It started with magazine articles and a couple of books but found its growth on the Internet. On various websites, newsgroups, and forums, people raised questions and looked for answers to issues they felt were left unaddressed. More books and video exploring the same territory began appearing. It has now mushroomed to the point where it not only has a name, some of its conferences get airtime on C-SPAN. It calls itself the "9/11 Truth Movement," a largely grassroots effort questioning what Americans have been told and believe about what occurred on September 11, 2001.
It would be easy to simply brush them off as yet another cult of conspiracy theorists. But interest seems to be growing, not subsiding. Believing ideas should not be rejected out of hand, I decided to try to assess the validity of the issue. I picked up 9/11 Revealed: The Unanswered Questions, one of several books praised by the movement that summarizes and explores many of the questions about what really happened on September 11. I also read Debunking 9/11 Myths, the paperback publication of a project by Popular Science magazine exploring the claims of 9/11 conspiracy theorists.
The bottom line? While the Truth Movement raises some questions and coincidences that appear interesting on the surface, its case is held together by a glue made up more of distrust of government and a willingness to make leaps between apparently unconnected events than science and facts.
9/11 Revealed, written by British journalists Rowland Morgan and Ian Henshall, does a good job of summarizing many of the positions of the 9/11 Truth Movement. Although ideas and opinions are as diverse in that movement as in many others, there is one common point: some U.S.-based entity knew the attacks would occur. The prime suspect is the Bush Administration, whether as U.S. government policy or as a step toward the neocon agenda as enunciated by the Project for the New American Century. Some even lay the blame with some nefarious shadow government comprised of all or any parts of the foregoing and representatives of the military/industrial complex.
Regardless of the suspect, views on the extent of government knowledge, awareness and involvement fall into two broad camps - they Let It Happen on Purpose (LIHOP) or they Made It Happen On Purpose (MIHOP). It is a sliding scale of responsibility. The "official story," as Morgan and Henshall call what most Americans believe to have happened, is one of negligence on the part of the intelligence community, the FAA, and other government entities. LIHOP means some in the government knew the attacks were coming and either did not prevent them or took steps to avoid them being prevented. MIHOP assigns the most guilt, saying 9/11 was planned and carried out by a cabal inside or with deep ties to the Bush Administration.
Article comments
1 - Bea Moreclear
I often wonder how someone other than a highly skilled, experienced pilot could take the control of a comercial airline, redirect its flight course and perfectly slam it into the WTC.
Just one incident would be enough to arouse suspicion. But twice?
Further investigation is required.
2 - Jane Quatam
You might mention in your article, that the "Popular Science" article was written by director of Homeland Security, Micheal Chertoff's cousin. Which makes one think he is protecting the status quo, rather than seeking any truth.
One other point, it is a fact that the CIA has agents who are in the newsmedia, and that the CIA also rents journalist by paying them or providing perks.Check out the Church Commission. If one government agency can corrupt our news and the public airwaves, what could 2 or 3 such as the NSA or Naval Intelligence do? Not to mention foriegn influences such as Massad and M-I6.
I think an intelligent person must use critical thinking and realize when viewing the news, that they are only given a piece of the story, and try to understand who benefits from the slant or view that is being espoused. The U.S. government has killed its own citizens before, lookup the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment or check out the thousands of U.S. army troops exposed to direct atomic bomb testing during the 1950's. These are things we know of, I'm sure there are many more where the cloak of secrecy still binds tight and blocks our vision of the true horrors of the modern military-industrial society.
3 - Tim Gebhart
According to the afterword to the book, Ben Chertoff was the head of Popular Science's research department at the time the article was originally published. To quote (you judge the veracity) the afterword:
"As often happens in the world of conspiracy theories, a grain of truth -- it's possible Ben amd Michael Chertoff are distantly related -- was built into a towering dune. In fact, Ben and Michael Chertoff have never spoken. And no one at Popular Science had any contact with Michael Chertoff's office while preparing the article. Moreover, Ben was one of many researchers on the article, not the author."
4 - Nancy
In this instance, BushCo seems to be its own worst enemy. That both Bush & Cheney refused to cooperate, & refused to be interviewed by the commission unless a) they could be interviewed together and b) all questions were submitted beforehand, just indicates that in fact there WAS something massive being covered up. It certainly doesn't lend confidence to this administration, especially in light of the latest revelations that in fact BushCo has been violating the constitution & law routinely & at will for some time, & have no scruples doing so. If they would do this, most argue, then what else wouldn't they do, including mass murder, and justify it to themselves as the end justifying any means, an attitude they've already exhibited for the past 6 years. BTW, the WP estimated that over 1/3 of Americans now believe BushCo was involved in 9/11. That's not just distrust of government, that's outright fear & loathing.
5 - loretta
It's far too complex a subject to cover in a short article, but the 9/11 truth deserves major research and a new investigation.
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of September 11, it’s not too late to make a difference. Instead of getting sucked in by the maudlin reenactments and regurgitation of airplanes hitting buildings and people running ahead of massive clouds of toxic debris, consider this a call to arms. You can’t possibly be satisfied with the 9/11 Commission whitewash, the anemic excuses for staying in Iraq, the daily revelations of our deteriorating rights and the criminal behavior of this administration and its shadow government eschewing all international laws for their aggrandizement. You cannot tacitly approve of their ominous agenda of long-term war in the Middle East.
After hearing Bush admit to this massive fraud with “One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror,” what more do you need? Throw the bums out.
6 - Robert
such questioning cannot be discouraged. If people cannot freely ask those questions, and discuss such things without fear, then democracy is weakened.
Governments have enormous power, and when terrorism occurs, those running the country get more power. The government is also in charge of the investigations of the very acts that empower it, and which they are responsible for preventing.
Such a conflict of interest requires an utmost allowance of exploring the facts.
7 - sammmmm
americans are dumb and stupid and i wouldnt put it past them to blow up there own county, love from sam in ENGLAND!!
8 - Peter J
Sammmm,
I can understand why you feel that way but it is most definitely not all Americans, just the few who happen to be in power right now. The thing is in the next presidential election we will back to our normal Kick-Ass selves but you'll always be a punk pussy brit!
9 - ModerateTruth
What happened is simple. A cunning enemy, trained for years and then waited patiently to implement that training. There was a conspiracy but it was by Al Qaeda to carry out the plot. They had the motif, the money and mindset.
There is also little question that there has been a lot of cover up. The Bush administration did not pick up where Clinton left off. They ignored the problem as they worked on ways to cut taxes. They were supremely over confident and smug that we could not be attacked in this manner and ignored the memo. Then we were. Why be interviewed together? To make sure their stories were straight.
It will all come to light and the ones who followed these greedy bastards and believed that Bush is a Christian and has the best interest of America at heart will feel like the fools that they are.
10 - Max Power
Didnt even mention Norad, that was pretty weak
If you believe the government or the 9/11 comission I pitty you
11 - Dave
"Why have various surveillance tapes reportedly seized by investigators near the Pentagon never been released?"
Simple answer, copyright issues, if I film a crime taking place the police do have a right to the film for their investigation. But I still own the rights to the content of that film and the police or FBI has no right to distribute that.
"How could the hijackers gain access to locked airplane cabins without a mayday or hijacking alarm going out from the flight crew?"
If you put a nice sharp box cutters to the throats of the cabin crew you could easily get them to lure the cockpit crew out or get themselves in.
There are simple logical answers to what happened but the 9/11 truth people weave stories that defy logic and play on a anti Bush agenda.
12 - stinker
Be sure to check out the book "Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory" due out in March by Dr. David Ray Griffin.
13 - Phillip Winn
Then be sure to check out Debunking the Debunking of Conspiracy Debunking: A Stand For Sanity a few months later.
14 - Paul
This issue and complex of issues deserves much more than reading one book praised by the 9-11 truth movement, and one by Popular Mechanic's publishers.
Mindy Kleinberg's testimony before the 9-11 commission suggested no wild conspiracy theory, but made it plain that there were too many unanswered questions, and that the wildest conspiracy theory of them all is the official story.
The official story claims we were caught off guard, that the terrorists got lucky, that it was a sucker punch. People who delve no deeper into the story accept this explanation.
But Kleinberg, a 9-11 widow, like others, makes it clear that someone didn't just get a little lucky on 9-11: They got luck over, and over, and over, and over again:
- Many of the alleged terrorists should never have been granted visas to come to the US, as many were already suspected terrorists, but many of them were issues visas from the same foreign office. Why wasn't the person issuing those visas fired?
- They got lucky to get into the country, they got lucky that after receiving many warnings, the US government didn't post marshalls at major airports; they got lucky to board planes and to overtake pilots and flight crews on every plane they attempted to hijack; they may or may not have gotten lucky that the hijackings were not reported to NORAD early enough, depending on whose testimony you believe; they got lucky that there were so many military exercises mysteriously planned to keep pilots and planes busy that day, sometimes in exercises to train to thwart terrorism, that planes were not as available to intercept, and military personel were confused; they got lucky that the few planes that did take off to intercept them didn't reach them in time; they got lucky, supposedly (if we believe the official story), that the poorly-trained pilots were able to find New York or Washington, and fly into their targets; they got lucky that both WTC crashes, supposedly (if we believe the official story), brought down not only the two towers, but also WTC building #7, which was not hit by a plane, and which came down as if by controlled demolition; someone got very lucky that the crash at the pentagon, if it was a plane crash, hit a side of the pentagon that was mostly unoccupied, and someone got lucky that surveillance video from local establishments that may have recorded whatever it was that hit the pentagon was confiscated by the FBI within minutes after the crash (how did they know to do this, and why?).
They got so lucky, in fact, that it seems the wildest conspiracy theory is clearly the official story.
My version of their luck is a bit different from Kleinberg's, but her testimony raises many questions that were usually ignored, or at least not answered sufficiently by the commission. You can read it on the commission's web site.
The Popular Mechanics explanation of the molten metal does not seem as probably as the explanation of thermite for a controlled demolition, considering the testimony of workers at the WTC, eyewitnesses and firefighters who claim to have heard and felt explosions far below the point of impact, including in and under the ground floor, and including just before one plane struck. Oral history recorded from the firefighters was something NYC officials tried to suppress and hold from release, but it was released only after a fight.
And as said before, Bush and Cheney would not agree to testify except together, without transcript or recording, all notes of their testimony had to be approved by the White House, and they would not testify under oath. They resisted the establishing of an independent commission for 411 days, far longer than the mazimum of two weeks to investigate Lewinsky-gate, or the shuttle disasters, or Pearl Harbor, or the JFK assasination. And then it wasn't really independent, because Philip Zelikow had worked with the administration and Condy Rice. It was badly under-funded, far less than the shuttle disasters or Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. It was not given access to the documnets it needed and requested, stonewalled by the Bush adminsitration.
Everything about the Bush administration's handling, from the "do nothing" approach to the August 2001 PDB (presidential daily intelligence briefing), to the contradictory statements of Bush administration officals, it all smacks of "guitly demeanor" -- they're all acting like suspects of a crime would who are trying too hard to cover-up their guilt.
Government, business and media leaders want very badly to avoid a real investigation, because if it revealed Bush administration complicity (that allowed or helped the attacks to occur), it would spell economic collapse. US products would be boycotted by the world, too many foreign countries hold too much of our ballooning debt, the stock market would crash, and any apparent friend, like Great Britain, would look very foolish for having supported our efforts in Iraq. People would question the military-industrial complex, which is profitting very nicely now. Weapons are one of our largest and most valuable exports, whether we sell or give them away. The media doesn't want economic collapse, because ad revenue would go sour, so they'll prefer the official story. Ride the bubble of the lie and hope it doesn't burst. But public opinion polls show it's already failing to hold up, even among Americans.
It's a mess, and I suspect it will take us generations to get out of it, if we ever do. Things could get much worse if we don't.