2008-02-22 Still making a compelling argument for an independent investigation

Professor David Ray Griffin's first book on the atrocity of 11th September, 2001, was named The New Pearl Harbor. This was a clear synthesis of other people's research, conveniently assembled in one book, articulately written and refreshingly free of hyperbole and foaming-at-the-mouth 'anti-government' hysteria. Written before the Independent 9/11 Commission published its findings, The New Pearl Harbor was in some way a plea not to ignore difficult and controversial evidence.

Griffin's sequel, was a book that responded to the official report on 9/11. The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions, analysed how the Independent Commission handled this important but neglected evidence and also looked at just how independent this investigation actually was. From the title, we can tell that Griffin was distinctly unimpressed, articulating the anger and disappointment expressed by some of the victims families themselves.

A few books later, Griffin has produced his most comprehensive work yet: Debunking 9/11 Debunking (a terrible title indeed). This book systematically dismantles the work that has been produced by the apologists for the 9/11 Commission and its Official Conspiracy Theory. The main offenders here are Vanity Fair (which was instrumental in promoting the NORAD tapes, which became the basis for the film United 93), the book Without Precedent, written by the Chair and Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission (Thomas H. Keen and Lee H. Hamilton respectively), the NIST report on the destruction of the World Trade Center and finally Popular Mechanics book, Debunking 9/11 Myths. Griffin also looks at the mostly unconvincing arguments put forth by those from the political left of the spectrum, who argue that the whole '9/11 Truth Movement' is a dangerous diversion from more important areas of popular struggle.

It would be redundant, here, to explain Griffin's arguments as to why each one of the pieces put forth by defenders of the Bush administration's position on 9/11 fails to encompass all of the available facts. Griffin calmly takes apart and deconstructs each argument. This is not the work an academic theologian arguing that he understands engineering, construction, or military and defense issues better than those who have spent their entire professional careers within the respective areas of the 9/11 story - Griffin solidly supports his contentions with readily source-able information from Admirals and Generals, pilots, intelligence officials and physicists, engineers and firefighters, mainstream news reports and independent studies.

Debunking 9/11 Debunking is an indispensable guide to the latest research on 9/11. It methodically demonstrates that, despite the best pretences of the liberal-conservative consensus, the alternative theory is at present, the only one that encompasses the majority of the available facts. When ideology is put to one side and a cold, hard look is taken at the evidence, the official version of events simply lacks credibility, as uncomfortable as that may seem. If nothing else, Griffin's book is a reminder that the more evidence uncovered around the awful events of 11th September, 2001, the more questions that are raised and as a result, we need most what we haven't yet got: a truly independent, international investigation.