Saturday, July 8 2006   -   In the Media
9/11 THEORIES FLOURISH

by Kristin Solberg
www.aftenposten.no
July 6, 2006

Grateful regards to the cosmopolitan reprehensor at GNN for finding and posting translations of these powerful Nordic pieces, this one equally unofficial courtesy of "Eirick". As decent as this article is, it is interesting to note that the Norwegian mainstream news portal aftenposten.no that published it would not translate it for their English mirror site. - Ed.

- All the lies from the Bush administration is the main reason for all the conspiracy theories, says NRK-veteran Jahn Otto Johansen.

One of the most debated; why did WTC 7 collapse?

- This is not something that just could have happened, there are too many incidents. You can't even conclude that the administration let it happen, you have to conclude they made it happen, says Michael Berger.

Strange. Suspicious. That's how spokesman for 9/11 Truth feels about September 11th. And he has a lot of supporters, on both sides of the Atlantic. Here in Norway, Le Monde Diplomatique, wrote about the 9/11 conspiracy theories in their last monthly edition.

9/11 Truth is a voluntary organisation which "seeks answer on behalf of the families left behind and the American people, questions which deserve to be answered". About 5000 people receive their news letters, and last month, 750 showed up at a conference held in Chicago. Due to limited resources, only the general manager gets paid.

- This is an important cause - a turn over for the USA - so we have to do something, says Berger when questioned why he dedicates so much time without pay.

From their point of view, 9/11 Truth and their supporters are fighting for independence, truth and the American Constitution, against corruption and lies served from both the political elite and private industry.

Others see them as lunatics who can't handle the facts. They are conspiracy theorists.

- "September 11th could not only have been incompetence from the Government, it has to be more. We spend billions and trillions on our defence, and we can't even prevent a plane from crashing into The Pentagon, more than 1 hour and 20 minutes after they were hijacked? The Pentagon, which is 10 minutes away from an Air Force Base?" asks Berger.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
According to Berger, many Americans have unanswered questions on what happened before, during and after September 11th and who really arranged the attacks, even after the Commission presented their final report. The Commission did not ask the tough questions, he says.

- And by not doing that, there can only be one explanation; The Commission was there to cover up 9/11, not to investigate what happened.

In addition to an insufficient investigation and the following contradictory report from the Commission, the truth seekers have a lot of questions regarding 9/11.

• Why didn't the Government manage to prevent the attack, even after several warnings telling them that something was about to happen?

• Why were none of the 4 airplanes interecepted by fighter jets?

• Why was the Air Force busy with War Games that day?

• Why were there unusual stock market trades on many of the affected companies prior to 9/11?

• Why did the Twin Towers collapse?

  And even more important; why did the 47 story tall WTC7 collapse, even though no airplane hit that building?

And there is a lot more that is suspicious, if you're willing to find it. During our 1 hour call to Berger he talks about both actions and statements that contradict to the official explanation.

He first got suspcious 18 months after the attacks when he accidentaly found a site on the internet where they were talking about 9/11.

- First I thought they were mad. But in one of the posts I read about the unusual stock trades. It was just like someone knew before it happened. I investigated it and found it to be true. And from that point I started to go deeper and found more and more, says Berger.

FIREMAN
Let's concentrate on one important argument the conspiracy theorists mention again and again: How could the buildings collapse, and especially WTC7?

- Building 7 is the smoking gun here, says Berger and wonders why the building even collapsed and why they didnt investigate it.

Last year they published statements from 503 fireman and paramedics who were at work on 9/11. And those statements really turned on the heat for the 9/11 Truth-movement. Some of them mentioned things that suggest the buildings were taken down instead of collapsing.

Interviewer: How did you know the building was going to collapse?

Paramedic Daniel Rivera: That sound?

Interviewer: What sound? Did you see anything?

Rivera: This terrible sound, first I thought it was - you know when they pull a building when they put charges on each floor and you hear pop-pop-pop, it was just like that. When I heard that sound, thats when the building started to collapse.

Fireman Stephen Gregory says that he saw many flashes at the lower part of the building, far from the fire, just before the building started to collapse. The man next to him saw the same thing, according to Gregory.

- You know, when they take down a building by controlled demolition? That's what it looked like, says Gregory.

The controversial Professor of physics, Steven E. Jones at Brigham Young University in Utah, is one of those who says he can prove that the Twin Towers did not collapse because of the impact and following fire. In his investigations, he claims to have found that the temperature in the melted steel from the basement of the buildings had to be more than 1500 degrees. These temperatures lasted for several weeks, and that is not possible based on fire from fuel only, says Jones. Jones' explanation? Someone placed thermite explosives and controlled the collapse.

MANY ARE SUSPICIOUS
On both sides of the Atlantic there have been alternative explanations on what happened September 11th since day one. These explanations have led to serious doubts of the US Government's official explanation. According to a poll from Zogby International in May 2006, 1200 people all over the USA were asked, the results must be devastating for the US Government:

• 42% say that the Commission covered up, or refused to investigate important evidence which could contradict the official explanation

• 45% say that there should be another investigation - and this time include the question whether the Bush Administration could have participated in the attacks

• 55% were not satisfied with the media coverage of the unanswered questions asked by the families left behind after 9/11
• 43% did not know that WTC7 also collapsed and 38% said that it should have been investigated

• A similar poll was arranged in Germany 3 years ago, and the Germans were even more sceptical than the Americans. 19% - almost 1 of 5 - thought that the US Government could have been responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

A PRODUCT CREATED BY SOCIETY'S FEAR
The numbers above do not prove anything, of course. Maybe except the society's insecurity and in despair searching for alternative explanations in catastrophic incidents.

- There have been lots of conspiracy theories, says the commentator of foreign affairs and NRK-veteran, Jahn Otto Johansen. - When you are surprised by something, when you are not prepared and when something can be hard to explain, then you will have conspiracy theories.

History is full of them, and most of them are crazy. Did Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, or was it a fake video produced by Stanley Kubrick in the Nevada desert? Elvis is still alive. Who killed JFK? A poll from 1991, almost 4 decades after the assassination, show that 73% of Americans believe there was a conspiracy. And was it British intelligence that killed Princess Diana?

- Today we are very afraid and insecure about the future, that's why many believe the most insane theories. For instance, the jews got out of the World Trade Center before they collapsed, which is pure nonsense. Just like the other conspiracy theories, like (...) that the US Government was behind September 11th. There is no supporting evidence for either of these , says Johansen.

The key word, says Johansen, is fear. When people are afraid, most of them don't have a "intellectual immune system" good enough to resist the conspiracy theories.

- The problem is, says Johansen, that those who believe the conspiracy theories, hang on to them even after professional examination and documented rejection.

The reason why so many Americans believe that their Government was behind 9/11, according to the Zogby poll, is because of the Bush administrations bad credibility, Johansen thinks.

- It has something to do with the Bush administration - like Tony Blair - they have lied so many times about Afghanistan and Iraq, that's why we have all the conspiracy theories.

FASCIST STATE
Berger, on the other side, is fed up with being called a conspiracy theorist.

- The debate is focused on giving each other names. My answer to all those who see us as conspiracy theorists is: if you want a debate, lets focus on the facts.

Berger is also frustrated over some conspiracy theorists. Those who do not know enough and believe each and every explanation. They give the conspiracy theorists a bad reputation and make us look like lunatics, Berger says.

For Berger and the rest of the 9/11 Truth organisation, this is something they will not give up. They won't settle down until they have the real truth.

And they want a new investigation, this time including the families left behind, the firemen and the regular men and women as commission members.

- If we don't get to know the truth, we will end up with a fascist dictatorship run by private industry. We are not anti-Bush, we just feel the system is corrupt. They tell us what we need to know, in order to justify the war and restrictions of civil rights.

And Berger is worried about restrictions of civil rights. At the end of his call with Aftenposten.no, he says:

- It is getting real bad. next year we might not be able to have such a conversation. Thats why it is so important to present the truth.

End

Source article here.

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