Conspiracy II: September 11, 2001

The proposition on offer is that the events of September 11, 2001 were orchestrated actions perpetrated by the United States Government. Caveats: * Ignorance and stupid decisions are not evidence of conspiracy. * "Willful Ignorance" must be demonstrated to be part of a conspiracy (i.e. Rice's non-meeting a week before). * Facts about collapse rates, debris clouds, etc... must be backed up by both sides with math, not conjecture. * This debate is limited to WTC 1 & 2. ******************************************* As an opening volley - popular pieces and rebuttals of this theory: 1) The "Pancake Theory" does not support the actual fall speed or style of the building. The pancake theory clearly does not fully describe the collapse, as you can see the top of the towers begin to tilt off. However, the case is NOT that one floor just impacted into the next floor - the collapse started mid-building. So you have 30 floors falling on the next floor to start the collapse. 2) Demartini is reputed to have "designed" the towers to withstand a crash by a plane. Demartini is a construction manager, NOT an engineer. His quote actually reads: "The building was designed to have a fully loaded 707 crash into it. That was the largest plane at the time. I believe that the building..." A fully loaded 707 is almost 67,000 pounds lighter than a 767 (the plane that actually HIT the towers) and carries almost 1000 gallons less fuel. 3) Core Columns show explosive separations. The core columns show shear, not explosive separation. If you look here (http://algoxy.com...) you can see the difference between explosive shear (left) and cuts. If you look at pictures of the wreckage of the towers, you will plainly see that what he calls explosive shear is post-collapse cleanup cuts with an oxyacetylene torch. 4) There were basement explosions. There are numerous videos and pictures of the lobby. Any explosion powerful enough to push people upwards would have damaged the floor of the lobby. None of this damage is visible in any photos. The powerful explosions in the basement are probably the result of electric feedback into the machinery that controls much of the tower's internal functionality. These explosions would have been instantaneous with the crash of the jet into the upper floors. 5) The Unscathed Passport is planted evidence. Look at it (http://www.historycommons.org...) - it's hardly "unscathed." Almost looks like it was in a really hot cockpit module and got ejected from a burning building 100 stories up... 6) There was Thermite/Thermate at ground zero. Thermite (which they found) is a product of Aluminum and an Oxide (like rust). The most common oxide is Iron Oxide, but any oxide will do. Other common sources available in the WTC would have included Copper. So Aluminum airplane + Oxide (rust, melted copper pipes, etc...) = Thermite. I'm no chemist, but I'm willing to bet that what can be interpreted as thermite on a scan can come from stuff that's present in a huge building and a plane. And Dr. Jones (who purported this theory)... never visited ground zero. 7) Bin Laden wasn't involved in 9/11. Aside from the fact that Bin Laden has publicly stated on numerous accounts that he was involved, had specific foreknowledge, and personally communicated with the hijackers... There is also the testimony of Khalid Sheik Mohammed that he (Mohammed) not only planned the attacks, but presented them to Bin Laden and Mohammed Atef. Bin Laden then both approved the plan, and supplied the financial means for it to take place. ************************************************* Just an opening volley... I await a rebuttal. NEGATED.