9/11: The actions of terrorists or an inside job?

On September 11th 2001, terrorists hijacked several planes and used them to act out suicide attacks in the US.  Two airliners were crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre while a third airliner crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania.  The Twin Towers of the WTC collapsed as a result of the attack along with an additional building, World Trade Centre 7. 

Once the dust had settled, the conspiracy theories began to emerge through websites, books and films.  Among these theories was the suggestion that the attacks were in fact planned by the US Government or, at the very least, were allowed to take place by the US Government.  So, are we to believe that the US Government is capable of such an act?  Let’s examine the conspiracy theories in more detail…

1. "The Twin Towers and WTC 7 were brought down by controlled demolition"
Anyone who has watched footage of the actual collapse of the Twin Towers can’t help but notice that the collapse bears a striking resemblance to a controlled demolition. Investigations into the collapse of the Twin Towers concluded that they collapsed due to "structural failure" which was caused by "impacts of jet aircraft at high speeds in combination with subsequent fires".

2. "There was no plane at the Pentagon"
Concerns were raised over several issues regarding the Pentagon strike. One is that there was footage of the incident belonging to local businesses which was immediately seized by the FBI. This footage has never been released. Secondly, the size of the hole shown in photographs of the Pentagon taken after the crash looked to be around 13’ wide, which is not wide enough for an airliner to have gone through. However, those debunking this conspiracy show that there is considerable photographic evidence of the plane’s remains and have created a simulation of how a plane that size can create a hole that small (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread79655/pg1).

3. "The so-called hijackers weren't even on those flights"
A list was released with details of the hijackers who had taken over the planes and acted out the suicide attacks. Some time later, however, it became apparent that some of these men were still alive. Not survivors of the crashes though – they were never on the planes in the first place.

4. Additional conspiracy theories include those by the “no-planers”, who believe there were no planes involved in 9/11.  Instead, they believe that “missiles surrounded by holograms made to look like planes” were used and can be seen if you watch the footage frame by frame.  David Icke believes that reptilian, shape-shifting humanoids were responsible for the attacks.

According to psychologists, we create conspiracy theories in order to protect ourselves from the fear of random violence and unpredictable death.  The thought that an unknown person, or small group of people, could cause sudden and unpredictable deaths causes concerns about every day life – so we create conspiracy theories in order to combat that.  I’m not sure that that theory works for 9/11 conspiracy theories though as the theories don’t alter the fact that a small group of people were responsible for violent and unpredictable deaths.  The conspiracy theories simply suggest that the small group of people is our very own government, rather than foreign terrorists.  I know which theory is more frightening to me – what do you think?

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