Conspiracies: The Facts * the Theories * the Evidence (32 page)

Read Conspiracies: The Facts * the Theories * the Evidence Online

Authors: Andy Thomas

Tags: #Conspiracy Theories, #Social Science

BOOK: Conspiracies: The Facts * the Theories * the Evidence
7.58Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

from Rostov-on-Don, an apartment building in the city of

Volgodonsk was blown up last night.

This statement was miraculously prescient; the Volgodonsk

apartments were not bombed until three days after this statement

was made.

When Volgodonsk was indeed then hit, explanations were

demanded, but Seleznyov refused to answer, to the point of turning 196

Conspiracy.indd 196

23/10/2012 15:42:25

9/11 and related conspiracies

off his microphone in the Duma chamber – a strange response

to pertinent requests. Two years on, Seleznyov eventual y stated

that he had been referring to another attack in Volgodonsk and

that the dates had simply been mixed up. Given that this other

incident had been a small and unsuccessful grenade incident, it

is hard to see how it could have been described in the terms he

used. Unsurprisingly, many were left unconvinced by this less-

than-satisfactory clarification. The resonance of this with the BBC

announcing the fall of WTC 7 in advance of its actual col apse

has not gone unnoticed, suggesting that a pre-scripted statement

may once again have been issued somewhat earlier than intended,

implicating Russian intelligence services in knowing full well what was due to happen.

More charges of conspiracy were aimed at Russia when, on 10

April 2010, a plane carrying the Polish president Lech Kaczyński, together with many senior members of his government and

the president of the National Bank of Poland, crashed in fog

near Russia’s Smolensk airport. There were no survivors. The

contingent had been on its way to Warsaw to commemorate the

70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, where Soviet secret police executed thousands of Polish citizens in 1940, and feelings were

still running high on both sides. Perhaps this is why, despite the poor flying conditions and the verdicts of pilot error, accusations were rampant that Russia had somehow staged the crash in some

kind of attempt to weaken the political resolve of its neighbour.

Rumours (based on unproven audio recordings) of survivors

being shot at the site of the accident were rife, and weaknesses

in the subsequent Russian investigation, including discrepancies

in the claimed autopsies, have led to allegations of a cover-up by Russia and cal s for an independent international inquiry.9

In this case, such theorizing could be born of grief, historical

resentments and the need to find someone to blame for a terrible

occurrence, although it might also be observed that placing so

many important officials on one vehicle is probably not a very

197

Conspiracy.indd 197

23/10/2012 15:42:25

conspiracies

wise thing to do. It does seem to be a mistake made just a little too often, as was seen in the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash (first blamed on the pilots, then ‘faulty software’) at Scotland’s Mull

of Kintyre, which managed to eradicate 25 important counter-

terrorist officers from Northern Ireland, or at the later shooting down of the aforementioned helicopter (also a Chinook), which

took the lives of several of bin Laden’s claimed assassins.10

7/7

For the majority of conspiracy theorists, Britain itself was the target of a significant false-flag terror attack on 7 July 2005 (‘7/7’). The official account has it that four home-grown Muslim extremists

blew themselves up in London on a bus and three underground

trains that morning, taking 52 passengers with them and injuring

many more. These devastating attacks so shocked the nation, for all its memories of IRA action in previous decades, that questioning

it is still a taboo in many forums, generating disgust and anger.

But, like 9/11 before it, doubts have crept in over the years, leading many truthseekers to ponder a number of anomalies.

Among the concerns, the following items are the most

conspicuous:

• The lack of any clearly identifiable CCTV images of the

bombers.

• Timecode and timeline discrepancies in the released

security footage.

• Notable contradictions and inconsistencies in the official

account’s version of which trains the bombers took and

precisely where the explosions took place. The train they

were initial y claimed to be on was actual y cancelled that

morning, for example, forcing a later revision of the official

narrative to account for this.

198

Conspiracy.indd 198

23/10/2012 15:42:25

9/11 and related conspiracies

• The supposed terrorists had long been under surveil ance

by intelligence forces, and may even have been recruited by

them to take part in mysterious ‘exercises’.

• Similar ‘exercises’ were taking place the very day of 7/7,

which postulated a scenario of bombs going off at the

very stations
where three of them were then apparently

detonated (as related that morning by security adviser

Peter Power on BBC Radio 5 Live).

• Images from the trains appear to show damage coming

from
beneath
the carriages.

• Peculiarly specific damage to the bus which blew up at Tav-

istock Square (which one witness claims was deliberately

diverted from its normal route by obstructive cars).

Other problematic areas have also been cited, but it can be seen

from these points alone that even this seemingly straightforward

terrorist case is rife with unexplained incongruities that were

guaranteed to set conspiracy theories running.

Certainly, the claim about exercises ‘coincidental y’ occurring

at the vital 7/7 flashpoints stretches credulity, especial y when compared to the almost identical situation with the dril s on 9/11

(
see
p. 178). Claimed links between the bombers and the British security services, who, it is now confirmed, knew of their extremist leanings and had been monitoring them for some time, have led

to speculation that they were encouraged and allowed to carry out the attacks, set up as patsies (as may have occurred with the 1993

bombing of the World Trade Center –
see
p. 53). Others believe they may have been duped into participating in an exercise that

had them carrying live explosives without their knowledge, which

were then set off by remote control. Yet the reports (and images) of damage apparently having come up from below the carriages, rather than in them, have led some to wonder whether the explosions were entirely, or partly, the result of bombs planted on the tracks rather than backpack blasts. One survivor from the Aldgate train said:

199

Conspiracy.indd 199

23/10/2012 15:42:25

conspiracies

The policeman said ‘mind that hole, that’s where the bomb

was’. The metal was pushed upwards as if the bomb was

underneath the train. They seem to think the bomb was left

in a bag, but I don’t remember anybody being where the

bomb was, or any bag.11

The memories of several other survivors concerning the

bombers or what they were wearing seem very hazy, with many

contradictory descriptions having been given. A number of other

accounts suggest a complete absence of the men that the official

versions insist were there, but most of these reports have been

ignored by the authorities.

All these ‘disgraceful’ conspiracy theories might be cleared

up easily with definitive proof and unequivocal security footage, but what has been presented to support the orthodox account

of 7/7 thus far is inconclusive, with only one bomber actual y

being identifiable by his face in the available images. This has not stopped official inquiries from drawing firm conclusions based

on evidence that would not normal y be considered admissible

in court, with an absolute presumption of the accused men’s guilt seemingly having been established before investigations even

began – just as with 9/11.

The 7/7 situation is admittedly far less clear-cut than 9/11, and different in as much as there is so little visual material available for analysis. This has enabled the concerns to be more easily sidelined in the public eye, but the ongoing truth campaigns speak of a

determination in some quarters not to let the issue go.

Drawing Threads Together

What nearly all of these modern false-flag allegations have in

common is that they are considered by truthseekers to be part

of a pattern which lays down a solid path for the machinations

200

Conspiracy.indd 200

23/10/2012 15:42:25

9/11 and related conspiracies

of the New World Order. Other possibilities are usual y added

to this list, including the 2004 Madrid train bombings in Spain,

the Bali bombings of 2002 and various failed attacks from shoe

or underwear bombers on planes, together with all manner of

exposed ‘al-Qaeda-linked’ plots around the world, which seem

designed to heighten fear and hatred towards the Muslim world

and increase oppressive social controls in the name of safety.

Indeed, there is substantial evidence that the threat from the

catch-all al-Qaeda quarter may well have been exaggerated for

effect, as we shall see in chapter 8.

Before we explore the New World Order threads in more detail,

there is one more strand of conspiracy theory that also needs to be taken into account, one which has taken a back seat so far in this text: the wide belief that, in addition to geopolitical manoeuvring and social engineering, more paranormal elements may drive the

motivations of those pulling the strings.

In Summary . . .

9/11 and Related Conspiracies: Arguments Against

9/11 is too big to have been attempted as a false-flag event, involving
too many people and risking exposure for the perpetrators – Who
would do such a thing ‘to their own people’? – The anomalies in
the official timelines, records and forensics of the attacks are nothing
more than inevitable confusion in the ‘fog of war’ – The col apses of
the towers were natural and ful y consistent with the laws of physics,
albeit constituting unusual occurrences or a ‘new phenomenon’ –

Government-sponsored scientists are more qualified to comment
on what occurred than so-cal ed physicists from the ‘fringe’ – It is
disrespectful to the victims of 9/11 to chal enge the details of what
occurred – Questioning 9/11 is unpatriotic, even treasonous – The
media firmly support the official version of events and thus the
201

Conspiracy.indd 201

23/10/2012 15:42:25

conspiracies

‘truth movement’ cannot be right, or it would have gathered more
mainstream support – Evidence for other claimed false-flag events is
equal y tenuous and should never be taken seriously.

9/11 and Related Conspiracies: Arguments For

It would not take that many inside operatives to grease the path to
successful attacks, sowing enough confusion to cover their tracks

– Some argue the perpetrators ARE being exposed and the power-hungry rarely have scruples about kil ing their own people – The
anomalies of 9/11 are simply too many and too extraordinary to be
written off as coincidences – The ‘new phenomenon’ explanations
for the fal s of the towers rely either on guesswork or demonstrably
distorted hypothetical models which do not take into account the
real conditions on the day, or misrepresent the physical attributes
of the buildings – The scientists chal enging the official story are as
qualified, sometimes more, than those paid to put the government
view – More disrespect is shown towards the victims of 9/11 by
not investigating precisely what happened, ignorance risking other
such events being staged – The attacks are more likely to have been
treasonous than those seeking the truth about them – The media
is complicit with the cover-ups around 9/11, whether through

institutional scepticism or intimidation – The discrepancies around
other false-flag possibilities display similar patterns to 9/11 and are
unlikely to all be imagination.

ConClusion

Of all the many conspiracy claims, 9/11 has the most layers of

evidence, suggesting that whatever the ultimate truth of the

attacks, the official version fails to address legitimate concerns which hint at other agendas being played out. The increasing

202

Conspiracy.indd 202

23/10/2012 15:42:25

9/11 and related conspiracies

public doubt over 9/11, backed up by the unusual but telling

support of a significant number of high-calibre professionals and academics, speaks of a meaningful disquiet that deserves some

proper attention.

With the establishment showing every sign of wanting to sweep

the whole thing under the carpet of history – as with JFK, the USS

Liberty
, the Tonkin ruse and various other incriminating events which have fallen into a hazy mythological past – the 9/11 truth

movement feels an urgency to preserve the issues in the public

eye. As the tapestry of contemporary global conflicts and liberty issues is still firmly rooted in the attacks of 2001, and with related incidents showing signs of similar manipulation, there is at least the opportunity to keep the flame of enquiry burning. For if 9/11

Other books

Red Rose by J. C. Hulsey
Bake, Battle & Roll by Leighann Dobbs
My Temporary Life by Martin Crosbie
Alibaba's World by Porter Erisman
The Secret of Ferrell Savage by J. Duddy Gill & Sonia Chaghatzbanian
Afflicted by Novak, Ava
Embracing the Wolf by Felicity Heaton