9/11 conspiracy theories twist logic

by J Scott Christianson, Columbia Daily Tribune Columnist

Six years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, one would think that the various conspiracy theories about the events of that day would have subsided. Instead there seems to have developed an entire American subculture based on the idea that the U.S. government was behind the attacks.

Bolstered by a series of Web sites, YouTube videos and fictionalized documentaries, the so-called 9/11 Truth movement marshals every flaky argument and twist of logic in an attempt to prove that the simplest explanation for the attacks on Sept. 11 — that al-Qaida planned and carried out suicide attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon — couldn’t possibly be right. The basic storyline is usually something like this: A super secret “shadow” group within the U.S. federal government planned and carried out the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York. The twin towers weren’t destroyed by the plane crashes and resulting fires. Instead, the towers were brought down by the detonation of a series of pre-placed explosives in a “controlled demolition.”

Variations on the story include theories that no Jewish people died in the towers — very popular in the Arabic-speaking world; that World Trade Center lease holder Larry Silverstein helped orchestrate the destruction of the towers to collect the insurance money; and that the Pentagon was attacked by either a drone plane or a cruise missile.