Professor Who Claims U.S. Government Orchestrated 9/11 Attack Should be Fired

An Islamic Studies professor at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, has publicly stated that the U.S. government is responsible for conceptualizing and executing the September 11 attacks. Worse yet, he has publicly vowed to share those opinions in the classroom. Let me mince no words: he should be fired.

While I support academic freedom, and while I willingly concede that a diversity in viewpoints is key to a lively discourse, I also believe that some voices are so far beyond the pale that they should not be given a world class forum. Holocaust deniers have no place teaching our kids about World War II. White supremacists have no place teaching our kids about the Civil War. And 9/11 conspiracy theorists have no place teaching our kids about "Islam: Religion and Culture."

Do not get me wrong, there is significant room for debate about U.S. policies in the Arab world. Our "preemptive" war in Iraq, support for the Saudi monarchy, and on-again-off-again concern with the Israeli-Palestinian "Road Map" all provide plenty of opportunity for good faith disagreement. As do our efforts to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.

But... BUT...

There can be no honest, fair-minded, sophisticated argument that the U.S. government designed the 9/11 attacks. And someone who espouses such views in the classroom, as Professor Kevin Barret has promised he will do, deserves something less than a college lectern.

Fore more information, please visit the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel at http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=445190

Professor, Wisconsin, Barret, 9/11