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9/11 truth movement

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The 9/11 Truth Movement is the self-bestowed label of a loosely organized group which questions the official account of the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. Those involved with it and associated campaigns convene through the Internet and national and international conferences.[1][2]

Characteristics

The 9/11 Truth Movement embraces a political diversity of members, including left, right, pacifists, paleoconservatives, Greens, anarchists, and libertarians, but is typically represented by individuals distrustful of the federal government. The movement has received much attention from alternative media on the Internet, including talk-radio hosts like Alex Jones who has given validity to some of the questions group members claim to be unanswered. Some of the questions asked by activists and researchers in the 9/11 Truth Movement were also put forth by the 9/11 Family Steering Committee [3] to the 9/11 Commission in the hopes they would be responded to during the public hearings. The 9/11 families were told by the 9/11 Commission that the 9/11 Family Steering Committee's questions would be used as a "road map" by the Commission, and would be answered in the final report. To the consternation of many in the Truth movement, many of those questions were allegedly not asked in either the hearings or in the Commission Report.[4]

While some group members maintain that the US government was intentionally negligent, allowing the ultimate blame for 9/11 to remain on Muslim hijackers, others claim that the attacks were engineered by the government, and not by Osama bin Laden (with some claiming that thus the alleged Arab hijackers were, at most, patsies). These activists argue that the video of the rapid fall of the three WTC skyscrapers prove it could not have occurred as the result of aerial collisions and subsequent fires alone, though these arguments are not widely believed by respected civil engineering or scientific communities. "Truth movement" members Jim Hoffman and Steven E. Jones claim that pre-planted explosives caused the collapses of the WTC towers - the Controlled demolition hypothesis for the collapse of the World Trade Center - suggesting that only insiders with full knowledge of the attacks could have gained access to and wired the buildings. However, to date their theories and arguments have not been published in any established, peer reviewed science journal, nor have they received much if any support in the scientific community. Although Jones has been criticized by his university for publicizing his claims before vetting them through the approved peer review process [5], he continues to remain a focus of public interest for his 9/11 research.

Movement members have produced such books as Webster Tarpley's 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, David Ray Griffin's aforementioned The New Pearl Harbor, Crossing the Rubicon by Michael C. Ruppert, Inside Job by Jim Marrs, The Terror Timeline by "Paul Thompson", Painful Questions by Eric Hufschmid and The War on Freedom by Nafeez Ahmed. Some of the movement's popular videos have been "The Great Deception" and "The Great Conspiracy" by Barrie Zwicker, "Truth and Politics" and "9/11 and American Empire" by David Ray Griffin, "9/11 Mysteries" (2006) and 9/11: Press for Truth (2006).

The movement has received criticism from a variety of sources. MIT Engineering Professor Thomas W. Eagar states,

These people (in the 9/11 truth movement) use the 'reverse scientific method,'" Eagar said. "They determine what happened, throw out all the data that doesn't fit their conclusion, and then hail their findings as the only possible conclusion."[6]

On September 3, 2006: Time published a lead article, "Why the 9/11 Conspiracies Won't Go Away", noting that

The population of world No. 2 is larger than you might think. A Scripps-Howard poll of 1,010 adults last month found that 36% of Americans consider it "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that government officials either allowed the attacks to be carried out or carried out the attacks themselves. Thirty-six percent adds up to a lot of people. This is not a fringe phenomenon. It is a mainstream political reality.[7]

For more poll data see 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone has written that he has "two basic gripes with the 9/11 Truth movement:"

The first is that it gives supporters of Bush an excuse to dismiss critics of this administration. I have no doubt that every time one of those Loose Change dickwads opens his mouth, a Republican somewhere picks up five votes...Secondly, it's bad enough that people in this country think Tim LaHaye is a prophet and Sean Hannity is an objective newsman. But if large numbers of people in this country can swallow 9/11 conspiracy theory without puking, all hope is lost.

[8]

History

Origin

The first book on the subject, 9/11 The Big Lie, was published in France in March 2002 by Thierry Meyssan, President of Voltaire Network. He emphasized purported anomalies in the photos of the Pentagon. His work has since been the subject of multiple critiques (including critiques written by prominent Truth Movement researchers), some of which allege that Meyssan's book is a form of misdirection and is generally discredited.[9][10][11]

Around the same time, Bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth was published in France by Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, documenting media reports in publications like the Times of India that claimed the US government had told numerous allies it was going to invade Afghanistan several months before 9/11. Up until 2004, Germany produced the largest number of books questioning the official 9/11 account; three of them, by Andreas von Bülow, Gerhard Wisnewski and Mathias Bröckers, were best-sellers, as were the aforementioned French works.

In June 2002, the group Unanswered Questions held an event [12] at the Washington National Press Club. Various officials and some 9/11 family members used the event to call for another investigation of the events of 9/11.

The first work in English was The War on Freedom [13] by Nafeez Ahmed in July 2002, emphasizing geopolitical motives, soon followed by Michel Chossudovsky's book, War and Globalization - The Truth Behind September 11th[14]. In September 2002 Eric Hufschmid's Painful Questions was published, which promotes a controlled demolition thesis of the destruction of the WTC towers.

While these books inspired many activists of the 9/11 Truth Movement, most come to the movement via the internet and demonstrations. Indymedia websites, for example, had a major role in promoting the questioning of the mainstream media account of 9/11 early on. Canadian journalist Barrie Zwicker aired a series on Vision TV titled "The Great Deception" in January and February 2002, the first televised questioning of the common account that charged a deliberate effort to allow the attacks to happen via suppression of the normal air defense systems over New York and Washington.

Alex Jones claims he predicted in July 2001 that the U.S. government would carry out terror within the next few months and so he credits himself with predicting the US Government would orchestrate the 9/11 Attacks and blame it on Bin Laden, or some other CIA asset.[15] The terror attacks would result in 4 million dead and lead to martial law. Jones made those statements six weeks before the terrorist attacks and called his alerts Operation Expose The Government Terrorists. Thus, Jones been referred to as the progenitor of the movement.[16]

In 2002, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-GA, became an icon of the movement when she questioned whether George Bush had foreknowledge of 9/11. In November 2003, the 911 Visibility Project held the first coordinated national activism protest for 9/11 truth activists. In March 2004, came the book The New Pearl Harbor by the academic and theologian David Ray Griffin, providing a methodical, deductive framework. In 2004, Michael C. Ruppert's Crossing the Rubicon was published, which identified potential key insider suspects in the 9/11 attacks and provide an examination of their context: petroleum, geopolitics, narco-traffic, intelligence and militarism. In 2005 Webster Tarpley's 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA described a link between 9/11 and previous accusations of false flag state-sponsored terrorism such as Gladio or the Red Brigades.

Evolution

On January 8, 2002 in San Francisco, a rally and march on Senator Dianne Feinstein's office took place to demand a Congressional Investigation of 9/11. A delegation of activists from peace and human rights organizations met with Senator Feinstein's and Senator Barbara Boxer's staffers and raised key questions about 9/11.[17] That month, President Bush and Vice President Cheney asked Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to limit the investigations to "intelligence failures."[18]

The 911 Visibility Project distributed thousands of STOP the 9-11 COVER-UP signs at the anti-war protests of March 20, 2004, which received national press exposure and served to kick start the national 9/11 Truth Movement. Also in March 2004, the first International Inquiry into 9/11 was hosted in San Francisco, California, which brought together 9/11 researchers and activists from all over the world for presentations, dialog, and interviews.[19]

To date, activists in the movement have distributed over 6 million "Deception Dollars" (an anti-Bush parody of the dollar bill that includes addresses of websites which claim to prove that 9/11 was an inside job). David Ray Griffin made an address on "9-11 and the American Empire", on April 18, 2005, which was broadcast on C-Span and distributed via radio, community access TV, DVD, and in print. Films have also provided a key method in disseminating information to the public for the 9/11 truth movement. Some of the more successful films have included Loose Change and 9/11: Press for Truth.

The 9/11 Truth Movement received more publicity in the fall of 2005, when former BYU Physics professor Steven E. Jones announced a paper describing his hypothesis that the WTC towers had been intentionally demolished by explosives. This paper garnered a small amount of mainstream media attention, including an appearance by Jones on MSNBC. This was the first such programming on a major cable news station. Jones has to date failed to get his paper published in any established, peer reviewed mainstream science journal, other than publications produced by fellow Truth movement members. On September 7, 2006, Jones was placed on paid leave while his university reviewed the scientific basis of his work in this area.[20][21]

On May 16 2006, the Department of Defense, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch, released more video of the Pentagon attack, which brought attention to members of the 9/11 Truth Movement.[22] Groups within the 9/11 truth movement including flight77.info, and Scholars for 9/11 Truth, say they are working to get the others of the 70 or more videos of the Pentagon released.[23]

In late 2006, a series of 9/11 events were held in Kansas City [24], Denver, Boulder [25] and Berkeley [26]. These events were described by members of the movement as generally focused on the scientific analyses of the WTC events and critiques of the official reports. Presenters included physicist Steven E. Jones, researcher Jim Hoffman, former UL manager Kevin Ryan, and lecturer, Kevin Barrett.

911Truth.org

911Truth.org is a central 9/11 Truth Movement organization that demands new investigations and supports the Controlled demolition hypothesis for the collapse of the World Trade Center. W. David Kubiak[27] and Janice Matthews[28] is the executive director of 911truth.org and Michael Berger is the spokesman.[29]

  • 2004, it was part in the organization of The Citizens' Commission on 9-11.
  • August 30, 2004: The first Zogby International poll it sponsored :"Half of New Yorkers Believe US Leaders Had Foreknowledge of Impending 9-11 Attacks and “Consciously Failed” To Act; 66% Call For New Probe of Unanswered Questions by Congress or New York’s Attorney General"[27][30]
  • Oct. 26, 2004, An alliance of over 114 prominent Americans and 48 family members of those killed on 9/11 who signed the 911Truth.org statement.[31]
  • May 24, 2006: The second Zogby poll it sponsored: a telephone survey of adults nationwide conducted by Zogby International found out, among other things, that 42% of Americans believed that the US government and 9/11 Commission are covering up the events of 9/11 while 48% did not agree. It also found out that 43% were not aware of the collapse of WTC 7.[32]
  • June 2, 2006 - June 4, 2006: Held a 9/11 Conference in Chicago where in which members from Scholars for 9/11 Truth participated[33]

Hispanic Victims Group

The Hispanic Victims Group is a group created after the 9/11 attacks and headed by William Rodriguez. The group was a key force behind the 9/11 Commission,[34] and was among the Families Advisory Council for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation[35] The group helped secure an amnesty for undocumented Hispanic workers who perished.

Meetings

September 9, 2004: "The 9-11 Citizens Commission"

The 9-11 Citizens Commission: The Omissions Hearings was a meeting by a group of United States citizens who were skeptical of the findings of the 9/11 Commission Report, and who purported to launch their own investigation into the events of September 11, 2001. The meeting took place on September 9, 2004.

The event was billed as being modeled after the United States Congressional hearings which were conducted by the 9/11 Commission. A group of citizens heard testimony provided by witnesses, authors, experts and whistle blowers. The witnesses gave their testimony after having been sworn in, and were then questioned by the citizen panel. An audience and representatives from the press were also present. In the introduction, Kyle Hence noted that citizen-panelists were not sworn in at the beginning of the 9/11 Commission, and that swearing in had only started after "we made some noise about it, and the press started to ask some questions." The world premiere of Barrie Zwicker's The Great Conspiracy was performed after the end of the hearings and questions.

Citizen-panelists included then-Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, local Imam and Doctor Faz Khan, and father of one of the victims of the 9/11 attacks, Bob Mcilvaine.

A list of participants include:

June 2-4, 2006: "9/11: Revealing the Truth"

9/11: Revealing the Truth -- Reclaiming Our Future was held in June 2-4 2006, many members of the Scholars for 9/11 Truth met in Chicago, Illinois, for a conference on 9/11 theories, which was covered by some international media.[36][37]

Mission Statement

A conference seeking to find strategies and solutions to demand accountability for the crimes of 9/11. There is overwhelming evidence of government complicity, as we move forward and direct our focus on actions that further the cause of accountability. We aim for unity within our movement to accomplish these goals.

June 24-25, 2006: "9/11 + The Neo-Con Agenda Symposium"

The 9/11 + The Neo-Con Agenda Symposium was held June 24-25 in Los Angeles.

Other meetings

Scholars for 9/11 Truth

File:S911t.JPG

Scholars for 9/11 Truth (stj911.org) was a group including 300 people of varying backgrounds and expertise,[38] who rejected the mainstream media and government account of the September 11, 2001 attacks and offered a wide range of conspiracy theories in its stead. Its co chair, retired philosophy professor James Fetzer believes that "the range of alternative explanations that might possibly explain the explosion must include non-classic controlled demolition from the top-down using mini-nukes, and...non-classic controlled demolition from the top-down using directed energy weapons...The specific weapons used to destroy the WTC could have been ground based or space based."

The group was founded on December 15, 2005, then split into 2 different scholars groups - Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice,[39] and Scholars for 9/11 Truth approximately one year later over arguments as to whether all theories should be considered, or if the groups should focus on the most plausable. Critics observed their website lists only three structural engineers as members,[40] and argue that the engineers involved with the scholars have little or no relevant experience or qualifications in the disciplines related to structural engineering or controlled demolitions.[41] Critics also noted that they have just one American Society of Civil Engineers member, Joseph M. Phelps. Other critiques have noted the bias in the website's Pentagon views and the inclusion of information which has little basis in evidence.[citation needed]

Two members of the group, Judy Wood (who believes the WTC buildings were destroyed by directed energy weapons) and Morgan Reynolds, left the Scholars due to disagreement with the organization, objecting in particular to the Scholar's rejection of their 'no plane' theories (theories arguing that no planes hit the World Trade Center).[42] However, st911 co-founder, co-chair and webmaster James Fetzer has recently spoken and written positively about Judy Wood's views - a piece by Fetzer on the st911 website argues that the Scholars should now broaden their research to consider the possibility that "directed energy...space based" weapons or "mini-nukes" were used to bring down the World Trade Center. Fetzer argued that "If we don't consider the full range of possible alternative explanans, we may arrive at false conclusions by eliminating the true hypothesis from serious consideration because it seems farfetched or even absurd."[43] Steven E. Jones and others have criticised the mini-nuke claims.[44][45] Jones later resigned over the issue of the directed energy weapon as a plausible theory. Jones, co founder of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, agreed to retire from his position at Brigham Young University on Jan 1 2007. The university had put him on leave since September 2006.[46]

Response

Response to response

Since then, a tier of responses have appeared.

Media coverage

See also

References

  1. ^ Murphy, Jarrett (2006). "The Seekers: The birth and life of the '9-11 Truth movement'". The Village Voice - Education. The Village Voice. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
  2. ^ Gatehouse, Jonathon (2006). "Hijacking the truth on 9/11". MacLeans.ca - Education. Rogers Media Inc. Retrieved 2006-06-02.
  3. ^ "9/11 Independent Commission: Questions". 9/11 Independent Commission.
  4. ^ "Justice for 9/11: Complaint & Petition". Justice for 9/11.
  5. ^ "9/11 Research: About". 9/11 Research.
  6. ^ Walch, Tad (2006). "Controversy dogs Y.'s Jones". Utah news. Deseret News Publishing Company. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
  7. ^ Lev Grossman (September 3, 2006). "Why the 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Won't Go Away". Time Magazine.
  8. ^ Taibbi, Matt (2006). "The Low Post: I, Left Gatekeeper". Politics. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
  9. ^ "Paul Boutin : "Hunt the Boeing" Answers". Paul Boutin. March 14, 2002.
  10. ^ ""Pentagon missle" hoax distracts and discredits the 9/11 skeptics". OilEmprire.US.
  11. ^ "9-11 Review: Pentagon Attack Errors". 9-11 Review.
  12. ^ "Unanswered Questions: Thinking of Ourselves". UnansweredQuestions.Org.
  13. ^ "The War on Freedom - How and Why America was Attacked September 11, 2001". Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed.
  14. ^ Michael Chossudovsky. "CRG Books & Videos". The Centre for Global Research.
  15. ^ Template:Google video
  16. ^ "American Scholars Symposium: 9/11 & The Neo-Con Agenda". American Scholars Symposium.
  17. ^ "Questioning the War on Terrorism". Community Currency.Org.
  18. ^ Dana Bash, Jon Karl & John King (January 29, 2002). "CNN.com - Bush asks Daschle to limit Sept. 11 probes". CNN.
  19. ^ "911 International Inquiry". 9/11 International Inquiry. March 26, 2004.
  20. ^ Walch, Tad (2006-09-8). "BYU places '9/11 truth' professor on paid leave". Deseret Morning News. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Sullivan, Will (September 11, 2006). "BYU takes on a 9/11 conspiracy professor". US News & World Report.
  22. ^ Arthur, Bill (2006-05-16). "Pentagon Video Shows Flames, Smoke After 9/11 Attack (Update1)". News and Commentary, Regions, US. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
  23. ^ "Exhibit 1 (Declaration of David M Hardy)". Flight77.Info.
  24. ^ "Science Applied to the WTC Collapses". 9/11 Research.
  25. ^ "Research on 9/11: Why the Official Story Cannot Be True -- Scientists Find Overwhelming Evidence of Controlled Demolition". Colorado 9/11 Visibility.
  26. ^ "Lifting the Fog: The Scientific Method Applied to the WTC Disaster". LiftingTheFog.Org.
  27. ^ a b "Half of New Yorkers Believe US Leaders Had Foreknowledge of Impending 9-11 Attacks and "Consciously Failed" To Act..." Zogby International. August 30, 2004.
  28. ^ William M. Arkin (May 26, 2006). "9/11 Truth? I Don't Think So". The Washington Post.
  29. ^ "Charlie Sheen Questions Official 9/11 Explanations; "Young and Restless" Star Weighs in on Political Topics". CNN. March 22, 2006.
  30. ^ Zogby International (August 30, 2004). "Poll: 50% of NYC Says U.S. Govt Knew". 9/11 Truth.Org.
  31. ^ >"Respected Leaders and Families Launch 9/11 Truth Statement Demanding Deeper Investigation into the Events of 9/11". 9/11 Truth.Org. October 26, 2004.
  32. ^ "American Thinking Toward The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks". Zogby International. May 24, 2006.
  33. ^ Jim Fetzer (June 3, 2006). "Chicago 9/11 Conference". Scholars for 9/11 Truth.
  34. ^ a b Gail Russell Chaddock (March 25, 2004). "A key force behind the 9/11 commission". Christian Science Monitor.
  35. ^ a b "Chariman Whitehead Announces LMDC Advisory Councils". Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. January 31, 2002.
  36. ^ a b Canada National Post: A theory that just won't die
  37. ^ 9/11:Revealing the Truth, Reclaiming Our Future. Chicago, June 2-4, 2006
  38. ^ "Scholars for 9-11 Truth: Who Are We?". Scholars for 9-11 Truth.
  39. ^ "Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice". Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice.
  40. ^ "Scholars for 9/11 Truth - Full Members List". Scholars for 9-11 Truth.
  41. ^ "Professor Steven E. Jones and the "Scholars For 911 Truth"". Debunking911.Com.
  42. ^ "Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Disintegrate?". NoMoreGames.Net.
  43. ^ James H. Fetzer (November 16, 2006). "An Open Letter about Steven Jones". 9/11 Scholars for Truth.
  44. ^ Dr. Steven E. Jones (September 28, 2006). "Testing the Hypothesis that Mini-Nukes Were Used on the WTC Towers". 9/11 Scholars for Truth.
  45. ^ "Theories that Nuclear Weapons Destroyed the Twin Towers". 9/11 Research.
  46. ^ Associated press (October 22, 2006). "9/11 Conspiracy Theorist to Leave Brigham Young". The Washington Post.
  47. ^ "NIST Response to the World Trade Center Disaster" (PDF). National Institute of Standards and Technology. April 5, 2005.
  48. ^ "NIST and the World Trade Center". National Institute of Standards and Technology. October 5, 2005.
  49. ^ Brent Blanchard (August 8, 2006). "A Critical Analysis of the Collapse of WTC Towers 1,2 & 7 From an Explosives and Conventional Demolition Industry Viewpoint" (PDF). ImplosionWorld.Com.
  50. ^ "NIST's Investigation of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center Disaster - Frequently Asked Questions". National Institute of Standards and Technology.
  51. ^ "Conspiracy Theories: The 9/11 Truth Movement in Perspective". eSkeptic.
  52. ^ Jim Hoffman. "A Reply to the National Institute for Standards and Technology's". 9/11 Research.
  53. ^ Sean Glazier. "Why the NIST "Fact Sheet" Just Won't Do". 9/11 Scholars for Truth.
  54. ^ Rob Rice. "NIST and "The Foot Of God" Hypothesis". 9/11 Scholars for Truth.
  55. ^ Jim Hoffman (June 15, 2005). "Popular Mechanics' Assault on 9/11 Truth". 9/11 Research.
  56. ^ Jim Hoffman (February 15, 2005). "Popular Mechanics' Deceptive Smear Against 9/11 Truth". 9/11 Review.
  57. ^ Jennifer Senior (September 15, 2006). "The Memorial Warriors". New York Magazine.
  58. ^ Jonathan Curiel (September 3, 2006). "The Conspiracy To Rewrite 9/11". San Francisco Gate.
  59. ^ "Who really blew up the twin towers?". The Guardian. September 5, 2006.
  60. ^ Jaya Narain (September 6, 2006). "Fury as academics claim 9/11 was 'inside job'". Daily Mail.
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