Do we know what really happened on 9-11?

First, let me say that I shudder to think that any government entity had any foreshadowing of the horrible events of 9-11, much less had an active part in planning and executing it. But, I will also say that there are many unresolved mysteries surrounding the event that make me think that, at the least, we are not getting the full story.

Some of the many questions that bug me:

1. Why did both towers fall down after burning only less than 2 hrs? A skyscraper in Venezuela burned for 17 hrs and still stood. One in Madrid burned for 24 hours and still stood. And, in fact, there are only three documented cases of buildings collapsing because of fire. They are WTC 1, WTC 2, and WTC 7 (which wasn't even hit by an airplane, btw).

2. Steel melts at approx. 2000 degrees F. Jet fuel burns at approx. 1300 degrees F. You do the math.

3. How were all four black boxes on the WTC planes completely incinerated, yet the intact passport of a terrorist, made of paper was found intact?

4. Why has the government not released the surveillance tapes of the plane hitting the Pentagon?

5. Why did the wings of the Pentagon plane "disintegrate" without breaking out the window frames on either side of the impact area? Where was the tail section wreckage? The engine wreckage?

There are many more, but I won't go on here. And lest you think I've turned into some crackpot nutcase, I'm in pretty elite company:

Here's San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mark Morford's column on the subject.

And here is New York magazine's take on it.

Finally, here is an excellent video documentary called 9/11 Loose Change that brings up a host of troubling questions surrounding the events of 9/11 and how the facts don't seem to jibe with the official storyline. Please watch this before thinking that it's all bullcrap.

The point here? We deserve a more thorough examination of the events surrounding the most heinous terrorist act in the nation's history. The victims deserve it, and so do we, the Vox Populi.