9/11 Was Not An Inside Job

Impact

As many reflect on the tragedy of 9/11 by honoring the victims and military and diplomatic personnel who sacrificed their lives after the terrorist attacks, others still look to conspiracies about whether or not the events of 9/11 were an U.S. inside job. For the past decade members of the Truth movement, "truthers," have claimed that 9/11 was planned by U.S. officials, and that the U.S. had a secret agenda. They dispute the results of official U.S. investigations into the attacks. The truthers are wrong. It is extremely unlikely that the U.S. devised such an elaborate plan, especially given the lack of legitimate reasons for why it would have done so.

Some of their outlandish conspiracies question how the Pentagon was hit, whether the destruction of the World Trade Center a was controlled demolition, and whether Israel orchestrated the attacks. Many of these conspiracies have been debunked. Truthers, however, cling tightly to their beliefs that the U.S. was somehow in on it. They pinpointed questionable actions surrounding 9/11, such as the insider trading before the attacks. However, there is not a shroud of evidence that proves 9/11 was planned by Americans.

Twelve years later, members of the Truth movement have abandoned their devout conspiratorial beliefs, including Michael Ruppert, an author and investigative journalist who believes the movement has been influenced by absurd notions as it raises many questions, but rarely offers counter theories.

The American people don't take these extreme claims seriously. According to Public Policy Polling, 11% of voters believe the U.S. government allowed 9/11 to happen, 78% do not agree.

As with any conspiracy theory, it's crucial to differentiate between inconclusive facts and radical speculations. Just because an incident occurred doesn't inevitably connect it to a larger, overarching plan. The psychology of conspiracy theories, specifically those involving a major event, is typically linked to an even bigger cause, which leads to illegitimacy amongst the group and results in the futility of its advocacy.