Numerology
in my life
and in recent historical events
Keywords: 911, mind of a fox, clem sunter, scenario planning, us, cia, president bush, nuclear terrorism, terrorist, terrorists, rich poor, nuclear war, visionary, prophet
The World Trade Center (WTC) attack
on September 11(9/11), 2001 (part 1 of 3)
The Mind of a FOX
Around the middle of 2003 I went on a breakfast for business people where Clem Sunter, one of South Africa's most well known motivational speakers and author of many books, spoke about a book he co-authored and published in February 2001, 7 months before September 11th. What fascinated me was the title of his book: The Mind of a FOX. I was intrigued by this name because of my own relationship to the word "fox", so I decided to go along and here what the book was about.
Clem Sunter is also a Scenario Planning expert who wrote quite a few books during the 80's and 90's about possible scenarios for the future of South Africa. In The Mind of a FOX he and his co-author, Chantell Ilbury, sketches future scenarios for the whole planet, based on political agendas of the key players in world politics and economics. During his talk he told us that he got a telephone call from the CIA a few days after the WTC attack, from a man who said that research has shown that this book was the only book written during 2001, which mentioned the possibility of a large-scale terrorist attack on US civilian targets. I quote here the introduction to the third impression, written in September 2001, after the World Trade Center attack:
"The fox knows many things - the hedgehog one big one.
"ARCHILOCUS, c.650B.C.
"A fox once saw a crow with a piece of cheese in her beak. He was hungry, so he resolved to acquire it for himself. "What a beautiful bird you are," he cried, "I am sure you must have a beautiful voice to match your body. Will you not sing to me?" The crow was flattered. She opened her beak and gave a harsh croak. Down fell the cheese, whereupon the fox pounced upon it and ate it.
"AESOP'S FABLES, c.620B.C.
Introduction to the Third Impression
"We normally associate 911 with an emergency call. It also represents September 11. At 8:45 am (New York time) on that day in 2001, the world changed forever. This was the moment when the first of two hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center. Another one hit the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania. No terrorist attack has ever caused such a shock. The unthinkable had happened - and it wasn't a movie.
"When we wrote this book in the first part of 2001, we included a letter to President Bush. In it, we warned him that the key uncertainty during his tenure was nuclear terrorism, more specifically the possibility of terrorists planting a nuclear device in a Western city. While the tools of destruction and method of delivery were different to what we had envisaged, the impact was just as devastating. Nothing could have demonstrated the power of scenario planning more effectively than this terrible tragedy. We could never have captured it in a forecast, but it was possible to provide a warning in the form of a scenario.
"Indeed, the logic contained in our two scenarios - "Friendly Planet" and "Gilded Cage" - is now more pertinent than ever. The natural temptation for the "rich old millions" in the West must be to batten down the hatches and isolate themselves in a Gilded Cage. We all know that security is the most basic of all human needs. However, this could lead to an even more divided world as the gap between the "rich old millions" and the "poor young billions" widens further. The increasing tension and stress associated with this scenario will ironically make it more likely than before that another evil act of the same - or perhaps even greater - magnitude will be perpetrated by terrorists. No advances in technology, no improvements in intelligence and security management systems can render an individual nation impregnable against attack. The terrorist will always find a chink in the bars of the cage, however thick you make them, to pass through and commit his foul deed. Moreover, the knowledge of how to manufacture weapons of mass destruction is itself indestructible. And it will continue to spread. Meanwhile, inside the cage, a superabundance of soft targets awaits the terrorist. The growing interdependencies and networks of a modern society make it increasingly vulnerable to dislocation and attack, particularly by people who are prepared to die in the process.
"The only way to minimize - not entirely eliminate - the threat of further outrages is for America to take the lead in building a Friendly Planet. This involves more than a military victory over the terrorists. The realization has to dawn that to be a secure winner, you cannot be surrounded by resentful losers. The preferred scenario is therefore one in which, as we say in the book, "the rich old millions resolve to find common ground with the poor young billions to eradicate poverty and disease, to tackle problems of the environment, to bring international criminal syndicates to justice and to root out dangerous terrorist organizations." Otherwise, the future is bleak. Anything goes. And it would be unwise to dismiss any 911 call as a hoax."1
After Clem's presentation I went up to him to get 2 copies of his book signed and asked him whether he thinks of himself as a prophet. He said that all he is, is a Scenario Planning expert. I believe that, whether Clem Sunter thinks of himself as a prophet/visionary or not, he IS one. He bases what he says and writes on a logical and scientific approach to the information at his disposal.
I base what I say and write on a spiritual approach to information at my disposal. The conclusions we both draw from our independent studies are more or less the same: The USA, as the key player in world economics and politics, need to urgently reassess its role in world politics and economics to avoid catapulting the world into a potential nuclear war.
I ask myself with what rage the American ego will react if what is written in this book actually does become a horrible reality? I hope the US Government and people, by changing their bullish attitude towards the developing world, will prove that Clem Sunter is indeed not a prophet (but that he is a visionary2), because if what he describes in his book actually happens, September 11, 2001 will look like a mere storm in a tea cup...
1 Ilbury, C. & Sunter, C. The Mind of a FOX, Scenario Planning in Action, Cape Town: Human & Rousseau/Tafelberg, 2001, p.7-8
2 The difference between a prophet and a visionary is that historically a prophet is generally a bearer of a "turn-or-burn" message, and is often rejected by the people (tribe) he or she attempts to enlighten. Visionaries on the other hand bring a message of hope to their tribe and generally finds greater acceptance amongst the tribe for their capacity to read what is just over the horizon. See "Sacred Contracts" by Dr Caroline Myss, p.501-2
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