THEORIES, from page 4 Theorists tap the emotion nerve
By Carole Orlincan be reached at
As someone who grew up during the most significant historical event of the 20th Century — the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963 — I can’t help but still be stunned by the equally historical event of the 21st Century — 9/11. I am amazed by a certain parallel in the aftermath of those two horrific events, and the evolution of conspiracy theories.
I know that we all love a mystery. Oliver Stone was able to craft a powerful film (“JFK”) in 1991, nearly three decades after that fateful day in Dallas, with powerful speculation about who really killed the president.Now,barely five years after watching in horror as our majestic Trade Center towers were reduced to rubble, I have never doubted for a moment that the 9/11 attack upon our country was perpetrated by Osama bin Laden and his followers.
However,I am now hearing more and more people that I consider to be intelligent, and not particularly paranoid, entertaining the possibility that this horrendous act was perpetuated by our own government or a global network for sinister reasons. I have always felt that conspiracy theories were the ramblings of paranoid people with too much time on their hands. After hearing these conspiracy theories more and more frequently, I have to ask myself: Why are they gaining in popularity with mainstream Americans?
There have always been conspiracy theories surrounding every major event in history, but it seems this one not only will not go away, but it may even be gaining momentum.As reported in Reuters this past Sept. 11, a recent Ipsos- Reid poll revealed that one in five Canadians, and 32 percent of the people in Quebec, believe that bin Laden had nothing to do with the attack. The poll asked if the events of 9/11 was a plot “by highly influential Americans and others as part of a wider global conspiracy to profit from and gain power and who are actually protecting Osama bin Laden from being captured.” A July 2006 Scripps Howard and Ohio University poll found that 36 percent of respondents concluded: “It was ‘very likely’ or ‘somewhat likely’ that federal officials either participated in the attacks... or took no action to stop them.”
The hook that conspiracy theorists possess is that they touch on our emotions and fears and reflect distrust of those in authority. If weapons of mass destruction were in Iraq,and we went in and found them,all would be well,even though attacking Iraq has nothing to do with our search for bin Laden. As it is, when trying to make sense of this war,and trying to tie it into the 9/11 attacks, we are left baffled by the lack of logic to it. This is fodder for a conspiracy theory to take hold.The gap that is left by the lack of logic gets filled with our worst fears.
Yet, what proof is there that the “facts” that the conspiracy people (as opposed to the “sheeple,” who do not believe them) are alleging are any more real than the “facts” that we are getting from the media? So much of conspiracy theory is derived from circumstantial evidence, with no documentation, and often with quotes taken out of context. A recent Time magazine article posed a number of important questions addressing the conspiracy theory. If the Pentagon was actually hit by a missile (not a plane), what happened to American Airlines Flight 77? Where did all the real, documented people go? And what about the eyewitnesses who saw an airplane, not a missile?
I thought the most salient point was,that to carry out an operation of that size, it would have involved hundreds of both military and civilian people. How come there has not been a single leak? Not one single boastful leak after a martini or three? Could the U.S. really get it together enough to pull off something of this magnitude?
The fact that these rumors are gaining some mainstream credibility shows how distrustful the general public is of our current administration. Nevertheless, whether or not a scintilla of truth exists concerning the Bush administration or some global network’s role in the 9/11 attack, the fact remains that the tide of public opinion is so strongly against this administration’s policies, that people who initially would not even listen to the conspiracy theories, are now willing to entertain the possibility that they might be true.
I find that as alarming as the theories themselves.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 23, 2006. Read the original PDF.