Heaven & Earth show, US embassy response

[JimB]

On the H&E show website, here

I was unsure whether to post it here or in a relevant thread in the main forums. I don't think it's a repost.

Statement from US Embassy on 9/11 Conspiracy Theories
September 8, 2006

The so-called "9/11 Truth" movement ignores scientific fact and common sense in formulating its elaborate conspiracy theories.

The U.S. "9/11 Commission" established in painstaking detail precisely how the September 11 attacks succeeded. It published its findings in The 9/11 Commission Report, which is available online.

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology conducted an exhaustive three-year investigation into why the World Trade Center twin towers collapsed. It employed 200 private sector and government technical experts, who interviewed more than 1,000 people and examined tens of thousands of documents, 7,000 photographs, 7,000 segments of video footage, and 236 pieces of steel from the wreckage of the towers. Their unambiguous conclusion was that the towers collapsed due to the impact of the planes, which severed and damaged key support columns and dislodged fireproofing insulation, which allowed the unusually large multi-story fires, ignited by thousands of gallons of jet fuel, to fatally weaken the towers. The investigation found "no evidence … of any blast or explosions".

Some conspiracy theorists falsely claim that American Airlines flight 77 did not strike the Pentagon. But they cannot explain why the remains of the passengers and crew of the flight, and its “black box” were found at the crash site, the remains identified by DNA.

Others falsely claim that United Airlines flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, was shot down by a missile. But the U.S. military did not learn that this flight had been hijacked until four minutes after it crashed. The hijackers deliberately downed it to prevent the passengers from seizing control of the flight – events clearly captured on the cockpit voice recorder.

Conspiracy theorists focus not on facts but on dozens of "seeming anomalies", which may sound suspicious but which evaporate upon close inspection.