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9/11 conspiracy theories

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Sept. 11, 2001 attacks
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9/11 Commission
A number of researchers questioning the official account of 9/11 have expressed skepticism about the official account of events surrounding September 11th and assert the existence of a cover-up in the investigation.

Contents

Origins

CNN broadcast of September 11 destruction when the second plane struck the south tower of the WTC.
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CNN broadcast of September 11 destruction when the second plane struck the south tower of the WTC.

Before the United States retaliation began for the attacks, books and Web sites surfaced promulgating alternative theories about 9/11. While alternative hypotheses are often described as conspiracy theories, there are individuals, groups and organizations who say the official story of events can likewise be referred to as a conspiracy theory.

Main categorizations

These theorists hold a wide variety of views, rather than sharing one opinion. The common trait they do share is the belief that at least one, if not all, of the official accounts for September 11th are wrong.

According to Nick Levis, of 911truth.org, the range of views on 9/11 can be categorized into four types:

Government foreknowledge

The World Trade Center on fire. The plume of smoke escaping the Twin Towers is seen for miles.
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The World Trade Center on fire. The plume of smoke escaping the Twin Towers is seen for miles.

One theory is that individuals within the United States government and private sector knew of the impending attacks and purposefully did not act on that knowledge. Former British Environment Minister Michael Meacher suggested this possibility. The theory does not necessarily suggest that individuals within the US Government actually conducted the operation, but rather that they had enough information to have prevented the attack.

Intelligence issues

Shortly after the attacks, David Schippers, the chief prosecutor for the impeachment of Bill Clinton, stated that the government had been warned in 1995 about a future attack on a government building and that later he was contacted by three FBI agents who mentioned uncovering a possible terrorist attack planned for lower Manhattan. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) has asserted that over a year before the 9/11 attacks, a classified US intelligence unit known as "Able Danger" identified Mohammed Atta and three other future 9/11 hijackers as likely members of an Al Qaeda cell operating in the US. (Able Danger was a SOCOM exercise.)

Possible early warning

Allegations of insider trading by people with foreknowledge

News accounts in the aftermath reported a suspicious pattern of trading in the options of United and American Airlines [link]as well as Morgan Stanley and [link]and other unusual market activity [link].

:"Never before on the Chicago Exchange were such large amounts of United and American Airlines options traded. These investors netted a profit of at least $5 million after the September 11th attacks. Interestingly, the names of the investors remain undisclosed and the $5 million remains unclaimed in the Chicago Exchange account." [link]
However, according to the 9/11 Commission, the SEC and FBI examined each trade, the trades were innocuous, and no evidence of a connection was found:
A single U.S.-based institutional investor with no conceivable ties to al Qaeda purchased 95 percent of the UAL puts on September 6 as part of a trading strategy that also included buying 115,000 shares of American on September 10. Similarly, much of the seemingly suspicious trading in American on September 10 was traced to a specific U.S.-based options trading newsletter, faxed to its subscribers on Sunday, September 9, which recommended these trades (page 51 of the [Commission Report], PDF).

World Trade Center towers

Some alternative theories of the collapse of the Twin Towers propose that planted explosives brought down the structures. Much of the support for this claim comes from interpretations of videos and photographs. Several eyewitnesses also reported seeing, hearing and feeling multiple explosions, and explosions in sequence. Many researchers questioning the official account of 9/11 have highlighted the following as evidence for the theory that planted explosives brought down the WTC towers:

Controlled-demolition theory

The NIST report did not analyze the actual pattern of the WTC's collapse; the scope of the investigations was limited to the events leading up to the collapse: "The focus of the Investigation was on the sequence of events from the instant of aircraft impact to the initiation of collapse for each tower. [This report] includes little analysis of the structural behavior of the tower after the conditions for collapse initiation were reached and collapse became inevitable."[link] The FEMA report, some say, also did not analyze the actual pattern of the collapse. (For further information on these reports, see 'Government Inquiry' below)

Skeptics of the progressive collapse theory, however, say that there is ample evidence to at least suggest that the towers did not collapse due solely to gravity. Jim Hoffman, a researcher and software engineer, suggests that the telltale signs of the controlled demolition of the WTC are:[link]

flowing out of the corner of WTC2 moments before collapse, and eyewitnesses observed and reported pools of molten metal in all three rubble piles.

Steven E. Jones, a physics professor at Brigham Young University, with no engineering credentials, and Judy Wood, a mechanical engineer at Clemson University, whose expertise is "Nonlinear Mechanical Properties of Dentin", say that (absent explosives) the fall of the towers violates conservation of momentum.[link] In addition, Dr. Jones says the angular momentum of the top of the South Tower as it began to collapse could not simply disappear, unless the center of mass of the top was somehow shattered and destroyed.[link] In addition, he says that the rapid descent of the towers at near free-fall speeds indicates that the undamaged central core below the collapse lost its structural integrity almost instantly and provided almost no resistance whatsoever to the falling debris. According to Jones, official theorists have explained this near free-fall collapse either by the "pancake" theory, in which multiple falling floors progressively collapse on top of one another, or by the "piledriver" theory, in which the kinetic energy of the falling tower is simply too great and the steel columns below the impact simply shatter without resistance.[link]

Molten metal

In addition to the characteristics of the collapse, eyewitnesses reported pools of molten metal in the rubble of WTC 1, 2 and 7 for several weeks after the collapse.[link] According to reports by FEMAChapter 2, Section 2.2.2.3, page 34. and NIST,Volume 4, Appendix H, Section H.9, page 43, cited in Greening, Frank (2006), unpublished. Available at: http://www.911myths.com/WTCTHERM.pdf. Retrieved on 2006-03-06. molten metal (visible on video [link]) dripped out of the South Tower just before it collapsed. Having analyzed the color of the molten metal, which is an indicator of its temperature, Dr. Jones believes the metal was at least 1000°C. Adherents of the official theory say the molten metal may simply be aluminum from the aircraft, which melts at about 650°C. Dr. Jones rejects this theory since molten aluminum is a poor emitter of black body radiation and thus molten aluminum appears silvery-gray under daylight conditions.[link] (The metal in the video is bright yellow.) According to Jones, the presence of molten metal at 1000°C would contradict the official story, which says that fires in the buildings reached temperatures high enough to weaken the steel, but not to melt it.

In addition to the molten metal, the initial FEMA investigation team did find unusual sulfide on parts on the structural steel in the towers and WTC 7. - "The severe corrosion and subsequent erosion of Samples 1 and 2 are a very unusual event. No clear expianation for the source of the sulfur has been identified. The rate of corrosion is also unknown. It is possible that this is the result of long-term heating in the ground following the collapse of the buildings. It is also possible that the phenomenon started prior to collapse and accelerated the weakening of the steel structure. A detailed study into the mechanisms of this phenomenon is needed to determine what risk, if any, is presented to existing steel structures exposed to severe and long-burning fires." FEMA was unable to find the source of sulfer, and the NIST report does not mention it. Researchers including Steven Jones believe this sulfide may have been caused by the use of a thermite reaction to melt and destroy the steel within the structure.

Thermite reactions can reach temperatures of up to 4500°F (2500°C), well beyond the temperature (approximately 1500°C) high enough to melt the steel within buildings, and with the addition of sulfur can cause an eutectic reaction within such steel.[link] Such a eutectic reaction was observed at WTC and according to professors Ronald R. Biederman and Richard D. Sisson Jr. was "capable of turning a solid steel girder into Swiss cheese." - "Have environmental pollutants increased the potential for eutectic reactions? 'We may have just the inherent conditions in the atmosphere so that a lot of water on a burning building will form sulfuric acid, hydrogen sulfide or hydroxides, and start the eutectic process as the steel heats up,' Biederman says. He notes that the sulfur could also have come from contents of the burning buildings, such as rubber or plastics. Another possible culprit is ocean salts, such as sodium sulfate, which is known to catalyze sulfidation reactions on turbine blades of jet engines. 'All of these things have to be explored,' he says." Thermite would also explain the presence of the aforementioned molten metal seen dripping out of the South Tower. Dr. Jones believes this metal is actually molten iron, a byproduct of the thermite reaction.

Symmetry and alleged squibs

WTC 1, 2, and 7 also fell straight down, with remarkable symmetry, according to researchers. Without explosives, they say, this symmetry would violate the second law of thermodynamics. Collapse theorists also point to photographs and videos of what they believe are demolition "squibs", which are tightly focused horizontal plumes of smoke and debris being ejected from the twin towers during the collapse. Official theorists propose that the squibs were merely the ejection of material due to the evacuation of air as the floors collapsed; the plumes, however, appear approximately 10 stories below the area of main destruction and are ejected only from the centers of the towers.[link] These plumes appear in both towers, at regular intervals, and from multiple camera angles. Researchers say the presence of these squibs indicate secondary explosive devices, activated just ahead of the collapsing material, removing the structural support and allowing total collpase. It is also believed that squibs were seen in the destruction of WTC 7, running rapidly up the Southwest corner of the building[link]. Similarly, while a possible theory is that the WTC 7 squibs simply result from the floors collapsing, the time between the events is much too rapid to be due to gravitational acceleration.[link]

Alleged demolition waves

As evidence of controlled demolition, conspiracy theorists point to the use of words such as "bomb" or "explosion" by witnesses (including firefighters) to describe various events before the collapse of the towers. They also cite testimony from witnesses who specifically describe seeing explosions or the result of explosions before the planes hit the towers, during the evacuation, and immediately prior to the collapse of the towers.[link][link]

Some 9/11 theorists also allege that no study has been done to ascertain the presence of explosive residues in Ground Zero or the released dust, though many environmental studies have been done on the particulate matter and dust released by the collapse (including a study by the DELTA group at UC Davis), and none have indicated the presence of explosive residue.[link] [link].

Pulverization

Software engineer Jim Hoffman suggests that gravity alone exerts too little energy to explain the pulverization of non-metallic building contents into fine powder, or to explain the pyroclastic cloud of dust which billowed down the streets of lower Manhattan in all directions[link].

Comparison to other buildings struck by fire

Furthermore, theorists allege the collapse of WTC 1, 2, and 7 are anomalies, since no steel hi-rise building has suffered a total collapse as the result of fire before or since the 9-11 attack. The WTC towers burned for less than 102 min (WTC 1) and 56 minutes (WTC 2), during which both towers were stable after the impacts. Theorists consider the following hi-rise fires to be the most similar for comparative purposes: [link]

*the "Torre Este de Parque Central" (Central Park's East Tower) (2004) (Caracas - Venezuela) - burned for more than 17 hours, spread to over 26 floors.
*One Meridian Plaza (1991) - burned for 18 hours, gutted 8 floors of the 38 floor building.
*First Interstate Bank (1988) - burned for 3 1/2 hours, gutted 4 floors of the 64 floor tower.
*1 New York Plaza (1970) - burned for more than 6 hours.
*The Madrid Windsor Tower (2005) - a partial collapse of building began with the steel sections of the structure after slightly more than 90 minutes [link], [link], while the concrete framework prevented a complete collapse [link].
Theorists say these fires are particularly relevant to WTC7, which was not struck by planes and which suffered damage only from fires and falling debris from the collapse of WTC 1 and 2.

However, the Caracas Tower, First Interstate Bank [link] and 1 New York Plaza were constructed using the conventional steel girder system consisting of a grid of steel columns and trusses connecting the columns. The Windsor Tower was constructed with concrete columns and a concrete core for the first 16 floors, steel girder and concrete core for the floors above that, and two additional concrete slabs to provide additional strength [link], [link]. Unlike those buildings, WTC 1 and WTC 2 were constructed using a "steel perimeter frame-tube system". The load of the building was carried by steel beams in the central core and by perimeter columns on the exterior of the building. The core was connected to the perimeter columns via steel trusses. Except for the core, the floors were open space unobstructed by columns. Supporters of the official theory say that significant damage to the exterior of the building, to the trusses, or to both could and did cause a total failure of the system.

The corner of Ronan Point collapses following a gas explosion on the 18th floor.
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The corner of Ronan Point collapses following a gas explosion on the 18th floor.

Researchers have also compared the WTC collapses to the Ronan Point disaster [link], in which one corner of Ronan Point collapsed after a gas explosion [link]. Although Ronan Point was found to be structurally unsound (unsafe) [link] [link], the building did not totally collapse.

Government inquiry

Following pressure from technical experts, industry leaders and families of victims, the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology conducted a three year $24 million investigation into the structural failure and progressive collapse of several WTC complex structures. [link] The study included in-house technical expertise and drew upon the knowledge of several outside private institutions for aid to include:

*Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (SEI/ASCE)
*Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE)
*National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
*American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)
*Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)
*Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY)
Opponents of the demolition theory cite this government report which presented evidence on how and why the buildings collapsed. The report also noted that "NIST found no corroborating evidence for alternative hypotheses suggesting that the WTC towers were brought down by controlled demolition using explosives planted prior to September 11, 2001."[link] Though this report said there was no such evidence, professor Steven E. Jones (See individual viewpoints below), as well as others, continue to say that it did not address any of the specific analysis arguing for the demolition hypothesis. [link] Dr. S. Shyam Sunder, head of the institute’s Trade Center report, recently addressed many of the issues 9-11 conspiracy theorists have with the study. Dr. Sunder replied, "Yes. I am sympathetic. But our report . . . it is extensive. We consulted 80 public-sector experts and 125 private-sector experts. It is a Who’s Who of experts. People look for other solutions. As scientists, we can’t worry about that. Facts are facts.” [link]

The debris

A section of fuselage rests in the ruins of the World Trade Center.
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A section of fuselage rests in the ruins of the World Trade Center.

In addition to the observation of the collapse, theorists draw upon the remnants of the collapse of the World Trade Center. Opponents of the official story cite the following in support of the controlled demolition theory.

The rubble of the Twin Towers smoldered for weeks after the collapse. [link]

The lobby of one of the towers was partially destroyed (broken windows and marble panels) and a dust cloud can be seen rising from the ground during the moments of collapse.
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The lobby of one of the towers was partially destroyed (broken windows and marble panels) and a dust cloud can be seen rising from the ground during the moments of collapse.

Most of the columns came down in sections about 30 ft (10 m) long and large sections of steel destined for recycling were quickly sent to areas in SE Asia. The government has yet to produce the Cockpit voice recorder (CVR) or Flight recorder (FDR) from the WTC attack.

Individuals questioning aspects of the collapse

The following individuals have expressed scepticism or doubt regarding the official theory:

Structural and civil engineering research

While the above individuals have supplied fuel for the demolition theory, the mainstream of the academic world has yet to be convinced. Massachusetts Institute of Technology has devoted a number of staff members to the analysis of the World Trade Center collapse. The jet crashes and fires have been documented and reviewed within the scientific community. [link] The country's leading structural and civil engineers have examined the attack from the point of impact up through the collapse, concluding that explosives were not necessary to initiate collapse. [link].

The following are a few examples of the structural engineering research done on the collapse:

*Although some note that there is a large difference between the Boeing 707, which was popular when the WTC was built, and the Boeing 767s that hit the WTC, others describe the details which show this point to be irrelevant. While the 707 weighs around 330,000 pounds including fuel, the Boeing 767 is about 20 % heavier; however the fuel capacity is about the same for both aircraft. Still, the significant differences in cruise speeds suggests that a 707 in would actually have more kinetic energy than a 767, despite the slightly smaller size. The 767s used on September 11th were estimated to be carrying about 10,000 gallons of fuel each at the time of impact, only about 40% of the capacity of a 707.[link]
*Leslie Robertson, lead structural engineer for the World Trade Center, commented on this point in Reflections on the World Trade Center. [link] Robertson notes, “It was assumed that the jetliner would be lost in the fog, seeking to land at JFK or at Newark. Little was known about the effects of a fire from such an aircraft, and no designs were prepared for that circumstance.”
*Robertson illustrates how the kinetic energy of the 767 impact witnessed on 9-11 was nearly seven times greater than the building's design ever anticipated. [link]
Critics of the demolition theory also point out the in-depth planning, preparation, and production involved in a controlled demolition. This labor-intensive task leaves clear signs of the work, such as stripping away building materials to expose the structural supports, and running cables from the explosives to the detonation timers. [link]

7 World Trade Center

Building damage to the southwest corner and smoke plume along the South face of WTC 7, looking from the World Financial Plaza.
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Building damage to the southwest corner and smoke plume along the South face of WTC 7, looking from the World Financial Plaza.

7 World Trade Center was a 47-story steel-framed skyscraper that stood across Vesey Street north of the WTC complex. It was not hit by any plane and collapsed at approximately 5:20 p.m. EDT on the evening of Sept 11, 2001. According to experts, no building like WTC7, a modern, steel-reinforced high-rise, had ever collapsed because of an uncontrolled fire.

The official report of the 9/11 Commission does not address the collapse of WTC7. The FEMA report says that its proposed explanation of the collapse of WTC7 has only a small probability of being correct. NIST has several times postponed the issue date of its report on the collapse of WTC7. Some 9/11 researchers say these examples show that an explanation of the collapse of WTC7 is quite difficult, unless controlled demolition is introduced to explain it.

9/11 researchers have proposed the idea Building Seven collapsed as the result of a controlled demolition. Support for the demolition theory came from the visual observations of the collapse, the pulverization of concrete, the lateral ejection of debris from high up for large distances, and the reports of molten & partly evaporated steel found in the debris. Advocates for this theory point to the speed and the near symmetrical fall of the structure. The building came down in [just under seven seconds].

Early tests conducted on steel beams from the World Trade Center show they generally met or were stronger than design requirements, ruling them out as a contributing cause of the collapse of the towers, federal investigators from NIST stated[link] Building Seven was not struck by an aircraft nor were the fires inside caused or sustained by jet fuel. [link] The official working hypothesis is that Building 7 collapsed as the result of structural damage from the collapsing Towers in addition to prolonged fires throughout sustained by fuel stored for emergency generators. Further discussion of the intensity and severity of the fires is mentioned below. Engineers refer to this type of destruction as a "progressive collapse."

A kink or crimp near the center of the building is identical in appearance to many that have occurred when implosion professionals have made buildings collapse inwards to minimize damage of the surrounding structures.

The damage and fire

According to the controlled demolition theory, among the primary questions unanswered by the official theory regarding Building Seven are the severity of both the damage and the fire. The controlled demolition theorists maintain neither were severe enough to initiate a collapse. Dr. Steven E. Jones, a proponent of the controlled demolition theory, stated on Building Seven:
"The likelihood of complete and nearly-symmetrical collapse due to random fires as in the “official” theory is small, since non-symmetrical failure is so much more likely. If one or a few columns had failed, one might expect a portion of the building to crumble while leaving much of the building standing. For example, major portions of WTC 5 remained standing on 9/11 despite very significant impact damage and severe fires."[link]
Dr. Jones also points to concluding notes in the FEMA report on the WTC 7 collapse:

"The specifics of the fires in WTC 7 and how they caused the building to collapse [“official theory”] remain unknown at this time. Although the total diesel fuel on the premises contained massive potential energy, the best hypothesis [fire/debris-damage-caused collapse] has only a low probability of occurrence. Further research, investigation, and analyses are needed to resolve this issue."[link]
Opponents to the controlled demolition theory recognize testimony provided by firefighters and EMT personnel about the severity of the damage to WTC 7. Firefighters used transits to determine whether there was any movement in the structure and were surprised to discover that it was, in fact, moving. [link] A collapse zone was set up at that time, and WTC 7 collapsed about an hour and a half later at 5:20 p.m.. The FEMA report provides a timeline of the collapse and photographs of the major events leading up to it. Mechanical penthouses are shown to have collapsed in succession during a 30-second window before the building itself collapsed. The east mechanical penthouse is shown to collapse first. Photographs also show a visible "kink" in the east side of the roofline as the building fell.

The release of NIST's final report on its investigation into the structural failures of World Trade Center Seven has been twice postponed and is scheduled for release sometime in 2006. [link] In a New York Magazine interview in March 2006[link], Dr S. Shyam Sunder, NIST's lead WTC disaster investigator, said that NIST has "had trouble getting a handle on Building No. 7." In draft copies of the report, NIST states that it has "seen no evidence that the collapse of WTC 7 was caused by bombs, missiles, or controlled demolition."

The Silverstein statement

Debris from the collapse of WTC 1 located between WTC 7 (left) and the Verizon building (right).
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Debris from the collapse of WTC 1 located between WTC 7 (left) and the Verizon building (right).

Within the PBS documentary America Rebuilds, aired in September 2002, Larry Silverstein, the lease holder for Building Seven and insurance policy holder for the WTC Complex, recalled the collapse of WTC7:

I remember getting a call from the Fire Department commander, telling me they were not sure they were gonna be able to contain the fire, and I said, 'You know, we've had such terrible loss of life, maybe the smartest thing to do is just pull it.' And they made that decision to pull and then we watched the building collapse. [link]
Many critics of the official theory have said that the term "pull" is industry jargon for planned demolition and that Silverstein's remark exposes his assent to demolishing the building. [link]

Silverstein's spokesperson, Mr. Dara McQuillan, later explained:

In the afternoon of September 11, Mr. Silverstein spoke to the Fire Department Commander on site at Seven World Trade Center. The Commander told Mr. Silverstein that there were several firefighters in the building working to contain the fires. Mr. Silverstein expressed his view that the most important thing was to protect the safety of those firefighters, including, if necessary, to have them withdraw from the building.
McQuillan said that by "it" Silverstein meant the contingent of firefighters remaining in the building.

Researcher Jim Hoffman disputes the assertion that "pull" is industry jargon. A Google search, he says, fails to uphold the assertion. For this and other reasons, he says, the case built from Mr. Silverstein's statement is "extremely weak." He concludes: "While failing to provide substantial evidence for the controlled demolition of WTC 7, the story has functioned to eclipse the overwhelming case for demolition based on the physical characteristics of the collapse. . ." [link]

Pentagon

Boeing 757 engine with humans for size comparison.
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Boeing 757 engine with humans for size comparison.

Security camera image showing American Airlines Flight 77 (far right) just before impact.
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Security camera image showing American Airlines Flight 77 (far right) just before impact.

American Airlines Boeing 757
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American Airlines Boeing 757

Some dispute the claim that Flight 77 struck the Pentagon. Claims that the Pentagon was hit by something significantly smaller than a Boeing 757 (most commonly a missile) have been raised based on photographs in which there is a lack of debris or pieces of a commercial aircraft within the immediate impact area, and a lack of damage to the building or the lawn, often in the context of larger conspiracy theories of US government culpability. Some say that no physical mechanism is known by which the impact of a 100 tonne, 114 foot wide, 44 foot high Boeing 757 could have caused the observed damage to the building (such as the 54 foot wide impact zone or 27 foot diameter exit hole). Those who believe that the Pentagon was not hit by a Boeing 757 point to security camera footage[link][link] from a nearby Citgo gas station and from the Virginia Department of Transportation that were confiscated by the federal government, as well as dramatic contradictions between the accounts of different witnesses of the attack. The security camera footage has also been requested as part of Judicial Watch's FOIA request. , in addition to the video footage released by the Department of Defense on May 16, 2006.

On the morning of 9/11, 50 minutes before Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, the National Reconnaissance Office, who are responsible for operating US reconnaissance satellites, had scheduled an exercise simulating the crashing of an aircraft into their building, four miles from Dulles airport. At 9:25 an order had been issued by the Federal Aviation Agency grounding all aircraft, including military and law enforcement aircraft. Conspiracy theorists suggest that this might have been done to thwart any attempts to prevent the attack on the Pentagon or identify the flying object as something other than Flight 77.#redirect [[Template:fact]]

Questions about war games on the morning of 9/11

Some researchers questioning the official account of 9/11 assert that government and military exercises point to a cover-up. There were a number of drills being performed on the morning of 9-11. US Rep. Cynthia McKinney, economist Michel Chossudovsky, and publisher/editor Michael Ruppert of From the Wilderness are a few of the individuals who have questioned these exercises.

The following war games and training events were being conducted by USAF, NORAD, CIA, NRO, FAA and FEMA: [link] [link]

It is theorized that with these multiple training scenarios being carried out that NORAD, FAA and other military personnel would have been confused in the event of a real attack. McKinney has twice questioned Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about these 9/11 war games during his testimony before Congress. [link]

The President's behavior

President Bush was promoting the passage of his education plan at Emma E. Booker Elementary School on the morning of September 11th.

Allan Wood and Paul Thompson have questioned the President's behavior after being told that the nation was under attack[link]. They think it's likely that he would have been taken to safety at once, presuming that he too would be a possible target of a terrorist attack. He remained in the classroom for another 5 minutes. Some have cited this as an indication that his security staff was informed in advance about the specifics of the attacks, and was therefore not worried about the President's safety.#redirect [[Template:fact]]

Did George W. Bush see the first plane hit?

In response to a question by a child, George Bush responded that he saw a plane hit the tower on TV prior to entering the classroom where he was notified of the attacks. Some have pointed out that George Bush could not have seen the first plane hit the tower live on television, as it was a surprise attack and no television station was covering that area when the first plane hit. This quote has made some suggest that George Bush has access to footage the general public does not, especially about the September 11th attacks.[link], [link]. A White House spokesperson said that the president's comment was "just a mistaken recollection" Paltrow, S. (2004) "Day of Crisis: Detailed Picture of U.S. Actions on Sept. 11 Remains Elusive." Wall Street Journal March 22.

See also [[September 11, 2001 attacks timeline for the day of the attacks#9:00 AM|the morning of September 11th]].

Other points of interest

Claims that some of the supposed hijackers are still alive

Initial news reports shortly after 9/11 indicated that some of the supposed hijackers were alive, fueling speculation that others were responsible [link].

The BBC News reported on September 23, 2001, that some of the people named by the FBI as hijackers, killed on the crashes, were actually alive and well.

One of the supposed hijackers was Waleed al-Shehri, and he was supposedly found in Casablanca, Morocco.

Abdulaziz Al Omari, Saeed Alghamdi, and Khalid al-Midhar, three other supposed hijackers, were also supposedly reported to be living in the Middle East. The BBC and The Guardian have since reported that there was evidence al-Mihdhar was still alive and that some of the other hijackers identities were in doubt. This was commented on by FBI director Robert Mueller.[link]

Motives

Theories as to why members of the U. S. government would have allowed the attacks to occur, perpetrated the attacks, and/or obstructed the investigation generally involve one or more of the following:

Claims related to the Saudi royal family and other Saudi government officials

Of the increasing instances in which 9/11 conspiracy theories have been discussed in the mainstream media, two instances occurred in 2004 involving Howard Dean and Michael Moore. Howard Dean, who was then the front runner for the Democratic nomination for President stated that he had heard of some people theorizing that the Saudi Royal family were behind the attacks. Though he made the comments somewhat sympathetically, he did state that this was not his personal belief. Later, he would also comment that he believed Osama Bin Laden needed to be "proven guilty" in a court of law, a remark some saw as a subtle indication Dean did not presently believe Osama's guilt was self-evident. Such 9/11 statements were often cited as an important reason for the failure of his candidacy.

Also in 2004, filmmaker Michael Moore released the controversial documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11, in which many aspects of September 11th were discussed from a point of view skeptical of the official story. The film suggests that the business relationship between the Bush family and the House of Saud led to a conflict of interest, if not an outright conspiracy which hindered both the prevention of the attack and the investigation of it.

An [article] in the December 7-13 2005 issue of The Village Voice reported "The Joint Inquiry Into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001, which was released in late 2002, included 28 pages that were blanked out, apparently concerning the possible role of Saudi government officials". Another [article] from the same issue discussing the 9/11 Commission reported "The Joint Inquiry traced the flow of money from the Saudi royal family and government institutions to a Saudi spy in California who had contact with the hijackers. The commission found Saudi Arabia blameless although behind closed doors the staff is said to have demanded an airing of the situation."

Claims related to Jews and Israel

Some Jewish employees did not attend work at the WTC on 9/11

This claim made by Al-Manar, the television station of Hezbollah, has been repeated by a wide variety of other sources, such as Amiri Baraka. The original Al-Manar claim was:

"With the announcement of the attacks at the World Trade Center in New York, the international media, particularly the Israeli one, hurried to take advantage of the incident and started mourning 4,000 Israelis who worked at the two towers. Then suddenly, no one ever mentioned anything about those Israelis and later it became clear that they remarkably did not show up in their jobs the day the incident took place.

No one talked about any Israeli being killed or wounded in the attacks. Arab diplomatic sources revealed to the Jordanian al-Watan newspaper that those Israelis remained absent that day based on hints from the Israeli General Security apparatus, the Shabak, the fact which evoked unannounced suspicions on American officials who wanted to know how the Israeli government learned about the incident before it occurred, and the reasons why it refrained from informing the U.S authorities of the information it had." (from the English language version of the Web site of Lebanon's Al-Manar Television posted September 17, 2001, cited [ADL])
It is unclear whether al-Watan made these claims or who (if anyone) the alleged "Arab diplomatic sources" were. No independent confirmation has been produced for this claim; and much of it has been proven to be factually inaccurate (see below).

In some versions of the story circulated on the Internet, the title was changed to "4,000 Jewish Employees in WTC Absent the Day of the Attack" from its original "4000 Israeli Employees in WTC Absent the Day of the Attack", spawning a further rumor that not only Israeli but all Jewish employees stayed away. On September 12 an American Web site called "Information Times" published an article with the headline "4,000 Jews Did Not Go To Work At WTC On Sept. 11," which it credited to "AL-MANAR Television Special Investigative Report." According to Slate.com, "The '4,000 Jews' page is easily forwarded as e-mail, and this may explain the message's rapid dissemination."[link] The rumour was also published; according to the United States Department of State "Syria's government-owned Al-Thawra newspaper may have been the first newspaper to make the "4,000 Jews" claim... its September 15th edition falsely claimed 'four thousand Jews were absent from their work on the day of the explosions.' "[link]

There were a total of 5 Israeli deaths in the attack (Alona Avraham, Leon Lebor, Shay Levinhar, Daniel Lewin, Haggai Sheffi), of which 3 were in the World Trade Center and 2 were on the planes. (4 are listed as American on most lists, presumably having dual citizenship.)

Early estimates of Israeli deaths, as of the total death toll and the death toll for other countries' citizens (e.g. India) proved substantially overestimated. George W. Bush cited the figure of 130 in his [speech on September 20th].

The number of Jewish victims was considerably higher, typically estimated at around 400;[link][link] according to the United States Department of State

A total of 2,071 occupants of the World Trade Center died on September 11, among the 2,749 victims of the WTC attacks. According to an article in the October 11, 2001, Wall Street Journal, roughly 1,700 people had listed the religion of a person missing in the WTC attacks; approximately 10% were Jewish. A later article, in the September 5, 2002, Jewish Week, states, "based on the list of names, biographical information compiled by The New York Times, and information from records at the Medical Examiner's Office, there were at least 400 victims either confirmed or strongly believed to be Jewish." This would be approximately 15% of the total victims of the WTC attacks. A partial list of 390 Cantor Fitzgerald employees who died (out of 658 in the company) lists 49 Jewish memorial services, which is between 12% and 13%. This 10-15% estimate of Jewish fatalities tracks closely with the percentage of Jews living in the New York area. According to the 2002 American Jewish Year Book, 9% of the population of New York State, where 64% of the WTC victims lived, is Jewish. A 2002 study estimated that New York City's population was 12% Jewish. Forty-three percent of the WTC victims lived in New York City. Thus, the number of Jewish victims correlates very closely with the number of Jewish residents in New York. If 4,000 Jews had not reported for work on September 11, the number of Jewish victims would have been much lower than 10-15%.[link]

The figure "4,000" was probably taken by Al-Manar from a Jerusalem Post article of September 12 (p. 3) which said "The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem has so far received the names of 4,000 Israelis believed to have been in the areas of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon at the time of the attack." This number was obviously not (as Al-Manar claimed) restricted to employees; in fact, Tsviya Shimon, minister of administrative affairs for the Israeli consulate and mission in New York, said on September 14 "that there might have been up to 100 Israeli citizens working in the World Trade Center". [link]

Furthermore, many Orthodox Jews left for work later than usual that day due to Selichot (additional prayers recited around the time of Rosh Hashanah).[link]

Sharon was warned by Shabak to stay away from New York

Al-Manar the official television station of Hezbollah, also made related claims that then-prime minister Ariel Sharon was warned to stay away from New York:
Suspicions had increased further after Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot revealed that the Shabak prevented Israeli premier Ariel Sharon from traveling to New York and particularly to the city's eastern coast to participate in a festival organized by the Zionist organizations in support of Israel. Aharon Bernie, the commentator at the newspaper, brought up the issue and came up with a negative conclusion, saying "no answer". He then asked about the clue behind the Shabak's position in preventing Sharon's participation, and again without giving an answer.
Detractors claim that this theory does not hold up to examination. A pro-Israel rally led by the United Jewish Communities, expected to include 50,000 people, had been planned for September 23, 2001. Ariel Sharon had been scheduled to speak there, [link] but it was canceled on September 12. [link] According to The Forward, Sharon was still scheduled to speak there at the time of cancellation. [link]

There was no article in Yediot Aharonot that contains the information cited by Al-Manar, nor was there a columnist named Aharon Bernie. There is an Israeli reporter named Aharon Barnea of Israel's Channel 2 News whose wife Amalia works for Yediot Aharonot; [link] it has been speculated that "Aharon Bernie" arose as a misspelling of this name. [link]

Mossad connection to filming of 9/11 attacks with \"puzzling behavior\"

This claim formed part of the Al-Manar report mentioned above. The claim is that:
For its part, the Israeli Ha'aretz' newspaper revealed that the FBI arrested five Israelis four hours after the attack on the Twin Towers while filming the smoking skyline from the roof of their company's building. The FBI had arrested the five for "puzzling behavior". They are said to have been caught videotaping the disaster in what was interpreted as cries of joy and mockery. [link]
This claim was substantially correct. Yossi Melman had reported to that effect in Haaretz on September 17 2001, [link] using the words "puzzling behavior" and "what was interpreted as cries of joy and mockery." Several mainstream Western media groups researched this. On June 21, 2002, ABC published [a report] that five Israelis seen filming the events of September 11 in New York and looking "happy" were subsequently arrested, claiming (on The Forward's authority) that the "FBI concluded that two of the men were Israeli intelligence operatives" but had no advance knowledge of 9/11.

The Forward had [reported] the five as a possible Mossad surveillance operation conducted not against the US but against "radical Islamic networks suspected of links to Middle East terrorism." Mossad was known to have been infiltrating Al Qaeda at the time. Sivan Kurzberg, Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner and Omer Marmari, the five Israelis who were kept in custody in the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park for approximately two months were eventually deported back to Israel on November 20-21, 2001. [link] Ellner and others in the prison have complained of abuse by prison guards. [link]

The claim was revived by the Scotland-based Sunday Herald's [article] (Nov 2, 2003.)

Israel advance knowledge

An ambiguous claim was made that the Mossad had been shadowing the perpetrators and had advance warning of these attacks but failed to share it. [link]

Supporters of this claim sometimes cite a Washington Post article of September 28, 2001, according to which "Officials at instant-messaging firm Odigo confirmed today that two employees received text messages warning of an attack on the World Trade Center two hours before terrorists crashed planes into the New York landmarks." CNN also reported this but added that "Alex Diamandis, vice president for sales and marketing with Odigo Inc., said there was nothing specifically about the attacks in the message, but he said it was suspicious in nature, especially because of its timing." The Israeli newspaper Haaretz also published reports regarding these warnings. [link]

The first major Western source to explicitly make this claim was Fox News, in a four-part series by Carl Cameron in December 2001. [link] This story which "alleges that Israeli intelligence officials failed to share what they knew about September 11 with their American counterparts prior to the attacks" was condemned by Israeli officials. Soon afterwards Fox pulled it from its Web site without explanation.

Mossad blames the Iraq-Osama connection in advance

Israeli officials claim that within the week prior to 9/11, they had warned both the FBI and CIA in August of an imminent large-scale attack, as well as pretty much all other secret services of Egypt, Germany, UK, France etc. [link] [link]

"They had no specific information about what was being planned but linked the plot to Osama bin Laden and told the Americans that there were strong grounds for suspecting Iraqi involvement," said a senior Israeli security official."
No evidence for Iraqi involvement has since been found, and an FBI representative reported there was no evidence linking Osama Bin Laden to 9/11. [link]

Less common theories

Media Reaction

Le Monde Diplo Norway July 2006
Enlarge
Le Monde Diplo Norway July 2006

While discussion and coverage of these theories is mainly confined to internet chat sites, a number of mainstream news outlets around the world have covered the issue.

In the July 2006 edition of the Norwegian version of Le Monde Diplomatique, the headline story asked, "11 September : An Inside Job?"

Prevalence

A 2004 Zogby poll indicated that nearly half of New York City residents believed the United States government had some level of foreknowledge of the attacks. Zogby International: [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, New Zogby International Poll Reveals]

Criticism

Critics of these alternative theories claim they are a form of conspiracism common throughout history after a traumatic event in which conspiracy theories emerge as a mythic form of explanation (Barkun, 2003).

The German magazine Der Spiegel summarily dismissed all skeptical accounts of the 9/11 attacks as a "panoply of the absurd", stating "as diverse as these theories and their adherents may be, they share a basic thought pattern: great tragedies must have great reasons."

Both Scientific American [link] and Popular Mechanics [link] published articles debunking various 9/11 conspiracy theories.

See also

Videos

References

Books

External links

Final report of the "National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States" (9-11 Commission), chaired by Thomas H. Kean
Cynthia McKinney's July 2005 Congressional Briefing on 9/11
  • [McKinney Briefing]
    • June 1, 2001, directive from the Joint Chiefs of Staff changing rules on intercepting hijacked planes
  • [Joint Chiefs Directive]
    • Descriptions of and evidence for various conspiracy theories