Crimes are committed for many reasons. Columbo always sought a motive, taking nothing for granted. Neither was anyone--no matter how powerful--exempt from suspicion in Columbo's mind. Although they would dismiss him as an "annoying little man," the chief mistake the rich and powerful perpetrator always seemed to make was to take detective Columbo too lightly. Just as Four 9/11 Moms Battle Bush—another group of citizens also taken lightly, if at all--we can almost picture the dogged determination of these four average women, trying to discover just what happened on 911, exactly as that truthseeker, Columbo would have done. You see, governments would prefer we all just go away and not ask any questions. Ever.

But before we examine motives, let us summarize the official story, as reported by our national news organs with information helpfully provided to them by the government. Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, four passenger jets are hijacked and their courses altered. Immediately the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) is required to notify NORAD of any unusual events, of which there were now four. NORAD must scramble jets, as they’ve practiced repeatedly, for just such an emergency. But, strangely, NORAD does not respond, except belatedly if at all. Maybe NORAD generals didn’t want to personally order any planes carrying innocent passengers shot down. Would you give that order? Maybe our fighter planes were all called back, as they were in the attack on the USS LIBERTY ,a scenario I prefer to believe. Like the USS Liberty and the Tonkin Gulf incident, the truth might be part conspiracy, part negligence and a subsequent cover up.

At the the World Trade Center--the fabled "Twin Towers"--leased only a few months earlier by a wealthy developer, first one jet and then another slams into the upper floors. An inferno, fueled by thousands of gallons of fuel, rages for minutes but then the fire begins to smolder. 350 firefighters fight their way up the steps. Radio contact from these professionals report confident dialogue they can extinguish the fire. Suddenly, first one and then the other of the towers pancakes downwards, killing everyone still in them, including the 350 firefighters. Meanwhile Flight 93 in Pennsylvania wanders aimlessly before heading south. Witnesses in the vicinity report a military jet tailing the plane. Wreckage from flight 93, scattered over eight miles from the crash site, seems to indicate the plane has been shot from the skies. NORAD denies this.

The third hijacked plane reportedly slams into the Pentagon. However, no wreckage of a passenger jet--no wings, wheels, tail fin, luggage, seats, bodies—were ever found at the Pentagon. Can you imagine Columbo scratching his head at this development? One French critic who used official photos and satellite images taken minutes after the impact—some reportedly by the US military—to question the official version was labeled a "Crackpot" and his claims dismissed as an "urban legend." The only problem with such urban legends is they flourish in the dark, a quality the state loves like a fetish.

Meanwhile, the curious collapse of the two enormous WTC skyscrapers left everyone shocked, stunned—and angry. Most Americans have watching the massacre on television for hours. When another building falls they are told everyone escaped safely. Although, by appearances, superficially damaged and burning in only two small places, WTC7.pancakes in exactly the same manner as the two towering buildings before it. Moments after this horrific attack, a Passport is Found On Street Below WTC! The identification is still readable although it survived a fiery impact that vaporized all else. Evidently a Muslim man committed this horrific crime.

What would Colombo do with such evidence? Wouldn’t he at least look at WTC: films? Talking to firemen would also seem like a good first step, since 350 of them died tragically. But how exactly would a good detective like Columbo begin to approach this most sinister of crimes and the perplexing contradiction of available evidence? First the motives. Who profits? Who Made The AA 'Put' Options and was it true that enormous fortunes were made by insider trading on Wall Street? Yes. Did The CIA, have any connection to the attack? Yes, obliquely, or perhaps even directly by a few individuals. Is it true an enormous WTC Insurance payout is being contested. Yes A $7 billion prize that not even King Croesus of Lydia could have imagined.

Was it true that hundreds of tons of paper debris blanketed the streets of lower Manhattan simultaneous to the discovery of that incriminating passport? Yes. Besides cinders and bones and bodies from Twin Towers Jumpers, that amazing document emerged like Oswald’s rifle. If Las Vegas were to calculate the odds of finding such a charred passport, that originated in a fiery crash and was buried in an avalanched of debris from seventy stories up, what would be the odds? Miraculous indeed how a paper passport could survive a fiery explosion but an ENTIRE airliner vaporized on impact at the Pentagon. Would Colombo--or a court of law--accept this passport as admissible evidence in a criminal case if someone from the prosecution handed it to him, or would the passport be dismissed as highly circumstantial—and rightly so—suspected of having been planted?

Why were certain US military men neither reprimanded nor demoted for failure to perform their duty? Some even failed to remember simple details! Myers Senate Confirmation Hearing, 9/13/01] Remember, the admirals in command at Pearl Harbor were court-martialed, not treated with kid gloves as if they were fellow victims--as were NORAD officials after 911. Columbo might start by shining the harsh light on key players. During General Richard Myers’ tenure at NORAD—more than one year before the attack --the Pentagon brass practiced attack scenarios, even featuring Bin Laden’s picture on the cover of one manual. In October of 2000, a detailed "emergency" drill was practiced, simulating a Pentagon attack. So why wasn’t anyone prepared at the Pentagon even ONE HOUR after jets struck the WTC? In one of the best articles ever written about attack—The Failure to Defend the Skies on 9/11 and the basis for hundreds of conspiracy claims that "Insiders" were somehow involved—Paul Thompson uncovered a pattern of criminal negligence. Describing such discrepancies, a lawyer once said to me: "One mishap is chance; two is a pattern; three are a conspiracy" If your child drowns because you left the pool gate ajar even once, you can go to jail for involuntary manslaughter. If NORAD isn’t guilty of criminal complicity, no one is.

Columbo might also corner the leaseholder Larry Silverstein. If the US government won't investigate, won't ask the tough questions, perhaps outraged New Yorkers will. Did Silverstein order the destruction of WTC-7? Detective Columbo might investigate the startling collapse of a structurally sound building and talk to architects and engineers and especially corporate lawyers. Their words might give him some important clues as to who profited. If building 7, World Trade Center was indeed an official government building--the SEC leased 100,000 suare feet--can a "landlord" order its destruction and, if so, why

As I said, Colombo always began his investigation by seeking a motive. One group of suspects not yet mentioned had the most to gain. Presently they all hold high office. The signers of the PNAC, who clearly spoke of the impetus for another "Pearl Harbor" style attack on America--which all the national news organizations said this was--to provide impetus for an aggressive agenda, an excuse for a series of military incursions into the oil-rich Middle East. How much more than a terrorist attack, does 911 appear to be that signature event? Columbo certainly wouldn't shirk that question. Lastly, If certain wealthy investors had profited immediately by foreknowledge of the sinking of the battleship USS Arizona in 1941, Americans would have been outraged. Obviously no one is outraged today. Likewise, there were eight official inquiries into the attack on Hawaii. There is scarcely one inquiry today on 911.

"Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact."

Douglas Herman, internet essayist, is a USAF veteran who believes patriotism begins at home. He is a new columnist for Ether Zone.

He can be reached at: douglasherman7@yahoo.com

Published in the March 9, 2004 issue of  Ether Zone.
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