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BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- One-third of Germans under age 30 believe the U.S. government may have sponsored the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, according to a poll.

And about 20 percent of Germans in all age groups hold this view, according to a survey of 1,000 people conducted for the weekly Die Zeit.

The poll also said 68 percent of all Germans felt the media had not reported the full truth behind the attacks, in which some 3,000 people were killed when hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

After the September 11 attacks, there was an outpouring of sympathy from Germans for the United States. Despite misgivings, Germany joined a military campaign against the al Qaeda network that Washington blamed for the attacks.

But as the United States geared up for war against Iraq, relations soured as Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed vocal opposition to the plans.

Although the United States took offense at Berlin's attitude, Schroeder's anti-war stance was popular in Germany and helped him to snatch victory in last September's elections.

Asked whether they believed the U.S. government could have ordered the September 11 attacks, 31 percent of those surveyed under the age of 30 answered "yes,'' while 19 percent overall gave the same answer.

Die Zeit said widespread disbelief about the reasons given by the United States for going to war in Iraq and suspicion about media coverage of the conflict had fostered a climate in which conspiracy theories flourished.

"The news is controlled,'' 17-year-old Kenny Donaubaur was quoted as saying. "You could see that in the Iraq war. It doesn't seem to me that you get the full truth.''



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While I believe (to an extent) the 'media is controlled' stuff, I think the idea of the gov't actually supporting the attacks to be insane...there is the possibilty that the attacks were known about in advance and allowed to happen.

Thoughts?




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Nyenrodian

Well, the news is definitely controlled. That's nothing new is it? There are countless news stations in the USA. However they rely on only 3 companies for their information. Reuters, Bloomberg and another one.

So, it's fairly easy to control the news.

I agree with you that the USA will not have sponsored or participated in the 9/11 attacks. But there is a report saying that both the FBI and the CIA have done practically everything wrong when it came to dealing with the signs that 9/11 might happen. There was no coordination whatsoever and because of negligence of both services the attack happened. The U.S.A. could have avoided it.

seretogis

I'm willing to bet that the poll was rigged. Someone wants a big story, and worded the question in a way that could easily make it look like the results they want. I believe that the US "could" "technically" have orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. Then again, so could have Jamaica. Box cutters are widely available.

However, of course, the US didn't fly jets into our own buildings for publicity, or to justify a war, or any reason -- that's just nonsense.

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TaLoN

ive been to germany and have relatives there that i talk to. they don't have opinions about the US, they just laugh at us when controversy strikes

m0ntyblack

Hehe, a lot of conspiracy theorists over in Germany eh? A lot here, too, though. As for the US Government controlling it, the US government has trouble communicating with itself, so the odds of "them" doing it pretty much nil...now if you are talking about certain factions or persons inside the government, or affiliated with the government, that stands to reason.... I will lay MONEY on the fact that there are al-Quaeda members or sympathisers in positions throughout our government. To think otherwise is fairly naive.


MB

Kllr Wolf

This Kid is the real genius. Of course the government controlled the news during the Iraq war, the reporters would have been giving out our war plans and maneuvers otherwise. Heck, I wonder if he knew that the Iraqies controlled their news also? I believe that anyone who thinks that the media is not biased or influnced is niave about the subject.

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bermuDa

unrestricted media access doesn't just pose a security risk. In the case of the Vietnam 'police action', the extensive media coverage helped turn public opinion against the war...

and 3/4 of Germans think Hasselhof will make a theatrical comeback... I think that qualifies more than 20% of them as a 'bit silly'

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ace81385

wow thats kinda odd ass poll and sick at same time

Coolidge

yeah I've seen it before, but it still shocks me as much as the first time I saw it.

thedrake

why would anyone even have a poll option saying: the U.S. gov. was involved in killing over 2500 of their own citizens. That's ludicrious, even for conspiracy theorists. It's downright sick thinking that way.

MikeyChalupa

Many in France are convinced that the plane that hit the Pentagon was actually a missile fired by our own military. Thierry Meyssan wrote a book entitled "L'Effroyable Imposture" (Translates to The Horrifying Lie, or The Appalling Deception) in which he describes his theory. Even at $17 a pop for the paperback, it quickly became a best-seller in France.

I'm not going to bother explaining why this guy is full of shit. As a serviceman, just thinking about it makes me sick. Those who have ever served in our military or worked for our government know that yes, there's a few things that go on that civilians don't get to hear about. They usually involve stopping direct threats to America and it's citizens and don't get publicized so that the WAY they were stopped doesn't get exposed or compromised. Those who watch too much "X-Files", or buy into every consipracy theory they hear about because it's been trendy to go against our government ever since Vietnam will never truly understand what the real world is all about. Our government and military aren't out to get you. Nor are we too keen on killing 125 of our own, many of whom were high ranking officers. For what, cheaper gas? I don't know about where you all are, but gas is just as expensive here in Virginia as it was before the war. I haven't noticed any price drop due to all those secret contracts with the oil companies that the war was supposedly started for, have you?

Here's a link to a page that has translated the book into English. Read for yourself and decide if the author is deranged, delusional, or merely retarded.

-Mikey

Pacifier

I do not think that the US sponsored the attack, but the CIA and other agencies must have been sleeping not to notice the preperations....so I think there are some questions to answer.

BTW: It should not surprise anyone that people think the US is capable to do such things, "operation northwood" anyone?

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MikeyChalupa

Provoking a war with Cuba to rid Americans of a very real threat 90 miles away is one thing. Blaming the possible death of an astronaut on Cuba is one thing. Suggesting that the CIA or FBI or DOD decided to murder several THOUSAND Americans to start a war with Afghanistan or Iraq is ludicrous. I'll leave it at that. Had Operation Northwood involved actually KILLING John Glenn and then blaming it on the Cubans, you'd have a valid comparison.

-Mikey

Peetster

Not sure how to react to this. Part of me thinks that perhaps German media outlets ARE filtering content for the audience. But don't Germans have access to the same global and satellite news services?

Charlatan

Conspiracies are easy to speculate about...

JKF... what is more interesting, that a single gun man shot and killed the president or that a group within America conspired to kill him and cover it up?

This is especially true with regards to the incidents of September 11, 2001... There is a lot going under the surface and the fact that the Administration will not release certain reports naturally leads to speculation...

The fact that Bush and Company pushed for a war in Iraq against many other nation's objections... lead many to presume there were alterior motives.

The fact that the incidents of 9/11 have seemingly played into the implimentation of many laws and policies (i.e. making the war on Iraq a part of the agenda) that were "pet projects" of people like Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld (see their New American Century website) has lead many people to believe that there was something funny going on... Many aren't clear what it is and in the absence of clarity... conspiracy theories abound.

Personally I agree that there is a possibility that the attacks may have been *allowed* to happen.

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XenuHubbard

The news he's referring to are probably CNN and other US networks.

Actually, there has been complaints about the US coverage this time around as well - such as reluctancy when it comes to reporting FF incidents, as with the British plane that got shot down by the US in Iraq.

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Kadath

"America's top military brass even contemplated causing U.S. military casualties, writing: 'We could blow up a U.S. ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba," and, "casualty lists in U.S. newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation.'"

You were...um..saying? I understand, they didn't do it. But they did contemplate it. And I don't think we flew jets into our own buildings, any more than I think the Holocaust is a hoax. Some people are just crazy.

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The_Dude

remember, a majority of europeans thought bush was the #1 threat to world peace?

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Zeld2.0

Now those who say the U.S. wouldn't do shit to start a war is wrong. While i say it is ludicrous to think the U.S. was the one who did 9/11...

I will say that it is in the realm of possibilty that the U.S. intelligence *allowed* it to happen. THey may very damn well have known but let it happen anways. These are the same conspiracy theories as the ones over Pearl Harbor. Some say FDR knew all along and let it happen so he could go into WW2 with 100% U.S. support.

In a sense thats true for 9/11 as well - because of the wave of hysteria, anger, and what not after it - Bush was able to push for the war. Now I highly doubt it was all orchestrated but I will say that letting it happen is defenitely possible though I doubt it.

And as for polls.. I htink its been beaten to death. Polls are just plain not reliable - simply how you word it and put results can be diferent. They could've asked "do you think the Bush admin let 9/11 happen for war" and put results out as so-and-so % said it was a result of bush or whatever.

Freedan

The way the question is worded, you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to answer affirmatively. Hell, given that question, I'd probably answer "yes". They could have, it's within the realm of possibility. Do I think it bloody likely that any government agency would authorize such a large-scale massacre? Certainly not. But there are links between the CIA and Bin Laden, stranger conspiracies have happened.

I agree, it's a stupid poll, designed to manipulate the respondents and produce some number that seem shocking on the surface.

And the idea of that book truly is disgusting... just goes to show that even in the supposedly more cultured western Europe, there are plenty of those who are willing to exploit and foster popular negativity towards another country in the name of making big bucks.

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