11 years after the shocking attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 which claimed the lives of 3,000 people, there are still many questions unanswered about the horrendous events as several independent researchers, who have been mostly vilified by the U.S. mainstream media as “conspiracy theorists,” have seriously questioned the official accounts the U.S. government and 9/11 Commission have presented regarding the attacks.
As alleged by the U.S. government and mainstream media, 15 hijackers who were all the citizens of Saudi Arabia and affiliated with the Al-Qaeda terrorist group took over the American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 77 and crashed the planes associated with these flights into the twin towers of the WTC and Pentagon, killing 2,956 people immediately. 4 other hijackers also took control of the United Airlines Flight 93, diverted it toward the east coast of the United States in the direction of Washington D.C. with the specific target of the United States Capitol, but as they failed to accomplish the mission, the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania and all the 33 passengers, 7 cabin crew and 4 hijackers were killed.
Different explanations and interpretations were given of the 9/11 attacks. In the American textbooks for students, 9/11 is described “as an attack after which Americans heroically came together.” Some say that the events changed the course of contemporary international relations and others call it an unprecedented tragedy.
It was after the 9/11 attacks that President George W. Bush launched his much-liked War on Terror; a war which has cost the lives of thousands, if not millions of innocent civilians.
“Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime,” this was the gist of what George Bush told the U.S. Congress on September 20, 2011, 9 days after what the U.S. media called the “deadliest terrorist attack on the U.S. soil” took place.
But the American statesmen and mass media failed to make the whole American nation believe what they wanted to dictate to them regarding the 9/11 attacks. The 9/11 Truth Movement gradually began to take shape after the attacks in 2001 and especially following the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq in less than five years. The “truthers” believe that the official, mainstream accounts given of the 9/11 events contain gross inconsistencies, suggesting that the attacks were either an “inside job” or a “false flag operation” with the complicity of Israel.
Dr. David Ray Griffin is one of the people who is actively involved in the 9/11 Truth Movement. He is a retired American professor of philosophy of religion and theology. He is affiliated with the Center for Process Studies and Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice, a group of scholars and supporters endeavoring to address the unanswered questions of the September 11, 2001 attack through scientific research and public education.
The first question which I asked Dr. Griffin was about Osama bin Laden, the alleged commander of the 9/11 attacks and the world’s most wanted terrorist, as proclaimed by FBI. In 1979, the U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski met bin Laden, telling him, “we know of their deep belief in God, and we are confident their struggle will succeed. That land over there is yours, you’ll go back to it one day because your fight will prevail, and you’ll have your homes and your mosques back again. Because your cause is right and God is on your side.”
So, we already know that bin Laden was a U.S. intelligence asset. “There is no doubt that [bin Laden] worked for the USA. According to the official story that relationship came to an end when the U.S. violated Saudi Arabia. But the evidence for that is very weak,” said Dr. Griffin.
“There is no good evidence that Osama bin Laden was behind the attacks, neither [by] the FBI nor the British government nor any authentic videos, as well as the 9/11 Commission. As to who “recruited” the terrorists, we don’t know, since we have no evidence that there were any terrorists. There is even good evidence against the idea that the planes were taken over by terrorists,” he added.
Dr. Griffin complains that the mainstream media and the U.S. politicians have repudiated the researches done and evidence put forward by the 9/11 “truthers” without presenting any compelling evidence: “they have given no response to our evidence, except to sometimes make statements to friendly journalists, calling us “conspiracy theorists” and to call “outrageous” the idea that forces in the government might have organized the attacks. The U.S. government is “sensitive” because it is guilty, either of organizing and carrying out the attacks (e.g., Cheney, Rumsfeld), or by covering up the attacks, at least to the extent of endorsing the official story while knowing it to be false.”
“In your lecture at Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, you alluded to the U.S. false flag operations in 1962, known as Operations Northwoods which were carried out in order to provide justification for the commencement of a war against Cuba. Do you believe that the U.S. government resorted to the same methods in order to lay the groundwork for the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq? Was Afghanistan of the same geopolitical importance of Cuba in 1960s which had just become a front for anti-imperialistic sentiments and activities?” this is what I asked David Ray Griffin, who has written tens of articles and books about the 9/11 attacks. He responded, “Yes, except there was enormously more preparation, and much more of the government was involved for the 9/11 scam, such as John F. Kennedy was not on board for the Operation Northwoods plan, and vetoed it; operation Northwoods was not actually carried out.”
“From the point of view of many members of the Bush administration, especially the neo-cons, Afghanistan was enormously more important. There was relatively little money at stake in Cuba, whereas billions, even trillions, of dollars were involved in Afghanistan, when you consider that this was to be the step in getting into Iraq and 5 more Muslim countries, as former NATO commander Wesley Clark pointed out,” he added.
Were the officials in the Bush administration waiting for such an opportunity as the 9/11 attacks to declare war on Iraq and Afghanistan, and get prepared for attacking Iran? “Yes, except that they were not waiting; they were planning. Perhaps they were waiting for a decent interval after the Bush administration took office. Of course, there might have been a need to wait until the armed forces were ready to attack Afghanistan. But they were not just waiting for a lucky break.”
One of the speculations which the truth-seekers of the 9/11 attacks propose is that Israel was involved in the attacks. Five Israeli citizens were seen recording movies of the collapsing of the twin towers while celebrating and congratulating each others in the street of New York. What Dr. Griffin has to say about this? “We have to distinguish between evidence for foreknowledge and evidence for operational involvement. The dancing Israelis are evidence of foreknowledge. Of course, if one wants to say that Jews friendly with Israel are examples of Israeli evidence, one could say that for example, Silverstein was surely involved. But I would consider this stretching the meaning, unless we had evidence that he was making plans in collaboration with Israel’s government. We do, however have pretty strong evidence that some of the “hijackers” were Israelis. That’s the strongest evidence I know.”
And David’s concluding remarks: “It appears that much of the American public, perhaps 35 percent, perhaps more, rejects the official story, with a significant percentage of these influenced by the 9/11 Truth Movement. On the question of what is “reliable,” I have been part of a group called “9/11 Consensus,” which is publishing articles against the official story that have been OK’d by a panel of experts from various fields. Insofar as this becomes known, it should increase the credibility of the 9/11 truth movement considerably. And now that A&E’s video “Explosive Evidence” is on PBS and reportedly attracting big audiences, the numbers should go way up. I hope there will be another poll before the end of 2012.”
At any rate, more than a decade after the painful incident which was, at least from a humanitarian perspective, a real tragedy, there are tens of questions which remain unanswered about the 9/11 attacks. Tens of authors, scholars, journalists and even medical doctors and physicians are attempting to unveil the truth behind the 9/11 events, and it will be an apocalyptic and defining day when the whole world comes to realize that the U.S. government has been selling misinformation and falsehood to us during this long period.
