Web harbors 9/11 suspicions

September 11, 2006 —

For almost the past five years - ever since 9/11 - there has been a strong range of emotions in response to one of this nation's greatest tragedies.

A growing number of people around the country and abroad are claiming government conspiracy. Some are claiming a wide variety of theories to be fact, disregarding public statements and presentations.

The leading outlet for this "movement," as some call it, is of course the Internet. It allows you to delve into any theory privately: you can chat, watch video, share information, and even try to debunk any of the numerous far-fetched tales with others.

What has always intrigued me is that a vast amount of people not only believe the government played a hand in 9/11, but that it also orchestrated the tragedy. Most involved in these movements do not consider finding the truth simply "necessary." They find it to be their duty. I feel that it is unnecessary and pointless.

9/11 conspiracy theories generally begin with dissatisfaction with the official explanation of 9/11 itself. There are two categories of conspiracy that are the basis for any theory.

The first: key individuals within the government "let it happen." That is, they knew the attacks were coming and weakened America's defenses, in order to ensure a successful terrorist attack on home soil. The second: key individuals within the government "made it happen." That is, they planned the attacks and ultimately carried it into action.

There are many opinions as to the extent of government involvement in the conspiracy. Not to make light of a very serious event in history, but some theories are borderline hilarious.

Some examples:

The World Trade Center's Twin Towers were brought down by controlled demolition. A missile - not a plane - hit the pentagon. The wildest is the "bumble planes" theory, which holds that passengers from Flights 11, 175, and 77 were loaded onto Flight 93 so the U.S. government could assasinate them.

What everyone is presenting on their Web sites, in their videos and in their books is nothing more than their version of the "truth." They also change daily, not unlike the Seinfeld episode where he meets a beautiful girl, and then sees her the next day and doesn't recognize her now ugly appearance, saying, "She's a two-face."

No one has enough solid unabashed evidence to make me believe 100 percent that the government knew, foresaw, or implemented a plan that killed 3,000 people - plus casualties of an ensuing war - for what? Money? Oil? Vengeance? An NBA referee has more credibility after calling a phantom foul against Dwyane Wade (again).

What else makes this all so bizarre is the lack of any unity. No one believes just one theory: there are literally thousands if not millions of theories. There is so much information that it all becomes diluted.

Many of these conspiracy theories seem like a waste of time. They depend on questionable characters or involve wild allegations. But many of these theories are based, at least in part, on legitimate questions that have remained unanswered since 9/11. What are the answers? Where are the answers? Are there answers?

Quite frankly, we may never know, but what happened nearly five years ago made me mad then, and makes me sick now. The truth is out there, right?