9/11: The Myth and the Reality

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9/11: The Myth and the Reality

The main speaker in the video, David Ray Griffin notes that he had devoted significant time towards studying, authoring and talking about the occurrence of the 9/11 terror attack on united states territory. The speaker notes that his primary objective towards this lecture was to illustrate the distinctive differences between the reality and myth over the events of 9/11. He defines a myth from two perspectives. Firstly, a myth is an idea that is widely believed despite its failure to correspond with reality because it is false. Secondly, a myth serves a role as a mobilizing and orienting story for people as it enables them to understand their values, practices, and norms.

The author notes that terming an issue or story as a myth is focused on the function and purpose of the story that its relation to reality. He notes that the mobilizing and orienting function is possible given the religious overtone concerning the occurrences of 9/11. In addition, a scared myth as in the case of 9/11 is believed to be reality, which affirms its orienting and mobilizing nature within the Islamic community. The official story of 9/11 claims that America was attacked by fanatic Arab Muslims who abhor the freedoms and good nature of America. The speaker notes that this has served as a sacred myth for Americans, which is seemingly an orchestrated act. This is because, after the 9/11 attack, America’s president Bush announced the country’s intention to undertake “a monumental struggle of Good versus Evil” (Griffin). On 13^th September of the same year, the president declared a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the loss of lives due to the terror act. People who question the occurrences of 9/11 are usually ignored and ridiculed given that the declaration of war made by the president at the time in the presence of religious leaders could be termed as a form of sacrilege.

The speaker notes that scared or religious myths are not subjected to rational scrutiny to illustrate its relation to reality. The speaker discusses nine major myths that are inherent in the official account of 9/11. The first myth is provided as, “Our political and military leaders simply would not do such a thing” (Griffin). The evidence undermines this idea despite this idea being favored by a majority of American citizens. The second myth is noted as “Our political and military leaders would have had no motive for orchestrating the 9/11 attacks” which has been reinforced by the commissions of inquiry that sought to affirm the intentions of Al Qaeda (Griffin). However, the idea that the American regime sought to establish a global empire dwarfs this idea. The third myth is provided as, “Such a big operation, involving so many people, could not have been kept a secret, because someone involved in it would have talked by now” (Griffin). This myth is inadequate because majorities of secret operations by governments have been kept secret to date which affirms the possibility that 9/11 could have been a government conspiracy.

The fourth myth is that, “The 9/11 Commission, which has endorsed the official account, was an independent, impartial commission and hence can be believed” (Griffin). This myth is questionable given the presence of bias by a number of members of the commission who could have been intent on altering the findings and reality of 9/11. The fifth myth is that, “The Bush administration provided proof that the attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda terrorists under the direction of Osama bin Laden” (Griffin). This myth has been invalidated by the lack of the names of the hijackers in the flight manifests given that it is assumed that boarded they plane with their full names. This could have been easily recognized by the intelligence authorities. The sixth myth is that, “The 9/11 attacks came as a surprise to the Bush administration” (Griffin). This myth is refuted by stock activity related to the two American airlines namely United and American, which were used in the attacks. The seventh myth is that, “US officials have explained why the hijacked airliners were not intercepted” (Griffin). The explanations provided have been inadequate and marred by loopholes, which begs the authenticity of the security agencies in revealing the actual events leading up to 9/11. The eighth myth is that, “Official Reports have explained why the Twin Towers and Building 7 of the World Trade Center collapsed” (Griffin). The explanations provided are contradictory resulting in inadequacy in providing an understanding as to the collapse of the two buildings. The ninth myth is that, “There is no doubt that Flight 77, under the control of al-Qaeda hijacker Hani Hanjour, struck the Pentagon” (Griffin). This claim suffers from numerous loopholes such as lack of technical skill by the hijacker in operation of a plane and the presence of a sophisticated defense system, which could not be outmaneuvered with ease.

Work Cited

Griffin, David Ray. 9/11: The Myth and the Reality. 911 Truth.org. April 5, 2006. Web. June 11 2015. Retrieved from http://www.911truth.org/911-the-myth-and-the-reality/