Conspiracy Cads

I, like most people, love a good conspiracy theory. Conspiracy means intrigue, drama, and reasons behind things. To be honest, conspiracies tend to bring order to chaos and understanding to the unfathomable. However, those who espouse conspiracies at every turn are taking a vacation from reality more often than not.

I will use 9/11 as a perfect example of the above.

There is no doubt that 9/11 is, to date, the most powerful moment my generation will remember. It is both politically and personally significant for people in the U.S. and around the world. So it should not surprise us that the conspiracy theorists (CTs) came out in force before the rubble had even settled.

Just for kicks, I will list a couple of the most popular theories here. But, before I get into it, let me first say that I am NOT saying what happened or did not. I am not personally qualified to conclude anything with a high degree of certainty. I am not an engineer or an architect. I was not in NYC at the time of or after the attacks, and I did not inspect the debris. My points here will not be of that nature. I will simply make the argument put forth by Ockham’s Razor – The explanation with the fewest assumptions is the best one.

Having said that, here goes…

1. The Towers were imploded and did not fall as a result of the airplane collisions.

Again, I will not get into the whole, “The WTC should have fallen sideways and not straight down,” or, “The fuel from the planes could not have burned hot enough to melt the structure.” I am simply going after the reasoning behind it all. Let’s list the official story and then some of the CTs stuff and compare them both.

Offical:
Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda planned and financed the attacks because they hate the U.S. for a number of political reasons.
Groups of terror cells worked for years to prepare for the attacks and the steps they took are now widely documented.
The cells carried out the attacks in small teams.
The burning fuel caused a structural malfunction in the towers causing them to collapse.
Video of Bin Laden after the attacks shows him taking credit for the plan and commenting on how he had not expected them to fall completely.

CT:
All of the above.
High-ranking members of the Bush cabinet, Bush family, and corporate buddies joined forces to set up an excuse to attack Iraq for the oil.
Members of the Bush family also had large stakes in the WTC and would make billions from 9/11.
Bombs were planted in the towers to implode them after the planes impacted.
Everyone who was involved in the plan (and it must have been many, many people) kept quiet about it afterward.

Using Ockham’s Razor, it is easy to pick a winner here. The second option simply has too many variables and assumptions.

For one, no one can keep a secret anymore. No one. Period. If more than one person knows about it, it will get out. So I find it highly unlikely that the CTs have this one right. Imagine the number of people that would need to be involved in orchestrating the CT.

The whole foundation of the CT Bush plan is based on money. That is more believable. But how believable is it that our leaders would turn to mass murder of our OWN people to make money? Not very. Killing people from other countries has never been of much concern to the politicos. But Americans? I just find it to be too improbable.

Now, I have no doubt that 9/11 left the Bush admin with a very easy way to manipulate the American people into attacking Iraq, and get the oil that is there. But it is mush more likely that was just serendipity for the Bush clan and not a set up from the very start.

I guess my point here is: I just cannot believe that people in the highest echelons of our government set up something this complex and evil, executed it to perfection, and kept it a secret. I just don’t buy that. No one is that smart, not everyone in the government is evil, and no one runs a ship that tight.

Next…

2. The Pentagon was hit by a truck bomb and not a plane.

This one is out in la-la land, but let’s touch on it. Here is why I don’t buy this one either.

1. The number of eyewitnesses who saw the plane is too great for it to be conspiracy.
2. There is video of a plane hitting the building.
3. An airliner disappeared somewhere. If it did not hit the Pentagon, where did it go?
4. All the so-called evidence put out by the CTs on this one are pic-tricks and B.S.
a. Asking questions like, “Where did the wings go?” for example is bogus. The wings are made of lightweight aluminum. The Pentagon is a re-enforced concrete and steel structure. Wings would truly disintegrate if a plane were to hit at that speed full of fuel.
b. Some claim that photos show one thing, but the photos are only shown at angles that lend to the CT. Photos from other angles debunk the CT outright and are not used by the CTs.

There are more examples out there – that the Air Force shot down Flight 93, for example. But it works out to be the same argument for me. I guess my thing is this: Give me a GOOD CT and I will follow. Give me crap and I will call it that.

If the CT is less complex than the official story and makes REAL sense, I can buy into it. Otherwise, save your breath and my time and just go away.

In my opinion, CT is popular because it helps people get over their loss and grief by offering some greater reason behind it all. I don’t believe we get off that easy. I think that the inconsistencies that the CTs see are due to tons of human error (on the U.S. side) combined with tons of willpower and single-mindedness (on the Al Qaeda side). We ask ourselves why and we look for someone to blame. Even when the person or persons responsible step forward, some of us still need more. It is not enough and never will be because the hole inside us remains. We assume that means the official story if wrong. So we dig where there is no need to dig. And we see darkness and evil everywhere.

The shadow of 9/11 still casts itself across the world and the ghosts of the people who died that day are around us even now. The sad thing is that we will never know all of what happened or why. Instead of turning to the future to build it together, some of us (CTs especially) get stuck the past and are condemned to relive it in their own way.