Webster Tarpley

Last updated

Webster Tarpley
Webster G. Tarpley 2005.jpg
Born
Webster Griffin Tarpley

1946 (age 77–78)
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States
Alma mater
Political party U.S. Labor Party
Other political
affiliations		 National Caucus of Labor Committees
Movement
Website tarpley.net

Webster Griffin Tarpley (born September 1946) is an American writer, political activist, and conspiracy theorist. [1] A one-time follower of Lyndon LaRouche, [2] Tarpley is known for his role in the 9/11 truth movement, believing 9/11 was a false flag operation. [3] [4]

Contents

Education

Tarpley was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1946. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Languages from Princeton University in 1966, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, he became a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Turin, Italy. Later, he earned a Ph.D. in early modern history from the Catholic University of America. [5]

Career

In 1971, Tarpley was on the editorial board of The Campaigner, a National Caucus of Labor Committees' journal, according to its masthead. [6] In 1986, Tarpley attempted to run on Lyndon LaRouche's U.S. Labor Party platform in the New York State Democratic Party primary for the U.S. Senate, but was ruled off the ballot in August that year because of a defect in his nominating petitions. [7] [8]

At one time, Tarpley was a contributing editor to the Executive Intelligence Review (EIR), a LaRouche movement publication. In a January 1987 press conference attended only by a reporter from The Washington Post , he claimed the LaRouche movement's credit card indictments were part of a plot against LaRouche who he described as "the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination" in the following year's election. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Tarpley claimed, had used a surreptitious message in a speech to demand the silencing of LaRouche because of supposed information in LaRouche's possession on Soviet involvement in the assassination of Olof Palme, the former Swedish prime minister. [2] In 1992, Tarpley co-authored with Anton Chaitkin George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography, published by LaRouche's EIR magazine.

Since March 2006, Tarpley has hosted a weekly online talk show called World Crisis Radio, [9] broadcast by GCNLive.com.

Conspiracy theories

The "rogue network" which Tarpley suspects of the September 11 attacks Roguemap.jpg
The "rogue network" which Tarpley suspects of the September 11 attacks

Tarpley maintains that the September 11 attacks were engineered by a rogue network of the military-industrial complex and intelligence agencies as a false-flag operation. [3] [11] The common account about the events of 9/11 are in Tarpley's opinion in 2006 an "outrageous myth" and an "absurd fairy tale." The organisations involved in 9/11 apparently included Britain's MI6 as well as "government officials loyal to the invisible government." [10]

On November 21, 2011, while traveling to Syria, Tarpley told Syria's Addounia TV that the Syrian Civil War was a NATO–CIA ploy to destabilize Syria using mercenaries and death squads against the population and the Syrian government. [12]

On April 2, 2012, C-SPAN aired 9/11, False Flags, and Black Ops: An Evening of Debate, in which Tarpley debated his critic Jonathan Kay on conspiracy theories, specifically the truth behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. [13] David Frum, who served as moderator between the two men, described Tarpley's "presentation as involuted as it was long-winded." During the event, Tarpley said that the Attack on Pearl Harbor was also a government conspiracy. [14]

On June 7, 2012, interviewed for the NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) regarding the 2011 Norway attacks, Tarpley said, "I believe that the evidence points to a private network, or even a NATO network, within the police that contributed the long time delay until they stormed the Island." [15]

Tarpley has said Edward Snowden is probably a triple agent ultimately being an agent for the CIA with the aim of weakening President Barack Obama and pushing him into intervening in Syria. [16]

On January 21, 2015, Tarpley was interviewed by Guns and Butter's Bonnie Faulkner about "geopolitical terrorism and the destabilization of governments and how others like Russia and Belarus are responding". [17] [18]

Tarpley is a member of the "world anti-imperialist conference" Axis for Peace, of Scholars for 9/11 Truth and of a research Netzwerk of German 9/11 authors founded in September 2006. Tarpley has also given lectures what he terms the "Versailles thesis", which claims that the British government attempted to create a new "world order" at the Treaty of Versailles. [19]

Melania Trump libel suit

In February 2017, he agreed to settle a libel suit brought by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump for publishing a "false and defamatory" report In August 2016 alleging that the First Lady had been a "high-end escort" prior to meeting President Donald Trump. [20] [21] Terms of the settlement included providing a public apology in writing and paying a "substantial sum". [22]

Selected publications

Articles

Books

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References

  1. ↑ Hoyle, Ben (January 28, 2017). "First Lady can sue over blogger's escort claims". The Times . Retrieved March 28, 2021. [Tarpley is an] avid conspiracy theorist who writes for his own website(subscription required)
  2. 1 2 Carlson, Peter (January 18, 1987). "Press Encounters of the Third Kind". The Washington Post . Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Skelton, Charlie (September 12, 2011). "How the World Changed After 9/11". The Guardian . London. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  4. ↑ Aaronovitch, David (2011). Voodoo Histories: How Conspiracy Theory Has Shaped Modern History. Random House. p. 12. ISBN   978-1-4464-2429-2.
  5. ↑ "tarpley.net". tarpley.net. July 10, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  6. ↑ Masthead. The Campaigner, vol. 4, no. 1 (Winter 1971), p. 1. National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC).
  7. ↑ Rangel, Jesus (August 9, 1986). "Another Assemblyman Ruled Off Primary Ballot". The New York Times . Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  8. ↑ "LaRouche Candidates Barred from New York Democratic Primary". Associated Press . August 8, 1986. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  9. ↑ "World Crisis Radio on GCNLive". GCNlive.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  10. 1 2 Jacobson, Marc (March 27, 2006). "The Ground Zero Grassy Knoll". New York. New York City. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  11. ↑ 9/11 Synthetic Terror, Progressive Press, 5th edition, 2011, Military–industrial complex, passim.
  12. ↑ "Tarpley on Syrian Addounia TV". TARPLEY.net / Addounia TV. November 21, 2011. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  13. ↑ "9/11, False Flags, Black Ops Evening Debate _ Video". C-SPAN . April 2, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  14. ↑ Frum, David (April 3, 2012). "The Mad Mind: Among the Truthers (And Other Conspiracy Theorists)". The Daily Beast . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Konspirasjonsflom etter 22. juli – 22. juli 2011 – Terroren som rammet Norge" (in Norwegian). NRK. June 6, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  16. ↑ Seitz-Wald, Alex (June 19, 2013). "Here come the Edward Snowden truthers". Salon. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  17. ↑ The World Rebels Against Wall Street Rule, soundcloud.com. Retrieved on 16 December 2018.
  18. ↑ Ten Topics/Ten Shows Archived December 16, 2018, at the Wayback Machine , gunsandbutter.org. Retrieved on 16 December 2018.
  19. ↑ "The Versailles Thesis – Roots of WWI". Members.tripod.com. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Melania Trump wins round in libel suit over blogger's 'escort' claims". Politico. politico.com. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Blogger forced to pay 'substantial sum' to Melania Trump in defamation lawsuit". Fox News. February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  22. ↑ Morse, Dan (February 7, 2017). "Melania Trump reaches settlement in libel lawsuit against Maryland blogger". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 20, 2018.
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