Wednesday, September 11, 2013

9/11 - The Science and the Emotions

Here's an excellent recap of the science and engineering questions about 9/11 - and how, yes, this wrenching event happened pretty much the way the nation's top engineering and architectural experts said it did.

A few things to remember:
1. When an incredibly complex event that has never happened, and in many ways shouldn't have happened, DOES happen, there will be countless oddities and mysteries - some of which will never be definitively solved. (Look how the details of Pearl Harbor and JFK assassination are still being fought over.) Yes, that means that any official report will have some problems, too.
2. Remember that anyone can call themselves anything. When you see a name like Architects and Engineers for Truth, think about how large those professions are, what a tiny fraction of a percent are "truthers," and what a gigantic near-consensus of those professions believes.
3. In the last decade, not a single one of the masterminds - or the ordinary workers - who must have been in on this giant conspiracy has revealed anything.
4. Final bullet in the "truther" case: While I have not looked at any of those stolen/leaked US intelligence documents, the people who have pored over them and posted their analysis in the media and online have not said a word about finding even a hint of what would have been the biggest, most important, most evil and most unprecedented intelligence operation in US history.  Did we hide it from ourselves? Not likely.


No, I'm not interested in the usual 9/11 game of swapping lists of links.  You can call me closed-minded, but I've determined that, to my own satisfaction, I've read enough links, reports, and accounts to know what happened.  Unless there is new evidence - and there is not - the case is closed.

I'll remember the day as I watched it happen.  I'll remember the tributes: Judy Collins' song will stay in your mind forever, as will Tom Paxton's "The Bravest" and Alan Jackson's universal question, "Where Were You?"

And more than anything else, I remember my 10-year old daughter, Corey, asking my why I was crying. When I told her it was because a lot of children like her lost their moms and dads that day, she said.  "One of those kids can come live here. They can have my room."

"And a little child shall lead them..."

2 comments:

Laurence Clark Crossen said...

The conspiracy theorists and 9/11 "Truthers" make the mistake of not remembering that the towers were built differently than most high rises. Most have the main support strength in the center of the building. According to a History Channel video the World Trade Center towers were built with the main strength in the outer walls, ironically to protect from collisions from airplanes. This must account for the pancaking of the floors that happened so fast.

Laurence Clark Crossen said...

Paul Craig Roberts is one of those "Truthers" making this mistake. This is unfortunate because it detracts from the other work he does. For example, he works towards making our government less Benthamite and more Blackstonian.