The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions And Distortions

Rating:
Summary: Omissions and Distortions Indeed
Review: First Dr. Griffin wrote "The New Pearl Harbor". The title comes from the neo-con (Project for the New American Century) report about conquering the world using America's military might, but the need for a new Pearl Harbor before that process can become fully engaged. Now, he has taken the 9/11 Commission Report, placed it under a scholarly microscope, and shown that like the Warren Commission Report about the [...] of President Kennedy, there is little, if any validity to the Report in the final analysis. There are so many facts not addressed, and just as many distorted from the truth in the 9/11 Commission Report as to render it a complete [...]. The conflicting interests of the Commission members are discussed, as well as their lack of impartiality. Further, when one sees the magnitude of the unasked and therefore unanswered questions, which any real investigation would have certainly examined, one can only begin to find answers within the omissions, and truth in the clarification of the distortions. Once arriving at that point, it becomes very clear that there has been no real investigation into the events of 9/11, and that some of the key players involved, or at least reasonably suspected of involvement, have been granted an immunity, of sorts, by the failure of the 9/11 Commission to even consider the evidence available about their possible involvement.
Dr. Griffin reports that six of the alleged hijackers are reportedly alive, with the 9/11 Commission simply ignoring that information, and reiterating the list of names of the alleged hijackers given to the public immediately after the attacks. Serious questions are raised by Dr. Griffin about the infamous Mohamed Atta, alleged ringleader of the hijackers, and the information placed in his luggage and intended to be on the plane, such as his will, passport and international drivers license, posing the obvious question of why he would take such items-particularly his will-that he knew would be destroyed by crashing the plane. Of course, there was the partying by Atta and others prior to 9/11, all of whom were purportedly devout Muslims, which simply didn't comport with behavior of religious zealots. The 9/11 Commission simply ignored that information. The Commission also clearly distorted the piloting skills needed by Hani Hanjour to perform a 330 degree turn of Flight 77 so that it would hit the Pentagon. Hanjour had been described as a horrible pilot, yet the maneuver purportedly performed by Flight 77 would have required a highly skilled pilot. The Commission gave contradictory statements about Hanjour's alleged piloting skills, or lack thereof.
The collapse of the Twin Towers and Building 7 in the World Trade Center posed so many unasked and unanswered questions. To observers, the collapse of the Towers and Building 7 seemed to be very odd, as there was simply no reason for them to fall the way they did. On the contrary, there was a volume of evidence available to the Commission to suggest that they could not have collapsed the way they did as a result of the impact of planes, and subsequent fires. Of course, Building 7 was not hit by a plane. Regardless, the Commission carefully ignored the evidence-even the statement of the leaseholder, Larry Silverstein, that they "pulled" Building 7. His videotaped remarks were not even discussed. The link between President Bush's brother, Marvin, and the security for the WTC was never examined by the Commission, even though Securacom was responsible for the security at the WTC, and Marvin was a Director and shareholder of that company, and his cousin, Wirt Walker, was the CEO of the company. Neither man was ever interviewed by the Commission. Further, the evidence available for forensic analysis, i.e. the rubble of the Twin Towers and Building 7 was removed and sold to other countries without examination.
As to the Pentagon, Dr. Griffin poses the long unanswered question: "where is the Boeing?" The absence of evidence of a 757 anywhere at the Pentagon poses so many questions, again not addressed by the Commission. Although common sense should dictate that the absence of plane wreckage outside the Pentagon creates innumerable questions about the validity of the claim that an airplane hit the Pentagon, the Commission simply ignores this "absence of evidence". Names of witnesses and their statements simply do not appear in the Report.
Considering that the Pentagon is probably the most secure building in the world, and that there had to have been security cameras in abundance, why did the Pentagon release only five frames of film footage of the attack? And, why were those frames so vague and ambiguous? Why didn't the Commission subpoena any and all videos of the attack? "So many questions, so few answers" could be another title of the Commission Report.
There was also and abundance of evidence available about prior knowledge of the attacks on September 11th, including, but not limited to the extensive stock trading on Morgan Stanley, which occupied 22 floors of the WTC, and American and United Airlines. These trades were "put options", betting that those stocks would drop, and placed between September 5th and September 10th. Profits in the range of 10-15 billion dollars were realized, but the Commission claimed that it did investigate this trading, but that it was "innocuous". Documentation of those alleged investigations was not contained within the Commission Report.
Although Dr. Griffin does not point the finger at any particular group as being responsible for 9/11, that was not his task in presenting this wealth of information about the failure of the 9/11 Commission. On the contrary, he provides names of individuals providing information that was ignored, as well as those who clearly had something to be gained from the events of 9/11. His book is thorough and presents compelling evidence that the 9/11 Commission Report is the written version of a massive cover-up of what really happened on 9/11. Dr. Griffin's book should be required reading for all high school students in America.

Rating:
Summary: Alleged Distortions
Review: Griffin's book is an unusual collection of paranoid allegations. The book is, itself, a twisted and somewhat thin conspiracy theory. Even the convoluted presentation of facts lead to his preconceived focus.

He has no quams or even moral embarassmett when he offers this book in support of those that deny the reality of terrorism as some would deny the Holocaust.

Rating:
Summary: There he goes again !
Review: I admired Mr. Griffin's courage when I read his recent book "The New Pearl Harbor" and I became a fan of his. His new book "The 9/11 Commission Report Omissions and Distortions" is thorough, well argued, and factual, and was even reviewed by a bunch of outstanding cast. I am not surprised that this genre of books is allowed to be published these days, because black outs are much stronger than blatant censorship. Black outs by the corporate media maintain the illusion of freedom of speech, and at the same time ensures that only few people read these books. Black outs negate the book and the author and indirectly classifies him or her in the leftist, unpatriotic, conspiracy nut categories. Questioning authority figures has become unnatural for us, it goes against our political socialization training and creates in us discomfort and dissonance. However, Denial is a much more effective coping mechanism for our pathological survival. If you deny it, it doesn't exist, and everyone will live happily ever after.
I would also like to applaud Mr. Falk, the distinguished professor from the Council on Foreign relations that has once again reviewed Mr. Griffin's new book, and has the courage to go against his buddies and fellows from the CFR that headed the 9/11 commission like Lee Hamilton and Thomas Kean. The problem I have is that it is hard for me to believe what the CFR talking heads stand for, because they tend to argue both sides of the issue to confuse and befuddle people, and gives them the impression that democracy is at work, while the synthesis/solution has already been decided by them.
Anyway, and once again Kudos to Mr. Griffin!! Another great book and another black out by the corporate media! Professor Griffin keep writing and sending your ethical thoughts and decent vibrations into the universe, maybe and only maybe the universe will respond back...............

Rating:
Summary: Davis Ray Griffin does it again.
Review: In yet another book, the U.S. Government's complicity in 9/11 is proven beyond any doubt. The 9/11 Commission was a complete fraud and its members were all lackies and/or business associates of the Bush family and/or the oil and weapons industries. Kean, who led the commission has been in business ventures with the Bushes AND THE BIN LADENS for God's sake! Wake up America, you've been had and mass murderers are running your country. Learn the truth.

Rating:
Summary: Hmmmm.. only two reviews on this book?
Review: Methinks alot more people have read this book but are probably too paranoid to post publicly to give this book the "thumbs up" it most richly deserves. I can't add much value to the other two reviews, as they are excellent, but will say that David Ray Griffin is a brave soul to write this book and the predecessor "The New Pearl Harbor" (also highly recommended). His research is impeccable, well thought out and documented.

It is also a nice counter-balance to the 9/11 conspiracist websites that are not helping the cause of those that do have questions and want the true answers to what happened that tragic day.




Rating:
Summary: Compelling evidence of criminal coverup by 9/11 Commission
Review: Prof. David Ray Griffin's book is his second on the mass murder of 9/11. In this new book, Prof. Griffin deconstructs the Final Report by the 9/11 Commission. His book was prompted by the persistence of public suspicion regarding the events of 9/11, which a growing, restless, constituency considers to have been facilitated, or even masterminded by U.S. agencies.

The author's methodology is impeccable. His study basically attempts to examine whether the Commission fulfilled its official mandate, namely to "provide the most complete account" of the events of September 11 and whether it stood up to its own claim to be "non-partisan", "independent", "impartial" and "thorough". Having read the book, this reviewer endorses the author's concluding remarks, namely that "[t]he purpose of the 9/11 Conmmission...was not to provide 'the fullest possible account of the events surrounding 9/11'" but "to argue, implicitly, that the US government was not itself complicit in the attacks of 9/11....The Commission could make this argument only by distorting, or completely omitting, dozens of facts." The book may be seen as a extensive substantiation of the charge that the report is neither impartial nor thorough. Yet, the book is far more than a "bad mark" to the Commission.

While Prof Griffin does not purport to identify all omissions, distortions and contradictions in the Commission's Report, his account is sufficiently compelling to constitute the base for actually accusing the members of the Commission for deliberately deceiving the American people and covering up official wrongdoing.

Those researchers who have followed since 2001 the nature and scope of official deception and the efforts to prevent a true criminal investigation of the mass murder of 9/11, will find the book useful for its systematic construction, articulate presentation and extensive annotations, though not so much for revealing important new evidence. Readers who are still convinced by the official conspiracy theory of 9/11, but open to questions, might consider to begin with Prof. Griffin's first book, The New Pearl Harbor, as the best introduction to alternative theories regarding the events of 9/11.

After having read Prof. Griffin's first book, no doubt remained in the mind of this reviewer that the US administration, or at least a group of senior officials of the administration, have conspired in facilitating or actually masterminding the mass murder of 9/11. The present book, far from weakening this conviction, demonstrates that the official conspiracy regarding the events of 9/11 extends to members of the Commission. Whether those in the know and those who conspired will ever be charged, tried and convicted remains uncertain, at least while the American people remain unaware of, or wish to ignore, the attempts of its leaders and elected representatives to cover the truth on this mass murder.

As a true scholar, though perhaps too cautious, Prof. Griffin avoids speculating on the implications of his own findings. It befalls others to highlight such implications. For, if it is true that American public officials conspired in facilitating or even masterminding the mass murder of 9/11, the American people would be well advised to go to the barricades and defend themselves against a criminal state machinery intent on disregarding basic human rights, international law and civil liberties. Whether the American people will succeed in forcing open the secret vaults containing the evidence on the events of 9/11 is not certain, as long as mass media colludes in the official cover-up. Prof. Griffin's contribution may, hopefully prompt enlightened segments of the US public to raise questions and demand accountability. The fate of America, as a democracy, is intimately linked to such efforts.

Elias Davidsson
Reykjavik, Iceland

Rating:
Summary: Reasonable Questions, Disturbing Answers
Review: This book is a must read for anyone that has any concerns about the events of 9/11 and what has since transpired in America. Griffin has crafted a thorough argument that the existant conclusions of the two governmental inquiries into 9/11 are inherently flawed, and examines alternative conclusions. Some of them are horrifying to contemplate, but should be and must be investigated before the whole thing is buried even deeper.

My published review of the book can be seen at www.discoveryislander.ca after February 18th. But I'd go ahead and buy the book now.

Rating:
Summary: An enormously important book
Review: When I first learned about David Ray Griffin's previous book on 9/11 (The New Pearl Harbour: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11, Interlink Publishing 2004) I was quite impressed by the number of (other) professors endorsing the book. Rather naïve, perhaps, but I soon found that I could well agree with them. As the Princeton professor emeritus Richard Falk puts it in his Foreword to NPH, Griffin writes "in the best spirit of academic detachment" and allows "inquiry to follow the path of evidence and reason wherever it leads."

I was happy to find that Prof. Griffin has continued to display these virtues in his latest book, The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions (Interlink Publishing, 2005). For it is indeed the coupling of evidence and reason that makes this book so enormously important. Not only to everyone interested in 9/11 or US politics or terrorism, but, indeed, to all who care about the future of the international political system, the distribution of the world's energy and other resources and, most importantly, the untold human suffering that the madness called the "war on terror" is causing.

Griffin goes through portions of the 9/11 (or "Kean-Zelikow") Commission pointing out omission after omission, distortion after distortion. He is quite restrained in using the term "lie" although in many cases that is precisely what the Report is about.

The basic question asked by the book could be expressed like this: Given that in addition to the official conspiracy theory of 19 Arab hijackers there exists another, well supported theory according to which elements in the US Government were complicit in the attacks, does the Report in any way address this other theory and try to refute it? The answer is: no, it doesn't. For the most part, the Report simply ignores the evidence against the official story. And where it doesn't ignore it, it distorts it. It leaves dozens of crucial questions, not only unanswered but also unasked. To name just a few: How is it possible that NORAD so badly messed up the chronology of the day back in 2001 and still in the Commission hearing in May 2003? Is it enough just to state their information was incorrect without asking why? How can the Commission ignore Secretary of Transport Mineta's and Richard Clarke's testimonies about the doings of Dick Cheney on that morning? How can the Commission not pursue Mineta's testimony about the plane that was approaching Washington D.C. before the Pentagon was struck when NORAD says there was no advance warning about the second, third and fourth planes? And on and on...

I think it is hard for any responsible AND informed person to come to any other conclusion than that the "war on terror" is, as former UK cabinet minister Michael Meacher puts it, "a bogus" and must somehow be stopped. This will, however, be a very unlikely achievement unless real facts about 9/11, the war's core "justification," become much more widely known than at present. David Ray Griffin has indeed done his share.

Rating:
Summary: We Won't Get Fooled Again?
Review: With a professional academic's rigor, Dr.Griffin calls into question the findings of the 9/11 Commission Report. He not only reveals the Commission's propensity to ignore and/or distort evidence which threatened to contradict the "official conspiracy theory", but provides numerous examples of how the Report failed to deliver on what it promised: "the fullest possible account of the events surrounding 9/11".

Advertised as a bipartisan, impartial and independent body, Dr. Griffin shows how the 9/11 Commission was anything but. Beginning, but not ending, with the appointment of Philip Zelikow (a Bush insider's insider)as executive director, Griffin presents us with a Commission that was riddled with conflicts of interest. If, after reading the Official 9/11 Report, you think the Committee let the Bush administration and the military off easy you would be right. Griffin's analysis of the Committee's structure and operating procedures leaves the reader concluding that no other result was likely.

Pollyanna Red Staters will probably not read this book anyway, although they could stand to benefit the most from it. Predictably they will characterize any criticism of the Official Report as cry-baby, paranoid, conspiracy-theorist liberalism. But anyone (red state or blue state) who has had the nagging feeling that a full accounting was not given by the 9/11 Commission and wants to better educate themselves about the events of that fateful September day would profit greatly by studying this critique.