In effect, everything and its opposite is prima facie evidence of a U.S. government conspiracy

While Le Monde and Plantu chose their special ways to commemorate 9-11 and while French TV (both cable and public) chose that day to broadcast all sorts of interesting "documentaries" on American history, past and present, John Rosenthal comments on Medienkritik's report of Germany's public television ZDF TV "honoring" that sixth anniversary by the prime-time broadcast of a "documentary" in the Michael Moore mold, replete with conspiracy theorists and blame for America.

When the ZDF "investigators" manage finally to cast doubt upon one or another of even the most ludicrous arguments of the "theorists," moreover, it is only ever after a seemingly immense intellectual effort -- when simple common sense ought to have sufficed.

…in the earlier segment [of September 11, 2001: What Really Happened], the fact that U.S. authorities did not shoot down [the first three] passenger jets is supposed to provide prima facie evidence of a U.S. government conspiracy; in the Shanksville segment, however, alleged evidence that U.S. authorities did in fact shoot down UA93 [the fourth jet] is supposed likewise to provide prima facie evidence of a U.S. government conspiracy. This is to say, in effect, that for the filmmakers — as indeed for the "theorists" — everything and its opposite is prima facie evidence of a U.S. government conspiracy.

The final abiding message of the ZDF documentary is that America is, in any case, somehow to blame: if not perhaps for the attacks themselves, then at least for the fact that the "skeptics" believe that America was responsible for the attacks.

…Never once in the ZDF documentary, however, is serious attention drawn to the responsibility of the 19 hijackers who carried out the attacks and their al-Qaida enablers and co-conspirators. The results of a ZDF online poll that appears on the promotional page for the documentary are thus hardly surprising. Asked to identify "who pulled the strings" in the 9/11 attacks, fully 66 percent of respondents, as of this writing, have chosen either "George W. Bush" (26 percent) or "U.S. Authorities" (25 percent) or the "Armaments Lobby" (15 percent). The fourth and remaining choice, "Osama Bin Laden," is given the nod by only 26 percent of respondents.