N. California Truthers seek to expose holes they see in 9/11 'swiss cheese'

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John Morearty, left, and Jim Walsh at the Peace and Justice Center in Stockton, with a couple of books they say support their stance that the government's version of the 9/11 attack is to be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. Mike fitzgerald/
The RecordBy Michael Fitzgerald - Record Columnist

March 07, 2010 12:00 AMOne of the curiosities of our American era is the mainstreaming of groups formerly considered fringe: birthers, Tea Party members and 9/11 Truthers.
I tell birthers fuhgeddaboudit. Tea Party members I have not interviewed, though the New York Times' deeply researched profile of them the other day was unsettling.
Local 9/11 Truthers, who doubt the official version of the 9/11 attacks, will have their day Wednesday. The Peace & Justice Center is screening "9/11 Blueprint for Truth.

The 9/11 Film Series' first film, "9/11 Blueprint for Truth," screens at 6:30 p.m. March 10 at the Peace & Justice Center, 231 Bedford Rd. A discussion will follow. For more information on the series call (209) 981-0544.

I visited the Center and talked with Jim Walsh, who has organized a 9/11 Film Series. Also present was John Morearty, a fellow 9/11 skeptic.

Other community members who doubt the 9/11 Commission's report declined to be present for fear of ridicule or career-limiting repercussions. They've bent my ear, though.
We sat at a table heaped with 9/11 literature and DVDs. One of the titles was "The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11."

"I suspect elements of my government, but I can't prove it," said Morearty, "based on its track record of false flag operations."

The U.S. government sank the Maine to spark the Spanish-American War, Morearty said; fabricated the Gulf of Tonkin Incident to escalate in Vietnam; trumped up nonexistent weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for invading Iraq.

"These were lies we know about now," he said. "This is something of which governments over thousands of years have proven themselves capable."

Uncle Sam's motive: "a continuing war economy," Morearty said.

Total spectrum dominance, Walsh said.

That phrase comes from the Project for a New American Century. The neocon think tank infused the Bush administration with the principle that global American dominance militarily, economically and in communications was good for America and the world.

Walsh cites a passage from a think tank white paper. It says galvanizing America's militarization won't be easy, "absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor."

Hence the title of the book mentioned above.

Both Walsh and Morearty stop short of saying the U.S. government perpetrated 9/11. This distinguishes them from Truthers who believe Uncle Sam pulled an inside job.

They do say the official report on the 9/11 attacks is full of holes. They suspect key facts were intentionally omitted and lines of investigation deliberately ignored.

Here they join the full Truther chorus.

"I don't believe the official version, which is a Swiss cheese," Morearty said.

A plane strike would not cause the buildings to collapse in their own footprint. Traces of Thermite explosive were found in the rubble. The plane's black boxes were never recovered.

The head of the 9/11 Commission supported Bush's agenda. A key Pakistani intelligence official wired 9/11 mastermind Mohammed Atta $100,000. The FBI gagged its whistleblowers.

In this view, Dick Cheney went from the New American Century to the vice presidency, convoked his energy task force and agreed with Big Oil that invading Iraq was necessary. Which is why he invoked national security when refusing to release the transcripts of those meetings.

And on and on. "It was a terrible crime," said Morearty. "And it's been used as the casus belli ... for two gruesome wars we're engaging in Iraq and Afghanistan."

The two men want 9/11 fully reinvestigated. "A criminal investigation," added Walsh.

Their campaign includes planting the seeds of doubt with the film series, and going public. Even though some may think they've gone 'round the bend.

"I care about what people think," Walsh said. "But I can't stop it. I'm at a point where I have to lay my cards on the table."

Morearty: "I think I went around the bend a long time ago. The bend is that I grew up trusting my government."

Contact columnist Michael Fitzgerald at (209) 546-8270 or michaelf@recordnet.com.