completeconfusion

I have relatives and friends who, it turns out much to my shock, are 911 deniers. So I won't have to have this argument again, here's a typical message from a friend of mine and my pretty much standard reply about 911:

On 11/21/05, a friend wrote me, following up after a phone conversation:

“as far as 9/11 is concerned why didnt the military scramble fighter jet s from andrews afb (10 mins from pentagon) to avoid pentagon getting hit. why did wtc 7 (third building ) come down. if you see the video it looks exactly like a controlled demo. goebbels said tell the big lie.!! cheers Xxxxxx.”

And here's my reply:

I've read a lot of history and studpidity (make that "stupidity") is a recurring theme - why did Pearl Harbor not scramble fighters after radar saw incoming planes in 1941? 'Cause humans are dumb as bricks, and twice as complacent is why, methinks.

I knew an Islamic militant or two in University - their hatred for any ideas that weren't identical to their own was endless and terrifying. Absolute Holocaust deniers, just for starts. Yes, they really are that motivated. It may be a stretch but I sometimes think that maybe some of the 911 denial comes from people who unconsciously want to hold on to the comforting but racist thought that people who's skin is a different color just aren't smart enough to fly planes, etc, so we're actually pretty safe - or that we really don't have bitter enemies, so we're actually pretty safe. I've met one or two of these sort of guys, twenty years ago and yeah, we do have implacable enemies. That's how the world is. Not everybody is reasonable.

Why were all the staircases in the same corner in each tower? Why were building standards in New York lowered dramatically citywide so that the towers could be built without fireproofing the beams properly (cheaper), having better emergency exits, etc, etc? 'Cause the world is one long meeting of Morons Anonymous, I'm afraid. "Hi I'm Bob, and I'm a Moron who loves to save money for big business by scrapping safety standards for skyscrapers." "Hi, Bob!!"

More than just three buildings were destroyed actually - the impact of the two towers falling was staggering - other nearby buildings, beyond the third, had to be demolished because they were no longer structurally sound, as well. As for the third building falling straight down, big buildings can't fall sideways, that much weight falls pretty much down, it's a function of scale. The compressive strength of the materials, by weight, becomes relatively smaller as the building size increases, etc.

Torture by the US was (and is) deliberate, and the way their last two Presidential Elections were stolen, was deliberate. I don't think we have to dig very far to uncover conspiracies, the Right Wing in the U.S. has done enough that's pretty obvious and astonishing, surely.

As for the other version of 911 denial, that Bush knew and let it happen, we all knew from the previous, very serious attack on the World Trade Center that it was target number one. We all knew, not just the U.S. government.

I'll admit, History often takes a different look however (although not always more accurate): I'd love to open a text from the year 3000 to see what it has to say. I wouldn't be surprised if it says Bin Laden was really fighting for gay rights. If some of Bush's supporters and successors get to write up the history books, they might well decide that's by far the most helpful and instructive way to tell the story.