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But when I started researching the official version of events, much of it was implausible. As the fifth anniversary of the murder of 3,000 civilians passes, it’s time for the government and media to start answering some hard questions about the events of Sept. 11.

How can an airplane with a wingspan of 124 feet leave a hole 15-18 feet across? Wings don’t disappear from planes. There wasn’t a trace of discarded wings on the lawn, and they certainly didn’t hit the building. In fact, by official accounts, all 100 tons of steel in the airplane vaporized in a fire that attained 4,500 degrees, yet there is far less damage to the structure than a fire of this intensity could cause. The FBI confiscated all videos from nearby parking lots and stores. The only videos thus far released show an unidentifiable white object much smaller than a Boeing 757, using the Pentagon for comparison. It was barely mentioned in the media.

But something hit the Pentagon, American Airlines flight 77 is missing, and the honest Donald Rumsfeld told us that’s because flight 77 hit the Pentagon.

Many other questions have been raised about the sequence of events on Sept. 11 five years ago. Why did the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapse in free-fall? Why did they fall straight down? How did World Trade Center Building 7 collapse, also quickly falling into its own footprint? There are countless other challenges to the government accounts which anyone with internet access can easily look up for themselves. A quality media would sort through the challenges and investigate many of the compelling questions. They’re capable of it, as Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky know.

But generally the media doesn’t check its own facts, so it is left to citizens to uphold a longstanding tradition by questioning our government. America was founded on the principle of disobedience, of refusing to accept the pronouncements of those in power. Our media is only a business and runs stories which won’t offend advertisers, leaving independent thought to the citizens.

I don’t know what happened five years ago. A lot of innocent people died, and a lot more people have to live with the absence of their loved ones. Our government has an obligation to the families of those killed in New York, Pennsylvania, the Pentagon, Afghanistan and Iraq to give an honest account of what really transpired Sept. 11, 2001. It needs to explain the inconsistencies in its story and shed some light on the hazy areas. What is there to be afraid of? A few conspiracy theorists forced to return to JFK and Area 51? The Bush administration invokes “national security,” but so often this vague phrase means “cover our behinds.” A thorough investigation will recognize the “physical impossibility of the crash of a Boeing 757 on the Pentagon,” as Thierry Meyssan, a French left-wing activist, points out. Instead it will explain what hit the Pentagon and what happened to flight 77, as well as address the other issues being raised.