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Essay: 9/11: Conspiracy Theory or Inside Job? Exploring Theories and Explanations

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  • Published: 21 February 2023*
  • Last Modified: 22 July 2024
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  • Words: 2,274 (approx)
  • Number of pages: 10 (approx)
  • Tags: Terrorism essays

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The events that took place on September 11th, 2001, were some of the most egregious tragedies to ever occur on American soil. On this day, nineteen extremists from the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out attacks on multiple locations within the United States. Two of the planes were flown into New York City and hit the Twin Towers within the World Trade Center, the third hit the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C., and the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks led to the deaths of almost 3,000 people, which triggered U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism in the Middle East. Surprisingly enough, there have been numerous conspiracy theories behind the 9/11 attacks. In fact, there have also been many books, scientific journals, organizations, and documentaries created in support of some theories, with claims of uncovering the truths behind the event. The conspiracy theories are ultimately predicated on belief that the 9/11 attacks were unable to be planned and executed by this group of extremists, especially to the incredible degree of success, without the help of the U.S. government itself. So the question remains, was 9/11 truly an inside job?

  The most prominent conspiracy theory regarding this tragic day is that the collapse of the Twin Towers and WTC 7 were a result of controlled demolition, rather than structural failure due to the airliner crashes and resulting fires. There has been a long success and almost unblemished record of using steel to build. With that being said, under certain fire conditions, including the ones of the 9/11 attacks, it is largely believed that the three WTC buildings should not have collapsed. In fact, in a documentary titled “The Trillion Dollar Conspiracy Theory”, Dr. Jonathan Barnett, a fire protection engineering professor at WPI, admitted that he was “unaware of any protected steel structure that could collapse” (“Trillion Dollar Conspiracy”, 2016). This statement is backed by the fact that the only three known collapses of high-rise, steel-framed buildings were actually the three that fell on 9/11. With that being said, many theorists concluded that the buildings collapsing was not the result of the plane crashes and subsequent fires, but explosives that were strategically placed in advance.

   The smoking gun in this specific theory was the fact that WTC 7 completely collapsed into itself, yet it wasn’t even hit by a plane. Popular footage of the exterior didn't show significant signs of damage either, so why did it collapse? Since the building actually housed the C.I.A. and Secret Service, many theorists claimed that the building was purposely taken down to get rid of any evidence of the government’s involvement in the attacks that day. Larry Silverstein, a leaseholder of the WTC, also admitted in an interview that he told the fire department to “pull it [the building]” because too many lives were lost and the fires were too great to be contained (“Trillion Dollar Conspiracy”, 2016). Theorists have assumed this was a subliminal message, meaning pull the building down. In regards to the Twin Towers, we see the infamous line, and even meme, “jet fuel can't melt steel beams”, which argues that the fires caused by the plane crashes could not have caused enough damage to make the two towers collapse. This is based on the fact that the “melting point” of structural steel is about “2,800 degrees Fahrenheit”, and “hydrocarbon (e.g. jet fuel) fires” can only generate temperatures up to “about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit” (Thompson, 2018). Ultimately theorists believe the top of the building should’ve simply fell over, instead of taking the highly unlikely path of most resistance and falling on top of the floors below, at almost free fall speed. As some have stated, it’s not like the floors are incapable of sustaining the load they always had. There must have been some type of explosives used to help take down the buildings, right?

    Other pieces of evidence that are used to support this theory is the video footage and eyewitness accounts of the event, including those from news reporters, firefighters and police officers, workers who escaped the towers, and pedestrians close to the World Trade Center at the time of the collapses. There seems to be a commonality or recurrent theme in many accounts, which were the unexplainable loud bangs, prior to and during the collapse of the buildings. Many eyewitnesses had even admitted to hearing, seeing, and feeling secondary “explosions” (the first being the initial plane crash) in and near the buildings, comparing it to a “bomb”, “gunfire”, “firecrackers”, “thunder”, and even “the finale of Fourth of July” (“Trillion Dollar Conspiracy”, 2016). Furthermore, and shockingly enough, many people had even described the collapse of the buildings exactly as if it were “controlled demolition”, or scenes out of a movie where a building is “purposely dynamited” or “blown up” (“Trillion Dollar Conspiracy”, 2016). The most telling account came from an NBC report after the South Tower collapsed, stating that the New York City Fire Department Chief of Safety, Albert Turi, believed “devices were planted in the building” (Khalezov, 2013). Another piece of evidence, which can be found specifically in video footage, were the puffs of smoke shooting out of the windows during the collapse of the buildings. This evidence provides the visual proof of potential demolition/explosives. This collection of evidence has caused many to believe 9/11 was truly an inside job.

    However, where does this theory ultimately fail? Firstly, the many inconsistencies or anomalies that theorists seem to point out have been explained by the official reports from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST is one of the nation's oldest physical science laboratories and is currently a part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. In regards to the WTC buildings being the first three steel structures to collapse, this statement is very much true. However, in the history of all high-rise fires, we have never seen one take as much damage as the WTC buildings, nor has one ever been hit with a plane traveling at 500 miles per hour. Therefore, other steel structure fires become irrelevant in comparison, as none can be compared to the incidents on 9/11. In regards to WTC 7, while many pieces of video footage show the collapse at almost free fall speed, there was a brief 8 seconds of internal failure, beforehand. This was ultimately was caused by the unattended fires and debris-induced structural damage in multiple floors. The initial failure can be seen in some videos, specifically by the east side of the penthouse, which initially caved into the building, bringing down the interior structures and causing a domino effect collapse from east to west.

   The theory that WTC 7 was purposely demolished to get rid of government evidence isn’t very plausible either. Why would the government take down an entire building to get rid of evidence, when they could’ve removed it in different means, especially if they knew about the attacks in advance? Also, why would the government hold such secretive information so close to the attack site? That’s almost the equivalent of robbing a house next door to your own. In regards to Silverstein’s statements, there was no confirmation of what he meant by “pull it”, however it can mean many things, like pull away from the building. Furthermore, the “jet fuel can’t melt steel beams” argument is also invalid, as no one concluded that the Twin Towers collapsed because the structural steel melted. Rather, the impact of the plane crash and high temperatures from jet-fuel fires caused the floors and steel columns to lose their structural integrity and strength, causing an inward bowing and eventual collapse floor by floor. While this might seem like the path of most resistance, in reality, the stories below the initial collapse offered little resistance to the tremendous energy released by the falling building mass. Therefore, the collapse was rather rapid, as the downward momentum felt by each successive lower floor grew larger due to the increasing weight. As for the explosion sounds mentioned in eyewitness accounts, they were most likely caused by debris from the collapsing towers impacting the ground. According to The Aluminum Association, molten aluminum, when mixed with water or other contaminants, can cause explosions. So the aluminum alloy from the planes could have melted and mixed with water from the damaged sprinkler system, also causing these said explosions. The puffs of smoke from the windows as the buildings collapsed could also be explained, since the falling mass of the building “compressed the air ahead of it”, forcing smoke and debris out the windows” as the stories failed successively.

  Lastly, the notion that 9/11 was pretext for the launch of the war on terror is highly implausible. In believing this, one would be assuming that without 9/11, the United States would not have been able to invade the middle east. Even if this were true, the claim would not prove the conspiracy. This line of reasoning would conclude that the attacks on Pearl Harbor was an inside job, because the United States would not have been able to invade Japan if it weren’t those events on December 7th, 1941 — this is obviously invalid. Furthermore, the U.S. government could have easily justified the war on terror through other, cheaper, and far less riskier means. According to the New York Times, in 2002, the New York City comptroller's office estimated the cost of “replacing destroyed and damaged property” at a total of $55 Billion (Carter and Cox, 2011). This doesn’t even include the incredible amount of money it would have costed that government to plan, prepare, and manage such an enormous event. Why would the government waste so much money on a planned terrorist attack when they wanted to start a war in the Middle East? Wouldn’t they want to put that money elsewhere, like the military or intelligence agencies to help win the war? Also, if this truly was an inside job, the government would’ve had to rely on thousands of ordinary civilians, as well as credible airline businesses, news stations, the military, and the New York City Fire and Police Departments to all play along with their horrendous plans. The chances that the entire government and countless innocent citizens were in on this conspiracy, seems highly unlikely. Ultimately, it just doesn’t seem plausible for the government to orchestrate such a profound, complex, and complicated conspiracy.

    Yet the question still remains, why are these conspiracy theories so widely believed? People will ultimately believe these conspiracies just to find some closure. The attacks that occurred on 9/11 caused an incredible amount of trauma and frustration for many individuals. Furthermore, it may seem unlikely to many that a group of unknown Islamic extremists were able to pull off the most diabolical attack in American history. To explain what seems like the unexplainable, people will look for ways to make sense of the incident, no matter how implausible their theories may be. With this comes a certain level of confirmation bias, in which anything that may support their theory, like the collapses were due to controlled demolition, is accepted without any hesitation. Anything else that may disprove their theory, on the other hand, is completely disregarded. This obviously makes theorists far more biased and their claims less valid, as they never take into consideration of possible counter-arguments. There is also a possible level of laziness shared

between theorists and their supporters, as neither take the proper time to consider all possibilities, or back up certain claims with tangible or scientific analysis/evidence. Another reason for belief  in these theories is simple persuasion, manipulation, and influence by a higher power. Authority, one of Dr. Cialdini’s six principles of influence, plays a huge role in almost all conspiracy theories, as we may hear claims made by the news or be told claims are supported by “credible experts”, “renowned scientists”, “knowledgable professors”, etc. Based on certain titles or level of authority, we become easily influenced to believe certain figures or groups, as well as the claims they are said to support.

   In regards to why many people might be skeptical about the way the buildings collapsed and believe claims of controlled demolition, there may be a level of scientific illiteracy. Theorists will claim that their theories are based on scientific fact when they actually aren’t. Instead of using empirical science, they will use basic reasoning, speculation, or intuition, which obviously lead to inaccuracies and falsities. However, many individuals will support these inaccurate theories because they might sense to them, or because the theories might substantiate their own opinions and beliefs. In regards to why many people might not believe what the government says, or may even think they were involved, there has been a long standing tradition in America to be distrustful of power. This has proven to be true even before the birth of our nation — in fact, this distrust is what led to the American Revolution and our eventual independence from Great Britain. While this attitude can be beneficial in certain cases, like the one aforementioned, it can also hurt us as a nation as, we form tendency to disbelieve anything we may see or hear. This proves to be a double-edged sword between having real doubts about politics/power, and unwillingness to trust what we are told. So when the government tells us they weren’t involved, or gives us their authoritative opinion and even a report with credibility explaining what had happened on 9/11, many will be skeptical in trusting what is being said. Unfortunately, we can never be satisfied, and the mysteries behind 9/11 will remain so until the end of time.

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