Recent Updates by Topic

Popular Opinion Pieces

Op-Ed

Alternative 9/11 theories should not be dismissed

Print: Email: Share:

Re: “The 9/11 Conspiracy,” Opinion, Sept. 11

Ben Birnbaum’s excursion into conspiracy bashing (“The 9/11 Conspiracy”) was disappointing in every way but one. Birnbaum’s set of mental defenses against considering any evidence that contradicts the official conspiracy theory is textbook perfect. His reasons for discounting the alternative conspiracy theorists are three: 1)Paranoids don’t have to be taken seriously because they’re paranoid. I don’t believe this argument requires any further refutation. 2) The Bush administration is incompetent.No one is arguing that Bush personally planned the attacks or the disappearance of the U.S. Air Force for two hours on 9/11. Besides which, a judgment on how incompetent the Bush administration is must depend on what they’re actually trying to do. Depending on what their objectives are, they may be very competent indeed. But it makes us feel superior to call them incompetents. And 3) Some of the thousands who “had knowledge of such an elaborate plot” would have come forward. There are surely two kinds of people who have some knowledge bearing on the actual events of that day: Those who were innocent observers and victims, and those with guilty knowledge. The innocent probably do number in the thousands and a number of them have come forward. Their testimony is fueling the 9/11 Truth movement. The guilty would be fewer in number, and since they would be open to charges of conspiracy to commit mass murder, I would really not expect them to step forward.

Birnbaum also seems to be under the impression that the facts of those crimes have been discovered and are well known. Would that this were so. The F.B.I., for instance, acknowledges publicly that it has no evidence to link Osama bin Laden to the 9/11 attacks. If the F.B.I. doesn’t have the evidence and the 9/11 Commission simply assumes bin Laden’s guilt without examining any evidence for or against it, then surely the civilized world’s inquiring minds can’t be blamed for trying to construct a picture of those events that makes sense.

I can only recommend to Birnbaum that he try to open his mind, say 30 percent, on the question of what actually happened on 9/11. If he will do that, he might return to the subject with some questions of his own, and less need to resort to mass insults.

 Carol Cleveland, staff

• Add new comment
• Printer-friendly version
• send to friend