9/11, part 3

Dear readers,

here’s the third and last part of the 9/11 story:

New York, 30th June 2001

Paul had now been working for more than a year in his new office at the World Trade Center 7. Everything seemed to go pretty well: he liked his new colleagues and he also often saw his previous ones as they came to the WTC 7 quite often. Yet, there was something strange in the air. He noticed some kind of tension in meetings and sometimes even during breaks while talking to other co-workers, but he could not understand where this feeling came from. 

One day, while he was alone in the main meeting room, he decided to go through some documents that one of the managers had left on the desk for the next conference. It was going to be a meeting only for top high levels and it was going to start in about 20 minutes. He remembered all the strange things going on a couple of years ago at the Pentagon and he knew that there was something going on.

He walked back to the corridor, looking out to see if anybody was coming: nobody. A few colleagues were on a break and the others were all at their computers. He closed the door and returned to the desk and started going through the papers. What he found changed his life.

Two documents were about shooting down planes: the first stated that only the president could give the order, the second one instead said that after the 12th September the decision could be taken by any military chief.

Another was a contract with a demolition company dated 11th June 1998 to wire up the whole World Trade Centre complex. What the hell…?!?

A forth document forbade the public usage of video coverage from the Pentagon CCTV cameras, unless otherwise ordered by the president himself.

Another one was about residence and work permits for some Arab immigrants and there was a list of names.

The last two papers were an official memo to the president from the national security office, but text and date were still to be added and a list of military exercises over the whole American territory planned for September, the exact dates were missing.

Paul couldn’t believe his eyes: they were actually planning a terrorist attack in their own country! But when? Possibly, in the first weeks of September. He didn’t even stop to think: he first made a copy of all the documents, then he put the originals back on the desk and ran to the door. As soon as he opened it, Ted Froman, the head of national security was coming in.

“Hey, Paul. What the hell are you doing here?” he asked him, quite surprised to find him there.

Paul hesitated for a moment, then said: “Nothing, I’ve just made some photocopies of some documents for the next meeting that’s going to take place here. Will you be in it?”

Froman looked at him suspiciously at first, then answered him: “Ehm, yes. I didn’t know you were responsible for organizing this meeting. Usually only the top levels have access to this information.”

“Yes, I know”, Paul said. “I just volunteered to help. You know, I think I’m going on holiday very soon. I’m sorry, I must go now. See you later then.”

“Paul, wait.” He looked at him and straightened out his arm. “The documents, please.”

Paul didn’t answer. He just handed the papers out to him. He knew they would have found out anyway. He just hoped that they would think he was just doing his work, nothing more. After all, he was used to copying documents without even looking at them.

He faked a smile. “Yes, sure. Here they are.” Then he left.

The first thing he did is indeed take a two weeks’ holiday. He really needed it.

11th September 2001, World Trade Centre

When Paul got out of WTC 7, he realized that it was useless for him to stay in the area so he walked back to his flat. That was the last time that anybody ever saw him again.

A few days after the attack all his colleagues were told he was helping people getting out in the South Tower when it collapsed. Nobody had any reasons not to believe that. We know it was not so. However, we don’t know what happened to him. Maybe he had to leave the country and is now hiding somewhere. Most probably he was killed because he knew what really happened on that day. I hope he’s still alive.

NEVER FORGET. SPEAK OUT AND TELL YOUR OWN TRUTH.

Stop the nuclear monsters!

Dear readers,

to my mind a person who is for nuclear energy is a monster, someone who is blind to the thousands and thousands of deaths caused by nuclear disasters, to the various illnesses caused by radiations, to the potential risks for our society. Blind to all this because of profit.

There are two main reasons why people are for nuclear energy: either because they have been disinformed about this source of energy or because they personally profit from the production of it. I believe there are no other reasons why people support nuclear energy. All sensible citizens who are correctly informed about it are against it.

We cannot put the life of future generations at risk just because we want to use an alternative source of energy. After all, I am pretty sure that the consequences of a nuclear disaster will be much worse than the ones of any other natural disasters caused by global warming. Indeed, that is another reason why we should stop as soon as possible producing nuclear energy: with the number of natural catastrophes increasing every year, the risks of having nuclear disasters is growing exponentially, see what happened in Japan.

A human error, an accident, a terrorist attack, whatever happens in a nuclear power station may have disastrous consequences. Do you really want to take that risk? And why? To produce energy? There are many other ways to produce energy and we should really try to use as many renewable sources as possible. Moreover, where shall we put all the nuclear waste? No country in the world has yet found a long-term solution, not even Japan.

Accidents will happen, that’s a fact. Ok, then what will we do in case of one? Well, decontamination procedures, check-ups in hospitals, evacuations, medical treatment, etc.. If the radiation reaches dangerous levels then you may expect to get cancer or other diseases in the future, or maybe your children, or even die in a short time, depending on the circumstances. Every household will need to have a radiation detector and special protective clothing. Furthermore, we will have to organize emergency drills in schools and at work. I definitely don’t want to even think about having to go through all this.

We have to stop these monsters who defend an obsolete, very expensive and extremely dangerous source of energy against the will the people and despite all the risks and the dangers that this technology involves. We have to first get informed from independent reliable sources, then spread this information and let people know what is at stake. We have to raise our voices and fight against this crazy nuclear lobby.

Stop the nuclear monsters!

Bye for now,

Andrew

911, part 2

Dear readers,
here's the second part of the 9/11 story:

It all started some months after the first terrorist attack back in 1993. At the time, he was working at the Pentagon as a simple clerk. His main tasks were to go through the paperwork, make the necessary copies and forward them to other people or departments, write reports about ongoing activities and so on. Now and again he would be asked to do some more challenging jobs, like to give feedback about a defense plan or help to draft a new one.
Paul knew that something was wrong, but he did not know what exactly. Many of his colleagues probably did not notice anything at all, but he had to report to his boss more than once a day and he had seen and heard things that he had not liked. Mind you, nobody had noticed him, possibly because they had not even known he was there or that he was listening.
Well, at the beginning, he was not really listening, until he overheard words like "explosives", "collapse" or "terrorists". So he had started to listen to what they were saying while he was just writing reports at his desk or sending emails or looking for material. He still remembered the day he started to think that they were dealing with something big. It was the summer of 1999. He was making some photocopies when one of his colleagues came out of the main office. He stopped at the door, still talking to the person inside:
"So, are you sure they're going to do it?"
"Yes, definitely. I'm going to contact them as soon as possible to make sure everything is ok with the plan."
"Who's going to do the work at the towers in New York?"
"Well, that's something we'll have to take care of once we know for sure if and when it's going to take place."
What was going to take place, he wondered? He went back to his desk and sat down. He went through the documents he was copying, the reports he was forwarding to his boss, the documents he had to file. Most of them were about national security, some of them were about regulations for the New York police department and for national defense in case... of... terrorist attacks?
Wait a minute...
He went through a second pile of documents he had on his desk. Some of them were warnings coming from different sources, among them also were foreign government information services. Some warnings were about hijacking planes, some others about a few terrorists living somewhere in the US.
"They must be talking about a possible terrorist attack. After all, we are responsible for national security", he thought.
However, something was wrong. All of them were internal communications, no official statements, no communications to the president, no warning was actually forwarded to the government. He decided to put them aside and ignore them. He was sure they were going to inform someone soon.
The following week everything changed: when he went to work in the morning, he noticed that the people he worked for had moved to another area of the Pentagon. Suddenly, nobody was there. Instead, he had to report to a new boss, who explained to him that he would now work for the department of internal organization and information technology. They needed more personnel and he was the right person for the job. He actually did not mind about a change, but he wondered why. Soon, he forgot all that stuff about terrorism and went on to do his new job. Until one day...

New York, 4th April 2000

After a long working day, Paul felt really tired. He had just finished to tidy up in his office when John Davidson came in. John had been one of his superiors before Paul was moved to another sector and was mostly responsible for air defense.
"Hi Paul, how are things going?" He sat down, smiling.
"Well, fine thanks. I've had a long day today. A lot of paperwork." He sat down as well, longing to go home already.
"Listen, Paul. I've got good news for you: you've been assigned to the World Trade Centre in New York. In about a month you'll start working there. We need you there for a special job."
Paul looked up at him. He knew who worked there: defense, CIA, secret service. The news was indeed good: he lived in New York, just a few blocks away from the WTC. He only wondered why this sudden change.
"Oh really? Well, that's good. That's round the corner for me. What is this special job?"
John did not answer immediately. He first looked around and his look went to the different documents on Paul's desk.
"Terrorism", he finally said. "As you have probably noticed, there have been warnings from different sources and we have to check them out and decide what to do."
Paul suddenly remembered the warnings and the documents he had noticed a few years before. Maybe there was a connection, but he decided not to say anything about it just now.
"I see. Well, that's great. I just don't understand this sudden change. I was assigned to another department last year. Now you're calling me back?"
John looked at him and smiled. "Exactly. We need more people to go through all those documents and help us out with our plans."
Paul was happy to go back to work for the defense department. He had been working for them for years and he liked his colleagues there. Moreover, he loved the World Trade Centre in New York. He also knew a few people there and couldn't wait to move to his new office there.
Then one day...