Letters to the Editor
-
Conspiracy Theories
After reading all of these posts, I noticed that a few people mentioned a
film, "Loose Change", which ties together the evidence for the
Conspiracy "Theory". The website is:
www.loosechange9/11.com
Check it out for yourself before deciding. Click on Evidence, and then click
on the various categories of Evidence. The links on the page are not obvious.
I seriously consider this evidence for a couple reasons: 1) We've all seen the
seemingly paralzyed reaction of Bush when informed of the WTC attack. What
still gets me is that he didn't even seem surprised, much less shocked - as if
he already KNEW what was going to happen. A person who is truly surprised
or shocked has a reflexive reaction. I wonder how Bush would have reacted
if told his wife and daughters were just killed in a horrible car crash.
Would he have just SAT THERE?? 2) Is our government actually evil enough
to fake these attacks? Well...after seeing all the lies involving the
war in Iraq, the constant harping in Bush's speeches of 9/11, 9/11, 9/11,
the evil cluelessness of the Neo-Con Midesat Policy - I'd have to say yes.
I'm not saying people didn't really get killed. Obviously, they did. But, there are a
LOT interesting facts on the Loose Change website - enough to make you think twice.
-
Muddying the waters
Greengrass's credentials, integrity or how deftly he handles this material not withstanding, this film's essential function is propaganda to the extent that it does not in any way seriously challenge the government's version of events. I could get behind a documentary that attempts to probe some of the many unanswered questions about this event and 911 in general, however, I will not see this.
For an alternative version see:
http://911research.wtc7.net/materials/flight93/flight93.pdf
Also, to the "Koolaid" reader that posted a link to the Popular Mechanics "straw-man" 911 piece, I would encourage everyone to check out Jim Hoffman's rejoinder and come to your own conclusions about who is trying to muddy the waters:
http://911research.wtc7.net/essays/gopm/index.html
Another interesting piece of evidence: Rumsfeld slip?
I think all of us have a sense if we imagine the kind of world we would face if the people who bombed the mess hall in Mosul, or the people who did the bombing in Spain, or the people who attacked the United States in New York, shot down the plane over Pennsylvania and attacked the Pentagon, the people who cut off peoples' heads on television to intimidate, to frighten -- indeed the word 'terrorized' is just that. Its purpose is to terrorize, to alter behavior, to make people be something other than that which they want to be.
-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in an interview with Brigadier General James Marks aired on December 24, 2004.
-
More Dumbass Conspiracy Theories?
I can't speak with any authority about cellphone calls at umpteen-thousand-feet, but I can take issue with this idiotic paragraph which Jonathan quoted:
"It must also be remarked that the alleged hijackers of the Cellphone Flight were remarkably lenient with their passengers, allowing some 13 calls. However, it would seem highly unlikely that hijackers would allow any phone calls for the simple reason that passengers could relay valuable positional and other information useful to authorities on the ground, thus putting the whole mission in jeopardy."
Here's how it works in the real world: there were about four hijackers, who couldn't bring guns onto the plane; without guns, they would have had their hands full just keeping passengers out of their way; looking for cellphones, among about a hundred tightly packed passengers, and lunging at people on cellphones with sharp objects in such a crowded place, would not have been an option.
Oh, and what's this crap about "alleged" hijackers? The plane was indeed hijacked by someone.
I hate Bush too, but this sort of blithering only makes Bush look smart and compassionate, while insulting everyone else's intelligence. Grow up two decades and come back in the morning, Jonathan.
-
I seem to recall clearly
Some of the transcripts from the other 3 planes, in which the hijackers specifically told the passengers to call their loved ones and "tell them you're going to die".
There was nothing, at that point, that a passenger could relay to someone on the ground that would help one bit, and the hijackers knew it. It was just a little bit more psychological torture and terrorism inflicted by these parasites.
PS to the moron a few letters back to made a statement about the president's reaction when told about the WTC: His reaction was a controlled internal panic. It's pretty apparent. If you're so bad at reading basic human facial features, I would like to play poker with you. Bring a lot of money.
-
Transcendency issues
I think what the reviewer is trying to point out is that there is no real deeper insight about why people do what they do in situations like this. I would try comparing this film to Apocalypse Now, which also came out about 5 years after the end of another traumatic event, the Vietnam War. As Francis Ford Coppola said about his own film, it’s not about Vietnam…it IS Vietnam, embodied in spirit and purpose…as opposed to being based on an actual event. If you see this movie looking for that same type of perspective, then “United 93” is probably a “by-the-numbers” type of film…or to compare it to Vietnam War films, it would be more akin to “We Were Soldiers” as opposed to “Apocalypse Now.” In fact, that may be the reason why this film, although probably very decent and trying to be as fair as possible, might not have the staying power of a movie like “Apocalypse Now.”
I personally will not see it. I’ve just about had my fill of post-9/11 examinations and analysis, and I seem to remember one of the Discovery Channels already covering this territory in a more forensic-like fashion.
I won’t say whether or not it’s been long enough yet to look back at this event, but since we are still living in a post-9/11 world, I’d rather not be reminded of this whole mess again. Especially when you consider what we’ve done to the world since 9/11.