9/11 Truth Movement

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Slogan at a 9/11 Truth movement demonstration , Los Angeles, October 2007

9/11 Truth Movement ( German  " Truth Movement for September 11th" ) is a collective term for groups and organizations that deny the historical and scientific explanations of the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 in whole or in part and instead offer and disseminate alternative explanations of conspiracy theory . The name and most of the associated groups come from the USA .

These groups claim that the US government or parts of it were secretly involved in the attacks (inside job) . Some believe that the government knew the plans for the attacks and let them happen on purpose (LIHOP: Let it happen on purpose ), others that they actively brought them about and carried them out (MIHOP: Make it happen on purpose ). They interpret individual phenomena as clues for these scenarios and present them as scientifically proven. The initiators are mostly academics and authors of conspiracy theory books, which are supposed to delegitimize all the official, officially researched causes of the attacks and the politics derived from them. To this end, they are calling for a new, non-governmental investigation that should include their theses as possible causes.

The supporters come from all parts of the population and are organized in the USA as a decentralized citizens' movement in local and regional subgroups. Their number is unknown. Your conspiracy theses have supporters in many other countries, but they have not organized themselves with any publicity.

Surname

Allegations against the US government: "Inside Job" sticker

9/11 Truth Movement is a self-designation that says that the representatives see themselves as a civil movement who know the “truth” about the events of September 11, 2001 and who want to expose or claim to have uncovered an official lie and concealment . With the name they distinguish themselves from foreign names like 9/11 conspiracists (supporters of conspiracies).

Their representatives also refer to themselves as 9/11 truth activists, abbreviated as truther. Your opponents have been using this abbreviation disparagingly since around 2007, for example in the sense of "stubborn, obsessed, loud, extremist crazy". Some opponents verballhorn truther to troofer or twoofer in order to accuse them of an inarticulate expression and twisted way of thinking.

history

9/11 conspiracy theses arose immediately after the event: David Rostcheck and Alex Jones published speculations on September 11, 2001, independently of each other, about a controlled demolition of Buildings I and II of the World Trade Center . Individual articles - particularly successful The Muslims override the laws of physics by Jim McMichael (October 21, 2001) - by the end of 2001 established some of the conspiracy theses that are still popular today on the Internet. The first books with such theses appeared in 2002, including Painful Questions (German edition: "Painful Questions", 2003) by the Holocaust denier Eric Hufschmid and L'Effroyable imposture (German edition: "September 11, 2001. Der Staged Terrorismus", 2002) des French journalist Thierry Meyssan . Starting in June 2003, a quote from Larry Silverstein ("Pull it") was circulated on the Internet, which was misinterpreted as supposed evidence of a controlled demolition of WTC 7, even after the fire chief and the company explained the meaning of the statement to save lives had. The film Loose Change by Dylan Avery (2005) spread the most important, long-standing conspiracy theses.

Authors such as the theologian and philosopher David Ray Griffin have systematically collected, deepened and published these doubts and observations in books and thus created a conspiracy-theoretical literature on September 11, which made them spokesmen for the 9/11 Truth Movement. Authors from other countries have disseminated the theses developed in the USA in their own books and on websites: including Barrie Zwicker in Canada, Mathias Bröckers , Andreas von Bülow and Gerhard Wisnewski in Germany , Daniele Ganser in Switzerland , Niels Harrit in Denmark and others. They see themselves as part of a global, but not centrally organized “truth movement” about the attacks.

Most of the movement's organizations today were formed between 2005 and 2007. They were given a boost by pseudoscientific publications, most notably the essay by retired physicist Steven Jones entitled Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Completely Collapse? from 2006. He claims to be able to prove the thesis of a controlled demolition of the WTC buildings by thermite finds in the dust of the buildings. Jones was then asked about it in mainstream media. The thermitic thesis is also promoted by other movement spokesmen such as Michael C. Ruppert , Webster Tarpley , Richard Gage, Jim Hoffman, Kevin Ryan, Kevin Barrett, and others. Barrett was due to be fired from the University of Wisconsin in 2006 for joining the Scholars for 9/11 Truth . The university management rejected this despite a petition from MPs.

The final report of enforced by the victims' relatives bipartisan 9/11 Commission of the US Congress of 22 July 2004, planning and course of the attacks, the failure of the secret services, police, airport security, civil air control and military defense in detail. The 9/11 However, the Family Steering Committee , which had accompanied the investigation with critical questions, criticized the report as inadequate, mainly because it did not name any persons responsible for the authorities' failure.

Truth Movement officials rejected the report as a flawed and misleading attempt at manipulation and fraud. They pointed out, for example, that the commission had not examined the collapse of the WTC 7 building and had ignored indications that the WTC building had been blown up. 9/11 Truth.org collected omissions and alleged errors with a 9/11 Omission Dossier . David Ray Griffin characterized the commission report as a "571-page lie" and compared it with his book The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions .

In October 2004 these groups issued a "9/11 Truth" petition alleging that parts of the US government let the attacks happen. Nearly 200 signatories, including victims' relatives, prominent actors and politicians, called for a new investigation.

In 2006, the editors of Popular Mechanics magazine refuted numerous conspiracy theses with scientific facts with the book Debunking 9/11 Myths . Senator John McCain wrote a preface to it.

In April 2007, the groups 9/11 victims' family members and Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice claimed that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report on the collapse of the WTC buildings was flawed and needed to be corrected. The NIST reaffirmed the previous research results in September 2007. The Truth Movement asked the NIST in October 2007 to reconsider this answer. At the end of 2007, NIST published a catalog of questions and answers on WTC 1 and 2, and from 2008 also on WTC 7. Both go into detail on the most important conspiracy theses from the Truth Movement .

In May 2008, religious scholar Blair Gadsby went on a hunger strike to force McCain to meet Richard Gage, Steven Jones and David Ray Griffin. Karen Johnson , Republican State Senator from Arizona, complied with his request. On June 10, Johnson and Gadsby spoke in the Arizona State Senate about the controlled demolition thesis and called for the investigation to be reopened. McCain refused: he did not respond to threats.

Several organizations of victims' relatives continue to call for an independent investigation into the attacks. In 2009, the New York City Coalition for Accountability Now collected signatures to induce the New York City Council to set up a commission of inquiry after the November 2009 elections. However, the Supreme Court ruled that this exceeded the competences of the municipal code and prohibited voting on it.

Protest poster by Truthers at an anti-war demonstration, October 15, 2009

Members of the various groups have been organizing regular meetings, demonstrations and conferences since 2002, especially on the anniversaries of the attacks, in order to exchange ideas and to spread their concerns through the media.

The first demonstrations and rallies under the title Bush Did It! held in San Francisco and Oakland , organized by The All People's Coalition. From 2004 the billionaire Jimmy Walter supported the movement with full-page advertisements in major daily newspapers, lecture tours and videos. In December 2004 he offered a reward for anyone who could prove the physical collapse of the WTC building without explosives and thus refute the thesis of an inside job . He also supported the thesis of a controlled demolition and demand for a new investigation with advertisements on television and major daily newspapers.

From March 2006, the actor Charlie Sheen emerged as a leader in the Truth Movement, around 2009 with a public appeal to US President Barack Obama to set up a new 9/11 Commission of Inquiry. Since 2011, he has hardly commented on it and thus attracted protests from Truthers . On September 11, 2006, in New York City, about 1,500 people took part in a demonstration prepared at a two-day Truth Movement conference. In 2006, according to surveys, the LIHOP theses reached the majority of the population in the USA. Webster Tarpley also attributed the success of the Democrats in the elections to the US Congress to this. He and others saw the 2011 election campaign and election victory of Barack Obama in the 2008 US presidential election as the main cause of the subsequent decline in participation in the movement .

European Truthers took part in demonstrations against surveillance in Berlin in 2009 and 2011 under the motto Freedom instead of Fear .

People and Organizations

William Rodriguez

Caretaker William Rodriguez survived the attacks in the north tower of the World Trade Center. He stated in early interviews that he was in the basement of the north tower, heard the plane crash into the building as a rumble and saw victims with skin burns caused by fire in the elevator shaft. He was one of the approximately 1200 witnesses interviewed by the 9/11 Commission in 2004 and one of 27 selected witnesses interviewed by NIST. In either testimony, he did not comment on the sound of an explosion.

After the publication of the commission report in July 2004, he claimed that shortly before the impact in the basement of the WTC he had heard several loud explosions from deeper basements. The Commission suppressed his statement. In October 2004 he filed criminal charges against 159 members of the US administration, including George W. Bush , for their alleged involvement in a secretly prepared demolition of the WTC building. The lawsuit was dismissed because Rodriguez had seen neither explosions nor explosives, nor was he able to name any of the witnesses he claimed to be witnessing the noise. He always refused to explain the contradictions in his statements.

9/11 Citizens Watch

The group was founded in 2003 by John Judge and Kyle Hence to monitor the work of the 9/11 Commission. On July 22, 2005, spokesmen for the group, along with representatives of the Family Steering Committee , investigative journalists and conspiracy theorists, published their criticism of the commission's report. MEP Cynthia McKinney had this criticism recorded in the minutes of the US Congress on October 27, 2005. The group commissioned the film 9/11 Press for Truth , which primarily describes the enforcement of the 9/11 Commission, criticizes its closeness to the government and the shortcomings of the investigation. The film is essentially based on the collaborative Internet project Cooperative Research , later History Commons , by the journalist Paul Thompson and is not consistently classified as conspiracy theory.

9/11 Truth

The organization was founded in 2004 and is headed by Janice Matthews. Your website has become an important point of contact for the movement.

The organization commissioned opinion polls from the US market and opinion research company Zogby International on the causes of the attack.

Scholars for 9/11 Truth

James H. Fetzer and Steven E. Jones founded the Scholars for 9/11 Truth in December 2005 , a group originally with around 300 members. Fetzer and others also considered the use of small atomic bombs or energy weapons bombardment to be possible causes of the WTC's collapse. Therefore, Steven Jones resigned from the group in December 2006.

Fetzer saw his group as a roof for representatives of all possible conspiracy theories. He himself considers the television images of the plane impacts in the WTC towers to be a holographic projection.

Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice

In January 2007, Steven Jones founded the Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice . The group favors the thesis of a controlled demolition of WTC Buildings 1, 2 and 7 with explosives previously installed in them. It distinguishes itself from other conspiracy theses and claims to be limited to empirical scientific methods.

In October 2008, group member James R. Gourley alleged scientific errors in a paper by Bažant and Verdure in the Journal of Engineering Mechanics. The scientists rejected this in a revised version of their article in 2008.

In April 2009, the Danish chemist Niels Harrit and eight other members of the group published an article in The Open Chemical Physics Journal . It alleged that nanothermite had been found in unreacted and unreacted states in four different samples of the dust from the World Trade Center. According to Harrit in interviews with Danish newspapers, tons must have existed in the WTC before the collapse. The French chemist Marie-Paule Pileni resigned as editor-in-chief of the Open Chemical Physics Journal because the article was published without her knowledge and had nothing to do with physics or chemistry.

Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth

Poster by Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth

The architect Richard Gage founded the Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth group in 2006 , which in 2013, according to Gages, included over 1,700 architects and engineers. She advocates the thesis of a controlled demolition of WTC 1, 2 and 7 and calls for a new investigation. The total number of licensed US architects in 2012 was over 105,000. The number of licensed engineers in the US was estimated at 400,000 to 450,000 in 2001.

A petition by the group to the US Congress required an independent commission to investigate the explosion thesis and to be able to summon witnesses with coercive means and force them to testify. She also denies the findings of the FEMA and NIST investigations .

literature

  • Jonathan Kay: Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America's Growing Conspiracist Underground. Harper, 2011, ISBN 978-0-06-200481-9 .
  • Sara E. Quay & Amy M. Damico (Eds.): September 11 in Popular Culture: A Guide. Greenwood Publications Group Incorporated, 2010, ISBN 978-0-313-35505-9 , pp. 61-62 and 68-69.
  • Karsten Wind-Meyhoff: Counterfactual mapping. Conspiracy Theory and September 11th. In: Sandra Poppe, Thorsten Schüller & Sascha Seiler (eds.): 9/11 as a cultural turning point. Representations of September 11, 2001 in cultural discourses, literature and visual media. Transcript, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-8376-1016-1 , pp. 61-80.
  • Katherine Gregory, Emily Wood: Controlled Demolitions: The 9/11 Truth Movement on the Internet. In: Ingrid Hotz-Davies, Anton Kirchhofer, Sirpa Leppanen (eds.): Internet Fictions. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge 2009, ISBN 1-4438-0108-9 , pp. 197-217
  • Jeffrey Melnick: 9/11 Culture. John Wiley & Sons, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4051-7371-1 (Chapter 2: Rumors, pp. 25-49)
  • Jack Z. Bratich: Conspiracy Panics: Political Rationality and Popular Culture. State University of New York, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7914-7333-7 (Chapter 5, Section: The 9/11 Truth Movement, pp. 131–158)
  • Mark Fenster: Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture. University of Minnesota Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8166-5494-9 , pp. 236-361.

Web links

Commons : 9/11 Truth Movement  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Karsten Wind Meyhoff: Counterfactual mapping. Conspiracy Theory and September 11th. In: Sandra Poppe, Thorsten Schüller, Sascha Seiler (eds.): 9/11 as a cultural turning point. Representations of September 11, 2001 in cultural discourses, literature and visual media. 2009, p. 61f.
  2. ↑ Christopher Hodapp, Alice Von Kannon: Conspiracy Theories & Secret Societies For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, 2008, ISBN 978-0-470-18408-0 , p. 143.
  3. ↑ Ralph Lopez: Truth in the Age of Bushism: A Lil 'Patriotic Reader to Catch Up On What's Really Been Going On. 2nd edition, ISBN 978-1-4348-9615-5 , p. 149.
  4. ^ Gus Martin: Essentials of Terrorism: Concepts and Controversies. SAGE Publications, 2013, ISBN 1452256659 , p. 194
  5. ↑ John Avlon: Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America. Beast Books, 2010, ISBN 978-0-9842951-1-1 , p. 122, etc .; Leslie Savan (New York Times, November 18, 2009): On Language: From Simple Noun to Handy Partisan Put-Down.
  6. ^ Nancy Jo Sales: Click Here for Conspiracy . In: Vanity Fair . August 2006.
  7. ^ Barrie Zwicker: Towers of Deception: The Media Cover-up of 9/11. New Society Publishers, 2006, ISBN 0-86571-573-4 .
  8. ↑ a b Jim Dwyer: 2 US Reports Seek to Counter Conspiracy Theories About 9/11. In: The New York Times . September 2, 2006, accessed December 30, 2011 .
  9. ^ Tad Walch: BYU places "9/11 truth" professor on paid leave. In: Deseret News . September 8, 2006, accessed December 30, 2011 .
  10. ↑ Will Sullivan (US News & World Report, September 11, 2006): BYU takes on a 9/11 conspiracy professor ( Memento of November 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Gretchen Ruethling: A Skeptic on 9/11 Prompts Questions on Academic Freedom. In: The New York Times . August 1, 2006, accessed December 30, 2011 .
  12. ^ Keith Oppenheim: Wisconsin academic: 9/11 report a fraud. In: Anderson Cooper 360 ° Blog ( CNN ). October 20, 2006, accessed December 30, 2011 .
  13. ↑ Christina Asquith: Who really blew up the twin towers? In: The Guardian . September 5, 2006, accessed December 30, 2011 .
  14. ^ CBS News (July 21, 2004): 9/11 Report: The Open Question ; Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Independent Commission (January 11, 2005): Final Statement of the Family Steering Committee ( Memento of May 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ 9/11 Truth.org, August 12, 2004: The 9/11 Omissions Dossier (v 1.1).
  16. ↑ Evan Solomon (CBC News, August 25, 2006): 9/11: Truth, Lies and Conspiracy. Interview: David Ray Griffin ( Memento June 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ Reyhan Harmanci: job on inside? In: San Francisco Chronicle . March 30, 2006, accessed December 30, 2011 .
  18. ↑ David Dunbar, Brad Reagan: Debunking 9/11 Myths. Why Conspiracy Theories can't stand up to the facts. Hearst Books, New York 2006, ISBN 1-58816-635-X .
  19. ^ Bob McIlvaine, Bill Doyle, Steven Jones, Kevin Ryan, Richard Gage, Frank Legge: Request for Correction. April 12, 2007 (PDF; 554 kB); Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice: Scholars and Family Members Submit Request for Correction to 9/11 NIST Report. April 14, 2007.
  20. ↑ Catherine S. Fletcher (NIST): Response. September 27, 2007 (PDF; 81 kB)
  21. ↑ James R. Gourley, Bob McIlvaine, Steven Jones, Kevin Ryan, Richard Gage, Frank Legge: Letter to Dr. Richard F. Kayser. October 25, 2007 (PDF; 5.15 MB)
  22. ↑ National Institute of Standards and Technology: NIST Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions - Supplement (December 14, 2007) ( 9/19/2011 update )
  23. ↑ National Institute of Standards and Technology: Questions and Answers about the NIST WTC 7 Investigation (September 17, 2010) ( 9/19/2011 update )
  24. ^ Matthew Benson ( The Arizona Republic , June 3, 2008): Lawmaker asks McCain to talk with 9/11 theorists
  25. ↑ David Edwards & Nick Juliano (The Raw Story, June 26, 2008): McCain doesn't want to impeach Bush
  26. ↑ Sarah Diffalah: 11/09: le crash du Pentagone toujours contests . In: Le Nouvel Observateur , July 6, 2009.
  27. ↑ Group calls for renewed Sept. 11 probe. In: UPI . August 10, 2009, accessed December 30, 2011 .
  28. ^ New York Judges Fight New Investigation of 9/11. In: Salem-News.com. October 13, 2009, archived from the original on April 16, 2014 ; Retrieved December 30, 2011 . ; Supreme Court of the State of New York County of New York (October 8, 2009): (PDF; 48 kB)
  29. ^ A theory that just won't die ( Memento of February 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: National Post . July 28, 2006.
  30. ^ San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center : Bush Did It: Pictures From 9/11 Protest in Oakland . September 14, 2002.
  31. ^ Marc Pitzke : Conspiracy theories: twilight zone between madness and knowledge. Spiegel Online , December 1, 2004.
  32. ↑ ABC News, December 16, 2004: Sept 11 conspiracy theorist poses $ 130,000 challenge ; Mark Coultan (Sidney Morning Herald), November 21, 2005: No evidence? It must be conspiracy.
  33. ↑ Ursula Hennigfeld, Stephan Packard: Farewell to 9/11? Distancing itself from the disaster. Frank & Timme, 2013, ISBN 978-3-86596-432-8 , p. 188.
  34. ↑ Alan Fire: 500 Conspiracy Buffs Meet to Seek the Truth of 9/11 . The New York Times , June 5, 2006.
  35. ^ Christian Wernicke (Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 26, 2011): Conspiracy theories around 9/11: Truth and Wahn
  36. ↑ taz, September 12, 2009: "We are not terrorists" ; Ole Reissmann (Spiegel, September 10, 2011): Demo “Freedom instead of fear”: Thousands demonstrate for data protection
  37. ↑ 911myths.com: 9/11 Commission files, NYC Office, Box 4, William Rodriguez (PDF; 2.5 MB) (scanned on February 19, 2009)
  38. ^ NIST: Transcript of NIST Public Meeting in New York City - February 12, 2004. , p. 70 (PDF; 380 kB)
  39. ↑ sites.google.com: William Rodriguez v. USA and 155 Others
  40. ^ Mark Roberts: William Rodriguez, Escape Artist . May 2007.
  41. ↑ Ann Fagan Ginger (Ed.): Challenging US Human Rights Violations Since 9/11. Prometheus Books, 2005, ISBN 1-59102-279-7 , p. 501, fn. 309; Gail Russell Chaddock: A key force behind the 9/11 commission. In: The Christian Science Monitor , March 25, 2004.
  42. ^ The 9/11 Commission Report one year later. A Citizen's Response: Did they get it right? (PDF)
  43. ↑ US Government Printing Office (ed.): Congressional Record, Volume 151-Part 18: October 27, 2005 to November 7, 2005. 2006, pp. 41-43.
  44. ↑ Stephen Prince: Firestorm: American Film in the Age of Terrorism. Columbia University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-231-14871-9 , p. 150.
  45. ↑ 911truth.org: About Us
  46. ↑ Thomas Hargrove (Scripps Howard News Service, August 1, 2006): Third of Americans suspect 9-11 government conspiracy ( Memento of November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  47. ^ Zogby International, August 30, 2004: Half of New Yorkers Believe US Leaders Had Foreknowledge of Impending 9-11 Attacks and "Consciously Failed" To Act; 66% Call For New Probe of Unanswered Questions by Congress or New York's Attorney General, New Zogby International Poll Reveals ( Memento from January 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  48. ↑ Stephen E. Atkins: The 9/11 Encyclopedia. 2nd edition 2011, pp. 265 and 386
  49. ^ A b Barna William Donovan: Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious. McFarland, 2011, p. 205
  50. ↑ James R. Gourley: Discussion of "Mechanics of Progressive Collapse: Learning from World Trade Center and Building Demolitions" by Zdenek P. Bažant and Mathieu Verdure. In: Journal of Engineering Mechanics. Volume 134, No. 10, 2008, doi: 10.1061 / (ASCE) 0733-9399 (2008) 134: 10 (915)
  51. ^ Zdeněk P. Bažant, Jia-Liang Le, Frank R. Greening, David B. Benson: What Did and Did Not Cause Collapse of World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York? In: Journal of Engineering Mechanics. Volume 134, No. 10, 2008, doi: 10.1061 / (ASCE) 0733-9399 (2008) 134: 10 (892) ( PDF; 729 kB )
  52. ↑ Thomas Hoffmann: Editor-in-chief skrider efter controversial article on 9/11 . In: Videnskab.dk. April 28, 2009
  53. ^ Andreas Anton, Michael Schetsche, Michael K. Walter (eds.): Conspiracy: Sociology of Conspiracy Thinking. Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2013, p. 206
  54. ↑ Mitra Kanaani, Dak Kopec (ed.): The Routledge Companion for Architecture Design and Practice: Established and Emerging Trends. Routledge, 2015, p. 618
  55. ↑ CSPE, November 5, 2001: Professional Engineering Licensing in CA and Other States
  56. ^ Roderic Mounir: Les attentats du 11-Septembre: "une démolition contrôlée!" ( Memento of May 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Le Courrier , November 13, 2008