9/11 Contradictions: An Open Letter to Congress and the Press (Paperback)

by David Ray Griffin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Griffin (The New Pearl Harbor), a 9/11 truth advocate, continues to explore the internal inconsistencies in the official version of the events of September 11, plumbing statements by the Bush administration for contradictions. Did President Bush race home from Florida immediately after hearing of the attacks? Yes, maintain officials. No, claim Griffin's sources; Bush dawdled for half an hour before making an unhurried drive to the airport. Most chapters concern matters of similarly modest importance, but readers will receive a few jolts. Could America have foreseen 9/11? Absolutely not, Bush spokesmen repeat—but Griffin quotes officials, security experts and military leaders who warned of terrorists commandeering planes. Was bin Laden responsible? Readers will be surprised by Griffin's finding that conclusive evidence is still pending; U.S. officials submit that bin Laden's prior orchestration of attacks is proof enough, but today bin Laden is on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list for directing several terrorist attacks—but not for 9/11. Although readers might be wont to dismiss this book as pure conspiracy theory, it succeeds as a searing and close reading of the events of September 11. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"David Ray Griffin, writing specifically for members of Congress and the media, has presented the often incredible but true details of 25 major contradictions in the Bush administration's accounts of 9/11. This book, based on careful research but written in a fast-moving, readable style, blows apart the notion that The 9/11 Commission Report presents an accurate account of what happened on September 11. It makes crystal clear the need for a new investigation." -- Bill Christison, former senior CIA official

"So who cares that the 9/11 Commission chose to believe that Dick Cheney did not enter the White House bunker until "shortly before 10:00, perhaps at 9:58," twenty minutes after the strike on the Pentagon. Surely the vice president would not fib, so the Commission threw out the testimony of several eyewitnesses, including Norman Mineta, the transportation secretary. Mineta must have been making it all up when he testified that he joined Cheney in the bunker at about 9:20 and heard Cheney reaffirm an apparent stand-down order just before the Pentagon was struck. Such conflicting testimony is typical of the many serious "9/11 Contradictions" documented in David Ray Griffin's highly readable book. We need a truly independent investigation to put Cheney and Mineta under oath, along with the still unidentified "young man" who, Mineta reported, kept coming into the bunker and, after telling Cheney "the plane is ten miles out," asked Cheney whether "the orders still stand"----about 12 minutes before 125 people in the Pentagon were killed. What were those orders?" -- Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and presidential briefer

"When the smoke finally cleared from the pile of rubble on September 11, 2001, we were left with a host of burning questions. The 9/11 Commission did not provide the answers, despite their extensive mandate. 9/11 Contradictions is a work that needed to be written. With characteristic clarity and focus, David Ray Griffin masterfully lays out the most critical of these questions. Now the challenge is to finally get real answers." -- Lorie Van Auken, widow of Kenneth Van Auken, killed at WTC 1 on 9/11/01, and member of the Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Commission

"According to St. Timothy, 'God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.' In 9/11 Contradictions, David Ray Griffin, demonstrating once again what a fearless spirit and powerful mind can do, shows the official account of 9/11 to be so riddled with contradictions as to be essentially worthless." -- Catherine Austin Fitts, assistant secretary of housing in the George H. W. Bush administration

"Because the 9/11 attacks became the excuse for myriad disastrous changes in U.S. foreign and domestic policy, unraveling the true history of those events is the paramount exigency of our times. By virtue of pointing out an astonishing number of irreconcilable contradictions in the official story of 9/11, David Ray Griffin's 9/11 Contradictions is a must read, not only for the Congress and the press, but also for any American concerned about the truth, because those contradictions suggest that we have not yet been told the truth about 9/11." -- David L. Griscom, research physicist, Fellow of the American Physical Society, retired from the Naval Research Laboratory

"David Ray Griffin is America's bulldog on 9/11. His demand that the amazing contradictions in the story be explained resonates with millions of people." -- Paul Craig Roberts, former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal and assistant secretary of the US Treasury during the Reagan administration

"No matter how you feel about who is responsible for the 9/11 attack, at least we need a through independent, unbiased investigation. In this book, Griffin provides 25 useful questions----contradictions worthy of honest answers." -- Jim Hightower, author of Swim against the Current and editor of The Hightower Lowdown

"The Congress and the press may not pay attention, but this scholarly yet accessible analysis is must reading for Americans concerned about good government and effective democracy. Every reader will reach the only logical conclusion: 9/11 truth is not yet known." -- Joel S. Hirschhorn, former official at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and author of Delusional Democracy: Fixing the Republic Without Overthrowing the Government

"This book describes in very straightforward and non-technical terms some major inconsistencies in the government's official story about the events on September 11, 2001. It points out many attempts in the 9/11 Commission's report to cover up evidence . . . . As an engineer, I am especially troubled by the cover-up of evidence relevant to the collapse of the three major World Trade Center buildings. I hope that Congress and the public will heed this call for a full and impartial investigation to determine what really did happen on that fateful day." -- Jack Keller, Emeritus Professor of Engineering at Utah State University and member of the National Academy of Engineering

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Product Details

• Paperback: 346 pages
• Publisher: Interlink Publishing Group (March 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566567165
• ISBN-13: 978-1566567169
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #168,782 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 115 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Griffin Takes Powerful New Approach to 9/11 Truth, March 12, 2008

By	Thomas C. Fletcher (Petaluma CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

9/11 CONTRADICTIONS by David Ray Griffin is the fifth of his books to examine the official account of the events of September 11, 2001. This brilliant and highly readable book takes a new yet simple approach to the truth about 9/11. It focuses entirely on contradictory statements made by members of the Bush administration, government departments and agencies, and official bodies such as the 9/11 Commission. All the statements that Griffin examines are official claims in direct conflict with other official claims. How could this be? Why would the government keep changing "the official story"? The public, of course, is expected to take all the statements as incontrovertibly true, yet they directly conflict with one another.

And why, if the government pronouncements are contradictory, haven't members of Congress and the mainstream media launched investigations to determine which are true and which are false, and to ask why are obvious falsehoods about the events of 9/11 being promulgated by the government? I say "obvious falsehoods" because, as Griffin explains in the Preface, "If [Transportation Secretary Norman] Mineta said "P," that is a fact. If the 9/11 Commission said "not P," that is a fact. And it is a fact that "P" and "not P" cannot both be true" (p. viii). The subtitle, "An Open Letter to Congress and the Press," indicates Griffin's hope that the juxtaposition of the contradictory claims the book provides will stimulate such investigations. But the book is really intended for the public at large, and its clear focus makes it the easiest to read of all Griffin's books on 9/11. Because of its relative simplicity it is a perfect introduction to the subject.

Drawing on government publications, media reports, testimony from the 9/11 Commission hearings, oral histories from the Fire Department of New York, and other official sources, Griffin documents masterfully 25 of the most serious contradictions, divided into five parts:

"Part I. Questions about Bush Administration and Pentagon Leaders," reveals the contradictory claims about the activities of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Richard Myers, Donald Rumsfeld and Ted Olson. In this part Griffin shows that Bush's long stay at the Florida school was initially confirmed and later denied by the White House, that various government spokespersons and the 9/11 Commission could not agree on where Cheney, Myers and Rumsfeld were at key times that morning, and that DOJ Solicitor General Ted Olson's claims to have received phone calls from his wife on Flight 77 were directly contradicted by the DOJ's FBI.

"Part II. Questions about the US Military," explores the many contradictions within government claims about when the military was alerted to the emergencies on the flights, whether the military could have shot down Flight 93, and whether it had envisioned 9/11-type attacks prior to that day.

"Part III. Questions about Osama bin Laden & the Hijackers," examines the contradictions in official claims about the religious devotion of the alleged hijackers, where the luggage with the Arabic-language flight manuals, attributed to Mohamed Atta, was found, whether cell phone calls from the flights provided evidence of hijackers, and the existence of hard evidence for Osama bin Laden's responsibility.

"Part IV. Questions about the Pentagon," spotlights contradictions in the official account of Hani Hanjour's flying skills, what caused the large hole in the interior C Ring wall of the building, and whether a sophisticated US military reconnaissance plane was overhead during the attack.

"Part V. Questions about the World Trade Center," exposes the contradictions in Rudy Giuliani's account of his foreknowledge of the catastrophic collapse of the Twin Towers, in the official claims about explosions in the towers and WTC 7 before they disintegrated, and in official statements concerning the presence of molten steel in the subbasements after the buildings came down.

When examined under Griffin's microscope, it becomes clear that the "official story" has kept changing over time, just like the stories criminals tell as they are interrogated. As holes in the government's explanations of the incomprehensible events opened up under questioning, to some degree from the press but primarily from the 9/11 truth movement, they were plugged by new claims. And virtually all of the new claims have been accepted by the press and Congress without asking how they could be true in light of the earlier, contradictory claims. You don't need to be a conspiracy theorist to see that when the story keeps changing, doubt is cast on all of its versions. Any police investigator knows this, as should investigative journalists and elected representatives.

Of course, if Congress and the press won't do their jobs, it's up to the rest of us. With this authoritative dissection of the conflicting statements of the principal suspects, Griffin has done much of the pre-trial legwork already. The American public should not allow his selfless devotion to truth and justice to be squandered by inaction. This may be one of those things that representatives just cannot do for us.

99 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 25 Irreconcilable Contradictions: The Crumbling Facade of the 9/11 Story, March 12, 2008

By	E. Woodworth (Victoria, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Finally, we have a book about September 11, 2001 that politicians and journalists can publicly discuss without fear of lending credence to "conspiracy theories". This book advances no theories. It simply exposes 25 astonishing internal contradictions that will haunt the public story of this unparalleled event for all time.

Until now, the persistent and disturbing questions surrounding the 9/11 issue have confused and alienated journalists and politicians, because:

1)The technical issues regarding the collapse of the towers, the failure of the military to intercept the flights, and the relatively minor damage to the Pentagon have been considered too complex for analysis in the media.

The present book requires no technical expertise from the reader, because each readable chapter revolves around one simple internal contradiction inherent in the public story. "If Jones says `P' and Smith says `Not P', we can all recognize that something must be wrong, because both statements cannot be true."

2)Many who have doubted the official story have offered alternative theories which have been dismissed as "conspiracy theories" by a press which places a high value on its own credibility.

This book offers no alternative theories to explain the contradictions within the public story. It simply presents the glaring contradictions that have never been probed by Congress or the media, for the reasons given above.

3)The 9/11 issue is six years old, journalists are busy people, and the world has moved on.

Though six years have passed, this matter is by no means closed, nor is the trail cold. "The accepted story about 9/11 has been used to increase military spending, justify wars, restrict civil liberties, and exalt the executive branch of the government." Indeed, this reviewer notes, the public story has recently been challenged in foreign forums (Japan Parliament, January 10, 2008, and at the European Parliament building in Brussels, February 26, 2008). Even the 9/11 Commissioners themselves have cast doubt on the credibility of the Commission Report in their January 2, 2008 New York Times article, "Stonewalled by the CIA."

Let us turn to the contradictions. But first, to quote Professor Griffin:

"Within the philosophy of science, there are two basic criteria
for discriminating between good and bad theories. First, a theory
should not be inconsistent with any of the relevant facts....
Second, it must be self-consistent, devoid of any internal contradictions. If a theory contains an internal contradiction, it is an unacceptable theory."

Unacceptable, for example, is the following internal contradiction, quoted verbatim from the chapter summaries that have been helpfully provided at the end of the book for consultation by truth-seeking investigative journalists and members of Congress:

"With regard to the identity of the plane spotted over the
White House around the time of the Pentagon strike: The military's denial that it was a military plane is contradicted by CNN footage of the plane's flight, which showed, as former military officers have agreed, that it was an Air Force E-4B." [Reviewer note: "The E-4B serves as the National Airborne Operations Center for the president, secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff or JCS." Cited from a current US Air Force factsheet.]

In an earlier book, "The New Pearl Harbor", Griffin had already noted that with regard to military flight interceptions, Standard Operating Procedures had been inexplicably dropped on September 11th. This reviewer surmises that because a complex mesh of defense systems could not have been fully disabled without coordination from a high military level, it was logical for Dr. Griffin to open the current volume by asking questions that the 9/11 Commission failed to ask: what were President Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and General Richard B. Myers, Acting Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff doing that morning? In each case, inexplicable contradictions emerge in the reports of their whereabouts---and the same applied to Vice President Dick Cheney.

In Part II, Griffin meticulously examines the disparities in the reported times at which the military was notified about the erratic behaviors of Flights 11, 175, 93, and 77. In every case, the striking contradictions he unearths are shown to require full and comprehensive investigation.

In Part III, probing questions regarding the pre-9/11 habits and tastes of the alleged hijackers are closely pursued through early press reports, with the astonishing revelation that they had taken up Western sexual and drinking practices, and could certainly not be characterized as devout Muslims ready to meet their maker. The contradictions revealed in the investigation of cell phone and airphone reports of their actions on the planes is nothing short of brilliant, negating as they do, the entire phenomenon of the aggregate onboard story.

Part IV deals with the strangely incompetent pilot, Hani Hanjour, who flew a giant airliner in an acrobatic dive, like a spiralling paper dart, into the Pentagon at ground level---a feat which a growing number of experienced pilots claim to have been impossible for anyone to do.

Part V deals with the towers themselves, including advance knowledge of their collapses, plus the extraordinary oral testimonies of dozens of firefighters who reported, among other things, massive explosions in the sub-basements of the buildings: a 50-ton hydraulic press reduced to rubble; a 300-lb. steel door wrinkled up like a piece of aluminum foil.

Each one of the 25 carefully researched contradictions represents a crumbling brick in the official facade that has been erected to shield the world from the truth about 9/11.

As a writer myself, and as a retired professional librarian of 30 years, it was a privilege to critique and provide bibliographic support for Dr. Griffin's book, and for the extensive research materials supplied in the footnotes. Throughout this process, I was able to witness firsthand the precise, methodical, and rigorous standards to which Dr. Griffin works. It is to be hoped that the exceptional quality and responsibility evident in his work will inspire people in Congress and the media to rise to the standards he sets with regard to this pivotal international issue.

69 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling case for reframing the war on terror, March 13, 2008

By	Rrmorgan (Vancouver Island, Canada) - See all my reviews

Griffin uses rationality's purest tools to throw light on to the fraught territory of 9/11: clarity and reason.

His contradictions are undeniable, and cry out for responses from the corporate colossus of the mass media and the vast miasma of the military-industrial-banking consortium.

Those who call for 9/11 researchers to forget it and move on are precisely those who prevent the world moving on. The whole affair has to be reopened and the hideous secrets of the war machine revealed.