Disputing theories about the Twin Towers.

Isaac Christensen wrote in THE NEW AMERICAN (Letters to the Editor, February 5) that articles by Steven Jones and other academics point to the demolition of the Twin Towers and Tower 7 by "thermite explosives" and that Jones' articles stand in contrast to THE NEW AMERICAN'S articles regarding this tragedy.

Reading Jones' articles lead one to marvel at the massive amount of time he has spent researching thermite and thermite uses. He has done some interesting analysis, but alas, as do all of those insisting on demolition as the only reason the towers could have possibly collapsed, he ignores the impossible task of having placed all of those thermite charges to bring down the towers. Since the visually documented evidence points to the fact that the towers collapsed from the point of impact, that is where the explosives would have been placed. This would have been impossible after the crash and improbable before the attack.

Jones and others make mention of pictures of molten steel coming from the towers including white-hot fires indicating burning metal. He also references the presence of aluminum in molten metal from the towers as evidence of thermite. Let's not forget that there were several tons of aluminum from the jets in those towers. The burning white-hot metal seen was probably magnesium (present in the jets also) burning. It would burn hot enough to melt steel and cause the observed yellow flowing metal streams. It is also possible that the presence of the aluminum with burning magnesium created a thermite reaction that cut through some steel beams in certain areas. Jones also points to molten steel in the collapsed pile of the towers as evidence of thermite. The thermite would have already cooled at that point. That observed molten metal was most likely from the blast furnace-like and kiln-like conditions in the debris pile along with the continued burning of magnesium. Magnesium burns brighter and hotter when hit with water.

Jones also points to an analysis that says that the towers would have only "gravity collapsed" to the point of impact and not all the way to the ground. According to aerodynamics the bumblebee can't fly either, but somehow it does. Those conducting these analyses obviously left out a critical component because the visual record proves that the towers collapsed at the point of impact and then continued to collapse floor by floor all the way down.

I could write a book disputing Jones and have written much about this on my website and elsewhere, but the main point is that THE NEW AMERICAN has done a commendable job in giving a balanced and succinct analysis of 9/11 minus all the conspiracy theories. I've analyzed virtually all of them, and they all ignore critical components of the facts to make their theories seem plausible.

That doesn't mean that I think the Bush administration had no foreknowledge or was not somehow complicit in the attacks, but explosives, thermite or other, did not take down the Twin Towers.

KIRT R. POOVEY

Little River, Kansas