MEMRI - 911
French Author Thierry Meyssan:
9/11 Was Carried Out by the
U.S. Government
The following are excerpts from an interview with French author Thierry Meyssan.
On 9/11, We Were Not Told Everything
Meyssan: "The events of 9/11 saddened me, like everyone else. But I also felt
that we were not being told everything.
"Obviously, nobody knew everything at first, but it turned out later that
they didn't want to tell us everything. As a matter of fact, on September 11
many people watched the events on TV, and we repeatedly saw the footage of a
plane hitting a tower, and throughout that day all we saw was that footage. You
have probably also seen the picture of people trapped in the tower throwing
themselves out of the windows. But despite these details, people couldn't
understand what had happened. TV commentators said they didn't even
know the whereabouts of the U.S. president. Everything was mixed with violence
that day, and it was impossible to understand anything.
"In the following days, some senior U.S. officials gave their impressions of
what had happened, and recounted what they had been doing that day, and only
then was it possible to reconstruct some of the events. But when we look back
upon that day, we realize that what we were officially told about the events was
presented hurriedly and without any investigation, and it was impossible to
understand what had happened that day merely on the basis of
this.
Prior to 9/11, There Was Stock Market Activity among Airlines and
Insurance Companies
"First of all, no investigation had been carried out. You might recall
that when the news about the first plane crash was broadcast, it was clearly
impossible to determine whether the crash was an accident or an attack. But one
minute and 27 seconds after the first plane crash, CNN broadcast a picture of
Manhattan - because there is always a static camera directed at Manhattan. Then
the network broadcast footage of one of the twin towers burning and immediately
afterwards, the CNN commentator said he had just talked to senior officials over
the phone, and that this was not an accident but an attack by Osama bin Laden.
So this was the shortest and swiftest investigation in human history. They said:
'We don't know anything, but we
know who the criminal is, and we have nothing further to say about it.'
They said these attacks were carried out by Islamists from
Afghanistan, and that they had hijacked four planes with box cutters. Of course,
this is one possible use for a box cutter!
"On the basis of what we were told, not all the details of the event are
clear. First of all, we know that a week before 9/11, there were
transactions in the world's leading stock markets involving the stocks of
various airlines and insurance companies that subsequently became victims of the
9/11 events.
"In order to organize such transactions, a special economic network is
necessary. This can be easily detected, because every transaction and every
stock are documented in archives. If we want, we can find out easily who was
responsible for the attacks. All we have to do is repeal the Financial Privacy
Act, and those responsible would be immediately detected. But we didn't do so
because bank accounts are very sacred. They are even more sacred than world
peace.
The Third Tower - CIA World Headquarters
"According to America's official account of the events, we don't have a clear
picture of what happened in Manhattan. We all remember the scene of the two
towers collapsing one after the other. But that afternoon, another tower
collapsed. That third tower was not hit in any way by a plane, so there was no
reason for it to collapse. Initially, people thought that the collapse of the
two towers had caused an earthquake, causing the third tower to shake and
collapse. But a committee of experts now says that such a thing is impossible.
On the other hand, New York firefighters said that they themselves had seen and
heard explosions in the third tower's foundations, as if dynamite had been
placed in it. No investigation was carried out, and
they don't want to know anything about this matter. But this is an extremely
sensitive issue, because this tower was the world's largest headquarters of the
CIA, except for its main headquarters.
The Eisenhower Building - Hit by a Missile
"The third thing that has not been clarified in any way was the issue of the
fire in one of the buildings adjacent to the White House on September 11. We are
used to seeing the famous picture of the White House and a large park. But right
next to the White House there is a large building, which is rarely shown because
it is very ugly, and it is related to the 1930s. It is called the Eisenhower
Building. All the U.S. presidential services are located in that building.
"This building was completely destroyed by fire, but no explanation was given.
Why has nothing been said about the third Manhattan tower and about the building
adjacent to the White House? It's very simple. They did not have any plane that
could serve as a pretext. It could not be said that some plane crashed here, and
that this was the handiwork of Islamists from overseas. Therefore, since there
was no plane, no explanation could be given. So it is presented as if nothing
happened.
"We see that what America says officially is not only incomplete but also
falsified. If we examine some details carefully - particularly details
pertaining to the Pentagon - we will realize many things. As for the incident
that claimed 160 lives, they said it was because of a Boeing 757 that the
Islamists hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon in a suicide attack. If we
examine the details carefully, we see that some of the witnesses say something
different about this Boeing.
"They say that they saw some object hit the building at top speed, but
they couldn't determine whether it was a Boeing or something else. If we examine
the damage to the Pentagon, we conclude that this damage could not have been
caused by a Boeing. It was caused by a missile. According to the Pentagon, the
object that hit that spot was a plane. But a Boeing 757 weighs over 100 tons,
and if it came close to the building, its speed would have been between 500 to
800 kilometers per hour, rising to between 800 to 1,200 kilometers per hour. But
if a Boeing had indeed hit the building's first floor, the building would have
been totally ruined. This is like a truck crashing into a building, and
destroying it, not merely making a hole in it.
When we magnify the picture, we see that the missile entered through this door,
which is five to six meters wide. But the width of a plane is 38 meters,
including the wings, and its tail is 12 meters long. Despite this, there is no
sign of destruction in the vicinity. According to what they say, the attacking
object entered here, passed through the building, and exited here. When it went
through the building, it formed a tunnel. It passed through the walls, but did
not cause any collapse or debris, and exited from here. The hole was 2.3 meters
in diameter, and this clearly couldn't have been a plane.
"We face an important issue: If this was a missile and not a plane, who fired
it? After all, you cannot talk about Islamists or caves in Afghanistan anymore.
This was a missile fired by American soldiers in order to kill another group of
American soldiers. This points to an internal problem within the American
system.
Various Groups At Odds With One Another Behind 9/11
"Behind the events of 9/11 there were clearly various groups, at odds with one
another. It cannot be said that one man was behind these events and that the
orders were given from one place. It should be said that the Manhattan events
were terrorist acts. The destruction of the towers was intended to spread fear
and terror. It terrified people. But the attacks on the building adjacent to the
White House and on the Pentagon were not intended to spread fear. This was
something else: an attempt to assassinate people in power. I don't think any of
the assassination attempts were carried out by Islamists, as the official
American version goes. That is an embellishment, a total
lie, and an attempt to cover up internal disputes in America.
"In my opinion, the US government was fully informed in
this affair. I
have mentioned this in my book. Many foreign intelligence agencies warned
America about what was about to happen. The intelligence agencies of Egypt, the
Zionist regime, France, Germany, and Russia sent reports to their American
counterparts. All these reports had a clear and common message: Attacks would be
carried out against American interests, and perhaps against Israeli interests as
well. These attacks would be carried out by planes of American commercial
airlines, which would be hijacked and crashed into
targets. The targets would presumably be large buildings, the main target would
be in Manhattan, and these events would take place in the week of September 9.
This is completely accurate information that would have helped [the U.S.] to
take measures that would have made the attacks more difficult, if not preventing
them.
Law Requiring Pilots to Carry Arms Repealed Just Before 9/11
"But the US government did nothing to prevent these attacks. On the
contrary: While for 40 years there was an American aviation law requiring pilots
to carry arms, this law was repealed right before 9/11, even though the US
government had received warnings about the high likelihood of these events. If
we disarm the pilots even though they are at risk - this means we want these
events to happen. When the U.S. government is now asked about this matter, it
says that it has always received similar warnings and that it was impossible to
know whether this warning was more important than the others, and that its only
mistake was in sorting the information. This may be the case. Since this
discussion began, it has been said that certain CIA, FBI and NSA officials
conveyed messages to the U.S. government that a certain incident is possible.
They warned and sent reports about this. If these were only low-ranking
officials, the fact their warnings were not taken seriously could be understood.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin told an American TV channel, four days
after the events, that when the Russian intelligence services had conveyed their
initial report to America, he had called Bush personally to remind him of the
report's importance. If one does not pay serious attention to information
brought by a low-ranking official, this is one thing... But what about
disregarding a phone call by the Russian president? This is hard to believe. We
see, therefore, that the U.S. government allowed these events to happen. This is
passive cooperation.
Bush Was Directly Responsible
"But if we examine the case more carefully, we see that this was not
merely passive cooperation. Bush is directly responsible in this affair... Maybe
not for all the incidents, but at least for the first. We have what Bush himself
said at a press conference in Orlando, which he repeated seven days later at
another press conference. Therefore, if he did not manage to make himself clear
the first time, he could have made up for it the second time. But he repeated
the exact same words, and said that on the morning of September 11 he was at a
kindergarten in Florida, in the South, to deliver an important speech about the
importance of learning to read in kindergarten.
"When he went into the kindergarten he was told he had to hold a top
secret phone call under strict security conditions with Ms. Rice, his
national security advisor, and he was asked to go into a secure hall
prepared for him for that purpose.
"When the U.S. president travels around a large country like America,
halls are prepared along his route, equipped with means of communications, such
as telephones, videos, and so on, so he can talk to his joint command, his
residence, and with the White House, without fear of being tapped. Such a hall
was prepared at the kindergarten. Bush calls Rice and says: 'I have just seen on
the secure video-screen that the first plane went into the first tower.' Then he
entered the kindergarten, and did not appear to be agitated. Actually, when such
incidents occur, the U.S. president immediately says a few words of condolence
to the victims' families. But he
goes in, and showing no concern, he makes his speech about learning to read in
kindergarten. Then, while he is still talking to the small children in front of
the TV cameras, one of his cabinet members comes up to him and tells him that a
second plane hit the second tower. If you were in charge of the cabinet and said
such a thing to the president, you would wait for an answer. The cabinet members
generally have to wait around the president to receive instructions, but they
moved away, as if they didn't have to wait for an answer. It was like reporting
on some ongoing operation. At any rate, the U.S. president is silent for a
moment, his face grows a little dark, he
makes his apologies, and leaves the kindergarten class to prepare a short
speech. Then he leaves Florida. There is just one problem: Nobody knows what
footage he saw of the first plane hitting the first tower. The reason is simple:
None of the TV channels throughout the world had the footage of the first plane
hitting the first tower.
The first footage is by two brothers, French journalists.
They were preparing a report on New York firefighters. That day they accompanied
the firefighters, who went out to the area because
of a gas leak. Suddenly they saw the plane coming and heard a terrible noise.
They lifted their heads and saw the plane hitting the tower. Then the two
reporters reached the World Trade Center with the firefighters to help the
victims. The footage they filmed was later given to others through the Gamma
press agency. The footage was
broadcast at midnight Washington time. Therefore, when Bush saw the footage of
the first plane hitting the tower, nobody had this footage except for the
American intelligence cameras that were at the site to film the incidents. If
they were present at the site to film the incidents, they must have anticipated
such an event. And if the U.S. president knew about such an incident, what does
this mean? It means that politically he is directly responsible for the
incident. I am not saying this about the other incidents as well, but he was
responsible for the first. It is even possible that he was involved in giving
approving the first operation, but encountered a more
extensive operation.
The Pentagon Affair
"Then the Pentagon affair occurs. Attacking the Pentagon with a plane or a
missile poses one problem: There are missile launchers installed around the
Pentagon and on the roof. If a plane, a missile, or anything enters the
Pentagon's airspace, the missile launchers would be activated. They may not be
able to intercept the relevant object, but a missile will be fired.
Either somebody deactivated the Pentagon's missile system - and that means that somebody in the American military was responsible - or else there is another reason, a very simple one. All the armies in the world have systems to prevent 'friendly fire.' In missile and anti-missile systems, before [a missile] is fired, a radio-wave is sent to identify whether the object in question is 'friend' or 'foe.' If the code is 'friend' - the code of the American military - the missile system is not activated. This is completely automatic, and there is no need to push a button or anything. Therefore, the only way to attack the Pentagon with a flying object is for this object to have the American army's 'friend' code. In fact, the Pentagon was attacked by a U.S. army missile fired by American military personnel. So there was indeed a confrontation within the American apparatus.
"Over the past few years, the threat of domestic terrorism has hovered over America many times. Every year the FBI publishes a document about domestic terror attacks. [According to this document], there were at least 100 terror attacks perpetrated by Americans against Americans. In 1995, a significant terrorist attack was perpetrated: A bomb was planted in a building in Oklahoma City, and the main target was an FBI office. This attack exacted a toll of 108 victims. If we look at it closely, the target of the Pentagon attack was not the Secretary of Defense's office. The Secretary's office was at another corner of the building. The [target] was the new center of the American navy. This new command center was being built, and the new navy commander had come there to supervise [how] the work was progressing. Only a few moments after he left, the missile struck the Pentagon. At that moment, all the senior officials in the joint command left their offices and entered the shelters under the Pentagon, except for the navy commander, who apparently felt he was the main target. Therefore, the only thing beyond doubt is that this assassination attempt is related to the American apparatus.
Three days after the events of 9/11, the secretary-general
[sic] and the White House spokesman were interviewed by various American
newspapers, such as The New York Times, The Washington
Post, and The New Yorker. They said: 'We were very scared that day.'
A Phone Call to the Secret Service
"Around 10 a.m. - when the Pentagon and the White House were attacked - the
Secret Service, [which is] responsible for protecting the president's life,
received a phone call from the people behind the attacks. This is very
interesting. If they called, they must have presented a demand. But they said no
such thing. All they said was that they had used the American president's secret
code to demonstrate how dangerous they were. This code makes it possible to make
changes in the command centers and in the president's instructions. So everybody
was gripped with fear. This is why
the president left secretly for a base in the center of the US to give
instructions personally from there.
"The fact that the attackers had the secret code shows they were not
regular American soldiers. They belonged to the top U.S. military officials,
because only few people have America's code - they can even be counted on the
fingers of one hand. The person responsible for at least one of these attacks
was a top official in the American army. If a retaliation operation needs to be
carried out against those responsible for these attacks, one must take action
against the real perpetrators at the top of the U.S. military.