The 9/11 Conspiracy

On September 11, 2001, 19 people hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against their targets.. Two of the planes crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters. (“9/11 attacks”2010). The conspiracy theories started just days after the September 11, 2001 attack. The conspiracies were easy to spread fast when using the internet and they became more and more elaborate as time went on. The most popular 9/11 conspiracy theory is that 9/11 was orchestrated by the American government.

Roughly 2,753 people were killed on September 11, 2001, by terrorists who overtook commercial airplanes (Jones). The cause of these thousands of deaths were a series of attacks in New York City by an Islamic terrorist group, Al-Qaeda. However, there are still many questions about what actually happened the morning of September 11, 2001. As there are many different conspiracy theories about what happened that day, 9/11 was an attack which began with Al- Qaeda hi-jacking airplanes, but ended with more questions than answers. Many questions still remain about the authenticity of cell phone calls from inside the planes, why air defense was told to “stand down,” and how three buildings imploded as the result of two buildings being struck by airplanes.

The events that occurred on September 11th, 2001 are some that will never be forgotten in American History. What was a beautiful day in New York City quickly turned into a American Nightmare as multiple planes where hijacked by a terrorist group by the name of Al Quida. While these events have where one of the worst tragedies in American history their also comes many conspiracies theories. Some of these theories suggest that George W. Bush knew about or even planned the tragic events that happened that day. However these conspiracierie theories are simply false. Conspiracy theories that blame the events that occurred on September 11th on the American Government are not true. Still to be able to prove these theories incorrect one must understand what exactly happened on that terrible day in New York City.

Beginning in 2001 Intelligence about the impending nature of an attack was increasing, not only from US Intelligence sources but also from 11 other countries such as Britain, Israel, India, Egypt, Morocco and even a top Taliban commander from Afghanistan (Thompson.) Beginning in August warnings become coming in from everywhere, foreign governments, CIA and FBI sources and so on however, next to none of this information was shared between the many intelligence agencies. In April, NORAD launched a training scenario in which the pentagon was to be incapacitated by a hijacked airliner however the Joint Chiefs of Staff disregarded the scenario as “too unrealistic” (September 11 attacks advance-knowledge debate.) On august 19th the Israeli’s gave US intelligence personnel credible information including, the list of 19 suspected terrorist’s names and the fact that a large aircraft would be the primary weapon involved. The names were not shared by the CIA with other intelligence agencies (Robinson.)

Rodriguez said, “6-7 seconds before the first plane hit, I felt an explosion and heard a loud noise, something like a BOOOOOOOM! It came from below me, the floor went up like a shock wave hit it, and the roof collapsed on me and 14 other people, most dead.” However, when Rodriguez went to report his experience with the commission, he was shocked by what happened. “I met with the 9/11 Commission behind closed doors and they essentially discounted everything I said regarding the use of explosives to take down the North Tower”. Why did the 9/11-commission meet with people like William Rodriguez “behind closed doors”? There are true witnesses that experienced the 9/11 attacks first hand who didn’t even get their stories put into the 9/11 Commission Report.

Not everyone believes that everything happened quite like that, that it was all done by terrorists. Many people believe that 9/11 was an inside job, ordered by government officials. There is some evidence that this could have been possible. Later in the day, after the attacks had taken place and all the other flights were grounded, there was a search of all planes. While searching two of the planes, there were knife like objects found hidden in there. Nobody can be quite sure how the weapons got there, but it is widely believed that they were prepositioned by some accomplices of the 9/11 attack. (What Happened on 9/11?")

September 11th, 2001 is a day darkened by tragedy. This day is remembered for one of the biggest terrorist attacks the United States has ever faced on American soil. The 9/11 attacks left many hearts broken and heads spinning about the events that occurred. I personally have been very skeptical about the official version of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. There are a few reasons that made me question what started a war that has become the longest war in American History. This paper will dive into the facts behind the events of this day to uncover the truth behind what occurred that day. Some of the major aspects I will be examining are the hard facts of September 11th, who was responsible for these attacks, the political repercussions,

On November 22, 1963 United States President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas Texas. In September 1964 the Warren Commission, appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, presented an official report documenting the details of the assassination. This report concluded that Kennedy was killed by a man named Lee Harvey Oswald, and that Oswald acted alone. Ever since then there has been speculation concerning the validity of the Warren Commission. For over fifty years conspiracy theorists have been uncovering the “truth” behind Kennedy’s assassination. These theories, however, are largely unfounded, and supported by no hard evidence. In contrast, the meticulously detailed Warren Report, available in the National Archives, provides countless pieces of closely analyzed evidence, all corroborating the same, controversial claim. Regardless of popular American disbelief, the fact remains that Lee Harvey Oswald is alone responsible for the assassination of John F. Kennedy, as described by the Warren Commission.

In the book, Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11, by Gerald Posner he argues that the act of terrorism that occurred on September 11, 2001 could have and should have been prevented. He presented a powerful case of how stupidity and misdirected priorities made America an easy aim for terrorists. Gerald Posner, the author of the book was a former Wall Street Lawyer, award winning investigative journalist and bestselling author. Posner purposefully wrote this book to demonstrate all the clues that were given out prior to the attack and inform us on previously undisclosed information after a thorough 18-month investigation. Posner’s goal was to discover what the CIA, FBI, and others in the Government were doing behind the scenes for at least a decade leading up to 9/11. The intended audience for this book is anyone who is willing to open their eyes on the true occurrences that happened on 9/11. The title of the piece is related directly to the book and the subject matter of it. America slept on all the clues that they received that there would be a terrorist attack and the book demonstrated how exactly they failed to prevent the acts that occurred on 9/11. Why America Slept is such a staggering book and Posner successfully demonstrates to the audience how 9/11 could have been prevented through his use of examples and facts.

What if everything one was supposed to believe was wrong? What if the people who are supposed to protect citizens from danger, do not? What if 9/11, the most tragic day in American history, was caused by the people we are supposed to respect and we are supposed and to believe, our government? Could our government have masterminded this horrific crime? Actually, I believe they did. In August 1997, on the front cover of FEMA’s, The Federal Emergency Management Agency, Emergency Response to Terrorism Manual it shows the World Trade Center towers in the cross hairs, sights used for aiming a gun or missile for accuracy, and then again in June 2000, the Department of Justice released a world

September 11, 2001 forever impacted America and gave a new challenge to our government that went far beyond any challenges that a natural disaster had presented in decades. The terrorist attacks were definitely a wake up call to being more prepared for natural disasters and reevaluating our intelligence agency jobs and communication levels. In chapter 2, one of the key points that Kettl discuss is connecting the dots. We can see that in the midst of 9/11, America focused on the nation’s intelligence services for answers. As the American people we wanted to know, who were the hijackers, where was security and most importantly, and who do we hold accountable? Furthermore, that the intelligence agencies failed to piece together information that already had about terrorism speculations. In chapter 1, Kettl talks about the warnings and signs that the government has before catastrophes (such as September 11, Hurricane

On September 11, 2001 four passenger commercial jet airliners were hijacked and as a result approximately 3,000 human lives were lost. When asked about 9/11, many can recall exactly what they were doing when they heard the news that a plane crashed into one of the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings and many Americans can tell you how it all unfolded and the reason behind such a travesty. The “official story” provided by officials, and restated by Sofia Shafquat, producer of “9/11 Mysteries: Demolitions” say that “four passenger planes were hijacked and taken radically off course, within an hour, two of the planes had flown into the enormous steel towers of the World Trade Center, creating fires and eventually toppling them” (Shafquat).

“Prior to September 11th intelligence agencies and law enforcement failed to communicate with each other about terrorist hijackers… This lack of communications had its roots deep in the culture of government… Fortunately, in the Patriot Act, congress began to tear down the walls that cut off communication between intelligence and law enforcement officials” (Gerdes 36)

The official story of 9/11 is a conspiracy theory in that the government claims 19 hijackers conspired together to hijack four planes and create terror in the world. Four American airplanes were hijacked; two were driven into the World Trade Centers and the third airplane into the Pentagon. The fourth airplane suspected target was the White House, but it was diverted by the brave men and women aboard that hijacked airplane, and crashed the airline jet before it could reach its target. It was like time stood still as America watched through television broadcast these unbelievable and horrifying events taking place. The reports told of the smell the jet fuel, burning flesh, and people jumping out windows to their death to escape the flames.

The 9/11 incident crippled the American economy and its impact is still felt at present times. Following this tragedy, a commission was initiated by President George W. Bush and the congress to investigate the reasons behind the bombing and provide recommendations to help avert such occurrences in the future. Therefore, this paper discusses the impact of making the US border more secure, the rationale behind replacing the "need to know" with the "need to share". Moreover, the paper highlights the DOD's role the role in border and coastal security, its relationship with the Department of Homeland Security and how DOD supports civil authorities.