9/11 exposure growing ... despite 'peace group activists' who believe the lies of those perpetrating war ... 

By David Frey Aspen Daily News Correspondent

Five years after the nation watched the events of 9/11 unfold, some skeptics still insist a secret government operation, not a terrorist plot, was responsible for the attacks. Their views don't get much attention inthe mainstream press, but each month on Aspen's GrassRoots TV, they get an airing.

Since July, Citizens for 9/11 Truth has been airing videos that challenge the explanations for the events and present alternative theories that suggest a government cover-up aided by a complicit media machine. Critics dismiss the claims as conspiracy theories, but backers insist the public has been buffaloed into believing a lie created to bolster wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"For anybody to believe the government, they're deluding themselves," said Glenwood Springs resident Steve Campbell, who formed the group Citizens for 9/11 Truth to air his videos after the local peace group refused to cooperate. "They just have to look at the evidence. There's so much evidence, it's overwhelming."

Campbell began showing videos in the Glenwood Springs Library, but was disappointed when few people turned out. He turned to GrassRoots TV as a way to get his message out and counter the widely accepted view that terrorists hijacked planes and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

"I think we've been lied to," he said. "I think the government -- elements within the government, I'm not saying the whole government was responsible -- but I think there were secret operations, 'black ops,' they call them, within the government that along with the Mossad and along with the British secret intelligence units (planned the attacks)."

On Monday's fifth anniversary, GrassRoots aired the video "9/11 in Plane Site -- The Director's Cut," in which radio show host Dave von Kleist questions details about the attacks and suggests a government conspiracy.

Why did the initial damage to the Pentagon seem too small for a commercial jet? What were the flashes that seemed to occur before the planes hit the World Trade Center? What was that apparent shadow underneath the second plane? Why did the towers fall straight down, as if they had been imploded? "How many pieces of evidence do we need before America and the world recognizes that there is a conspiracy?" von Kleist asks.

The videos have raised complaints from some who call them anti-Semitic, and Campbell is outspoken in his views. "I think this was all planned way in advance," he said, "and of course our government is largely controlled by the Zionists and the oil interests, and those two elements are pivotal in the carrying out of 9/11."

He blames a mainstream media "largely controlled by Jewish interests," for failing to question government accounts. Concerns about the anti-Semitic nature of some 9/11 videos were raised early on, said GrassRoots TV Executive Director John Masters. Recently, the only concerns have been about one he said seemed more infomercial than documentary.

"We don't do that here and it was out of place," Masters said. "The caller didn't think it was appropriate for GrassRoots, not because of the content or the politics of it, but because it had a feeling of someone selling you something."

Masters said he doesn't watch most of the videos, and he doesn't agree with their slant, but he's willing to broadcast them as part of the community-access station's commitment to free speech and airwaves access.

"We just don't judge content here," he said. "We really let the community decide that on its own. We try to get as many points of view as possible. We like to say, 'We don't show both sides. We show all sides.' Personally, I don't go along with it. It's certainly conspiracy theory stuff. There's no question about it. That's what these videos are all about. 'It's a conspiracy.' Personally, I don't think the people running the world or running the United States have enough wherewithal to create a conspiracy."

The videos created waves amid the valley's community of peace activists. Campbell broke from the Roaring Fork Peace Coalition when members refused to allow him to show the videos under their umbrella.

"His view of who perpetrated 9/11 was different from the Roaring Fork Peace Coalition's," said Calvin Lee, one of the group's founders, "so it was not appropriate for him to use our resources to promote his ideas. It was only difficult because up until that point, Steve Campbell had gone to every meeting of the Roaring Fork Peace Coalition. He was always there and helpful. So we didn't want to get crosswise with him, necessarily. We valued his participation. But his views were so different from the Roaring Fork Peace Coalition's that we encouraged him to form his own group."

Campbell did, but he was disappointed by the group's response. "No matter how much I presented the evidence, they couldn't see it, and I'm very disappointed by that," he said. "Some of the members who were founding members were threatening to denounce the peace coalition if we showed these and not have anything to do with it," Campbell said. "And so we went on for months and months like this, arguing back and forth about whether we should be able to show these. I finally got voted down, even though it was only a few members."

Campbell said he intends to continue to show videos on GrassRoots TV that question the events of 9/11, and Masters said he intends to continue to offer a venue. "These videos aren't just political videos," Masters said. "They are a fundamentally different paradigm than the mainstream media. You're not going to see this anywhere else but on GrassRoots. That's why we're here. To enable people to share these ideas with each other. I can't think of anything I regret airing. I think if someone has an alternative viewpoint to these, they should contact us and we'll air that."

Source: http://www.aspendailynews.com/article_15882