9/11 Myths

[durutti]

Claim: The air defense system was "stood down" on 911.

Evaluation: In 2002, the air defense system failed to intercept a Cessna that violated White House air space. Also, high school student Charles Bishop's suicidal crash into a Tampa building didn't elicit a military response until 45 minutes after he had taken off without authorization. Given these facts, it's illogical to assume that the failure to intercept the hijacked planes on 9/11 was a result of the air defense system having been "stood down".

Furthermore, NORAD's Web site posted the timelines of their response to the hijackings, reprinted below:

American Airlines Flight 11 ? Boston enroute to Los Angeles
FAA Notification to NEADS 0840*
Fighter Scramble Order (Otis Air National Guard Base, Falmouth, Mass. Two F-15s) 0846**
Fighters Airborne 0852
Airline Impact Time (World Trade Center 1) 0846 (estimated)***
Fighter Time/Distance from Airline Impact Location Aircraft not airborne/153 miles

United Airlines Flight 175 ? Boston enroute to Los Angeles
FAA Notification to NEADS 0843
Fighter Scramble Order (Otis ANGB, Falmouth, Mass.
Same 2 F-15s as Flight 11) 0846
Fighters Airborne 0852
Airline Impact Time (World Trade Center 2) 0902 (estimated)
Fighter Time/Distance from Airline Impact Location approx 8 min****/71 miles

American Flight 77 ?Dulles enroute to Los Angeles
FAA Notification to NEADS 0924
Fighter Scramble Order (Langley AFB, Hampton, Va.
2 F-16s) 0924
Fighters Airborne 0930
Airline Impact Time (Pentagon) 0937(estimated)
Fighter Time/Distance from Airline Impact Location approx 12 min/105 miles

United Flight 93 ? Newark to San Francisco
FAA Notification to NEADS N/A *****
Fighter Scramble Order (Langley F-16s already airborne for AA Flt 77)
Fighters Airborne (Langley F-16 CAP remains in place to protect DC)
Airline Impact Time (Pennsylvania) 1003 (estimated)
Fighter Time/Distance from Airline Impact Location approx 11 min/100 miles
(from DC F-16 CAP)

The initial reports claiming that NORAD failed to respond were simply the result of the confusion and errors that often do accompany initial reports.

And don't mention Payne Stewart. Despite claims to the contrary, F-16s weren't scrambled until 30 minutes after the military was contacted. The F-16s deferred to another jet which had already been aloft in a training mission. After an airborne refueling, it headed for Stewart's plane, taking 50 minutes to reach it.

Claim: The CIA met with Osama bin Laden in Dubai in 2001.

Evaluation: As Stephen Shalom and Michael Albert of Znet noted, 'his story has never been confirmed and there are many reasons to doubt it. The article claims that "the local CIA agents known to many in Dubai" boasted to friends of meeting with bin Laden. Would the most heinous plot in history be entrusted to a well-known CIA agent who blabs to friends? And then implemented? Is this the way that U.S. government officials would choose to communicate with a co-conspirator. The hospital head denied the story, noting that "this is too small a hospital for someone to be snuck through the backdoor" (Joseph Fitchett, International Herald Tribune, 1 Nov. 2001). It should be noted that not all conspiracy theorists credit this story; one argues that the story was in fact a CIA plant: If bin Laden did meet with the CIA, "why are they telling us about it? Answer: Because they want us to know. Question: Why would they want us to "know"? Answer: Because it serves their purposes."'

Claim: Michael Ruppert is a credible source.

Evaluation: Michael Ruppert's records as a police officer note that he had an obsession with conspiracy theories that got to be so debilitating that his department made him see a shrink. He has professed admiration for Lyndon LaRouche and his followers. Ruppert has turned this obsession into an enterprise, as should be evident from a look at his Web site.

[Solomon]

1. I think people are just going to start letting your threads drop.

Didn't want to say anything, but I just had to say something.