The title of this work by Professor David Ray Griffin—the most prominent and reliable author of books on 9/11—is: “Bush and Cheney, How They Ruined America and the World.” Which might lead one to believe that, in Dr. Griffin’s eyes, the Bush and Cheney crew are wholly to blame for the world’s current state of affairs. However, as they say, “Never judge a book by its cover.” For President Obama is also highly criticized throughout the book, especially in the Epilogue. Additionally, Donald Trump is at times indicted, but given the timing of the book’s publication, what is written about “The Donald” is comparatively brief. Nevertheless, this scholarly work should be mandatory reading for every student of current events and recent history, for the book reveals how the stage was set, and became the platform for, where we are today—via the ghastly nightmare of September 11, 2001.
Part One of the book begins with the accusation that the Bush and Cheney administration knew that 9/11 was about to happen, and did nothing to stop it. This took me back for a moment, for it is a LIHOP perspective, LIHOP being an acronym for the idea that Bush and Cheney “Let [vs. Made] It [9/11] Happen On Purpose.”
When I first tuned into 9/11 Truth, in August 2008, there was much ado about whether you believed that the apparent powers that be were in the LIHOP or MIHOP category. I started with the belief in LIHOP and was ridiculed for thinking so on an alleged “Truther” cite. Later, as my independent research and analysis of what really happened on 9/11 progressed, I could see quite clearly that 9/11 was an inside job—perpetrated by Americans, upon Americans, to create a “New Pearl Harbor” which would form the basis for the never-ending war OF terror in the Middle East, to the benefit of the military industrial complex, and Zionist Israel.
On a website recently, someone chided Dr. Griffin for engaging in a LIHOP perspective. However, as becomes clear in the second part of the book, Dr. Griffin has determined that members of the Bush II Administration, specifically Cheney, Rumsfeld and other neocons, “planned” 9/11 to advance their own political agenda. Interestingly, Dr. Griffin adds, “we do not know what role Bush played that day” (see pages 298 and 299).
As outrageous the conclusion—that US neocons planned 9/11—may seem to the uninitiated, the proof is there for those who have eyes to see. For those of you who have doubts, I strongly suggest that you read this authoritative work, and examine the evidence—unless you would prefer to continue to rely on gatekeeper entities, and remain deceived.
Dr. Griffin’s detailed discussions (always footnoted) of the War On Terror, the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, and the issues of military spending, preemptive war, and regime change, put the state of the world into its proper perspective. As do the chapters on Islamophobia, Global Chaos, and Drone Warfare and International Law. All very well done.
Some of my favorite parts include: discussions on the corruption of the CIA; mentioning that Bush Sr. had referred to certain neocons—Cheney, Rumsfeld, Perle, and Wolfowitz—as the ‘crazies in the basement’; and the observations (a) that the Bush-Cheney administration was hostile to Syria “partly” (I would argue “mainly”) because Israel was hostile to Syria, and (b) linking the USA’s neocons with Zionism (aka, “Ziocons”). I also was pleased to read Dr. Griffin say that “a discussion of Israel/Palestine…is arguably second in importance to none.”
I must admit, however, that I did have problems with some passages in the book. For example, I would have preferred that Julian Assange and his Wikileaks organization not be cited as authoritative sources, mainly since Assange is on record saying that he is ‘annoyed by false conspiracies such as 9/11.’ Ditto the references to Noam Chomsky who has stated publicly that ‘9/11 and the assassination of JFK don’t matter.’ However, that is my own personal preference. Indeed, Dr. Griffin’s citing of these two sources—whose opinions carry such weight with so many—may help lead some portion of those who believe in Wikileaks and Chomsky, into the light.
I especially enjoyed the chapter on “Shredding the Constitution” where the actual parts of the Constitution that have been shredded are identified and discussed. You don’t usually see that level of specificity when the destruction of the US Constitution is mentioned. (A similar detailed approach regarding “sanctions,” discussed later in the book, would have been welcome.) In the Constitution-shredding chapter, and the book’s introductory chapter, Dr. Griffin’s analysis leading to the conclusion that Dick Cheney “was essentially the president” during Bush II’s first term, is quite persuasive.
Dr. Griffin’s perspectives presented in the chapters on Nuclear Holocaust and Ecological Holocaust ring true, and thus in me, triggered depression. In fact, I had trouble getting through these chapters, wondering all the while, “Will the Earth as we know it continue to support human life?” Other than these two chapters, I found the book to be an easy read.
I very much appreciated Dr. Griffin’s assessment that, “Given the overwhelming evidence that the regime change in Ukraine was a false-flag operation, organized by members of the Obama administration, it was outrageous that the other G7 countries used the 2013-14 events in Ukraine as an excuse to put sanctions on Russia.” In that same chapter, Dr. Griffin writes with authority that, “The intelligence community essentially told Trump [that] if he was to succeed as president, he would have to get tough with Russia.” And that “Trump soon got the message, fired his Russia-friendly national security advisor, made military strikes on Syria and Afghanistan, reversed his view that NATO was obsolete, and reported that he was not getting along with Russia at all…Trump also announced that he was delegating decisions about military actions to the Pentagon.” Which is a lot like delegating the foxes to watch over the henhouse.
Part II of Dr. Griffin’s book begins with the title “9/11: A Miraculous Day.” In this section, Dr. Griffin discusses 15 major “miracles” that the writers of the official account of 9/11 rely upon to try and convince us that 19 Arabs with boxcutters outwitted the most sophisticated military defense system the world had ever known, four times in one day, on 9/11.
Having been brought up a Catholic (but long since lapsed), I initially took issue with Dr. Griffin’s use of the word “miracles.” As I was taught, and always understood, the term “miracle” conveys a positive result, e.g., Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus changing water into wine, the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, etc.
But in his book, Dr. Griffin, a preeminent theologian, defines the term “miracles” simply to be “violations of the laws of nature” (see e.g., page 248). This definition removed from my own mindset the idea that a miracle necessarily results in a positive result. Of course, for the perpetrators of 9/11, these 9/11 “miracles” did in fact result in a happy ending, i.e., the never-ending war OF terror, regime change in the Middle East to the delight of Zionist Israel, the shredding of the US Constitution, the advancement of the New World Order, etc. Thus, in context, the term “miracles” was better than any other word I could come up with, and so I came to accept Dr. Griffin’s use of the term “miracles,” and kept reading. No way I could not continue to do so since this book is so informative, and so well written.
It is in the subtext of the chapter on “Why Bush and Cheney Should Not Be Trusted” that Dr. Griffin advances from a LIHOP view, to a MIHOP perspective, which should bring along those stragglers who have not yet woken up to the truth about 9/11, and calm those 9/11 Truth advocates troubled by Chapter 1’s LIHOP perspective.
In the chapters on the miraculous destruction of the Twin Towers and Building 7, Dr. Griffin concisely and authoritatively destroys the official story. The chapter on “The Miraculous Attack on the Pentagon,” I found less formidable, but an adequate presentation is made. However, Dr. Griffin doesn’t really say anything about the ridiculous official story of Flight 93 that allegedly crashed in Shanksville PA without leaving any plane parts or victims’ bodies behind. Would that not be another “miracle?” Coverage of this topic would have been most welcome.
In sum, this is another excellent book by Dr. Griffin that I believe will be especially appealing to those who are unaware of the past and current condition of the United States, and the world. How we get these folks to actually read the book and awaken, I don’t really know. Perhaps the marketing division of Dr. Griffin’s publisher, Olive Branch Press, can provide some answers. A heavy promotional campaign is what I would most strongly suggest. For the more people who become aware of the realities of 9/11 and related political Truths, the better chance we have of reversing the insanity that permeates our world, and threatens its existence.
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Top reviews from other countries
- Harinder JadwaniReviewed in Canada on March 5, 2020
Indispensable exposition of the US empire's crimes including 9/11
- Raymond ComeauReviewed in Canada on September 17, 2017
A Simple Truth to a much convoluted devious scheme to create a New Pearl Harbour.
- Dorothy KennedyReviewed in Canada on January 14, 2018
How two "unAmerucans" destroyed everywhere from Afghanistan to Libya with deceit and lies and power.
