Lies and half truths students are being taught about 9/11 and the War on Terrorism, courtesy of the FPRI

What Students Should Know About 9/11 and the War on Terrorism

From the Foreign Policy Research Institute

1528 Walnut St, Ste 610 
Philadelphia, PA 19102 

Answers to Students’ Questions

• 

• How many terrorists were on each plane?  19 in all — 5 in each of 3 planes, 4 in the one that went down in Pennsylvania
• How many people total, lost their lives on 9/11?  2,974 people died in the attacks, from more than 90 countries. Another 24 are missing and presumed dead.
• Was the date of the event a coincidence or planned, given that 911 is an emergency code in the U.S.?  Probably a coincidence.
• What would make them hit Somerset, Pennsylvania?  Passengers brought the plane down before it could reach Washington — the location was accidental.
• How has 9/11 affected Americans’ nationalism and patriotism?  Patriotism initially increased after 9/11, but it has ebbed over time as no further attacks ensued and we encountered difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Why were we attacked?   What was the reason behind the attack on 9/11?  Because al-Qaeda was and is engaged in an effort to transform the Muslim world after their extreme and mythic vision of it, and the United States supports several Muslim Arab regimes (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and others) that stand in their way. They attacked the “far enemy” to get at the “near enemy.” That’s the main reason, although there are others.
• What did we do to cause 9/11?  We aided and supported Arab regimes that are al Qaeda’s enemy.
• If the attack on the U.S. was meant to disable us, how would it have done so?By imposing economic costs, financial chaos, and a growth of pacifism.
• Is it true that the US was warned by other nations in the months leading up to 9/11/01 that an attack would occur?  If so, why didn’t our government respond?
• were some general warnings (for example, from France), but none that were specific, timely or operationally useful
• Were al-Qaeda make any direct statements/hints about a terrorist attack on the United States planned for the time period around 9/11?  Yes, there were numerous such statements, and that was the problem: the lack of specificity.There had also been previous attacks (East Africa, Yemen) that did not receive adequate responses.
• Was 911 the beginning of the war on terror or the turning point, as the average American citizen became aware of a preexisting war before 2001?  The turning point. There had already been the 1993 WTC bombing, the 1998 Nairobi and Kenya embassy attacks, the 1996 Khobar Towers attack (Saudi Arabia), and the 2000 USS Cole attack in Yemen.
• Why did our government not react to the terrorists’ previous attacks on our embassies and threats of a larger, more serious attack?  Lack of will, intelligence and understanding.
• How can the US counter the idea that the US or Israel did the 9/11 attack?
• Bin Laden claims he did it. The 9/11 Commission produced a mountain of evidence. Both should be widely circulated. We also need to get reputable authorities in the Arab and Muslim worlds to tell the truth.

edit: title changed due to the fact that EOIN Dude and other readers thought I believed what is being taught to students, when that was not my intent in posting this.  I posted this as an example to what half truths and lies are being told to students and our future in the Public Schools.  shera~