Tom Cruise criticized over his attitude to the September 11 attacks

The backlash to Tom Cruise's Scientology rant just got worse - this time over his attitude to the September 11 attacks.

Cruise has had one of the worse PR weeks of his life - after footage of him declaring his devotion to the controversial religion flooded the internet.

Now new clips have emerged, this time with him declaring U.S. officials "liars" over the fall-out to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

The tape then claims that "Mr Cruise" then came in and save the day.

In the promotional tape, the star states, with a manic gleam in his eye: "A Scientologist is someone who can look at the world and really see what it is . . . and be effective and do something about it and someone who's not asking permission to do that. "Why ask permission? We are the authorities!"

Next, the video cuts to news footage of the devastation at Ground Zero and a narrator boasts: "And nothing says that better than the Mr. Cruise response to the wake-up call in the aftermath of 9/11. "If he takes a stand, it's pedal to the metal till the finish line, as in helping New York firemen.

"He first saw the dust and heard the cough when descending to the ruins, where he bolstered morale among firemen.

"The devastation had spread an unprecedented combination of toxins through the air - and it was lethal."

Cruise's voice kicks back in: "The EPA came out and said the air was clean. Of course, as a Scientologist, you go, 'That's a lie; outpoint lie'.

"You know, you just go, 'Liar. Fine.' "

The narrator then returns to brag how Cruise "personally saw to the establishment of a first New York-covered detox project. And, no, he did not ask permission."
That detox program he set up was actually widely criticised. Even New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg once said: "Reputable scientists do not think Scientology has any basis in science."
In another video on the Internet, Cruise is seen receiving a Freedom Medal of Valor from Scientologists. Then he stiffly salutes a giant portrait of church scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and shouts, "To LRH!"

By Lee Brown, Jan 18 2008 © Copyright 2008 - Showbiz Spy