Fourteen Years Later, Questions Abound About 9/11 Attacks
On Sept. 11, 2014, Americans came to know terror. It came from the sky.
In New York City, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 screamed toward, and then exploded into, the World Trade Center’s north and south towers. The 110-story buildings collapsed within 2 hours. In Arlington, Va., American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon, destroying a sizable portion of the building that houses the Department of Defense. And in Shanksville, Pa., United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field after passengers helped abort an intended hit on the White House.
Nineteen alleged al-Qaeda terrorists had hijacked the four commercial airliners after departing from three East Coast airports, and used the planes as weapons of mass destruction, official reports said. The immediate body count was high, and related damage extensive. Apart from the 19 hijackers, 2,977 people, including 343 firefighters and 72 law-enforcement officers, were killed, and property and infrastructure damage was estimated at $10 billion.
Official investigations concluded that the attacks were carried out by Islamic terrorists on orders of Osama bin Laden, who had vowed vengeance against the United States for its military aggression in the Middle East, its leadership role in the Persian Gulf War, and its support for Israel.
Like most Americans, Richard Gage felt a deep sorrow in the aftermath of the attacks. But official explanations about the attack on the World Trade Center, and how and why the twin towers collapsed, just didn’t square with evidence and his professional training and experience as an accomplished architect.
He found he was not alone. A growing number of architects and engineers have openly challenged the credibility of the government’s reports. They are demanding new, totally transparent investigations into the 9-11 attacks, and especially the attack on the World Trade Center.
I spoke with Gage, founder of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, earlier this week. It was an enlightening conversation, to say the least.