The 9/11 "Terrorist" Attacks

Imagine getting on a flight to go to Los Angeles for an amazing vacation but not ending up in Los Angeles but instead in the side of an 110 story building. That’s exactly what happened, “On September 11, 2001, four passenger planes were hijacked by radical Islamic terrorists-- almost 3,000 people were killed as the aircrafts were flown into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania Field” (“The People Who Think 9/11 May Have Been an 'inside Job'.”). Hijacked planes flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon causing chaos for the whole country. Within hours after the Twin Towers collapsed, several conspiracy theories developed:

1.      Were the 9/11 attacks an inside job?

2.      Were there bombs in the World Trade Center before the planes were flown into them?

3.      Was the 9/11 Pentagon attack fake?

Let’s dive in deep with these conspiracies and get to the bottom of what really happened to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Osama bin Laden, despite his flaws, was a very intelligent man: “Osama bin Laden studied business administration at King Abdul Aziz University in Jiddah, where it is likely that he also received instruction in religious studies from Muḥammad Quṭb, brother of the Islamic revivalist Sayyid Quṭb, and Abdullah Azzam, a militant leader” (“Osama bin Laden Bibliography”). Bin Laden gained the exact skills to become the leader of Al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden was also a hard worker: “His time at the university was key to his future role as leader of al-Qaeda, not only in influencing his radical views but also in providing him with the skill to market al-Qaeda Bin Laden’s education was a key to his future role as the leader of Al-Qaeda.” (1). Bin Laden’s education helped him and prepared his future role.

Bin Laden was a quick learner: “At the age of 14, Osama was recognized as an outstanding student at Al Thagher. As a result, he received a personal invitation to join a small Islamic study group with the promise of earning extra credit” (“Osama bin Laden Biography”). Bin Laden starting learning about terrorism when he was in grade school. As a father, bin Laden was pro-discipline: Bin Laden would beat his children for showing too many teeth when they smiled (“Osama bin Laden: sunflower enthusiast with a passion for fast cars”). Osama bin Laden made sure that his children were following his rules and well disciplined.

Bin laden loved fast sports cars. “Nothing gave him more satisfaction than having a full day to take a speedy drive to the desert, where he would leave his automobile while he took long walks: (“Osama bin Laden: sunflower enthusiast with a passion for fast cars”). Osama bin Laden needed his alone time just like everybody else needs. Bin Laden was extremely good at mathematics: “He liked to show off his mathematical ability by challenging people to beat his arithmetic with a calculator.” (1). Osama bin Laden knew that he was intelligent and going somewhere in the future.

Bin Laden was an outcast compared to his siblings: “Osama was the only one of the Bin Laden children who never traveled abroad to study, and as the Times says, “that lack of exposure to Western culture would prove a crucial distinction; the other siblings went on to lead lives that would not be unfamiliar to most Americans” (“Osama Bin Laden: The Anti-Leader”). This event caused bin Laden to turn to Islamic radicalism. Bin Laden was very enraged: “In 1996 he issued a "Declaration of War Against the Americans Who Occupy the Land of the Two Holy Mosques," and it stated, "Muslims burn with anger at America," and in 1998 he declared that Muslims must "kill Americans wherever they are found" (1). Osama bin Laden was always mad at Americans.

Osama bin Laden was a terrorist: “After September 11, 2001, his one great, monstrous achievement, he himself shrank and retreated. His enormous act of terrorism succeeded in the short term, but his delusions prevented him from seeing the obvious fact that he could never bring down the United States or provoke the world to rise up against it” (1). Bin Laden tried his best to destroy America but couldn’t do it.

In the terrorist attacks of September 11th, three conspiracy theories are highlighted. The first two conspiracy theories suggest that the 9/11 Attacks were planned and set up by someone. However, the other theory suggests that the Pentagon Attack wasn’t executed by an airplane but by a missile: “On September 11, 2001, four passenger planes were hijacked by radical Islamic terrorists-- almost 3,000 people were killed as the aircrafts were flown into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania Field” (“The People Who Think 9/11 May Have Been an 'inside Job'”).

The first conspiracy argues that the 9/11 Attacks were an inside job set up by the president and vice president at the time, George Bush and Dick Cheney. “At first, Cheney agreed that going to war would be a bad idea, but all of a sudden Cheney changed his mind after he became CEO of Halliburton” (“Paul in ‘09”) “He goes on and on for five minutes — Dick Cheney saying it would be a bad idea," Paul said, "And that's why the first Bush didn’t go into Baghdad” (1). Dick Cheney made billions of dollars from the U.S. going to war with Iraq: “The company was given $39.5 billion in Iraq-related contracts over the past decade, with many of the deals given without any bidding from competing firms, such as a $568-million contract renewal to provide housing, meals, water and bathroom services to soldiers” (“Cheney's Halliburton Made $39.5 Billion on Iraq War”). Al Qaeda, the group responsible for the 9/11 Attacks, was formed in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries. Therefore, Al Qaeda would be the perfect group to take the fault for the 9/11 Attacks. This evidence makes Cheney look like he was in on the planning of the 9/11 Attacks to make sure American went to war with Iraq. A survey of forty people concluded that 68% agree that the 9/11 Attacks were set up by the U.S.. Consequently, this theory is plausible.

The second conspiracy theory argues that there were bombs in the WTC, World Trade Center, before they collapsed, “Leading engineers, Steven Jones, Robert Korol, Anthony Szamboti and Ted Walter, disagree with the investigation done by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which stated that the WTC Towers were supposed to be able to withstand any fires, earthquakes, high winds and huge impacts―like a airplane;

“These engineers wrote a paper for Europhysics News highlighting four important pieces of evidence pointing to this conclusion―fires are not normally hot enough to heat a massive steel structure enough for it to collapse, the majority of high rise buildings have sprinkler systems that prevent a fire from getting hot enough to heat steel to a critical level, skyscrapers are protected using flame-proof materials, and they are designed so that if compromised, they do not collapse. (“September 11”)

A controlled demolition works by placing explosives on lower floors to initiate a controlled collapse. This causes the building to fail under its own weight, succumbing to gravity, which is exactly what happened to the Twin Towers. “In videos, you can see explosions below the building as it is falling” (“Debunking the 9/11 Myths”). During the NIST Investigation, the lead investigator says, “Those clouds of “dust” may imitate the impression of a controlled demolition, but it’s the floor pancaking that leads to that perception” (1).  In a survey of forty people concluded that fifty-eight percent agreed that there were bombs in the WTC before the planes flew into them. “The video proof of the explosions shows that this theory is believable but the lead investigator of the NIST, determined that the “explosions” are just clouds of dusts” (1). Therefore, this theory is not plausible.

The third conspiracy theory argues that the 9/11 Pentagon attack was faked with a missle instead of an airplane. Right after the “airplane” hit the Pentagon, CNN reporters said on air, “There is no evidence of a plane crashing anywhere near the Pentagon,“They also added, “there are no large wing sections, tail sections; a fuselage… nothing like that anywhere around that would indicate that an entire plane crashed into the side of the Pentagon” (“Video: 9/11 CNN News Report That Only Aired Once — ‘A Plane Did Not Hit the Pentagon’”). This 9/11 broadcast was only aired once―suspicious. That means that the broadcast that never aired had the actual truth about what happened to the Pentagon. That means that that 9/11 report had to have had an error in it because the damage done to the Pentagon does not match up to how big the plane was. “The wingspan of the plane was about 125 feet long, but the hole in the Pentagon was about thirty-one feet wide” (1). There would have been some more damage to the Pentagon from the wings of the plane but there wasn’t. A survey of forty people concluded that twenty-five percent agreed that The Pentagon attacks were executed by a missile instead of an airplane. “There are also a lot of people that witnessed the airplane flying towards the Pentagon” (1). Therefore, this theory is not plausible.

After examining the September 11th attacks, three conspiracy theories are still left to think about:

1.      Were the 9/11 attacks an inside job?

2.      Were there bombs in the World Trade Center before the planes were flown into them?

3.      Was the 9/11 Pentagon attack fake?

Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center and another in The Pentagon causing chaos for everyone. Cheney's company Halliburton made millions of dollars because of the war with Iraq. Engineers said that the collapse of the Twin Towers had to be a controlled demolition. “CNN reporters said on air that there was no evidence of a plane crashing during the Pentagon attack” (Video: 9/11 CNN News Report That Only Aired Once — ‘A Plane Did Not Hit the Pentagon’). After analyzing each of these conspiracy theories, evidence points to the 9/11 attacks being an inside job set up by Dick Cheney.

Works Cited

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“A Plane Did Not Hit the Pentagon: 9/11 CNN News Report That Only Aired Once (Video).” The Event Chronicle, The Event Chronicle, 11 Sept. 2014, www.theeventchronicle.com/911/video-911-cnn-news-report-aired-plane-hit-pentagon/.

Bell, Chris. “The People Who Think 9/11 May Have Been an 'inside Job'.” BBC News, BBC, 1 Feb. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-42195513.

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Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Osama Bin Laden.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 Sept. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Osama-bin-Laden.

“Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report - The World Trade Center.” Popular Mechanics, 10 Sept. 2018, www.popularmechanics.com/military/a6384/debunking-911-myths-world-trade-center/.

Eichenwald, Kurt. “The Deafness Before the Storm.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Sept. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/opinion/the-bush-white-house-was-deaf-to-9-11-warnings.html.

Kabul, Ben Farmer in. “Osama Bin Laden: Sunflower Enthusiast with a Passion for Fast Cars.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 16 Oct. 2009, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/6347857/Osama-bin-Laden-sunflower-enthusiast-with-a-passion-for-fast-cars.html.

Mikkelson, David. “FACT CHECK: Was the 9/11 Pentagon Attack Faked?” Snopes.com, 11 Mar. 2008, www.snopes.com/fact-check/911-pentagon-attack/.

O'Donoghue, Rachel. “September 11: The Footage That 'Proves Bombs Were Planted in Twin Towers'.” Dailystar.co.uk, Daily Star, 12 Sept. 2017, www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/543518/september-11-911-twin-towers-controlled-demolition-cia-fbi-pentagon-no-plane-theory#t=3m10s.

Reijden, Joel van der. “Pentagon Hole and Damage Area Dimensions Back Testimony That Flight 77 Impacted on 9/11; All No-757 and Missile Disinformation Debunked.” Pentagon Hole and Damage Area Dimensions Back Testimony That Flight 77 Impacted on 9/11; All No-757 and Missile Disinformation Debunked, 29 Jan. 2005, isgp-studies.com/911-pentagon-flight-77-impact-hole-size-calculated#2.

Young, Angelo “FOCUS | Cheney's Halliburton Made $39.5 Billion on Iraq War.” Reader Supported News, 20 Mar. 2013, readersupportednews.org/news-section2/308-12/16561-focus-cheneys-halliburton-made-395-billion-on-iraq-war.