When 9\/11 Conspiracy Theories Go Bad
David Corn, AlterNet
March 1, 2002
Viewed on June 27, 2003
Please stop sending me those emails. You know who are. And you know what emails I mean ... Okay, I'll spell it out -- those forwarded emails suggesting, or flat-out stating, the CIA and the U.S. government were somehow involved in the horrific September 11 attacks.
There are emails about a fellow imprisoned in Canada who claims to be a former U.S. intelligence office and who supposedly passed advance warning of the attack to jail guards in mid-August. There are emails, citing an Italian newspaper, reporting that last July Osama bin Laden was treated for kidney disease at the American hospital in Dubai and met with a CIA official. There are the emails, referring to a book published in France, that note the attacks came a month after Bush Administration officials, who were negotiating an oil deal with the Taliban, told the Afghans \"either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs.\"
Get the hint? Washington either did nothing to stop the September 11 attacks or plotted the assaults so a justifiable war could then be waged against Afghanistan to benefit Big Oil.
One email I keep receiving is a timeline of so-called suspicious events that \"establishes CIA foreknowledge of [the September 11 attacks] and strongly suggests that there was criminal complicity on the part of the U.S. government in their execution.\"
I won't argue that the U.S. government does not engage in brutal, murderous skulduggery from time to time. But the notion that the U.S. government either detected the attacks but allowed them to occur, or, worse, conspired to kill thousands of Americans to launch a war-for-oil in Afghanistan is absurd. Still, each week emails passing on such tripe arrive. This crap is probably not worth a rational rebuttal, but I'm irritated enough to try.
It's a mug's game to refute individual pieces of conspiracy theories. Who can really know if anything that bizarre happened at a Dubai hospital? As for the man jailed in Canada, he was being held on a credit card fraud charge, and the only source for the story about his warning was his own word. The judge in his case said, \"There is no independent evidence to support his colossal allegations.\" But a conspiracy-monges can reply, wouldn't you expect the government and its friends in Canada to say that?
So let's start with a broad question: would U.S. officials be capable of such a foul deed? Capable -- as in able to pull it off and willing to do so. Simply put, the spies and special agents are not good enough, evil enough, or gutsy enough to mount this operation. That conclusion is based partly on, dare I say it, common sense, but also on years spent covering national security matters. (For a book I wrote on the CIA, I interviewed over 100 CIA officials and employees.)
Not good enough: Such a plot -- to execute the simultaneous destruction of the two towers, a piece of the Pentagon, and four airplanes and make it appear as if it all was done by another party -- is far beyond the skill level of U.S. intelligence. It would require dozens (or scores or hundreds) of individuals to attempt such a scheme. They would have to work together, and trust one another not to blow their part or reveal the conspiracy. They would hail from an assortment of agencies (CIA, FBI, INS, Customs, State, FAA, NTSB, DOD, etc.).
Yet anyone with the most basic understanding of how government functions (or does not function) realizes that the various bureaucracies of Washington -- particularly those of the national security \"community\" -- do not work well together. Even covering up advance knowledge would require an extensive plot. If there truly had been intelligence reports predicting the 9\/11 attacks, these reports would have circulated through intelligence and policymaking circles before the folks at the top decided to smother them for geopolitical gain. That would make for a unwieldy conspiracy of silence. And in either scenario -- planning the attacks or permitting them to occur -- everyone who participated in the conspiracy would have to be freakin' sure that all the other plotters would stay quiet.
Not evil enough. This is as foul as it gets -- to kill thousands of Americans, including Pentagon employees, to help out oil companies. (The sacrificial lambs could have included White House staff or members of Congress, had the fourth plane not crashed in Pennsylvania.) This is a Hollywood-level of dastardliness, James Bond (or Dr. Evil) material.
Are there enough people of such a bent in all those agencies? That's doubtful. CIA officers and American officials have been evildoers. They have supported death squads and made use of drug dealers overseas. They have assisted torturers, disseminated assassination manuals, sold weapons to terrorist-friendly governments, undermined democratically-elected governments, and aided dictators who murder and maim. They have covered up reports of massacres and human rights abuses. They have plotted to kill foreign leaders.
These were horrendous activities, but, in most instances, the perps justified these deeds with Cold War imperatives (perverted as they were). And to make the justification easier, the victims were people overseas. Justifying the murder of thousands of Americans to help ExxonMobil would require U.S. officials to engage in a different kind of detachment and an even more profound break with decency and moral norms.
I recall interviewing one former CIA official who helped manage a division that ran the sort of actions listed above, and I asked him whether the CIA had considered \"permanently neutralizing\" a former CIA man who had revealed operations and the identities of CIA officers. Kill an American citizen? he replied, as if I were crazy to ask. No, no, he added, we could never do that. Yes, in the spy-world some things were beyond the pale. And, he explained, it would be far too perilous, for getting caught in that type of nasty business could threaten your career. Which brings us to....
Not gutsy enough. Think of the danger -- the potential danger to the plotters. What if their plan were uncovered before or, worse, after the fact? Who's going to risk being associated with the most infamous crime in U.S. history? At the start of such a conspiracy, no one could be certain it would work and remain a secret. CIA people -- and those in other government agencies -- do care about their careers.
Would George W. Bush take the chance of being branded the most evil president of all time by countenancing such wrongdoing? Oil may be in his blood, but would he place the oil industry's interests ahead of his own? (He sure said sayonara to Kenneth Lay and Enron pretty darn fast.) And Bush and everyone else in government know that plans leak. Disinformation specialists at the Pentagon could not keep their office off the front page of The New York Times. In the aftermath of September 11, there has been much handwringing over the supposed fact that U.S. intelligence has been too risk-averse. But, thankfully, some inhibitions -- P.R. concerns, career concerns -- do provide brakes on the spy-crowd.
By now, you're probably wondering why I have bothered to go through this exercise. Aren't these conspiracy theories too silly to address? That should be the case. But, sadly, they do attract people.
A fellow named Michael Ruppert, who compiled that timeline mentioned above, has drawn large crowds to his lectures. He has offered $1000 to anyone who can \"disprove the authenticity of any of his source material.\" Well, his timeline includes that Canadian prisoner's claim and cites the Toronto Star as the source. But Ruppert fails to note that the Star did not confirm the man's account, that the paper reported some observers \"wonder if it isn't just the ravings of a lunatic,\" and that the Star subsequently reported the judge said the tale had \"no air of reality.\" Does that disprove anything? Not 100 percent. There's still a chance that man is telling the truth, right? So I'm not expecting a check.
Conspiracy theories may seem more nuisance than problem. But they do compete with reality for attention. There is plenty to be outraged over without becoming obsessed with X Files-like nonsense. Examples? There's the intelligence services's failure to protect Americans and the lack of criticism of the CIA from elected officials. Or, General Tommy Franks, the commander of military operations in Afghanistan, declaring the commando mis-assault at Hazar Qadam, which resulted in the deaths of fifteen to twenty local Afghans loyal to the pro-U.S. government, was not an intelligence failure. (How can U.S. Special Forces fire at targets they wrongly believe to be Taliban or al Qaeda fighters, end up killing people they did not intend to kill, and the operation not be considered an intelligence failure?) More outrage material? A few months ago, forensic researchers found the remains of people tortured and killed at a base the CIA had established in the 1980s as a training center for the contras. The U.S. ambassador to Honduras at the time is now the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte.
There are always national security misdeeds to be mad about. They may not be as cinematic in nature as a plot in which shady, unidentified U.S. officials scheme to blow up the World Trade Towers to gain control of an oil pipeline in Central Asia. But dozens of dead Hondurans or twenty or so Afghans wrongly killed ought to provoke anger and protest. In fact, out-there conspiracy theorizing serves the interests of the powers-that-be by making their real transgressions seem tame in comparison. (What's a few dead in Central America, compared to thousands in New York City? Why worry about Negroponte, when unidentified U.S. officials are slaughtering American civilians to trigger war?)
Perhaps there's a Pentagon or CIA office that churns out this material. Its mission: distract people from the real wrongdoing. Now there's a conspiracy theory worth exploring. Doesn't it make sense? Doesn't it all fit together? I challenge anyone to disprove it.
David Corn is the Washington editor of The Nation.
<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"I won't argue that the U.S. government does not engage in brutal, murderous skulduggery from time to time. But the notion that the U.S. government either detected the attacks but allowed them to occur, or, worse, conspired to kill thousands of Americans to launch a war-for-oil in Afghanistan is absurd.","numcomment":63,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/06\/67801.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":67804,"heading":"Is Fresca trying to fill up the newswire for a specific reason?","article":"Gee, trying to push down the recall notice, I see. Just like Art on MSNBC.","author":"Anthrax the Band","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-28 15:10:33","modified":"2003-06-28 15:10:33","fileurl":""},{"id":67817,"heading":"oh my","article":"More to follow.\r\n","author":"fresca","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-28 15:26:45","modified":"2003-06-28 15:26:45","fileurl":""},{"id":67819,"heading":"Nice post, fresca","article":"That's the first reasonable thing I've ever read that was written by David Corn.","author":"Newton","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-28 15:27:23","modified":"2003-06-28 15:27:23","fileurl":""},{"id":67824,"heading":"me too..","article":"..I was amazed.","author":"fresca","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-28 15:31:19","modified":"2003-06-28 15:31:19","fileurl":""},{"id":67930,"heading":"Good article.","article":"Now bring on the accusations that David Corn is a paid shill.\r\n\r\nCome on, Dio...don't let me down!","author":"daveman","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-28 22:50:11","modified":"2003-06-28 22:50:11","fileurl":""},{"id":67943,"heading":"D. Corn of D Nation. A joke.","article":"Isn't he the one who got into a hissy fit with Micheal\r\nRupert on KPFK? That was a funny little skit. He was\r\nalmost ready to start crying when he couldn't get Rupert\r\nto directly claim that Bush did it. He did say that Bush knew about the attacks which has been proven since.","author":"No way","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-29 00:01:46","modified":"2003-06-29 00:01:46","fileurl":""},{"id":68047,"heading":"the aliens are coming for me!","article":"Dont you see? everyone is part of the conspiricy. only Dio and his immediate comrades are innocent.","author":"Scottie","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-29 09:14:41","modified":"2003-06-29 09:14:41","fileurl":""},{"id":68083,"heading":"what's wrong with a consp theory","article":"...provided it's backed up by evidence\/sources?\r\n\r\nunfortunately,the govt's 911 conspiracy theory does not meet the above criteria.","author":"what's wrong with a consp theory","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-29 11:49:56","modified":"2003-06-29 11:49:56","fileurl":""},{"id":68094,"heading":"Scottie","article":"You need to enroll in a remedial grammar course. Or do you like looking like a fool?","author":"A THIRD GRADER","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-29 12:14:58","modified":"2003-06-29 12:14:58","fileurl":""},{"id":68303,"heading":"You're a little slow","article":"Er that was the point of the last post.\r\nYou need to drink more coffee in the morning.","author":"Scottie","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-30 00:04:00","modified":"2003-06-30 00:04:00","fileurl":""},{"id":68311,"heading":"Who is David Corn Beholden to?","article":"The Phony Left Media: http:\/\/www.questionsquestions.net\/gatekeepers.html\r\n\r\nGreat Chart showing links and interconnections. Scroll down to see it. A must read if you don't like being manipulated.\r\n\r\nIf you like being manipulated you can skip it.","author":"Cloak and Dagger","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-30 01:08:53","modified":"2003-06-30 01:08:53","fileurl":""},{"id":68339,"heading":"Generosity","article":"That is rather generous of big business to support liberal media....... and you said they were all bad!\r\nSurprising that Gnome chomski is a CIA pawn though I didn't know the CIA had gone that far left.","author":"Scottie","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-30 03:15:25","modified":"2003-06-30 03:15:25","fileurl":""},{"id":68453,"heading":"Delusional paranoia","article":"Do you people get paid to come up with this shite?\r\n\r\nOr is this stuff you do to pass the time at the asylum?","author":"Ted","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-30 14:49:41","modified":"2003-06-30 14:49:41","fileurl":""},{"id":68485,"heading":"Ted","article":"What do YOU do to pass the time at the asylum? Oh, wait, I already know the answer: acting like a buffoon.","author":"Scottie","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-06-30 16:28:49","modified":"2003-06-30 16:28:49","fileurl":""},{"id":68550,"heading":"buffoon?","article":"That wasn't me","author":"Scottie","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 07:19:49","modified":"2003-07-01 07:19:49","fileurl":""},{"id":68577,"heading":"Bogus post above","article":"I did not submit the above comment.","author":"Scottie","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 11:50:48","modified":"2003-07-01 11:50:48","fileurl":""},{"id":68585,"heading":"mealcorn","article":"from the corn post:\r\n\r\n>>But the notion that the U.S. government either detected the attacks but allowed them to occur, or, worse, conspired to kill thousands of Americans to launch a war-for-oil in Afghanistan is absurd<<\r\n\r\nunsubstantiated allegation.\r\n\r\ntry reading Logic for Dummies.mr corn.\r\n\r\n","author":"debate coach","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 12:17:21","modified":"2003-07-01 12:17:21","fileurl":""},{"id":68593,"heading":"friends of the CIA","article":"D. Corn admitted that he was close with his\r\nfriends in the CIA. Probaly gets a paycheck from them.\r\n ","author":"No way","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 12:30:57","modified":"2003-07-01 12:30:57","fileurl":""},{"id":68601,"heading":"What's wrong with this country","article":"I have been reading Indymedia this past week and now realize what plagues our country.\r\n\r\nWe have some incredibly intelligent and observant people in this country. And most seem to contribute to Indymedia. These people have been able to see through the deception and uncover numerous government conspiracies. Even foreign intelligence agencies (friends and foe) have not been able to put together enough brain power to accomplish these mind-boggling tasks. This genius-class is able to identify and solve all problems of government -- even though they have no education or experience in public policy or economics.\r\n\r\nWhere is the problem facing our country?\r\n\r\nThe US has a corrupt and unfair political\/economic system that relegates these great minds to menial jobs (piano movers, coffee pourers, and bicycle messengers). \r\n\r\nThe US citizenry should wake up and allow this genius-class to run the country. We must figure out a way to promote these people, our nation's greatest asset, to positions of power and influence.\r\n\r\n\r\n","author":"Concerned Citizen","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 13:03:33","modified":"2003-07-01 13:03:33","fileurl":""},{"id":68616,"heading":"corn is an asshole","article":"have you noticed how corn refuses throughout the post to address but 1 of the main bush-did-911 points\r\n\r\n(airforcestanddown by Ilaryon Bykov and Israel,AA77 never hit the pentagon by Meyssan; insider trading on AA etc by Flocco\/Ruppert) ??\r\n\r\ncould it be that he can't?\r\n\r\nwhat an asshole.","author":"corn is an asshole","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 13:34:17","modified":"2003-07-01 13:34:17","fileurl":""},{"id":68620,"heading":"Concerned Citizen = Elitist Schmuck","article":"The notion that ordinary people are somehow incapable of reasoning things through for them selves is really what Mr. Concerned Schmuck is attacking.\r\n\r\nThe undelying implicit message is: Who are you to question our great leaders and DARE, I say Dare, to think for yourself. \r\n\r\nNow shut up and take your Soma, go watch some TV, have another Beer, go back to sleep.\r\n\r\nOrdinary people should not question the "wisdom" of the government.\r\n\r\nOrdinary people should not think of calling the government to account for criminal activity.\r\n\r\nThis is of course a truly Anti-American point of view.\r\n\r\nIF YOU CAN'T HANDLE DISSENT YOUR'RE LIVING IN THE WRONG COUNTRY.\r\n\r\nMay I suggest a move to some nice Totalitarian State where the Sheeple ALL conform to your wishes.\r\n\r\nBUSH LIED, AND PEOPLE DIED. It really is that simple.\r\n\r\nCORN IS A SHILL, AND DEFENDS THOSE LIES. This makes him a supporter of the Junta's Crimes.","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 13:46:07","modified":"2003-07-01 13:46:07","fileurl":""},{"id":68623,"heading":"Of course, Diogenes","article":"My point is not to follow the government like sheep. Not at all. My point is that, using only published stories on the Internet, you are able to uncover conspiracies that other nation's best and brightest, using electronic eavesdropping and all sorts of intelligence (and the Internet) can't seem to uncover. Makes you wonder.\r\n\r\nThe lunatic is in your head.","author":"Concerned Citizen","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 13:53:41","modified":"2003-07-01 13:53:41","fileurl":""},{"id":68625,"heading":"david corn is a dork","article":"refusing to address any of the real bush-did-911 oints.","author":"corn is a dork","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 14:02:46","modified":"2003-07-01 14:02:46","fileurl":""},{"id":68631,"heading":"Wrong","article":"The lunatic is in MY head.","author":"Ignatius","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 14:18:36","modified":"2003-07-01 14:18:36","fileurl":""},{"id":68635,"heading":"corn is irrelevant","article":"since he refuses to address any of the chief bush-did-911 points,corn is irrelevant.","author":"corn is irrelevant","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 14:27:51","modified":"2003-07-01 14:27:51","fileurl":""},{"id":68636,"heading":"The delightful wonder...","article":"...of the Internet is that it is one of the last relatively unfettered sources of Raw Data left. Oh, yes there are others, Book Shops and what have you. Except the cost of Publishing on the internet is a fraction of what it costs to publish a book. The information is freely and nearly instantly available.\r\n\r\nIs all of that Raw Data Valid?\r\n\r\nOf course not - your post proves it.\r\n\r\nHowever, because an opinion or conclusion is not one spoken of in the Controlled Media does not make it invalid. It just means that the controlled organs are unwilling even to consider it. In many cases I believe they are actively prevented from doing so. Thanks to the Internet we have learned about a few of those cases. For example:\r\n\r\nThe Phoenix Program - censored from the Mainstream Press.\r\n\r\nOperation Mockingbird: Censored.\r\n\r\nMK Ultra: Censored.\r\n\r\nProject Northwoods: Censored.\r\n\r\nThe Waco Massarcre: Heavily Censored and Disinformation planted.\r\n\r\nCharlotte Iserbyt: Kicked out of the Reagan Education Department for revealing some of the truth of the actual agenda at play in Federal Education "Programs".\r\n\r\nThreats and Probably Murder used by the Clinton Cabal to silence Whistleblowers and other inconvient stories.\r\n\r\n\r\nOne could go on for quite a while on Government Misdeeds and outright Criminal Activity. Much of it pretty well documented from source documents.\r\n\r\nOne could go on at length on how the International Banking Cartels manipulate and buy government policy to benefit their interests. Not as well documented but if one starts digging there is definitely some there there.\r\n\r\nWhat does the available evidence tell you, not what is the current Spin (lies).\r\n\r\nThroughout history there have always been Cabals, and Criminals in places of power. To think that in our time we have escaped such requires mustering a kind of Doe-eyed Credulousity which I am unwilling to summon.\r\n\r\nYou are welcome to believe the Fairy Tales told in the Media and in Textbooks written for Government Schools. I will continue to look for, and examine, all of the available evidence.\r\n\r\nI am not afraid to go where the evidence leads - however disturbing it might be to "settled" thought patterns. You may label it anything you wish. I cannot, and will, not try to force my viewpoint on eveyone. Neither am I willing to scrunch my eyes and stick my fingers in my ears to avoid learning that there is evil in the World. Not everyone is willing to look the truth squarely in the eyes. Not everyone has the will to state that the "Emperor has no Clothes".\r\n\r\nYou are welcome to be a Sheep if you wish, but include me out.\r\n\r\n\r\nBUSH LIED, AND CHILDREN DIED. It really is that simple.","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 14:32:35","modified":"2003-07-01 14:32:35","fileurl":""},{"id":68642,"heading":"Unless, of course....","article":""I am not afraid to go where the evidence leads - however disturbing it might be to "settled" thought patterns."\r\n\r\n\r\n...it continues to verify the "settled" truths.\r\n\r\nROFL.","author":"fresca","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 14:56:31","modified":"2003-07-01 14:56:31","fileurl":""},{"id":68667,"heading":"Perhaps frescaw...","article":"...even you will be able to acknowledge a fact when it slaps you in the face, or kicks you in the teeth.\r\n\r\nNever forget - Hiltler "LIQUIDATED" the Brown Shirts when they were no longer useful.\r\n\r\nPerhaps someday lightening will strike and you will present something useful and do something other than make cheap smartass taunts of no value.\r\n\r\nNaw. Ain't gonna happen.\r\n\r\nBUSH LIED, AND PEOPLE DIED, AND CONTINUE TO DIE. IF HE HAS HIS WAY EVEN MORE WILL DIE.\r\n\r\nIt really is that EVIL.\r\n\r\nResist or prepare to wear your collar.\r\n","author":"Diogenes","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 16:00:05","modified":"2003-07-01 16:00:05","fileurl":""},{"id":68702,"heading":"Diogenes","article":"Resistance is futile, you are just making it more painful for yourself.\r\nBetter just to put your head down and pretend you never found out about it. \r\n\r\nAs to the brownshirts issue... I think your position is more analigous to the intelectually handicaped people since that is basically how you are percieved.\r\n\r\nthe first gas chambers were installed in mental institutions.","author":"Scottie","parent_id":67801,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-07-01 17:59:03","modified":"2003-07-01 17:59:03","fileurl":""},{"id":68709,"heading":"David Corn and Ruppert","article":" \r\n\r\n