A Chance to Stir the 9-11 Conspiracy Pot

By: Bruce S. Ticker

Here is something to look forward to - if it becomes reality.

French author Thierry Meyssan is planning a high-profile book tour in America soon to hype his book: 9-11, The Big Lie, which suggests that the Sept. 11 attacks were plotted to promote war in Afghanistan as part of an American military agenda.

In fact, the French author further suggests that an American missile, not a hijacked airplane, struck the Pentagon.

Perhaps Meyssan's specific claims and theories may well constitute a fantasy, but it is no less a fantasy than some of the stories we have heard from the Bush administration and presidential campaign for nearly the last three years.

At least someone is causing a stir by publicly questioning what really happened on September 11. Let's support his efforts as much as possible.

The circumstances surrounding the tragedy were suspicious from the get-go. It occurred during the watch of a President who demonstrated day after day that he could not be trusted and repeatedly demonstrated contempt for public opinion.

The episode provided him with an excuse for the war that many critics fully expected Bush to initiate. And there are many questions that have yet to be answered.

Mainly, could the White House have prevented these attacks? Did Bush have advance warning yet let it occur so he would have his reason to engage in a war?

From the little I have read, it does not sound as if Meyssan has authoritatively answered these questions, but at least he is making an effort - no matter how far off the mark he may be.

His book was a bestseller in France, though it was met with considerable doubt, according to an Associated Press report.

Predictably, the administration is already trying to discredit Meyssan's book. Says Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Ken McClellan in the AP account: "Certainly there's a market for any sort of trivialization of history. That doesn't make it less of a tragedy."

In the right-wing National Review magazine, James S. Robbins resorted to name-calling. He dubbed Meyssan an "imbecile" and a "half-wit".

Instead of simply dismissing Meyssan as a kook, even if he is, why don't we engage in an honest debate about the doubts that many Americans have about 9-11?

If those in power continue to avoid this long-overdue debate, all of us healthy skeptics can make a very simple statement: Buy Meyssan's book. Make it a bestseller in the United States.