V for Vendetta?
By Restless
Just rented V for Vendetta a few days ago. What a strange storyline.
Elites within the government execute a terrorist act that kills thousands of people, blaming it on religious extremists. Using the fear generated by the “attack,” all manner of controls and surveillance is put in place, with the people too cowed and fearful to do anything but acquiesce.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about 9/11, concluding with this paragraph:
“Muslims extremists planned an attack on the WTC as they had done in 1993. Neo-cons needed a Pearl Harbor. No chances were taken with potentially inept terrorists. Before the NYFD could fully assess and begin putting out the fires from the jet crashes, the buildings were blown down. A missile was shot into the least-populated side of the Pentagon. Flight 93 was blown out of the sky before it could get to wherever it was going.
“You know what it all means. Although the terrorist’s acts caused several hundred deaths, the remaining deaths, almost 3,000, were caused by some other group. Why? Isn’t it obvious? Look at what’s happened to our country and our world since then. . . and what is yet to come.”
Maybe I can re-write that slightly, let’s see…how about:
Elites within the government execute a terrorist act that kills thousands of people [by well-placed explosives, well-directed missile(s), distracting/disabling NORAD], blaming it on religious extremists [who they had advanced warning about and/or helped facilitate their plans]. Using the fear generated by the “attack,” all manner[Patriot Act, NSA surveillance, bank records, National ID] of controls and surveillance is put in place, with the people[and legislators] too cowed and fearful to do anything but acquiesce.
Funny how life imitates art, isn’t it (V was written in the 80s)? Now, where is the American V?
Aaron — On 9-8-2006 at 10:25 am
Some 200 technical experts—including about 85 career NIST experts and 125 leading experts from the private sector and academia—reviewed tens of thousands of documents, interviewed more than 1,000 people, reviewed 7,000 segments of video footage and 7,000 photographs, analyzed 236 pieces of steel from the wreckage, performed laboratory tests and sophisticated computer simulations of the sequence of events that occurred from the moment the aircraft struck the towers until they began to collapse.
Based on this comprehensive investigation, NIST concluded that the WTC towers collapsed because: (1) the impact of the planes severed and damaged support columns, dislodged fireproofing insulation coating the steel floor trusses and steel columns, and widely dispersed jet fuel over multiple floors; and (2) the subsequent unusually large jet-fuel ignited multi-floor fires (which reached temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius) significantly weakened the floors and columns with dislodged fireproofing to the point where floors sagged and pulled inward on the perimeter columns. This led to the inward bowing of the perimeter columns and failure of the south face of WTC 1 and the east face of WTC 2, initiating the collapse of each of the towers. Both photographic and video evidence—as well as accounts from the New York Police Department aviation unit during a half-hour period prior to collapse—support this sequence for each tower.
- From http://wtc.nist.gov/pubs/factsheets/faqs_8_2006.htm
- Which was found at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090701669.html
Porter Venn — On 9-8-2006 at 10:46 am
I agree with this, Restless I would love to believe its a conspiracy, but I don’t buy it at all. While Bush and company have used 9/11 to royally fuck our country, first with Anti-American laws like the patriot act, and 2nd with our bogus war in Iraq, 9/11 in my mind was commited by 19 thugs who were just smart enough to pull off the biggest caper in the history of the world. I believe 9/11, and subsequent terrorist attacks like those in Spain and London, not to mention Oklahoma City, show just how easy it is for anyone whose motivated enough to cause a lot of devistation, it doesn’t take much brains to pull this shit off, and unfortunatly thats just part of the downside of living in a modern highly technical society. Anyway, as horrific as it seems, I really don’t think the government, bush, or anyone else had anything to do with the planning and execution of 9/11, if anything they were asleep at the wheel like everyone else was, but thats about it, of course their incompetence has only proved to go beyond our most wild imaginations since then, and continues to prove itself every day.
restless — On 9-11-2006 at 8:57 am
Aaron: I appreciate the quality of your comment. I’ve now read the Washington Post article and the full rebuttal to WTC collapse theories posted by NIST. What a great article about the variety in the large group of people who disbelieve the explanation of the events that happened 5 years ago today, whether it be LIHOP (Let It Happen on Purpose) or MIHOP (Made It Happen on Purpose) theories or the nutjobs who are even farther out on the periphery.
I have the following criticisms of the NIST rebuttal:
1. It focuses on the steel support beams on the perimeter of the structures, while not adequately addressing the 48 beams in the center of each building. Vids I’ve seen show pictures of the WTC towers under construction in the 60s and these center beams can be seen. Apparently, blueprints of the Towers have not been made available for some reason.
2. The report offers no rebuttal or explanation for the pulverized concrete. Their conclusion that the steel lost its strength, thus allowing the building to drop down doesn’t address this issue, and this is important because several engineers and physicists have used the particulates of pulverized concrete emitted during the collapse as evidence of a large energy source coming from within the buildings, energy too large to be a simple collapse.
3. Their explanation of why black, sooty smoke is seen coming from the supposedly hot fires is confusing and makes not much sense. It was hot somewhere deep inside the building so therefore black soot was seen coming out of the hole?
4. Their theory for the sudden collapse of the 3rd WTC building sounds about as convoluted as the Magic Bullet theory put forth in JFK’s assassination. There have been many high-rises damaged by fire before and since WTC7’s collapse, yet WTC7 remains the only high-rise ever to collapse solely from a fire.
That said, I learned one thing from the report I had not known: “From video evidence, significant portions of the cores of both buildings (roughly 60 stories of WTC 1 and 40 stories of WTC 2) are known to have stood 15 to 25 seconds after collapse initiation before they, too, began to collapse.” I’m not sure what this means, the NIST doesn’t say much about it either.
Thanks for turning me on to the article.
restless — On 9-11-2006 at 9:02 am
Porter: Do you know that today, many people are staying out of Manhattan for fear of what might happen on the 5th anniversary of 9-11? I understand your beliefs regarding this issue, but here’s the thing: why is there so much unreasonable secrecy in regard the events of that day? To wit:
1. Why have the tapes from the multiple cameras present in the area of the Pentagon strike not been released? 5 frames from one camera is not full disclosure.
2. Why did the Bush Administration vigorously resist the formation of the 9-11 Commission, try to stack it with partisan officials and then resist all attempts to get information needed to do an investigation (As most recently documented by the head of the 9-11 Commission in his book, Without Precedent - forums.therandirhodesshow.com/lofiversion/index.php/t93992.html)?
It’s this secrecy that breeds fear and ignorance and is the reason why so many believe that something is amiss.
Just this year, 43 years after the Kennedy assassination, a reasonable explanation of why the Warren Commission never fully investigated the events of November 22, 1963 has been offered (www.ultimatesacrificethebook.com/). Are we going to have to wait another 40 years to get the true story of what happened 5 years ago?
Maybe, with the advent of the internet, we have a new way to express our disbelief and to build a consensus strong enough to get something done about this. There’s no plausible reason, national security or otherwise, for the secrecy and resistance shown by our “leaders.” Something’s rotten in Denmark, Porter. Let’s get to the bottom of it.
Porter Venn — On 9-11-2006 at 10:57 am
Restless, I can believe it. If I were in NYC I would be a little spooked out today too. To answer your questions… (1) No idea, (2) Bush has resisted all along, but I believe this is more to cover up his total incompetence than to hide any conspiracy. Here is something to consider considering a 9/11 conspiracy. If 9/11 were not a conspiracy (as you believe it is) If it were really commited by this 19 assholes on those planes, and no one else, then how would it be different than what happened? Would the buildings have fallen differently? Would Bush’s incompetence, secrecy, or reaction be any different? Would there still be a missing piece of tape here, or an unexplained picture there, or some weird memo somewhere? or someone predicting this would happen etc? The point I’m trying to make is, I don’t see how the events of 9/11 could ever happen, no matter what the scenario, without someone, somewhere, claiming it was a conspiracy. Restless I have yet to see anything that convinces me there is an American conspiracy behind 9/11. The buildings fell just as they would fall if you had 2 fully fueled planes slam into them, if you mean to tell me the buildings were rigged, tell me how you keep something like that secret? and most importantly, I think the most important thing to consider is… Why? What would be the motivation? If you say Bush needed 9/11 to invade Iraq, then what was the motivation behind that? What would Bush and company personally gain from killing 3,000 innocent Americans, an invasion of Afhganistan and Iraq, and so on? Money? I don’t think so. Power? The guy is out in 2 years, Prestige? Yea right. Bush is s dunderhead X-Frat boy coke-snorter, not only is the guy nowhere near clever (or fiendish) enough to concoct such a Dr. Evil like plan, he isn’t motivated. Far from geing the wizard behind the curtain, he is more like the Janitor with the mop waiting for his shift to end so he can go home and drink some bud.
restless — On 9-13-2006 at 9:07 am
Porter: First, remember again, it wasn’t 2 buildings—it was 3. They all fell the same way. Only 2 were hit by planes. Here’s a suggested motive, a motive cobbled together by incompetents: neo-cons firmly believe that the US needs to maintain its superpower status by unilateral military action throughout the world. That’s their deal, man. Most Americans wouldn’t go for that as we are seeing now, when it’s now clear that neo-cons are so incompetent in their military and nation-building strategy (more of this in this week’s post). But just because they are incompetent doesn’t mean they don’t vehemently believe their theories are what’s necessary for America. Ok, planes have been flown into high-rises before. But, there has been minimal damage. So, the question is: would hi-jacked planes flown into 2 buildings by Arab fundamentalists causing a couple hundred deaths have been enough to galvanize the American people behind the neo-con strategy for the US? My answer is: maybe. But perhaps an answer of maybe wasn’t good enough and things were “cheated” so that more lasting and symbolic damage was caused. And by the way, it’s not just a motivation for invading Iraq, but for gaining enhanced war powers, Patriot acts, wars throughout the Middle East and who knows what else still secret or to come. For the previous 30 years, government power had been reigned in mostly in reaction to the crimes committed by the Nixon Administration and the bad taste for foreign wars left by Vietnam. But neo-cons believed this was the wrong direction for government and have been trying to change it ever since. Also, your thinking that there’s a personal gain here for Bush or someone. . .it has nothing to do with a personal motivation. Did Dean Rusk have any personal gain from being a proponent of the Cold War? It’s a sincere philosophy that our very way of life is at risk unless we are militarily dominant throughout the world. Moreover, this goes beyond Bush and his 8-year presidency: Republican neo-cons felt a good way to keep majorities in the House and Senate getting elected would be to have the people constantly in fear of terrorists. This was the clear theme at the 2004 Republican Convention and now in the run-up to the elections this year. Finally, it’s not Bush as Dr. Evil, plotting alone or even as plot leader. This neo-con philosophy is shared in most of the high-level officials in our government and all joking aside, many believe that Cheney directs things, not Bush.
Your comment mostly asks for a valid motive. I’ve supplied it above. To summarize: Neo-cons needed something extraordinary to happen to motivate the American people to support their goals, which they deemed necessary for our country. Not trusting the abilities of the plotters they “enhanced” the damage so that it would be truly extraordinary. Mission accomplished.
Porter I respect your conclusions: everyone has the right to look at the events and draw their own. However, many who look at: a) all of the unexplained elements of the events of 9-11, b) the unreasonable secrecy still surrounding many of elements of evidence, and c) the unexplained actions of this Administration to cripple a full investigation have come to a conclusion that, at the very least, something isn’t right about this. That’s why, if you go to youtube.com and type “re-open 911,” you’ll see dozens of videos on the subject. My point is: Re-open 911, so that we can prove to ourselves and to the world that we are a nation of laws, that he have true liberty, that we don’t sweep anything under the rug.
Thanks for hearing me on this. I’ve said enough on this topic for now until there are further developments.