2004 - Fahrenheit 911 & A New Pearl Harbour

The summer of 2004 saw the release of Michael Moore’s documentary film, Fahrenheit 9/11, and the publication of one of the most popular 9/11 alternative theory books, “The New Pearl Harbor” by US theologian David Ray Griffin. Moore’s film received huge media attention, particularly after it won the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. But it was not well received by 9/11 alternative theorists, largely because it accepts the US government’s story of what happened on 9/11, and only attacks President Bush on post 9/11 issues such the alleged escape of many bin Laden family members in the days following 9/11.

In contrast, Griffin’s book deals with most of the core 9/11 alternative theories, yet it received just one review in the UK press, “The 9/11 X-Files” in the Daily Mail (unavailable on the Mail website) on Thursday 24th June, 2004. Whilst the title might not be particularly flattering, the review is lengthy, and journalist Sue Reid details many of Griffin’s assertions. Although she often couches them in cautionary terms, she never descends into ridicule.

She writes: “It will be damned in some quarters as nothing other than the irresponsible ramblings of conspiracy theorists or the wild rantings of anti-war activists…Yet its findings have garnered an enthusiastic response from sections of America’s intelligentsia and a former British Cabinet Minister, the MP Michael Meacher, wrote the foreword of the book…The book makes some deeply unpalatable - and frankly incredible – assertions.”

These assertions include: “Why were no military fighters scrambled from the nearest air force bases after the terrorists first struck? How could a rookie pilot - one of the terrorists - fly a 757 aircraft so precisely into the American defence headquarters, the Pentagon? Was it really an aircraft that pierced this well-protected building or a military plane or missile? And who made ten million dollars out of betting before 9/11 that shares in the two airlines of the hijacked planes were about to plummet?”Discussing American Airlines Flight 11 in detail (it would eventually plough into the North Tower), Reid writes, “…its radio suddenly snapped off air. The first indication that it might have been hijacked. The time was precisely 8:14am. Flight 11 should have been immediately intercepted by fighter pilots sent up from nearby McGuire Air Force Base, in New Jersey, who could have made the journey to the World Trade Centre in three minutes. Interception is a standard - and mandatory - emergency procedure in the U.S. in suspected hijacks and one that had been used routinely in 67 air scares over America in the nine months preceding 9/11. But, disturbingly, fighter jets were instead ordered out of an air base 180 miles away in Cape Cod.”

Reid goes on to note that, “Professor Griffin raises some other tantalising questions about events that day. He records that the Pentagon was hit by the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 at 9.38am, The aircraft, with 58 passengers on board, had left Dulles Airport, in Washington DC at 8.20am and suddenly disappeared from radio contact at 8.46am. Astonishingly, no fighter jets from Andrews Air Force Base, just ten miles from Washington D.C., were ever scrambled to intercept it. Instead fighters were ordered from 130 miles away at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.”

Reid quotes, “Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband died in the World Trade Centre. She apparently told a television show: "I don't understand how a plane could hit our defence department (The Pentagon) an hour after the first plane hit the Twin Towers. I don't understand how that is possible. I'm a reasonable person. But when you look at the fact that we spend a half trillion dollars on national defence . . . I think there were procedures and protocols that were not followed on September 11.” Having dealt with the Pentagon, Reid is sure that, ”One fact is certain about 9/11 and that concerns the stock market dealings before the tragedy. An extremely high volume of "put options" - a bet on the price of shares falling - were purchased for the stock of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the international financiers which occupied 22 storeys of the World Trade Centre. Even more telling were the volume of "put options" on American and United Airlines, which owned the four aircraft hijacked by the terrorists. On these two airlines, and only these two, the level of share trade went up by 1,200 per cent in the three days prior to the catastrophe. As the shares dropped in response to the terrorism, the value of these options multiplied a hundred fold. Someone - and it may have been Bin Laden himself - had made ten million dollars in profit. So why weren't these dealings spotted?”

Reid ignores Griffin’s theories about the collapse of the three World Trade Centre buildings that collapsed on 9/11, which are regarded by many 9/11 alternative theorists as the strongest evidence for US government complicity. Overall, the article summarises many of Griffin’s ideas but doesn’t attempt to refute them, either by arguing against them or ridiculing them.

2004 - The 3rd Anniversary - TV Fictionalisation & 9/11 Conspiracy Documentaries