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Show DAILY HERALD , Saturday. September 11,2004 A5 Emtorials EDITORIAL BOARD Albert J. Manzi, President & Publisher Randy Wright, Executive Editor Donakl W. Meyers, Editorial page editor John Castefli, Public adviser Christian Harrison, Public adviser Sam Rushforth, Public adviser IN OUR VIEW Another addiction, conspiracy theory seem to thrive theories. it's the Americans Abraham F. Kennedy, between AI Qaida and Timothy McVeigh, the disaster at Waco, a government cover-up of UFOs or the fake moon landing of 1969, the suspicious and the paranoid can be counted upon to cook up scenarios and point to "evidence" that calls official explanations into question. It's like an addiction. The latest drug of choice for buffs is uSe "documentary" 911 In Plane Site, which c touts "amazing video and evidence" illustrating that what the government says happened on Sept. 1L 2001, could not have happened The producers would have us believe that unanswered questions abound, that pictorial evidence and eyewitness testimony show the possieven probability that the bility government staged the whole thing (play Twilight Zone musk here). The presentation is not corivincing. If nothing else, however, it is entertaining. The show poses a number of "big" questions that the producers found extremely troubling. Here are a few examples from the documenT tary, followed by our own cursory (but common sense) answers: I Why does photographic evicon-spira- photo-graphi- dence taken moments after the event, show no wreckage on the lawn of the Pentagon? Maybe because the aircraft didn't crash into the lawn. It might have cartwheeled in from a relatively high angle. I How does a 757 exit the Pentagon's third ring & leave a hole approximately 16 ft. across with no visible wreckage? WeVe seen plenty of plane crashes, and aluminum and magnesium aircraft are simply not designed to crash into things. When they do, they can be demolished beyond all recognition. Was there a "pod" attached to the bottom of (United) "Flight 1 75" and, if so, why was it there? The photos are anything but conclusive. No pod is visible as the aircraft approach. I What is the bright flash seen right before impact on both the North Tower and the South Tower? Might have been a reflection of each aircraft's landing lights off the buildings' windows. Landing lights are on the inboard end of the wings and a bright reflection would shine off the building an instant before, or concurrent with, impact. I Why did a FOX News employee report seeing no windows on Flight 175, a commercial United Airlines jetliner? Because United uses such a I jf ) CANCEL THAT bland, gray paint scheme that it's hard to see windows even when its aircraft are parked at a terminal, let alone flying at 500 mph overhead Besides,' any detective in America will tell you that eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable. The program hints that k was really a mffitary aircraft, but if that's true, then sevenU real questions are raised, like what happened to the hundreds of passengers that didn't show up at home that day? I Why did firefighters, reporters ' and other eyewitnesses describe a demolition-like-, pancake collapse of the WTC? That's what a budding like this sounds like when k collapses. Why were there dozens of reports of bombs going off in and around the WTC before any buildings collapsed? Because a lot of noisy structural failures were going on inside the buildings at the time. Nobody knows of any "bombs," only loud noises that could be attributed to other sources. White attempting to build a case for conspiracy, suggesting that our own government, not terrorists, brought down the buildings, 911 In Plane Site ignores some key facts. For instance, the producers don't bother explaining the cell phone calls to loved ones from passengers on United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania Terrorists were clearly at work in that aircraft; there is simply too much reliable testimony on that to deny it. Nor does the presentation explain, if the attack planes were military, . what happened to the commercial planesV It hints that they might have been shot down over the ocean. The trouble is that they weren't necessarily over the oceaa And who remembers an Atlantic crash of an air liner where debris such as luggage did not wash up all up and down the Eastern seaboard? If airliners went down in the sea, the secret could not have been kept for long. " It's fine to be entertained by this stuff, even if it is a bit morbkL But let's not lose our senses. Americans would do well to heed President Bush's advice in a speech shortly after the attacks. He said people should not allow themselves to be swept up by conspiracy theories.. At the same time, let us not be naive Conspiracies of various magnitudes surely must develop from time to time in an enterprise as gigantic at the US government and military. A free press can ferret them out, but it doesnt always. Americans should always be on guard. A little suspicion of the government is a healthy thing as long as one doesn't get carried away. WlTTTK YfitD . i i rju-uv v wi "cr MNrrvmi ' ivv I ACOTT YOU HOT?! "I did not say if Kerry is elected, we will be hit by a terrorist attack. Whoever is r elected president has to anticipate more attacks. My point was the question be- fore us is: Will we have the most effective policy in place to deal with that threat? George Bush will pursue a more effective policy than John Kerry." ft Vice President Dick Cheney, clarifying his THEKN I'M OFT TO DONATE Tuesday statement that there's a danger the United States will be attacked again "if we make the wrong choice" on Electibn Day. m 6?i) BELIEF AND SAYAPMVn? FOR TIE COUNTRY. "I just hope I can watch them graduate. I hope we're not all on the run like in Terminator.' " Tony Volpitta, father of three daughters from Curtis, Ohio. An Associated Press poll found that four in 10 Americans say they sometimes worry about the possibility of another terrorist attack. Beetaves& Buffalo Chips Beehive to the BYU foot- - " money for improvements on the chosen home projects. Wetts Fargo ban team, ted by the stel- weren't satisfied with only lar performance of wide one day, so they stretched their pro-jereceiver Todd Watkins, for its 7 to three. victory over Notre Dame on Saturthis The has been team plagued day. ' hU Buffalo Chip to BYU for year by a series of ernbarrassing ac- cusations against players, which unceremoniously chop- could take down morale on any ping the heads off its two athletic directors, Val Hate and Elaine team. But the Cougars putted togethMkhaelis. It not that it's a bad ktea to er and Watkins was superb. restructure the athletic department, Buffalo Chip to whoever but why resort to an ambush when h designed the reentry and you have two people who have served the institution wen within the recovery mechanisms on constraints they were given? What Genesis space the refrigerator-sizwas the emergency? Hale says he capsule, which tumbled through the atmosphere over Utah like a drunken was surprised at the sudden whack, but there was no need for that When Frisbee. The capsule returned to he was hii he offered to resign poEarth, appropriately, at Dugway litely anytime the school wished Proving Ground It dug it's way mto the ground, and proved that it's unBuffalo Chip to the 158 res-safe to skydive without a working jUO idents of Fairfield, who parachute. are pressing for incorporation as a town despte a study that Beehive to United Way of Utah County and more says they simply don't have the rethan 50 volunteers who sound. The residents want to con-tr- d their own destiny, or in other gathered Thursday morning to hep annual of the as words, Day keep the expanding Eagle part neighbors Mountain from annexing them. But of Caring. Local businesses supportit's no great thing tocontrol one's ed the event by offering paid leave destiny when the end result is doom. for worker as weU as materials and .'4. ga. 20-1- e C . DOONESBURY r$0MJMTP)w THINK OF MY J YOU mtryou'v 60 AQAt- N- CHOCZHONEK HOPEWUKNOO MALLARD FILLMORE Garry Trudeau yr . , M kB! 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