On September 11, 2009, the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Syrian government daily Al-Thawra published several columns doubting the "official version" of that day's events, and claiming that the attacks were an American or American-Israeli conspiracy, citing U.S. researchers and historians to back up their claims.
The following are translated excerpts from the columns:
9/11 Was An American Plan
In a column titled "Wars that Destroyed the World," Munir Al-Moussa wrote: "Among the reasons behind Bush's wars following 9/11 was, first and foremost, a plan to [establish an] empire. [This plan was] dictated by stakeholders, by Jewish and Zionist owners of capital, by the weapons industry, and by the big oil companies. [All these] agreed with the views of George Bush's grandfather, which is connected to advice from Benjamin Franklin - who published a book on September 11, 1773... in which he recommended always acting to expand the [American] empire, to plunder the wealth of other countries, and to kill the peoples, so that the empire would preserve its power.
"It was in this context that U.S. president George Bush Sr. presented, also on September 11 but in 1990, his vision of 'the new world order' aimed at expanding this empire...
"It would seem that the 2001 attacks were the best opportunity for the Bush/Cheney administration, and for the [American] military industry, to establish a new world order... A 2000 report by then-defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and several neo-conservatives... noted that a new tragic event similar to Pearl Harbor could strengthen the American military empire.
"There were precedents for the U.S.'s fabrication of pretexts - such as the 1962 Operation Northwoods plan, which was aimed at [justifying] military intervention in Cuba by creating a suitable pretext [1]...
"Morgan Reynolds, professor [emeritus] at Texas [A&M] University and a former member of the Bush administration, called 9/11 a false and faked operation linked to the American plan of worldwide hegemony. Jurist Richard Falk, chairman of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, said with regard to the idea of [American] hegemony that the Bush administration could have made the 9/11 attacks possible, or could have conspired in their execution, in order to facilitate the [implementation of] the hegemony plan...
"David Ray Griffin claimed that 9/11 was planned by members of the Bush administration, including Defense Minister Rumsfeld. He wondered why they had done this, and noted that some of the answers become clear from how the events were exploited to strengthen the empire...
"If humanity overcomes its hesitation to discuss what [really] happened on 9/11, dark and terrible secrets may be revealed. Then the world will understand what happened in the international arena, and will view the ramifications of 9/11 as the logical outcome of the Bush administration's policy, which will have ramifications in the future as well.
"Then humanity will know why, one hour after the attacks, when there was as yet no proof [regarding who carried them out], Bush hastened to make accusations, and to declare that the perpetrators were Muslims and that the U.S. was declaring war not only against them but also against the countries that had sheltered and protected them. It should be noted that no evidence at all was presented at that time."
9/11 - An American-Israeli Conspiracy
Dr. Ibrahim Za'ir presented similar claims; in his column, he wrote: "Eight years after 9/11, there is no escape from taking another look at the diverse information regarding this horrible and criminal act of terror, or from asking the questions that were never properly answered about who is responsible for it, who carried it out, and why.
"It is important to stress that the events of 9/11 took place at the same time as an extremist rightwing administration rose to power in the U.S., controlled by several neo-conservatives who did all they could to implement their perceptions and their plans. These events gave them the appropriate pretexts [to do so]...
"Perhaps the words of American writer and former congressman [sic] David Duke still echo in the minds of Americans who are recovering from the horror of the 9/11 explosions... Duke says that what makes Israel unique is the rampant egotism, the self-love, and the sacrificing of everyone else in striving to achieve the aims and fulfill the dreams of the Elders of Zion. Israel [he said] has no problem in using terror against its sponsor the U.S., if doing so serves its interests.
"Isn't it amazing that among all those killed [in 9/11], there was only a single Jew - while the number of Jewish employees in both towers topped 4,000? Likewise, several American sources claim that there is well-based evidence that Israel knew of the attack in advance, and that U.S. intelligence had arrested five Israelis gleefully filming the destruction next to the site of the explosions...
"Netanyahu called 9/11 an excellent deed that would strengthen solidarity between the U.S. and Israel. The News Batis [sic], which provides information services to The Washington Post, reported that the attacks were carried out by an American-Israeli alliance that included several influential members of the American administration, influential Jewish company owners, and employees of the Israeli Mossad.
"Neither the made-up claims of the American information apparatus regarding the identity of the perpetrators of the explosions nor the arbitrary accusation against the Arabs and Muslims stand up to the many facts that have gradually come to light. [These facts] indicate that 9/11 was the handiwork of these senior [American] politicians, who dream of ruling the world and stealing its treasures, for the sake of a handful of wealthy Americans...
"The day is not far off when the world will stop asking who carried out the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. The answer is likely to be that the perpetrator is the one who stood to benefit the most from them, at the expense of the victims of the explosions."
9/11 - A CIA/Pentagon Plot
In a column titled "Whoever Begins with Lies Ends with Scandal," Hassan Hassan wrote: "9/11... was a day that heralded evil for the entire world, and on which, it is said, the city of New York came under attack by planes carrying operatives of the Al-Qaeda organization, that had made Afghanistan its base.
"I write 'it is said,' because this matter is shrouded in doubt to this day. This doubt has increased with the passing of the days and years, pushing the official White House 'version' [of the 9/11 events] further and further away.
"Today in the U.S. there are those who present the 'other version' [of events] aloud; they include thinkers, scientists, and politicians well-known in the U.S. and outside it. According to this 'other version,' [the events] were a conspiracy planned and carried out by the CIA, the Pentagon, and other elements...
"It doesn't matter which version is the right one; what is clear is that the Bush administration sought, from that day forward, to actualize all the historic aspirations for plunder and for imperial rule expressed in the views of the neoconservatives and the warmongers, and of the [American] military industry behind them - under the headline of 'the War on Terror'...
"The American forces invaded Afghanistan in response to the 'aggression,' even as the American people began to doubt the truth of the [U.S. administration's] claims. They invaded Iraq on the strength of accusations that the entire world [later] learned were false - and with claims of 'spreading freedom and democracy,' about which the entire world later learned the truth, after the [information about] the crimes of Abu Ghuraib were leaked...
"Indeed, whoever begins with lies ends with scandal."
Endnote:
[1] Operation Northwoods, proposed in the United States government in 1962, called for CIA or other operatives to commit apparent acts of terrorism in U.S. cities that would be blamed on Cuba, in order to create public support for a war against that country. The plan was never officially accepted or executed.
