I first heard the “inside Job” theory of the 9/11 attack in late 2001, just as U.S. troops were moving into Afghanistan, ironically from a Christian Pakistani immigrant.  I thought he was off his rocker (and he was), but to my horror the insanity has spread.  Websites, documentaries, even famous actors are running around preaching that the USA attacked itself.

Conspiracy Theory?

I’ve been called a conspiracy theorist because I simply can’t believe that Kennedy was killed from behind (not when his brains landed on the trunk of the car), but this is a real conspiracy theory.

My next exposure to the theory came about three years ago when an otherwise credible internet buddy tried to convince me that 9/11 was an inside job.  He provided pages (literally) of website links to prove his point, everything from the “mystery of Building 7” to claims by building contractors that jet fuel can’t burn hot enough to melt steel (it can).  His claims were so outrageous that he made Rosie “Don’t fear the terrorists” O’Donnell sound rational. 

Among the points he peddled were the following:

1. The Twin Towers were brought down by explosives.  The planes were just a coincidence
2. All the hijackers have been seen alive and well in other countries since 2001
3. The planes were piloted by remote control (yes, even though they were coincidental)
4. The Pentagon was not hit by a plane, but a missile, because no airliner can make a 270 degree turn at low altitude
5. Conversations between the doomed passengers and telephone operators were faked because cell phones don’t work in airplanes
6. Building 7 housed the offices of ATF but none of them showed up for work that day because they were tipped off
7. Building 7 wasn’t damaged in the attack, yet it collapsed, so it must have been wired with explosives

And a lot more.

Logical?

Of course none of this is logical.  Any one such point might stand on its own, but when all factors are combined, the whole idea of an inside job falls apart.  I asked my friend what happened to the passengers on the two planes that “coincidentally” hit the towers; his response was that, before the planes were remotely-controlled into the buildings, they landed in some remote location and the passengers were executed.  When I asked him about the air traffic controllers who were trying to make contact with the hijacked airliners, he said they were in on the plot.  He also said there was no airplane wreckage found at the World Trade Center after the attack.  And he was very definite that no Arabs were at the controls of any of the four planes that disappeared that day.

Well.  How do you have a rational conversation with someone who is so convinced of something that his own statements are contradictory?  The answer, of course…you don’t.

It’s easy to label people insane, and when you hear stuff like that, you’re tempted to do so (speaking for myself, of course).  But millions of people actually believe this stuff. 

Nothing New Here, Folks

None of this is new, of course.  I grew up hearing similar theories about Pearl Harbor, that President Roosevelt knew of the attack in advance but sounded no warning because he wanted to get us into the war.  And recently there has been a growing belief that the moon landings were faked.

And, of course, the Earth is flat and Elvis isn’t really dead.

But I digress.  Without labeling anyone insane, or even stupid, let’s take a logical (not emotional) look at some of the claims surrounding the alleged 9/11 conspiracy (keeping in mind that the claims are often diverse and contradictory).

First of all, Osama bin Laden took credit for the attacks.  Cynics will say he simply grabbed a freebie to enhance his prestige, but remember that Zacarias Moussaoui, the “20th hijacker”, was captured and convicted.  He alternately denied and admitted that he was involved in the September 11 attacks.

Cell phones don’t work in airliners?  I’m no expert, so maybe they don’t work at 30,000 feet (unless you have a satellite phone), but why wouldn’t they work at 300 feet?  Remember, there are tapes of conversations between hijacked passengers and ground-based operators. 

The passengers were executed?  Where would you land a 757, lead all the people off the plane, shoot them, then send the plane off to glory on remote control?  Where would you dispose of the bodies?  How many people would it take to accomplish such a task? And why were they not missed?

Planes can certainly be controlled remotely, and the air-traffic control people did lose contact with the planes after the hijacking (except for an accidental transmission from one flight that said it was returning to the airport).  But how do you launch a remotely controlled airliner from a civilian airport without ATC knowing about it?  It could probably be done, but how difficult would it be?

The World Trade Center was wired for demolition?  Does anybody remember how BIG those towers were?  How many explosives would be required, and where would they need to be placed?  Again, I’m no expert, but I’ve seen interviews with people who do this kind of work and it takes weeks, sometimes months, to prepare a large building of only 10 stories for explosive demolition (the WTC was eleven times that high).  When would such work be accomplished?  How would it be done without anyone’s knowledge?  And what are the odds that the trigger would be pulled on the very day that two airliners “coincidentally” crashed  into the towers?

For that matter, if the planes were remotely controlled (apparently by President Bush, who covered his tracks by visiting a Florida grammar school that morning), why bother to wire the buildings at all?  (Conversely, if the buildings were wired, why steal the airplanes and execute the passengers?)

Is anyone starting to see a pattern here? 

Debunking the Myth

The History Channel has run a number of documentaries that clearly debunk many of the 9/11 conspiracy points; it’s difficult to watch those documentaries and then take the “inside job” theory seriously.

Think about this — if 9/11 was a government conspiracy, how many people had to be in on it?  It would take more than just Karl Rove and George Bush.  It would take the military (part of it, anyway), air traffic control, and WTC building security at the very minimum to pull off a stunt of this magnitude.  We’re talking about hundreds if not thousands of conspirators.

Now think back over the past few years; how many whistle-blowers have come forward with “inside information” about corruption in government?  Linda Tripp comes to mind, along with Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame, Scott Ritter, Richard Clarke, and many more.  Not every whistle-blower is credible, but that doesn’t stop them from grasping their fifteen minutes of fame (and maybe a book deal and lucrative speaking tour).  If the U.S. Government had planned and orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, why have none of the thousands who would have been involved ever stepped forward to grab that fifteen minutes?

Yet not a single one has done so.

Why do people believe this stuff?  Maybe they’re just so fed up with government, so distrustful, that they will put nothing past the establishment.  Or maybe it’s just chic and avant-garde in their particular circles.  Perhaps they just hate George W. Bush so much that they can’t believe he didn’t do it.

Whatever the case, it’s like a religious cult — facts mean nothing.  People believe what they want to believe.  It’s pure emotion, and logic need not apply. 

I feel sorry for them.

–9/23/2008

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