It is not simply that. There is no secret that political decisions by governments including the US have had horrible consequences. There is almost certainly also merit in some of what ‘Terrorstorm’ brings up. The problem is that the documentary goes ten steps beyond that and states as fact what is speculation and pushes beyond even that and accuses both the UK and US of attacking their own people with absolutely no evidence except their own paranoia.

Journalism without evidence is just fantasy.

Whether Alex Jones is right about some things or not is pretty irrelevant now. He has proven himself as an unreliable source of information. He has shown himself to be almost unbelievably biased towards conspiracy and unquestioning of it being anything else. He has just cried wolf too many times.

First off, TERRORSTORM is not in any way conspiracy theory.

Please explain the USS Liberty attack?
Please explain the “Gulf Of Tonkin” attack that was admittedly staged
Please explain the “operation northwoods” shown to kennedy?

Terrostorm is simply a “history of government sponsored terror” that is all.

I too am worried about affect of the conspiracy theories sweeping the web on those with dispositions toward paranoia. There is a potential for violence: after all, if a person really believes the “global elite” is planning to kill 80 per cent of the population, they could very well engage in violent acts of “self defence.”

As far as a rebuttal is concerned, since the conspiracy movement’s central claims are internally incoherent, we don’t really need to refute them on the basis of empirical research. For example:

1. “The Illuminati, Bankers, Bilderbergers, and so on, create wars so that they can earn profits by selling to all sides of a conflict.”

2. “The ultimate goal of the Illuminati, Bankers, Bilderbergers, and so on, is a new world order in which the world is unified under a single dictatorial government.”

Comment: If the “elite” has benefited so much from international conflicts, why would they want to unite the world?

3. “Any person of influence who has ever advocated any form of internationalism is in fact advocating the establishment of an oppressive new world order under a single dictatorial world government.”

4. “The elite who are pushing the new world order is comprised of the most powerful corporations and individuals in the world.”

5. “Concern about climate change is being used as an excuse to establish a new world order to confront the problem. Skeptics about climate change are serious scientists who are challenging the new world order.”

Comment: See exxonsecrets.org, which details how the largest corporations have been funding “climate skeptic” organizations. Jones appears to be in cahoots with Big Oil here!

It’s not even particularly easy to separate those that are just taken in through naivety with those who have a psychiatric disorder causing the paranoia.

I don’t really know of any place to go for help and this is certainly a concern. I noted, like you, that when I searched specifically for counter arguments I had to look deep into the search results before I found anything. I’m sure that many people will struggle to involve themselves in a reasoned debate, but for those that would, there should be something for them. Unfortunately there currently isn’t anything.

I think it’s perhaps so easy to look at Alex Jones and ignore him because he is an obvious loony. But as exasperating as it is, he has far too many followers to ignore.

There is a similar problem over climate change at the moment. Listen to a radio broadcast or read an article by someone who denies it, and it sounds convincing. But it only sounds convincing because you don’t understand the subject.

My thinking is that if you put Alex Jones side-by-side with any real expert on Terrorism he would lose a good portion of his command on an audience.

I’ve just made another Google search for Terrorstorm to see if there are yet any good results with a counter argument. There certainly are not any that are obvious. I don’t find this too surprising since those capable of making the debate are more likely to ignore Alex Jones rather than waste their time. Unfortunately, I think this is a mistake.

Propaganda should always be taken seriously.

I wish you the best of luck with your friend. I’m sorry I don’t have a good solution.