‘I was on holiday in Australia with my family when it happened,’ says Cat. ‘I looked at the pictures on TV over and over,’ says Gareth. ‘The shock was massive.’ Recalling where you were on September 11, 2001 when New York was attacked by terrorists is the ‘Where were you when JFK was shot?’ question of our generation.
Indeed, like the Kennedy assassination, conspiracy theories abound about what really happened and why. Gareth and Cat are members of Truth Action, an international grassroots organisation committed to raising public awareness regarding the ‘truth’ behind 9/11.
I wonder why these people doubt the generally accepted version? ‘You can’t deny the facts,’ says Stef, another Truth Action member. ‘And, like smoking when you’re pregnant, once you know the facts, not acting on them is irresponsible.’ I ask Stef, Gareth and Cat what those facts are and a dizzying litany of information and ‘urls’ spills out.
They cite engineers who believe the way the Twin Towers collapsed didn’t tally with the way they were hit; demolition squibs seen jumping from the falling buildings; and records of money transfers by Pakistani officials, who then met US intelligence.
‘It’s not a smoking gun but it does make you start to ask questions,’ says Gareth. So who is behind the attack on the Twin Towers? ‘We don’t know exactly,’ answers Stef, ‘We just know 19 Arabs with box-cutters couldn’t have done it on their own.’
‘We’re not just focused on 9/11,’ Cat points out. ‘But look how our lives and laws have changed since that day: even torture’s legal now.’
‘People can dismiss us as conspiracy theorists,’ says Stef, ‘But if we’re right, people have nothing to lose by looking into the facts.’ Truth Action will be holding events until September 14, including a round-the-clock vigil outside the US Embassy.