2008 Woodie Awards
Excessive focus on conspiracies distracts from practical concerns
Jeffrey Hake
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Soap Box
After the attacks on American soil on Sept. 11, 2001, it became clear that the more than 3,000 dead had been the victims of a calculated attack masterminded by a terrorist network named al-Qaeda. Suspects were apprehended, emotions ran high and the invasions of other lands far from the United States were justified by this vicious atrocity.
However, even then, doubt began to trickle in: had those buildings come down as the reports had said? Where did World Trade Center Building 7 go? Why is the hole in the Pentagon building so small and where did that plane's wings go? Questions like these and many more began to poke holes in what had been, until then, not theory but fact. Another network began to emerge on the Internet, a network of "9/11 truthers." The outcry of this group has become extensive enough to garner open protests, including an unscheduled protest on Real Time with Bill Maher and the firing of a University of Colorado professor for his outspoken and controversial beliefs about the Sept. 11 attacks.
These theories have been denied with a mixture of tactics ranging from bluster to anger to calm commentary on the engineering aspects of the buildings' collapse. However, in the end, the evidence on both sides of the fence is equally substantial, and the debate looks unlikely to end any time soon. People will no doubt continue to argue, but for all that arguing, I must say one thing: it does not matter.
It does not matter, at this time, who flew those planes or launched those missiles or destroyed or control-demolished those buildings or who killed all those people. I don't wish to say that I do not want those responsible to be held accountable for their actions. That would be a horrible obfuscation of justice, and there is no peace without justice.
I say that it does not matter who attacked the United States on that day six years ago because the result is the same: Iraq and Afghanistan were invaded without justification, and people continue to die. Whether or not the attacks on Sept. 11 were an inside job, the Bush administration took advantage of an injury to the American psyche and sold us on a war that continues to kill.
However, even then, doubt began to trickle in: had those buildings come down as the reports had said? Where did World Trade Center Building 7 go? Why is the hole in the Pentagon building so small and where did that plane's wings go? Questions like these and many more began to poke holes in what had been, until then, not theory but fact. Another network began to emerge on the Internet, a network of "9/11 truthers." The outcry of this group has become extensive enough to garner open protests, including an unscheduled protest on Real Time with Bill Maher and the firing of a University of Colorado professor for his outspoken and controversial beliefs about the Sept. 11 attacks.
These theories have been denied with a mixture of tactics ranging from bluster to anger to calm commentary on the engineering aspects of the buildings' collapse. However, in the end, the evidence on both sides of the fence is equally substantial, and the debate looks unlikely to end any time soon. People will no doubt continue to argue, but for all that arguing, I must say one thing: it does not matter.
It does not matter, at this time, who flew those planes or launched those missiles or destroyed or control-demolished those buildings or who killed all those people. I don't wish to say that I do not want those responsible to be held accountable for their actions. That would be a horrible obfuscation of justice, and there is no peace without justice.
I say that it does not matter who attacked the United States on that day six years ago because the result is the same: Iraq and Afghanistan were invaded without justification, and people continue to die. Whether or not the attacks on Sept. 11 were an inside job, the Bush administration took advantage of an injury to the American psyche and sold us on a war that continues to kill.
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Roark
posted 11/17/07 @ 2:20 PM EST
Jeff, you state: ---"The point is that we cannot be sure what happened on that horrible day in September six years ago."---
We know exactly what happened. (Continued…)
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