9/11

by Eli

for those of you that don’t know, meredith’s birthday is on 9/11. that was quite the birthday present 5 years ago, huh? well, that evening (about a week ago) meredith and hannah and i went over to our cousins house to eat dinner and celebrate her birthday. as the dinner was winding down, someone mentioned how we should probably get home sometime soon, and sarah (auntie) asked why. we told her that we were meeting the boys at the house and were gonna watch Flight 93 and Loose Change. they had heard of Flight 93, but not Loose Change, so i gave a basic explanation.

that basic explanation eventually led us down the path of what you might call a “debate.” sarah and craig just could NOT believe that our government had ANYTHING to do with 9/11. it was completely impossible in their minds. we went back and forth for a while, but in the end it just came down to one basic concept: how much do you trust the US government? after answering that question, you could see where people’s opinions lay. i on one hand don’t trust it at all, sarah and craig on the other do. so, there you have it.

after the discussion, everything was fine and there were no hard feelings or anything, but i left that evening completely charged. i wanted MORE information about what happened. i wanted to read more books, more websites, watch more movies, and really try to wrap my mind around it even more than i already had.

as i was in the process of doing that, craig sent me a link to a page on the Popular Mechanics website refuting some of the claims of the conspiracy theories. i had already read that article and skimmed through the book as well, so i knew most of what was said there. unfortunately for that website and the book that followed, it does a pretty crappy job of “refuting” the claims.

first off, the format of the website and the book is unbelievable. it takes each “claim” and explains what the common beliefs are surrounding it, and then follows it up with the “facts” as they see them. unfortunately for them, most of the “facts” are straight from FEMA and NIST reports (government agencies) as well as other eye witness and “expert” testimony. their facts are just as credible as the “facts” used by most of the other theories. not very convincing if you ask me. i sent craig some links to books i’ve read as well as other websites that do a good job of breaking things down and not getting caught up in the hype.

first and foremost, the “official” story is just as much a theory as the “conspiracies,” but i’m not saying that every single theory you hear about 9/11 is true. if you take the time to read what info is out there, it’s pretty hard to believe that it happened the way that THEY say it happened. it’s hard for me to believe much of ANY of what THEY say happened. so, for those of you who’d like to get a bit more info on the whole sich, i’ve compiled the following resources:

Websites

911proof.com
physics911.net
flight93crash.com
Detailed info on the planes and hijackers

Books

The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions
The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11
Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
Painful Questions: An Analysis of the September 11th Attack