Posted on 07/23/2003 10:03:22 AM PDT by yonif
BERLIN, July 23 (Reuters) - Almost one in three Germans below the age of 30 believes the U.S. government may have sponsored the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, according to a poll published on Wednesday.
And about 20 percent of Germans in all age groups hold this view, a survey of 1,000 people conducted for the weekly Die Zeit said.
It also said 68 percent of all Germans felt the media had not reported the full truth behind the attacks, in which some 3,000 people were killed when hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
After the September 11 attacks, there was an outpouring of sympathy from Germans for the United States. Despite misgivings, Germany joined a military campaign against the al Qaeda network that Washington blamed for the attacks.
But as the United States geared up for war against Iraq, relations soured bady as Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed vocal opposition to the plans.
Although the United States took strong offence at Berlin's attitude, Schroeder's anti-war stance was popular in Germany and helped him to snatch victory in last September's elections.
Asked whether they believed that the U.S. government could have ordered the September 11 attacks itself, 31 percent of those surveyed under the age of 30 in the poll answered "yes", while 19 percent overall gave the same answer.
Die Zeit said widespread disbelief about the reasons given by the United States for going to war in Iraq and suspicion about media coverage of the conflict had fostered a climate in which conspiracy theories flourished.
"The news is controlled," 17-year old Kenny Donaubaur was quoted as saying. "You could see that in the Iraq war. It doesn't seem to me thet you get the full truth."
Which branch of the US Government?
How many US Government people took part in the plan?
Is lingering guilt behind an attempt to try to smear us?
French Resistance
If you're wondering why French politicians seem so eager to resist the United States on Iraq these days, the answer may be that it's what the French public wants. AFP, the French Wire Service, says a magazine poll due out tomorrow will show that 79 percent of the French public believes that France should use its veto in the U.N. Security Council to block a U.S. resolution authorizing force against Iraq. If you're wondering why the French public feels that way, consider this: When Hans Blix reported to the United Nations on Monday that Iraq had not "come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament which was demanded of it," that quote became the main news cited by the Associated Press and Reuters and most other news agencies. But France's AFP never mentioned it, publishing instead an account under the headline saying Iraq had "largely cooperated" with the United Nations.
And here's the followup story from 4 February, also Brit Hume:
Disarmament Dispute
AFP, the French wire service, takes issue with our item last Wednesday saying its coverage of Hans Blix's report to the U.N. ignored his statement that Iraq had not accepted the U.N.'s demands to disarm.An AFP official e-mailed us a number of passages from AFP dispatches that did indeed contain the quote.
We are pleased to note those items, but the AFP story we cited last week led with Blix saying Iraq had largely cooperated with arms experts.
The story then went on for 964 words, but never mentioned Blix's statement that Iraq had not "come to genuine acceptance" of the U.N.'s disarmament demands.
True, in the Internet age these people have a duty to not just take what they're spoonfed, but this shows once again the Founder's wisdom in mandating separation of press and State.
Also, I wonder if Germany's schools sytem might not be a factor here. According to my Econ prof, they test kids and put them on career tracks at about the 4th grade level. Those who end up in blue-collar or low-level white collar tracks get only token "book learning" type education after that, and the genius types are often receiving such specialized scientific knowledge that civics and other important stuff is crowded out. It must be hard to evaluate evidence when all critical thinking skills are at a fourth grade level, with proper educational growth completely subordinated to "put brick here" or "Ja, the knee bone's connected to the thigh bone!" Anybody know enough to confirm or deny this assessment? From what he said, he was passing on the description given him by a couple of German exchange students he's hosted; I'm not sure if he's ever been there.
Ooh, very good point!
Or "realization" that we are in a shadow war with the Wahhabis, a mix of religion and oil marketing strategies.
No, he got it wrong. The IDF sends female soldiers to do a strip tease while dancing on top of a tank. Then, when the innocent Palestinian youths approach the enticing seductress, she pulls out the Uzi hidden in her panties and shoots them all dead.
This was seriously reported in the Arab press a couple of years ago. There was a long thread about it here on FR. Maybe someone can post the link.
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