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2006-08-13 Home Front: Culture Wars
Poll: Third of U.S. trust 9-11 conspiracy
Scary! More than a third of the American public suspects that federal officials assisted in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or took no action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the Middle East, according to a Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll.

The national survey of 1,010 adults also found that anger against the federal government is at record levels, with 54 percent saying they "personally are more angry" at the government than they used to be.

Widespread resentment and alienation toward the national government appears to be fueling a growing acceptance of conspiracy theories about the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Suspicions that the Sept. 11 attacks were "an inside job" -- the common phrase used by conspiracy theorists on the Internet -- quickly have become nearly as popular as decades-old conspiracy theories that the federal government was responsible for President Kennedy's assassination and that it has covered up proof of space aliens.

Seventy percent of people who give credence to these theories also say they've become angrier with the federal government than they used to be.

Thirty-six percent of respondents overall said it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that federal officials either participated in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or took no action to stop them "because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East."

"One out of three sounds high, but that may very well be right," said Lee Hamilton, former vice chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also called the 9-11 commission.) His congressionally appointed investigation concluded that federal officials bungled their attempts to prevent, but did not participate in, the attacks by al Qaida.

"A lot of people I've encountered believe the U.S. government was involved," Hamilton said. "Many say the government planned the whole thing. Of course, we don't think the evidence leads that way at all."

The poll also found that 16 percent of Americans speculate that secretly planted explosives, not burning passenger jets, were the reason the towers of the World Trade Center collapsed.

Conspiracy groups for at least two years have also questioned why the World Trade Center collapsed when fires that heavily damaged similar skyscrapers around the world did not cause such destruction. Sixteen percent said it's "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that "the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York was aided by explosives secretly planted in the two buildings."

Twelve percent suspect the Pentagon was struck by a cruise missile in 2001 rather than by an airliner captured by terrorists.

University of Florida law professor Mark Fenster, author of the book "Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture," said the poll's findings reflect public anger at the unpopular Iraq war, realization that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction and growing doubts of the veracity of the Bush administration.

"What has amazed me is not that there are conspiracy theories, but that they didn't seem to be getting any purchase among the American public until the last year or so," he said. "Although the Iraq war was not directly related to the 9-11 attacks, people are now looking back at 9-11 with much more skepticism than they used to."
Posted by phil_b 2006-08-13 01:44|| || Front Page|| [11131 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Apologies but I will not sanitize the following..sinktrap if you must....but - WHAT A LOAD OF SHIT! This Hamilton had better stay far away from my neck of the woods...I've sooooooo had it with these assholes. I've got a yard full of dog shit with his name on it.
Hey....see ya all in the trap! Woot!
Posted by Rex Mundi 2006-08-13 02:30||   2006-08-13 02:30|| Front Page Top

#2 Well I think 99% of the people who believe this are ignorant. When I told my wife about this 'poll' she said she could not believe that many people where that ignorant in this country as well.

I suspsect the truth is most people hate the government because of the Congress of the United States is the problem..

All the failures that are laid at the feet of "government" or executive are mostly really rightfully set at the feed of the legislative branch.

Because of that hate they are ready to believe anything. Just my not so humble opinion.
Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-08-13 02:49|| www.sockpuppetofdoom.com]">[www.sockpuppetofdoom.com]  2006-08-13 02:49|| Front Page Top

#3 This is crap. Not a single American that I have talked to believes anything like this. This is for some kind of internal consumption, external consumption be damned. Much like Hezb'Allah's "news" releases are designed to elicit responses from those who would be extremists. They don't care about those who don't believe it because they are targets anyway.
Posted by gorb 2006-08-13 03:23||   2006-08-13 03:23|| Front Page Top

#4 If there's any legitimacy to the poll, then we know who to thank - from our Socialist Tranzi MSM to the fumblefuck "education" system to the incessant drumbeat of renegade Government BS cranked out by TV and Hollyweird - the dumb-down equivalency machine which has arisen over the last few decades to control "the message".

I wish Atomic Conspiracy would come back to give this the proper response. He would have a fine time with it.
Posted by flyover 2006-08-13 04:14||   2006-08-13 04:14|| Front Page Top

#5 An organism is not adapted to its environment---it's adapted to the environment of its ancestors.
Posted by gromgoru 2006-08-13 06:09||   2006-08-13 06:09|| Front Page Top

#6 I think it depends where you ask. Hang out around the "reality based" communities of Berserkley and Hollyweird, and yeah, 30 percent sounds about right. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that 30 percent of Daily Kos readers believed it, too.

But out in the real reality based places, aka flyover country, no way in hell is it that high. There's still a unhealthy contingent of the tinfoil brigade out there, but not as many.
Posted by Swamp Blondie 2006-08-13 06:54|| http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com]">[http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com]  2006-08-13 06:54|| Front Page Top

#7 1 - You still believe in polls?

2 - It's from the dead tree part of the MSM.

3 - It's from the land of Rep. David Bonior, you remember one of the Baghdad 3 who went to Iraq to display their BDS in 2002.

Chill.
Posted by Vandal Anti Defamation League 2006-08-13 09:08||   2006-08-13 09:08|| Front Page Top

#8 Yeah, this is pure BS.
Posted by bombay">bombay  2006-08-13 09:24||   2006-08-13 09:24|| Front Page Top

#9 The very few people I have seen that believe this are certifiable anyway. I think they believe they have God powers too.

Just setting them up for future bleach in the gene pool.

But I also think most of this poll is crap.
Posted by DarthVader 2006-08-13 10:47||   2006-08-13 10:47|| Front Page Top

#10 OK...some sleep and I'm better now. FYI...I work in San Francisco and I can tell you straight up that this poll accurately reflects popular opinion and in fact may actually understate it. I hear on a daily basis, people discussing matter of factly how 9-11 was a govt conspiracy, blah blah blah. Everything that happens in the world is the work of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove...blah blah blah. Otherwise very intelligent people thoroughly compromised by BDS. Sickening. Though they are a minority...it's not small enough for my comfort.
Posted by Rex Mundi 2006-08-13 12:19||   2006-08-13 12:19|| Front Page Top

#11 San Francisco != America

This 'Poll' is supposed to be 'National'. Looks to me like they polled out of the San Francisco and Seattle 1st Hill Phone books.
Posted by CrazyFool 2006-08-13 13:03||   2006-08-13 13:03|| Front Page Top

#12 Why get so upset? This is pretty much what you should expect. There are a lot of loons out there - enough to give John Kerry 49% of the vote.
Posted by Iblis">Iblis  2006-08-13 13:09||   2006-08-13 13:09|| Front Page Top

#13 While I consider the 'results' of this poll rubbish, I can't escape the fact that the majority of Americans care more about the winner of American Idol, than care about our very way of life being under attack. If the poll concluded that 'more than a third of US citizens are mindless PC lemmings', I'd say the numbers were low.
Posted by mcsegeek1 2006-08-13 17:21||   2006-08-13 17:21|| Front Page Top

#14 More than a third of the American public suspects that federal officials assisted in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or took no action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the Middle East, according to a Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll.

How many Muslims were part of this poll?

More importantly, that even this percentage of the interviewed actually believe such utter rubbish is a firm indicator that it will require an even more heinous atrocity than 9-11 to awaken "the sleeping tiger" in America. This is very disspiriting because what's next is probably a terrorist nuclear attack upon a major American metropolis that will set our nation back a solid DECADE.

This poll should serve as a message to the White House that, lame duck or no, it has absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by unilaterally neutralizing Iran (and Syria) RIGHT NOW. It would be a huge favor to the United States and the remaining world. Even as a Bush detractor, I would still vigorously support and defend any of his actions on this account.
Posted by Zenster 2006-08-13 17:30||   2006-08-13 17:30|| Front Page Top

#15 What percentage of the population believes Elvis is still alive, or in UFOs? Probably close to this number.
Posted by Jackal">Jackal  2006-08-13 17:39|| http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html]">[http://home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html]  2006-08-13 17:39|| Front Page Top

#16 Well, people who draw conclusions from poll results are usually drawing the conclusions they were looking for in the first place.

#1: Poll wording is the key here. Q: "Is it possible that the government allowed 9/11 to happen?" is a helluva a lot different than "Did the government allow 9/11?" Some folks who think the CIA/FBI did a piss-poor job tracking jihadis could even answer "Yes" meaning the government allowed 9/11 to happen through incompetence, political correct BS, etc.

#2: Are you angry at the federal government? These nuts think that if you answer "yes" that you're gearing up for another Kerry run at the White House. Bet you the vast majority of folks who say they're angry at the gubmint are angry because of the reluctance to name the enemy and fight him with no reservations. Hell, a lot of posters on this site are probably fed up with this #*@! "patty-cake, patty-cake, jihad man" approach to the ongoing conflict.

I'll stop before I have a Michael Savage breakdown.
Posted by Dreadnought 2006-08-13 18:53||   2006-08-13 18:53|| Front Page Top

#17 Popular Mechanics has a good debunking study:

www.debunking911myths.com too many consiracy notjobs, not enough reality being promoted...I'd rather see what engineers say vs poly sci dropouts
Posted by Inspector Clueso 2006-08-13 19:04||   2006-08-13 19:04|| Front Page Top

#18 Sorry, guys and gals, but the conspiracy theories DO have a lot of purchase out there, especially among the young, college-agers.

This poll may be skewed because of the question, but I have no doubt that the number would be surprising high.

That Internet film "Loose Change" has a lot to do with it, I think. I've had several people ask me if I'd seen it.
Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2006-08-13 20:15||   2006-08-13 20:15|| Front Page Top

#19 We have political polls every two years in America and those are the only ones that count. In the past poll showed:
Bush would lose in 2004 = Right
Americans generally support Gay Marriage = Nope
Americans want trust Demoncrats on Securtiy = Sure they do, the polls said the same thing just before the Republicans took over.
Luckily we run our government based on a vote and not by polls.
Posted by Cyber Sarge 2006-08-13 21:21||   2006-08-13 21:21|| Front Page Top

#20 Hope the folks in San Francisco understand when the rest of America says good riddance when the next Big One hits SF and they fall into the sea. San Francisco was an interesting place in the 60s and 70s. Now it is just a dumping ground for rich fools.
Posted by RWV 2006-08-13 21:34||   2006-08-13 21:34|| Front Page Top

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