National Geographic: Inside 9/11

Alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, which, as of this writing (January 1, 2022), is still not over, the horrifying terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 are likely to be the most significant events that end up defining the United States in the 21st century. But while a lot of the focus in the media has gone to those agonizing moments witnessed either first hand or on TV, and rightly so, what has frequently gone missing are the political and sociological conditions that actually led up them-some of which, regrettably, five American presidents (Jimmy Carter; Ronald Reagan; George H. W. Bush; Bill Clinton; George W. Bush) unintentionally may have had a hand in help bringing about. The two-part 2006 National Geographic Channel special INSIDE 9/11, without political bias or spin one way or the other, gets really to the heart of the build-up to those 102 minutes of horror that led to the deaths of nearly 3,000 people, and, subsequently, our involvement in two overseas wars that caused even more death and destruction to American soldiers and innocent civilians alike.

INSIDE 9/11, which all told runs close to three and a half hours but wastes not a nanosecond, gives us a glimpse into the ancient history of Afghanistan in Part One, leading up to the invasion of it by the Soviet Union in the late fall of 1979, and the start of the United States, still smarting from the humiliation that was Vietnam, only wanting to get involved peripherally by funding what became known as a "mujahadeen". That Islamic movement was what eventually morphed into the Al-Qaeda jihadist network, putting at its head a Saudi exile named Osama Bin Laden. Once the Soviet Union was ousted, in the summer of 1988, after nine years of fighting that was as futile for Moscow as Vietnam had been for us, that's when Al Qaeda became a very big deal, as did the subsequent Taliban regime that came to rule Afghanistan with an ironclad Islamist fist. But once the U. S., under Bush I, set up shop in Saudi Arabia to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, both Al Qaeda and Bin Laden became vengeful against its former ally. This resulted in a car bomb being set off in the parking garage of the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, resulting in the deaths of eight people and at least one thousand others being injured. As it turned out in retrospect, this was just a warm-up for what would be coming out way eight and a half years later.

Part 2 shows us the security lapses that allowed the nineteen hijackers to board the planes that they eventually took over with violent results. Although much of the footage used is familiar to us, it is still painful to look at; and some of it had rarely been shown on TV before that point, including the actual live segment of American Airlines Flight 11 making its impact into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, followed by United 175 impacting the South Tower; American Airlines Flight 77 hitting the southwest side of the Pentagon; and United 93 plunging into the ground in Pennsylvania (the last one bought down by the quick reaction of the passengers aboard, who may have kept this flight from hitting the U. S. Capitol building). Most importantly, we see how easy it was for the impact of the two jets and the extreme heat of the jet fuel to compromise the structural integrity of both WTC towers and cause them to basically implode on everyone still inside them. Of course, it's never been enough to dissuade conspiracy theorists that say 9/11 was an "inside job", but it makes the case for people who are truly thinking clearly.

September 11, 2021 marked twenty years since those horrifying events, which were marked by ceremonies televised all around the nation and the world; and INSIDE 9/11 is an incredible addition into our understanding of the who, what, where, and, most importantly, the Why of this, one of the most ghastly examples of Man's inhumanity to Man since the Holocaust.

It's now 2011, ten years after the world as we knew it was changed by the attacks on 9/11. We've all seen endless news footage, documentaries, even Hollywood dramatizations of different elements of the tragedy and the subsequent "War On Terror." I was deeply affected by what I saw on 9/11 and have read and viewed a great deal about it since then as a result, so for me to say that this 2-part DVD is probably the best, and most comprehensive, of its kind is significant.

"War On America" gives exhaustive background into the long history between the US and much of the Middle East, focusing particularly on the last couple of decades and what went into the pressure cooker from both sides to make it explode in the way that it has. The documentary spends ample time explaining in detail how the American government came to have involvement with Osama bin Laden long before many of us had ever heard his now infamous name. The conflict of differing values between America and countries including the likes of Afghanistan and Pakistan is shown to us step by step, from its modern-day inception as we know it through the battles on the soil of both sides (the impact the Gulf War had on how America was perceived in the Middle East; the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre; the attack on the USS Cole; etc.). It gives us an excellent groundwork upon which we can begin to understand what factors were at work when 9/11 took place. "War On America" is approximately 105 minutes focusing on this very modern history, and it held information that I'd not come across elsewhere.

"Zero Hour" revisits elements of 9/11 with which most of us are more familiar: it takes us step by step through what each of the terrorists did in the time leading up to boarding those planes, shows us what incredible luck they had on their side to have slipped the noose so many times in order to pull off bin Laden's "masterpiece," and includes interviews with everyone from Intel to survivors to ticket agents who were at the airport the morning of the attacks. It, too, runs about 105 minutes, and in the end it feels as though you've looked at the tragic day from nearly all possible viewpoints.

If you want to watch just one examination of all of the known mechanics behind 9/11, National Geographic's "Inside" is the one you're looking for. It balances what is known with what is not, and manages to paint the fullest picture I've yet to see all in one place.

I'm disgusted with the amount of material you guys provided on the parasites that attacked us. In the current hostile climate we live in, you've done nothing to disgrace growing radicalistic ideals. These individuals are worthless garbage. Why would you depict them as anything other than that?

National Geographic's "Inside 911" and United 93 are without a doubt, the best DVD's on the Arab Islamic Terrorist attack on the United States. But while United 93 was narrowly banded, Inside 911 was far more comprehensive.

In spite of being a documentary, Inside 911's DVD is incredibly gripping. It will keep you at the edge of your seat. This is particularly true of disk 2 entitled "zero hour." A unique reality of this documentary is that it reveals the heroic actions of civilians who risked and sacrificed their lives to save others. It wasn't their "job," but it became their self-appointed mission. This is perhaps the most elevated level of heroism of all.

Realistically, police efforts are downgraded because they were far less directly involved. The firemen's actions were exemplary and they made extreme sacrifices. But again, more lives were saved by civilians working in the towers than any other group.

Unfortunately, we live in a society that lauds civil servants and diminishes the heroism of people wearing suits and ties. This is very sad because what happened in response to the terrorism of September 11th showed American citizens at their best.

It is also a pity that actions of the new terror-Nazis of the world have subsequently been twisted by the pathology of left-wing denial and conspiratorial driven mental illness.

I sat down to watch this documentary with an open mind, but after about 20 minutes I realised that this wasn't truly an exploration of the subject in depth. The language was highly coloured with obvious intentions to lead the audience to a conclusion very lacking in nuance. Whenever there were said anything about for example American support of the Afghan rebels, it was highly toned down and reduced to a matter of weapons supply. The complexity of the subject was very badly handled, and the documentary is presenting a very one sided Eurocentric pro American view. For example the documentary does not explore the motivation behind the horrendous act of terrorism on 9/11, but are more intent on labelling the Muslims as the problem. The reasoning is reduced to a share wish to commit harm on anything none Muslim without any other rational then the religion itself. This is very much in tune with the rather simplistic notion the Bush administration propound on the subject, of this being about them hating western freedom rather then a revolt against western involvement in Muslim nations.

One also does get a very limited understanding of the Muslim world, which easily can lead the audience to think Muslim equals terrorist. That imams around the world announced fatwa against terrorist activity wasn't even discussed, leaving us to believe the problem is the Muslim religion rather then extremist factions who uses the religion to fuel intolerance towards everything western. These factions consider this religious warfare, but it is not thereby said that all Muslims subscribe to this idea. That there might be a spreading distrust to the west among Muslims does not imply that large portions of the Muslim population are denunciatory to commit terrorist acts in the name of Allah. By conveniently choosing to limit the scope of the subject to a simple evil vs. good, the documentary ends up as more of a proponent of a rather oversimplified perception then a source for enlightenment. I can easily see this documentary fuelling hatred towards Muslims rather then providing greater knowledge about how and why 9/11 happened.

If you wish to believe that 9/11 happened just because of evil people, who committed evil deed merely because they are evil by nature, then this documentary will be a pleasant watch for you. Though, if you want a more in depth understanding of how these extreme ideologies leading to terrorism works, this documentary will be a rather frustrating watch. I can understand how slogan driven American neoconservatives might love this film, but it is by far a well researched piece and one might easily suspect it for strategically ignoring anything that might reflect badly on America. I got the impression the documentary was attempting to establish the Muslim world as the new Soviet threat to American liberty, and thereby being more of a piece of political propaganda then a source of enlightenment.

The only reason I give the documentary 3 stars is because it is well edited and structured despite the lack in content and scope.