03-03-2007, 04:00 PM
Mind Control And Murder Cults
The Assassins were members of an Islamic secret society born in the 11th century.
Still shrouded in mystery nearly a millennium after its birth, members of the sect were known at the time as Nizaris. The name "assassin" was a European word coined to describe the sect. Its exact origin is uncertain, but legend holds that it meant "user of hashish," the drug rumored to be the secret of the Nizaris' fanatical and even suicidal fervor.
![[Image: assassins2-hassanisabbah.jpg]](http://www.rotten.com/library/conspiracy/al-qaeda-and-the-assassins/mind-control/assassins2-hassanisabbah.jpg)
Ruthless and stealthy, the Assassins were skilled in the use of fear and violence for political manipulation and to advance their radical Islamic theology. Their operatives would go deep undercover, sometimes waiting years for an order to strike. Members of the sect used only daggers, adding a ritual mystique to their work. They kept a roll of honor, listing the names of martyred assassins and their victims.
The loyalty of the Assassins was legendary, and even suicidal in its intensity. The most famous story told of the sect dates to the 12th century, and various versions of the tale run through the Crusades. As related by Islamic scholar Bernard Lewis in his landmark study, The Assassins: The word (assassin) first appears in the chronicles of the Crusades, as the name of a strange group of Muslim sectaries in the Levant, led by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man of the Mountain, and abhorrent, by their beliefs and practices, to good Christians and Muslims alike. [...] "I shall now relate things about this elder," says the German chronicler Arnold of Lubeck, "which appear ridiculous, but which are attested to me by the evidence of reliable witnesses. This Old Man has by his witchcraft so bemused the men of his country ... (that) many of them even, when standing on a high wall, will jump off at his nod or command, and, shattering their skulls, die a miserable death. The most blessed, so he affirms, are those who shed the blood of men and in revenge for such deeds themselves suffer death."
It's not difficult to see why the September 11 attack inspired a resurgence of interest in the cult, as publishers rushed to rebrand academic books on the Nizaris with titles like "The Assassins: History's First Terrorists," usually to the consternation of authors. Most of that initial surge quickly faded. For all their similarities, there were seemingly insurmountable obstacles that caused many to consider comparisons between the Assassins and al Qaeda to be more glib than accurate.
But the practice of terrorism is as much about illusion and misdirection as it is about fear. At first glance, the comparison seemed valid. On closer examination, it didn't hold water. The reality is complicated.
Without resorting to a simplistic view of "they're both Muslims and they both kill people," al Qaeda and the Assassins have interesting similarities in structure, theology, and history[color="red"]*[/color].
It's useful to begin with the structure. Both al Qaeda and the Assassins employ an a organizational chart drawn in concentric circles. The result is an organization that is extraordinarily efficient at manipulating its adherents, creating a loyalty so intense that soldiers gladly die for the cause, while entrenching an inner management that is extremely resistant to attack.
More......
The Assassins were members of an Islamic secret society born in the 11th century.
Still shrouded in mystery nearly a millennium after its birth, members of the sect were known at the time as Nizaris. The name "assassin" was a European word coined to describe the sect. Its exact origin is uncertain, but legend holds that it meant "user of hashish," the drug rumored to be the secret of the Nizaris' fanatical and even suicidal fervor.
The loyalty of the Assassins was legendary, and even suicidal in its intensity. The most famous story told of the sect dates to the 12th century, and various versions of the tale run through the Crusades. As related by Islamic scholar Bernard Lewis in his landmark study, The Assassins: The word (assassin) first appears in the chronicles of the Crusades, as the name of a strange group of Muslim sectaries in the Levant, led by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man of the Mountain, and abhorrent, by their beliefs and practices, to good Christians and Muslims alike. [...] "I shall now relate things about this elder," says the German chronicler Arnold of Lubeck, "which appear ridiculous, but which are attested to me by the evidence of reliable witnesses. This Old Man has by his witchcraft so bemused the men of his country ... (that) many of them even, when standing on a high wall, will jump off at his nod or command, and, shattering their skulls, die a miserable death. The most blessed, so he affirms, are those who shed the blood of men and in revenge for such deeds themselves suffer death."
It's not difficult to see why the September 11 attack inspired a resurgence of interest in the cult, as publishers rushed to rebrand academic books on the Nizaris with titles like "The Assassins: History's First Terrorists," usually to the consternation of authors. Most of that initial surge quickly faded. For all their similarities, there were seemingly insurmountable obstacles that caused many to consider comparisons between the Assassins and al Qaeda to be more glib than accurate.
But the practice of terrorism is as much about illusion and misdirection as it is about fear. At first glance, the comparison seemed valid. On closer examination, it didn't hold water. The reality is complicated.
Without resorting to a simplistic view of "they're both Muslims and they both kill people," al Qaeda and the Assassins have interesting similarities in structure, theology, and history[color="red"]*[/color].
It's useful to begin with the structure. Both al Qaeda and the Assassins employ an a organizational chart drawn in concentric circles. The result is an organization that is extraordinarily efficient at manipulating its adherents, creating a loyalty so intense that soldiers gladly die for the cause, while entrenching an inner management that is extremely resistant to attack.
More......
