September 11, 2001
September 11 never happened!
Page 4
To see how this program was presented on the ARTE website:
http://www.arte-tv.com/cache/dossier/fr/dossier630324.html
http://www.arte-tv.com/dossier/dossier.jsp?refresh=false&node=630392&lang=fr
April 13: Immediate reaction after the ARTE broadcast on the September 11 attacks
Unfortunately, being away from home, I was unable to attend the debate following the screening of a film denouncing "conspiracy theories," broadcast on ARTE as part of the Thema series on April 13, 2004, at 8:50 p.m. I hope this program can be viewed online. If anyone has made a complete recording using a video recorder, could they please send me a copy? I believe it is nonetheless a document worth preserving.
This was a pivotal moment in television. If we still harbored any illusions, they were shattered that night. I recall the words of my late friend Aimé Michel, spoken 25 years earlier:
When Yahweh said 'you shall not make any graven image,' he was already thinking of television.
This "anti-conspiracy" dossier disgraces the profession of journalism. The work of Thierry Meyssan (see the dossier on "Pentagate") is portrayed here as being driven solely by greed. Notably, throughout this dossier, no technical aspects are discussed—except for a few rare statements made by Meyssan during his interview.
Everything was done to discredit him. They cast a wide net. They noted links between certain publishers and the far right. Ardisson, who had given Meyssan a platform in 2002 when he launched his book, refused to answer journalists’ questions. Frankly, we can understand why. I remember Thierry Thuillier, editor-in-chief at A2, describing how Ardisson’s initiative had been perceived in his editorial office:
He didn’t verify his sources. In just three days, we collected enough information to realize that Meyssan’s theories simply didn’t hold water (...)
But not a single word about the actual information in question...
We hear an intellectual declare, “Conspiracy theories reduce complexity.” We question what lies behind “this hatred of America.” Renaud Marhic (author of "Ummo, the Extraterrestrials from the Cold") draws a parallel with the anti-Semitic and Freemason conspiracy theories, as well as traces of this movement in our history. In conclusion: challenging the official narrative of September 11 would be tantamount to antisemitism. The comparison is even drawn with the antisemitic "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a document banned in France but still available in certain bookshops (camera trick effect).
This is truly... nonsense.
All the tools of disinformation are used: crude conflation (with the National Front, the figure of Le Pen, the assassination of Lady Diana), juxtaposition of images, magnifying the slightest error made by one of the proponents of these theories, pointing the camera at a suspicious figure who appears to have ties to intelligence services. They mention Holocaust deniers. Meyssan’s work is thus placed on the same level. Others speak of "hatred of the democratic world." This amounts to saying that the U.S. is the vanguard of global democracy (...).
I find myself recalling sociologist Pierre Lagrange, who had previously written about the Roswell incident: "What undermines this dossier is its incredible nature." A brilliant mind. Here, he says something like, "And then Meyssan starts defending the indefensible."
They point fingers at Meyssan’s collaborators, including one Henri Bunel, who allegedly has ties to far-right groups. The latter mentions the "Free Energy" movement and the intervention of "reptilians." A quick glance at a book by the good-natured Hugo Nart, touching on his interest in extraterrestrial questions.
I don’t know if you can imagine what would have happened if Meyssan had taken me as an expert, given my background as an aerospace engineer. Every time, we would have heard in this broadcast: "Meyssan surrounds himself with experts, like Jean-Pierre Petit, former CNRS research director, who claims to have contact with an extraterrestrial race, the Ummites."
I believe—and hope—that viewers recognized the tricks behind this operation. Its weakness lies in the fact that the commentator never adopts a technical perspective. No qualified expert is brought in to confirm the White House's interpretation of the documents. There are only declarations of faith, shrugs of the shoulders. A friend watching the film with me said, “Seeing this program, any reasonable person would think: if they attack this man with such a poverty of arguments, it must be because his theories really disturb a lot of people. I’m going to buy his book.”
This shows, let’s say, that Meyssan has touched many people across 25 countries. The ARTE broadcast resembles a desperate attempt to oppose a growing awareness that spreads like oil on water. The "Leviathan" must feel threatened. In this dossier, the director goes too far, visibly to the point of absurdity.
Initially, Thierry Meyssan must have shown tremendous courage—courage I salute here—for daring to confront an enemy that has never hesitated to kill, whether it was Martin Luther King or Kennedy.
The mere fact that a television network could compromise itself by airing such a program reveals the state of decay of our media. ARTE’s Thema is supposed to broadcast slightly "hot" documents. But this is part of the game. Media must give the illusion of information independence by "revealing secrets" or conducting "courageous investigations." Yet that night, we could measure just how illusory this impression truly was.
April 27, 2004: A reader, Laurent de Soras, informs me that a detailed two-part critique of this broadcast, including text and audio excerpts, can be found on the Acrimed (Association-Critique-Media) website:
http://acrimed.samizdat.net/article.php3?id_article=1583
http://acrimed.samizdat.net/article.php3?id_article=1584
May 2, 2004: I rewatched the April 13 Thema broadcast on ARTE—so a CD copy was sent to me by a reader. Commenting on and dissecting this document would require pages and pages. I noted some phrases from sociologist Pierre Lagrange’s intervention:
...And then it becomes very powerful. By showing us these photos, he elevates the viewer into some kind of expert. The viewer sees what he sees, and in doing so, reverses reality... We’re dealing with things that aren’t open to discussion, in a way. He’s introducing debate where there shouldn’t be any.
Reading these lines, one wants to shout, “Is there a sociologist in the room?”
Second point, the most important, the most shocking: Thierry Meyssan is completely absent from the "debate" that closes the program, which features only a few journalists or essayist-journalists. In effect, Meyssan is "jus..."