Eresh Omar Jamal
Fifteen years ago today, the whole world’s attention was drawn towards the United States of America and the scenes that were unfolding there. Although the exact details were, at first, unclear to all, everyone knew what they were witnessing was, somehow, of major significance; that they had seen a world changing event. And that is exactly what the attacks in America on September 11, 2001, did. It changed the world.
The attack — dubbed the worst terrorist attack in world history — killed 2,996 people and injured over 6,000 others, causing mass hysteria in the country, understandably. But the tragedy, as grave as it was for the Americans, and the rest of the world, did not end there. In fact, for some, it was only the beginning.
Since the commencement of the ‘War on Terror’ following the 9/11 attack, hundreds of thousands more lives have been lost. With the number of dead growing rapidly even after all these years, signs of the war ending remain nowhere in sight. Thus, it is safe to say, that the American War on Terror, if it was indeed meant to curb terrorism and bring an end to loss of life, has failed. As most said it would.
Yet, despite the magnitude of the catastrophe that had befallen America on that day, and the world ever since, what really happened on that day, remains a mystery. According to a joint New York Times and CBS poll, 84 percent of Americans do not believe the official 9/11 story (Truth and lies: Conspiracy theories are running rampant thanks to modern technology, The Independent, November 11, 2011). The official story that has been presented to the public simply does not seem to add up.
It is riddled in anomalies and glaring inconsistencies. Take the fact that three skyscrapers in total had come down that day after being hit by two planes. That’s right. Remember Building 7? Which came down after ‘not’ being hit by a plane, becoming the first steel-framed high-rise building to have collapsed because of fire alone (The Mysterious Collapse of World Trade Centre 7: Case Far From Closed, Foreign Policy Journal, February 15, 2011)?
Then the official story includes the fact that the twin towers were the only skyscrapers in history anywhere in the world to ever even fall down from a fire, let alone vertically on its own footprint, which thousands of engineers and other experts, through their combined efforts, Architects & Engineers for 9/11, have refuted. This is because according to the official story, the buildings collapsed as they did, after jet fuel had melted the steel beams holding them up. But experts rejecting the official story have pointed out, jet fuel — an ordinary hydrocarbon — has a maximum burning temperature of 1200°F, while steel doesn’t start melting until it reaches a temperature of 2750°F. Then how is it possible for the jet fuel to have melted the steel beams leading to their collapse?
The mainstream media in America has, unfortunately, failed to ask these questions or give those asking, a voice. Yet, despite the media silence, it is many of the 9/11 victims’ families that have refused to give in and have courageously continued to seek the truth for fifteen long years. And it is because of their courage and perseverance, that a classified 28 page section of the 9/11 Commission Report was only recently released to the public. With the addition of this missing puzzle piece, it can only be hoped that the picture of what really happened will continue to get clearer. Perhaps it already has.
Even prior to its release, on April 28, 2016, the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat published an article written by Saudi legal expert Katib Al-Shammari, arguing that “The US itself had planned and carried out the 9/11 attacks, placing the blame on a shifting series of others — first Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, then Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, and now Saudi Arabia” (Article In Saudi Daily: US Planned, Carried Out 9/11 Attacks — But Blames Others For Them, Middle East Media Research Institute, May 19, 2016).
In response, The New York Times in an editorial on May 27, 2016, wrote that “Saudi Arabia has frustrated American policy makers for years”. As according to the editorial, the Saudis have sponsored “extremist clerics” who are “fostering violent jihad”, creating a “fertile ground for recruitment to radical ideology”. Other western media outlets have since tied Saudi funding to what had happened on 9/11. Now the question is, why after all these years, is the US turning on its close ally, blaming it for parts of what had happened?
Well, according to Dr Paul Craig Roberts, who was the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under Ronald Reagan and the associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, “One possible answer is that the public’s confidence in the 9/11 story is eroding as a result of growing expert opinion that challenges the official line. In order to redirect the public’s scepticism, a red herring is being pulled across the trail. The Saudi angle satisfies the belief that some sort of government coverup is involved but ‘redirects’ the suspicion from Washington to the Saudis” (9/11 Disinformation: Saudi Arabia Attacked America, PaulCraigRoberts.org, May 27, 2016).
Disappointingly, however, in spite of the latest revelations made clear by the 28 pages and the blame game that has played out before its release, there is no way, as of yet, to conclusively say what had actually happened on September 11, 2001. Regardless, the loss of innocent life that occurred that day was surely a tragedy of massive proportions, not only for the US, but for the entire world.
And the injustices that have been done throughout the world ever since, justified by the events of 9/11, simply add to it. Yet, the tragedy which we so readily forget to mention, is the denial of truth to the families of those who died on September 11, 2001, and to those who died ever since. And until that is set right, justice will forever elude the injustice that was done, on 9/11, fifteen years ago.
Source: The Daily star
