9/11 Conspiracies In The News
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Polls, The War On Terrorism
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports some very disheartening news:
More than a third of the American public suspects that federal officials assisted in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or took no action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the Middle East, according to a new Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll.
And lest we forget about the effect of the blogosphere…
The survey also found that people who regularly use the Internet but who do not regularly use so-called “mainstream” media are significantly more likely to believe in 9/11 conspiracies. People who regularly read daily newspapers or listen to radio newscasts were especially unlikely to believe in the conspiracies.
A cautionary tale? Quite right.
So yes, I’m a blogger and I’m just going to say please, please, please don’t believe the hype about blogs. Our stuff is opinion, not fact. Get your facts from the media. They generally do a good job of sorting out true from false, and that’s all that one can really expect right now.
This entry was posted on Friday, August 4th, 2006 and is filed under Polls, The War On Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 4th, 2006 at 2:10 am
You would be better served to argue the facts than dismissing this poll on a whim. Alternate evidence to the official story of 911 never gets talked about in mainstream media despite heaps of contradictory evidence. Please read David Ray Griffin’s book “9/11 Commision Report omissions and distortions” for more information.
August 4th, 2006 at 6:18 am
Argh. Having read the commission’s report, the only possible areas where it could reasonably been improved would be the policy recommendations, not the description of the events of 9/11 itself. That is so amazingly detailed and clear, while admitting what is not known or knowable, that it’s remarkably refreshing as government documents go.
Show me individual claims, and I’ll show you individual refutations.
August 4th, 2006 at 7:41 am
This one is surprising because it has gotten zero play in the media, unlike the “we found WMD” baloney that has been so popular on Fox News and right-wing talk radio. Where did this come from?
August 4th, 2006 at 8:44 am
Several different conspiracy theories got media attention on French sources as well as Al Jazeera.
Reuters, BBC, and US media outlets mainly ignored the more popular stories. I believe this is because while several are interesting and offer up clever therories, they have less evidence and are more complicated than the official stories. Plus, there’s the obvious “what would the US gain from the war?” So far we’ve gained political and economic stresses and nothing else!
August 4th, 2006 at 9:05 am
Pug:
Because warheads full of mustard gas are not WMD for some reason. If those bunkers were discovered immediately after “mission accomplished” when the Democrats were still in favor of the Iraq war, and poll numbers were overwhelmingly positive towards the removal of Saddam, You would be singing a different tune other than “we found WMDâ€Â? baloney. Besides, that story was completely buried in all other news outlets besides fox news, under the pretense that the weapons were manufactured before 1991, so somehow it doesn’t count.
August 4th, 2006 at 9:13 am
Even worse than the American public is the fact that most Muslims in the world believe the 911 attacks were not carried out by Arabs, and in fact was a hoax perpetrated by the U.S. govenment or Jews. from Daniel Pipes:
August 4th, 2006 at 9:14 am
That last sentence was not meant to be in the blockquote, sorry Mr. Pipes =P
August 4th, 2006 at 9:15 am
It is news that either: a) over 1/3 of the “American public” is stupid or b) over 1/3 of the “American public” lies on surveys AND c) internet users seem to be a combination of dumber and/or liers-on-surveys, than non-internet users.
August 4th, 2006 at 9:48 am
Jimmy: Actually, I believe Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world (188 million people, IIRC), not Pakistan (~140 million). But your point still stands, because for one thing, at least Indonesia doesn’t have nukes.
August 4th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Actually I would argue that the mainstream media does a horrible job of reporting the facts.
In almost every cast where I have been able to compare my own life experiences with what is reported in the MSM they got it horribly wrong. Whether it was flood, hurricanes, political disasters, science or technology the MSM is very inadequate.
The beauty of the Internet is that you can usually find a web site or blog were the author is actually living the story or has spend considerable time in the the pertinent industry.
As a fer instance: michaeltotten.com posting about Lebanon or oil industry engineers discussing the current oil shortage at the theoildrum.com.
August 4th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
Perhaps If the US Government spent more of its resources focused on Terrorrism and less on the war on some drugs, 9/11 could have been prevented. Unfortuneily even now we are more interested in policing our own citizens and even more of our freedoms are flushed down the toliet.
August 4th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
I think there is a valid argument that our government assisted the terrorists in pulling off 9/11. Not the airhead theories. But starting with Jimmy Carter and how he handled Iran, then Regan with the Beriut and US Embassy bombings. Then Bush 1 in Kuwait, and then Clinton’s halfhearted efforts, especially the USS Cole where nothing was done.
Our country gave the message to the radical Islamists that we don’t have a backbone - there are no serious consequenses for hate-filled and brutal acts of war against us or our friends. We’re pussies.
When you live in a tough neighborhood, you have to earn respect the hard way sometimes, like it or not. You’re gonna get your arse kicked if act like a wimp. That’s exactly what happened to us on 9/11.
August 4th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
I’m buyin’ me a tin-foil factory.
August 4th, 2006 at 8:52 pm
I think internet users are better informed, so I’m not sure this is “disheartenintg” at all. Those who take Fox News at face value are the ones who disappoint me.
August 4th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
By 9am anyone watching TV on 9/11 knew hijacked jets had slammed into the WTC. Yet over a half hour later a third hijacked jet manages to slam into the headquarters of the most technologically superior army in history….
WTC7 collapses in classic controlled demolition style despite not being hit by a plane, and the footage is NEVER RE-AIRED on TV….
Bush continues sitting in a classroom for ten minutes after getting word the second plane had hit, and Secret Service DOESN’T wisk him to a secure location, completely violating standard protocols…
Folks, pull your head out of your asses. We’re in serious trouble, we need all hands on deck. Please, do a little research…
August 4th, 2006 at 9:00 pm
Sean, just buy stock in Alcoa.
Popular Mechanics published a great 9 page article scientifically shooting down the most common conspiracy theories
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/defense/1227842.html
August 4th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
Ben: If Bush was behind 9/11, and it was all orchestrated, how is it that he came off as such an idiot? I mean, if he knew it was coming, why did he look like such a deer in the headlights when it happened? Why did he stick around listening to a bunch of kiddies, in front of the cameras?
August 4th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
That’s easy Tom. The Illuminati must have left him out of the loop.
August 4th, 2006 at 10:05 pm
And who runs the illuminati? You guessed it…the Jews. Right Ben?
August 4th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
Who said anything about Jews or Illuminati? You guys did.
To answer your question Tom, I don’t know why Bush continued sitting in the classroom. The fact is that Secret Service SOP dictated he should have been quickly escorted to the limo immediatly. Why did the Secret Service violate their own SOP, possibly endangering a school full of children, and not do their job?
August 4th, 2006 at 11:34 pm
Believe me Ben, you don’t want to know how far down the rabbit hole goes. Just ask Lee Harvey Oswald, or Mama Cass.
August 5th, 2006 at 2:06 am
While I agree with you on the 9-11 issues, Justin, I particularly agree with you on trusting the news accounts over blog accounts. Newspapers are accountable for there actions, especially in the sense that they live in a more cutthroat world of information. Blogs however, only attract attention if they’re large enough to be noticed, like a Kos or somesuch.
Because of this, I think in general, even if MSM is slanted, in the general trustworthiness of it’s information, it’s much better.
Blogs are supplemental sources, not primary ones.
August 5th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
Ben: “The fact is that Secret Service SOP dictated he should have been quickly escorted to the limo immediatly. Why did the Secret Service violate their own SOP, possibly endangering a school full of children, and not do their job?”
I suppose they weren’t sure what to make of it - a terrorist attack on a financial center 1300 miles away. Keep in mind, Bush was out the door before the Pentagon was hit.
I’m not saying there wasn’t a threat - but there was a lot of confusion.
August 5th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
so, Blogs = pure opinion, Big Media = pure truth.
thanks for clearing that up for all of us tinfoil hat nutjobs.
August 5th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
David:
The 9/11 Commission Report is “detailed”? Anyone who would even make such a claim either hasn’t really read the report, or is ignorant of the events of the day…
So detailed that it completely avoided exploring the cause of THIS?
It’s so detailed that it totally avoided any mention of Pakistan, even though the FBI itself noted thatthe former head of the Pakistani intelligence service, General Mahmoud Ahmad, was having breakfast in D.C. on September 11th, only days after authorizing a $100,000 wire transfer to Mohamed Atta. And it wasn’t just breakfast at Denny’s- it was with the very Chairmen of the Joint Inquiry on 9/11 - Porter Goss and Senator Bob Graham.
Yes, that 9/11 Commission Report was exhaustive! (We’re anxiously awaiting your reply…)
As to the Popular Mechanics piece, it has itself been debunked. And in more than one place.
And - just in case readers here are ignorant of the facts- the piece can hardly be expected to be unbiased, since it was written by Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff’s cousin.
You may be disheartened by 1/3rd of the public believing in government complicity. But just wait a few more months. It’s going to be half sooner than you think…
August 5th, 2006 at 11:14 pm
Click here to see an example about why blogs are important in disseminating and examining media reports.
August 7th, 2006 at 11:38 am
Many people love to believe the world is simple. And it is so simple to believe grand conspiracies control world events.
Those who believe 9/11 was orchastrated by our government are simply unable to cope with living in a world of hard-to-understand threats and random chaos. They prefer to believe everything is ordered and everything would be better if we just got rid of those evil little conspirators controlling our world.
They get to feel “smart” by claiming to see through illusions. But it is the conspiracy theories themselves that are the real illusions.
August 8th, 2006 at 1:18 am
Agree with Alan 100%. Here and here contain good rebuttals and this deals with the WTC7 furphy.
August 8th, 2006 at 1:22 am
PS, do images tags work here? If so, from here, WTC7 damage:
August 8th, 2006 at 1:23 am
http://www.911myths.com/html/wtc7_fire.html was the link, and it looks like images don’t work. Sorry for the triple post.