Pakistani Newspaper Examines 9/11-Related Conspiracy Theories Involving Jews and the U.S.

"Once again, analysts from Pakistan, especially those living in the West and taking full advantage of the civil facilities there, are in the forefront of pushing for conspiracy theories. They are extremely adamant that anyone but Islamic militants is responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

"The versions of the conspiracy theories, popular both in the Urdu press and among the general public in Pakistan, are confusing and often self-contradictory. Osama bin Laden (OBL) attained the status of a hero in Pakistan, no sooner than he was named by the U.S. as the prime suspect of the massive 9/11 terrorist attacks. His posters and pictures were displayed in every shop, on every bus and many cars.

"In Pakistan, heavily dependent on the U.S. and the Western world to save the lives of its hundreds of thousands of citizens after every natural calamity, including the devastating earthquake of 2005 and floods of 2010, the masses showed callous insensitivity towards the 9/11 tragedy. Sweets were distributed all over Punjab to celebrate the 'daring act of faith' and, at several places in Lahore, people danced to the beat of drums in jubilation at this 'great feat of the mujahideen.'

"The question that arises here is that if the people of Pakistan really believed that either Mossad or the CIA was behind those attacks, then why did OBL suddenly become their hero? Did they celebrate the success of Mossad or the CIA?"

"The Theory that 4,000 Jews Working in the World Trade Center (WTC) did not Turn Up for Their Duties on That Unfortunate Day, Became Popular in the Urdu Media Within Weeks After the 9/11 Attacks"

"In the West, there exists a group of analysts and talking heads for whom the shortest cut to fame is to stir up some controversial debate. They dispute established facts to seek prominence, such as the fanciful idea that the moon landing in 1969 was faked by the U.S. The Urdu media quote such arguments by Western sceptics from various websites, and present them as certified truth to prove their own point.

"While citing such passages, they completely overlook the counter-narrative and reasoning of those who have contested and debunked those conspiracy theories. Even the foremost critic of U.S. policies Noam Chomsky has never cast doubts on the 9/11 Commission Report. However, the Urdu media has to pick up what fits its story.

"The conspiracy theories on the 9/11 attacks have too many flaws in them to be given any serious consideration, such as:

"1) The theory that 4,000 Jews working in the World Trade Center (WTC) did not turn up for their duties on that unfortunate day became popular in the Urdu media within weeks after the 9/11 attacks. By that time, even the identities of the victims had not been established, let alone their religions. Therefore, this early discovery of conspiracy theorists seems purely hypothetical.

"When such data was finally available, it was found that hundreds of the victims were actually Jews. A BBC documentary identified that out of the 2,071 victims in the twin towers, 192 were Jews — that makes 9.2 percent of the total. This is a high percentage considering that Jews constitute only two percent of the U.S. population."

"Suppose the Urdu Media's Conspiracy Theory That 9/11 was Plotted by Mossad, Who Kept 4,000 Jews Away from Work, is Accurate; This Means That, Instead of Just Under 3,000 Fatalities, There should have Been 7,000"

"2) The number of those killed in the WTC remained close to 3,000 only because the attacks were carried out in the small hours. Had the attacks taken place during peak business hours in the afternoon, the number of casualties could have been 20 times greater. Therefore, what is so surprising if 4,000 Jews had a lucky escape? Not only Jews, but many other people belonging to various religions, including Islam, were lucky for not being there at the time of the attack.

"3) Suppose the Urdu media's conspiracy theory that 9/11 was plotted by Mossad, who kept 4,000 Jews away from work, is accurate. This means that, instead of just under 3,000 fatalities, there should have been 7,000. Or in order to satisfy the Urdu media that the attacks were not plotted by Mossad, not only all 3,000 victims should have been Jews but another 1,000 should have joined them in death to make up the figure of 4,000 absentee Jews.

"4) According to the conspiracy theory pointing a finger at Mossad, 4,000 Jewish employees of the WTC were informed beforehand not to go to the WTC on 9/11. How come communication, involving such a large number of individuals, never got leaked? How can this be accepted that out of those 4,000 American Jews, not one was a patriotic American or a good human being? It is impossible to maintain secrecy of a terrorist plan like 9/11 when it is shared with over 4,000 ordinary people.

"5) Conspiracy theorists claim that Mossad's objective to carry out the 9/11 attacks was to frame Muslims, to create a clash between the U.S. and Muslims. But why would it do that? In the Middle East conflict, the U.S. had already been supporting Israel, and there were no signs of any shift in its policy. As such, there was no need for Mossad to perpetrate this horrendous terror attack. On the contrary, had this alleged Mossad terror plot that involved the killing of thousands of Americans got exposed, this would have caused irreparable damage to the U.S.-Israel relationship. Why would Israel take such a big risk for gaining nothing more than what it already had?"

"How could [the U.S.] ... [Be] Capable of the [Alleged] Machination of Forging Such a Major... Plot as 9/11 With So Much Risk, Then Fail to Hatch the Relatively Small And Minor Plot of Planting WMDs in Iraq?"

"6) Another conspiracy theory says that the Bush administration was itself behind the 9/11 attacks to find an excuse to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. This, once again, has no logic. First of all, the U.S. named Osama bin Laden (OBL) as the main suspect for the 9/11 attacks, not Saddam. Therefore, it gave it an excuse to invade Afghanistan only, not Iraq. Secondly, 9/11 was one event that jolted the U.S. to the hilt.

"The World Trade Center (WTC) was not just a building, but also a symbol of the U.S.'s economic power. Nothing could be more damaging for a superpower than to expose its soft underbelly to the world. Would the most powerful nation in the world injure itself so badly and so humiliatingly to find an excuse to attack the world's weakest and poorest country? It is like burning one's own house to kill a mouse. Did not the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa, two years previously, give the U.S. enough reason to initiate military action against the Taliban in Afghanistan, who were hosting OBL? Does one, who has the might, need any excuse for war?

"If the U.S. needed to destroy the WTC to attack Afghanistan, then it must have also needed to wreck the White House and implicate Saddam as the main suspect before attacking Iraq and bring down the Golden Gate Bridge and accuse Qadhafi for it to find a pretext for attacking Libya. If the U.S. was such a big conspirator, it would have been much easier for it to attack Afghanistan and Iraq first on the suspicion of their possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and, after entering its forces there, fake such a discovery. But, when the U.S. did not find WMDs in Iraq, it honestly conceded it. How could a state capable of the machination of forging such a major and incredibly complex plot as 9/11 with so much risk, then fail to hatch the relatively small and minor plot of planting WMDs in Iraq?"

"If ... [the Iran Contra Scandal and Watergate Affair] were Exposed By the Confidants, Why has the Alleged 9/11 Conspiracy Plot, Despite Being So Damaging to U.S. Interests, not been Exposed By Anyone Even Today?"

"7) If the Bush administration itself perpetrated the destruction of the WTC, it could not have carried it out with the help of a few people; it would have needed to involve considerable government machinery, for instance to plant dynamite in the WTC (this conspiracy theory construes that the building collapsed not because of the crashing of planes into it but was blasted with dynamite already planted in it).

"How come not even one amongst those who had been assigned to carry out this operation was a patriot? Who can forget Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North who exposed the Iran-Contra Affair of 1987? Now that the Bush administration is gone, has anybody, who was a part of this alleged covert operation of 9/11, come out with some confessions testifying to this conspiracy theory?

"In the past, besides the Iran Contra scandal, others scandals like the Watergate affair of 1973 have been exposed by participants therein. The above two scams were ethically wrong, but not against U.S. interests. If they were exposed by the confidants, why has the alleged 9/11 conspiracy plot, despite being so damaging to U.S. interests, not been exposed by anyone even today?

"8) Saudi Arabia never denied that 15 out of the 19 terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks were Saudi nationals. Instead, the Saudi government cooperated with the U.S. in intelligence sharing and investigations. It never tried to vindicate its 15 citizens because there was irrefutable evidence that proved their involvement in the whole affair. The Urdu media seems to be more loyal to the Saudi king than the king himself."

"The Conspiracy Theories Assert that the U.S. Planned to Occupy Afghanistan to Lay a Pipeline There Connecting Central Asia And South Asia to Capture Caspian Energy Resources"

"9) The conspiracy theories assert that the U.S. planned to occupy Afghanistan to lay a pipeline there connecting Central Asia and South Asia to capture Caspian energy resources. If this were indeed true, then why has the U.S. not laid that pipeline even today after 10 years of presence in Afghanistan? Does the cost of the war, which the U.S. is bearing, not outsize the expected gains from that pipeline?

"Can our media not present the possibility that U.S. military action against the Taliban is its logical response to the 9/11 attacks? What was the motivation for energy resources when the U.S. took part in two world wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, etc.? By paying one tenth of the money that it is spending on the present war, it could have persuaded the money-starved Taliban to agree to a pipeline deal.

"Similarly, by helping to ease UN sanctions on Iraq, initially pressed by the U.S., it could have won energy projects in Iraq. With the kind of capital and cutting edge technology that U.S. oil companies have, the U.S. was likely to win a major share of oil and gas drilling, processing and transportation projects in this region. What story will the Urdu media have to tell its audience if the U.S. actually withdraws its forces from Afghanistan without putting a pipeline there, which is foreseeable?

"In 1972, the Urdu media was so sure that India would never pull out its army from Bangladesh in order to maintain its occupation. However, the Urdu media's speculations utterly failed then, as they will most likely fail now."

"Except for the... Prejudice against Jews And the U.S., And a Soft Corner for Jihadis, What is the Logical Reason for the Urdu Media And Common Pakistanis not to Accept That the 9/11 Attacks were Carried Out by Islamist Militants after All?"

"10) Except for the bias and prejudice against Jews and the U.S., and a soft corner for jihadis, what is the logical reason for the Urdu media and common Pakistanis not to accept that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by Islamist militants after all? Is it because Al-Qaeda and the associated Islamist jihadi organisations are peace-loving people? Are all terrorist activities linked with Al-Qaeda and its child concerns, reported all over the world, including in Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan itself, all fake, concocted and fabricated?

"The 9/11 attacks are very much consistent with the words and actions of Islamic militants. Ramming explosives-laden vehicles into buildings and suicidal attacks are their typical way of striking, and the 9/11 attacks have the same hallmark. Is the hateful doctrine preached by Islamist groups the world over, according to which the killing of infidels is justified, also carried out by the CIA, Mossad, Israel, George Bush, etc.? Have Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and jihadi organizations ever denounced the killing of civilians?

"In fact, Al-Qaeda and all Islamist jihadi organisations are vociferously supportive not only the killing of 'infidels,' but also Muslims belonging to other sects of Islam. How, then, are Islamist jihadis unlikely candidates for having carried out the terrorist attacks of 9/11?

"Despite all the above facts, the Urdu media has been pretty successful in selling conspiracy theories to the general public of Pakistan, which is easily the most misled and misinformed on the face of the earth...."