Sept. 11 -- the Story Continues...

On September 11th, 

A series of airplane hijackings and suicide attacks were committed against strategic targets in the United States. Nearly three thousand people were killed in New York City, almost two hundred at the Pentagon and forty more died near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in the open countryside, shortly after 10 a.m. The United States and the world were taken by surprise that fateful morning when hijackers seized four jet airliners.

Two of the planes were intentionally crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center; afterwards, both towers collapsed at 9:59 a.m. and 10:28 a.m., the first time steel-framed towers had ever done so. Incredibly, Seven World Trade Center building (7 WTC) collapsed in the afternoon at 5:21 p.m., even though fire has never caused any steel-framed high-rise building to collapse. Soon after the attacks, the American and Western European media were blaming Osama bin Laden and the pro-Islamic terrorist organization al-Qaeda, who had declared a holy war against the United States and its citizens. A juggernaut was set in motion from that point on.

In the late afternoon of September 11th, 

Donald Rumsfeld, who was Secretary of Defense, instructed military aides to find evidence of Iraqi involvement in the terrorist attacks. Soon, Saddam Hussein was accused and a War on Terror was declared by President George W. Bush and his administration, but with promises of bringing the alleged terrorists to justice. The American Congress promptly signed a joint resolution three days after the attacks, giving unprecedented powers to the chief executive and a Global War on Terrorism was initiated on October 7, 2001, in Afghanistan. On March 20th, 2003, a coalition force led by the United States and Britain invaded Iraq.

The consequences of the attacks were soon to be felt, both directly and indirectly. Those who were exposed to toxic debris after the collapse of the towers suffer from respiratory diseases, and the social, economic, geopolitical and cultural consequences of the September 11 attacks are simply staggering.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted an investigation and the 9/11 Commission, chaired by Thomas Kean, issued a report. The commission blamed al-Qaeda and questioned the competence of domestic security and intelligence.

In the years following September 11, 

Popular Historian Concludes Falsity of 9/11 Government Report

It inspires me to know that there have always been intelligent people who first put the facts (historical, physical, etc.) together, and then conclude that 9/11 was not as our government tells us. And then they speak out, and act out, about it. Even back in 2003.

Gore Vidal died on Tuesday at the age of 86 from complications of pneumonia. Vidal was a national icon who authored some 25 novels, several plays, two memoirs and multiple volumes of essays. He was one of the best-known and most prolific chroniclers of American history and politics, dedicating his work to critiquing the injustices of U.S. society. We air an excerpt of a Democracy Now! interview with Vidal from 2003 in the early stages of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.


More journalism reports on 9/11