Quote Originally Posted by Oneironaut
I agree that Bush and his cronies unfairly took advantage of this tragedy, but that doesn't necessarily mean they actually orchestrated it. They're successful capitalists, which means they know how to think on their toes and take advantage of any opportunity to make money. And they're successful politicians, which means they also know how to take advantage of any opportunity to make more power. The people who are best at money-grubbing and power-grubbing end up with the most money and power. That's how the people at the top of the ladder got there. You can't seriously expect them to act otherwise once they've reached the top.

Do a little thought experiment: say Bush didn't orchestrate the 9/11 attacks. Assume for a moment that it was really Islamic fundamentalists behind it. What do you think Bush would have done differently? Would he not use it as an excuse to restrict civil liberties? Would he not try to scapegoat some oil-rich countries to invade them? Would he not try to maximize profits for Halliburton in his activities? The fact that he's taking advantage of the situation doesn't mean he's solely responsible for it. It just means he's a selfish opportunistic capitalist asshole.
This answers your question too, PeteRock. However, before you read this, read my last posts for the "full story".

Bush didn't orchestrate the attacks. Someone much more powerful than Bush did? Much more powerful than Bush you say. Of course.

Just look at his face when he heard about the planes crashing into the building. It's like a monkey who just found out his favorite tree got knocked down. He's not smart enough to plan the attack, nor is he smart enough to cover it up. Somebody, somewhere, wanted something.

I get your point, really I do. For a while I tried to convince myself that it wasn't the government either, since it does seem really crazy to say it was. There's a lot of things more powerful than the government, though, which brings me back to Big Business. We haven't had another attack since then, even though we bombed the hell outta two countries, we've been kept in a state of constant fear with the terror alert system, our basic freedoms are being taken away by something labeled a "Patriot" Act, I mean the list just goes on and on. Sure, they could have seen 9/11 as an opportunity to take away our basic freedoms, but it's just more plausible to me that it was planned.