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

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.
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"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

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.

David Ray Griffin is professor of philosophy of religion and theology, emeritus, at Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California, where he remains a co-director of the Center for Process Studies. His 30 books include The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11 (2004), The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions (2005), 9/11 and American Empire (2006, with Peter Dale Scott).