9/11 Misinformation: Flight “Passenger Lists” Show “No Hijacker Names”
- Misinformation: Passenger “Manifests” Contain “No Arab or Alleged Hijacker Names”
- Passenger Manifests versus Victim Lists
- Who Had Access to Flight Manifests on 9/11?
- When was the List of Alleged Hijackers Finalized?
- What about the Security Videos?
- Other Problems with the Hijackers
- Conclusions
Misinformation: Passenger “Manifests” Contain “No Arab or Alleged Hijacker Names”
The assertion that 9/11 passengers lists “contained no Arab names” is frequently seen in the 9/11 truth movement.[1] For example, this article by Enver Masud is headlined, “Why are there no Arab names on the passenger list for the planes used in the September 11, 2001 attack…?”[2] The 9/11 website 9/11 Hard Facts claims, “[On] officially released passenger lists provided by the airlines to the media, no Arab names appear on any of the four passenger lists.”[3] In David Ray Griffin’s 9/11: The Myth and the Reality, he repeats the claim that, “[Their] names should be on the flight manifests. But the flight manifests that have been released contain neither the names of the alleged hijackers nor any other Arab names.”[4] John Leonard, Webster Tarpley and Kevin Barrett’s publisher repeats the claim that “Scholars [for 9/11 Truth]… report things like ‘there were no Arabs on the passenger lists’”[5] As well, Michael C. Ruppert, citing Gary North wrote, “Another easy and non-debatable hole is with the passenger lists and the hijackers. Gary North, Ph.D. - a history professor… relied on lists published by CNN… Official reports state that there were only 19 hijackers. Second, none of listed passenger names are Arabic, Muslim… The government needs to provide an explanation for this glaring discrepancy.”[6]
Passenger Manifests versus Victim Lists
In fact, the U.S. Government withheld the actual passenger lists for years. An earlier version of Jim Hoffman’s page on the passenger lists reported correctly that there was previously “no public evidence… Researchers who have attempted to obtain this information from the airlines have been rebuffed.”[7] However, many 9/11 researchers mistakenly cited “victim lists”—not passenger lists. Jim Hoffman explains:
“According to the official story, teams of four and five Islamic hijackers took over Flights 11, 175, 77, and 93. Victims lists for the four planes published by CNN and elsewhere are free of Arab names… This fact has been highlighted as suspicious by some researchers describing the lists as passenger manifests. However, these lists are not passenger manifests, but lists of victims… CNN describes its criteria for including persons in its memorial in a pop-up window labelled ‘About this site’… ‘(Those identified by federal authorities as the hijackers are not included)…’ In July of 2006 a large collection of documents was published on a website containing prosecution and defense exhibits for the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui… The faxes, reproduced below, include the names of the alleged hijackers.”[8]
Referring to “victim lists” as if they were “passenger lists” would be significantly misleading. The CNN website frequently cited reveals that the alleged hijackers were intentionally not included. The Complete 9/11 Timeline also cites “Terry McDermott’s 2005 book, Perfect Soldiers… Names of the five hijackers [on the manifest] are highlighted.”[9] McDermott apparently got these images and other material from the FBI, but 9/11 blogger and researcher Reprehensor claims, “When [Elias] Davidsson tried to get the manifests via FOIA, he was denied [access].”[10] These printouts are criticized by Elias Davidsson who says that, “these printouts contain no authentication and were not accompanied by chain-of-custody reports. These lists were released discreetly, without comments or indication as to their source… the FBI and the airlines have consistently refused and continue to refuse to release the authentic, original, passenger lists and flight manifests, of the four 9/11 flights… As the names of all victims and alleged hijackers have been publicized within days after 9/11, privacy considerations cannot explain the refusal to simply confirm—by releasing the original, authentic, documents—what has been publicly asserted since 9/11.”[11] In other words, the authenticity of these documents have been questioned by some 9/11 researchers.
Who Had Access to Flight Manifests on 9/11?
The Complete 9/11 Timeline citing Tom Murphy reports that Ed Freni, the director of aviation operations at Logan, “[Received] the manifests for Flight 11 and Flight 175 at 9:30 a.m… [circling] the names of the… men later accused of being the plane’s hijackers.”[12] Richard Clarke claims in his book Against All Enemies that he received information about the passenger manifests from the airliners at around 9:59 A.M. on 9/11. An FBI official informed Clarke that, “We recognize some names, Dick. They’re al-Qaeda.”[13] The FBI timeline confirms that at 10:59 A.M., “United Airlines Flights #175 and #93 manifests [were] obtained by FBI Chicago CP… 5 Muslim names on UA fL 93 manifest, 6 Muslim names on UA FL 175 manifest.”[14] By 11:00 A.M., Robert Bonner, the head of Customs and Border Protection claimed, “We ran passenger manifests through the system used by Customs… looking at the Arab names and their seat locations, ticket purchases and other passenger information… within 45 minutes.”[15]
When was the List of Alleged Hijackers Finalized?
Although Bonner claimed that “Customs officers were able to ID 19 probable hijackers” at 11:00 A.M. on 9/11, documented reports show that it took until September 14th until the list of alleged hijackers was finalized.[16] On September 13th, CNN reported that “The FBI is working on the assumption that there were between 12 [and] 24 hijackers directly involved in the attacks.”[17] This same report issued a correction stating, “CNN reported that Adnan Bukhari and Ameer Bukhari of Vero Beach Florida, were suspected to be two of the pilots who crashed planes into the World Trade Center… Federal sources had initially identified the brothers… Their names had been tied to a car founded at an airport in Portland, Maine… their identifications were stolen and… had no role in the hijackings.”[18] In fact, Ameer was dead a year before 9/11.[19] According to the Complete 9/11 Timeline, “Hani Hanjour’s name is not on the list” at this time.[20] The next day, “CNN managed to grab a list of the names of the 18 suspected hijackers”, but proceeds to add “Mosear Caned” to form a total of 19 suspects.[21] Without explanation, the name “Mosear Caned” is removed and replaced with Hani Hanjour later in the day in a report taken from an “FBI press office document listing 19 ‘individuals who have been identified as hijackers aboard the four airliners.’”[22] According to the Washington Post, Hanni Hanjour’s name was “not on the American Airlines manifest for [Flight 77] because he may not have had a ticket.”[23] There is no source for this claim, but presumably, it comes from the FBI. This claim is interesting considering that it is contradicted by the fact that Hanjour’s name shows up on the reproduced faxes provided by the Moussaoui trial.[24] On September 20, 2001 Director Mueller acknowledged that “the identity of several of the suicide hijackers is in doubt.”[25] In September 2002, Mueller admitted on CNN that there was “no legal proof to prove the identities of the suicidal hijackers.”[26] However, this claim is contradicted in 2006 with the FBI claiming they are “confident” that they have “positively identified the nineteen hijackers.”[27]
What about the Security Videos?
Airport officials and the U.S. Government are either refusing to release them or claiming that they do not exist. Unbelievably, the Boston Herald reported a few weeks after 9/11 that, “Logan International Airport is missing… surveillance cameras… Logan officials acknowledged the ‘deficiency’…”[28] This is significant because two of the flights originated from Logan airport on 9/11. As Jim Hoffman confirms, “The public has not been treated to any video showing any of the alleged hijackers at Boston Logan Airport, the origin of Flights 11 and 175, or Newark Airport, the origin of Flight 93.”[29] Citing Michael Taylor, president of American International Security Corp, Jim Hoffman reports that “Newark airport does have video cameras in its departure lounges. So does Dulles International Airport… the FBI has refused to release any video from these airports.”[30] In 2004, USA Today released images from a “surveillance video from Washington Dulles International Airport the morning of Sept. 11, 2001” which showed “four of the five hijackers being pulled aside to undergo additional scrutiny after setting off metal detectors.”[31] The video was only obtained after a lawsuit from the “Motley Rice law firm… representing some survivors' families who are suing the airlines and security industry over their actions in the Sept. 11 attacks.”[32] Family members have commented on the video.[33] Unusually, the video does not have a time stamp on it. However, the released video has clearly been edited since the film is slowed down and zoomed in at certain parts to emphasize the alleged hijackers. As well, the footage appears to be a combination of two different camera shots because there is more than one camera angle.[34] Airport security manager Ed Nelson describes the FBI confiscating this video some time after 10:00 A.M. on 9/11 saying: “They pulled the tape right away… They knew who the hijackers were out of hundreds of people going through the checkpoints… It boggles my mind that they had already had the hijackers identified… Both metal detectors were open at that time, and lots of traffic was moving through. So picking people out is hard… I wanted to know how they had that kind of information.”[35] If other passengers from flight 77 or anyone else at Dulles airport on 9/11 were seen in this video, it would confirm that it originates from 9/11. However, Elias Davidsson claims that he has been prevented from speaking to airline employees, stating:
“Airline personnel traditionally see off passengers… one would have expected to see, hear and read international media interview airline employees under headlines such as ‘I was the last to see the passengers alive’. Yet no such interview is known to have taken place. The 9/11 Commission does not even mention the existence of any deposition or testimony by airline personnel that witnessed the boarding of the aircraft. And even the identities of these employees remains secret: As a response to this author’s request to interview American Airlines employees who saw off passengers of flight AA77, the airline responded that their identities cannot be revealed for privacy reasons.”[36]
The only other video evidence of the alleged hijackers does not come from the airports directly involved with the 9/11 attacks. On their way to Logan International Airport in Boston, the Boston Globe reported images showing “Mohamed Atta and… Abdulaziz Alomari, passing through a security checkpoint at the Portland, Maine, airport at 5:45 a.m. on Sept. 11.”[37]
Other Problems with the Hijackers
As Hoffman also explains, there are other problems with the official story in relation to the hijackers including, “the existence of a handful of reports in mainstream newspapers of those suspects proclaiming their innocence after the attack… Six of the 19 suicide hijackers identified by the FBI shortly after the attack by name, photograph, and other personal details reported themselves alive… [and] the reported lack of piloting skills of the suspects.”[38]
Conclusions
While some 9/11 researchers have mistakenly referred to victim lists as “passenger lists”, 9/11 researcher Michael Ruppert correctly points out, “Every journalist makes mistakes from time to time. The New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post, all of them publish hundreds of corrections every year. It’s the journalist who does not acknowledge and correct errors who cannot be trusted.”[39] Ruppert does not endorse the claim that “no hijacker names appear on the passenger lists” in his book Crossing the Rubicon.[40] Promoting mistakes even after they have been pointed would be an example of disinformation.[41]
What is striking about official reports is that it took several days to confirm the total number of hijackers. There is no explanation why someone named “Mosear Caned” was placed on a list of Hijackers and why he was replaced by Hani Hanjour. The explanation given for Hanjour's absense from the initial list of suspects was that Hanjour “was not on the flight manifest.”[42] This cannot be the case however, because Hanjour’s name appears on the flight manifests provided in the Moussaoui trial. This is a clear contradiction that must be explained.
By withholding evidence pertaining to the 9/11 attacks like the airliner passenger lists, videos of passengers boarding the planes on 9/11, and videos of the Pentagon attack, the U.S. Government is actually encouraging misinformation. For years, there was no verifiable evidence that the alleged hijackers were on the passenger manifests because the U.S. Government refused to release these documents. By not releasing these documents, the U.S. Government actually encouraged speculation that the hijackers names did not show up on the passenger lists. In fact, the authenticity of these documents are in question by some 9/11 researchers. However, there is a difference between asserting “evidence is being withheld” and “there is no evidence”—only the first claim can be verified. Misinformation benefits the U.S. Government and its cover-up of the 9/11 crimes. As Thomas Pynchon explains, “If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.”[43]
[1] Ran Prieur, 9/11 FAQ, http://www.ranprieur.com/, September 5, 2006
[2] Enver Masud, 9/11 Commission Report: Why No Arab Names on Passenger List? July 26, 2004
[3] 9/11 Hard Facts, Flight Manifests and Passenger Lists, http://www.911hardfacts.com/
[4] David Ray Griffin, 9/11: The Myth and the Reality, http://www.911truth.org/, April 5 2006
[5] John Leonard, Moussaoui: Mad Patsy Playing for the Prosecution. Show Trial Unconstitutional, Experts Say, http://www.waronfreedom.org/, April 21, 2006
[6] Michael C. Ruppert, It’s A Lie, From The Wilderness Publications, http://www.copvcia.com/, October 15, 2001
[7] 9/11 Hard Facts, Flight Manifests and Passenger Lists
[8] Jim Hoffman, Passenger Lists: Victims Lists, Passenger Manifests, and the Alleged Hijackers, http://911research.wtc7.net/, page last modified: August 27, 2008
[9] Paul Thompson, September 13, 2001-September 14, 2001: 18 Hijackers Named, Mysterious Name and Then Hanjour’s Name Follows One Day Later, Complete 9/11 Timeline
[10] Reprehensor, McDermott got the ‘faxes’ from the Effa Bee Eye, 911blogger.com comment, Friday August 29, 2008
[11] Elias Davidsson, No evidence that Muslims hijacked planes on 9/11, http://www.aldeilis.net/, February 8, 2008
[12] Tom Murphy, Reclaiming the Sky: 9/11 and the Untold Story of the Men and Women Who Kept America Flying, (AMACOM), September 5, 2006, pp. 30-33
[13] Richard A. Clarke, Against all enemies: Inside America's war on terror, (New York, NY: Basic Books), March 22, 2004, pp. 13-14
[14] FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, & FBI Chicago, timeline of investigation, Sept. 11-12, 2001
[15] Gail Sheehy, Stewardess ID'd Hijackers Early, Transcripts Show, http://www.observer.com/, February 15, 2004
[16] Gail Sheehy, Stewardess ID'd Hijackers Early, Transcripts Show, http://www.observer.com/, February 15, 2004
[17] CNN, Feds think they've identified some hijackers, http://archives.cnn.com/, September 13, 2001
[18] CNN, Feds think they've identified some hijackers
[19] CNN, Feds think they've identified some hijackers
[20] Thompson, September 13, 2001-September 14, 2001: 18 Hijackers Named, Mysterious Name and Then Hanjour’s Name Follows One Day Later
[21] CNN, America Under Attack: List of Names of 18 Suspected Hijackers, http://transcripts.cnn.com/, September 14, 2001
[22] CNN, FBI list of individuals identified as suspected hijackers, http://archives.cnn.com/, September 14, 2001
[23] Washington Post, Four Planes, Four Coordinated Teams, http://www.washingtonpost.com/, September 16, 2001
[24] Jim Hoffman, Passenger Lists: Victims Lists, Passenger Manifests, and the Alleged Hijackers, http://911research.wtc7.net/, page last modified: August 27, 2008
[25] BBC, Hijack 'suspects' alive and well, http://news.bbc.co.uk/, September 23, 2001
[26] Timothy W. Maier, FBI Denies Mix-Up Of 9/11 Terrorists, http://www.insightmag.com/, June 11, 2003
[27] Steve Herrmann, 9/11 conspiracy theory, www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors, October 27, 2006
[28] Doug Hanchett and Robin Washington, Logan Lacks Video Cameras, Boston Herald, September 29 2001
[29] Hoffman, Airport Video: No Video Shows Hijackers Boarding Targeted Flights, http://911research.wtc7.net/
[30] Hoffman, Airport Video: No Video Shows Hijackers Boarding Targeted Flights
[31] The Associated Press, Video shows 9/11 hijackers' security check, http://www.usatoday.com/, July 21, 2004
[32] The Associated Press, Video shows 9/11 hijackers' security check
[33] Bill Hutchinson, Shocking video of hijackers Set off metal detectors, http://www.nydailynews.com/, July 22, 2004
[34] Court TV Online, 9/11 Hijackers Screened Before Flight, http://www.courttv.com/
[35] Susan B. Trento and Joseph J. Trento, Unsafe at any Altitude: Failed Terrorism Investigations, Scapegoating 9/11, and the Shocking Truth about Aviation Security Today, (Steerforth Publishing), October 3, 2006, p. 37. See also:
Thompson, (After 10:00 a.m.) September 11, 2001: FBI Immediately Identifies Hijackers on Dulles Security Video, Complete 9/11 Timeline
[36] Davidsson, No evidence that Muslims hijacked planes on 9/11
[37] Denise Lavoie, Company helps 9/11 probe after losing one of its own, Associated Press. September 11, 2002.
Paul Thompson’s Complete 9/11 Timeline cites news reports that the alleged hijackers were “caught on security cameras visiting a gas station, two ATMs, and shopping at a Wal-Mart. The next morning they fly back to Boston.”
Thompson, Context of 'February 2008: Considerable Video Footage of 9/11 Hijackers Remains Unreleased', Complete 9/11 Timeline
[38] Hoffman, Passenger Lists: Victims Lists, Passenger Manifests, and the Alleged Hijackers
[39] Michael C. Ruppert, MICHAEL RUPPERT RESPONDS TO VICTOR THORN'S TEN QUESTIONS, http://www.fromthewilderness.com/, October 7, 2004
[40] Hoffman, Passenger Lists: Victims Lists, Passenger Manifests, and the Alleged Hijackers
[41] Arabesque, 9/11 Disinformation and Misinformation: Definitions and Examples, http://arabesque911.blogspot.com/
[42] Washington Post, Four Planes, Four Coordinated Teams, http://www.washingtonpost.com/, September 16, 2001
[43] Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, page 251.
