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89 of 103 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A controlled demolition of the official story, May 23, 2007
This review is from: Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory (Paperback)
Once in a while a book comes along that has the power to change history. This is such a book, clad as it is in its modest title.
The writing, like fine porcelain, is delicate, strong, and clear.
The work manifests a steady and unrelenting drive towards truth. Informed by indisputable facts and unassailable logic, it proceeds to a complete unmasking of the official story behind the events of September 11th, 2001.
It is important to understand the issue of 9/11 within the context of its author's career. Dr. Griffin spent 30 years (in over 20 books and 150 scholarly articles) expounding the views of Alfred North Whitehead, whose process theology provides a unifying platform of spiritual values which harmonize with the world's great religions.
In 2003, while Griffin was writing a major book on world democracy based on Whiteheadian principles, he was persuaded by colleagues that the official story on 9/11 was completely implausible. The result was his bestseller, "The New Pearl Harbor", which was followed by 5 more books on the subject, each reflecting his rigorous scholarship, disciplined logic, and attention to detail.
Following a May 2006 opinion poll showing public skepticism over a 9/11 coverup, the official proponents launched, in August 2006, a 4-pronged attack on 9/11 truth claims, while simulating new but undocumented evidence to patch up the holes that had been blown in the official account by Griffin and other scholars.
In "Debunking 9/11 Debunking", Griffin, aided by emerging testimonies from air traffic controllers, closes in for the kill, methodically dismembering these shifting official claims, and proving them exponentially more bizarre than the original 9/11 Report.
To counter suspicions of a military stand-down against the 4 hijacked aircraft, the official camp had completely reinvented its story by claiming the FAA had consistently failed to notify the military in time. The military, which had supported the earlier timeline showing it had been notified in time, was now accused of lying. The FAA was suddenly subject to charges of gross incompetence, but strangely enough no one was disciplined.
In another example, Griffin details how NIST "tweaked the data" for its computer simulation model until it matched its own hypothesis that fire had melted the steel, causing the "progressive collapse" of the Twin Towers at freefall speed into their own footprints. But how did the 47-storey steel-framed WTC 7 building collapse at freefall speed into its own footprint without being hit, and with only minor fires?
Griffin notes, "The burden of proof should be placed on any claim that WTC 7 was brought down by something other than explosives, because this is the wild, empirically-baseless hypothesis devoid of historical precedent." And though Pentagon flight 77 was supposedly "... vaporized... this claim was wildly incompatible with the assertion that the bodies of the plane's occupants were later identified by their DNA." The plane's hitting the Pentagon was "'... like taking a Coke can and smashing it against the wall. The back and the front become one'... but smashing a Coke can does not reduce its weight. So why has no one reported finding a 100,000-pound piece of steel and aluminum in the wreckage?"
This is but the tip of the iceberg. There is far too much evidence to review here; suffice it to say that the book itself bears the classic hallmarks of a controlled demolition: precision, balance, control, superb planning and flawless execution. What it demolishes is the official account of the world-changing events of 9/11.
If global calls for an impartial investigation succeed, Griffin's reference works will help guide the investigators through the growing maze of lies and cover-ups to an understanding of what actually happened that day. The resulting truth could well relieve the world of the fear, hatred and ugliness the event has spawned, and free us to pursue the kind of enlightened future Griffin has spent a lifetime envisaging.
And therein, history could change for the better.
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234 of 280 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
With the sleep still in their eyes, April 23, 2007
This review is from: Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory (Paperback)
I'll limit this review to Griffin's Chapter Four, `Debunking 9/11 Myths: A Failed Attempt by Popular Mechanics (p. 207 - 307). Not that the other chapters are unworthy in any way, but the book is so large and thorough that a reviewer must either content him/herself with generalities or else laser-in on what I believe has been the most influential of the recent mainstream debunking efforts of the four that Dr. Griffin treats - namely, Popular Mechanics best-selling book 'Debunking 9/11 Myths'.
Griffin provides a lot of background analysis upfront, mainly in the process of deconstructing John McCain's Foreword. I will leave this treatment aside for brevity, and attempt to concentrate on the most specific and concrete criticisms of PM that Griffin makes. The overall point Griffin makes is that any defender of the Official Conspiracy Theory (Arab villains with boxcutters) needs to debunk ALL the challenges to prop it up successfully - and if even one good challenge remains standing, the Official Conspiracy Theory is in trouble. That is the logic of the case. But in fact they haven't debunked ANY of the challenges.
1. Overall Data: PM has relied mainly on personal interviews for facts, meaning independent researchers cannot easily check the source material. Where written documents are cited, they give no page numbers, again posing an obstacle to other researchers.
2. Pilot Skills: Griffin cites quotes from mainstream press and from (9-11 skeptic) pilots and ex-military personnel, suggesting that PM's confidence in the piloting skills of Hani Hanjour is wildly misplaced. PM apparently made no effort to present a balanced picture of HH's actual level of flying expertise.
3. Air defense response: The over-arching topic is the possible existence of a stand-down order. Within that context, Griffin gives a lengthy and complex discussion, and here the PM staff looks absolutely ridiculous in Griffin's hands. The basic problem is that they either never read, or deliberately chose not to cite, Griffin's other book on deconstructing the Commission report - despite the claim that they are shooting down the major alternative 9/11 challenges. Thus they make themselves look really foolish by repeating embarrassing claims (such as the claim that hijacked planes with transponders switched off cannot be tracked in USA airspace via radar) that Griffin already shot down a long time ago, with mainstream citations. In this area the PM staff relied mainly on the Commission Report itself for simple quotations and unchecked assertions. Many substantive charges and counter-charges are covered in this section, and in every case PM looks not only ridiculous but dishonest as well.
4. WTC 1 & 2 collapses: Again a long and complex discussion of many substantive points, including Empire State building comparison; degree of impact damage; melted steel after effects; dust puffs; and seismic spike data. In every case, Griffin shows that PM has either suppressed or remained ignorant of, a large amount of data that undercuts their (mostly Commission and NIST-based) attempted debunking. In this subsection, Griffin refers most heavily to his preceding chapter 3, covering the NIST WTC report.
5. WTC 7 collapse: This is mainly an restatement of the more extensive analysis of the NIST report covered in the preceding chapter. Here Griffin states surprise that, given NIST itself describes its own conclusions as "preliminary" how can PM be so "scientifically" certain of the collapse mechanism? Many concrete contradictions and inadequacies in PM's discussion are pointed out.
The remainder of the chapter is also organized in PM's own presentation order, with some of Griffin's own counter-questions interspersed as subtopics in their own right. You should have the flavor of Griffin's approach by now, but the details are so thick that for now I can only list the topic headings. Most of these are covered in multi-page withering detail supported by numerous citations. Let those who are interested please pursue your own examination. (These subheadings are not listed in the Table of Contents, so I hope this listing is helpful.)
The Pentagon
Support for the Boeing 757 Claim
Support for the Flight 77 Claim
Alleged Phone Calls from AA 77
Lack of Expected Debris
Big Plane, Small Hole
The Hole in the C-Ring
The FBI's Refusal to Release Videos
The FBI's Removal of Evidence
Where's the Fire?
The Lack of a Seismic Signal
The Claim about Hani Hanjour
Why Strike Wedge I?
Anticipation and Aftermath
Flight 93
The F-16 Diversion
Appealing to the 9/11 Commission's Claim about NORAD's Ignorance
The White Jet
Cell Phone Calls
The Wreckage
When did Flight 93 Crash - 10:03 or 10:06?
Why Would NORAD and the 9/11 Commission Prefer 10:03?
The Engine
Debris at Indian Lake and Elsewhere
Sounds Suggestive of a Shootdown
Reports that the Plane was Shotdown
There is much, much more to this book. I've only shallowly outlined one chapter here (in fact, if anything, his Chapter 3 deconstruction of the NIST report is the real shocker, even more so than the PM material covered in this review). Basically in all cases above and the remainder of the book, Griffin shows PM to be either ignorant or dishonest or both - PM seems to be propping up a pre-establish conclusion rather than attempting anything like science.
One final caveat for 9/11 beginners: This book isn't really written for you. If you are just beginning to think more deeply about what really might have happened, you should follow the steps below:
1. Get hold of "The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks". Before you read any criticism or other conspiracy theories, become thoroughly familiar with the official account. Otherwise you will be crippled in following all subsequent analysis.
2. After reading the Commission Report carefully, without distractions, now get hold of "The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions And Distortions" by David Ray Griffin. Read this one NOT in a vacuum, but with your copy of the Commission Report (above) spread out next to it on your desk. Cross-reference and check every assertion Griffin makes and decide for yourself whether the Commission Report constitutes a coverup.
You are now well-equipped to begin your further studies and advocacy on behalf of either the 'Box Cutter Conspiracy Theory' or the 'Inside Job Conspiracy Theory' - your call.
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126 of 150 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No way back...except forward..., April 27, 2007
This review is from: Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory (Paperback)
If I really lived in a "free" country, I would not be the only air traffic controller speaking out about the events of 9/11/2001. There would be others much younger, much more up-to-date, but there would be none any more patriotic. So, if anyone were to claim that my statements quoted in this enlightening book are self-serving, I must deflect that aside and state that I am still serving my country as many current air traffic controllers, government employees and military personnel would also do if their careers were not threatened by the various agencies within the the United States Government. Current controllers will never forget the events of PATCO and 1981 as they were hired to replace us, and those in the military know that they must follow orders. They all KNOW that they would be punished somehow should they excercise their rights of free speech.
And with me being fired by a president of the United States might lead one to believe that I hold anger at this action, and I do, but it is only that the PATCO strike, as seen historically, was only the "labor" portion of a 40+ year plan hatched by conservatives to dismantle our democracy which they have done in ways far, far greater than just labor and income disparity issues. My road since hasn't been pretty, but I'm not yet "terminated".
Nearing my 60th birthday, coming of "political age" after reading The Pentagon Papers, and having an unusual vantage point from which I can view 9/11/2001 [I am also an experienced pilot] allows me to put this latest attack on our country into a longer term context. Eventually, as it is now known that FDR knew about the Pearl Harbor attacks and actually took precedent actions to provoke the Japanese into the attack, we will come to see that the attacks on 9/11/2001 were self inflicted and done for the self-serving reasons of a narrow band of wealthy people, the military industrial complex and huge multi-national corporations who operate above common law and use our planet and its resources for themselves, and for whatever it is that they believe in. Since most people's "belief structures" cannot accept this except perhaps through some form of knowledge "osmossis" over the years, it will take some time for this full knowledge to reach into their souls. This form of societal denial can be explained better by experts, but it exists.
When it does come time for the common person to gain the strength to look deeply into what has happened to our country, and they want to focus upon the events of 9/11/2001, they will not have to go any farther than Dr. David Ray Griffin's work on the subject, and "Debunking 9/11 Debunking" will serve as THE SEMINAL WORK on the subject. This will even be true to those of us who know a great deal about 9/11/2001...those of us who comprise what is known as the "9/11 Truth Movement".
Should a new reader tackle this complex and highly emotional subject, I recommend that you read Dr. Griffin's "New Pearl Harbor" and then "Debunking 9/11 Debunking". Then, when you read the "9/11 Commission Report", Dr. Griffin's "Ommissions and Distortions", and lastly, any and all of the articles and books that are debunked by his latest book, you will make your transition to the truth a lot easier. You might even be able to explain it all to others...and certainly to your children.
I place this "false-flag" or self-inflicted attack of 9/11/2001 in a very special and narrow group of events that are extreemely significant, at least in my own consciousness regarding the portion of US and world political history in which I have lived, or have been chronologically near. To me, bombing Nagasaki and Hiroshima, landing man on the moon, and perhaps assassinating our own president are the only others to make that short influential list.
Much is noted by Dr. Griffin in his works on 9/11/2001 about how much opportunity this attack gave many folks to make money, to spread US interest across the world, to gain military geo-political footholds, and to me, to hold up the value of the US dollar, but I look at 9/11/2001 as another, far greater opportunity. We can, as a country, look at the attack as merely a symptom and not the base problem, and therefore, we can, if we want, take steps to remove the cancer, to remove the disease, to reinstate what many of us once held in high esteem...our democracy.
9/11/2001 is easily THAT BIG, and Dr. Griffin's book on the subject is hundreds of times bigger yet. We can, and will effect such changes.
Love, Peace and Progress...and PAPER BALLOTS ONLY
Robin Hordon
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