A rchive Date
[ 11-06-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Mass Media ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/williamson.html
Internet filth
No, not porn, the kind spread by 9/11 conspiracy theorists
By LINDA WILLIAMSON -- Toronto Sun
May 19, 2002
Very soon - and months ahead of schedule - a poignant ceremony will be held at Ground Zero in New York City, to mark the moment the last load of World Trade Center debris is carefully sifted, sorted and removed.
It will be a turning point in the massive cleanup of the site that became a burial ground for 3,000 innocents on Sept. 11; the end of a monumental team effort that epitomized human resiliency, compassion and resolve.
Sadly, there's little hope of cleaning up the other debris from that day - the vile, filthy sort that is spread daily over the Internet.
The conspiracy theorists have been out there since Day One, of course, insisting the WTC attacks were planned by the U.S. government itself. There are many variations, depending on whether you're an Islamist (Osama bin Laden was framed); an anti-Semite (the Jews and/or Israel did it) or just a garden-variety conspiracy theorist (it was all to benefit big oil companies and their powerful friends).
All of it is absurd; much of it is downright sick.
For a few months now, the crackpots have been grasping at straws, as more and more evidence proved them wrong. They asked why we'd seen no photos showing that a plane actually hit the Pentagon - the Pentagon produced one. They insisted bombs were heard exploding at ground level at the WTC - the TV documentary 9/11 showed the awful truth; the sound was that of bodies hitting the ground outside.
But every once in a while, they hit a wave of what they think is credibility. Last month, it was provided by Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney of California (where else?), who demanded an investigation into whether President George Bush knew about the attacks in advance.
"Persons close to this administration are poised to make huge profits off America's new war," she told The Washington Post, citing the name of a company she said had close ties to the Bush family. To which a company spokesman dryly responded: "Did she say these things while standing on a grassy knoll in Roswell, New Mexico?"
However, last week's revelations that Bush was in fact warned last summer that bin Laden's al-Qaida network may have been planning to hijack American planes have fanned the conspiracy flames again.
Obviously, there are legitimate questions here about how specific the warnings were, why they weren't made public until now, and how U.S. intelligence could have failed so horribly.
But the stuff I'm talking about has nothing to do with intelligence. Just the opposite, in fact.
For those who don't have, as we in the media do, the dubious privilege of being flooded with e-mail from these people, here's a sample of how they think:
"Come on kids, take the next step: Bush and friends didn't just know about the attack, they planned and executed it!" wrote one.
"It is so clear (bin Laden) had NOTHING to do with it... Bush was responsible!" ranted another.
Others point us to an Internet petition demanding the U.S. Senate investigate Sept. 11 "oddities" indicating government and corporate involvement. It had collected 12,070 signatures last time I checked.
Of course, some conspiracy theorists simply saw last week's news as yet another conspiracy.
"The White House has rushed this story out ... to shift the focus of suspects for 9/11 back to Arab Muslims (and away from Israelis), to justify the war for oil," declared one.
Look, I'm all for healthy skepticism of government - all journalists are. The beauty of a free society is the freedom to speak your mind, no matter how hateful or twisted.
But I can't understand why anyone in a free society would choose to believe their own government would do such a thing. Isn't the true story horrific enough?
More importantly, there's a fine line - and often no line at all - between this kind of garbage and the hateful, noxious propaganda being shovelled around the Muslim world. Like the videotape of terrorists beheading Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl (murdered by terrorists because he was Jewish), edited to link him to the "Jews did it" theory. The video is, predictably, being circulated only in Arabic.
Understand, I don't want to give the loonies more credence than they deserve. Nor do I want them censored.
But be warned: this stuff is out there, and a surprising number of seemingly sane people believe it. Exercising our own freedom to expose such trash and hate when we see it isn't just our luxury, it's our duty.
Linda Williamson is the Toronto Sun senior associate editor. She can be reached by e-mail at linda.williamson@tor.sunpub.com.
Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@sunpub.com.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]]
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