Ruppert Returns to KPFK

Host Michael Slate Provides Sharp Contrast
to FTW Chief's Previous Appearances Earlier This Year

Aug. 28, 2002, 17:00 PDT (FTW) -- FTW Publisher/Editor Mike Ruppert appeared yesterday afternoon on KPFK, Pacifica Radio Corp.'s station in Los Angeles, to discuss the U.S. government's foreknowledge of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the subsequent crackdown on civil liberties, and the imminent U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Host Michael Slate focused his hour-long show on the research posted on Ruppert's website and was in agreement with the conclusions Ruppert has drawn based on that research -- the Bush Administration was forewarned about the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and their primary motive for allowing the "War on Terrorism" to escalate is an imperialistic power grab in the oil-rich Middle East.

"I thought [Ruppert's appearance] went well," said Slate. "I went in not being immune to criticism, and I know we're both sensitive about conspiracy theories surrounding 9-11, but I think we've discussed a lot of important facts here."

In June Ruppert was featured on KPFK's "The Morning Show," where, according to many listeners, he was subjected to a "set-up and ambush." Sonali Kolhatkar, the show's host, asked Ruppert four times to explain his supposed belief that U.S. government agencies perpetrated the 9-11 attacks.

Ruppert responded by indicating that he has never said, in speech or in writing, that the government agencies were the perpetrators. "My position has always been the government had foreknowledge that the attacks were going to happen and then allowed the attacks to happen," said Ruppert, stressing the word foreknowledge.

Then 20 minutes into the broadcast, Kolhatkar took a call from David Corn of the Nation magazine, who had written professional and personal attacks against Ruppert. The FTW chief said he and his staff were told before the broadcast that Corn had declined an invitation to appear and Rupert would be the only featured guest during that particular segment. But Kolhatkar asked Ruppert on the air if he "would mind" if Corn came on to respond to statements he had made about Corn on a Portland Indymedia radio broadcast.

"Under these criteria then, I should have about four hours on KPFK just to respond to what Corn has done in other venues," Ruppert wrote in a letter to KPFK's station manager, available at fromthewilderness.com. "David Corn has engaged in a nationwide attempt to discredit me that has been full of falsehoods and distortions." Most of the time that remained in Ruppert's appearance was spent in a debate with Corn.

A similar situation occurred in March when another Ruppert critic, Norman Solomon, of the media watch-group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting appeared for an unexpected debate.

Yesterday, though, there were no unexpected professional critics on the phone. Instead, callers from KPFK's listening audience engaged in an informative exchange with Slate and Ruppert. The host and his guest raised points regarding the facts of 9-11, as well as unanswered questions, as they sifted through points of interest from callers.

Many calls pertained to unconfirmed conspiracy theories surrounding the disaster. One caller wondered about the unconfirmed notion that a smaller aircraft or cruise missile, not a Boeing 757, actually struck the Pentagon. Ruppert responded that even though there had been some good recent evidence raising doubts about how the planes were piloted, many of these issues were "journalistic suicide missions" that could not reach a definitive conclusion. While agreeing with the caller that these were good questions, Ruppert said he had decided to focus his investigations only on issues where it could be definitively shown the administration was lying.

Another caller asked for advice on what individuals can do to change this dire political situation in the U.S. Ruppert answered, "We have to go back to the '60s and regain the spirit of the times when there were four- or 500,000 people in the street. This march into totalitarianism is happening so quickly that only the people who recently took to the streets in Portland -- only to be sprayed with pepper spray and shot with rubber bullets -- understand what's at stake."

--FTW Staff