In terms of issues, most dramatically the destruction of the 3 WTC buildings.
I began reading this material after I was confronted by an activist who told me that I was ignoring an extremely important issue and that I had no right to say anything about 9/11 until I’d done my homework. He was right, and I acted on his words and did my homework. I now find I have to confront other peace activists in the same way he confronted me.
What is the common ground for peace and truth activists, going forward?
Hopefully, a passionate desire for truth and a hatred of deceit is a common ground. I would like to think that killing and stealing are also things that both groups are fed up with. As activists in both groups see countries invaded and people killed for profit, I hope they will be outraged and also moved to compassion for the victims of these processes, and I hope they will find productive ways to channel this outrage. Also, both groups, at their best, realize they need the capacity to investigate events for themselves—they cannot rely on governments or on the corporate media. So they are developing research and communication capacities. Now, they need to work harder and learn from each other and support each other better than they’ve done in the past.
How is the recession going in Canada? How is the Candian banking system different from the USA? Is there a Canadian Federal Reserve? Or is it a different kind of system?
I can’t answer these questions as well as I should be able to. The Canadian banking system is apparently somewhat more stable than the American and has not taken such big risks in recent years, so the outcomes have not been quite as drastic. But there are certainly plenty of people suffering from the recession.
Bills (“banknotes”) are issued by the Bank of Canada, which is not privately owned but owned by the federal government. Earnings go to the federal treasury.
What can people expect at your talk on Saturday?
I will reflect on why it took me, a peace activist and peace researcher, several years to see through the 9/11 deception. I will try to explain what I have learned from this experience and I will challenge other people in the peace movement to understand the importance of 9/11 and the ways we can see through these kinds of deception.
Graeme MacQueen
Speaks on Saturday,
9/12/09
5:30-6:00
Presenting the talk:
“9/11 Truth: the Challenge to the Peace Movement.”
full schedule
