File:9-11-the-big-lie.jpg | |
Author | Thierry Meyssan |
---|---|
Language | French |
Publisher | Carnot Press |
Publication date | 8 March 2002 |
ISBN | 978-2912362445 |
L'effroyable Imposture [1] (or "The Horrifying Fraud") is the original French title of a highly controversial and discredited 2002 book by French journalist and political activist Thierry Meyssan. Its English edition is entitled 9/11: The Big Lie.
The book argues that the attacks of September 11, 2001, were "false flag" operations directed by right-wingers in the U.S. government and the military-industrial complex who sought a casus belli for military action in Afghanistan and Iraq. A publishing sensation in France, the book has received severe criticism over its factuality in both the French and United States mainstream news media. The U.S. government has publicly denounced the book and considers it a significant international misinformation threat. The crux of the criticism emphasizes that the book contradicts much eyewitness and forensic evidence[ citation needed ] and so cannot be accepted as a factual account.
The book, reported to have sustained a number 1 bestseller position in France for six of seven weeks immediately after its launch, [2] sold 164,100 copies in the first year, and a total of 300,000 up to date.[ citation needed ] It has since been translated into 28 languages (as of 2006)
The book questions the U.S. government version of the events and raises a large number of questions on the details of the events which, according to many observers,[ who? ] marked the beginning of the 21st century and changed the geopolitical world order. It makes the following claims:
The actions that provoked the collapse of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan and damaged part of the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, were not the result of attempts by foreign suicide pilots, but were rather an action organized by a group within the U.S. administration; an internal plot aimed at driving opinion and forcing the course of events.
The war on Afghanistan was not a response to the September 11 events, since it was prepared long before in coordination with the British. President Bush found support in evangelical groups to launch a crusade against Islam, according to the strategy known as "Clash of Civilizations." The "war on terror" was a pretext to reduce individual liberties in the United States and later in allied countries in order to impose a military regime.
Osama bin Laden was a C.I.A. fabrication and never stopped working for the U.S. Secret Service. The bin Laden and Bush families jointly manage their wealth by means of the Carlyle Group. The U.S. presidential administration was taken over by some industrial groups (weapons, oil, pharmaceuticals) whose interests would be defended by the government, to the detriment of others. The C.I.A. would develop a program of interference at all levels, which would include the resource of torture and political assassination.
The book was widely and heavily criticized by the French news media. The leading centre-left newspaper Libération wrote the book was: "the frightening confidence trick ... A tissue of wild and irresponsible allegations, entirely without foundation"; and the prominent French weekly news magazine, Le Nouvel Observateur commented the book's theory "eliminates reality". Both Libération and Le Monde launched special investigations to disprove Meyssan's theories. At the time, Le Monde also complained that inconsistencies in the public information made available about the terror attacks, as well as the lack of a comprehensive official account, were fueling the popularity of the book. [3]
A few months after the launch of L'effroyable imposture, two French journalists, Guillaume Dasquié (former editor-in-chief of Intelligence Online ) and Jean Guisnel, published their own book L'effroyable mensonge ("The Horrifying Lie"), [4] which was a point-by-point rebuttal of Meyssan's work.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense has officially commented that the book's publication was "a slap in the face and real offense to the American people, particularly to the memory of victims of the attacks". [3] The book is regarded as a significant international misinformation threat to national interests by the U.S. Department of State, which has issued an official rebuttal of its key claims. [5]
The following timeline is a chronological list of all the major events leading up to, during, and immediately following the September 11 attacks against the United States in 2001, through the first anniversary of the attacks in 2002.
Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi a.k.a. Abu Ali al-Harithi was an al-Qaeda operative and a citizen of Yemen who is suspected of having been involved in the October 2000 USS Cole bombing, and the October Limburg attack.
The al-Shifapharmaceutical factory in Kafouri, Khartoum North, Sudan, was constructed between 1992 and 1996 with components imported from Germany, India, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and the United States. It was opened on 12 July 1997 and bombed by the United States on 20 August 1998. The industrial complex was composed of four buildings. It was the largest pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum and employed over 300 workers, producing medicine both for human and veterinary use.
Walid Muhammad Salih bin Mubarak bin Attash is a Yemeni prisoner held at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-related charges and is suspected of playing a key role in the early stages of the 9/11 attacks. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has described him as a "scion of a terrorist family". American prosecutors at the Guantanamo military commissions allege that he helped in the preparation of the 1998 East Africa Embassy bombings and the USS Cole bombing and acted as a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden, gaining himself the reputation of an "errand boy". He is formally charged with selecting and helping to train several of the hijackers of the September 11 attacks.
There are various conspiracy theories that attribute the preparation and execution of the September 11 attacks against the United States to parties other than, or in addition to, al-Qaeda. These include the theory that high-level government officials had advance knowledge of the attacks. Government investigations and independent reviews have rejected these theories. Proponents of these theories assert that there are inconsistencies in the commonly accepted version, or that there exists evidence that was ignored, concealed, or overlooked.
Michel Chossudovsky is a Canadian economist and author. He is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Ottawa and the president and director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), which runs the website globalresearch.ca, founded in 2001, which publishes falsehoods and conspiracy theories. Chossudovsky has promoted conspiracy theories about 9/11.
The Voltaire Network is an international non-profit advocacy and alternative media organisation founded and led by French journalist Thierry Meyssan. It specialices in international relations and has become known for advocating conspiracy theories, notably relating to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and those in support of Russia, the Syrian and Iranian governments.
Thierry Meyssan is a French journalist, left-wing conspiracy theorist and political activist.
The CIA and September 11 is a controversial 2003 non-fiction book by Andreas von Bülow, a former state-secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Defence and a Social Democratic member of the Bundestag from 1969 to 1994. The book disputes al-Qaeda's responsibility for the September 11 attacks and suggests that it may have instead been a false flag operation arranged by the U.S. federal government and Israel. The book has enjoyed considerable commercial success in Germany, where it is published by Piper Verlag, and has sold over 100,000 copies. However, it has faced allegations ranging from absurdity and fostering anti-Americanism, to anti-Semitism, while the quality of its sourcing and the timing of its publication have given rise to debate within the German publishing industry. In subsequent media appearances, Bülow has defended his work, and strongly denied that its content is anti-Semitic.
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. That morning, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners scheduled to travel from the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions of the East Coast to California. The hijackers crashed the first two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, two of the world's five tallest buildings at the time, and aimed the next two flights toward targets in or near Washington, D.C., in an attack on the nation's capital. The third team succeeded in striking the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense in Arlington County, Virginia, while the fourth plane went down in rural Pennsylvania during a passenger revolt. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and instigated the multi-decade global war on terror.
The Central Intelligence Agency, known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT) and conducting covert action through its Directorate of Operations. As a principal member of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States. Following the dissolution of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) at the end of World War II, President Harry S. Truman created the Central Intelligence Group under the direction of a Director of Central Intelligence by presidential directive on January 22, 1946, and this group was transformed into the Central Intelligence Agency by implementation of the National Security Act of 1947.
Osama bin Laden, the founder and former leader of al-Qaeda, went into hiding following the start of the War in Afghanistan in order to avoid capture by the United States and/or its allies for his role in the September 11, 2001 attacks, and having been on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since 1999. After evading capture at the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, his whereabouts became unclear, and various rumours about his health, continued role in al-Qaeda, and location were circulated. Bin Laden also released several video and audio recordings during this time.
Guillaume Dasquié is a French journalist and writer who specialises in matters of intelligence and terrorism.
Various conspiracy theories allege that certain institutions or individuals had foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001. Some of the primary debates include whether the Bush administration or the United States Armed Forces had awareness of the planned attack methods, the precise volume of intelligence that American agencies had regarding al-Qaeda activities inside the United States, whether the put options placed on United Airlines and American Airlines and other trades indicated foreknowledge, and why the identities of the traders have never been made public.
The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 (2004) is a book written by David Ray Griffin, a retired professor of philosophy at the Claremont School of Theology. It draws analogies between the September 11 attacks and the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The title is taken from the 2000 paper "Rebuilding America's Defenses" produced by the Project for the New American Century, which asserted that only a "new Pearl Harbor" would enable the military and defense policy transformations the group desired to rapidly take place.
Muhammad Rahim is an Afghan who is held in captivity by the United States Government at Guantanamo Bay. He was born in eastern Afghanistan. Muhammad Rahim worked for an Afghan government committee that worked to eliminate opium poppies from the nation. He was forced to leave his job by the Taliban. In 1979, Rahim fled Afghanistan with his brother over the border of Pakistan. Their departure was triggered by the Soviet Union invasion into Afghanistan.
Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism refers to the involvement of Pakistan in terrorism through the backing of various designated terrorist organizations. Pakistan has been frequently accused by various countries, including its neighbours Afghanistan,India and Iran, as well as by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, of involvement in a variety of terrorist activities in both its local region of South Asia and beyond. Pakistan's northwestern tribal regions along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border have been described as an effective safe haven for terrorists by Western media and the United States Secretary of Defense, while India has accused Pakistan of perpetuating the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir by providing financial support and armaments to militant groups, as well as by sending state-trained terrorists across the Line of Control and de jure India–Pakistan border to launch attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir and India proper, respectively. According to an analysis published by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in 2008, Pakistan was reportedly, "with the possible exception of Iran, perhaps the world's most active sponsor of terrorist groups... aiding these groups that pose a direct threat to the United States. Pakistan's active participation has caused thousands of deaths in the region; all these years Pakistan has been supportive to several terrorist groups despite several stern warnings from the international community." Daniel Byman, a professor and senior analyst of terrorism and security at the Center For Middle East Policy, also wrote that, "Pakistan is probably 2008's most active sponsor of terrorism". In 2018, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, suggested that the Pakistani government played a role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist group. In July 2019, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, on an official visit to the United States, acknowledged the presence of some 30,000–40,000 armed terrorists operating on Pakistani soil. He further stated that previous administrations were hiding this truth, particularly from the United States, for the last 15 years during the War on Terror.
Pakistan was alleged to have provided support for Osama bin Laden. These claims have been made both before and after Osama was found living in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan and was killed by a team of United States Navy SEALs on 2 May 2011. The compound itself was located just half a mile from Pakistan's premier military training academy Kakul Military Academy (PMA) in Abbottabad. In the aftermath of bin Laden's death, American president Barack Obama asked Pakistan to investigate the network that sustained bin Laden. "We think that there had to be some sort of support network for bin Laden inside of Pakistan", Obama said in a 60 Minutes interview with CBS News. He also added that the United States was not sure "who or what that support network was." In addition to this, in an interview with Time magazine, CIA Director Leon Panetta stated that US-officials did not alert Pakistani counterparts to the raid because they feared the terrorist leader would be warned. However, the documents recovered from bin Laden's compound 'contained nothing to support the idea that bin Laden was protected or supported by the Pakistani officials'. Instead, the documents contained criticism of Pakistani military and future plans for attack against the Pakistani military installations.
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., by the al-Qaeda terrorist group, a number of investigations were conducted to determine what intelligence may have existed before the attacks and whether this information was ignored by authorities.
Thierry Casasnovas is a controversial figure from the French world of alternative health. Without medical training, he gives advice on health and nutrition on the web, and he is a prolific videographer, author of several hundred videos on YouTube. Some practices that he advises are considered without a scientific basis or even dangerous for health by dieticians and doctors.