In the time since that fateful September day in 2001, the US government has continued to lie to the public and hide crucial details of the attack. On that day, the entire nation watched live as nearly 3000 people tragically lost their lives.
Two generations have lived under the shadow of the events of that day, Millennials and GenZ. For many Millennials, that day is etched in their minds. Most were enjoying a typical day of school when the teacher gets a call. Class stops and TVs get turned on. Younger students didn’t fully comprehend the tragedy of what they were witnessing, while older students watched in horror, tears in their eyes as thousands of their countrymen died in a matter of minutes.
The events of 9/11 and the resulting war have shaped this country like no other event in modern history. The US is locked in a perpetual, unwinnable war for nearly two decades. Each time one enemy is defeated, two more arise to take its place.
As horrible as that day was for America, it was even worse for the nations in the Middle East. The US government has used 9/11 to justify killing over 200,000 civilians. Each time a bomb wipes out a family, America slips further into darkness. It has long since become an evil empire to the people of the Middle East, and the result is more and more opposition fighters. These people fight America not only to get them out of their country but more often than not because America slaughtered their families.
Below are ten things the US government doesn’t want you to know about 9/11.
Jon Stewart Has Been a Staunch Supporter of First Responders
Regardless of whatever else happens as a result of 9/11, the first responders who were on the scene that day are true American heroes. These men and women saved lives and prevented the disaster from being worse than it was at the expense of their health.
The World Trade Center buildings primarily used asbestos for insulation. In addition to that, the dust created by the burning rubble and collapsing buildings was filled with carcinogens and other toxic compounds. First responders were not adequately equipped to handle a situation of this magnitude, but they went in anyway, many without gas masks or respiratory protection.
The result of the first responders’ noble sacrifice has been lifelong illness and medical expenses. To help ease this burden on the heroes who gave their health, the US government pass the 9/11 Compensation Fund. This bill provides medical care and financial compensation to not only the first responders but civilian victims as well.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unilaterally decided not to renew the Compensation fund in 2019. The fund had already passed the House, but the Senate Majority Leader refused to bring it up for a vote in the Senate.
Enter Jon Stewart. Stewart launched what one can only describe as a public shaming campaign against McConnell. Eventually, McConnell relented and agreed to allow the bill to come for a vote in the Senate, pretending that was his plan all along.
The US Never Retaliated Against the Country That Funded the Attacks
The attackers were from several Middle Eastern countries, but most came from Saudi Arabia. Not only did most of the attackers come from Saudi Arabia, but the Saudi government also funded the attacks. Of course, the Saudi government, as well as the US government both deny any involvement in the attacks.
Instead of retaliating against a country that supplies the US with oil, politicians decided to invade Afghanistan after the Saudi government severed diplomatic ties with the nation.
The US would then go on to invade several other Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq. The government never gave a proper justification for the invasion of Iraq. Instead, they only told the public that the US government believed Iraq to have weapons of mass destruction. Of course, the military never found weapons of mass destruction, and the US government murdered thousands of innocent civilians, further fueling hatred of America in the region. This, in turn, bolstered the ranks of terrorist organizations throughout the area.
Eventually, the US found and killed Osama Bin Laden and supposedly dumped his body in the ocean. The attack was executed by Seal Team 6 under the Obama administration.
It seems unlikely that the US government is ever going to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the role it played in the 9/11 attacks. Oil and money are power, and the politicians in Washington are not going to go against that power.
The US Has Murdered More Than 100 Times the Number of Civilians That Died on 9/11
9/11 was a tragedy no matter how you look at it. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives, and thousands more were injured and have died from complications since. Indeed, it was a dark day in American history, but it was nothing compared to the death and destruction the US government has inflicted since.
In the nearly two decades since 9/11, the US government has dropped over 7,700 bombs on the Middle East. As a result, much of the Middle East is in ruins. The destruction of legitimate governments in the region as well as anti-American hostilities has led to the current terrorist crisis that is fueling the refugee crisis, primarily in Europe.
Not only has the US government destroyed thousands of years of history and overthrown several governments, but it has also murdered over 250,000 civilians. Read that again. 250,000 CIVILIANS! By comparison, the military has killed less than 125,000 enemy combatants. The US government has sacrificed two civilian lives for every enemy combatant.
No matter the reason, nothing can justify the war crimes America has committed in the Middle East. It is also not a winnable war so long as the US continues to murder innocents. Each time a drone strike kills an innocent civilian or when US soldiers murder civilians for sport, new combatants rise up. Who can blame them? After watching their home gets blown up or having their child die in their arms?
Regardless of what happened on 9/11, the US government has committed unforgivable acts and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
The “War on Terror” is America’s Longest War
America has been at war in the Middle East for almost 20 years. This makes the war on terror the longest war America has ever fought. The Vietnam war was a close second, lasting a total of 17 years and four months.
Vietnam is yet another war that the US started unjustly. The excuse for full engagement in Vietnam was the Gulf of Tonkin incident. During the incident, the US Navy sent the USS Maddox to the Gulf of Tonkin, an area controlled by the already warring communist forces in the north.
There was no reason for the USS Maddox to be sent to the Gulf of Tonkin. Many sailors later reported the commanding officer telling them they were there to get bombed. This is just another example of the US imperialist regime intentionally soliciting an aggressive response to justify going to war.
Currently, the US has been in Afghanistan for almost 18 years. It has since invaded several other Middle Eastern countries and destroyed countless lives. The US government shows no signs of leaving the Middle East despite public opinion favoring a full withdrawal.
To make matters worse for the Middle East, in recent months, John Bolton, Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, has been increasingly antagonizing Iran in an attempt to start yet another war. At the current pace, the US is going to be in the Middle East for several more decades or until their oil is gone. At which time the government is going to issue a full withdrawal and leave the citizens of the area to rebuild their shattered lives with nothing.
People Enlisting to Fight Today Were Not Even Born on 9/11
Military enlistment requires that the enlisting person be at least 18 years old, but you can commit to the military earlier. The US military has recently come under fire for consideration of a policy change that would allow recruiters to target children as young as 12.
What is worse, recruiters are hoping primarily to implement this policy in low-income schools. The policy considerations are a result of lower enlistment numbers. Why is no one enlisting in the military? Well, aside from the current generation being the most left-leaning yet, none of them even remember 9/11. The children who were born at the time of the attack were too young to remember it. Come September, people eligible for enlistment wouldn’t have even been born at the time of the attack.
It is no mystery why recruitment numbers would be down; the military is asking kids to die in a war that shouldn’t even be happening. The fact that this policy primarily targets lower-income schools is also further proof that the government does not care about winning the war. They want to continue the war to reduce the population in low-income communities and increase their profits.
For each soldier, the US government spends almost $5,000 per soldier for gear alone to private contractors. This amount is pocket change compared to the other expenses such as advanced training conducted at Halliburton facilities and other military contractors. Low recruitment numbers mean less profit for contractors, which translates to less lobbying donations to politicians.
The War on Terror Has Cost US Taxpayers $6 Trillion
Over fewer than 18 years, the US government has spent almost $6 trillion. That averages out to nearly $350 billion per year, every year. This is the same government that says universal healthcare is unaffordable, and a free college education is unattainable. Imagine what the US could do with that money if it had not spent it on war.
Where is the money coming from you ask? Since Congress never actually sanctioned the war, most of the funds come from Social Security. Your retirement is what is paying for the endless slaughter of innocent civilians.
During this time, the deficit has reached an all-time high, as well as the national debt. Not only is the national debt the highest it has ever been, but the US has the worst credit score it has ever had.
Countries have credit scores, just like people. Unlike people, a countries credit score is not a number, but rather a rating. The highest rating is AAA. The US has had a AAA score since the system introduction of the system, but during the Obama administration, it dropped to AA. This was a result of increasing debt and gridlock on Capitol Hill. The downgrade came as a direct result of a government shutdown.
What does a lower national credit score mean? Higher interest. The primary owner of America’s debt is China. As a result of the lower credit score, China now charges America higher interest on hundreds of billions of dollars of debt.
To make this situation worse, Donald Trump started a trade war with China, which has resulted in China buying soy and other produce from Russia. Now Trump is borrowing money from China to subsidize the farmers that have been impacted by his trade war.
The Only Winners Are Defense Contractors and Politicians Taking Their Money
The average soldier’s pay is $32,000 per year. The US military currently has 1.3 million soldiers. That means that soldier pay accounts for roughly $42 billion annually. That still leaves almost $300 billion annually being spent elsewhere.
Where does all this money go? Military contractors such as Halliburton and Boeing. These giant corporations make billions by selling weapons, vehicles, and training to the US military.
It is not only defense contractors that exploit the military. One company charged the US military almost $1,500 for a non-vehicular clutch disc. The clutch in question only cost the company $33 to produce. The military does not even challenge this exploitative price gouging.
Why is the military willing to pay such exorbitant up charges? Because they can. Defense contractor lobbyists spend almost $60 million annually to make sure politicians pass increasingly large military budgets.
In addition to lobbying, there is a mentality in military and intelligence agencies that they must spend the entire budget. Use it or lose it. This actively incentivizes the military to pay higher prices for the same products
While defense contractors are getting rich off of exploiting the military, politicians in Washington are continually trying to reduce soldier pay and veteran benefits. The VA is the perfect example. It is supposed to provide necessary medical care to veterans, but thanks to budget cuts, it is barely able to function. This causes excessive wait times, limited treatment quality, and even death and suicide.
For a country that claims to love its military, US politicians are quick to throw veterans out on the street the moment they can’t exploit them anymore.
The CIA Trained Osama Bin Laden During the Cold War to Fight the Soviets
During the Cold War, the US was continually trying to undermine the communist Soviet Union. Public opinion was often against communism thanks to government propaganda insinuating that communists were all evil and wanted nothing more than to destroy the beacon of hope and all that is good in the world, America. In truth, the reason the government wanted to destroy communism anywhere it took hold was because they cannot make a profit in a communist system.
A communist government is not perfect, but it lacks one feature crucial to capitalist elites, profit. The elites of the US knew that if communism took hold in other parts of the world, it would reduce their potential markets. So, they spread propaganda demonizing all communists.
The Soviets, while not openly hostile, were not going to sit idly by while corrupt American politicians tried to destroy their system of government. As a result, Soviet Russia and the US became the dominant superpowers in the world. Both countries developed nuclear technology and started an arms race to develop more powerful bombs.
The threat of nuclear war was a constant threat, so the US government knew it could not directly assault the Soviets. In the 1980s, the Soviets were engaged in a war with Afghanistan. The CIA saw this as an opportunity to inflict damage to the Soviets without direct intervention.
The CIA trained Osama Bin Laden to be the most effective killer and strategist possible. This strategy, as well as supplying arms to the Middle East, resulted in the Soviets being pushed out.
Had the US provided the reconstruction assistance it had promised, it is unlikely that the 9/11 attacks would have occurred. Instead, the US government left the Middle East in ruins, planting the desire for revenge.
Ronald Reagan Supplied Many of the Weapons Used by Terrorist Forces
It baffles the younger generations that people remember Ronald Reagan as anything but a war criminal and con artist. His crimes against America are numerous. They include the creation of ‘trickle-down economic theory,’ which has left the US with the highest wealth inequality in the nation’s history. He used his connections to George H.W. Bush, then CIA director, to negotiate the release of hostages in the Middle East only after he won the election. He also sold arms to Iran to fund a coup operation in Nicaragua known as the Contra. This was also when the CIA sold crack and heroin in the inner-city to fund the Contras and imprison and kill the African-American population.
The CIA wanted to support the Contra, but Congress had passed the Boland Amendment. Part of the Boland Amendment blocked further funding of the Contras by the US government. Reagan and General Oliver North, along with the CIA, decided this was not acceptable. They then went around Congress by selling arms to Iran, which was subject to an arms embargo.
Congress did not pass the Boland Amendment because using covert operations to demonize, undermine, and overthrow legitimate governments is wrong. Congress passed the Boland Amendment because the CIA was mining a harbor right next to Soviet ships. Congress was worried that if a Soviet ship hit a mine, it would cause an international incident.
Fast-forward nearly two decades and the weapons sold to Iran to fund the Contras are now in the hands of terrorist organizations fighting the US.
The US Government has Repeatedly Used Banned Torture Methods on Political Prisoners
The US Constitution bans torture. The Geneva Convention also prohibits it, but that does not stop the US government from engaging in what it calls “enhanced interrogation.” This is just a fancy way of saying torture.
Any reasonable person knows that, if you torture someone, they are going to give you information. Whether or not that information is accurate and not just what they believe can stop the torture is up for debate. Experts and phycologists say no, torture is not an effective way of gathering accurate information. CIA and FBI agents, on the other hand, disagree and engage in the practice anyway.
Prisoners of war, often innocent civilians who opposed US intervention in their country, are subjected to inhumane “interrogation” at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
To make matters worse, many prisoners never received a trial. The US government does not provide trials for prisoners of war and has been known to hold people prisoner for decades.
The most common forms of torture used are waterboarding and sleep deprivation techniques. Waterboarding is when a prisoner is strapped to board at an angle, so their head is below their feet. After being strapped down a rag is placed over their face and cold water is poured over them, sometimes for minutes at a time. While this may not sound bad on paper, it causes a physiological response that is indistinguishable from drowning. Prisoners would be subjected to this treatment repeatedly.
The second method is sleep deprivation. The CIA has been known to use vibration and sound to deprive prisoners of sleep and foreshadow pain. In a similar vein to Pavlov, the CIA conditions prisoners to expect severe pain when they hear a particular sound. They then use this sound to torture prisoners who never know if they are going to be subjected to the pain or not.
Conclusion
The terrorist attack on 9/11 is and shall remain a dark day in American history, but the atrocities committed by the US government since are far worse. The military has hunted civilians for sport, bombed thousands of years of history, and given rise to multiple terrorist organizations.
The initial outrage and despair were felt by all Americans that day. People around the country mourned as one at the most significant loss of life this country has seen since Pearl Harbor. That grief quickly turned to righteous outrage that was misdirected toward the wrong countries and used to line the pockets of the elites.
Saudi Arabia has yet to answer for its crimes. While most of the terrorists on the planes were Saudi and the Saudi government funded the attacks, the oil-hungry politicians dare not oppose them.
While the attacks may not have been an inside job, there is still plenty of information that the government is hiding. It continues to act only in service to the rich until the people stand up and say no more.
Nothing can justify the war crimes America has committed in the decades since the attacks. As a nation, America is going to be remembered by historians as an evil empire and the greatest threat to world peace of the 21st century.
