Kevin Barrett

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Part of a series of articles on: 9/11 conspiracy theories the 9/11 Truth Movement, Alternative theories of September 11, 2001 attacks the Controlled demolition hypothesis for the collapse of the World Trade Center, and Researchers questioning the official account of 9/11
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Kevin James Barrett (born February 1959) is an associate lecturer and 9/11 conspiracy theorist.^[1]

Barrett currently holds a one-semester appointment as an associate lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.^[2] He is scheduled to teach an introductory class on Islam, in which he plans to spend one week or two weeks of the 16-week class teaching about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack and the War on Terrorism. Controversy erupted when it became known Barrett was planning to incorporate conspiracy theories into his lectures.^[3] It has since been determined by an internal university probe that "although Mr. Barrett presented a variety of viewpoints, he had not discussed his personal opinions in the classroom." ^[4] Kevin Barrett is a member of the Scholars for 9/11 Truth.^[5]

1 Early life
2 Controversy
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Early life

Barrett was born in 1959 to Peter Barrett, an Olympic athlete (sailing: silver medal in Finns in 1964, gold medal in Stars in 1968), one of the founders of North Sails (then and now a world leader in sail-making technology) and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor in business and accounting.^[6] In the early 1990s, Kevin Barrett received master's degrees in both English literature and French from the San Francisco State University and married a Moroccan-born Muslim woman.^[7] He converted to Islam in 1992.^[8]

Barrett returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1995. He received a Fulbright Scholarship in 1999 to study a year in Morocco. He received a Ph.D. in African languages and literature with a minor in folklore from the University of Wisconin-Madison in 2004, focusing his dissertation on the topic of Moroccan legend.^[7]^[2] ^[9] Barrett has taught English, French, Arabic, American Civilization, Humanities, African Literature, Folklore, and Islam at colleges and universities in the San Francisco Bay area, Paris, and Madison, Wisconsin.^[8]

[edit] Controversy

Barrett first drew attention to his views by writing letters to the editor of the Madison Capital Times and Wisconsin State Journal, in which he claimed that Muslims had nothing to do with the attacks: "As a Ph.D. Islamologist and Arabist I really hate to say this, but I'll say it anyway: 9/11 had nothing to do with Islam. The war on terror is as phony as the latest Osama bin Laden tape."^[10] Barrett has also asserted that other purported terrorist attacks, including the July 7, 2005, London bombing, and the March 11, 2004, Madrid bombing, were the actions of a "special wing of, probably, U.S. or western military intelligence," and not Islamic terrorists. ^[11]

Following a June 28, 2006 talk radio segment on WTMJ, Barrett's views came to the attention of Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, U.S. Representative Mark Green, and State Representative Stephen L. Nass. After conducting a 10-day review of Barrett's past teaching and plans for the class, UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell determined that Barrett was fit to teach. Barrett told the Provost that his course will spend one week examining current issues, such as viewpoints on the war on terror which will be based on the discussion on readings representing a variety of viewpoints.^[2]

On July 11, 2006, Barrett appeared on the television show "The O'Reilly Factor", and the show's host, Bill O'Reilly, said about Barrett, "This guy would have been gone at Boston University, my alma mater, in a heartbeat. The Chancellor there, John Silber, would have--would have--this guy'd be in the Charles River floating down, you know, toward the harbor." In response, Barrett filed a complaint with the FCC.^[12] Barrett has written a largely autobiographical book covering the controversy, entitled "Truth Jihad: My Epic Struggle against the 9/11 Big Lie," scheduled for release by Progressive Press in early 2007.