Homeland Insecurity: The 9/11 Conspiracy File: Myths and Facts
Six years after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, there’s plenty of unanswered questions about why the Bush administration didn’t prevent them. But the most popular 9/11 conspiracy theories are full of holes, too.
Assessing our vulnerability to terrorist attack remains difficult in part because the events surrounding the attacks of September 11, 2001, have not been thoroughly explained. In its investigation into them, the 9/11 Commission slid past many important questions, leaving them unanswered, and did not adequately challenge the Bush administration when it refused to cooperate or obfuscated its own actions. This has naturally spurred the various conspiracy theories that have set out to unravel what happened. Some address legitimate issues, such as the as-yet-unexplained fact that American intelligence had been tracking lead hijacker Mohammad Atta since the late 1990s but did nothing to stop him. But most theories run the gamut from the preposterous (the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon were drones) to the improbable (the WTC buildings collapsed due to a demolition charge). The prevailing theory is summed up by a bumper sticker: “9/11 Was an Inside Job.”
My own inquires, made while preparing the book Five Unanswered Questions About 9/11, suggest that there was a real government “conspiracy”-but not the one the 9/11 skeptics are peddling. Government agencies, particularly the FBI and CIA, did not inform the public that a terrorist attack might be imminent, and afterward, the FBI engaged in an unconscionable cover-up of its activities and blunders. FBI translator Sibel Edmonds has repeatedly fought to publicize the bureau’s inner workings, only to be blocked by the Justice Department and the courts. Likewise, the 9/11 Commission did not pursue many major lines of inquiry. It failed to take sworn testimony from President Bush or Vice President Cheney on what happened that day. We still do not have satisfying answers on why Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, second in command to the commander-in-chief, appeared to have been largely absent on 9/11. Why was he out of the loop while Cheney, who had no constitutional authority, ran the show from the White House bunker? And why did the commission not look into why our friends the Pakistanis, who helped create the Taliban, did not tell us what was going on? Or did they? How come John Walker Lind, the young American convert, was able to walk into the inner councils of Al Qaeda, but CIA agents could not? These are but a few of the legitimate lingering questions that dog the official storyline.
It is clear that the real conspiracy of 9/11 (besides, of course, Al Qaeda’s) was the federal government’s deliberate cover-up of what it knew and never acted upon, as well as its ineptitude. Below, a few of the other major 9/11 conspiracy theories and some information that helps to explain their persistence, as well as their flaws.
The Pentagon Attack
Theory: A missile, not American Airlines Flight 77, hit the Pentagon. The two holes punched in the side of the building were much smaller than the wingspan of a 757. According to a French author, the building was struck by a satellite-guided missile fired as part of an attempted military coup.
Fact: Crash investigators concluded that the main hole in the Pentagon was smaller than the plane’s wingspan because one wing was sheared off and the other was damaged on impact. The second, smaller hole was made by the jet’s landing gear. And if a missile did strike the Pentagon, why was DNA from the passengers of Flight 77 found in the rubble? Finally, Flight 77’s black box was unearthed at the site.
Remote Control
Theory: The two planes that hit the Twin Towers weren’t piloted by hijackers but directed by remote control.
Fact: Boeing said these planes could only be piloted from the flight deck. In addition, the passengers and crew made phone calls describing hijackers taking over. In a call minutes before the crash, American Flight 11 attendant Betty Ong told ground personnel, “Our Number One has been stabbed and our Five has been stabbed. Can anybody get up to the cockpit? Okay. We can’t even get into the cockpit. We don’t know who’s up there.” A second flight attendant on Flight 11 told an American Airlines ground employee, “Listen to me. Listen to me very carefully,” and then went on to describe the hijacking as it unfolded.
The Twin Towers Collapse
Theory: The Twin Towers collapsed because demolition charges were planted inside them, not because of fire and structural damage resulting from American Flight 11 and United Flight 175 plowing into them. The buildings had been designed to withstand great stress and the fires were not hot enough to melt steel. And, if the buildings had collapsed, they would have fallen at an angle-not pancaked straight down, as only buildings destroyed by controlled demolition do.
Fact: Planting enough explosives to blow up the Twin Towers would have required considerable preparation, such as hacking away concrete and steel to position the charges. The work would have taken weeks, possibly months, and could scarcely have gone unnoticed. Additionally, no evidence of explosives has ever turned up at Ground Zero or on debris from the towers. The explosions set off by the crashes ignited fires that did not melt the buildings’ steel structure but significantly weakened it, causing its design to fail. Floors crashing down upon one another with enormous impact took the building down.
Flight 93
Theory: United Flight 93 was shot down over southwestern Pennsylvania by an unidentified white military plane or by a heat-seeking missile fired from an F-16, possibly flown by the North Dakota Air Guard.
Fact: On 9/11, a white Dassault Falcon business jet, owned by VF Corp of Greensboro, North Carolina, was preparing to land at an airport 20 miles north of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed. According to Popular Mechanics, which did a thorough investigation into Flight 93 and other conspiracy theories, the Cleveland control center contacted the VF plane’s cockpit and asked the pilot to divert and see if he could find the crash site. The Dassault descended to 1,500 feet and eventually spotted the smoking hole in the ground where Flight 93 had crashed. As for the missile, according to an Air National Guard spokesman, Lt. Colonel Rick Gibney flew an F16 that morning from Fargo, North Dakota, to Bozeman, Montana, where he picked up Ed Jacoby Jr., head of New York state’s Emergency Management Office; he then took him to Albany, New York. Jacoby told Popular Mechanics that Gibney couldn’t possibly have shot down Flight 93 because he was with the fighter pilot at the time the plane went down and they never were anywhere near Shanksville. Additionally, the military did not know about the crash of Flight 93 until four minutes after it occurred.
Where Were the Fighters?
Theory: None of the fighters from the 28 air bases within range of the hijacked airplanes were scrambled because the Air Force was ordered to stand down.
Fact: The Federal Aviation Administration’s Boston Center phoned the Northeast Air Defense Sector at 8:37 a.m. to say Flight 11 had been hijacked. Within minutes, NEADS scrambled two sets of fighters-two F-15s from Otis Air National Guard Base at Falmouth, Massachusetts, and three F-16s from a National Guard base at Hampton, Virginia. The Virginia planes headed out over the ocean. The F-15s didn’t have time to reach Flight 11 before it crashed. Also, the hijackers had turned off the planes’ transponders, forcing air traffic controllers to look through thousands of radar blips to find the planes. North American Aerospace Defense Command, which is supposed to guard American airspace from attack, had its radar focused out of the country, searching for incoming rather than internal attacks.
Hijackers and the FBI
Theory: In 2000, future hijackers Khalid Al Mihdhar and Nawaf Al Hazmi were followed by the CIA to an Al Qaeda meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Then the agency lost them. Afterward, both men legally entered the United States through Los Angeles and went to live in plain sight in San Diego. How could this have happened without the government’s knowledge? The 9/11 Commission buried this detail in its footnotes and the FBI successfully resisted subpoenas from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to produce an informant who had known the two men in San Diego. Congress never was able to question this informant. The 9/11 Commission did talk to him, but what transpired at this meeting is classified, along with other footnotes in the commission’s report. Therefore, the hijackers must have been here with government approval.
Fact: The Intelligence Committee’s staff was the first to unearth and report the FBI informant’s relationship with the two hijackers. Former Florida Senator Bob Graham has described the committee’s unsuccessful efforts to persuade the FBI to bring the informant to testify before Congress. The true relationship of the hijackers and the FBI informant remains hidden in the bureau’s files.
Insider Trading
Theory: Insider trading in American Airlines and United Airlines stock just prior to 9/11 suggests that the traders had foreknowledge of the plot.
Fact: This appears to have been a coincidence, not a conspiracy. After investigating the theory, the 9/11 Commission concluded that “much of the seemingly suspicious trading in American [Airlines stock] on September 10 was traced to a specific U.S.-based options trading newsletter, faxed to its subscribers on Sunday, September 9, which recommended these trades.”
Able Danger
Theory: Mohammad Atta had been under surveillance by German and American intelligence back in the late 1990s. A secret Pentagon project called Able Danger knew all about Atta and his trips back and forth from Germany to the United States. Able Danger participants wanted to tell the FBI what was going on but were prevented from doing so by Pentagon brass, who feared that news of the secret project would cause a political uproar. The military is prohibited by law from spying inside the country.
Fact: Atta’s purported trips to the United States now seem unlikely. Nobody really knows what Able Danger was up to, since project officials were prevented by the Pentagon from testifying before Congress.
James Ridgeway is Mother Jones’ senior correspondent.
© 2007 Mother Jones
to the improbable (the WTC buildings collapsed due to a demolition charge).
Again no mention of building #7.
I believe my eyes and the many videos I have viewed showing faulty demolitions that tip the building.
Both the first tower to go down and WTC-7 had gaping holes in their side that would of weakened that side and caused tipping.
Osama speaks:
“Your information media during the first years of the war lost its credibility and manifested itself as a tool of the colonialist empires, and its condition has often been worse than the condition of the media of the dictatorial regimes which march in the caravan of the single leader.”
“Why are the leaders of the White House keen to start wars and wage them around the world, and make use of every possible opportunity through which they can reach this purpose, occasionally even creating justifications based on deception and blatant lies, as you saw in Iraq?
In the Vietnam War, the leaders of the White House claimed at the time that it was a necessary and crucial war, and during it, Rumsfeld and his aides murdered two million villagers. When Kennedy took over the presidency and deviated from the general line of policy drawn up for the White House and wanted to stop this unjust war, that angered the owners of the major corporations who were benefiting from its continuation.
And so Kennedy was killed, and those corporations were the primary beneficiary from his killing. The war continued after that for approximately one decade. But after it became clear to you that it was an unjust and unnecessary war, you made one of your greatest mistakes, in that you neither brought to account nor punished those who waged this war, not even the most violent of its murderers, Rumsfeld. Even more incredible is that Bush picked him as Secretary of Defense in his first term after picking Cheney as his vice president, Powell as secretary of state and Armitage as Powell’s deputy, despite their horrific and blood history of murdering humans. It was a clear signal that his administration - the administration of the generals- didn’t have as its main concern the serving of humanity, but rather, was interested in bringing about new massacres. Yet in spite of that, you permitted Bush to complete his first term, and stranger still, chose him for a second term, which gave him a clear mandate from you - with your full knowledge and consent - to continue to murder our people in Iraq and Afghanistan.
History shows the genocide and holocausts which took place at your hands: only a few specimens of Red Indians were spared, and just a few days ago, the Japanese observed the 62nd anniversary of the annihilation of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by your nuclear weapons.
Then you claim to be innocent! It is impossible to humor any of you in the arrogance and indifference you show for the lives of humans outside America, or to humor your leaders in their lying, as the entire world knows they have the lion’s share of that. Not taking past war criminals to account led to them repeating that crime of killing humanity without right and waging this unjust war in Mesopotamia.
“This war was entirely unnecessary, as testified to by your own reports. Among the most capable of those from your own side who speak to you on this topic is Noam Chomsky, who spoke sober words of advice prior to the war, but the leader of Texas doesn’t like those who give advice. The entire world came out in unprecedented demonstrations to warn against waging the war and describe its true nature in eloquent terms like “no to spilling red blood for black oil,” yet he paid them no heed.
It is time for humankind to know that talk of ‘the rights of man’ and ‘freedom’ are lies produced by the White House and its allies in Europe to deceive humans, take control of their destinies and subjugate them.
Among the things which catch the eye of the repercussions of your unjust war against Iraq is the failure of your democratic system, despite it raising of the slogans of ‘justice, liberty, equality and humanitarianism’. It has not only failed to achieve these things, it has actually destroyed these and other concepts with its weapons - especially in Iraq and Afghanistan- in a brazen fashion, to replace them with fear, destruction, killing, hunger, illness, displacement and more than a million orphans in Baghdad alone, not to mention hundreds of thousands of widows. Americans statistics speak of the killing of more than 650,000 of the people of Iraq as a result of the war and its repercussions.
People of America: the people of the world have recently come to know that, after several years of the tragedies of this war, the vast majority of you want it stopped. Thus, you elected the Democratic Party for this purpose, but the Democrats haven’t made a move worth mentioning. On the contrary, they continue to agree to the spending of tens of billions to continue the killing and war there, which has led to your disappointment.
And here is the gist of the matter, so one should pause, think and reflect: why have the Democrats failed to stop this war, despite them being the majority?
The answer to this question is: they are the same reasons which led to the failure of former president Kennedy to stop the Vietnam war. Those with real power and influence are those with the most capital. And since the democratic system permits major corporations to back candidates, be they presidential or congressional, there shouldn’t be any cause for astonishment in the Democrats’ failure to stop the war.
You’re the ones who have the saying which goes, “Money talks.” After the failure of your representatives in the Democratic Party to implement your desire to stop the war, you can still carry anti-war placards and spread out in the streets of major cities, then go back to your homes, but that will be of no use and will lead to the prolonging of the war.
It has now become clear to you and the entire world the impotence of your ‘democratic’ system and how it plays with the interests of the peoples and their blood by sacrificing soldiers and populations to achieve the interests of the major corporations.
It has become clear to all that they are the real tyrannical terrorists. In fact, the life of all of mankind is in danger because of the global warming resulting to a large degree from the emissions of the factories of the major corporations. Despite that, the representative of these corporations in the White House insists on not observing the Kyoto accord, with the knowledge that the statistic speaks of the resulting death and displacement of millions of human beings, especially in Africa. This greatest of plagues and most dangerous of threats to the lives of humans is taking place in an accelerating fashion as the world is being dominated by the ‘democratic’ capitalist system, which confirms its massive failure to protect humans and their interests from the greed and avarice of the major corporations and their representatives.
And despite this brazen attack on the people, the leaders of the West - especially Bush, Blair, Sarkozy and Brown- still talk about ‘freedom’ and ‘human rights’ with a flagrant disregard for the intellects of human beings. So is there a form of terrorism stronger, clearer and more dangerous? This is why I tell you: as you liberated yourselves before from the slavery of monks, kings, and feudalism, you should liberate yourselves from the deception, shackles and attrition of the capitalist system.
If you were to ponder it well, you would find that in the end, it is a system harsher and fiercer than your systems in the Middle Ages. The capitalist system seeks to turn the entire world into a fiefdom of the major corporations under the label of “globalization” in order to protect ‘democracy’.
Iraq and Afghanistan and their tragedies; the reeling of many of you under the burden of interest-related debts, insane taxes and real estate mortgages; global warming and its woes; and the abject poverty and tragic hunger in Africa - all of this is but one side of the grim face of this global system.
So it is imperative that you free yourselves from all of that and search for an alternative, upright methodology in which it is not the business of any class of humanity to lay down its own laws to its own advantage at the expense of the other classes as is the case with you, since the essence of the laws under which you live is that they serve the interests of those with the capital and thus make the rich richer and the poor poorer.”
Well, it is obvious that Mr. Ridgeway from Mother Jones is a neophyte as far as 9/11 truth is concerned. Cats who still peddle the official story as truth don’t understand the depth of evidence that has been amassing from well qualified and credentialed observers who believe the official story is a blatant fantasy that many people bought completely (including myself initially).
The defenders of the official conspiracy (which is a motley assortment of neo-fascist Bush operatives and establishment leftists like Chomsky and Cockburn) have been doing a full-court press as of late because they know the evidence they are presenting is weak and unbelievable. They also know that most Americans are smart enough to surmise that somthing foul is afoot when presented alternative theories as to what happened on 9/11, so they are pressing hard to marginalize a movement that is far from being marginalized.
Popular Mechanics has been a staunch defender of the official 9/11 myth, yet their arguments have been repeatedly torn to shreds. Check out these clips (parts 1 and 2) in which one of the “researchers” named Gavin Coburn for Popular Mechanics anti-truth is grilled by radio host Charles Goyette on the magazines’ research methodology. Everything that is science-related is not scientific.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLx5GATh_z0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb49MfDrwOo
Ridgeway and other defenders of the official conspiracy theory continue to insult the intelligence of those of us who have spent considerable time reading and researching questions about 9/11, and many of us are far beyond the flimsy excuses offered by the official defenders. Using the scientific method, you generally start with observations of a particular phenomena, form hypotheses based on those observations, test the hypotheses, and come to your conclusions.
Defenders of the official myth reverse the scientific method and this is why their repeated defenses are so infuriatingly condescending. They begin with their conclusion (that the WTC’s were brought down by airplane impacts and fires from jet fuel, that a plane hit the Pentagon, etc.) and work backwards to try and make their conclusion work, and it simply doesn’t! It would make more scientific sense to start with observations and work from there, but to do so wouldn’t fit the official narrative.
The debunking is weak here, regarding the THREE towers that “collapsed” on 9-11. And “examination of the evidence” is a misleading phrase, because the evidence was hauled off and buried elsewhere.
There are two possibilities:
(a) The buildings were constructed very poorly, with very minimal reinforcement of anything, and dangerously substandard design;
or
(b) They were imploded by controlled munitions.
No three normal high-rise buildings with such mass would have collapsed from the causes cited. This is the major point of public ignorance that needs to be addressed.
Lets just look at the Pentagon issue. Where is the wreckage? Now I am not talking about a handfull of scrap bystanders picked up, or that very small jet fan. We have never been shown ANY photos of landing gear, or the massive jet engines from the “airplane” that is claimed to have hit it. We have never been shown any substantial weckage. This stuff just does not vaporize.
But Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta was in the Presidential Emergency Operating Center with Vice President Cheney as Flight 77 approached Washington, D.C. On May 23, 2003 in front of the 9/11 Commission, Secretary Mineta testified:
“During the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, “The plane is 50 miles out.” “The plane is 30 miles out.” And when it got down to “the plane is 10 miles out,” the young man also said to the Vice President, “Do the orders still stand?” And the Vice President turned
and whipped his neck around and said, “Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?”
As the plane was not shot down are we to take it that the orders were to let the plane find its target?
Question: How was a plane which was known to be hostile able to have an unimpeded 48 minute joyride around US airspace before slamming into the heart of the US military?
Answer: Stand down.
On 9/11 there was no reaction from the USAF as hijacked aircraft flew through US airspace and plowed into buildings. This lack of response is inconceivable unless the USAF was stood down.
Can I trust you sheeple can do your homework on the other issues?
- v
“No evidence of explosives”
Anyone can go out and buy an explosives field-testing kit.
They may have changed their verbiage slightly since it was originally put up, but the NIST http://wtc.nist.gov/pubs/factsheets/faqs_8_2006.htm
at one point basically said that they didn’t test for explosives because there was no evidence for explosives.
Supposedly 200+ investigators and 3 years. And no tests for explosives. Let’s say the government’s conclusions on something (for once) are honest. Isn’t it possible that Bin Laden had some terrorists among the baggage crew pack the WTC planes with a little ordinance? So they’d pack a little more punch when they hit? Why not test for that?
Something’s not kosher there.
I would love to hear a good answer to this question, why would you complicate the job by *both* flying planes into buildings and demolishing them with planted explosives? That’s just dumb.
Has there been any independent footage — not from the MSM or government — of any of this?
In any case, I’d like to know why we’re supposed to trust a government that operates secret prisons, unconstitutional wiretap programs, distorts/censors science, moves nuclear weapons from A to B against normal operating procedures, has closed-door energy meetings, grants no-bid contracts to the former (and evidently currently) employer of the VP, politically outs a CIA operative, and lies about reasons to go to war.
As a character witness on ANYTHING, this government ain’t it. There’s NO sensible reason for trusting anything they say at this point. Why trust compulsive liars?
Gee, I thought common dreams was reality based. Mr. Ridgeway you totally avoided WTC #7.
Case closed!
I’m sure that “Five Easy Pieces” is a wonderful book, and clears up minor mysteries and anomalies including passports dropping intact from catastrophic plane crashes and winding up in plain view, and how alleged high-quality cell phone conversations could take place between the ground and aircraft. Or why simulations and war games were conducted by the military on or about 9/11– etc., etc., etc.
Unfortunately, the truth of the matter will almost certainly never be known. And for better or for worse, debunkers who try to settle the questions always come off as if they’re looking for “facts” conducive to neat conclusions.
The devil may not have been floating in the clouds around the destroyed WTC, but the devil’s still very much in the details here.
I have subscribed to Mother Jones for years, and I am so saddened to see them publish James Rideway’s junk journalism. 9/11 isn’t the first subject he’s twisted. Is Mother Jones becoming just another Time or Newsweek?
Re the Pentagon incident - if the plane didn’t hit the building, where did the plane and its passengers go? There must have been a Flight 77, airport employees must have known, it was a scheduled flight. Where are the passengers and plane now? If the flight was cancelled airport staff would know. Was the passenger list fictitious ? That could be checked easily. If not, those individuals are still alive, unless the plane was disposed of elsewhere. If so where is the wreckage? I understand that a lot of the passengers were government employees.
I kind of want to half believe the conspiracy theories, but these questions keep niggling.
Something smells with this article…. Where is the mention of building 7??? What about the fact that 5 days later, the rubble was still hot enough to melt aluminum in many spots. Was this caused by fires that were mostly out? No stack of floors was found either, like the pancaking theory would require.
Oh BTW - In regards to: “Fact: Planting enough explosives to blow up the Twin Towers would have required considerable preparation, such as hacking away concrete and steel to position the charges. The work would have taken weeks, possibly months, and could scarcely have gone unnoticed. Additionally, no evidence of explosives has ever turned up at Ground Zero or on debris from the towers”….
It was noticed. There are many reports in the WEEKS leading up to Sept 11 about complaints of dust and powder coming through the vents. Lots of complaints about noise and constuction being done…. The towers were not full, there were plenty of open floors and business were moved around often, allowing plenty of oppurtunity for someone to place the explosives. There was even a suspicious power outage weeks before that was likely used to hook up the wiring for the detonators.
Its funny that 6 years down the road, nothing can be disproved with confidence. Why cant the FBI just release the footage of the Pentagon attack and prove that it was a 757, instead of lying about it???
The truth will come out.
Anniesee,
I’m no expert on this, but there is an easy and obvious answer to your questions: the plane and its passengers are in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s hard to imagine how anyone could miss this possibility.
James Ridgeway wrote…
Fact: Planting enough explosives to blow up the Twin Towers would have required considerable preparation, such as hacking away concrete and steel to position the charges. The work would have taken weeks, possibly months, and could scarcely have gone unnoticed.
My response…
You need not hack away at steel to place charges. You attach the charge strip directly to steel beams at an angle to cut and make the top piece slide off. How do you know someone didn’t notice? Your incorrect statements do nothing to refute the suspicion.
James Ridgeway wrote…
Additionally, no evidence of explosives has ever turned up at Ground Zero or on debris from the towers.
My response…
How about the molten steel that burned for weeks under WTC 1, 2 & 7 (which you casually forgot to mention)? You admit that the fire couldn’t have melted the steel…so what did? Almost all of the steel debris was taken away and not examined by anyone to determine what happened…clear signs of a cover up. Removing evidence from a crime scene is a crime within itself.
There are many witnesses (even on video, not shown by the corrupt media) that state they heard explosion before and during the fall.
James Ridgeway wrote…
The explosions set off by the crashes ignited fires that did not melt the buildings’ steel structure but significantly weakened it, causing its design to fail. Floors crashing down upon one another with enormous impact took the building down.
My Response…
You admit that fire does not melt steel and yet you avoid mentioning the melted steel underground that existed for weeks. Why was concrete pulverized into huge dust clouds? How did all of the steel beams on lower floors (like 2 - 70) break into small pieces? How did the 100+ story building fall in under 12 seconds…close to free-fall speed? Why where squibs seen 20 stories below the pending collapse zone? How did huge steel clusters get ejected into other buildings if the building simply collapsed?
Of course the author never read the NIST report that dismisses the pancake theory for another collapse theory. His peddling of an early official theory debunked by another branch of the same official conspirators shows that he has not done his homework.
There is no point in going forward with this guy. Those of us who have done our homework are not moved by the shallow whimpering of PM, NIST and other so-called debunkers of the 9/11 truth movement.
Authors like this person jeopardize the reputation of Commondreams.org
Truth doesn’t really matter at this point. Before we can even get there, it’s trust and motive.
For being awfully dishonest about virtually everything else, there is no rational reason for trusting ANY sort of findings that come out of a Bush circumscribed investigation.
Secondly, for being such a tragedy, the Bush “base” sure made a killing on 9/11, didn’t they? Bush’s wars subsequently caused massive civilian damage in the mideast, resulted in more dead American soldiers than those civilians who died on 9/11, and billions of disappearing dollars.
Fact #1: Lack of any sensible reason to trust this administration.
Fact #2: Immense profits, at immense human cost. This suggests a complete absence of scruples.
One needn’t resort to “conspiracy theory”. These two demonstratively true statements are all that is required to have intense doubt.
In any case, I find it an interesting linguistic twist that it’s a “conspiracy theory” if a non-official arives at it, but not even a “conspiracy fact” if this supposedly trustworthy government issues it. Indeed, it’s just something we’re supposed to accept as orthodoxical truth, beyond question, beyond analysis, beyond even perfecting. Outside of the realms of religion, only Big Brotherish dynamics request that sort of inability to think independently or critically.
You be a fool to buy this book just based on this article. The author does not give any definitive clues of why he challenges the theories. Nobody may ever know the truth because all the evidence was either destroyed or in the hands of the Bush Administration.
This book is 2 thumbs down!
Is this guy stupid or a government shill? Go here for some real news:
http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?show=13&month=06&year=2007
This is the guns and butter site for kpfa radio. They have an archives page but I had trouble playing it from there. The above site seemed to work better for me.
”
“What Didn’t Hit the Pentagon” with Dave von Kleist, April Gallop and Barbara Honegger. Dave von Kleist examines mainstream media coverage of the attack on the Pentagon; Pentagon survivor …
Listen to how this Pentagon employee, April Gallop, was badgered by Pentagon authorities trying to get her to repeat the official story–even though she climbed out of the hole where the supposed plane went in. She says, there was no plane parts, no luggage, no debris, no bodies. Yet a few minutes after the plane was “vaporized” (except for the DNA Ridgeway mentiones, of course), she walked out of the hole and onto the Pentagon lawn.
While you are there, listen to the interviews of Michael Hudson–the economist who is working on the Kucinich campaign. The people who have given money to Bush have now transferred that money to Hillary and Obama. If you can’t get one pro-war whore, get another–they are all for sale.
While you are there, listen to the presentation by Gage, an architect. Gage is not a very good presenter, in fact, he can be quite boring in his presentation, but at least he has his facts down. THREE steel buildings do not “collapse” into pulverized dust by the fall of gravity, regardless of how they fell. Ridgeway tells us there is no evidence of explosives–yet molten steel had melted into fireball shapes called “metorites” at the site–no building fire is hot enough to cause that. “Squibs” shoot out of the sides of the building. Steel beams are conviently cut at 45 degree angles (as are done by expertly placed charges). Steel beams weighing tons are shot into the sides of buildings blocks away–does Mr. Ridgeway purport to tell us that the fall of gravity caused these things? Firemen heard the multiple explosions. Buildings do not fall at free fall speed unless something has cleared the path, i.e., explosions taking out the floors below. Ridgeway uses the term “pancaking”–the buildings did not pancake–they pulverized–turned to dust with a pyroclastic cloud shot into the air. As the architect says, you get that in volcanoes and demolitions. The FACTS for demoliton go on and on. As for placing the charges–the security company (affliated with Marvin Bush) cut all power to the building the weekend before 9/11 “to upgrade internet connections” yeah, right. This meant no security cameras in the building all weekend–wonder what went on then???? Have you ever heard of such a thing??? A building such as this with all secruity feeds cut???
I am convinced that there is no journal, so-called progressive or otherwise ,that has not been infiltrated by CIA (or other alphabet) shills. We are sick and tired of the lies and tired of being treated as though we are completely stupid. “Shock and awe” works only for a while. I am shocked and awed at how murderous these people are who run this government. But they all make their money off of death, so why am I surprised? I would love to see a real investigation into 9-11 and would love to be proven wrong. Unfortunately, like the war on Iraq, it will be just lies and more lies with the subject ever being changed: WMDs, to bad old Saddam causing 9-11, to democracy, to whatever is next. Lies and murder–that’s all this bunch knows.
Oh yeah, listen to Hudson talk about the worthless dollar and how all other nations are having to stock pile those dollars and can’t do anything with them because our government threatens to do the same thing to them that it did in Iraq. Eventually, the rest of the world will get tired of bankrolling our wars and will put a stop to it–they will quit accepting worthless dollars. What will that bunch on Wall STreet do then????? So, all you smug non-Americans who are reading this post, remember, everytime your CENTRAL BANK stacks up greenbacks, it is bankrolling the wars for the U.S. YOU ARE BANKROLLING THE WAR if Mr. Hudson is correct. Americans are too busy paying interest to our CENTRAL BANK for the interest on our national loans–we don’t have any money to bankroll a war.
Dissolve the Federal Reserve–put our money back under the Treasury and Congress where it beongs. Put those bankers in the rice paddies who have been stealing this country blind–DOWN WITH THE PRIVITIZED CENTRAL BANKING SYSTEM–THESE PEOPLE ARE TRAITORS TO OUR COUNTRY!!! Stolen idea for a bumper sticker: FIGHT POVERTY: KILL A BANKER!!!
As for the poster above who thinks Bush was actually elected–the first election was definitely stolen, the second seems to have been as well. But even so, our choice was one Skull and Bones warmonger or another. We haven’t had a real president since John Kennedy and look what they did to him. The powers that run this country gave us no choice at all–one devil worshipper or another with Kerry and Bush. The illuision of a choice is just to keep the sheep bleating at one another as though they have a real choice. I know it is all a game, but if I can show up at the polls, I will vote for Kucinich, even if I have to write his name in. I WILL NOT VOTE FOR ANYONE WHO HAS THE BLOOD OF THIS WAR ON THEIR HANDS OR WHO IS A WATERBOY (read Obama) FOR THE EXTABLISHMENT and who will continue the war “because we just can’t leave now as it would cause chaos.” Heard that lie during the Vietnam era–don’t want to hear it again. A war crime is a a war crime. The sooner you stop it, the better.
Bob K
Thanks - yes, I’d considered that explanation, but the question of motivation of the pilot(s) is hard to account for, and airport control would have been able to track the plane’s flight path, would it not? The correct (as scheduled) pilot(s) must have boarded the plane initially.
I seem to remember that there were no Arab-seeming names on the passenger list though. Any “terrorist” must have been a western-style suicide nut.
OK - “Terrorists” could have forced the pilot to fly over the Atlantic and ditch the plane, I suppose, and contact with airport control could have been eliminated by the “terrorists” on board.
“How about the molten steel that burned for weeks”
Whether this is true or not is far from settled.
This is a good article that dispels many of the manufactured myths about the 9/11 attacks - but it also ignores the other major terror attack of 2001 - the anthrax attacks. This subject is in my mind far more serious than the 911 attacks, (1) because high-tech anthrax spores could easily kill far, far more people than 911 did, and also because the US government still refuses to sign the Biological Warfare Non-Proliferation Treaty.
It seems pretty clear that the 911 Truth Movement and its many affiliates is not a group of misguided and misinformed individuals, but rather a ‘false flag’ public relations campaign. It’s odd that the 911truther love to talk about ‘false flag’ military operations, but they refuse to talk about a favorite strategy of Karl Rove and his ilk - the ‘false flag’ public relations operation.
Essentially, this is a strategy aimed at smearing anti-war protestors by portraying them as lunatics who believe in ludicrous theories. It is also used at anti-globalization protests - in that case, undercover police dress up as masked protestors and attempt to turn peaceful protests into violent confrontations, which are then used by the local authorities to condemn all anti-globalization protestors (as recently happened in Canada). These dirty tricks are straight out of the COINTELPRO era.
The fact that the authors of the various 911truth sites hide behind a screen of anonymity and refuse to discuss their funding sources is typical of secretive ‘astroturf’ public relations efforts.
This doesn’t mean that the ‘official government story of 9/11′ is accurate. The actual truth is probably that 9/11 was preventable. It might even be true that the Bush Administration knew there were going to be hijackings, but allowed them to take place anticipating that the result would be an airplanes-on-tarmac media frenzy event - but that’s speculation.
Think about it. Everyone knows that astroturf PR movements are very common these days - couldn’t a large percentage of the 911 truth movement be one as well?
jakenewton, Project For A New American Century (PNAC) stated in their manifesto that they need a new “Pearl Harbor” to fully persue their aims. Look what has transpired in the six years since 9/11/01. Maybe those planes were not being flown by remote control, but they sure as hell were not being flown by those individuals the Government claims. The pilot who flew #77 into the Pentagon, Hani Hanjour, could barely fly a Cessna 172 according to his flight instructors. To jump behind the controls of a 757 and do they types of maneuvering that plane did was by someone with extraordinary flying skill.Consider this quote, “For a guy to just jump into the cockpit and fly like an ace is impossible - there is not one chance in a thousand,” said [ex-commercial pilot Russ] Wittenberg, recalling that when he made the jump from Boeing 727’s to the highly sophisticated computerized characteristics of the 737’s through 767’s it took him considerable time to feel comfortable flying. [LewisNews] More information about Hani Hanjour can be found at: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/hanjour.html
ike:
Probably all sufficiently large organizations become dominated by their nutty PR wing. I agree that probably a large amount of the conspiracy mongering is false flag, deliberate disinformation planted to smear the whole movement into fringe status.
That said, one needn’t believe in something “positive” as a surrogate to harbor extreme doubts about (a) the honesty of this administration on ANY TOPIC and (b) the subsequent profiteering without scruple.
And of course, the “Case Closed!” contingent would complain– scold, typically– that the comments here just “prove” that “conspiracy theorists” are unable or unwilling to accept the simple(r) truths about 9/11.
Even NOVA and Popular Mechanics can’t convince them! They’re obviously deranged! Every time you hand them an undisputed fact, they just spit back questions and skepticism!
They really play that “calm reasonableness” game very well.
Generally I agree with most of this article. The only part that would cause me concern is the number of the refutations that rely on the military or the 9-11 commission for their sources. But I’ve never seen any conspiracy theories that make more sense.
There are some excellent descriptions of the collapse of building #7 that don’t rely on explosives. Two key causes. 1) Two 110 storied buildings just collapsed next store. A lot of debris and shock would have hit building 7. 2) there was a massive diesel fire burning in building 7. The backup generators were on the fifth floor, and the diesel tanks in the basement were automatically pumping fuel up there, which was then spilling through ruptured lines.
In general with 9-11, I do believe two things.
1) The Bush administration was seriously incompetent (surprise!) in its first 9 months, and fatally disregarded the growing warnings of this attack. Since the attack, they’ve done a lot of CYA covering up to try to hide this.
2) The Bush administration took advantage of these attacks to pursue its own agenda of war in the Middle East. There’s been some obfuscation of the facts of 9-11 that didn’t fit this agenda.
But in terms of a massive cover up of some conspiracy of the Bushies being behind 9-11, that just seems more and more silly to me.
And anyone who’s focusing on this stuff has seriously taken their eyes off the far more important balls of what to do about an administration that’s launched criminal wars and criminal domestic spying campaigns using what happened on 9-11 as a prop. When I think of all the wasted time and effort that’s gone into trying to prove some conspiracy, I just shake my head.
Jakenewton asks: I would love to hear a good answer to this question, why would you complicate the job by *both* flying planes into buildings and demolishing them with planted explosives? That’s just dumb.
The WTC buildings were specifically made to stand up to being hit by jet planes. The designers had this in mind–the outer beams were strong enough so that when a plane hit and punctured the outer perimeter the load would shift. It also had interior beams, 40, I think, to further provide support–I refer you to the Gage documentary and website for architectural details. One designer said, imagine a a pencil pushed through a window screen–this is the same effect as a jet puncturing the outer perimeter of this building. Those who planned this attack knew the buildings would not fall from plane attacks alone and they needed to achieve several goals: 1) they got their “new Pearl Harbor” which they needed to launch this pre-planned war against Iraq–I refer you to The Project of the New American Century. Bush had recently stolen the election with the help of the Supreme Court. He had eggs thrown at him as he made his way to be sworn in to the office. This guy was not going to achieve much of anything, unless you could rally the people around him…
2) The WTC were white elephants and the requests to demolish them had been denied several times because of the asbestos content in the buildings–it would have cost several billions of dollars to remove that asbestos.
So, how to blame the Arabs or middle-easterners so that a war could be launched against them (as they all look alike to most Americans–and if you’ve seen one raghead, you’ve seen them all). Thus, every time Bush or Cheney mentioned 9-11, they always mentioned Saddam–this was to tie the idea of the Iraqis and 9-11 in the minds of the sheeple–worked pretty good, too, as most Americans believed for a long time that Saddam had something to do with 9-11.
They had to “shock and awe” the people like they “shock and awed” the Iraqis. It wasn’t enough to fly a plane into a building and leave it smoldering–you’ve got to bring them all down. You’ve got to kill a lot of people. Afterall, the FBI provided the bomb in the 1993 WTC bombing–Google Salem, WTC bombing and read the NYT report.”Only” six people were killed and I think 19 injured. You’ve got to kill enough people to make Americans really angry. Since the planes alone wouldn’t kill enough people or bring down the buildings, you had to have explosives placed. Ridgeway got one thing right, it does take a while to plant explosives. Yet, there was all of this foreknowledge that buildings were coming down that day, even though in the history of architecture, fires HAVE NEVER BROUGHT DOWN STEEL BUILDINGS. Yet the mayor knew the towers were coming down–said he got word of it–and I ask that you Google the BBC report of foreknowledge of Building #7 collapse. The BBC correspondent says “Building #7 has collapsed” and yet building #7 was still standing right behind her in her news piece, suddently they cut the feed, and twenty minutes later, it collapsed. She was reading from a script that foretold the “collapse” of #7. Yet building #7 had little fire damage–most windows were still intact when the building “collapsed.” Silverstein said he thought that there had been enough loss of life and so he wanted to “pull” the building. He now says, he meant “pull” out the firemen. Building #7 housed the FBI, CIA, and command center for the Mayor as well as records relating to corporate scandals such as Enron. Silverstein collected 3 1/2 billion in insurance and looks like he is to collect that much more as he had taken out a 99 year lease on these white elephants only 3 months before. Soooo, he (Silverstein) makes out like a bandit, Saddam and Osama get the blame for the Oswald-like patsies on the planes–you got to admit, some powerful people kept those “terrorists” out of trouble all of those months they circulated in the U.S., taking their little flying lessons, snorting coke in topeless bars, and there was someone making sure the FBI underlings didn’t get too close to them–or just as close as the FBI wanted them to get, in a word, these guys seemed too close to the intelligence community for comfort. WTC one and two are destroyed, #7 with all the evidence is destroyed, Bush all of a sudden is our wonderful president who can lead a nation into a war they’ve wanted since before he became president, and everything is going to plan.
Who benefits? Bush and his monied backers. Who loses: the American people and the Iraqis and any other people who have resources we might want and are not willing to give them up for little or nothing. Maybe it isn’t such dumb a plan afterall,Newton.
What’s wrong with this whole discussion?
This article already has some 30 comments. At the same time, the article by Mr. Scheer on Gen. Petraeus testimony has 9 comments.
This article that gets all the attention is a discussion of something that happened 6 years ago. The article with only 9 comments is a discussion of what’s going to be happening in the next year.
All this BS about 9-11 is a distraction. It takes people’s attention away from what’s really important, which is trying to act to stop the death and destruction that’s going to occur by following the same war policies in Iraq for the next year. The discussion about what happened on 9-11 will not save anyone’s life. Thousands of people will die and many thousands more will be injured or imprisoned in Iraq. That’s far more important than some arcane discussion about what did or didn’t happen six years ago.
I’m sure one of the reasons Petreus is testifying on 9-11 is that the Bushies knew a big chunk of the opposition would be easily distracted into a meaningless debate on 9-11 conspiracy theories on these days. What a waste of words and effort.
At this point it seems to be a waste of time to argue about what happened on 9/11. People need to prepare for what’s coming down the road.
Comarc says: And anyone who’s focusing on this stuff has seriously taken their eyes off the far more important balls of what to do about an administration that’s launched criminal wars and criminal domestic spying campaigns using what happened on 9-11 as a prop. When I think of all the wasted time and effort that’s gone into trying to prove some conspiracy, I just shake my head.
Well, Comarc, shake your head, but I would like to know if elements in my government, besides doing all the things you mentioned, also killed 3,000 Americans on 9-11. “This stuff” that you refer to is the MURDER OF 3000 Americans. It may not be of any importance to you, but it is to me. Under your logic, we would never put anyone on trial for murder–we could be focusing our attention on more important things instead of trying to solve a murder case. In any civilized society, murder is investigated. After Bush and Cheney fought any investigation at all, they finally agreed only if their men could do the investigating and if the questions were narrowed. No thanks. We want a real investigation. The people who died on 9/11 deserve a fair and open investigation into their deaths. It hasn’t happened yet. Keep shaking your head. I for one, shake my head and wonder why something like this isn’t important to you, but then, again, maybe it is very important to you…
Again, it’s trust + motive. The next time that the country is nailed, do we have any reason to trust Bush? D.C. in general? They’ve already lost the Republic.
I’d like to see someone, anyone, in D.C. trying to restore public trust.
And, as Lalo Jenkins indicates, one of the worst fallouts with regard to Iraq is its distracting nature. The manufactured war abroad has diverted attention from the ongoing class war here at home.
I’m sure many commenters here have read Robert Pirsig’s superb “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. Early on, the narrator lets us know that he is haunted by someone who died years earlier, but who wasn’t “buried right”. I think he refers to Native American tradition holding that unless a person is buried right, they are doomed to be a restless spirit.
Thus, I find disingenuous the argument that people could, or should, turn off lingering concern about the reality of the 9/11 attacks. The reason these articles attract so much supposedly unwarranted attention is because many people know that 9/11 wasn’t buried right, and we’re haunted by this. On this point, I even find the great Chomsky disingenuous; blithely waving off the admittedly vexing and probably unresolvable questions because they’re a distraction isn’t the same as burying it right. The implication is that those who continue to be absorbed by this event are intellectually weak or misguided; I reject this implication; methinks they dost protest too little.
Also, by the bye, the criticism that this question is unduly distracting and irrelevant could be made of many articles posted and discussed here. Why bother reading “Free the Jena Six”, for instance? We all pretty much know what happened, and in any event it’s a local issue that will be handled by locals.
I think that it is possible to become obsessed with an issue to a point which is psychologically risky, even damaging, but I refuse to feel stupid or guilty for being drawn to this peculiar catastrophe.
Little Brother wrote…
Even NOVA and Popular Mechanics can’t convince them! They’re obviously deranged! Every time you hand them an undisputed fact, they just spit back questions and skepticism!
My Response
NOVA and PM did not give any “facts” regarding the questions…only theories. In fact, NIST (another official conspirator) came out and disputed PM’s pancake “theory”. There are inconsistencies throughout the government’s so called official story and the publications that seek to support them; these discrepancies from the same source cannot (by definition) be considered facts.
Six years ago; what really happened?
It still matters because it was used as the diving board into this mess.
I trust my eyes, if that hole in the Pentagon was a jet it would of sheared off the wings; where are they?
COmarc said
“What’s wrong with this whole discussion?
This article already has some 30 comments. At the same time, the article by Mr. Scheer on Gen. Petraeus testimony has 9 comments.”
It does seem unfair, but then there have been so many articles about Gen. Petraeus recently, here and elsewhere. People have probably already had their say on that topic. Not that the conspiracy thing hasn’t already been done to death too, in the past, but it’s a while since an article like this has appeared.
Remote Control: Just because Boeing said the planes were not equipted to fly remotely doesn’t mean it wasn’t possible. Look into Global Hawk and all the ties toUndersecretary of former Defense & Comptroller: Dov S. Zakheim, CEO of System Planning Corporation
The Twin Towers Collapse: Not even going to get into it. too much evidence.Mavin Bush was head of security(explosive rigging work could have been done at night??), the laws of gravity, conservation of enegy,
and thermo dynamics do not support official theory,
pancake theory was disproven. Remains were smuggled out of the contry by guiliani and associated before thorough analysis could be done. When has a crime scene especially one of this proportion been treated in this manner??. Read NIST report which comes to no real conclusion of cause of collapse.
Where Were the Fighters?
Read about all the drill going on that day. upwards of 7 I believe. Read about all the confusion of this being real world of excercise when planes were hijacked.
I could spend a month writing all the evidence .The truth is look for yourself it is all out there!!!
9/11 was designed and executed by Dick Cheney–who directed the whole caper from his bunker.
Follow the money–it leads directly to the ONLY guy who had motive, opportunity and means–YOUR vice president.
COMarc wrote..
All this BS about 9-11 is a distraction. It takes people’s attention away from what’s really important, which is trying to act to stop the death and destruction that’s going to occur by following the same war policies in Iraq for the next year. The discussion about what happened on 9-11 will not save anyone’s life
My response
You have to solve a problem at the root. 9/11 was the root of all evil that proceeded and uses it as justification.
The more the world knows that 9/11 was a hoax, the more they will rise against the crimes that use it as a foundation.
On another subject…
Your acceptance of Building 7 collapse explanation seems quite naive. Have you ever seen damaged buildings in earthequakes, or failed demolitions…or even those pounded with the old wrecking ball? The undamaged structure stays intact. A whole buuilding does not collapsed symmetrically and completeley in less than 10 seconds except by explosives. If such little damage and fire could bring a building down so neatly in less than 8 hours…there would be no reason for the science of “controlled demolitions” (which takes weeks of planning and prep work). Use your brain, Man.
Have you ever wondered why Buildngs 3, 4, & 5 never collaspsed. WTC 1 and 2 fell all over them?????????????
COMarc said: “All this BS about 9-11 is a distraction. It takes people’s attention away from what’s really important, which is trying to act to stop the death and destruction that’s going to occur by following the same war policies in Iraq for the next year. The discussion about what happened on 9-11 will not save anyone’s life. Thousands of people will die and many thousands more will be injured or imprisoned in Iraq. That’s far more important than some arcane discussion about what did or didn’t happen six years ago.”
COMarc and others on the left try to dismiss those of us who believe the US government isn’t telling us the truth about 9/11 because they feel it’s a “distraction”, that it’s not important, etc?
What kind of bullshit are you talking about, man? Finding the true perpetrators of 9/11 is the MOST important job of our generation because everything that you mention happening, especially the Iraq War which you and your kind harp on about, occurred AFTER 9/11 happened. EVERYTHING the Bush regime has done to us since then has been justified based on the lie that was 9/11, and you think it’s not important to find out who was responsible? Gimme a fucking break!
If you invalidate 9/11, you AUTOMATICALLY invalidate Guantanamo, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars of criminality and aggression, the PATRIOT Act, the Dept. of Homeland Security, illegal wiretapping, and the entire “war on terror” in one fell swoop, and you think this is not important?
People like COMarc, Chomsky, Rothschild (of the Progressive magazine), Cockburn, the Nation magazine, Mother Jones, etc., all have too much invested in fighting post-9/11 battles to sit down as rethink the fakery they were sold (and all have diminished their reputations as a result). Their pride, egos, and reputations have thus far prevented them from looking at the evidence objectively.
9/11 is the most definitive opportunity for the people of this country to expose the criminality our elected officials are willing to carry out in order to “catalyze” pre-existing policies, and we have people who are still refusing to honestly look at the mounds of evidence available. The only way intelligent folks like Chomsky can maintain the position of non-belief that he does is because he simply has not looked at the evidence, and that is disheartening to believe.
Now is the time to bring down a corrupt form of government that has terrorized the globe with its incessant wars; now is the time to bring down the military-industrial complex and return our resources to the people. Ignoring what really happened on 9/11 is like ignoring the HIV virus and focussing only on treating the symptoms.
at the risk of sounding repititious, pick the issue that makes you the angriest and work on that. do people’s efforts to discover the truth about 9-11 make you angry? then do the homework (simply parroting james ridgeway or michael schermer online won’t cut it) and refute them if you can.
do stolen elections make you angry? the shredding of the bill of rights? the abandonment of the gulf coast after katrina/rita? the obscene profits of the insurance/banking/brokerage houses? the use of toxics by our troops and the subsequent indifference to their strange health problems? of course i could go on at great length, but let’s just say that there’s no shortage of things that ought to make at least some of us angry.
many are engaged in struggle to end the occupations of iraq and afghanistan; some hope to abolish corporate personhood; some, myself included, have fought homelessness and eminent domain abuse for years. whatever. just do the work that fires you up, and let others do theirs. it’s my firm belief that any thread you pull on will help eventually to unravel this gordian knot of greed, corruption, and naked ambition.
“Holymoly” writes quite a bit to answer my simple question which was:
“Jakenewton asks: I would love to hear a good answer to this question, why would you complicate the job by *both* flying planes into buildings and demolishing them with planted explosives? That’s just dumb.”
Finally provides this fantastic speculation:
“They had to “shock and awe” the people like they “shock and awed” the Iraqis. It wasn’t enough to fly a plane into a building and leave it smoldering–you’ve got to bring them all down. You’ve got to kill a lot of people. “
So you are trying to tell me that four airliners crashed into each of the WTC towers, the Pentagon, and the white House or Capitol building, all very well known as symbolic buildings in the national psyche, along with many hundreds killed, would be insufficient to get Americans angry? That instead you would have to go through the additional convolutions and complications of putting a considerable number of “agents” to the task of planting hundreds of pounds of explosives and miles of wire? So that you could get some more “drama”?
Can you see how this answer would leave a lot to be desired for many people? Anyone else want to try and answer my question?
As a buildings expert myself, he is correct that you dont need to MELT the steel beams to weaken them enough to collapse, especially if the buildings were structurally inadequate in the first place.
However, this still does not explain BLDG #7, which was NOT hit by airplanse, nor was it on fire. building debris breaking some windows on one side would not knock down BLDG #7
Also does not mention the BILLION DOLLAR DOUBLE INSURANCE payout the new owner received…the one who was overheard saying “pull it”
Nor does it explain why the government has not released the multiple security video tapes of the plane hitting the Pentagon. why just that little snippet they released that did not show anything?
Also does not explain how a known AQ terrorist received a visa to study flying in the USA
does not explain the “mystery fireproof passports”, nor why some of the 19 later turned up alive and well and living in Saudi Arabia
Or why Chimpy sat their like a smuck with a guilty scared shitless look on his dumb face reading my pet goat after the SECOND plane hit.
Or why the Saudis/bin Ladens plane was the only flight allowed in the air on Sept 12,leaving the scene of the crime?
Or the “coincidental” call for a “new Pearl Harbour” by the PNAC and the preexisting plan to invade Iraq
Wow. Did I miss something, when did Dick Cheney take over Mother Jones?
Well done, Mr. Ridgeway, wave those mirrors, blow that smoke. Hey! Look over there! No! Look over here! All the strained “don’t believe your lying eyes” debunking is countered elsewhere by scientific opinion, common sense, and logic.
But a potted plant could take Ridgeway apart. This is not complicated.
All the dreaded “conspiracy theorists” want is answers to some very simple questions. Like -
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EVIDENCE?
WHERE IS THE ANALYSIS OF THE WRECKAGE OF THE BUILDINGS?
THE WRECKAGE OF THE PLANES?
THE VIDEOTAPES OF WHATEVER HIT THE PENTAGON?
FOR THAT MATTER - WHERE IS THE WRECKAGE OF THE BUILDINGS, THE WRECKAGE OF THE PLANES, THE VIDEOTAPES, ETC., ETC., ETC.?
WHY WAS EVERYTHING WHISKED AWAY? WHERE IS IT NOW? WHY WASN’T IT SEQUESTERED, ANALYZED AND USED IN THE SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION?
OH. UM, WHAT SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION?
WHERE IS ANY SEMBLANCE OF AN INVESTIGATION THAT WOULD NOT EMBARRASS A SMALL TOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT?
???
“I trust my eyes, if that hole in the Pentagon was a jet it would of sheared off the wings; where are they?”
Where are the wings in ANY high-speed airliner crash? The energy involved reduces the wings and airframe to coin-sized sized aluminum fragments and the occupants to bits of bone and flesh. Everyone who has ever followed news coverage of high-speed impact plane crashes - like the valujet Florida crash, the 737 crashes in Pittsburgh and Colorado, knows that.
Also, I suggest that you review that Pentagon security camera footage. remember the camera was taking pictures at just a frames a second, and the plane was travelling nearly 1000 feet per second. Nonetheless, one frame does manage to capture the airplanes tail against the flash of the impact.
The idea of controlled demolition of the WTC is easily refuted by simply looking at films of the collpase. The collapse clearly starts at the point of greatest impact damage - in the case of the south tower, one can even see the exterior columns bukling - then proceeds downward. This is completely different than any workable kind of controlled demolition.
When they talk of pancaking, the word is being used in a strict structural engineering sense referring to buidlings constructed using the standard structural bays supporting girders, beams, and concrete deck. All buildings approaching antyhing the size of the WTC towers can only collpase straight down, the strength of steel, the scale of the probem, and physics (gravity acts straight down) require this. The materials aren’t nearly strong enough to provide the hinge action necessary for the building or portions of the building to topple like a tree.
Of course, there are enigmatic aspects to any major energetic event. I dumped my electric motor scooter on a wet curve at about 30 mph a few days ago and somehow got bleeding abrasions on my leg even though my pant-leg covering teh injuries wasn’t even scuffed. How strange! The whole accident must have been a conspiracy on green dissidents like me!
I have already written a little earlier on the other non-credible organizational aspects of any “deliberate-destruction” scheme in light of the observed events. If there is any conspiracy here, it is that the deliberate destruction theory has been deliberately disseminated, COINTELPRO-style, to distract public attention away from the vastly more credible and equally criminal, “let it happen” hypothesis.
But ultimately the whole thing is working because scientific literacy and, more importantly, logic-based critical thinking, has been practically bred-out of USAns, and replaced with something scary and ugly.
what a weak article.. gtfo ridgeway.. just glance at the comments above and realize you’re not changing anyones minds with 3 sentence per “myth” debunking.
on a side note, glad to see a whole slew of skeptical people who commented before me think for themselves and not believe everything you read, even on commondreams.
jakenewton,
Your question is irrelevant. The towers were indeed blown to kingdom come. ae911truth. Perhaps to get rid of evidence. Perhaps just because they could. Who knows why madmen do what they do?
It is gratifying to read the many excellent comments by commondreams.org readers who are justifiably outraged about yet another 9/11 whitewash provided by our mainstream media and, even more deplorable, by all too many anti-Bush, anti-neocon, anti-war magazines (like “Mother Jones” and “The Nation”), critics (like Noam Chomsky, Chalmers Johnson and Alexander Cockburn) and websites (like www.counterpunch.org and www.alternet.org).
Interestingly, the hugely popular website www.antiwar.com publishes all of the excellent columns by Paul Craig Roberts (who was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during the Reagan Adminstration, no less) EXCEPT those in which he questions or criticizes the “official theory” of 9/11. To my knowledge, the only website with the courage and decency to publish these columns is www.informationclearinghouse.info; Roberts’ most recent 9/11 critique appeared yesterday:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18353.htm
The evidence against the “official theory” - provided most eloquently by the books of Prof. David Ray Griffin and the video film “Loose Change” - is so overwhelming that those who neither doubt nor reject the theory cannot be taken seriously.
Well, it is heartening to see that over the past year, their whole argument seems to now hinge solely on some enigmatic aspects of the WTC 7 collapse - as if a few unanswered questions support their whole gratuitously-complex remote-control-airliner and controlled-demplition- spectacular theory.
Every major car crash has some unexplained aspects as well. Do the police then conclude all car crashes are conspiracies?
jakenewton,
Your question is irrelevant. The towers were indeed blown to kingdom come. Perhaps to get rid of evidence. Perhaps just because they could. Who knows why madmen do the things they do?
p.s. If this is a re-post. Sorry.
Still haven’t fixed the “Edit This” function I see.
PJD,
“their whole argument seems to now hinge solely on some enigmatic aspects of the WTC 7 collapse”.
Nevermind. . .
Hi,
i don’t believe anything the Bush administration says. But that does not prove anything anyone else says, and is not an argument in support of anything. Just ’cause Bushco is a pack of liars, does not mean anyone else is a truth-teller.
But here is a truth i know, that the vast majority of USers happily ignore:
The entire purpose and structure of our economic system is rotten, and has destabilized the actual living systems of the Earth!
We can argue forever about who did what on 9/11, except that oops, we can’t, because it turns out “forever” is a pretty short time. The destabilized biosphere is going to knock our house of cards down soon.
i understand the Truth Movement’s frustration with people who prefer to live with illusions rather than face reality. We have a MUCH BIGGER problem than failure to face the truth about 9/11. And i hope adherents of the Truth Movement can understand my (and others’) frustration with the vast majority of USers who cannot allow themselves to face the clear truth about what we have done, and continue to do at an accellerating rate, to the living systems we all rely on for our survival.
i feel like the Truth Movement see’s the anomolies of 9/11 as a sort of “magic key” that will unlock people’s understanding and open their minds to the horror of Bushco’s multi-faceted criminal conspiracy. Perhaps. i have my doubts. If people cannot wake up to the utter horror of the automobile industry / oil industry / military-industrial complex / war machine, not to mention the effects of our industrialized agro-chemical food sytem, not to mention take your pick from other obvious horrors of our multi-faceted metastasizing mega-crisis, without having to be slapped in the face with some specific conspiracy that removes the blinders from their eyes…
All the ice is melting, we are in the early stages of a massive extinction, ecosystems are breaking down, we do not need to learn the “truth” about 9/11 to see the TRUTH about our civilization. Anyone who is not taking stock, and seriously working with other people to create human systems that work in harmony with natural systems, to stop feeding the corporate / consumerist / info-tainment / industrial monsters that are undermining our entire human project…
The entire edifice of human civilization is burning, and is about to “pancake” and collapse. Is there anyone who does not see this? What are we actually doing about it? Why are we arguing about 9/11?
Mother Jones and James Ridgeway are now officially part of the MSM Bush Administration echo chamber.
Ridgeway has essentially parroted the talking points raised in an earlier Popular Mechanics article, where the then 25-year-old Benjamin Chertoff was listed as the “senior researcher” for the article. When a reporter asked him if he was related to Michael Chertoff, Director of Homeland Security, he replied, “I don’t know” and directed the reporter to Popular Mechanics’ publicist. The reporter then contacted Benjamin Chertoff’s mother, asking her the same question, to which she replied, “Yes, of course, he is a cousin.” This is only part of that story. The rest can be found in David Ray Griffin’s excellent book, “Debunking 9/11 Debunking” on pages 212-213.
Ridgeway blindly parrots the idea that the identity of the passengers on Flight 77 was determined by their DNA. Perhaps one of the best primers for alternative theories regarding 9/11 is the book, “The New Pearl Harbor” by David Ray Griffin. The chapter on Flight 77 indicates that one “more or less official story” at the time advanced the claim that “the fire was so hot that the metal not only melted but was vaporized.” Another version of the official story indicated that the passengers were identified by their fingerprints. So, are we to believe that a fire that it hot enough to vaporize metal would allow human flesh or DNA to remain intact and identifiable? Perhaps someone has an explanation for this?
Ridgeway has obviously not bothered to familiarize himself with the discrepancies regarding the “official” account of the events of 9/11. Mother Jones and Ridgeway could have probably just reprinted the Popular Mechanics article and served approximately the same purpose.
Again, for those unfamiliar with the alternative theories regarding the events of 9/11, David Ray Griffin’s “The New Pearl Harbor” serves as an excellent starting point for those wanting to better understand what actually occurred on that fateful day. The sheer volume of unanswered questions is much larger than Ridgeway seems to realize.
hmmmm
I worked at WTC Tower II for two years.
The beams were exposed–no need to hack through steel nor concrete.
Saw the insulation-nothing “dislodged it” as the “corrected” NIST report claims-it was very permanently attached-bonded to the beams, if I’m not mistaken.
It was possible to take an elevator to any floor from the PA police station in the sub basement without seeing another person.
In the time I worked there, at least twenty odd floors were unrented-Silverstein was losing money.
When a twin engine Cessna got within twenty miles of the white house a few years ago, it had F-15 escorts on either wing within minutes.
And we are to believe somehow that hijacked airliners were allowed to proceed toward NY for more than an hour without interception ?
I saw video that Professor Steven Jones-BYU obtained, clearly showing molten steel-(he ran down the color of various liquified metals-including aluminum)-in the ruins of the towers. Also an I-beam sliced at an angle-as would be done by a thermite charge in a demolition.
I heard a German demolition expert say that a few hundred pounds of thermite-traces of which Professor Jones claims were present-could have done the job, and been detonated remotely.
9/11 has been used to justify a host of crimes-from genocide for oil to further tax cuts for the rich.
The official story smells-whether we hear it from NIST or Popular Mechanics.
“jakenewton,
Your question is irrelevant.”
Not if you are trying to persuade people as to the buildings being intentionally demolished, or for you to be taken seriously.
It just doesn’t matter, that it makes no sense at all and is even stupid.
Anyone else have a good reason?
COMarc……says….
“All this BS about 9-11 is a distraction. It takes people’s attention away from what’s really important, which is trying to act to stop the death and destruction that’s going to occur by following the same war policies in Iraq for the next year.”
Yes COMarc what’s really important is trying to act to stop the death and destruction……
So what is your plan to act??? Get control of Congress to stop the war? Been there done that didn’t work. Impeachment??? Off the table. Coup ‘d etat’ by the military?
Led by Gen Praetus? In your dreams? Massive civil disobedience followed by general strike??? Not in America as long as the sheeple are fat and happy.
So now what the COMarc?????
Why not consider the possibility the the truth behind the event that started it all might not be the truth at all.
If 9/11 was an inside job then all that has followed would be based on a tremendous lie and exposing that lie would make everything that has followed become the most deceitful and heinous 6 1/2 years in the history of mankind.
What COMarck…impossible to comprehend??? Sure but as Col Jessup said “You can’t handle the truth! And you COMarc are one of those who can’t possibly handle the truth that our “government ” could have done this.
Well COMarc it is the truth whether you want to believe it or not.
jakenewton wrote…
I would love to hear a good answer to this question, why would you complicate the job by *both* flying planes into buildings and demolishing them with planted explosives? That’s just dumb.”
My response
My God jakenewton did it…he beat the whole 9/11 truth movement with an iron-clad question. Someone please, give this guy a medal!!!!
For one, its your opinion that the 2 fold event is “just dumb”. Therefore, a question proceeding from an “its dumb” viewpoint neither qualifies nor disqualifies the “explosive” suspicions based on the visual EVIDENCE (squibs, molten steel, free-fall speed, steel ejections, eyewitness testimony about hearing explosions etc). YOU MUST REFUTE THE EVIDENCE THAT SUSTAINS THE SUSPICION.
Your ATTEMPT to distract the reader away from the EVIDENCE by challenging them to satisfy your curiosity is very transparent.
One can only imagine that GOV would…
1) Bring down buildings to bury the evidence if, in fact, these flights were not the 757 they claim them to be.
2) Bring down the buildings to cause more damage…drastic loss of life…and a scene of total devastation…remember this is supposed to be a NEW PEARL HARBOR.
3) Shock and Awe is a well-studied philosophy. It is not just a “cute” saying. The mental impact of sudden mass destruction leaves the victim very vulnerable to panic / desperation, and ultimately, compliance with very little resistance. That’s why the images of the buildings falling had to replayed over and over again.
But you can argue these explanations (as they are theories for the reasons at best, like the pancake theory)…and if that is your attempt, then you are barking up the wrong tree. What you choose not to address (much like PM, NIST and other so-called debunkers) is the EVIDENCE that supports the “explosives” suspicion.
So i assume most readers will ignore the questions i raised about the much larger truths that are being ignored…
But i will point out that the two articles on CD today about climate change have each got about 8 posts in their threads, while this endless argument about 9/11 is approaching 60 now…
Webwalk……
Check my post on the Jenna 6. This is something that is really bothering me. So I wish more people would post on that. Considering how much Media attention those Duke Lacrosse boys got for them being railroaded. I want to see what happens to the Prosecutor involved in this case.
ilovelife
CD has to allow post like this. If they didn’t CD would be considered to be just the same as a CNN or Foxnews website.
You have to let people of opposing sides state there point.
Try posting any of what we know to be true but others seem to think other wise information on a right wing conserative blog site. You will get flamed with random sayings about you being a “leftist pussy who wants the terrorist to attack again anti American”.
Thats how they work, not us.
We have IQ’s over 43.7
Random
~Future~
FWIW,
i guess i’ll point out that i have always believed, since the moment my friend woke me up with a telephone call and told me to turn on the television, that the Bush administration was involved in 9/11, either as an active perpetrator or as a knowing watcher. i don’t think you need to know anything about the melting temperature of structural steel to know the Bush administration is capable of any crime. You only need to know some history. i was already versed in the PNAC documents, the “full spectrum dominance” doctrine, and the general lie that is presented as US history. i was involved in active resistance to the Reagan and Bush I administrations, and i have watched since Watergate as the US establishment has manipulated public opinion to allow continued development of the greatest war machine humans have ever built. i have always known that this war machine was not built to keep the Earth free and peaceful, but was built to dominate the world, and that someday - unless humans woke up and resisted it - this war machine would be used in an attempt to fulfill the fantasies of world domination.
So for me, the specifics of 9/11 theories do not matter. i know this is a gang of criminals, of the highest order, who lie and murder to further their dreams. When Bush II assembled his team following the theft of the 2000 election, i knew we were in for hell.
Whatever. As i wrote above, whoever the Bush team is and whatever the specifics of their crimes, we actually have bigger problems, that must be faced down no matter who is supposedly our “leader”. We must entirely replace our economic structure with systems that harmonize with natural systems. Working to do this will confront us with the evils of the political power structure, so we are face-to-face with Bushco either way, but we are much better off if we lose our illusions and begin the needed work of creating a healthy economic structure, and the healthy culture and consciousness that necessarily must go along with it.
Or we can keep belittling each other about the foolishness of our different 9/11 conspiracy theories…
This article, like all 9/11 truth debunking article, does nothing to refute the simplest of the 9/11 conspiracies; That there was more than sufficient foreknowledge for the Bush administration to announce a terror alert before the attacks of 9/11 but they made a POLITICAL DESCISION TO ALLOW THE ATTACKS TO HAPPEN instead of calling the country to alert.
When the original 9/11 Commission Report was online I googled it every way I could think of to find their findings on the insider trading of United and American air lines put options. The only mention I found was in the testimony of Mindy Kleinberg, one of the 9/11 widows.
Here is her testimony;
“The terrorist’s lucky streak began the week before September 11th with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. The SEC, in concert with the United States intelligence agencies, has sophisticated software programs that are used in “real-time” to watch both domestic and overseas markets to seek out trends that may indicate a present or future crime. In the week prior to September 11th both the SEC and U.S. intelligence agencies ignored one major stock market indicator, one that could have yielded valuable information with regard to the September 11th attacks.
On the Chicago Board Options Exchange during the week before September 11th, put options were purchased on American and United Airlines, the two airlines involved in the attacks. The investors who placed these orders were gambling that in the short term the stock prices of both Airlines would plummet. Never before on the Chicago Exchange were such large amounts of United and American Airlines options traded. These investors netted a profit of at least $5 million after the September 11th attacks.
Interestingly, the names of the investors remain undisclosed and the $5 million remains unclaimed in the Chicago Exchange account.
Why these aberrant trades were not discovered prior to 9/11? Who were the individuals who placed these trades? Have they been investigated? Who was responsible for monitoring these activities? Have those individuals been held responsible for their inaction?”
http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing1/witness_kleinberg.htm
No where in the 9/11 Commission Report did I find anything on the trades being the result of a market newsletter like this article contends.
“For one, its your opinion that the 2 fold event is “just dumb”.”
Looking to see why it isn’t still.
“ Therefore, a question proceeding from an “its dumb” viewpoint neither qualifies nor disqualifies the “explosive” suspicions based on the visual EVIDENCE (squibs, molten steel, free-fall speed, steel ejections, eyewitness testimony about hearing explosions etc).”
All of which is not settled. You know that.
“YOU MUST REFUTE THE EVIDENCE THAT SUSTAINS THE SUSPICION.”
No I don’t. I can look at the theories that are out there, one that has holes, and one that seems to have exponentially more holes, to me anyway, and ask about how smart the theory is that people try to shoe horn the facts to.
So now you try to answer the question:
“1) Bring down buildings to bury the evidence if, in fact, these flights were not the 757 they claim them to be.”
Ah, so you are take it that there were no hijacked airplanes? There is plenty of evidence that there were. This is one reason why a lot of the conspiracy theorists shy away from the “no airliner” versions, because there just seems to be too much evidence that there were.
“2) Bring down the buildings to cause more damage…drastic loss of life…and a scene of total devastation…remember this is supposed to be a NEW PEARL HARBOR.”
If everything happened the way it did, except that the towers stood there as smoking hulks, nothing would have been any different, that perfectly qualifies as the Pearl Harbor.
“3) Shock and Awe is a well-studied philosophy. It is not just a “cute” saying. The mental impact of sudden mass destruction leaves the victim very vulnerable to panic / “
There was plenty of that just watching the planes hit the towers only.
“What you choose not to address (much like PM, NIST and other so-called debunkers) is the EVIDENCE that supports the “explosives” suspicion.”
And it’s pretty shaky evidence from what I see.
So why both fly airliners into buildings and demolish them with explosives? If you don’t think they did the first, well, good luck with that!
For those who think building number 7 is the key because the above article is weak (I agree it is weak) check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwdD6ERutEI&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Edebunking911%2Ecom%2Fpull%2Ehtm
Also most questions are answered pretty well at http://www.debunking911.com/
I do believe however that Bush and Cheney are so protective of thier war profiteer friends that they probably thought it was in their interest to let it happen since there were many warnings from agents all over the world while Bush took the FBI off of the Bin Laden trail before 9/11 and since everything they do is hidden nobody expects any truth to come from them on anything.
In Bin Laden’s latest video he admits he was not innocent of 9/11…..I think Moslems in general have a custom of truth telling which is a foreign concept to our regime.
I hope there is an independent investigation of 9/11 and JFK too.
Mother Jones as a “progressive ” magazine just died for me.
There are scores of physicists, engineers and architects who have come out to say the 3 buildings came down via internal demolition. So this guy Ridgeway has the unmitigated gall to dis that level of experience and expertise.
“Senior correspondent” indeed! Did he get his degree from WalMart?
jakenewton September 12th, 2007 1:00 pm
“How about the molten steel that burned for weeks”
_______________
The “beams” in question were actually not beams but on the order of square and rectangular tubing that were made in Japan because there was no steel mill in the USA with the capabilities at the time. These “beams” were 2′x 2′ x 2 inches thick wall. They were cut with THERMITE, which MELTS through the metal instead of shearing it with force. As these were hollow, the molten metal would naturally flow down into the basement where it was observed.
I spent forty years of my life working with structural steel and there is no way jet fuel (kerosene) could get hot enough without a considerable amount of OXYGEN under pressure and directed into the fire. The BLACK smoke emmitted from the towers clearly indicated an oxygen deficiant fire, also would have caused a lot of SOOT which in itself is a very efficiant INSULATION.
No thank you, the heat from the jet fuel did NOT bring the towers down.
Also what about the one that is being taken down at this time.
Jeez, it’s hard to believe such government propaganda is published at Mother Jones AND Common Dreams.
Oh well, I should not be surprised. The usually incorrigible CounterPunch buys the Official Conspiracy Theory too.
It appears that Fidel and Rosie both have more critical thinking skills than the above named “journalists.”
Facts: GW Bush’s father- GHW Bush was pres-dent during the 1st WTC bombing when a van full of explosives was detonated in the parking garage under the WTC building 1?
GHW Bush was a CIA operative and eventually ran the CIA before becoming pres-dent.
Jet planes had been hijacked, even blown up in the late 60’s and 70’s.
GHW Bush knew all possible targets and methods that ANOTHER terrorist attack could take.
Yet neither GHW Bush(a fighter pilot) nor his son GH Bush (a fighter pilot) made attempts to lock down commercial jet cockpits or have a reasonable security plan or rational plan of action in case of attack.
After the first plane hit GW BUSH read children’s books to children for another 8-10 minutes. A leader indeed, of children.
Wrote this @ 4PM, didn’t have time to post then. Sorry if the discussion’s moved on.
______________________________________________________________________________
I don’t have time to Google for the exact reference, but I have seen programs (probably a NOVA) showing what a detailed and meticulous job the NTSA does (or can do) when investigating an airline crash. They actually dig or dive or do whatever they can to retrieve as many of the “coin-sized” bits of wreckage as possible– I recall that they then actually reconstructed entire sections of the aircraft in a hangar somewhere, painstakingly sorting through thousands of scraps. Obviously the physical characteristics of the impact and the objects involved will determine just how much reconstruction is feasible.
And I certainly remember footage of the plane that crashed in the Florida swamp; there were recognizable items like luggage and even bodies floating in the vicinity. Or bits of them, anyway
If that sort of reconstruction was attempted with the aircraft that allegedly flew into the Pentagon– by a novice pilot skimming and banking close to ground level, no less– it’s never been publicized. Forget reconstruction– the physical detritus of such a large crash has never been satisfactorily accounted for. But “satisfactorily” is the point of contention, and apparently it’s in the eye of the beholder.
One hears that “luggage” was found, and DNA matching samples from passengers. DNA? What, just lying there on the ground, waving its little helices and begging to be tweezed or vacuumed up? Not bone splinters or fragments of tissue, just the DNA? And yes, there are plenty of witness statements reporting a jet plane whizzing by low to the ground, but they’re hardly consistent enough to be definitive. Then there is that Rorschach-test video– to the skeptical layman, no more convincing that purported videos of the WTC planes shooting missiles immediately prior to impact.
Otherwise, there are a lot of bald assertions and scientific-sounding explanations that really do boil down to “Keep moving; nothing to see here.” Put another way, if the investigation of the Pentagon crash had been conducted, and was presented to the public with anywhere near the clear and convincing evidence and analysis offered in that TV program I referenced, the controversy would at least diminish. But instead there is a mosaic of dodgy bits– indeed seeming like an “official conspiracy” or at least collusion and groupthink– that only seem to satisfy those who aren’t, or can’t tolerate being, skeptical.
And now back to our regular programming.
Anyone know offhand (by name) who wrote the NIST research plan? Who coordinated the tests, etc? Who ensured that plenty of valid and representative physical samples were taken? I’d be interested in checking into the qualifications of mellalurgists, physicsts, civil and structural engineers, etc. who did the research, and who wrote the research plan.
A growing amount of government research now needs to be published openly. For instance, NIH’s PubMed. How transparent was NIST’s 9/11 research? Open to the same broader and academic