Drop books, not bombs!

It is hard to believe that seven years have passed since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Yet what is much harder to believe are the alarming statistics that have emerged from a recent WorldPublicOpinion.org poll about the Sept. 11 attacks. The opinions gathered from this poll are both shocking and abhorrent.

Of the 17 countries polled, only majorities in nine countries believe that “al Qaeda” was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. To put it bluntly, just barely half of the countries surveyed believe that Osama bin Laden and his umbrella terrorist group attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. This bizarre state of world opinion should be a cause of alarm for policymakers and concerned citizens of democracy everywhere.

In the recent poll, the following question was asked: “As you know, on September 11, 2001 the United States was attacked. Who do you think was behind the 9-11 attacks?” Respondents were then allowed to answer the question in an open-ended manner. The answers given were then recorded into five different categories: “al Qaeda,” “the U.S. government,” “Israel,” “other” or “don’t know.” Any answer that fit the al Qaeda category (bin Laden, Islamic extremists, etc.) were coded as such, while other answers (“Arabs,” “Saudis,” or “Egyptians”) were coded as “other.” The survey’s margin of error is only three to four per cent.

Thus, seven years after the Twin Towers collapsed, it is appalling that much of the world still subscribes to conspiracy theories and wishful thinking. Some of the more shocking results are as follows: 23 per cent of Germans surveyed believe the U.S. government was behind the attacks, as did 30 per cent of Mexicans, and 15 per cent of those surveyed in Russia, Italy, and Ukraine. Forty-three per cent of Egyptians and 31 per cent of Jordanians believed that Israel was responsible for the attacks. 56 and 57 per cent of Chinese and Indonesian citizens responded “don’t know” to the question. The countries that responded correctly in the greatest number included Kenya (77 per cent) and Nigeria (71 per cent), as they identified al Qaeda as responsible for the attacks, with Germany, France, Russia, Britain, and Italy in close pursuit.

On the average of the 17 countries surveyed, the statistics were as follows: 46 per cent believe al Qaeda perpetrated the attacks, 15 per cent believe the U.S. government did, seven per cent believed Israel attacked the US, 7 per cent believed some “other” did, and a whopping quarter of all people sampled simply “did not know” who committed the 9-11 attacks.

These statistics should set off alarm bells. That so many people across the world believe anyone but al Qaeda struck the US on Sept. 11, 2001 is disturbing. In much of the world (and especially in places where both the United States and democracy are most opposed), there seems to be a correlation between those who dislike America, and those who believe that al Qaeda was not responsible for 9-11.

The world is rife with conspiratorial explanations for the 9-11 attacks. From movies like Loose Change, to the popular Internet website 911Truth.org, there abound alternative hypotheses as to the perpetrators of the attacks on America. Yet despite the bipartisan findings of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, there are still countless people who advocate that bin Laden’s terrorist group was not responsible for the attacks. How can this be?

The answer is simple: Anti-Americanism.

It is one thing to question the path of American foreign policy following 9-11. From entering Afghanistan with the world’s collective consent, to waging a dubious and costly war in Iraq, America’s relations with the rest of the world have certainly deteriorated. Yet the blunders of U.S. foreign policy are no excuse for so many people across the world to have any doubt that al Qaeda was behind the 9-11 attacks.

Disagreeing or criticizing George W. Bush’s foreign policy is one thing, but that so many worldwide believe that the 9-11 attacks were anything but al Qaeda is shocking. Despite the overwhelming evidence that 19 men in four planes attacked America, it is alarming that so many people believe that the “new Pearl Harbour” is nothing more than a modern-day burning of the Reichstag.

We live in strange times. That less than 50 per cent of people do not believe al Qaeda attacked that United States on 9-11 should send shivers down one’s spine. If history is that subjective in other countries, perhaps we should stop dropping bombs and start dropping history books.

Michael Silicz is the Comment Editor of the Manitoban.