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Christian Theologian calls for response to 9/11

by Open-Publishing - Wednesday 20 April 2005
13 comments

Religions-Beliefs Attack-Terrorism USA

David Ray Griffin asks the tough questions about Sept. 11, contending U.S. officials had some knowledge of what was coming and possibly orchestrated the attacks.

Griffin, whose book, "The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11," came out a year ago, drew an enthusiastic standing ovation from the majority of the 400 or so people who packed his lecture Monday night at Bascom Hall.

A retired Christian theologian, Griffin, 65, taught for more than 30 years at the Claremont School of Theology in California.

His comments Monday night were directed at religious people, who he said need to respond to Sept. 11 - and the American empire that has ensued - based on the moral principles of their religious traditions.

Drawing laughter from the crowd, Griffin said he had in mind principles like: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors’ oil" and "Thou shalt not murder thy neighbors in order to steal their oil."

While Griffin noted that his books and talks have not received attention from the mainstream media, C-SPAN had a cameraman at the event and plans to air the lecture at a future date. Madison’s public access cable television station, WYOU-TV/Channel 4, meanwhile, will air the talk at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Americans interpret the events of Sept. 11 in one of four ways, Griffin said:

• A first group accepts the official interpretation that Sept. 11 was a surprise attack by Islamic terrorists. It is easy for these people "to think of America’s so-called War on Terror as a just war," Griffin said.

• A second group accepts the official line but thinks Sept. 11 has been used opportunistically by the Bush administration to extend the American empire. People who hold this view often believe that America’s response to Sept. 11, which has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, is far worse than the attacks themselves, he said.

• A third group believes the Bush administration knew the attacks were coming and let them happen. It shows the government as "deliberate and cold-blooded," advancing its imperial designs while hypocritically portraying itself as promoting a "culture of life," Griffin said.

Although there has been no national survey, a Zogby poll taken last year indicated that almost half of the residents of New York City share this view, he said.

• A fourth group believes that the government orchestrated the attacks. While no poll shows how many Americans believe this, polls in Canada and Germany have found as many as 20 percent of those populations do, Griffin said.

In his follow-up book, "The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions," Griffin examines the questions that he and others in the "9/11 Truth Movement" charge were never examined by the federal government’s 9/11 Commission.

Evidence to support the theory that U.S. officials had at least had some foreknowledge of the attacks comes from David Schippers, the chief prosecutor for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, who reportedly received warnings from FBI agents about the attacks six weeks earlier, Griffin said.

Other government officials, including Attorney General John Ashcroft, would not respond to the warnings, he added.

There was the extraordinarily high volume of "put options" purchased in the three days before the attacks, Griffin said, with investors betting that stock in United and American Airlines - the two airlines used in the attacks - would go down. There were also a suspiciously high number of put options for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, which occupied 22 stories of the World Trade Center.

"U.S. intelligence agencies monitor the market, partly to look for signs of impending attacks," Griffin said. "One wonders how information could be much more specific than this."

Griffin then made a case that government officials planned and executed the attacks.

For one, the United States military neglected to send fighter jets to intercept the hijacked planes. Such interceptions usually occur within 10 to 20 minutes after the first signs of trouble and are routine, happening about 100 times a year, Griffin said.

It seems implausible, he said, that the Pentagon was struck by Flight 77, since it is "surely the best defended building on the planet." The U.S. military has the best radar systems in the world and "does not miss anything occurring in North American airspace," he added.

Griffin also made a case that the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings was brought on by thousands of explosives placed throughout each of the buildings. They went straight down, at free-fall speed, as in controlled demolitions, and many people in the buildings reported that they heard or felt explosions, he added.

"High-rise steel-frame buildings have never - before or after 9/11- been caused to collapse by fire," he said.

Sue Adams, 50, introduced herself to Griffin after the talk, calling him heroic. "I think some day we may really know the truth," she said, adding that it will likely be after the Bush administration is gone.

Orion Litzau, a UW freshman studying engineering, agrees that the answers the government put out through the 9/11 Commission were more than a simple deception.

"They were not only partly false but a complete, bold face lie," he said. "David Ray Griffin brings out interesting points about what could be the true story behind the 9/11 attack."

Jim Goulding, 67, who teaches religious studies at Edgewood College, admitted at first he wondered whether Griffin was a crackpot, but instead found he had a "tremendous reputation as a theologian."

Goulding has read both of Griffin’s Sept. 11 books.

"I think he makes a convincing case - well documented, well footnoted," he said.

E-mail: skalk@madison.com

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Forum posts

  • THE 9/11 "MISSILE HITS THE PENTAGON" HOAX.
    – article.php3?id_article=5848

    • Hey I’ve got to respect you for being a christian and all ... but...I believe the government on this one, they’ve nothing to hide. Anyway they found Mohammed Ata’s passport in pristine condition on top of the rubble...so... (snigger ).....there’s the evidence.
      Come on, these people were voted in fair and square .what have they to hide , or reason to deceive us ?

    • Well, I guess there is at least one "Christian" that isn’t completely stupid.

    • It’s a wonder some people are so completely deluded, they can’t even think of a single question to the hypotheses presented here. Let’s face it—at least one of these scenarios are correct, even if it’s not the one we personally would have chosen. So it boils down to: which one of the many lies exposed can we possibly believe, let alone accept, especially the one about the current administration being legally elected. (barf) KZ

  • THE 9/11 "MISSILE HITS THE PENTAGON" HOAX.
    – article.php3?id_article=5848

  • folks, there have been conspiracy theories and there are still conspiracy theories about everything, including who killed JFK, for crying out loud! You are ignoring a whole list of evidence that OBL and the 19 hijackers did this, for crying out loud, including video tapes that OBL made after the fact laughing and joking that some of the 19 didn’t even know they are ona "martyrdom" mission. Why have Germany and Spain both arrested people involved in [planning terrorist attacks, why has Russian had problems with terrorists......come on, take your heads out of the sand.

    President Bush was elected fair and square. You must really hate your country and the business community to make the claims you are making.

    • 1 To be a Christain is not to support those "pseudo" non elected Christain leaders, they teach damnable bad doctrine.

      2 It is not Christain to try and set up a heaven on earth, man is corrupt in everything (especially where money and power are concerned) and says you don’t trust God’s promise, there are still many things that must and are happening.

      3 Killing tons of innoscent people for a act they did not commit is not Christain, but man.

      4To announce that there must be no critism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only UNPATRIOTIC and SERVILE, but MORALLY TREASONABLE to the American public -Tddy Roosevelt

      5 There are a lot of loose holes in the officail story that make no sense, and if it doesn’t make sense, something bad really happened.

      6 And you are ignoring a whole list of things tying these things to "our" government and Israel.

    • Conspracy has been around since man walked this planet. To deny that is not to study true history, but to accept whatever you were spoon fed.

    • No we hate Bush for ruining our economy, our lost jobs, our open borders, our loss of freedoms, trying to make the country a theoracy, compromising our security, trying to steal our social security, squandering our tax money on mass murdering of innocent people in order to enrich himself and his friends, just about every evil thing he has done, stuff like that. Now you get your head out of your ass and go troll somewhere else. People come here for intelligent discussion and you are not capable of that with your Bush talking points that only insult us. Go back to headquarters and get a new website list to troll and tell the boss to go heavy on the religious and military ones, you’ll be a hit there.

    • Just once I would appreciate supporters of the official bush conspiracy theory to, on a question by question basis, respond to the DOZENS of problems with said official version. Instead all we hear is that these queries are from bush-hating, radiacal and possibly homer-sexual, pinkoes from the left and hence are not deserving of a response. Stonewalling and diversion of public attention are tried and true tactis of this administration.

      "Those who would give up some of their freedom for the sake of safety deserve neither freedom nor safety" Ben Franklin

    • Never happen, all they have is their little Hitler/Bush and of course their book of ridiculious fables the Bible, and if anyone could believe that book of re-written, corrected, edited over and over and over again yarns with all the embarrassing parts just left out, then you would believe ANYTHING including Bush.

    • Note to the sad little coward who resorts to calling names and daring people to address DOZENS of problems on a "question by question" basis. Assuming that you honestly want answers, what are the specific questions?

    • Okay, just a few to get you started.

      Where were your fighter jets?

      Why did building 7 collapse?

      Why did Larry Silverstein say on PBS that he had it pulled (ie demolished)?

      How and when did he get the explosives into the building?

      Where are the security camera tapes (Airports, Pentagon etc, etc)

      Why did Bush want no investigation?

      Who actually found the miraculous passport?

      Why was the steel from the towers removed and exported before investigation?

      How come no steel building has ever collapsed as a result of fire and yet two (or three) collapse in one day?

      How come their are no arabs on passenger manifests?

      Why does the FBI page on Bin Laden make no mention of 911?

      There are plenty more if you want them.