September 11, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - One-in-four adults in the United States believe members of the federal government knew the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 were going to happen but allowed them to unfold for political, military and economic motives, according to a poll by Zogby International and 911truth.org. 26.4 per cent of respondents think elements in the current administration consciously failed to stop the attacks.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - One-in-four adults in the United States believe members of the federal government knew the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 were going to happen but allowed them to unfold for political, military and economic motives, according to a poll by Zogby International and 911truth.org. 26.4 per cent of respondents think elements in the current administration consciously failed to stop the attacks.

Conversely, 63.6 per cent of respondents agree with the official story behind the 9/11 events, which maintains that 19 Arab fundamentalists executed a surprise attack which caught U.S. intelligence and military forces off guard. Less than five per cent of respondents believe certain U.S. government elements actively planned or assisted some aspects of the attacks.

In 2000, Republican George W. Bush won the U.S. presidential election garnering 271 electoral votes after winning 30 states, while Democrat Al Gore got 266 electoral votes from 20 states and the District of Columbia.

Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people. In July 2004, the federal commission that investigated the events of 9/11 concluded that "none of the measures adopted by the U.S. government from 1998 to 2001 disturbed or even delayed the progress of the al-Qaeda plot" and pointed out government failures of "imagination, policy, capabilities, and management."

Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. In October 2001, Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan, claiming that there would be "no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbour them." The conflict began after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bush earned a second four-year term in the November 2004 presidential election.

On Aug. 6, 2001, a Presidential Daily Briefing titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." mentioned "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York."

On May 17, 2002, Bush discussed the situation, saying, "The American people know this about me, and my national security team, and my administration: Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people."

On Sept. 7, homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff discussed the government’s current level of preparedness, saying, "We’re very focused now on private planes coming from Europe and Asia. We’re on the verge of putting out some new regulations to secure us against threats from that arena. We’re looking at small boats, which would be another way of threatening our ports, aside from the container ships that we’ve talked about so much."

Polling Data

There are three main schools of thought regarding the 9/11 attacks. The first theory is the official story, and maintains that 19 Arab fundamentalists executed a surprise attack which caught U.S. intelligence and military forces off guard. The second theory known as Let It Happen argues that certain elements in the U.S. government knew the attacks were coming but consciously let them proceed for various political, military and economic motives; and the third theory Made It Happen contends that certain U.S. government elements actively planned or assisted some aspects of the attacks. Based upon your knowledge of 9/11 events and their aftermath, which theory are you more likely to agree with?

Official story	63.6%
Let it happen	26.4%
Made it happen	4.5%
Not sure	5.4%

Source: Zogby International / 911truth.org

Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 American adults, conducted from Aug. 23 to Aug. 27, 2007. 2007. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

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