2002 - The 1st Anniversary

The next instalment of 9/11 alternative coverage in the media centred around the first anniversary of the attacks. The ridicule increased further, as evidenced by the Telegraph’s first major foray into attacking conspiracy theories, with a 5th September 2002 story headlined, “Aliens blamed for September 11 by conspiracy fans.”

The article opens, "After Flight 93 came down in Pennsylvania, they saw a craft buzzing around. Now what was that? All earth air traffic had been grounded. And in the World Trade Centre, where are all the bodies? They were transported out first to be experimented on. Listen to me now, September 11 was all caused by aliens."

This quote is attributed not to any named individual, but to a person, “wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan: ‘Beam Me Up, Jesus’” in the American city of Berkeley, “the counter-culture centre of America, with a heritage of anti-Vietnam protests and 1960s hippy love-ins.

In addition to associating 9/11 alternative theories with those about aliens, the right of centre Telegraph enables its readers to summarily dismiss such ideas as those of an anti-war, hippy and generally left wing fringe section of US society.

However, the article does not ignore details of the alternative theories altogether. It mentions three specific ideas which are far more mainstream than the notion that aliens were involved in 9/11. They are: the expansive debris field of Flight 93, eyewitness sightings of an additional plane; and pre-9/11 negotiations regarding the oil and gas pipelines construction across Afghanistan.

“How, they ask, did the debris end up covering an eight-mile area? The FBI says it was spread by a 10mph wind but sceptics maintain it was because the plane was shot down by fighter jets.

“Eyewitnesses have reported an aircraft flying erratically over the crash site shortly after impact. This is the UFO of those who favour aliens or the attacking jet for others. The FBI said it was a civilian business jet asked to gather location details but, as Patrick pointed out, all non-military aircraft had long been ordered to land.

“A few months ago, at an anti-war meeting in Los Angeles, an earnest young man explained the links between the administration, oil companies and the years of negotiations to try to build an oil pipeline across Afghanistan. He disclosed who had led the delegations to the Taliban: ‘Dick Cheney.’ The gasp from the converted was deafening.”

Only when discussing the wide debris field does the article offer a fair appraisal, giving the arguments of both the FBI and the sceptics. However, when discussing the eyewitness reports that a second plane was in the vicinity when Flight 93 crashed, the Telegraph once again resorts to ridicule by referencing UFO’s. The final segment, a peripheral alternative theory about pre-9/11 oil and gas negotiations is also subtly ridiculed by mocking those who believe the widely disseminated evidence which supports this thesis. (Monbiot article)

9/11 Urban Myths

A few days later on Sunday September 8, 2002, the Observer unveiled the, “Top ten 9/11 urban myths.” The list concentrates on more trivial urban myths and largely ignores the concerns of most 9/11 alternative theorists.

Top of the list is the claim that, “Osama bin Laden has been sighted in Utah…shopping or dining at McDonald's”, prefaced by the title, “The unidentified buying object”, once again ridiculing 9/11 alternative theories by associating them with similar stories about sightings of Elvis, and by referencing UFOs.

“The Jewish conspiracy” receives second place in the list with the claim that, “Israel was behind the World Trade Centre attacks and Jews were warned not to turn up for work.” This is repeating a peripheral alternative theory, and associates those who doubt the government’s version of 9/11 with anti-Semitism.

The only item in the list which actually mentions one of the main 9/11 alternative theories is, “The self-inflicted wound” which alleges that, “The US itself staged the air attack on the Pentagon.” Thierry Meyssan’s book “The Frightening Fraud” is mentioned as the source for this urban myth.

Two of the more surreal claims in the list are that, “Osama bin Laden owns Snapple” and that, “Osama bin Laden owns Citibank.” The overall effect of this article is to pour scorn on anyone who questions the official account of 9/11 by associating them with such trivial ideas.

The Enemy Within

In a coda to the first anniversary alternative theory stories, the Observer published a lengthy article, “The Enemy Within” by US writer Gore Vidal on Sunday October 27, 2002. The full article was published in G2, but is not available on the Guardian website. However, a summary of the article’s main claims was published under the headline, “Gore Vidal claims 'Bush junta' complicit in 9/11” whilst the article can be read in full at a number of websites. (full article / full article)

Vidal’s article broke new ground in several vital aspects. It was the first instance where someone who espouses 9/11 alternative theories was allowed the opportunity to advance them in the British media. Prior to this, all articles were written by journalists who simply dismissed and ridiculed them. Not only was Vidal’s article published, but he was also given a large amount of space – the article runs to approximately 7,000 words. This allowed him to explore in great depth and breadth some of the crucial anomalies in the official story.

The accompanying summary article by Sunder Katwala is also remarkable for its absence of ridicule and disbelief, attitudes which characterise all previous articles. The summary article fairly quotes and paraphrases Vidal at length on a number of issues.

“Vidal argues that the real motive for the Afghanistan war was to control the gateway to Eurasia and Central Asia's energy riches. He quotes extensively from a 1997 analysis of the region by Zgibniew Brzezinski, formerly national security adviser to President Carter, in support of this theory.”

“At the heart of the essay are questions about the events of 9/11 itself and the two hours after the planes were hijacked. Vidal writes that 'astonished military experts cannot fathom why the government's "automatic standard order of procedure in the event of a hijacking" was not followed'.”

“These procedures, says Vidal, determine that fighter planes should automatically be sent aloft as soon as a plane has deviated from its flight plan. Presidential authority is not required until a plane is to be shot down. But, on 11 September, no decision to start launching planes was taken until 9.40am, eighty minutes after air controllers first knew that Flight 11 had been hijacked and fifty minutes after the first plane had struck the North Tower.”

Three books ignored

One of Vidal’s sources for his article was “The War on Freedom: How and Why America was Attacked, September 11, 2001” by UK academic Nafeez Ahmed, described by Vidal as, “the best, most balanced report, thus far.” This book was ignored by the British media, as were two others published in 2002; “Le Pentagate” by Thierry Meyssan; and “Alice in Wonderland and the World Trade Centre Disaster: Why the official story of 9/11 is a monumental lie” by David Icke.

“Le Pentagate” concentrates exclusively on the attack on the Pentagon, whereas Meyssan’s previous book, “9/11: The Big Lie” dedicated just 16 pages to it, concentrating on other allegations, such as the pre-9/11 plans to invade Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden’s ties to the CIA. So perhaps the media felt that the issues raised surrounding the Pentagon had already been ridiculed thoroughly enough back in April, and that the publication of a second book dedicated to the topic was simply old news.

What is more surprising, however, is that the media chose to ignore David Icke’s book on 9/11 alternative theories. Whilst the book itself concentrates on 9/11, it would be simple for the media to ridicule 9/11 alternative theories by linking them with some of Icke’s more esoteric ideas.

Equally surprising - but for very different reasons - is that the media ignored Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed’s book “The War on Freedom: How and Why America was Attacked, September 11, 2001.” Gore Vidal’s praise for it was echoed by other prominent journalists, including John Pilger, who wrote that, “Nafeez Ahmed's understanding of the post 9/11 power game, its lies, illusions and dangers, is no less than brilliant”, whilst Howard Zinn wrote, “I wish every American who still believes in the good intentions of our government would read this book. Drawing upon his impressive research into recent history, Nafeez Ahmed skilfully exposes the real motives behind the ‘war on terrorism’ and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.” (Pilger/Zinn)

The book looks at less controversial alternative theories, including allegations that the US received pre-9/11 warnings from several foreign intelligence agencies, that US intelligence agents were blocked in their investigations by superiors, and that standard operating procedures should have allowed for the hijacked planes to be intercepted.

2003 - The 2nd Anniversary - Michael Meacher