UNAC Survey Reveals Anti-War Movement’s Support, and Fear, of 9/11 Evidence |
Written by Wayne Coste, PE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday, 17 July 2012 22:11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Editor’s note: These are the detailed statistical results of the survey that AE911Truth Congressional Outreach Team Leader Wayne Coste and other 9/11 Truth activists conducted at the United National Anti-War Conference (UNAC) in March. They provide insight into some of the issues that prevent many in the anti-war community from acknowledging the evidence that the WTC skyscrapers were intentionally demolished. One of the mysteries of the 9/11 Truth movement is why the anti-war movement has been largely opposed to recognizing the facts surrounding the events of September 11, 2001. One would expect that exposing the 9/11 underpinnings of the current wars as fraudulent would result in the reversal of support for the wars once the public learns more about how they have been misled. An example of the opposition to the 9/11 Truth movement is the inability to get resolutions passed in convention plenary sessions of organizations like the United National Anti-War Conference (UNAC). This is due to vocal opposition of peace and justice leaders and the use of procedural maneuvers. For example, Stan Heller from the Middle East Crisis Committee went to the microphone at the UNAC conference and said “9/11 was a waste of time — because we have wars to stop!” In a private communication, one of the key organizers stated, “The majority of those in attendance simply do not buy 911 Truth and do not want it made part of their political program. […] We (i.e., the UNAC leadership) cannot make people vote yes […to include 9/11 Truth resolutions in …] the antiwar program that they see as false and harmful. You have not convinced people, and I hardly think that you can hold UNAC, of all groups, responsible for that.” This particular leader believes that we “have not made our case.” However, many of us have had peace and justice / anti-war activists agree with our assessment once they have been given the facts. This is especially true in recent years as the unimpeachable technical analysis and credibility of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth) have shifted the dialogue toward the evidence and away from the “whodunit” finger pointing. To better reach out to these activists, several AE911Truth Action Groups encouraged participation in the UNAC convention. As one approach to better understanding the sentiment of the attendees, we developed a survey consisting of 13 questions. The goal of this activity was to better ascertain the knowledge and positions of those who attended the conference. This survey represents a unique outreach activity to quantitatively document the knowledge and understanding of many of the participants at the conference. As shown in the following results, it is apparent that the leaders of the anti-war movement, and many other peace and justice groups, have inadvertently painted themselves into a corner with their earlier, uninformed statements. To move forward, we desire to privately reach out to them and develop a strategy to bring them into alignment with the evidence of the 9/11 Truth movement. Otherwise they will be undercutting their own credibility as leaders. Survey ResultsSummarizing the results of a survey into a few sound bites is subjective and imprecise. However, the results of this survey suggest the following:
This last observation suggests that the emphasis on outreach should be maintained or broadened. The attendees at this event are well informed on many issues, but do not appear to have been given adequate information about the facts of what happened at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Survey BackgroundIn this survey, 65 respondents attending the UNAC in Stamford responded to a series of questions. Out of more than 500 total attendees, this represents a sampling of about 12% of the total. This is considered a robust sampling. All surveys have a selection bias. Because this was anticipated to be a concern, the survey team approached people and asked them to answer the questionnaire. We thought that if we relied on people to stop at the 9/11 Truth table, then there would be a significant “self-selection” bias that would skew the results. Approaching attendees mostly at random was thought to be relatively neutral. In introducing the questionnaire, surveyors used the following introduction: “Hi, I am a volunteer for Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth. We are doing a survey so that we can better understand how 9/11 fits into the anti-war, peace and justice movements. Would you be willing to take a few minutes to help us out? Almost everybody we ask here fills out a survey. You know, as activists we all try to have our voices heard... and this survey is one place where your voice will be heard. Remember, there are no right answers and no wrong answers; we only want to know what you know, and how you perceive the strategic issues of 9/11.” In general, relatively few people were unwilling to answer the questionnaire. Those people usually claimed that they didn’t have the time. Some looked at the survey and then simply returned it while declining to answer it. However, one self-identified group that seemed particularly averse to answering the survey were volunteers at the “Socialist Action” exhibit tables. While each of these tables represented a different region of the country, they had a unified stance on 9/11: “It is irrelevant, so there is no need to answer any survey. Go away; we do not even want to talk to you.” Survey DevelopmentThis survey was developed over a relatively short period of time. Some of the questions were intended to elicit information about the respondent’s level of knowledge. Others were related to strategy of using (or not using) evidence from 9/11. Not all questions were as clear as we had hoped. For example, the last question (number 13) is, in fact, a two-part question. In practice, respondents could respond to both parts of the entire question or to either of its sub-parts. The results of this question may be more subjective than most of the other questions. In this survey, we did not intend to capture demographics or other information. As a further caveat, approximately one-third of the responses were obtained after the Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth information panels and the documentary “911 Explosive Evidence: – Experts Speak Out” were shown in an adjoining conference room. Overview Results of the Survey QuestionsIn this section, we summarize the survey results. The “strongly agree” and “agree” responses have been consolidated into “agree.” Likewise, the “disagree” and “strongly disagree” responses have been combined into “disagree.” To get a high-level sense of those who were uncertain, the “no-response” was combined with those who said “uncertain.” Detailed results showing all categories are shown in Appendix 1. Finally, comments written in a space at the end of the survey in the “Comments Section” are included as Appendix 2. 1. The true story of what happened on 9/11 is relevant to today’s Anti-War movement. Response: 78% say the true story of what happened on 9/11 is relevant while only 11% say it is not. 2. Aircraft impact and ensuing fires were the sole cause of the complete destruction of the Twin Towers. Response: 58% say that aircraft impact and fires alone were insufficient, 30% were uncertain, and only 11% thought that structural trauma and fires were the sole cause of the destruction of the three skyscrapers. 3. Explosives and incendiary material were the sole cause of the complete destruction of the Twin Towers. Response: 50% were uncertain, 25% agreed, and 25% disagreed. 4. A third major skyscraper, which was not hit by an airplane but which had fires, was completely destroyed six hours after the Twin Towers (World Trade Center Building 7). Response: 65 percent knew about the destruction of the third skyscraper. 5. Remnants of incendiary materials have been found in the WTC dust by independent investigators. Response: 60% agreed that remnants of incendiary materials were found in the WTC dust, 40% were uncertain, and only 2% disagreed with the evidence. 6. Major steel perimeter columns were ejected outward, in all directions, at 60–70 mph after breaking structural welds and bolts. Some landed up to 600 feet away. Response: 36% agreed that perimeter columns were ejected outward, while 64% were uncertain. 7. Fire has caused the catastrophic collapse of many steel-framed high-rise buildings that were over 40 stories throughout the last 50 years (excluding the World Trade Center on 9/11). Response: 50% were uncertain, 45% knew that steel-framed high-rise buildings have not collapsed due to fire, and 5% believed that fire had caused the failure of steel-framed high-rise buildings. 8. When World Trade Center Building 7 collapsed at 5:20 p.m., it was observed descending symmetrically at “free-fall acceleration (i.e., like dropping your car keys)” for 8 stories across its entire length and breadth. Response: 58% knew that free-fall of Building 7 occurred, while 40% were uncertain. 9. Over 1600 architects and engineers (verified and vetted) have signed a petition calling for a new, independent investigation, citing fraudulent and misleading government engineering reports. Response: 60% knew that over 1600 architects and engineers have signed the petition, while 40% were uncertain. 10. Raising the issue of the destruction of the three World Trade Center Buildings by means of controlled demolition detracts from other pressing issues. Response: 25% agreed that raising the issues of 9/11 detracted from “other pressing issues, 50% thought that it did not, and 25% were uncertain. 11. Islamic fundamentalists were the only participants in the criminal destruction of the three World Trade Center skyscrapers. Response: 66% said that it was not (only) Islamic fundamentalists, 12% thought that it was only Islamic fundamentalists, and 22% were uncertain. 12. 9/11 was a long time ago and it no longer has any influence on today’s political environment. Response: 88% said that the story of 9/11 has an impact on today’s political environment. 13. The destruction of the three World Trade Center skyscrapers and its cover-up represent acts of state-sponsored terrorism that make anti-war activities extraordinarily difficult to pursue. Response: 51% responded that if 9/11 were to be acknowledged as state sponsored terrorism, then anti-war activities would be harder to pursue because of the power of the state to disrupt the anti-war activities, 31% were uncertain, 18% thought that it would not be more difficult. [Note this question actually a compound question, and the response could be to both parts, or only one part, of the intended question.] Interesting ObservationsOne of the interesting ways of analyzing the raw data from a survey is to look at conditional responses. Using this technique, it is possible to see how respondents answered one question given that they agreed (or disagreed) with a different question. In this section four pairs of questions will be analyzed.
Observation: This suggests that those who agreed with the official story about aircraft causing structural damage and the resulting fires causing the complete destruction of the buildings have not looked at, or heard about, the evidence for incendiaries. This result suggests a need to expand the outreach to the peace and justice activists.
Observation: This suggest that those who agree that explosives and incendiary material were the sole cause of the complete destruction of the Twin Towers have been exposed to the evidence of remnants of what is known to arson investigators as “High-Temperature Accelerants.” [Add same hyperlink as previous].
Observation: The results suggest that a large number of those who know about the evidence for explosives and incendiaries also know something about Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth. This suggests that when outreach has reached activists successfully, it has provided multiple, reinforcing points of information that are understood.
Observation: This reflects, and supports, the UNAC leadership’s aversion to acknowledging the evidence. It suggests a strong sentiment toward avoiding the evidence and making a political calculation that to touch the truth about 9/11 is to make the peace and justice / anti-war activities much harder to pursue.
Appendix 1Detailed Results of the Survey in Graphical Format1. The true story of what happened on 9/11 is relevant to today’s Anti-War movement. 2. Aircraft impact and ensuing fires were the sole cause of the complete destruction of the Twin Towers. 3. Explosives and incendiary material were the sole cause of the complete destruction of the Twin Towers. 4. A third major skyscraper (World Trade Center Building 7), which was not hit by an airplane but had fires, was completely destroyed six hours after the Twin Towers fell. 5. Remnants of incendiary materials have been found in the WTC dust by independent investigators. 6. Major steel perimeter columns were ejected outward, in all directions, at 60-70 mph after breaking structural welds and bolts. Some landed up to 600 feet away. 7. Fire has caused the catastrophic collapse of many steel-framed, high-rise buildings that were over 40 stories high throughout the last 50 years (excluding the World Trade Center on 9/11). 8. When World Trade Center Building 7 collapsed at 5:20 p.m., it was observed descending symmetrically at “free-fall acceleration (i.e., like dropping your car keys)” for 8 stories across its entire length and breadth. 9. Over 1600 architects and engineers (verified and vetted) have signed a petition calling for a new independent investigation citing fraudulent and misleading government engineering reports. 10. Raising the issue of destruction of the three World Trade Center Buildings by means of controlled demolition detracts from other pressing issues. 11. Islamic fundamentalists were the only participants in the criminal destruction of the three World Trade Center skyscrapers. 12. 9/11 was a long time ago, and it no longer has any influence over today’s political environment. 13. The destruction of the three World Trade Center skyscrapers and its cover-up represent acts of state-sponsored terrorism that make anti-war activities extraordinarily difficult to pursue. Appendix 2Additional Comments Provided at the End of the Survey FormComments received in the “Comments Section” of the survey
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