How long will it be before we find out all the secrets our government keeps from us?
Today, the 14th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, many questions remain about the series of tragic events that took place.
To Americans, Sept. 11 is a day that will forever live in infamy. Innocent lives — 2,966 of them — were lost that day, and the country was left in awe. The unthinkable had taken place.
We all have our 9/11 stories — where we were when the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center, what we were doing. I was in kindergarten at the time. My dad picked me up from school and dropped me with the babysitter because he had to go meet my mom — she was on a plane that day.
Growing up, I never questioned what the media and government told us took place that day until a few years ago when I became extremely interested in documentaries. I watched countless documentaries and read many articles on 9/11 and began to wonder, what if?
This is the country with the best military in the world, where many people wave their American flags with pride, where some would argue they can sleep safer here than in any other country. It’s scary to watch such events unfold when you think you’re shielded from the rest of the world.
It is possible that 9/11 could have been solely terrorist attacks, and nothing more. But, we need to at least be open to the possibility our government could’ve been more involved than we may want to believe.
Let’s not pretend it’s not in the realm of possibilities. This wouldn’t be the first time the government kept enormous secrets from American citizens. Operation Mockingbird, the Tuskegee Syphilis study, Operation Northwoods and many other top-secret operations were unknown to the public.
American citizens had no idea for more than 25 years that the first atomic bomb was being created. The Manhattan Project employed more than 130,000 people and cost nearly $2 billion. Entire towns were built and destroyed in secret, and the public never knew and the media never reported it.
A poll done by Architects and Engineers for Truth shows that one in two people surveyed have doubts about the government’s accountability in the events of 9/11.
We need to demand answers. Fourteen years have passed, and there are many questions left unanswered.
Around 46 percent of people surveyed from the poll had no idea a third building collapsed. After seeing footage of “Building 7” that collapsed in Manhattan, another 46 percent of people were certain or suspect it was caused by controlled demolition.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a measurements standards laboratory, said the building collapsed because of the spread of office fires. More than 2,000 architects and engineers signed a petition questioning the legitimacy of these claims.
It’s also uncanny that the plane that crashed into the Pentagon wasn’t shot down prior to crashing and that air defense was ordered to “stand down.” The North American Aerospace Defense Command, in the event of an hijacking, is prepared to send out fighter jets to shoot down the hijacked planes — yet that didn’t happen. Odd right?
There are many possibilities as to why the government may have acted in 9/11. The extreme measures certain elites would take to achieve more control, money and power is unthinkable.
Again, I’m not saying that the U.S. government definitely played a role in the Sept. 11 events. I am saying that we need to at least consider the facts and start demanding answers.
Clarke Perkins is a 19-year-old political science sophomore from New Orleans. You can reach her on Twitter @ClarkePerkins.