Conspiracy Theory Continued

This post is in response to the recent post by NevadaJoe below, to illustrate the Editor's own opinion on 9/11 conspiracy theories.

(Photo from Wikipedia)

The whole idea of 9/11 conspiracies gives me a headache. When the official story is dissected, there are many serious glaring problems with it. You can take apart details, like the demolition of WTC building 7, the size of the hole at the Pentagon, the cell phone calls from United 93, the uncanny precision of the inexperienced high-jackers’ piloting skills. There is plenty to disbelieve.

It is certainly not difficult to imagine that this particular administration participated in heinous activities to further their own ends. No, the hard part is in believing that they’re competent enough to pull it off. And, if they did, the implications are staggering. We’d have to believe that 9/11 was staged by our own government and/or allowed to happen. That’s a hard thing to wrap your brain around. But after you get your tinfoil hat securely wrapped around your head, the even more "out there" theories can start to seem plausible.

My biggest stumbling block comes when you take the different parts of these disparate conspiracy theories to their logical conclusions. Assume that it wasn’t American Airlines Flight 77 that hit the Pentagon. There’s plenty of evidence that could point to that conclusion. But if it didn’t happen that way, what the hell DID happen? Where did the plane really go? Where did the people go? Why—if they were going to "dispose of" the plane and its passengers anyway—why didn’t they do so in a furtherance of the impression of terrorism? Why dispose of them in secret?

It’s the same thing with United 93. If it didn’t really crash, where did it and its people go? For what purpose would you a) keep them alive, b) kill them secretly somewhere else? To what end? That is the problem, to my way of thinking, with many of these different pieces of the 9/11 story. I can go along with theories about government complicity, up until you get to the "it wasn’t a plane" part.

The funny thing is, if 9/11 happened exactly as official accounts say it did, why on EARTH doesn’t the government give us more evidence? Why haven’t all of the videos from the surely dozens of cameras around the Pentagon been released to show us the plane crash? Why just one fuzzy, inconclusive shot? Why don’t they explain in detail WHY our two biggest targets, New York and Washington D.C. were completely unguarded? Just how the hell is that possible?

Most people, when confronted with 9/11 conspiracy theories, just assume they are all nuts. I’m not ready to go that far. I’m not ready to dismiss them all, just because I can’t answer exactly what DID happen. But I’m convinced it didn’t happen EXACTLY as we’ve been led to believe. And I hope, one day, we learn at least most of the whole story, even if that leads us to uncomfortable conclusions.

Here is a link to just one (as you can see if you go there, it is itself Part Seven), compelling video of problems with the official 9/11 story. I want to make it clear I do not subscribe to all or even most 9/11 conspiracy theories. But I do think many of them deserve more attention. And most of all, they deserve answers and not automatic dismissal.