Opinion polls conducted in Germany in 2003 indicated that one in five Ger mans believes that the US government was behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, with one-third of Germans under the age of thirty believ ing in the theory. 1 A 2004 poll found that half of New York City residents believe that US leaders" knew in advance that attacks were planned on or around September 11, 2001, and that they consciously failed to act," and a 2006 Scripps-Howard poll revealed that more than one-third of Americans believe that it is likely or very likely that the US government either actively assisted in the September 11 attacks or deliberately allowed them to hap pen because it wanted to go to war in the Middle East. 2 What are we to make

I would like to thank the organizers and participants of the" Dark Powers" conference, in particu lar Eva Horn for her generous discussions of the ideas in this article. I am also indebted to Stuart Croft, Richard Jackson, Inderjeet Parmar, and Brian Ward for their useful suggestions. 1. For details on the polls see" Panoply of the Absurd," Der Spiegel, September 8, 2003, online edition, www. spiegel. de/international/spiegel/0, 1518, 265160, 00. html. See also" 9/11 Conspir acy Theories Dominate Frankfurt Book Fair," October 10, 2003, www. dw-world. de/dw/article/0? 993523, 00. html.