mirrorpool: March 2005

I'd like to do an investigation of the investigation into 911. There are many unanswered questions that go to the heart of the matter. It is obvious there is a cover-up, and our own government's complicity cannot be ruled out. Either the Bush administration was catastrophically inept (possible), shrewdly culpable (possible), or a little of both (probable). At the very least, they exploited 911 for political gain; how much is what we need to know. Our nation's well-being may ultimately depend on finding the truth.

F.B.I. headquarters stopped an investigation of the hijackers just as it was making progress. Large stock sell-offs prior to the event were reported. Computers, security cameras, and locks were powered down in the south tower the weekend before, ostensibly for a cable upgrade. Many CEOs from the World Trade Center happened to be at a conference in Nebraska at the very Air Base Bush flew to after leaving the school in Florida. A false claim was even made from Air Force One of danger to the aircraft, that was later shown to be bogus; their story doesn't match the facts.

Former F.B.I. translator Sibel Edmonds has revealed that she saw documents involving attacks by airplanes on major American cities, that were labeled "not pertinent." Her supervisor told her not to pursue it. She was eventually fired for reporting similar abuses in the translation department, and was placed under a gag order for "national security" purposes. She testified at the 911 Commission hearings, but her testimony has remained top secret. Recently, she has been attempting to get the gag order relinquished and her testimony released.

The Federal Aviation Administration had 52 prior warnings about Al Qaida attacking the U.S. with airplanes as weapons. This information from the 911 Commission was withheld all the way through the election and inauguration, and was released soon after the swearing in of Condoleeza Rice as Secretary of State. Since Rice testified under oath that the Aug. 6th memo describing a possible attack was "historical in nature," she is clearly guilty of perjury. President Bush has made similar statements that are now proven to be patently false.

We know the Bush administration planned to invade Iraq long before 911, and were looking for a "new Pearl Harbor," to help achieve their goals. The warnings about Al Qaida may have been ignored specifically for this purpose. It is clear they stood to gain unprecedented power by an attack on the United States. President Bush was informed in the car on the way to the grade school about the first plane hitting the north tower, but went ahead anyway. He stayed in a classroom and read a story for ten crucial minutes after being told of the second attack, and then worked on his speech until being whisked away.

There is the matter of Afghanistan, which the Bush administration had been planning to invade prior to 911. They wanted in on an oil pipeline that the Taliban were controlling. It is now up and running, though we don't hear much about it. The mainstream media have dared not investigate this, since it would hurt America in the eyes of the world. However, they have caused much greater harm by their silence. As far as the rehabilitation of our reputation, only the end of Bush's term is likely to achieve that goal. The damage being done now might be irreversible. Certainly, 100,000 dead Iraqis cannot be brought back to life; they have been permanently "liberated." 1,500 American soldiers are also experiencing endless "freedom."

The 911 Commission report skimmed over some of the most important questions. For instance, why were no planes scrambled from the nearest Air Force base to protect the towers? Apparently it was decided to shoot down the hijacked planes, after it was too late. It is understandable that national security should be considered in deciding what to reveal, but maybe this is a case where transparency is required, before national security can be assured. As long as the reasons behind 911 failures are dismissed, the chances of avoiding a recurrence are low. The Palestinian/Israeli conflict has shown that the cycle of violence is hard to stop.

The Bush administration has gotten everything it wanted because of 911. The plot is so obvious, they even spell it out for us in their writings. Their plan is to destroy the liberal foundation of this country and replace it with a neo-conservative one. Only a coalition of liberals and conservatives who believe in the America our founders envisioned can stop the onslaught. It is necessary to look forward, but we must not forget the 3,000+ that died on September 11, 2001. There needs to be an independent investigation by irreproachable (i.e. truly non-partisan) observers. Until then, it's dangerous to give the benefit of the doubt to an administration that hasn't earned our trust.

Sources:

http://www.911timeline.net/

http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/index.htm

http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Exec.htm

http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf

http://www.aviationtoday.com/reports/letter_tk.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0413-11.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0910-06.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0402-01.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0226-03.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0705-02.htm

http://independent.com/news/news906.htm