Sunday 6 October 2002

9/11 Skeptics Unite!

What is the true story of the Sept. 11 attacks?

We do not know, because it is shrouded in secrecy. But thousands of 9/11 Skeptics on the Internet have used evidence from the mainstream and foreign press to demonstrate beyond doubt that the official story is incomplete, inconsistent and rife with lies. In March and April 2002, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) became the first American politician on the federal level to question the official story and suggest that elements of the U.S. government may have known of the attacks in advance. On May 16, the White House was forced to admit receiving warnings, in the months before Sept. 11, of a Qaeda plot to hijack airliners in the United States. This admission was coupled with the claim that no one in the administration could have guessed that these planes would be used in suicide attacks - a demonstrable falsehood. Since then, many revelations from government agencies have corroborated the 9/11 Skeptics' claims that pre-Sept. 11 investigations by the FBI, which might have prevented the attacks, were obstructed from within the government.

The government also confirmed that the war in Afghanistan was prepared in advance of Sept. 11, and that a finished plan for the war was presented to George W. Bush two days before the attacks on New York and Washington. By then, large British and American forces had already arrived or were underway to the Central Asian theater. In an effort at damage control, the revelations of the past month have been limited. Congressional investigators and the mainstream U.S. media have made little effort to connect the dots logically, which would yield an even more troubling picture of the government's actions at the highest levels.

Attention has focused instead on middle-level "failures" of bureaucracy and analysis, with an accompanying campaign to justify more radical surveillance and police measures and the creation of a new Homeland Security Department. But the revelations have served to support many of the cardinal assertions of the oft-maligned 9/11 Skeptics movement. On June 10, C-SPAN refused to broadcast a major press conference in Washington organized by former government officials, relatives of 9/11 victims and investigative journalists, who posed vital "Unanswered Questions" about the attacks and their true background. This setback was predictable; the issue is still too controversial for the mainstream media. 9/11 Skeptics should not therefore despair. The time has come for skeptics to unite, to speak openly, to stay loud and proud, and to employ creative, determined and peaceful means with heart and humor, to force disclosure of the full story of the Sept. 11 attacks. History is with us!

Enter...