Conclusion 2:
It is unlikely that Flight 77 struck the Pentagon because the available evidence is not consistent with the impact of a 757 airliner.
As I have already stated, the best approach for any 9/11 researcher with honest intentions would be to wipe from their minds the official version of events and take the attitude of someone who has just returned from a 5 year trip to the outer reaches of the solar system, during which time they had no communication with planet earth. If such a person were given all of the publicly available evidence and furnished with knowledge of the effects of airplane crashes and that of missile impacts, it is highly improbable that such a person would conclude that a 757 caused the damage at the Pentagon.
Why?
Because the evidence suggests otherwise.
Again I will state that it is only because of the claim by the government and the media that Flight 77 hit the Pentagon that anyone would ever try and suggest that a 757 did the damage. The evidence that Flight 77 did not hit the Pentagon is so abundant that we continue to be amazed that apparently intelligent people are nevertheless very capable of ignoring facts and concocting elaborate (and often absurd) theories to avoid having to accept that which is right under their noses.
In the months that followed the 9/11 attacks, it was web sites like Signs of the Times that took on the job of debunking the clearly false official story about 9/11, in particular the attack on the Pentagon. While we certainly expected a response to our efforts from mainstream newspapers and other government shills, it came as somewhat of a shock and disappointment to realise that other alleged 9/11 researchers joined the attack and attempted to debunk our debunking of the official story. The result is that many honest 9/11 researchers are having to engage in the type of "third level" debunking that I have presented above - a debunking of a debunking of a debunking as it were.
Of course, over the course of the past 4 years, we have become much more familiar with the disinformation tactics of government CoIntelPro. In modern day Iraq, it is generally understood that one of the main roles of US and Israeli intelligence agencies is to foment ethnic strife among the Iraqi people. The logic behind this is that if the Iraqis are fighting themselves, they have less time and energy to fight American soldiers. It should come as no surprise then that the same tactics have been used by US intelligence agencies to deal with honest 9/11 research.
But the task of getting honest people who share a common goal to fight with each other is not easy. It requires infiltration over a long periods of time coupled with subtle manipulation of the parties involved. Thankfully for the intelligence agencies, there is another much easier way: you simply have one of your own operatives pose as a Sunni Insurgent or an honest 9/11 researcher and have him attack his fellow insurgents/researchers. Hey presto! You've just created "division" and "infighting" which distracts and confuses the enemy. In the case of 9/11 the "enemy" are the honest 9/11 researchers and the members of the public who look to them for information.
The question then is: are we dealing with such a manufactured group in the Above Top Secret website and forum?
It's hard to tell. There are without doubt many sincere U.S. and other citizens and web site owners who promote the official story about 9/11 because they believe (or perhaps need to believe) that the government is telling the truth. Equally certain is the fact that there are many US citizens and website owners who know for sure that the government story is false, yet have been consciously recruited to push this story on the public. Members of the latter group are simply doing their job, but their influence is most directly felt among members of the former group who want to believe the official story.
Having said that, after reading through the long ATS thread that followed the posting of "CatHerders" article, I have come to the tentative conclusion that the ATS website is just one more government-funded damage control operation, albeit a very subtle one. I will explain why I came to this conclusion.
CatHerders article was received with much fanfare on the ATS forum, and much debate and analysis ensued with the thread finally reaching 125 pages. As the discussion and debate raged, it became apparent that many were convinced by CatHerder's article, but just as many were not. On the 8th page of the thread, two of the three owners of the ATS website weighed in and attempted to silence the naysayers with some large fonts and guilt trips. For example, "SkepticOverlord", "one of the three ATS amigos and co-owner of Abovetopsecret.com" wrote:
"It's very disappointing to see ignorance embraced like this [referring to those who were not embracing Catherders article as "the truth"]
Why? Because the real information is not wrapped up in an exciting Flash animation with angry metal grind? [referring, undoubtedly, to our Pentagonstrike Flash]
Shall we change our motto?
Ignorance Embraced [the ATS motto is "deny ignorance" which seems to be a twist on the QFG motto: Knowledge Protects, Ignorance Endangers.]
I still remember speaking to my brother (who was on the highway at the time) calling me that evening, haunted by the memory of a brief glimpse of faces in the windows of the 757. Especially when he discovered his friend was on the flight later that day.
This is a sad moment for ATS. I feel like I now see faces."
Very moving. Very manipulative, too. "Springer", another Co-owner, then added the following:
PITIFUL... "CH" (Catherder) has proven his/her POINT beyond much of anything that even comes close to logic... But ALAS, as S.O. (other ATS co-owner) Points out, it is NOT wrapped up in a pretty flash animation filled with BUNK so it must NOT be beleived... [another obvious reference to the Pentagon Flash.]
Sad Day for ATS indeed..."
Yes indeed, there's nothing like subjecting your subscribers to a little guilt trip to get them in line.
What is clear from reading the thread is that the owners of the ATS site and the author of the article in question are of the opinion that Arab terrorists, as they are presented by the US government, are real and that a group of them hijacked four planes and attacked the US on 9/11. The only "9/11 conspiracy" that these people hold to then is that the US government may have let 9/11 happen, and the fact is that there are many self-described 9/11 investigators who promote the same idea. You could call it "9/11 conspiracy lite", designed for those who lack the stomach for the unsavory reality of what 9/11 actually meant and where it is taking us.
The problem with such an explanation is that it subtly suggests that, in 9/11, what we are dealing with is nothing more than corrupt government or a few corrupt men, and we all know governments are often a little corrupt, right? The obvious solution, of course, is to simply remove the corrupt government or the few men and we can then get on with the job of fighting those damn "terrorists".
What is missing, however, is the awareness that the "terrorist threat" that came front and center after 9/11 is crucial to the entire conspiracy. It is Bush's "war on terror" that plagues the world to this day, long after 9/11 has lost its edge and drifted to the back of the collective consciousness. It is the threat from "Islamic terrorists" that has led the US military to massacre 100,000 Iraqi civilians over the past two years, and you can be sure they are only getting started. Proponents of such a theory expect us to believe that the fact that terrorist hijackers gifted the Neocons with the justification to accomplish their long-held goals is just a matter of good luck!
Anyone that researches the 9/11 event and, most importantly, the background to American and Israeli plans for the Middle East and Israeli government penetration of the American political system, cannot but come to the conclusion that the 9/11 attacks, in their entirety, must have been stage-managed by those who stood to benefit most from the attacks.
The fact is, if your goal is to sell the lie that 'Arab terrorists' hijacked planes and flew them into buildings, you don't need to involve real Arab terrorists or real hijacked planes. Indeed, it would not even be advisable to do so given the logistics of getting Arab hijackers, or people masquerading as Arab hijackers, to give their lives in service to your plot and avoid the distinct possibility that details of the plot would be leaked. No, all you need to do is to make it appear that way with some well placed evidence and then claim that it is so.
We notice that very few items of so-called "conspiracy theory" have rattled the "Bushes" quite like our Pentagon Strike Flash did. The Pentagon Strike video came out on August 23rd 2004. Probably nobody really noticed it at that point, but it hit a chord of response in the hearts of millions of people around the world. They began to madly download and forward it to their friends and relatives. Latest stats on how many people have viewed it to date are 500 million!
Apparently it even landed in the email box of the Editor of the Washington Post, which is why Carol Morello sent us an email asking for an interview. Or so she said. My suspicion was that the Post was instructed to do "damage control", albeit oh, so gently!
Now, look at this mini-timeline:
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August 23rd 2004: Pentagon Strike Video which propagates wildly for a month.
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September 11, 2004: CatHerder post to Above Top Secret forum.
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September 21st 2004: First contact by Carol Morello of the Washington Post
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October 7th 2004: Washington Post article
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It was an interesting feeling to know that if they hadn't seen the Pentagon Strike before, certainly George and Dick, Karl and the gang were watching it after the Washington Post wrote an article about it.
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October 19th 2004: George Bush visits New Port Richey - a previously unscheduled "whistle-stop" on his campaign trail. NPR is very small, not likely to be a major target of any presidential candidate, but it just happens to be Laura Knight-Jadczyk's hometown. It was our initial reaction that Dubya's visit to Laura's little home town - certainly of no importance on the campaign trail - was deliberately done to send a message to her. Fact is, her daughter's ex-boyfriend wrote to tell her that he had been among those selected to shake the hand of George W. himself! Now, how's that for a coincidence?
As to exactly what Carol Morello of the Washington Post wrote to Laura, here is the pertinent passage which is actually quite revealing:
A couple of editors here saw the video/film, and I was asked to find out what I could about it. As you can imagine, we continue to have an intense interest on the attack on the Pentagon and the people who were affected.
I've just begun reporting, so it would be premature to tell you what "perspective" my story would have.
My initial impressions are that the questions and theories expressed in the video got a spurt of attention in early 2002, after the publication of a best selling book in France, then the furor died down for a while, and now they have re-emerged with the extraordinarily wide dissemination of this video on the Internet.
The 911 Commission report appears to have done little to dampen the controversy. I hoped to speak to you about how and why you posted it on your web site, what kind of response you've received and what you think about it. […]
Notice that she attributes the resurgence of interest in the "Pentagate" problem to the Pentagon Strike video. Can we say "damage control"?
And if there is damage control, then that means there is damage.
Up to this point in time, the only acknowledgement the administration ever gave to such issues was to refer vaguely and dismissively to "conspiracy theories". Now, suddenly, it seems that dealing with the "conspiracy theories" in a direct manner was seen to be imperative. "9/11: Debunking the Myths" came out in Popular Mechanics Magazine in March of 2005, just five months after the Washington Post article. That's pretty fast work.
Under the tutelage of Editor in Chief Jim "Oh look, a tank!" Meigs, Popular Mechanics assembled a team of researchers, including "professional fact checkers" (impressive eh?) to debunk the 16 most common claims made by conspiracy theorists about 9/11. Unsurprisingly, the PM editors claim that, in the end:
"we were able to debunk each of these assertions with hard evidence and a healthy dose of common sense. We learned that a few theories are based on something as innocent as a reporting error on that chaotic day. Others are the byproducts of cynical imaginations that aim to inject suspicion and animosity into public debate."
In fact, a careful analysis of the article shows that at most, just three of the sixteen claims could have been the result of "reporting error", forcing us to assume that, in the razor-like, emotionally unclouded cerebrum of Jim Meigs, at least 13 of the conspiracy claims about 9/11 are the result of "cynical imaginations aiming to inject suspicion and animosity into public debate".
The sad fact is that, while Popular Mechanics claims to be interested in understanding what really happened that day, their rebuttal of sixteen of the most common claims by so-called "conspiracy theorists" about 9/11 isn't worth the $3.57 of server space that it has so far cost them to publish it.
If there is one glaring hole in the arguments put forward by 9/11 conspiracy "debunkers", it is the fact that such people have never come up with a reasonable argument to explain why, in the wake of 9/11, so many obviously intelligent citizens became gripped by the uncontrollable urge to continually waste their time recklessly and fecklessly "injecting suspicion and animosity into public debate" for no apparent reason. It really is a mystery.
Maybe they're trying to take over the world or something.
On the other hand, it doesn't take a degree in psychology to understand the primary motivations of the conspiracy debunkers. You see, the very last thing that many Americans (and others) want to believe is that their government would attack its own people. For 9/11 "debunkers", logic and intellect have no part to play in investigating the question of what really happened on 9/11. It's pure emotion all the way.
In the beginning, on the morning of September 11, 2001 we were all united in our emotional reactions: shock, horror, grief - (and not to forget: jubilation from a bunch of Israeli Mossad agents). As the emotion subsided, most went on with their lives, but a few stood on, brows furrowed, scratching their heads. After considerable digging and research, it became obvious that the official story did not satisfactorily answer all of the questions, and the fact that officials were refusing to answer those outstanding questions, gave rise, logically enough, to a "conspiracy theory".
Not long thereafter, the debunkers stepped in, not because they had the answers to the outstanding questions, but because they had their emotional buttons severely poked by the fact that someone was saying that their government was lying! Sadly, the editors at PM are no different, and their little fear-inspired rebuttal of 9/11 conspiracy theories is of little actual use to anyone, least of all to those who really do want to know the truth of 9/11.
Far from approaching the matter with an open mind (which is crucial in any attempt to find the truth), it is clear that Popular Mechanics' "professional fact checkers" began with the premise that the US government was not lying about the main events of 9/11, despite all of the evidence to the contrary. From there, the objectivity and integrity of their research went sharply downhill as they busied themselves with hunting down the very same sources that provided the official story to confirm that the official story was in fact correct.
Apparently, in "debunkerland", it is completely reasonable to ask U.S. government representatives to testify that the U.S. government is squeaky clean and then present that evidence as "fact". It is also kosher, we assume, to have a murder suspect double as a credible court's witness in a murder trial.
For those of you who have looked unemotionally at the events of 9/11, it is not unusual to be left wondering how those members of the US government who were clearly complicit in the murder of 3,000 of their own citizens can remain so smug and seemingly self-assured. To find the answer we need look no further than the Jim Meigs' of this world. You see, it is people like Meigs who lack any love or appreciation for the truth and worship only their subjective view of the world that make it so easy for big government to commit big crime.
At present there are millions of Americans and others around the world who, aided by the years of social conditioning and media mind programming, drew a very clear line around what they would and would not believe about their government and country. Most of what was inside the line was "feel good" stuff about "greatest democracy on earth" and other jingoistic nonsense, with perhaps a few admissions that "sometimes bad things happen" and "not everyone is a saint". This mindset provided (and continues to provide) a perfect opportunity for unscrupulous US politicians to literally get away with the murder of which most of the US public refuse to believe they were, and are, capable.
The result is that, for all intents and purposes, today there are two Americas:
- The America of the average American citizen which is little more than a government-provided dream world.
- The real America of the corrupt politicians and the select few who run the country, and much of the rest of the world.
Luckily for the select few, this second, real America just happens to lie outside of what many ordinary Americans are willing or able to believe is possible. Lest anyone think otherwise, the setting up of any accusation against government as being the domain of "conspiracy nuts" is not the result of pure coincidence. Conspiracy theories are as old as the first lie ever told and the subsequent attempts by the liar to avoid exposure.
Most people think that "conspiracy theories" are made up by "conspiracy theorists", but the term "conspiracy theory" is most often used by those people who have most to gain from the ridicule of the allegations that are directed at them. The tactic has been used to such great effect over the years that certain high crimes committed by government have become the touchstone by which all other "conspiracies" are measured.
Take the folks at Popular Mechanics. In dealing with 9/11 they simply couldn't resist referencing that other most despicable crime committed by a US government - but of course, to them it's just another "theory":
"Don't get me wrong: Healthy skepticism is a good thing. Nobody should take everything they hear--from the government, the media or anybody else--at face value. But in a culture shaped by Oliver Stone movies and "X-Files" episodes, it is apparently getting harder for simple, hard facts to hold their own against elaborate, shadowy theorizing."
Did you catch it? The reference to Oliver Stone can mean only one thing: Jim's "fact checkers" contacted the CIA, and they told him straight up that some bullets really can do magic things.
So far, we have been generous to the people at Popular Mechanics. We have assumed that they are simply well-intentioned but misguided souls. However, it appears that there is a more sinister, and dare we say it, "conspiratorial" side to Popular Mechanics' "innocent" debunking of 9/11 conspiracy theories. You see, it turns out that one of the main contributors to the article is one Benjamin Chertoff, a cousin of the new Dept. of Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff.
American Free Press' Christopher Bollyn, who dug up the information, also claims that Ben Chertoff's mother was a Mossad agent. While there is, as of yet, no evidence of any working relationship between the two, it is certainly noteworthy that the cousin of the current Homeland Security Chief, (who, in his previous incarnation as head of the Justice Department's criminal division was instrumental in the release of obvious Israeli spies before and after 9/11), happens to be behind a high-profile attempt to debunk 9/11 conspiracy theories.
So if you happen to stop by the sorry article in question, don't be fooled or intimidated by the word "science" in big bold letters on the Popular Mechanics page. In Europe, McDonald's drink cups have the words "I'm loving it" emblazoned across them in various languages, regardless of what you put in them. Credit by association or juxtaposition is one of the oldest tricks in the book of mass mind programming. Just because "they" say it, doesn't make it so. This simple, logical statement is a salient lesson for us all in these heady days where disinformation masquerades as truth and even "innocent" fun-loving "boys with toys" have become obedient workers in the lie factory.
According to another 9/11 researcher:
"The editors of Scientific American followed in the footsteps of Popular Mechanics in exploiting a trusted brand in order to protect the perpetrators of the mass murder of 9/11/01. The column by Michael Shermer in the June, 2005 issue of Scientific American, titled Fahrenheit 2777, is an attempt to deceive the magazine's readers into dismissing the overwhelming evidence that 9/11 was an inside job without ever looking at that evidence. More specifically, Shermer attempts to inoculate readers against looking at the decidedly scientific refutation of the official story… […]
Shermer's column exhibits many of the same propaganda techniques as the ambitious feature article in the March issue of Popular Mechanics by Benjamin Chertoff, for which Shermer professes admiration:
'The single best debunking of this conspiratorial codswallop is in the March issue of Popular Mechanics, which provides an exhaustive point-by-point analysis of the most prevalent claims.'
Comparing the two attack pieces is instructive. Both pieces mention a similar range of issues, with Shermer adding Jewish conspiracy rumors and UFOlogists to the mix...
This last is undoubtedly a direct reference to Signs of The Times, while avoiding giving a direct link to our website out of fear that the reader might be influenced.
Shermer uses an array of deceptive methods to persuade the reader that challenges to the official story of the 9/11 attack are worthy only of ridicule and should not be scrutinized. His primary technique is to use hoaxes and unscientific ideas to "bracket" the valid ideas that he seeks to shield the reader from.
That Shermer went to such great lengths to thoroughly misrepresent the painstaking, scientific, evidence-based work of many researchers is a testament to the success of the Pentagon Strike Video! It really stepped on a sore toe. And that tells us something important, the same thing Carol Morello of the Washington Post wrote:
"…the questions and theories expressed in the video got a spurt of attention in early 2002, after the publication of a best selling book in France, then the furor died down for a while, and now they have re-emerged with the extraordinarily wide dissemination of this video on the Internet."
We notice that never, in any of the two major "debunking" articles that followed fast on the heels of the Pentagon Strike video, was the video ever even mentioned by name, nor was our website mentioned. Other books, other researchers, other web sites were mentioned, but the deliberate avoidance of Signs of The Times - the origin of the Pentagon Strike, was conspicuous. We notice the same trend in the Above Top Secret forum.
Again we point out: debunkers are sent in only when damage control is needed. And damage control is only needed when it is thought that there might be damage. That means that the Pentagon Strike is understood clearly, in the minds of the perpetrators, to be the weak link in their chain of lies.
Debunkers are sent in not to give answers to the outstanding questions, but to push the emotional buttons of the public, to reassure people who really want "a reason to believe" that their government is not lying to them.
It should be clear by now that I am suggesting that there is much more to the 9/11 attacks than most people are aware and what really happened is very, very different from the official story.
Now we get to the interesting part.