Researchers who say the 9/11 Commission was a cover-up are often denounced as “conspiracy nuts. In reality, millions of people are calling for a new probe of disturbing unanswered questions. The Zogby International poll found that 66% of New Yorkers support a new investigation.1
While I don t expect everyone to agree on what happened that day, I do believe it is in the best interest of our democracy to have the questions unanswered by the 9/11 Commission Report answered. The 9/11 Commission Report and official explanations contradict much of what we do know happened. Furthermore, the attack on America was used to promote increased military spending, two wars, and other key goals of the neoconservatives. In their writings, neoconservatives described the need for a “New Pearl Harbor to make policy changes possible. Could they have manipulated 9/11 events to create the “New Pearl Harbor they wanted?
Think about the following unanswered questions and whether a new investigation is a worthwhile expenditure of US tax dollars:. Why did decade old NORAD intercept procedures fail on 9/11? Increasingly, what officials say only makes sense if a stand-down order was given.. Did fire alone pulverize three steel-framed buildings at the World Trade Center? This would be the first time in history that steel-framed buildings have completely collapsed due to fire. Especially puzzling is the fact that Building 7 collapsed even though it was never hit by an aircraft.. Could a Boeing 757 disappear in a hole in the Pentagon smaller than the size of the plane itself? How did engines weighing several tons vanish? This would be the first time in the history of airline crashes that engines disintegrated. How do we reconcile that the one identifiable part of an engine is confirmed not to be from a Boeing 757?. Why does Osama bin Laden not take credit for everything that happened on 9/11? He describes what happened that day as exceeding what he had planned. For example, Building 7 fell and was never hit and was not part of Al Qaeda s 9/11 plan.
If one fact alone screams for a new investigation, it is the order that none of the 9/11 Commissioners speak to captured Al Qaeda members. When you remember that Khalid Sheik Mohammed was and is in US custody (he is the Al Qaeda s mastermind for the 9/11 planes operation or “Operation Big Wedding ), it is mind boggling that Commissioners never spoke to him. If you find this impossible to believe, read the disclaimer on page 146 in Chapter 5 of the 9/11 Commission Report.2
The above list of questions is not meant to be comprehensive but simply prompt consideration that key unanswered questions warrant a new investigation.
Along with unanswered questions is the observation that 9/11 was too convenient. It was used to justify a whole agenda of neoconservative goals. Neoconservatives stated their goals in the September 2000 Project for a New American Century document which highlighted the value of a “New Pearl Harbor. 3 If you open your mind even one percent to the possibility that the events that day were magnified to support a foreign policy already established, you may be surprised how your current beliefs can change. People like Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney wanted more money for weaponizing space, positioning more military bases around the world, controlling strategic energy supplies, and “regime change in countries unfriendly to America s interests.
Could this “New Pearl Harbor have been a false flag operation? A false flag is a staged event used to deceive the enemy and sometimes win public support for a war. For example, a government attacks itself and then claims to have been attacked by an enemy. In incidents too numerous to mention, other countries have used false flags to start wars. Unfortunately, our country has done the same. Our government confirmed with the release of the Operation Northwoods documents that it planned on attacking our country in 1962 in order to create public support for an invasion of Cuba.4
An attack on the USS Liberty very similar to Operation Northwoods took place on June 8, 1967, killing 34 U.S. servicemen and wounding at least 173. The evidence and testimony of the survivors highlights that President Johnson ordered Israel to attack the USS Liberty with the goal of blaming Egypt for the attack. This attack by Israeli aircraft and ships failed to sink the USS Liberty, and President Johnson failed to bring the US military into the Six-Day War between Israel and the Arab states (i.e., Egypt, Jordan and Syria).
If the USS Liberty example is not sufficient, consider the fact that historians are in increasing agreement that the USS Maine explosion which started the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964 to escalate the Vietnam War, and the 9/11 attacks to invade Iraq are false flag operations. If this sounds crazy, try to remember that the US government only confirmed in 2006 that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was fabricated and it took almost forty years for the Operation Northwoods document to be declassified. In the first few decades after a false flag operation, the citizens who are correct in understanding what really happened are ridiculed as “conspiracy nuts by the mainstream media. Since when is the pursuit of the truth unpatriotic or sacrilegious? When memoirs are written and documents are declassified, usually some 25 to 40 years later, the true patriotism of these same citizens is seen in a new light.
My assessment of what really happened on 9/11 is different than that of many people in part because of my first-hand experiences in the Middle East. Few of the people I interviewed approved of President Bush and the vast majority also disapproved of Osama bin Laden because he was responsible for killing civilians. Unlike the situation in the US, people in the Middle East are far more familiar with Osama bin Laden in large part because of the legendary and real-world story of how his father went from rags to riches. In 1989, Osama bin Laden was widely applauded in Saudi Arabia for his efforts fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan (with US assistance exceeding $6 billion). In my discussions, I found no one who questioned Osama bin Laden s role in the 1993 first attempt on the World Trade Center, the 1998 bombing of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, or his October 2004 admission of responsibility for sending 19 men to attack America on 9/11.
My understanding of 9/11 is that the US government knew it was coming, chose to magnify Osama bin Laden s independent actions, and covered up events afterwards. The real agenda is about controlling strategic energy supplies and denying China access to resources in both Central Asia and the Middle East. The US government has worked very hard to make sure Americans do not learn the true reasons for why Iraq was invaded or why groups like Al Qaeda want to attack Americans. Osama bin Laden s reasons are clearly spelled out and can be summed up as US imperialism.
Statements of other Al Qaeda members clearly show their intent to attack America. In an interview with Al Jazeera reporter Yosri Fouda, Al Qaeda mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed said the following: “About two and a half years before the holy raids on Washington and New York, the military committee held a meeting during which we decided to start planning for a martyrdom operation inside America. As we werediscussing targets, we first thought of striking at a couple of nuclear facilities but decided against it for fear it would go out of control.
Fouda was dumbfounded and asked Khalid Sheik Mohammed if he could be more specific. Sheik Mohammed responded: “You do not need to know more than that atthis stage, and anyway it was eventually decided to leave out nuclear targets for now. 5
Would Americans be even more opposed to the Iraq War if they really knew what happened on 9/11? I believe the answer is yes and until more people are woken up with the reality that President Bush s foreign policies are actually making a “nucle
ar 9/11 attack or “American Hiroshima more likely. This is why I ve written a book on this subject called American Hiroshima and dedicated the last few years of my life to educating Americans about solutions to break the US addiction to war.
To learn more, visit the Freedom From War website.6 I also highly recommend reading Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden, The New Pearl Harbor, and The Looming Tower as starting points for understanding both the problems and solutions that do not require appeasement, surrender, or the continuation of the Iraq War. In addition, the Freedom From War organization makes available over a dozen thought-provoking 9/11 videos.
In summary, 9/11 truth seekers don t propose to have all the answers. Peacemakers do not have to agree with me on my analysis of the situation to agree that a new investigation is needed. If you are trying to understand a 9/11 truth seeker, know that we are simply people who care about our democracy and would like the questions that were unanswered by the 9/11 Commission to be answered. If you would like to join the call for a new investigation, please join us at [email protected].
1) http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=855, the Zogby poll.2) http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf, 9/11 Commissioners are forbidden to question captured Al Qaeda members or U.S. personnel who interrogated them. 3) www.freedomfromwar.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf, statements on the need for a “New Pearl Harbor. 4) http://www.freedomfromwar.org/operation%20northwoods.htm, the declassified Operation Northwoods document.5) www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,906911,00.html, interview with Khalid Sheik Mohammed on April 21, 2002.6) www.freedomfromwar.org/911%20Resources.htm, Freedom From War website.
David Dionisi is the National Awareness Officer for Freedom From War (www.freedomfromwar.org) and is the author of American Hiroshima. He fights terrorism by teaching alternatives to violence and working to help the poor in Africa
