Guys, can anyone that can be bothered (and I completely understand if you can't) please cast an eye over
this thread on another forum and let me know if I'm missing any obvious counterarguments?
I'm Jonathan S. Ferguson on there, and although I seem to have several moderators on my "side", none of us are as experienced in shooting down (pun intended) CTs as you guys.
PS - I'm not a sword-wielding maniac (not that the other posters there are); I work in the heritage sector!
Les, in addition to your good comments and those of gumboot, I would refer them to Hal Bidlack's comments this week in this thread:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1849603&postcount=1 He was there, and it's important to remember that these events did, and do, affect real people.
Following is a recent email I sent about Pentagon issues. Note the links to photos of a huge amount of debris on the lawn in the second paragraph: the post you responded to specifically said there was none. Feel free to use this all or in part.
*****
It sounds like you're relying on CT sites that tell you the damage made by the impact amounted to a single 16-foot hole. That is completely wrong. The hole extends along the wing line left, and especially, right, of the fuselage hole. It is not a cookie-cutter hole: that simply cannot happen with a reinforced concrete building. Note in the following picture the total destruction of masonry and the reinforced columns broken and bent in the direction of impact (the plane came in from the right of the picture):
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehost/879044ca9183f1f5c.jpg
Here's a higher-resolution version of that photo without the graphic overlay:
http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/pentagon/images/6.jpg
No debris on the lawn? That couldn't be less true. Many people who make this claim show a photos of the lawn far to the right of the heliport. Flight 77 entered the scene from the far right, and most of the debris that was ejected outward went to the left, covering the heliport and the lawn to the left of the impact point.
Why don't CTs show these photos?
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/879044e5acd97bcc7.jpg
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/879044e5acd9b75a6.jpg
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/879044e5acd9e4fea.jpg[
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/879044e5ad1fb1eb4.jpg
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/879044e5add2ebf1b.jpg
Just released are the flight 77 Flight path analysis, which contains detailed information.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/doc02.pdf
And the Air Traffic Control transcripts were also released:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB196/doc06.pdf
Summary of Flight 77 depicting: the identity of pilots and flight attendants, seat assignments of passengers, and telephone calls from the flight
http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/exhibits/prosecution/flights/P200054.html
Of course, for anyone interested in the damage to the Pentagon, the ASCE's Pentagon Building Performance Report is essential reading:
http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/build03/PDF/b03017.pdf
From page 35: "The width of the severe damage to the west facade of the Pentagon was approximately 120 ft (from column lines 8 to 20).
More 757 debris? There are hundreds of photos and several videos showing a huge assortment of debris. Here is a montage with a small sampling:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehost/879044ca98bc1035d.jpg
Many debris photos at 911myths.com
http://www.911myths.com/html/757_wreckage.html
And how about the dozens of eyewitnesses accounts of the crash? For your claim to be true, all of theirs must be false.
http://eric.bart.free.fr/iwpb/witness.html
http://www.geocities.com/someguyyoud.../witnesses.htm
Notice that many of those witnesses specifically mention seeing a huge American Airlines jet hit the Pentagon.
How about the account of the C-130 pilot who saw both the flight 77 attack and the aftermath of flight 93? Lying?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCVRkAkC8n4&search=Shanksville
Photos from witness Steve Riskus, seconds after the crash (he gives his contact info, but be nice: he gets a lot of email):
http://www.criticalthrash.com/terror.html
Next, you need to remember that the remains of every flight 77 victim but one (a two-year-old) was recovered and positively identified by forensics experts. Personal effects of many survived the crash and fires and were returned to the victims' families.
Articles on Pentagon disaster morgue operations and victim identification:
http://ndms.chepinc.org/data/files/3/266.pdf and
http://www.dcmilitary.com/army/stripe/6_48/national_news/12279-1.html
Memorial photos of the victims:
http://www.animaladvocacy.net/911memorial.html
Phone calls from flight 77, from the 9/11 Commission Report:
http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm
At 9:12, Renee May called her mother, Nancy May, in Las Vegas. She said her flight was being hijacked by six individuals who had moved them to the rear of the plane. She asked her mother to alert American Airlines. Nancy May and her husband promptly did so.
At some point between 9:16 and 9:26, Barbara Olson called her husband, Ted Olson, the solicitor general of the United States. She reported that the flight had been hijacked, and the hijackers had knives and box cutters. She further indicated that the hijackers were not aware of her phone call, and that they had put all the passengers in the back of the plane. About a minute into the conversation, the call was cut off. Solicitor General Olson tried unsuccessfully to reach Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Shortly after the first call, Barbara Olson reached her husband again. She reported that the pilot had announced that the flight had been hijacked, and she asked her husband what she should tell the captain to do. Ted Olson asked for her location and she replied that the aircraft was then flying over houses. Another passenger told her they were traveling northeast. The Solicitor General then informed his wife of the two previous hijackings and crashes. She did not display signs of panic and did not indicate any awareness of an impending crash. At that point, the second call was cut off.
And how about the hundreds of first responders and investigators who were on the scene the first day? It's absurd to suggest that they were all deceived or are part of a coverup.
the Pentagon security staff
the DOD Honor Guard
the Pentagon Medical Unit,
the Pentagon 3-person Crash Response Team
the Pentagon Defense Protective Service,
Four U.S. Army Chaplains
One Catholic Priest (Stephen McGraw)
the Arlington County Fire Department,
the Arlington County Sheriff's Department,
Arlington County Emergency Medical Services
the Arlington, VA Police Department,
Fairfax County Fire & Rescue,
Montgomery County Fire & Rescue,
Alexandria, VA Fire & Rescue
District of Columbia Fire & Rescue
the Metropolitan Airport Authority Fire Unit
the Military District of Washington Search & Rescue Team
the Fort Myer Fire Department,
the Arlington County SWAT Team,
the Virginia State Police,
the FBI's Evidence Recovery Teams,
the National Transportation Safety Board Investigators
American Airlines representatives
the HHS National Medical Response Team,
the FBI Hazmat Team,
the EPA Hazmat Team,
the FEMA Incident Support Team,
the FEMA Emergency Response Team,
the FEMA Disaster Field Office.
the FEMA Virginia-1, Virginia-2, Maryland-1 and Tennessee-1 Task Forces
the US Army Reserves of Virginia Beach, Fairfax County and Montgomery County,
the National Naval Medical Center CCRF
Federal Disaster Medical Assistance Teams,
the Virginia Department of Emergency Management
the U.S. Army 54th Quartermaster Company Mortuary Staff
the U.S. Army 311th Quartermaster Company Mortuary Staff
the U.S. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
the American Red Cross,
the United States Secret Service,
the C-130H crew
Have you attempted to contact any of the 8,000 people who were on the scene after the crash? If you still have doubts, please do so.
As for the question, "Where are all those Pentagon video cameras?" the answer is that the Pentagon uses live security – human beings –*for its perimeter security. Here's a post on the BAUT forum from a Pentagon employee who was there on 9/11.
http://www.bautforum.com/showpost.php?p=746514&postcount=173 An excerpt:"Why isn't there more video? Without telling too much of what I know of Pentagon security, you would be suprised how few cameras there are outside the building. Humans actively patrolling a building's perimeter are a tad more effective than dozens of monitors which may or may not be watched at any given moment."
A brief look at the ridiculous "A missile hit the Pentagon" theory
1) No missile was seen by anyone
2) No missile debris was found
3) Missiles do not carry thousands of gallons of jet fuel
4) Missiles do not carry the remains of flight 77 passengers
5) Missiles do not carry tons of 757 debris
6) In the photo below, the yellow dots indicate the broken light poles. The red line indicates the path a missile would have to take in order to knock them over. Or, the missile would have to have a wingspan of over 100 feet.
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehost/879044caa801aabf4.jpg
An examination of numerous Pentagon/flight 77 questions at 9/11myths.com
http://www.911myths.com/html/pentagon.html
A detailed examination of the Jet engine pieces found at the Pentagon
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/conspiracy/q0265.shtml
A Boeing 757 struck the Pentagon: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/single.php?post=816414