On the 20th anniversary of 9/11 German Public Service – SWR – made a Fact Check on the offficial theory on 9/11. Today it is no longer to find online

The German broadcaster Südwestrundfunk (SWR) produced an unusual Fact Check on 7 September 2021, taking the angle of critically examining the facts that can be said to exist regarding what we believe we know about 11 September. Today, as we reach 25 years after 11 September, this report is no longer available on the broadcaster’s website and cannot be found anywhere on the internet, neither as text nor as video. It is said to have been removed when the broadcaster discontinued a YouTube format for its fact‑checks.

From the article: https://www.swr3.de/aktuell/fake-news-check/faktencheck-9-11-was-geschah-wirklich-am-11-september-2001-warum-gibt-es-noch-reatsel-100.html

“Not even half of the people surveyed worldwide state that Al‑Qaida was behind the 11 September attacks, and that really made me think.”

None of us were present when the events unfolded, but without cultivating an agenda we can try to investigate what has happened so far using journalistic methods.

One of the most influential events of the century is 9/11. Even twenty years later, the topic is more relevant than ever. Take Afghanistan, for example. Here comes the fact‑check:

… But there is also another gigantic high‑rise building besides WTC1 and WTC2 that collapsed, namely skyscraper number 7, WTC7. Very few people know this. The building stood right next to WTC1 and WTC2. Very interesting… More on that later…

There are statistics from a 2008 opinion poll: 15% of people in the world believe that the U.S. government was behind 11 September. 25% say they do not know, and 46% believe that Al‑Qaida was responsible. 14% hold another view. Not even half of those surveyed worldwide state that Al‑Qaida was behind the 11 September attacks, and that really made me think. These are, of course, opinion polls, and opinions are not always based on facts. Opinions are often formed against the background of a lack of facts.

How do you think about this? Do you believe the official version? Or do you think the U.S. government knew about the attack and deliberately allowed it to happen? What facts about 11 September do you wonder about? What speaks for Bin Laden and Al‑Qaida being the guilty parties? All the circumstantial evidence points in that direction, but there are no unequivocal proofs. There are audio recordings in which Bin Laden is said to take responsibility for the attacks, including from 2006, but these recordings and videos are disputed, often inaudible, and their authenticity has not been independently verified. The German administrative judge Dieter Dieseroth has pointed out that no independent judicial body has been able to examine the evidence presented by intelligence services regarding Bin Laden’s guilt.

Was World Trade Center 7 blown up?

There are indeed certain ambiguities concerning WTC7. What few people know is that this building, the third major skyscraper in New York, collapsed on 11 September. About seven hours after the two Twin Towers. No aircraft flew into it. The building burned on several floors – due to debris that flew into the building when the Twin Towers collapsed and ignited the fire.

Did WTC7 collapse because of the fire?

The question remains intriguing: Are these fires enough for a building of this type to collapse? We do not know of a single steel high‑rise of this size – anywhere in the world – that has ever collapsed due to fire, except WTC7 on 11 September 2001. In Madrid, for example, a high‑rise burned all day in 2005, but only partially collapsed. The core structure remained intact. In 1991, the skyscraper One Meridian Plaza in Philadelphia burned for 18 hours – and did not collapse. But WTC7 collapsed after seven hours.

People who believe that the U.S. planned the attacks point out that, among others, the Secret Service, the CIA and the U.S. Department of Defense had their headquarters in New York in this building. Proponents of the demolition theory believe they have reasons for their distrust of the official theory because the building collapsed completely symmetrically: vertically, like a controlled demolition with explosives on every floor. For a building to fall symmetrically into its footprint, all steel columns must have been cut simultaneously. Since there was no extensive fire across an entire floor area, the building could not have collapsed due to fire.

There is also a study from 2017. A professor at the University of Alaska used computer models to calculate the collapse of WTC7 and concluded that it could not have collapsed due to fire. However, this study has never been published or peer‑reviewed in a journal. It was commissioned by an organization called Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth – an association of architects and engineers who do not believe the official version of the U.S. authorities. This study has now faced criticism: the computer modelling is said not to have been relevant. There are other studies that suggest the opposite, for example one from 2007 which calculated that the special construction of WTC7 itself could have caused the collapse. According to that, the failure of a single support column would be enough.

Why was the collapse of WTC7 never investigated?

This is intriguing: In the original investigation report, at least over 600 pages long, there is not a single word about the collapse of WTC7. Only a second report, also published in 2008 – the so‑called NIST report – deals with WTC7 in detail. The NIST report, produced by experts in building engineering, architecture, etc., assumes a collapse due to fire.

A further bizarre detail concerning WTC7: The BBC had already reported the building’s collapse 20 minutes before it happened. A mistake? Or did the BBC know in advance that the building would fall?

BBC footage of the WTC7 collapse “disappeared”

The BBC’s news editor takes full responsibility and speaks of a mistake. According to another source, the news agency Reuters was blamed. Reuters is said to have reported it incorrectly and the BBC adopted the report. We asked Reuters but have not received any answer.

The fact is that at the time of the collapse there were no people in the building. Nor any firefighters who could have extinguished the fire. It was suspected that it might collapse. Perhaps the BBC simply turned the impending collapse into one that had already happened in the confusion. But there are peculiarities: All tapes, all original recordings from 11 September made by the BBC in New York have disappeared, according to the BBC itself. The broadcaster no longer has the tapes. Quote: “We messed it up.”