Out of the Blue: A Narrative of September 11, 2001

Rating:
Summary: "Once it has happened,it has happened forever."
Review: This is,without doubt,the best book I've come across about that dastardly act committed on 9/11.We have all watched many hours of televised newscasts and specials covering this event;but what this book does is put human faces on the people who were involved.
The perpetrators of this act were filled with hatred and represent the many thousands of others like them who have bought into or have sympathy for an unbridled hatred called jihah.In contrast to them,are all the people who fell victim to this hatred and had their lives stolen from them, their families and friends.This book shows what it means to have good or evil in people's hearts.Unfortunately,the fight against terrorism will be long and difficult,but as history has shown time and time again,that good always prevails over evil.
This book presents the facts and shows how the terrorists set out to attack America,the bastion for freedom and liberty for the world.They were encouraged by a lack of action,and further, took advantage of the freedoms enjoyed in the country and the great benefit of doubt given them by a country whose fundamental concept is of freedom and liberty of the individual,whoever he is.While they like to demand,and take advantage of this free society,would themselves deny it to others,and seek to destroy it while imposing their own sick oppression,tyranny and hatred on their own people and anyone else they can.
While most of this book is very good,I take great exception to the attempt to compare 9/11 with Hiroshima,on page 247.
"Perhaps the only comparable event in history was Hiroshima,but even Hiroshimahad had taken place in the context of a declared war.Hiroshima was a surprise attack but not a sneak attack.Sept 11 was both.Pearl Harbor,maybe,but no warped stretch of any demented imagination,can a comparison of 9/11 and Hiroshima be made!Any such thinking is deplorable.
20 years of terrorist attacks going unanswered forced America to embark on The War on Terror.There is only one outcome that can be an option;and that has to,and will be, complete victory.Anything else is unthinkable.
And then again, on page 251,"What happened in Hiroshima and in the terrorism [in New York] is the same because there are many people who can't recover one tooth or one nail."Again,an unbelievable notion.
A very important paragraph on page 250 deserves quoting.
"Why were we hated so much? Hadn't we been on the Muslin side in Afghanistin? Didn't we help Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo? Wasn't it the case that millions of Muslins ,as
president Bush pointed out in his speech before Congress,practiced their religion freely in the United States of America,to which they had come of their own free will? Clearly,we had something to learn about the unreasoning and unreasonable anti-American fury that existed in the Muslin world,where Osama bin Laden was being treated not as a villain but as a hero.There was a lesson there someplace,and it would be contemplated for a long time into the future.In the meantime,public support quickly built, not just for a retalitory strike,a few cruise missles launched at a target,but for a long and complicated war against an only semivisible adversary.The Bush administration vowed to fight that war for a long time ,against the terrorists themselves and against those who harbored terrorists,which in the first instance, meant Osama bin Laden and the Taliban of Afghanistan."
How can anyone who is unwilling to fight for freedom expect to live in freedom?
I am writing this review just 4 days before the FREE ELECTION is to take place in Iraq.
Many countries have failed to support America,and it appears many would be joyful if America fails in her War on Terror.America won't fail and is in for the long haul;just as she was in WW1,WW11,struggle against Communism and other wars.These countries should ponder the President,s words."Either you're with us or against us."
On page 187 we are reminded of what the President said on Septmber 11,2001:
"Terrorism against our nation will not stand."
He has remained true to that promise.
God Bless America!




Rating:
Summary: Didn't anyone eddit this manuscript?
Review: Didn't anyone eddit this manuscript?

The first few errors I saw just made me cringe. But by the end of this book, I was ready to scream.

For starters, take the reference on page 131 to the two American embassies in Aden Harbor that were attacked, according to Mr. Bernstein. Obviously, he's mixing up the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania with the bombing of the USS Cole in Aden Harbor.

. . . but that's just the tip of the iceberg . . .

How about page 246, where he refers to the day after September 11 as Wednesday, September 3? There's a good one. I expect more from the New York Times.

. . . but that's just little stuff, right? . . .

Well, then check out pages 201 and 212. In one place, he says that 1,400 people died in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center. In another, he says that 1,600 died above the 91st floor alone in Tower 1. Now THIS ISN'T NITPICKING. These aren't just details; just numbers; they're lives. This is an inexcusable mistake. If you are going to take on a subject as important as this one, you had better get some facts straight, particularly this one.

I'm still waiting for the authoritative work on this subject to be published.

Rating:
Summary: gripping
Review: I am trying to read all of the september 11 books. I am not exactly sure why; maybe just to be reminded not to become complacent about it. This one juxtaposes chapters describing the plot with chapters focused on the bios of individual victims, a technique that, I think, makes the tragedy more vivid than massing victims in to a big number. I learned a few new things about the plot, a lot of new things about some of the heroism of the victims and the minutes before the collapse. In contrast to the previous reviewer, I did not think the approach was clinical; if anything, I thought the writing was a big overwrought in places. Still, this is a minor complaint about a really well done book.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't anyone eddit this manuscript?
Review: Out of the Blue (The Story of September 11, 2001 from Jihad to Ground Zero) tries to tackle too much but gets some elements down very well. Richard Bernstein, using his and much of the staff of the New York Times' research over the past year, pieces together the development of recent terrorism and mixes in the personal histories of the hijackers as one theme, while also looking at the personal histories of the victims in the towers and on the planes on that fateful day and before. The terrorist background information is horrifically fascinating and laid out very clearly, which is of great benefit to the reader as the various themes can become confusing. The actual reporting on the events of the day is vivid, clear, and heart-rending. The book is a little weaker on giving the background of the victims as they become very similar in this telling as their similarities as Americans are emphasized. To paraphrase, good people are good in all the same ways but bad people are bad in all different ways. Some of the editing is a little loose at times and certain stock phrases creep into the writing. Still, this is a powerful journalistic account covering the entire sweep of events. Individual books on many of the separate elements would, ultimately, be more helpful but this book provides a sweep and momentum that will carry the reader through this time of history with more knowledge and deep grief.

Rating:
Summary: Sheds light on a difficult topic
Review: The beginning of this book is very difficult to stomach. Although it has been almost two years since this horrific event, it still seems like yesterday to me. Right from page one, the author begins to talk about the people who jumped from the Twin Towers. He continues talking about this for a few pages. For me, seeing people jump is the one very vivid image that still haunts me. He goes into very graphic detail about the jumpers. About how one man was impaled on a street sign. Reading this book was like reliving Sept 11 all over again. If you're not ready to relive the experience, please do not read this book. The rest of the book gives a short bio on some of the terrorists and some of the innocent people who were killed on 9/11. The book also documents the growing hatred of Amercia and how the terrorists came to be. It was surprising to note just how much the FBI knew but how little they actually did.

Rating:
Summary: Sheds light on a difficult topic
Review: The beginning of this book is very difficult to stomach. Although it has been almost two years since this horrific event, it still seems like yesterday to me. Right from page one, the author begins to talk about the people who jumped from the Twin Towers. He continues talking about this for a few pages. For me, seeing people jump is the one very vivid image that still haunts me. He goes into very graphic detail about the jumpers. About how one man was impaled on a street sign. Reading this book was like reliving Sept 11 all over again. If you're not ready to relive the experience, please do not read this book. The rest of the book gives a short bio on some of the terrorists and some of the innocent people who were killed on 9/11. The book also documents the growing hatred of Amercia and how the terrorists came to be. It was surprising to note just how much the FBI knew but how little they actually did.

Rating:
Summary: The story of 09/11/2001.
Review: This is the story of the attack on our country on 9/11/01. The story goes all the way back to the late 1980's and originates in Afghanistan. Berstein does a good job of describing how bin Laden and his group of thugs got their grounding in the basics of terrorism. Not only bin Laden but some of the other members (Atta) are described in their early life.
Along with the story of the terrorists, there are stories of some of the victims of 09/11/01. Bernstein does a good job in describing their lives, so we know what America lost in this attack. Unlike other journalists, Berstein gives reasons why the FBI/CIA did not pick up on the attack.
This is a good summary of the attacks and the reasons they originated. The title sums up the surprise Americans felt when the attack came.

Rating:
Summary: The story of 09/11/2001.
Review: This is the story of the attack on our country on 9/11/01. The story goes all the way back to the late 1980's and originates in Afghanistan. Berstein does a good job of describing how bin Laden and his group of thugs got their grounding in the basics of terrorism. Not only bin Laden but some of the other members (Atta) are described in their early life.
Along with the story of the terrorists, there are stories of some of the victims of 09/11/01. Bernstein does a good job in describing their lives, so we know what America lost in this attack. Unlike other journalists, Berstein gives reasons why the FBI/CIA did not pick up on the attack.
This is a good summary of the attacks and the reasons they originated. The title sums up the surprise Americans felt when the attack came.