9/11 Truth group is incorrectly portrayed

Thanks for covering David Ray Griffin’s presentation on 9/11 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Labor Day evening. Unfortunately, your article contained several serious misrepresentations. The worst is the statement that “Griffin contended that no difference exists between evil and patriotism as patriotism means working for one’s own country at the expense of others.”  Griffin’s actual claim was that it’s possible to commit great evil while acting on patriotic motives. In particular, if those responsible for the events of 9/11 include persons within the U.S. government, they could well have been acting on patriotic motives. However, that would not justify their actions or make them good.

It’s possible to do great evil – or good – as a patriot. Griffin’s warning was not against patriotism but nationalism, which inherently leads to actions that disregard the interests of other nations and peoples who do not belong to one’s own nation.
Furthermore, the article said Griffin “attempted to prove that the United States was responsible for the (9/11) atrocities.”  It later reports that an IU professor “said Griffin provided absolutely no evidence that the Bush administration was directly involved in 9/11.” This overlooks the fact that Griffin’s lecture focused rather on evidence that America was not “attacked by Muslims on 9/11.” Moreover, no one in the 9/11 Truth Movement claims that “the United States” committed the 9/11 atrocities. At worst, these atrocities were orchestrated by a relatively small number of strategically placed people in positions of power within and outside official government bodies.

The article also stated Griffin “refuted the 9/11 Commission and numerous FBI documents.” Actually, he showed that some FBI documents, especially its report on phone calls from the airliners, refute portions of the 9/11 Commission’s report.
There is much about the events of 9/11 we neither know nor claim to know. We agree with Griffin, however, that overwhelming evidence disproves major elements of the official story. Many good reasons exist for not believing that Muslim terrorist hijackers were primarily to blame. On issues of this importance, it is crucial that news stories be accurate and fairly represent what is being reported.

Byron Bangert
Kevin Anderson
Bob Baldwin
Chris Haynes
Mick Harrison
Jen Patterson
Dave Rollo
Paul Smith

Bloomington 9/11 Working Group members