Proof 1/3 Of US Is Nuts, 9/11 Conspiracy Belief Grows According To Poll

A new poll indicates that slightly more than one out of every three Americans believes that the Federal Government either took part in or did nothing to prevent the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon nearly five years ago:

More than a third of the American public suspects that federal officials assisted in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or took no action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the Middle East, according to a new 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 9/11 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 John F. Kennedy's assassination and that it has covered up proof of space aliens.

American also have more feelings of anger toward the government than before 9/11:

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 Qaeda five years ago.

"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."

Here are some more of the poll's findings:

Sixteen percent of Americans speculate that secretly planted explosives, not burning passenger jets, were the real reason the massive twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed.

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

More proof of the "big lie" in action. 9/11 allowed those neo-con fascists to go to war. As is the case with propaganda and overheated rhetoric, it is no wonder that the belief of 9/11 conspiracy has grown in popularity relatively recently. Accusing everyone from the President to Americans in general of being responsible for the attacks directly or indirectly (Bush planned the attacks, the "little Eichmanns", according to Ward Churchill, brought it on themselves by being capitalist "technocrats") allows the moonbat tinfoil-hat crowd to avoid recognizing the true source of the 9/11 terrorist attack, Islamofascism.

But things take time, you know.

Why are Americans latching on to such nonsense? Instructor Kevin Barrett of UW-Madison will get the chance this fall to spread his wild conspiracy theories about government complicity. Some have created propaganda designed to show just how the government carried out the attack, even as others debunked their silly arguments.

Conspiracy-believing participants in the poll agree their suspicions are recent.

"I certainly didn't think of conspiracies when 9/11 first happened," said Elaine Tripp, 62, of Tabernacle, N.J. "I don't know if President Bush was aware of the exact time it was going to happen. But he certainly didn't do enough to stop it. Bush was so intent on having his own little war."

Garrett Johnson, 19, of Manassas, Va., said it was "well after the fact" before he started questioning the official explanation of the attacks. "But then people I know started talking about it. And the Internet had a lot to do with this. After reading all of the different articles there, I started to think we weren't being told the truth."

So should the conservative blogosphere, and decent Americans in general be worried about this trend? Surely having one out of every three people believing such absurdities should give one pause--or maybe that third is just prone to wacky theories and the conspiracy mentality:

The level of suspicion of U.S. official involvement in a 9/11 conspiracy was only slightly behind the 40 percent who suspect "officials in the federal government were directly responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy" and the 38 percent who believe "the federal government is withholding proof of the existence of intelligent life from other planets."

The poll found that a majority of young adults give at least some credence to a 9/11 conspiracy compared to less than a fourth of people 65 or older. Members of racial and ethnic minorities, people with only a high school education and Democrats were especially likely to suspect federal involvement in 9/11.

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