[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he U.S Government–our government–the backbone of our country–the group of people that we have trust in to make smart, strong, fearless decisions that will affect how we live our everyday lives have been questioned, examined, and challenged by the people of its country because of the many conspiracy theories regarding the attacks of Septemeber 11, 2001. 

The definition of conspiracy is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “a secret plan made by two or more people to do something bad, illegal, or against someone’s wishes.”  The word conspiracy has been continuously paired with the word theory because people have been conditioned to believe that no conspiracies can be true.  However, when there is evidence to support a theory it can no longer be a theory, then it becomes a possibility.

A conspiracy may be a plausible cause of the attacks on Septemeber 11, 2001.  And with evidence in many of the theories its hard to say the U.S. government was not apart of it, in some way. On the other hand, not all theories are as likely as others: the more evidence, the more likely.

In a survey taken by students at Elk River High School a student at states, “It is fact that Al-Queda executed the attacks of 9/11, don’t try to make it into something it’s not.” While it may be true that Al-Queda was part of the attacks on September 11th, 2001, it would be foolish to not investigate, in fact, one of the greatest minds of this century, Albert Einstein, seems to agree, “Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” Einstein is essentially saying it would be idiotic to rely on someone who has authority just because they have a greater jurisdiction than others. [perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth” -Albert Einstein [/perfectpullquote] Analyzing what happened on 9/11 is not “making it something it’s not” it is more so  analyzing in more detail for purposes of explanation and interpretation, which is not a bad thing. So what if it wasn’t just Al-Queda?  What if others were involved?  What if Al-Queda had no part in the attacks at all? Have we been conditioned to believe that? What if the idea of terrorists was a propaganda to justify the ‘War on Terrorism’?  

Background: Previous Knowledge of 9/11

Al Queda Flag/ Wikimedia Commons

In order to understand 9/11 and fully comprehend how the people of the United States have been conditioned to think we first have to look at the background of what has been spoken to the public.  If you were to look up “who performed the attacks of 9/11” or even simply “9/11 attacks” you would get something along the lines of, “The September 11 attacks (also referred to as 9/11) were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Queda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001,” says Wikipedia.

The terrorist group Al Queda. Image by: Noofa2401/Wikimedia 

For most people all over the world, this is the most common account and probably the most believable, because why would your a government intentionally terrorize its citizens?  Al Queda is based primarily in Afghanistan, where many U.S troops have been stationed and at war since 2001 following the attacks of 9/11. War still continues there today, this war has the longest U.S. combat force participation.

Motivation: What Would Cause Someone to Commit Such an Atrocity?

The twin towers after being struck by planes
Picture by Robert/Wikimedia

Second, we have to look at motivation. War is a huge profit for the United States and the private contractors hired to rebuild what has been destroyed. “In 2000, the U.S. defense budget was approximately $312 billion. By 2011, the figure had grown to $712 billion”(Samuel Weigley, 24/7 Wall St). This money is used for the military, which is great. But the people in power are who you should be concerned about.  

Saddam Hussein
WikiImages / Pixabay

Initially, The War on Terrorism started in Iraq. This is because Saddam Hussien was believed to be the instigator because Dick Cheney told the American people, “There’s no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.” This, of course, terrified the country.  5 years later, it was reported by World News that “George Bush (Sept. 10, 2006)  admitted that Saddam Hussein had no hand in the 9/11 terror attacks.  But at the time he asked Americans to support a war in Iraq that he said was the defining struggle of our age.”

Parallel to this was oil production in Iraq was booming. But how would the U.S and its leader(s) benefit from this?

Dick Cheney

Halliburton’s Annual Revenue increases by $4 billion between 2003-2004. Image by: IkamusumeFan/ Wikimedia

Some people believe we invaded Iraq because of Dick Cheney’s connection to Halliburton. From 1995-2000 Cheney was the CEO of Haliburton. In a 1995 video clip- reported Washington Post– Cheney states when referring to an invasion of Iraq, “it would be a disaster, it would be vastly expensive, it would be a civil war, and we’d have no exit strategy.”He goes on for five minutes—stating multiple times it would be a bad idea.” Shortly after that interview, Cheney goes to work for Halliburton one of the world’s largest oilfield service companies.  In 2000 he leaves that position to become the vice president.  After declaring war on Iraq, all of the oil field contracts there were given to Haliburton.  It is hard to believe that his position of power did not affect the outcome of Haliburton winning the contract. 

The BIG Theory:

There are a couple of things that happened during the attacks of September 11, 2001, that after some analysis and vigorous research, are slightly misleading and bring up many questions.

The Pentagon

The white area is the part of the building that is under reconstruction due to the so-called ‘plane’ that hit it, there is no possible way a Boeing-757 aircraft hit the Pentagon.  Freedom Files/ Fair Use 

The most puzzling event from 9/11 was the Pentagon.  It’s one of the most secure buildings in the United States, possibly in the world, but there is no video evidence clear enough to justify it was a commercial plane. After the Pentagon was struck by a ‘plane’ it’s clear there is a hole, which is only 16 feet in diameter. The documentary In Plane Site asks the question: “How can a Boeing 757 which is over 44 feet in height and 124 feet in width simply disappear without a trace into a hole that is only 16 ft. in diameter?” 

The answer: it can’t, it is mathematically impossible.So what hit the Pentagon? Some people credit the attack to a missile. In fact, retired Major General, Albert N. Stubblebine III, tells Conscious Life News, “All of the sensors around the Pentagon were turned off except one. That one sensor captured an image of the object that hit the Pentagon.  It looked like a missile.” He said that after he went public the imagery was changed to look like a plane. In an interview, he states, “I was very careful to not say what it was because I couldn’t prove it. I was careful to say that it was not the airplane that did that because I can prove that it was not the airplane.” Later in his interview, Stubblebine talks about how the size of the hole created is way too small to be a Boeing-757. He says, “I did measurements… I checked the plane, the length of the nose, where the wings were… I took measurements of the Pentagon – the depth of the destruction in the Pentagon. Conclusion: airplane did not make that hole.” 

Aftermath: How are We Affected?

The effects of 9/11 will continue to show throughout the world and everyone living in the United States will be or are being affected by the attacks and some don’t even know it.

Families

The attacks on 9/11 were reported by Statistic Brain to have “2,996 deaths by area of attack and a total of 5,387 injuries in surrounding areas.” 

Families gather at ground zero to mourn the loss of their loved one’s Getty Images

Too many lives were lost that day and many families became incomplete. Vicki Shoemaker says after she lost her son to the attacks of 9/11, “No, I will never be the same. My heart is forever broken and is constantly being broken, over and over again.” She also added “since 9/11, I am sorry to say I don’t trust my government. I feel my country let us down.”  The movie, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and many others portray the horror many families went through following the attacks of 9/11 after losing their loved ones.

Ongoing War

Our government’s response to the crimes of 9/11 was the War on Terrorism; This war includes both Iraq and Afghanistan. It began on October 7, 2001. The effects of the war have dramatically changed the lives of everyone, everywhere: regardless if they know it or not. The launch of the war was aggressively started with this statement from George Bush, reported by Washington Post, “Our war on terror begins with Al Queda but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated.” That is impossible because terrorist groups are just that, groups.  Usually, these groups don’t have a definitive “home base” to attack, if the leader is removed someone else takes his/her place.  Even if they are “defeated” they just reappear as something different.  For example, after defeating Al-Queda, a new terrorist group took its place called ISIS. Why would our government want to start a war with an enemy that is almost impossible to eradicate?  War is big business and it appears that it always has been, but don’t take my word for it.  Here is a quote from Smedley Butler a decorated soldier from the early 1900s, he says, “I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China, in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.” 

Civil Liberties

Picture By: Bev Sykes

The Patriot Act was designed by The U.S Government “to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes.” Yale News reports, “the act was passed in in great haste and secrecy, with little debate by members of Congress on Oct.26, 2001.” The Patriot Act has made it legal for the government to surveil citizens under the guise of diligently searching for terrorists. They are able to initiate any surveillance- without a warrant.

Here’s how:

The NSA

OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay

The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national level intelligence agency that is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information and data. Edward Snowden is an American computer professional and a former employee of the NSA.   He exposed secret documents of those that revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many of which were that are run by the NSA. Snowden has become known as the “whistleblower” by many people in the United States, he has changed many views of our government.  The NSA is able to access anyone’s email, text messages, search history, etc. They insist that “such surveillance is crucial to the nation’s anti-terrorism efforts,” says The New York Times. They can see everything you do and there’s nothing you can do about it. In defense to this the NSA says to the public, “if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.” To contradict this statement, there is a couple of things that should make you feel concern about this national surveillance: [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]They insist that “such surveillance is crucial to the nation’s anti-terrorism efforts,” says The New York Times.[/perfectpullquote]

It is your right to hide parts of your life, even if they aren’t considered catastrophic.

In our country, the government was designed specifically to regulate laws and administrate for the people. The whole point in people moving from England to ‘The New World’ was to get away from the cruel and unjust government tyranny. There are many justifications as to why privacy is a right. Many view it as the right to be let alone. BBC News reports there are a number of reasons for privacy include: “the development of intellectual faculties through reading, through private conversation, through writing privately, for example keeping a diary; the right to form intimate relationships – sexual relationships are obviously physically carried on in private spaces, without anyone else watching, but generally it’s thought that intimate human relationships need privacy to flourish, and similarly with family life.“ 

It is your right as an American citizen to have privacy. 

[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It’s scary to think that we no longer have a voice.[/perfectpullquote]

The fourth amendment states, “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”  Simply stated, the government is not allowed to become involved in your life unless they have a very substantial case to do so.  For example, Ted Kaczynski– the Unabomber– even had the right to privacy, until,  he broke the law, of course. However, there was one thing Ted Kacynski had our generation doesn’t: complete privacy, when the government knocked on his door, he had the choice to open it.

In this digital age, its impossible for that to happen. The government no longer has to knock on your door–they can come in whenever they want, without our knowledge. This is a complete violation of the 4th amendment. 

As an American Citizen, it’s scary to think that we no longer have a voice, our government has become too big and too powerful.

Why is All of this Important?

It is a common belief that politicians lie to benefit themselves so they can get elected and gain power. The reason the belief exists is that people catch them lying quite often. They lie so much that other people have made careers writing about it. For example, Chuck Lewis wrote “935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of America’s Moral Integrity” The book delves into the history of government officials lying to its citizens to shape public opinion and create policies. It’s important to question authority because the motivation to lie is so great. Our founding fathers knew this, which is why they developed a form of checks and balances within our government. 

This information is to get you to think analytically about different perspectives and possibilities in certain situations. Someone in a position of power is less likely to give the full truth. Respecting authority is a must, however, we definitely have the power to question it. Investigating scenarios proves that we are capable of thinking for ourselves and making our own judgments, which is extremely important for people like us- students and future citizens- to learn how to think for ourselves and to question authority when it’s needed.

featured image by Wikimedia