Michael Collins Piper

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Michael Collins Piper (born July 17, 1960) is a political writer, conspiracy theorist and talk radio host living in Washington D.C.. He is a regular contributor to the American Free Press, a newspaper backed by Willis Carto.

Piper calls himself a political "progressive in the LaFollette-Wheeler tradition."[1] He is the author of books such as "The High Priests of War", in which he criticizes the Neoconservatives in the Bush administration, and "Final Judgment" where he claims that the Israeli Mossad was responsible for the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy.

1 Early life
2 Kennedy and King Assassination Theories
3 Radio Show
4 Controversy
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Early life

Piper was baptised as Michael Bernard Piper and raised in an Irish Catholic household. He says his political engagement was inspired by his older brother's experience in the Vietnam War. Piper once said that his late brother "never completely recovered from the physical and psychological impact of the war."[2]

Piper has been an associate of Willis Carto for many years. He spent over two decades writing for the Carto-backed newspaper, The Spotlight.[3] Piper also published a book-length defense of Carto called Best Witness in 1994.

[edit] Kennedy and King Assassination Theories

In his book Final Judgment, Piper posits a theory that Israeli prime-minister David Ben Gurion was the prime mover in his assassination over issues involving disputes with Palestine and Egypt, and Kennedy's attempts to halt Israeli atomic research [4]. This theory also seeks to tie in other Kennedy assassination theories, primarily involving Jewish mobster Meyer Lansky organizing the hit, and future president Lyndon B. Johnson staging the event from inside the administration. Piper also alleged that the Jewish organization Anti-Defamation League was also linked to the murder. The ADL hit back in a series of harsh criticisms.

Additionally, Piper has written articles in American Free Press that claim that the Mossad and the FBI conspired to set up the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Piper claims this was motivated by fear of King's Anti-Israeli statements combined with his massive grass roots powers which Piper thinks they believed would eventually lead to a popular uprising, forcing them to limit the amount of power and influence they could wield over the American people.

[edit] Radio Show

In February 2006, he started a radio show called The Piper Report that can be heard on the Republic Broadcasting Network or downloaded from the Network's Radio Archive. Regular guests have included Mark Glenn (leader of Crescent and Cross and a a critic of Judaism), former candidate for Texas state legislature Barbara Samuelson and then AFP writer, Christopher Bollyn (who occasionally filled in for Piper).

Piper has commented about the war on Lebanon, the Mel Gibson affair (in which he lightly derided him for driving under the influence and apologizing for his statements which Piper supported and criticized for being too weak [5]), and the battle between former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont (for which he showed much enthusiasm following August 8th, which saw Lamont non-victorious). He also defends alternative medicine, animal rights and the past activities of Liberty Lobby and Willis Carto.

[edit] Controversy

Piper is an outspoken critic of Israel and its supporters in America. He has said that "if anti-Semitism, as the Israeli lobby contends, is being critical of Israel's lobby which is running amok in America, then I am indeed anti-Semitic and proud of it."^{[citation needed]} He has also defended the free speech rights of Holocaust deniers.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has repeatedly challenged statements made by Piper. It calls him a promoter of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and a defender of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The group also says Piper traveled to the United Arab Emirates in 2003 to lecture on anti-Israeli and anti-Semetic themes.[6]

In one instance, the ADL stated that Piper had suggested that Israel was working on an "ethnic bomb" targeting only Arabs [7]. In response, Piper said he was referring to an article by a Jewish writer, writing in the London Times which Piper says mentioned the weapon.^{[citation needed]}

Piper responded to increasing ADL criticism through his 2006 book The Judas Goat. It accuses the ADL of using unethicalb infiltration and information gathering techniques, such as the use of 'Agents provocateur'. He claims he began a series of events that ultimately lead to the ADL Files Controversy some years later.