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THE SEALS OF REVELATION 6 (AS DEFINED BY MATTHEW 24)

evelation,thefinalbookoftheBible,isarguablyoneofthemostdifficulttounderstand.Therehavebeencountless expositions written and numerous sermons preached in an attempt to identify the colorful symbols which populate this propheticbook.Butdespiteitsname,thebookofRevelationremainssealedtomostwhoreadandstudyit.Tomany,thesocalled "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" are as enigmatic today as they were when the apostle John first recorded the visions he received while on the isle of Patmos about 95 CE. YetthereisaprovenwaytounderstandmanyofthesymbolsfoundinRevelation.ThatmethodistouseparallelScripturesthat speakofthesameevents.Inthisarticle,Iwillcomparethesymbolic"seals"openedinthe6thchapterofRevelationtothe propheticwordsofMessiahYeshuarecordedinMatthew24.Asyouwillsee,thereisanundeniablelinkbetweenthetwo passages. Let'sstartbysettingthescenefortheprophecyfoundinRevelation6.InRevelation4,Johnistransportedinvisiontoheavenand seestheverythroneofGodtheFather.InRevelation5,JohnnoticesthatGodisholdingascrollinHisrighthandwhichissealed withsevenseals(Rev.5:1).Atfirst,nooneinheavenaboveorontheearthorundertheearthisfoundworthytoopenandread the scroll (Rev. 5:2-4).ButthentheMessiahYeshuaappearsonthescene,andheisdeclaredworthytobreakthesealsandopen the scroll (Rev. 5:5-7). After receiving the praises of the heavenly host (Rev. 5:8-14), Messiah begins opening the seals on the scroll in chapter 6:

REVELATION 6:1 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard oneofthefourlivingcreaturessayingaswithavoiceofthunder,"Come."2Ilooked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. (NASU)

Theopeningofthe1stsealpresentsasymbolicwhitehorseriddenbyonewhohasabowandacrown.Usinghisweaponandhis authority,hewentforthwarringagainstanddefeatinghisenemies.Thephrase"conqueringandtoconquer"alludestoacontinual state of warfare on the part of this entity.

REVELATION 6:3 When he broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying,"Come."4Andanother,aredhorse,wentoutandtohimwhosatonit,itwas granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. (NASU)

Whenthe2ndsealwasopened,Johnsawafieryredhorsemountedbyaridercarryingahugesword.Thisriderwasallowedto initiate widespread warfare on the earth.

REVELATION 6:5 When he broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come."Ilooked,andbehold,ablackhorseandhewhosatonithadapairofscalesin hishand.6AndIheardsomethinglikeavoiceinthecenterofthefourlivingcreatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine." (NASU)

Theopeningofthe3rdsealrevealedablackhorseriddenbyamancarryingapairofscales.Thescaleswereusedtoweighout smallquantitiesofveryexpensivefood(adenariuswasaboutaday'swagesinthe1stcentury).Thecommandtoavoiddamaging the oil and wine shows that these, along with food, would be in scarce supply.

REVELATION 6:7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creaturecallout,"Come!"8Ilookedandtherewasapalegreenhorse!Itsrider'sname was Death, and Hades followed with him; they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and pestilence, and by the wild animals of the earth. (NRSV)

Thebreakingofthe4thsealrevealedthelastofthe"FourHorsemenoftheApocalypse."Thehorsewasthepalegreencolorof decayingflesh,andtheriderofthishorsewasDeathhimself!ThegravefollowedafterDeath,andhewasgivenpowertokill25% oftheearth'spopulation.Thiswidespreaddestructionoflifewascausedbythecumulativeeffectsofallfourhorsemen.

REVELATION 6:9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwellontheearth?"11Andtherewasgiventoeachofthemawhiterobeandtheywere told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. (NASU)

Theopeningofthe5thsealsymbolicallyshowedtheslainmartyrsfromagespastcryingouttoGodforjustice.However,they weretoldthatthetimeforjusticehadnotyetcome.Therewerestillacertainnumberofbelieverswhohadtobemartyred(asthey had been) before God's wrath would be poured out on those responsible.

REVELATION 6:12 I looked when he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripefigswhenshakenbyagreatwind.14Theskywassplitapartlikeascrollwhenit isrolledup,andeverymountainandislandweremovedoutoftheirplaces.15Thenthe kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (NASU)

Theopeningofthe6thsealbringsaboutagreatearthquake,whichisaccompaniedbysignsintheheavensabove.Allofmankind will realize from this awesome spectacle that God is about to execute His wrath through the Messiah upon the wicked. Now that we've looked at the symbolic opening of all six seals in Revelation 6, let's look at the introduction to Yeshua's parallel prophecy recorded in Matthew 24:

MATTHEW 24:1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the Temple, and his disciples cameuptoshowhimthebuildingsoftheTemple.2AndJesussaidtothem,"Doyounot seeallthesethings?Assuredly,Isaytoyou,notonestoneshallbelefthereupon another,thatshallnotbethrowndown."3NowashesatontheMountofOlives,the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, whenwillthesethingsbe? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?" (NKJV)

Understandably,Yeshua'sstatementaboutthecomingdestructionoftheTemplecausedgreatconcernamonghisdisciples.After ponderinghiswords,theycametohimandaskedforadditionalinformationonthecalamityhehadprophesiedfortheTemple. Although they likely assumed that the destruction of the Temple and the end of the age would occur at the same time, in fact they asked two separate questions: 1. WHEN would the Temple be destroyed? 2. WHAT would be the sign of the Messiah's coming and the end of the age? Some of the ensuing prophecy given by Yeshua in response to their questions pertained to the coming destruction of the Temple bytheRomansin70CE.However,those1st-centuryeventsdidnotcompletelyfulfilltheprophecyfoundinMatthew24. Another fulfillment, this one at the end of the age of man which will lead to his return, was the ultimate focus of Messiah Yeshua. MultiplefulfillmentsofthesameprophecypresentoneofthegreatestdifficultiesinproperlyunderstandingtheBible.Manytimes intheScriptures,weseeaprophecythatfitsmorethanonepersonorevent.Theguidingprincipleforunderstandingthese prophecieswasstatedbyKingSolomoninEcclesiastes.Hetellsus"that which has been is what will be, that which has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun"(Ecc.1:9). Insuchcases,preliminaryfulfillmentdoesnotcompletelysatisfyorextinguishtheprophecy.Infact,therearetwogeneraltypes of dual prophecies found in the Bible: 1. Prophecies that are substantially fulfilled by intitial events, where subsequent fulfillments are an echo of the first occurrence; and 2. Prophecies where the initial fulfillment is incomplete, and the comprehensive fulfillment of the prophecy is yet future. TheprophecyfoundinMatthew24isofthesecondtype.AlthoughsomeoftheinformationthererelatedtotheRomanconquest thatwouldoccur40yearslater,theultimatefulfillmentoftheseeventswilltakeplaceatthetimeoftheend.Thisisthesametime period covered by the book of Revelation. Now let's look at the specifics from Matthew 24:

MATTHEW24:4AndJesusansweredandsaidtothem:"Takeheedthatnoonedeceives you.5Formanywillcomeinmyname,sayingIamtheChrist,andwilldeceivemany.6 Andyouwillhearofwarsandrumorsofwars.Seethatyouarenottroubledforall thesethingsmustcometopass,buttheendisnotyet.7Fornationwillriseagainst nation,andkingdomagainstkingdom.Andtherewillbefamines,pestilences,and earthquakesinvariousplaces.8Allthesearethebeginningofsorrows.9Thentheywill deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name'ssake.10Andthenmanywillbeoffended,willbetrayoneanother,andwillhate oneanother.11Thenmanyfalseprophetswillriseupanddeceivemany.12And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold." (NKJV)

ContainedwithinthispassageareeventsthatcloselymatchthesymbolicsealsfoundinRevelation6(asshownbelow).Thenext passage (Matt. 24:13-28) includes information about an event that is not specifically mentioned in Revelation 6, but is addressed in OldTestamentprophecy:TheseigeandcaptureofJerusalembythenationsoftheworld(Zec.12:2-3; 14:1-2). While there are many fanciful theories about the nature of the "abomination of desolation" mentioned by Messiah (Matt. 24:15), the primaryunderstandingofitisgivenintheparallelpassagefoundinLuke'sGospel.Lukestatesthatwhenarmies surround Jerusalem,wewillknowthatitsdesolationisnear(Luke21:20).JustasTitusandtheRomanarmysurroundedanddestroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE (40 years after this prophecy was given), the city will again be subjected to capture in the future, this time by the armies of the world. After warning those in Jerusalem, Yeshua returns to the events outlined in Revelation 6:

MATTHEW 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (NKJV)

HereweseeYeshuastatethatimmediatelyafterthecaptureofJerusalem,signswillappearintheheavens.Thesesamesignsare mentioned in conjunction with the sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-14). At this point (Matt. 24:30-31) the Messiah skips the first six trumpet judgments detailed in Revelation (Rev. 8:1-11:14) and goes to

the final part of the 7th seal, which is the 7th trumpet (Rev. 11:15-19).Anexpositionofthispartoftheprophecyisoutsidethe scope of this article. Now that we have covered the Scriptures in question, let's compare the two prophecies to see if any additional understanding can beobtained.Foreaseofcomparison,let'slookataside-by-side list of the seals found in Revelation 6 with the corresponding explanatory Scriptures from Matthew 24:

REVELATION 6 1st Seal = ???

MATTHEW 24

Behold, a white horse. He who sat on it "Take heed that no one deceives you. For had a bow; and a crown was given to him, many will come in my name, saying I am and he went out conquering and to conquer. the Christ, and will deceive many." (Matt. (Rev. 6:2) 24:4-5)

2nd Seal = Widespread Warfare

"And you will hear of wars and rumors of Another, a fiery red horse,wentout.And wars. See that you are not troubled; for all it was granted to the one who sat on it to these things must come to pass, but the take peace from the earth, and that people endisnotyet.Fornationwillriseagainst should kill one another; and there was nation, and kingdom against given to him a great sword. (Rev. 6:4) kingdom." (Matt. 24:6-7)

3rd Seal = Famine

There was a black horse, and its rider held ascaleinhishand.ThenIheardwhat sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" (Rev. 6:5-6)

"Therewillbefamines..."(Matt.24:7)

4th Seal = Death of 1/4 of Mankind from First Four Seals

There before me was a pale green horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was "Therewillbe...pestilencesand followingclosebehindhim.Hewasgiven earthquakesinvariousplaces.Alltheseare power over a fourth of the earth to kill by the beginning of sorrows." (Matt. 24:7-8) sword, famine and pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Rev. 6:8)

5th Seal = Martyrdom of Believers

I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for thetestimonywhichtheyheld.Andthey cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and and kill you, and you will be hated by all avenge our blood on those who dwell on the nationsformyname'ssake.Andthen earth?"Thenawhiterobewasgivento many will be offended, will betray one each of them; and it was said to them that another, and will hate one another." (Matt. they should rest a little while longer, until 24:9-10) both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. (Rev. 6:9-11)

6th Seal = Heavenly Signs

Behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, andthemoonbecamelikeblood.Andthe "Immediately after the tribulation of those

stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig days the sun will be darkened, and the tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by moon will not give its light; the stars will fall amightywind.Thentheskyrecededasa from heaven, and the powers of the scroll when it is rolled up, and every heavens will be shaken." (Matt. 24:29) mountain and island was moved out of its place.(Rev. 6:12-14)

With the apparent exception of the 1st seal, a comparison of the two sets of related Scriptures clearly shows that the symbols revealedinthesealsmatchupwiththedetailsoftheOlivetprophecygivenbyYeshua.Itisobviousthatthesword-wielding rider ofthefieryredhorse(2ndseal)representswidespreadwarfarebetweennations,alliances,andevenethnicgroups.Theblack horse and its scale-carryingrider(3rdseal)symbolizesthescarcityoffoodthatoccursduringfamine.Thepalegreenhorseand itsrider,Death(4thseal),representthevariouswaysthathumanswilldiefromtheeffectsofthe"FourHorsemen."Thesouls crying out from under the altar (5th seal) are used to symbolically introduce an end-timemartyrdomofbelievers.Finally,thesigns in the heavens (6th seal) indicate that God is about to punish a sinning and unrepentant humanity. Since there is such an obvious relationship between most of the elements in these two passages, it's easy to conclude that they are bothreferringtothesameprophesiedevents.Butifthisisthecase,whydoesthesymbolismofthefirstseal(Rev.6:2)appearso different from the first event spoken of by Yeshua (Matt. 24:4-5)?John'svisionseemstoimplyconquestbyarighteousruler, while Yeshua's words appear to indicate religious deception. A hint at why the initial clue is unclear is found in the proverbs of King Solomon:

PROVERBS 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. (NIV)

It is to God's glory to hide things from mankind, but it is to our glory if we put forth the effort and time to seek out those things thatHehasconcealed.IfthetwopassagesofScriptureinquestionwereeasilyreconcilable,thebeginningoftheendofthisage andthecomingofMessiahwouldbeplainlylaidoutforalltosee.Therewouldbenoneedtotrulysearchforunderstanding.But due to the apparent differences, many have missed the relationship between these two passages. Assuming that the first seal IS the same as the warning given by Yeshua, how then do we arrive at a correct understanding of the symbolism? There is a biblical principle that will guide our understanding in this matter:

ISAIAH 28:10 "For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little." (ESV)

Most who recognize a connection between Revelation 6:2 and Matthew 24:4-5 usually draw their interpretation primarily from one passageortheother,andthentrytoharmonizetheremainingone.ButusingtheguidancefoundinIsaiah28:10,let'scombine one prophecy with the other and see the total picture that emerges. First,wehavetodefinethesymbolsfromRevelation6:2tograspwhatwearebeingtold.ThefirstsymbolisthatofaWHITE HORSE.IntheBible(andespeciallyinthebookofRevelation,the color white represents "righteousness," "goodness," or "purity" (Rev. 3:4-5, 18; 4:4; 6:11; 7:9, 13-1419:11,14).Sothecolorofthehorseisdesignedtoconveytousthat,insome sense, the rider is considered good or righteous. Next, we note that the rider has a BOWforaweapon.The bow represents "military strength," especially military strength thatcanbeprojectedfromagreatdistance.Withthebow,theriderhastheabilitytostrikefromlongrangewhilebeingrelatively safe from counterattack. We also see that the rider is given a CROWN.IntheBible,a crown represents governmental power and the authority to rule.Therefore,theriderrepresentsagovernmentorrulingentity. Lastly,wearetoldthatthis"good"governmentalpowerusesitsmilitarymighttosuccessfullywagewar.Infact,theimplication of the statement that the rider "went out CONQUERING and TO CONQUER" suggests a continual state of agressive warfare by this power. In summary, we have the following symbols and their meaning in the 1st seal:

SYMBOL/ACTION
White Horse Bow Crown "Went Out Conquering and to Conquer"

MEANING
Righteousness, Goodness, Purity Military Strength (Long-Range) Rulership, Power, Government State of Continual/Perpetual Warfare

Now that we've defined the Revelation 6 part of the prophecy, let's add the factors disclosed by Yeshua from Matthew 24:4-5 to it.HetellshisfollowerstobewareofbeingDECEIVED.HestatesthatmanywouldCOMEINHISNAME,claimingthathewas the Messiah, and would deceive many. Without the context of Revelation 6:2, it would be almost impossible to assign this deception to anything other than a strictly religiousarena.However,whenallthefactorsfromthetwopassagesarecombined,weareleftwiththefollowingdescription:

INTERPRETATION
A governmental power... That appears good/righteous... Initiates extended warfare... Using long range weapons and tactics... Yet they are deceiving many people... While proclaiming the name of Christ.

SYMBOL/WARNING
Crown White Horse "Went out conquering and to conquer" Bow "Take heed that no one deceives you" "Many will come in my name"

Doesanyworldpowerinthismodernagefitthatdescription?Yes!Withtheapparent exception of the "widespead deception" attribute, a better question would be "can this prophecy be about any modern nation other than the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?" MostAmericansthinkthatourcountryrepresentsallthatisgoodandrightintheworld.Wethinkofourselvesasthe"good guys."ManyofusdislikethefactthattheUSgovernmentisintrudingmoreandmoreintooureverydaylives.However,asa nation we are very prosperous and wealthy, and we want to believe that the people running our government have our best interests at heart. In response to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, the leaders of our governmenthaveinitiatedaseriesofinitiativestoprotectour"Homeland."Shortlyafterthoseattacks,PresidentGeorgeW.Bush announcedhisintentiontobegina"WaronTerrorism."OnSeptember18,2001,theUSCongressauthorizedPresidentBushto:

Use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons. (Public Law 107-40, S.J. Res. 23)

On September 20, 2001, President Bush presented his response to the attacks in an address to a joint session of the US Congress (andviatelevisionandradiototheAmericanpeople).Inthisaddress,hestated:

Our war on terror begins with al-Qaida,butitdoesnotendthere.Itwillnotenduntil every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.

President Bush laid out for the American people the foundation for a decades-long struggle against terrorists and the states that supportthem.WhenAmericainvadedAfghanistaninOctober2001,theAmericanpublicwassolidlybehindthePresident.A slimmer majority also supported the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, believing both actions were necessary to defeat "terrorism." However, this "War on Terrorism" is turning out to be exactly what President Bush promised at the onset - a perpetual war allegedlyagainstterroristgroupsandthenationsthatharborandsupplythem.Infact,membersoftheBushadministration referred to their anti-terroristpolicyasthe"LongWar."PresidentBushusedthisnewnameinhis2006StateoftheUnionspeech, when he said:

"Our own generation is in a long war against a determined enemy." (January 31, 2006)

During his 2007 State of the Union address a year later, the president made this telling statement:

"Theevilthatinspiredandrejoicedin9/11isstillatworkintheworld.Andsolongas that's the case, America is still a nation at war." (January 23, 2007)

Even thought the presidential administration has changed, America still has tens of thousands of troops on the ground in AfghanistanandIraq.However,ourmilitarymightisnotprimarilycomposedofmen,butratherofadvancedtechnology.Justas the bow was the long-range weapon of choice in ancient times, unmanned drones, cruise missiles, jet planes, and "smart" bombs arethemodernequivalent.Forinstance,someofthebombingmissionsflownbytheUSAirForceinthecampaignagainstIraq originatedfromWhitemanAirForceBaseinMissouri.Theroundtriptimefortheseflightswasgenerallyover30hours. Additionally, other combat sorties were flown from the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and off of aircraft carriers stationedinthePersianGulfandelsewhere.Americahaslostrelatively few men in their conquests of Afghanistan and Iraq because we were able to attack from a distance that did not allow our adversaries to respond effectively. But,mostwillobject,thisiswherethesimilaritiestotheprophecieswearestudyingend.Certainlyourgovernmentisn'tperfect, butit'sthebestformofhumangovernmentinourmodernworld.Howcanonesaythatourgovernmentis"deceivingmany" people in the name of Christ? As most Americans would readily admit, the US is predominantly perceived as a Christian nation (although not nearly as much so as50yearsago).TheAmericanleaderatthetimeofthe9/11attacks,PresidentGeorgeW.Bush,wasamemberoftheMethodist Christiandenomination.HesaidonseveraloccasionsthatherecommittedhimselftoJesusChristin1986intheprocessof conqueringalcoholism.Whenaskedwhatpoliticalphilosopherhemostidentifiedwithina1999presidentialcampaigndebate, BushnamedChrist,"becausehechangedmyheart."FormerVicePresidentCheneywasalsoaMethodist.TheRepublicanparty theseleadersbelongtoisgenerallyperceivedasrepresentingChristianvaluesandideals.ManyDemocrats,especiallythosefrom themiddleofthecountry,alsoidentifythemselvesasChristians.Forthemostpart,ourgovernmentappearstoberunbypeople who proclaim themselves to be followers (in one fashion or another) of Jesus Christ. However, these same leaders who espouse Christ are involved in a massive deception that has already cost thousands of lives and, accordingtobiblicalprophecy,isleadingtoaglobalwarthatwillclaimthelivesofwelloverabillionpeople.Whatisthis deception? It is the very same event that allowed the rider of the white horse to initiate perpetual warfare against terrorists the attacks of September 11, 2001. Any unbiased, logical and thorough evaluation of the evidence pertaining to the events of 9/11/01 will quickly reveal a plethora of problemswiththeofficialstory.Infact,therearesomanyholesinthegovernment'sversionofwhathappenedon9/11/01thatit wouldbeamazingforanyonewhohastakenadetailedlookedintothiseventtoNOThavequestions.Someoftheproblemswith the official story are listed below: EVENTS BEFORE THE ATTACK INDICATED FOREKNOWLEDGE Financial Market Transactions In the days before the attacks, significantly higher than average numbers of stock put options (essentially, bets that a company's stockwilldeclineinvalue)wereplacedonseveralcompaniesgreatlyimpactedbytheeventsof9/11/01.Thesecompanies included:
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UnitedAirlinesandAmericanAirlines,twooftheairlinesusedintheattacks. Munich Re and the AXA Group, two reinsurance companies that had to cover billions of dollars worth of insurance claims because of the attacks. Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America, financial services companies hurt by the attacks.

There was also a huge increase in the number of stock call options (essentially, bets that a company's stock will increase in value) purchased on Raytheon on the day before the attacks (Raytheon is the maker of Patriot and Tomahawk missiles). Additionally, there was an abnormally large increase in the purchase of 5-year US Treasury notes (considered to be very safe investments in times of uncertainty) before the attacks. All of these financial transactions were extremely rewarding after the attacks took place. Avoidance of the Targets Just before 9/11/01, high government officials began avoiding the targets of the attacks:

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AttorneyGeneralJohnAshcroftstoppedflyingcommercialairlinesinJuly2001. Pentagon officials canceled travel plans on 9/10/01. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown received a warning on 9/10/01 not to fly from National Security Advisor (now Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice. Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel, canceled plans to address Israeli support groups in New York City (NYC) on 9/11/01.

Additionally, some business leaders and others avoided the targets:

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Silverstein Properties, the lead company in a consortium that had just obtained a 99-year lease on the World Trade Center in July 2001, was supposed to meet on the 88th floor of one of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers to "discuss what to do in the event of a terrorist attack"; however, this meeting was canceled on the night of 9/10/01. Jim Pierce, President Bush's cousin, was scheduled to attend a conference on 9/11/01 at his company's office on the105thflooroftheWTCSouthTower.ButtheconferencewasmovedtothenearbyMillenniumHotel, allegedly because the group was too large. Business executives, some of whom worked in the WTC, were in Nebraska attending a meeting hosted by billionaire Warren Buffett at Offutt Air Force Base on the morning of 9/11/01 (interestingly, President Bush visited that same base later in the day). At a cost of $50,000, Zim American Israeli Shipping Co. broke a lease that extended through the end of the year in order to vacate the World Trade Center just days before the attack. Two employees of Odigo, an Israeli instant messaging service with offices in the World Trade Center, received email warnings of the attack two hours before it occurred. Scotland Yard prohibited Muslim author Salman Rushdie from flying on 9/11/01.

THE HIJACKING SCENARIO Although the FBI named 19 Arab hijackers responsible for the events of 9/11/01 within two days of the attacks, there is little tangible evidence to support this assertion. Fatal Flaws in the Hijackers' Plan of Attack The entire hijack plan was ill conceived and suffered from numerous logistical problems that should have caused it to fail had the US air defense system been operating normally on 9/11/01:
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The originating airport for the flights that struck the World Trade Center towers (American Flight 11 and United Flight175)wasBostonLoganinsteadofanyofseveralairportsnearertoNYC.Thiscreateda40-minute window of exposure for interception of each flight. The flight that reportedly struck the Pentagon (American Flight 77) flew from Dulles Airport in eastern Virginia to thewesternborderofWestVirginiabeforereturningtoWashingtonDC.Itwasintheairforanhourand23 minutesbeforeallegedlyattackingthePentagon.Theimpactwas83minutesafterthefirsthijackedflightwent offcourse,58minutesaftertheWTCNorthTowerimpact,and40minutesaftertheWTCSouthTowerimpact. Yet this jet was not intercepted as it flew over what is normally the most heavily protected airspace in the UnitedStates(ifnottheworld).EvenundercircumstancesofseverelyreducedUSairdefenses,therewasstill ample opportunity to intercept this flight. The flight that reportedly crashed in Pennsylvania (United Flight 93) flew from Newark, New Jersey almost to Cleveland,OhiobeforeturningaroundtoflytowardWashingtonDC.Haditreacheditsallegeddestination,it would have been airborne for over an hour and a half.

Under standard air defense operating procedures, the odds of these "hijacked" planes escaping interception with this plan would have been exceedingly small. Lack of Evidence Thereisnosolidevidencethatanyoftheallegedhijackerswereonanyofthehijackedflights.Infact,thereissubstantialevidence that some of the identified hijackers definitely were NOT involved:
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Except for a video allegedly showing the hijackers of Flight 77 released by a third party, no other security video footage of any of the hijackers boarding their flights has been made public. None of the alleged hijackers' names appeared on the airlines' passenger lists. At least seven of the alleged hijackers have turned up alive since the attack, and one listed as involved was proven to have died in a small plane crash in Florida in 2000. None of the four flight crews radioed Air Traffic Control to notify them of hijackings in progress. None of the four flight crews took the few seconds necessary to punch in the four-digit hijacking code. No public evidence indicates that the remains of any of the hijackers were identified at any of the crash sites. None of the contents of any of the black boxes from the hijacked planes have been made public. Four and a half minutes of a phone call from Flight 11 Attendant Betty Ong was made public; it describes some stabbings but does not provide any details indicating that Arab hijackers were on board.

Odd Behavior of the Hijackers The behavior of the alleged hijackers preceding the attack does not exhibit the skill and discipline needed to pull off such an ambitious plan:
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The alleged hijackers are reported to have visited topless bars and drank alcohol, despite being portrayed as fundamentalist Muslims motivated by religious fervor to carry out the attacks.

Allegedly, Mohammed Atta just barely made it to Flight 11 in time to board, although he had supposedly been planning this event for years.

Success of the Hijackers The proposition that the alleged hijackers were successful using their crude methods and poor skills is difficult to believe:
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The hijackers supposedly took over four jets using only boxcutters. None of the four flight crews were able to stop the alleged hijackers, in spite of several of the pilots being war veterans. None of the alleged hijackers were good pilots, yet three of the four successfully piloted these technologically advanced planes to relatively small targets and hit them with extreme precision.

LACK OF US AIR DEFENSE RESPONSE SeveralelementsareinvolvedindomesticairdefenseofthecontinentalUnitedStates.Theairtrafficcontrolsystemcontinuously monitors air traffic and notifies the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) of any deviations by aircraft from theirdesignatedflightpathsorlossofradiocontact.NORADregularlymonitorsair(andspace)trafficandispreparedtoreact immediatelytoanythreatsoremergenciesthatarise.IthastheauthoritytoorderunitsfromtheAirForce,theAirNationalGuard, oranyotherbranchofthearmedservicestoscramblefightersinpursuitofjetlinersintrouble.Thisisstandardoperating procedurefortheUSairdefensesystem.Intheyear2000,interceptorsweredispatchedatotalof129times.BetweenSeptember 2000 and June 2001, jet fighters were scrambled 67 times. Despite normal intercept times of between 10 and 20 minutes for domestic flights that go off course or lose radio contact, on 9/11/01thehijackedplanesseeminglyroamedtheskiesatwillwithoutinterferencefromtheUSairdefensesystem.Forsome reason, routine interception procedures were not followed on that day. Reporting Failures FAA response times for reporting the deviating aircraft were much longer than the prescribed guidelines:
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According to the official timeline from NORAD, the FAA took 18 minutes to report Flight 11's loss of communication and deviation from its flight plan. According to the official timeline from NORAD, the FAA took 39 minutes to report Flight 77's deviation from its flight plan.

Failure to Scramble Interceptors Interceptors were only scrambled from distant bases after long delays:
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Despite the fact that Flights 11 and 175 were headed for NYC, no interceptors were scrambled from New York's La Guardia Airport or from Langley AFB in Virginia. Despite NORAD having received formal notification of the first hijacking at 8:38 am, no interceptors were scrambled from nearby Andrews AFB to protect the Pentagon until after it was hit at 9:37 am.

Failures to Intercept Once they finally got in the air, interceptors flew at only small fractions of their top speeds, ensuring that they would be unable to intercept the airliners:
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The two F-15s scrambled from Otis AFB in Massachusetts at 8:52 am flew to Manhattan at an average speed of 483 mph, less than 26% of their top speed of 1,875 mph; they arrived about 8 minutes after Flight 175 had hit the WTC South Tower. The two F-16s scrambled from Langley AFB at 9:30 am to protect the capital flew at an average speed of about 411 mph, just over 27% of their top speed of 1,500 mph; they arrived about 12 minutes after the Pentagon was hit.

Failures to Redeploy Nearby fighters on routine patrol duty were not redeployed to intercept the airliners, nor were fighters that reached Manhattan too late sent south to defend the capital:
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Two F-15s flying off the coast of Long Island were not redeployed to Manhattan until after the second WTC tower was hit. The two F-15s scrambled from Otis AFB to protect Manhattan could have reached the capital in under 10 minutes once they arrived over NYC . At that time, there were still 26 minutes remaining before the Pentagon would be hit.

War Games Severaldifferentwargameexerciseswereinprocessonthemorning9/11/01astheattackunfolded.Althoughtherehasbeenonly limited information released to the public about these exercises, they reportedly included:

Operation Northern Vigilance - This exercise, planned months in advance of 9/11/01, redeployed jets that normallypatrolledthenortheastsectoroftheUnitedStatestonorthernCanadaandAlaska.Itwasallegedlyin response to a Russian exercise in which long-range bombers were dispatched to their northern territory. Operations Vigilant Warrior and Vigilant Guardian - These were apparently a pair of war games (attacker versus defender) which involved live-flysimulationsofhijackings.BoththispairofoperationsandNorthern Vigilanceprobablyinvolvedtheuseof"injects"intoactualscreenstosimulateaircraft.Thesegamesapparently resembled the real attack sufficiently to confuse military officers. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Plane Crash Drill - The NRO provides our nation its eyes and ears inspace.Itoperatesasystemofreconnaissancesatellitestoprovidereal-time monitoring of objects in the skies.On9/11/01,NROheadquartersinChantilly,Virginiawereevacuatedaspartofadrillsimulatingasmall corporate jet crashing into one of the campus' four towers. The Tripod II Biowarfare Exercise - FEMA had deployed to NYC on 9/10/01 to set up a command post at Pier 29 in preparation for a biowarfare exercise scheduled for 9/12/01.

Interestingly, these exercises closely resembled the actual events of the 9/11/01 attacks (four alleged hijackings, three jetliner crashes into buildings, and the toxic calamity at Ground Zero caused by the building collapses). WORLD TRADE CENTER BUILDING COLLAPSES On 9/11/01, three skyscrapers (WTC 1-North Tower, WTC 2-South Tower, and WTC 7-Salomon Brothers Building) totally collapsed,withfiregivenastheprimarycause.Fireshaveneverbeforeorsincecausedsteel-framebuildingstocollapse.Oneof these buildings, WTC 7, was over 300 feet away from the North Tower and was not hit by a plane. WTC Twin Towers Both the Twin Towers fell straight down, through themselves, following the path of maximum resistance, a behavior never before observedinspontaneouscollapsesofanytypeofverticalstructure.Thetowersalsoexplodedoutwardintoconcretedustand shatteredsteel,aresultinconsistentwiththeknownbehaviorofsteelstructuresoutsideofexplosivedemolition.Althoughthe pattern of destruction was much more complete than normal controlled demolitions, the collapses of both WTC 1 and WTC 2 exhibited features seen only in intentional demolitions:
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Sudden onset accompanied by thunderous bangs. Visible explosions ringing the perimeters of the buildings. Energetic ejections of dust (called squibs) at regular intervals. The production of a huge amount of dust.

Bothtowersstartedtodisintegratebothaboveandbelowthecrashzonesinthefirstfewsecondsoftheirfalls.TheSouthTower collapsed 29 minutes before the North Tower (although it was struck 17 minutes after the North Tower and the damage done to the building was less substantial):
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Unlike the North Tower, the South Tower's core structure was largely undamaged by the off-centered jet impact. The South Tower had much less severe fires than the North Tower. Smoke from the fires in the South Tower became progressively darker up to the time it collapsed, indicating that they were dying down. Audio recordings of NYC firefighters indicate that they reached the crash zone of the South Tower; in fact, they described their plan for using two hoses to control the fires found there.

Amazing video footage and photographs of the South Tower just minutes before its collapse reveals yellow-to-white hot molten metaldrippingdownward.Additionally,numerouswitnessesdescribemoltenmetalunderneathallthreeWTCbuildingsforseveral weeksaftertheircollapses.Theproblemisthatthehydrocarbon-fueled fires burning in the WTC buildings were not nearly hot enoughtoproducetheapproximately2,750Ftemperaturesneededtomeltstructuralsteel.Additionally,thecolorofthemolten metalrulesoutthatitwasaluminumfromthebuildingsorplanes,sinceliquefiedaluminumisasilverycolor.Sohowdidjetfuel fireswhichwereneverhotenoughtomeltsteelcausethesteelinthesebuildingstomelt?Whydidthissteelremaininamolten state under the WTC rubble for several weeks after 9/11/01? WTC Building 7 WTC 7 imploded at 5:20 pm on 9/11/01 (approximately 20 minutes AFTER its collapse was announced live on British television bytheBBCnewscrewcoveringtheeventsof9/11/01fromNewYork).Asmentionedearlier,itwasnothitbyajet.WTC7 experienced total collapse, allegedly because of fires; however, no steel-frame building before or since has ever totally collapsed duetofire.Thisbuildingwasa47-story steel-frameskyscraper.Onlysmallfireswerevisibleiniton9/11/01.Yetthisbuilding alsocollapsedinanalmostperfectlyverticalfallintoaremarkablysmallpileofmostlypulverizedrubble.Buildingsonly60feeton either side of WTC 7 were virtually unscathed from its collapse. A close observation of the collapse of WTC Building 7 shows that it had all of the features of an implosion engineered by controlled demolition:
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The collapse of the main structure commenced suddenly (several seconds after the penthouse fell). The building sank precisely into its footprint in a vertical manner. Puffs of dust (squibs) emerged from the building's facade early in the collapse, moving up the side of the building instead of downward (as would normally be expected in an unaided top-down collapse). The collapse was total, producing a rubble pile only about three stories high. The main structure totally collapsed in under 7 seconds, essentially at the speed of free fall; for comparison,

WTC 7 collapsed only about a second slower than it would have taken a brick dropped from the building's roof to reach the ground in a vacuum.

WTC Building 7 was home to quite a few interesting tenants:

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NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Office of Emergency Management had a bomb-hardened command bunker located on the 23rd floor (interestingly, he evacuated his emergency management team to a makeshift command center just as soon as the 9/11/01 attacks began). TheSecuritiesandExchangeCommission(SEC)hadofficesonthe11th,12th,and13thfloors.Reportedly,the SEC's offices housed a large amount of evidence for 3,000-4,000 ongoing insider trading cases that was lost when WTC 7 collapsed. The US Secret Service had offices on the 9th and 10th floors. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had offices on the 24th and 25th floors. Reports later surfaced that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also had secret offices located in WTC 7.

Suppression of Physical Evidence The physical evidence from the World Trade Center buildings, as well as the attacking jets, was suppressed or systematically destroyed:
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Controlled Demolition, Inc. submitted a plan for recycling the WTC steel only 11 days after the attack and received approval. Most of the steel was quickly shipped to Asia for recycling. Investigators were barred from the crime scene and had little or no chance to examine the steel. None of the contents of the four black boxes from the hijacked jetliners has been released. The National Transportation Safety Board was not allowed to investigate the jet airliner crashes.

PENTAGON ATTACK Inmanyways,thePentagonattackisthemostdifficulttoaccept.Itdefieslogicthatthishometothemilitaryestablishmentofthe world'smightiestsuperpowerandprimeterroristtargetwouldNOThavebeendefended.Italsoseemsveryunlikelythataterrorist using a plane as a weapon would have targeted the back side of the Pentagon in an extremely precise aerobatic maneuver, instead of just hitting the front side in a simple head-on collision. Unprotected Target ThePentagonwashitafteramplewarningwasgiventhathijackedplaneswerebeingusedtoattackhighprofilebuildings.The9:37 am impact occurred well over an hour after the first signs of a hijacking and 34 minutes after the South Tower strike confirmed that anattackwasunderway.EventhoughthePentagonisonlyabout10milesfromAndrewsAirForceBase,wheretwocombatreadyfighterwingswerestationedon9/11/01,nomeaningfuldefensiveactionwasundertakentoprotectthePentagon.The inboundaircraftwasmonitoredonradarasitapproachedWashingtonDC.Inaddition,amilitaryC-130 (seen over the Pentagon immediatelyaftertheimpact)wasreportedlydispatchedtoobservetheaircraft.Butnointerceptorsweresenttostopthe incoming plane. Unqualified Hijacker/Pilot None of the alleged hijackers were good pilots; none had ever flown jets, let alone large technologically advanced commercial jetliners.However,probablythemostill-equipped of them was the alleged hijacker/pilot of Flight 77, Hani Hanjour:
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Hanjour attended a flight school in Scottsdale, Arizona for four months in 1996 and 1997, but he never completed the coursework for a single-engine aircraft license. FailinghiscoursesattheArizonaflightschoolhewasattendingdidn'tseemtobotherHanjour.Accordingtoan employee there, "He didn't care about the fact that he couldn't get through the course." InAugust2001,HanjourattemptedtorentasmallplanefromanairportinBowie,Maryland.Aftertaking Hanjouronthreetestrunstoensurethathecouldactuallyfly,hisrequesttorenttheplanewasdeclined.The flight instructors who flew with him noted that he had trouble controlling and landing the small single engine Cessna 172.

It is questionable that even a well-trained fighter pilot could have executed the maneuver that supposedly crashed a Boeing 757 into the Pentagon. It required making a tight 320-degree turn while descending 7,000 feet in about three minutes, then leveling out so as to fly low enough over the highway west of the Pentagon to knock down 40-foottalllampposts.Aftercrossingthehighway,the pilot had to take the plane to within mere feet of the ground in order to crash into the Pentagon at the first-floor level while managingtoavoidimpactingthelawn.Totopitalloff,hehadtodoallofthiswhileflyingataspeedexceeding520mphbythe time the plane crashed. The spiral dive approach to the Pentagon was such an extreme maneuver that experienced air traffic controllers watching on radar thoughtitwasamilitaryjet.Thetree-top final approach skimmed objects in the yard and crashed the plane into the first floor of thebuilding.Experiencedpilotshavewonderedifanyhumanpilotcouldhaveexecutedthemaneuver.QuiteafeatforHani Hanjour, who couldn't control a single engine prop plane and who had never sat in the cockpit of a jet. Attack Hit the Only Hardened Part of the Pentagon

ThelocationoftheimpactwasWedgeOne,oneoffiveradialsectionsofthebuilding.Itwasbeingrenovated,andwasonlyfive daysfromcompletionwhentheattackoccurred.Therenovationprogramincludedthefollowingimprovementstothebuilding:
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Exterior walls reinforced with steel. Exterior walls backed with Kevlar. Installation of blast-resistant windows. Installation of fire sprinklers. Installation of automatic fire doors. Creation of a building operations and control center.

The renovated area was the only part of the Pentagon with a sprinkler system, and it had been reconstructed to withstand bomb blasts. Becauseoftherenovation,thestrickenportionofthebuildingwassparselyoccupied.Whileabout4,500peoplenormallywould have been working in the targeted area, because of the renovation work only about 800 were actually there. MorethanhalfofthepeoplelistedasmissingaftertheattackworkedinthePentagon'sNavalCommandCenter.Thesepersonnel weremovedintotheremodeledareasshortlybeforetheattack.Ofthethousandsofpeopleinthebuildingatthetimeoftheattack, only125peoplewerekilled.Ofthose,nonewerehigh-levelofficials.SecretaryofDefenseDonaldRumsfeldwassafeinhis office on the opposite side of the building. The fact that the attack targeted the one portion of the building that was mostly vacant is all the more remarkable considering the approachrequiredbytheaircraftblamedforthedamage.AccordingtoNationalTransportationSafetyBoardinformationrecently acquired via the Freedom of Information Act, American Airlines Flight 77 approached Washington DC from the west northwest on aheadingof99degrees.Insteadofattackingthehugebuildinginadirectfashion,whichwouldhaverequiredsimplydescending into the Pentagon, the jet executed a 320-degree descending spiral toward the south, losing over 7,000 feet of altitude before leveling out at nearly tree-topheightasitmadeitsfinalapproachfromthesouthwest.Additionally,thisspiralapproachadded approximately three minutes to the flight time of the aircraft (time which COULD have been used to intercept the plane). Lack of Physical Evidence Due to a suppression of physical evidence by the government, the truth about what actually hit the Pentagon on 9/11/01 remains shroudedinmysteryandisthesubjectofheatedargumentsamongskepticsoftheofficialaccount.Immediatelyaftertheattack, authorities systematically set out to confiscate, destroy or suppress the evidence:
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Video recordings from an adjacent gas station and nearby hotels were seized by the FBI very shortly after the attack.Additionally,trafficmonitoringvideocamerasalongthenearbyhighwaysmaintainedbytheVirginia Department of Transportation have not been released. RecordingsofsecurityvideocamerasaroundthePentagonhavenotbeenpublicallyreleased.Upuntilrecently, only five frames of security video had been made public (and then only as an unofficial leak) from all the security camerasthatmonitortheperipheryofthePentagon.Anadditionalreleaseofvideoon5/16/06duetoaFreedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch added nothing of value to what was already available. A photographed scrap of aircraft debris that has markings similar to an American Airlines 757 seemingly corresponds to the forward portion of the right side of the plane, yet the scrap was far to the left of the plane's path. Few photographs of the Pentagon's interior prior to removal of debris have been publically released. Investigators were not allowed access to the crash site until well into October 2001. The government has refused to disclose the fate of aircraft debris collected at the Pentagon or disclose the results of any attempts to identify the aircraft parts. The government has implausibly insisted that the black boxes recovered from the crash yielded nothing useful.

Thegovernment'sbehaviorregardingthephysicalevidencecouldbeduetoseveralreasons.Themilitaryhasapenchantfor secrecy,whichhasbeenheightenedbytheatmosphereofnationalemergencyproducedbythe9/11/01attack.However,theyalso couldbeattemptingtosuppressevidencethatwoulddisprovethecrashofFlight77.Finally,it'sworthconsideringthattheyare now suppressing evidence that would prove the crash of a Boeing 757 in order to use this information at a later date to derail "conspiracy theorists" who have taken the position that Flight 77 did NOT hit the Pentagon. CASUALTIES FROM THE ATTACKS The death toll of the attacks, although horrible, was much lower than it should have been if not for numerous favorable target selection and timing factors. Flights All four flights had low occupancy rates:
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Flight Flight Flight Flight

11 had a capacity of 158, but had only 76 passengers on board (not counting the alleged hijackers). 175 had a capacity of 166, but had only 46 passengers on board (not counting the alleged hijackers). 77 had a capacity of 188, but only had 50 passengers on board (not counting the alleged hijackers). 93 had a capacity of 182, but only had 26 passengers on board (not counting the alleged hijackers).

World Trade Center

The towers were attacked before most people had arrived for work, and were hit high enough to allow most who were there to escape.
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When Flight 11 hit the North Tower at 8:46 am, the World Trade Center buildings were at less than half the occupancy they would have by mid-day of a typical day. WTC 1 was hit just 15 stories below the top, and most of the people who were trapped were between the 95th and110thfloors. WTC 2 was hit only 30 stories below the top, and the plane missed the core of the building, allowing people to evacuatefromabovetheimpactzone.The17minutesthathadelapsedfromthefirsthitalsoallowedmany people to escape the South Tower while the elevators were still working.

Pentagon The portion of the Pentagon that was attacked, the West Block, was in the process of being renovated, and so was at low occupancy.
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125 people were killed in a building containing 20,000 people. No high-level Pentagon officials were killed in the attack.

STRANGE COINCIDENCES Many events and decisions in the days and months preceding the attacks helped to make the incompetence theory more plausible: Rules Changes Procedural changes limited the ability of pilots and military commanders to respond to hijackings:
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A 6/1/01 order stripped field commanders of the autonomy to respond to hijackings. The FAA banned firearm possession by commercial pilots two months before the attack.

Where Were They? Several top officials, including the President of the United States, were not available until after the attack was over:
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President Bush remained at the publicized location of Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida until about a half-hour after the news of the attack went on worldwide TV, first listening to second grade students read about a girl and her pet goat, and then holding a press conference. General Richard Myers, Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, allegedly remained in a meeting with Senator Max Cleland until nearly the time the Pentagon was hit. Brigadier General Montague Winfield had Navy Captain Charles J. Leidig, Jr. (a rookie) assume his watch as Deputy Director for Operations for the National Military Command Center (NMCC) at 8:30 am on 9/11/01; he relieved him after the attack was over.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSES What was the government response to all the alleged incompetence displayed on 9/11/01 that allowed the hijackers to succeed in theirattacks?Didthoseinpositionsofauthorityhavetotakeresponsibilityforthelapsesthatleftthousandsdead?Werethey fired or demoted? Despite the worst failure in history of the military to protect American civilians, and the worst alleged engineering failures in history, there were no honest investigations and no consequences for the responsible authorities. Air Defense Failures No one was held accountable for the numerous unprecedented failures in air defense:
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General Richard Myers, Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 9/11/01, was confirmed as Chairman two days later despite being unable to provide any meaningful answers to questions regarding the air defense failures. General Richard Eberhard, commander of NORAD on 9/11/01, was promoted to head the newly created US Northern Command (NORTHCOM), which took the homeland defense role from the US Joint Forces Command. NORAD's official press release contradicted early statements by high-ranking officials that no interceptors had been scrambled on 9/11/01. NORAD's vague timeline raises far more questions than it answers, yet officials have never been required to give a full account of the discrepancies. The 9/11 Commission later advanced a new timeline which contradicted NORAD's earlier timeline and the testimony of military officials to the Commission itself.

Building Collapse Inquiry Based on the official story, the total collapses of WTC 1, WTC 2, and WTC 7 were the three largest engineering failures in history.Howweretheyinvestigated?

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FEMA was given the sole authority to investigate the collapses even though it is not an investigative agency. The investigative team assembled by FEMA consisted of unpaid volunteers. The investigators were not allowed access to Ground Zero. The investigators were not provided with the blueprints of the buildings. TheresultingFEMAreportstatesthatthecausesofthecollapse"remainunknownatthistime."Bythetimethe reportwasreleased,disposalofalltheWTCsteelhadbeencompleted.ThefactthatWTC7supposedlyfailed in a way that contradicts a century of engineering experience makes it the largest and least understood structural failure in history. The 9/11 Commission Report failed to even mention the existence of WTC Building 7. The 9/11 Commission Report denied the existence of the Twin Towers' core structures. The report by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on the collapse of the WTC Towers purports to provide a "probable collapse sequence" for each Tower but truncates its timelines before the collapses even begin.

Asyoucansee,therearehundredsoflegitimatequestionsaboutwhatactuallytookplaceon9/11/01.Yet,evengiventhisvolume ofevidenceanduncertainty,manywillrejectoutrightthepossibilityofsuchanenormousdeceptionbytheAmericangovernment. They will do so without any investigation of the facts, on the grounds that no one would be audacious enough to try and pull off such a huge lie. However, German Nazi leader Adolph Hitler wrote about just such a deception in his defining work, Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"):

...Inthebig lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scalefalsehoods.It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be someotherexplanation.Forthegrosslyimpudentliealwaysleavestracesbehindit,even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to allwhoconspiretogetherintheartoflying.Thesepeopleknowonlytoowellhowtouse falsehoodforthebasestpurposes....(p.134,JamesMurphytranslation)

Hitler, while Chancellor of Germany, went on to implement his version of the "big lie" when he approved a plan to torch the ReichstagbuildinginBerlinwheretheelectedmembersofgovernmentmetdaily.TheReichstagbuildingwasburnedonthenight of2/27/33,andHitlerwasabletoblamethisactonhisrivals,theCommunistPartyinGermany.Thisact,andhisresponsetoit, paved the way for Hitler to become the dictator of Nazi Germany. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda and allegedly one of those involved in the planning of the Reichstag fire, had this to say about his leader's "big lie" concept:

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.TheliecanbemaintainedonlyforsuchtimeastheStatecanshieldthe peoplefromthepolitical,economicand/ormilitaryconsequencesofthelie.Itthus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

Conclusion
With the understanding of the first seal, we can now complete our outline of Revelation 6:

REVELATION 6

MATTHEW 24

1st Seal = American Empire

Behold, a white horse.Hewhosatonit "Takeheedthatnoonedeceivesyou.For had a bow; and a crown was given to him, many will come in my name, saying I am and he went out conquering and to conquer. the Christ, and will deceive many." (Matt.

(Rev. 6:2)

24:4-5)

2nd Seal = Widespread Warfare

"And you will hear of wars and rumors of Another, a fiery red horse,wentout.And wars.Seethatyouarenottroubledforall it was granted to the one who sat on it to these things must come to pass, but the take peace from the earth, and that people endisnotyet.Fornationwillriseagainst should kill one another; and there was nation, and kingdom against given to him a great sword. (Rev. 6:4) kingdom." (Matt. 24:6-7)

3rd Seal = Famine

There was a black horse, and its rider held ascaleinhishand.ThenIheardwhat sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" (Rev. 6:5-6)

"Therewillbefamines..."(Matt.24:7)

4th Seal = Death of 1/4 of Mankind from First Four Seals

There before me was a pale green horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was "Therewillbe...pestilencesand followingclosebehindhim.Hewasgiven earthquakesinvariousplaces.Alltheseare power over a fourth of the earth to kill by the beginning of sorrows." (Matt. 24:7-8) sword, famine and pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Rev. 6:8)

5th Seal = Martyrdom of Believers

I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for thetestimonywhichtheyheld.Andthey cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and and kill you, and you will be hated by all avenge our blood on those who dwell on the nationsformyname'ssake.Andthen earth?"Thenawhiterobewasgivento many will be offended, will betray one each of them; and it was said to them that another, and will hate one another." (Matt. they should rest a little while longer, until 24:9-10) both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. (Rev. 6:9-11)

6th Seal = Heavenly Signs

Behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, andthemoonbecamelikeblood.Andthe "Immediately after the tribulation of those stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig days the sun will be darkened, and the tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by moon will not give its light; the stars will fall amightywind.Thentheskyrecededasa from heaven, and the powers of the scroll when it is rolled up, and every heavens will be shaken." (Matt. 24:29) mountain and island was moved out of its place.(Rev. 6:12-14)

If this understanding of prophecy is accurate, the United States of America is currently on a course that will soon lead directly to WorldWarIII.HowisitpossiblethatthepeopleofAmericahavebeendeceivedsocomprehensively?TheapostlePauloutlines the likely reason in II Thessalonians 2:10-12.HestatesthatGodwillsendstrongdelusionuponpeopleatthetimeoftheend,and theywillbelievetheliebecausetheyhavenoloveforthetruthandtakepleasureinunrighteousness.Unfortunately,that description fits much of the American population these days. While we as believers can do nothing but pray about the situation and ask for God's protection in the great tribulation that lies

ahead,itiscomfortingtounderstandWHYtheseprophesiedeventsaregoingtohappen.MaytheEternalFatherkeepandprotect His people as we witness the birth pangs of the coming kingdom of God! Bryan T. Huie June 6, 2006
Revised: June 10, 2010

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