Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory [Paperback]

David Ray Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 156656686X | ISBN-13: 978-1566566865 | Edition: Revised and updated

By virtue of his previous four books on the subject, David Ray Griffin is widely recognized as one of the leading spokespersons of the 9/11 truth movement, which rejects the official conspiracy theory about 9/11. Although this movement was long ignored by the US government and the mainstream media, recent polls have shown that (as Time magazine has acknowledged) the rejection of the official theory has become "a mainstream political phenomenon." It is not surprising, therefore, that the government and the corporately controlled media have shifted tactics. No longer ignoring the 9/11 truth movement, they have released a flurry of stories and reports aimed at debunking it.

In the present book, David Ray Griffin shows that these attempts can themselves be easily debunked. Besides demonstrating the pitiful failure of Debunking 9/11 Myths (published by Popular Mechanics and endorsed by Senator John McCain), Griffin riddles recent reports and stories put out by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Time magazine as well as a new book by the chairmen of the 9/11 Commission. He also responds to criticisms of the 9/11 truth movement by left-leaning and Christian publications--which one might have expected to be supportive.

Throughout these critiques, Griffin shows that the charge that is regularly leveled against critics of the official theory-that they employ irrational and unscientific methods to defend conclusions based on faith-actually applies more fully to those who defend the official theory.

This book, by debunking the most prevalent attempts to refute the evidence cited by the 9/11 truth movement, shows that this movement's central claim-that 9/11 was an inside job-remains the only explanation that fits the facts.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. An emeritus professor of theology with no previous interest in conspiracy theories, Griffin has dedicated himself since 2003 to the "9/11 truth" movement, a group committed to "exposing the falsity of the official theory about 9/11," and this book is a thorough, highly detailed attempt to do just that. As Griffin aptly notes, "the assumption that conspiracy theories are inherently irrational" has recently taken root in American culture, making any attack on the official government record instantly dismissible, but Griffin takes to the difficult task with solid reasoning and true zeal. All but the most dogmatic readers will find Griffin's evidence-from the inconsistencies between NORAD tapes and the 9/11 Commission Report to rigorous exploration into the physics of the collapse-detailed and deeply unnerving. For instance, Griffin considers the fact that firefighters were told, five hours before the fact, that building WTC 7 was going to collapse, despite "the fact that WTC 7 was not hit by a plane, that the available photographs show no large fires, and that fire had never caused a steel-frame high-rise to collapse." Another chilling passage looks at the Pennsylvania crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 through the testimony of those first to arrive, who were unanimous in finding "no recognizable plane parts, no body parts." For anyone who doubts the government's truthfulness regarding the WTC terrorist attack, this well-researched volume will give you a trough full of ideas to chew on.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"An emeritus professor of theology with no previous interest in conspiracy theories, Griffin has dedicated himself since 2003 to the '9/11 truth' movement, a group committed to 'exposing the falsity of the official theory about 9/11,' and this book is a thorough, highly detailed attempt to do just that. As Griffin aptly notes, 'the assumption that conspiracy theories are inherently irrational' has recently taken root in American culture, making any attack on the official government record instantly dismissible, but Griffin takes to the difficult task with solid reasoning and true zeal. All but the most dogmatic readers will find Griffin's evidence-from the inconsistencies between NORAD tapes and the 9/11 Commission Report to rigorous exploration into the physics of the collapse-detailed and deeply unnerving. For instance, Griffin considers the fact that firefighters were told, five hours before the fact, that building WTC 7 was going to collapse, despite 'the fact that WTC 7 was not hit by a plane, that the available photographs show no large fires, and that fire had never caused a steel-frame high-rise to collapse.' Another chilling passage looks at the Pennsylvania crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 through the testimony of those first to arrive, who were unanimous in finding 'no recognizable plane parts, no body parts.' For anyone who doubts the government's truthfulness regarding the WTC terrorist attack, this well-researched volume will give you a trough full of ideas to chew on." -- Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

"Considering how the 9/ll tragedy has been used by the Bush administration to propel us into immoral wars again and again, I believe that David Ray Griffin's provocative questions about 9/ll deserve to be investigated and addressed." -- Howard Zinn

"David Ray Griffin has established himself--alongside Seymour Hersh--as America's number one bearer of unpleasant, yet necessary, public truths." -- Richard Falk, Professor of International Law, Emeritus, Princeton University

"Until we get a complete, honest, transparent investigation--not one based on 'confession' extracted by torture--we will never know what happened on 9/11. David Griffin will never let this go until we get the truth." -- Robert Baer, former CIA case officer and author of See No Evil and Sleeping with the Devil.

After reading David Ray Griffin's previous books on the subject, I was over 90% convinced that 9/11 was an inside job. Now, after reading Debunking 9/11 Debunking, I am, I regret to say, 100% convinced. -- John V. Whitbeck, author of The World According to Whitbeck

Considering how the 9-ll tragedy has been used by the Bush administration to propel us into immoral wars again and again, I believe that David Ray Griffin's provocative questions about 9-ll deserve to be investigated and addressed. -- Howard Zinn

David Ray Griffin hits another one out of the park by taking on the left gatekeepers and the mass media for the lies and cover-up called "the official story of 9/11/01," which is the greatest conspiracy theory ever perpetrated on the American public. I highly recommend this book for all thinking Americans. -- Meria Heller, producer host of the Meria Heller Show (www.meria.net)

David Ray Griffin's Debunking 9/11 Debunking is a superb compendium of the strong body of evidence showing the official US government story of what happened on September 11, 2001 to be almost certainly a monstrous series of lies. Tragically, the entire course of US foreign and domestic policies since that date has grown out of these almost certain falsehoods. This single book could (and should) provide the basis for the United Nations International Court of Justice, or some specially constituted global body (independent of the US) to investigate with highest priority, and publicly report its findings about, the charge that unknown elements within the US government, and possibly some individuals elsewhere closely allied to the US, caused or contributed to causing the events of September 11 to happen. -- Bill Christison, former senior official of the CIA

David Ray Griffin, author of 30 books and professor of philosophy of religion and theology, emeritus, systematically challenges the principal official and semi-official defenses of the standard account of 9/11 events....Throughout the book's 391 pages, including 61 pages of references, Griffin exhibits exceptional skill in detailed scholarly analysis. He concludes with a call to the reader, and all of us, to bring these issues into full public discussion and to expose the truth about 9/11, whatever it may be. Indeed, such "truth" has certainly not yet been revealed due to extensive gaps and contradictions in official theories that he documents in detail. -- ALA's CHOICE

Professor Griffin is the nemesis of the 9/11 cover-up. This new book destroys the credibility of the NIST and Popular Mechanics reports and annihilates his critics." -- Paul Craig Roberts, assistant secretary of the US Treasury during the Reagan administration

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Olive Branch Press; Revised and updated edition (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156656686X
• ISBN-13: 978-1566566865
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

247 of 300 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars With the sleep still in their eyes April 23, 2007

By Scott Meredith VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

131 of 158 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No way back...except forward... April 27, 2007

By Robin D. Hordon

Format: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

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars NYPD would not give permission to disseminate pictures.... May 10, 2007

By Dean Jackson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

When asked by Charles Goyette on his radio show last August why Popular Mechanic's book "Debunking 9/11 Myths" didn't publish the pictures of the damage to WTC 7's south wall it claimed to have seen, Davin Coburn, the factchecker for the book, said the NYPD would "not give permission to disseminate" the pictures! To listen to Davin Coburn's interview with Charles Goyette Google: Charles Goyette, and enjoy the hilarious interview!

As for the family relationship of PM editor Benjamin Chertoff and Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff, reporter Christopher Bollyn writes: "Benjamin's mother in Pelham, New York, however, was more willing to talk. Asked if Benjamin was related to the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Judy said, "Yes, of course, he is a cousin."' Google: Christopher Bollyn/Chertoff, for the reference.

Reporter Margie Burns writes in her first update to her February 4, 2003 Prince George's Journal article on Marvin Bush's relationship with Securacom, which had a security contract with the World Trade Center up to 9/11:

A former colleague of the head of the company, Wirt Dexter Walker III, suggested to me that Walker is a distant relative of the Bush family. While any blood relationship to the Bush Walkers would have to be remote (the first Wirt D. Walker, two generations ago, was based in Chicago; the second in McLean, Virginia, in the DIA), there is no doubt that the company, Kuwait's Al Sabahs, and Bush financial interests were closely linked for years. Management and control at Wirt Walker's other companies, a small airplane company named Commander Aircraft (also bankrupt) and a private investment firm named KuwAm (short for Kuwait-American Corporation), were inextricably linked to management and control at Securacom.

Google: Margie Burns Securacom