Conscious Choice: The 9/11 Credibility Gap

October 2006 | Choice Feedback

The 9/11 Credibility Gap

Professor Griffin’s working premise seems to be: “If there is some doubt about an aspect of the 9-11 attack, it means that George Bush is to blame.”

I’m not sure why Griffin finds it so hard to believe that there are terrorists out there who would do us harm. If the U.S. government somehow orchestrated this attack against ourselves, it would have required the cooperation of literally thousands of people (to say nothing of the passive compliance of our mainstream media). Our government can barely pull off a hurricane rescue operation, let alone a “false flag” operation of the magnitude of 9-11. I’d like Griffin to explain the calls from passengers inside the planes about the hijackers. And also let us know what happened to the commercial airliner he says did not smack into the Pentagon. Maybe all those passengers we assume are dead are secretly enjoying posh lives on a CIA-run resort. Paranoid speculation and fantasy may work well in Hollywood, but fall short as real world explanations. Griffin does a major disservice to those citizens whose lives were upended by the attack. He should stick with theology, where invisible forces need not be supported by logic and reason.

— Gary Baldwin, Technology Editor, HealthLeaders magazine

Now that you’ve printed, uncritically and with no responding voice, the views of a 9/11 conspiracy theorist whose pernicious ideas have been refuted in every publication from the Nation to the National Review, what next? Unedited views from a Holocaust denier? A flat-earth believer? A “the earth came into being at 9 a.m. on a particular date 5 millennia” creationist?

— Mac Brachman, Evanston, IL

Editor’s reply: It is fair to say that the “official” story from 9/11 has gotten just about as much play as any story in human history, so to include it again in the Griffin interview would seem superfluous, don’t you think?

Regarding your feelings on Professor Griffin, I would like to redirect you to the article once again:

Q: “How do you respond to the allegation that you’re just a ‘conspiracy theorist?’”

A: “I would issue a challenge to anybody who just wants to dismiss it a priori: ‘Read my three books, write enough back to me to show me that you’ve read and understood them, and then tell me you don’t have any doubts about the official theory.’ I’ve thus far not run into anybody who’s done that.”

Regarding the other topics you propose, I’m afraid we will have to decline. There is a perceivable chasm of difference between those intentionally ridiculous ideas, and those of Professor Griffin and millions of others around the world who question the official story.

It might be of interest to learn that last month Kean and Hamilton, the heads of the 9/11 Commission, released their book Without Precedent, where they stated that they were so frustrated with repeated misstatements by the Pentagon and FAA about their response to the attacks that they considered an investigation into possible deception. They also said that they were too “soft” on Rudy Giuliani.

Thanks again for writing. We always love hearing from our readers, even if you think we’re crazy.

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