On Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists hijacked four airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a grassy field in Shanksville, Penn. The congressional 9/11 Commission confirmed this, but not everyone was convinced. Most of the day was filled with the shock and confusion of a nation under attack. The events of Sept. 11 marked the first time in American history that our nation witnessed an attack so close to the center of our power since the War of 1812. No one in lower Manhattan that morning had ever seen commercial jets crash into tall buildings before, nor did anybody expect them to collapse. Most Americans had their own theories of who could have been responsible. They blamed China, Russia and even Cuba. As the confusion subsided, the country was told of Osama bin Laden and his extremist organization called “The Base.” They had carried out a planned attack on the most powerful symbols of American economic and military might.
For the past six years, the self-acclaimed “9/11 Truth Movement” has been a community of Internet bloggers, late night a.m. radio hosts and self described “media critics” who believe that shadowy organizations other than Al Qaida perpetrated 9/11. Their methods can be characterized by the selective use of facts, the use of a false premise to prove their point and often full blown paranoia. They claim that Flight 93 was shot down by pointing to debris found six miles away in Indian Lake. However, while Indian Lake is six miles away by road, it is only one and a half miles walking directly from the crash site, which according to Matt McCormick of the National Transportation and Safety Board is well within the blast range for the debris field. They try to make the idea of a government conspiracy more credible by pointing to other historical events such as the Pearl Harbor attack. They run down a list of countless events in history while casually labeling all of them as government conspiracies without supporting any of these assertions. Then they think this flawed premise can prove that government conspiracy is the only logical answer. But logic has nothing to do with it.
In 2004 Popular Mechanics decided to start their own independent investigation and their final results published in February of 2005 supporting the mainstream version of events. Their article was later expanded into a book titled “Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can’t Stand Up to the Facts.” The conspiracy theorist community was furious and outraged. They did everything in their power to discredit the magazine in the usual way; connect it to the government. An American Free Press story titled “Chertoff’s Cousin Penned Popular Mechanics 9/11 Hit Piece” claimed that Ben Chertoff, Popular Mechanics’ head of research, was the cousin of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
“As often happens in the world of conspiracy theories, a grain of truth, it’s possible that Ben and Michael Chertoff are distantly related, was built into a towering dune,” wrote James Meigs, editor-in-chief of Popular Mechanics. “Moreover, Ben was one of many researchers on the story, not the author.” The so-called “9/11 Truth” crowd can not afford anyone to disagree with them, so they lie and misrepresent in their quest to demonize their opponents.
Remember the breathless reporting of countless atrocities during Hurricane Katrina? Most of these stories, such as sharks swimming in the streets, turned out to be either gross exaggerations or even outright lies. Conspiracy theorists thrive on this very kind of reporting from Sept. 11. A common tactic used by conspiracy pimps is to cite statements made during the first day of confusion. If they can’t find an “expert” who agrees with them, they find news reports from the day of the attack which can be twisted to support their case. Witnesses commonly describe what they have seen using comparisons from their own previous experiences, never mind the effects of emotional shock on a person’s ability to recall traumatizing events. This usually means the loud rumbling noises of bending steel and crumbling concrete get compared to explosions, and “puffs of smoke” caused by compressed air as each floor collapses gets compared to controlled demolitions. Then the conspiracy theorists take these off-hand comparisons and try to pass them off as facts.
The conspiracy theorist community is always calling for “new independent investigations,” yet every time an independent organization produces results supporting the “official story” they maliciously try to discredit such findings by adding that group to the ever-expanding list of people who are “in on it.” I wouldn’t be surprised if I get added to these lists before the day is over.
—-Conact Michael Schouest at [email protected]