(The Malaysian Insider) - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad continued today to back a conspiracy theory that the US government was responsible for the 9/11 attacks on its own soil, even as Americans prepared to mark the 10th anniversary of their nation’s worst-ever terrorist attack.
He added that he could not believe Arab Muslims were capable of the planning required to launch such attacks against the United States.
The former prime minister repeated today the claims he had made last January, hinting that the attacks were staged as an excuse for the US government to retaliate against the Muslim world.
“This is the legacy of George W. Bush. If they can lie so as to kill Iraqis, Afghans and American soldiers, it is not unthinkable for Bush & Co to lie about who was responsible for 9/11. Human lives do not seem to mean much to Bush!!” he said in a blog posting today.
Standing by his theory, Dr Mahathir insisted that the Arab Muslims were incapable of planning such a well-strategised multi-pronged attack that saw the iconic twin towers of the New York World Trade Center crumble to the ground.
He backed his argument by pointing to an article by wire agency AFP that was published in English daily The Star last Friday, which said: “For some Americans, the deaths of nearly 3,000 people were not the scariest thing about 9/11. It was realising who carried out the attack: yes, the American government.”
The line he quoted from the AFP story was part of an ironic piece about the number conspiracy theories that have mushroomed over the years.
“I believe Arab Muslims are angry enough to sacrifice their lives and become suicide bombers. More often they would kill other Arabs who may be quite innocent. Frequent targets are mosques at prayer time.
“But they or their handlers do not strike me as capable of planning and strategising such attacks so as to maximise the damage to the enemy,” Dr Mahathir wrote.
