Friday, September 07, 2007


Here They Come Again: Another Go Round for Wacky 9/11 Conspiracy Theories
Earl Ofari Hutchinson

There isn’t much that the 9/11 conspiracy theorists say that can or should be believed. That even includes the windy claim that their celebration in New York of the sixth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks will be the biggest in history. The problem with that grandiose boast is that the same bunch claimed last year that their fifth anniversary event would be the biggest yet. In the fine print at the bottom of the wearechange.org website release, they add the “clarification” that many of the performance artists for their big 9/11 concert shebang are only tentatively scheduled to appear. Translated: The conspiracy theorists dumped any artist’s name they could find on the bill, and they’re keeping their fingers crossed that a few might actually show up.


None of this should surprise anyone who has the dimmest notion of what and how the 911 conspiracy theorists operate. We’re all by now well familiar with the way they’ve spun the 9/11 plot. The attacks were part of a sinister plan by President Bush, the GOP, the CIA, FBI and Justice Department to wipe out civil liberties protections, impose a national security state, create a pretext for the quagmire in Iraq, regiment the American people, and strengthen the hand of the pro Israeli lobby in U.S. politics. Some of the more shrill theorists with an anti-Semitic bent flat out say that the terror attack was part of a decades old web of intrigue woven by international Jewish groups to dominate global politics.


Conspiracy theorists allege that explosives were planted at the WTC, Jewish and Israeli Tower workers and occupants were warned the day before supposedly by Mossad (Israeli Intelligence) to stay away, a missile slammed into the Pentagon, the government hid the wreckage of the United Airlines plane that terrorists crashed in Pennsylvania. Every one of these theories has been subject to repeated and meticulous tests, studies, and examinations. And every one of them has been proven absolutely groundless.


But thousands of Americans still believe them. That’s easy to understand. The American woods swarm with groups that fervently believe that government, corporate, or international Zionist groups busily hatch secret plots, and concoct hidden plans to wreak havoc on their lives. The Manchurian Candidate syndrome popularized in books and countless movies and TV shows has firmly implanted the notion that shadowy, government groups routinely topple foreign governments, assassinate government leaders, and brainwash operatives to do dirty deeds.


9/11 conspiracy theories have so easily infected the popular imagination for two other not so zany reasons. Government agencies, such as the FBI, CIA, Army intelligence, with the connivance of presidents, have often played fast and loose with the law and even the rules of democracy. They have spied on, harassed, and jailed thousands of Americans from Communists to anti-war activists. The biggest, juiciest and most relentless target for government spymasters during the past decades has been African-American political groups from the moderate NAACP to the radical Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam. Just two weeks before this years 9/11 anniversary a fresh batch of publicly disclosed FBI documents show that the agency waged a kinder, gentler, but no less illegal, spy campaign against Coretta Scott King then the relentless, and lethal campaign the FBI waged against her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


The other reason for the paranoid style about 9/11 is the fury that many Americans have toward President Bush. Many Americans are still convinced the GOP hijacked the White House by rigging the votes in Florida in 2000, and repeated the ploy in Ohio in 2004. That makes it easy to believe that the GOP and the administration will say and do anything to win and hold power. The Florida vote was a mix of registrar ineptitude, bureaucratic bungling, partisan political haggling, legal interpretation, and Democratic Party capitulation rather than a concerted conspiracy to seize the top office. The Ohio vote in 2004 was more of the same on a smaller scale. But Bush ultimately conned more voters in Ohio (including the black evangelicals) into believing that he would do a better job of defending family values and fighting the war on terrorism than Democrats. He and the GOP did not need to hatch a conspiracy to do that.

Bush, as other presidents that have got in hot water with the American people with their domestic and foreign policy fumbling, are hardly above beating the war drums and fanning national security jitters to boost their poll ratings, secure public allegiance, and increase their party’s political standing. Bush has done that at times. But his in the tank poll ratings, and the resistance of Congress, and the Democrats, and millions of Americans to the war and the further erosion of civil liberties protections, prove that if there was indeed a 9/11 conspiracy to seize power it didn’t work. But of course there wasn’t one. Yet, on the six anniversary the conspiracy theorists will again busily spin their shopworn 9/11 conspiracy fantasies. And that’s part of the fun of conspiracies; they don’t require any proof, just true belief.


Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation between African-Americans and Hispanics (Middle Passage Press and Hispanic Economics New York) in English and Spanish will be out in October.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This report is a TOTAL LIE. First of all, the government's story about 19 hijackers with boxcutters taking over 4 jets is BOGUS - especially since SEVEN OF THEM ARE STILL ALIVE.

FORENSIC EVIDENCE proves WTC 1,2, and 7 was a DEMOLITION JOB - see http://www.Net4TruthUSA.com/videodocumentaries.htm and www.Net4TruthUSA.com/blogtv.htm for the REAL STORY

Multiple links on the Web site will allow you to see video footage that the mainstream media never showed you, and the videos page has over 40 Gigabytes of video and archived radio programs on the subject. Also see "The Truth About 911" as an e-Book on www,Mobipocket.com and the highly-acclaimed book "Land of Childhood's Fears" on www.TelsonUSA.com/vietnambook.htm

DONT BELIEVE THE LIES - TRUST NO ONE - LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE - IT IS COMPELLING ENOUGH TO SHATTER THIS Op-ED PIECE TO BITS, and show it for the PROPOGANDA THAT IT IS.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Hutchinson,

My name is David Miller (not anonymous) and I've been a "fan" of yours for several years now. I've attended several of your brunches and movie screenings. I've read your weekly report for some time now as well and I forward many of them on to friends and family. However, after reading your recent article on 9/11 conspiracy theorists, all of my "support" for you, your organization, and what it all means to the African-American community of Los Angeles (and beyond), has come into SERIOUS question.

In 2003, I was enlightened to the fact that the phrase "conspiracy theory", though often thought of as one thing, is actually comprised of two separate words with their own separate meanings. A "conspiracy" is merely a plot by two or more people to do something (usually bad). A "theory" is merely a hypothesis about, or a possibility of, an event. Plots need people capable of pulling them off and theories must be proven with objectively observable facts. Within this framework, I would argue that the government's "official story" about the events of September 11, 2001 is merely another "conspiracy theory" that could NOT have been achieved by 19 hijackers with box cutters. I would also argue that the government's conspiracy theory is severely lacking in terms of any objectively observable facts that can be proven to be true.

I have done years of research on the events surrounding 9/11 (before, during and after). Based on your article on this topic, it is my hope that you have taken the time do the same, and not taken the government's story at face value just because it props itself up as an authoritative source. That wouldn't be very journalistic of you and, in fact, as a man in your position in the community, it would be very irresponsible.

Additionally, let me say this: I respect you Mr. Hutchinson. I agree with the vast majority of what you write, say and do. It is for this reason that I would like to set up either 1) a face to face meeting with you or 2) a panel discussion, perhaps over brunch as you've done in the past, to discuss this issue further.

If you're truly serious about putting an end to the "theories" that are out there - and to really get at and REPORT the truth - a panel discussion would be ideal and right up your alley. Please keep in mind that there's been a recent poll that suggests that one-third (33.3%) of Americans think the government was involved in the attack of September 11th.

Personally, I feel bad for the other two-thirds (66.6%) who have been intentionally misinformed and underinformed by the media and the government's propaganda.

Point for point, fact for fact, the OFFICIAL conspiracy theory doesn't hold ANY water. The ALTERNATIVE conspiracy theory, on the other hand, asks questions that have either not been answered or have answers that the US government doesn't want the world to know - for numerous reasons.

As a prelude to any discussion we may have, either in-person or involving a panel, I suggest you Google a document called OPERATION NORTHWOODS and read it thoroughly. It should shed some light on the POSSIBILITY that governmental agencies were/are able and willing to do some amazing things if the ends justify the means.

If you're convinced about your position on 9/11, and the surrounding "conspiracy theories" (either the official one or the alternative one), we should talk. I am confident in stating that I probably know more about the events of that terrible day than 99% of the people walking on the planet and I would like the opportunity to share with you some of the facts that I have come across in my studies.

The facts will PROVE that there are huge, huge shadows on over government's degree of knowledge and involvement in the deaths of 3,000 Americans that day, thus leading to the deaths of countless Iraqis and Afghans, and the decimation of the U.S. Constitution in terms of civil liberties, if nothing else.

I'll try to get in touch with your office early next week to see what can be arranged. Any amenable time or place of your choosing will be fine. Thank you for your time and consideration regarding this matter.

Best regards,
David Miller

JSYM said...

Mr. Hutchinson,
Brother, Brother, Brother.
My name is Jamal Sharif, and I am a Mechanical Engineer. I am an African-American raised here Los Angeles. In fact I have met you on several occasions becuase back in the early 90's I worked at B.Dalton Booksellers in the Fox hills mall and you did some books signings at my store. I work in the aerospace industry and I have performed research in combustion sciences, and it is clear, just as you see the sun rise in the morning, that we have been lied to in regards to the events of 9-11-2001.

Imagine you, as an African American political activist and analyst, being told that the disenfranchisement, miseducation, and unhealthy family structure many African Americans have to deal with today is completely unrelated to slavery and the subsequent years of oppression and inequality. You would be absolutely livid and disgusted that someone would even say such a thing.

That is how I feel, when I see the twin towers collapse and then hear on TV how it was a classic collapse. ARE THEY SERIOUS!

You speak of how conspiracy theorist bring no proof. It is the contrary, the one pushing the government story has brought no proof.
1. WTC #7, governement has no explanation why it collapsed.

2. WTC#1 and 2, governement has not explained or proven scientifically how the top floors of the WTC buildings could pulverize, 80 to 90 floors of a structurally sound superstructure.

I will stop there, but the list of stories the governement has told but has yet to explain them is very long and continues to grow.
a. Why are the 19 hijackers blamed for the attacks when there is no evidence linking them to the planes.
b. Why has Norman Mineta testimony to the 911 commision not been questioned by the media in regards to, what order did Dick Cheney allow to stand?
c. Why was WTC 7 Re-Contruction approved and allowed to be completed when no explanation for the previous collapse has been given.
d. Why...why...why it dosen't stop.

please look up the info yourself and you will see. if you have any questions please contact me.
thanks.

Jamal