60 baseless scare: The Secret Service tracked down the source of the “threat” within hours, and concluded that the flap had arisen because of a watch officer’s misunderstanding. Even so, press secretary Fleischer would still be talking of the threat at a press briefing the next day—and describing it as having been “real and credible” (CR, 554n1).
61 “The American people”: 60 Minutes; “faceless coward”: CNN, 9/12/01;
62 running backward: int. Dan Alcorn, Salon, 9/12/01;
63 “We’re at war”: 60 Minutes, 9/11/02;
64 “very much in control”: World-Herald (Omaha), 2/27/02;
65 took part: Sammon, 122;
66 “I’m not going”: Telegraph (U.K.), 12/16/01;
67 “tin-horn terrorist”: 60 Minutes, 9/11/02;
68 “increasingly difficult”: Telegraph (U.K.), 12/16/01;
69 “The mightiest”: 9/11, ABC News;
70 “We will stand”: CNN, 9/12/01, Graham with Nussbaum, 100;
71 Bush address: 60 Minutes, 9/11/02, BBC News, 9/12/01;
72 key officials: CR, 330;
73 al Qaeda/Taliban: WP, 1/27/02.
74 87 “You know”: The authors have here cited Clarke’s interview with Vanity Fair in 2009, in which he stated that Rumsfeld made these remarks on the night of September 11. In his 2004 memoir, however, Clarke appeared to indicate that the remarks were made at a meeting the following day (Vanity Fair, 2/09, Richard Clarke, 31).
75 bed early: Telegraph (U.K.), 1/15/08;
76 He balked, etc.: Newsweek, 12/3/01, Sammon, 133–;
77 “Incoming plane!”: Spencer, 282, 279;
78 Ground Zero: DiMarco, 269–.
79 one more survivor: This was Genelle Guzman, who had worked for the Port Authority in the North Tower and was found in the same area as was Pasquale Buzzelli earlier. She suffered serious leg injuries, but recovered in the hospital (Time, 9/1/02, Langewiesche, 107).
80 “heaved”: Langewiesche, 72;
81 flames: Barrett & Collins, 247;
82 would burn: ABC News, 12/19/01.
Part II: DISTRUST AND DECEIT
CHAPTER 10
1 “not a fringe”: Time, 9/3/06;
2 “no dependable”: Matt Taibbi, The Great Derangement, NY: Spiegel & Grau, 2009, 189;
3 “tend to be”/poll: San Diego Union Tribune, 12/4/06;
4 18 to 29: “Questions with Kathryn Olmsted,” 4/13/09, http://theaggie.org;
5 Arab Americans/Arabs worldwide: NY Post, 5/23/07, “Muslim Public Opinion on US Policy, Attacks on Civilians and al Qaeda, 2007” & “No Public Consensus on Who Was Behind 9/11, 2008,” www.worldpublicopinion.org;
6 “well-educated, pious”: Taibbi, 171;
7 “conspiracy theories dominate”: Najwa bin Laden, Omar bin Laden, and Jean Sasson, Growing Up bin Laden, NY: St. Martins, 2009, 290;
8 “unfounded”: “The Top September 11 Conspiracy Theories,” 5/5/09, www.america.gov.
9 MIHOP/LIHOP: BBC News, 7/4/08, Vanity Fair, 8/06;
10 As late as 2011: Conspiracy vs. Science, National Geographic Channel, & see re first aired NY Post, 9/2/09.
11 Rostcheck/“Is it just”: corr. David Rostcheck, 2010, Rostcheck message on
[email protected], 9/11/01, 3:12 P.M., cited on www.serendipity.li, Rostcheck profile, www.linkedin.com, Rostcheck to Ira Glasser, ACLU, 7/4/01, www.keepandbeararms.com;
12 million Web pages: NY Post, 9/12/06;
13 “I don’t believe”/“conspiracy”: “Who We Are,” & “Criminal Negligence or Treason,” www.emperors-clothes.com;
14 “for thinking people”: See the “About” page on Meyer’s website, www.serendipity.li;
15 doubt expressed: “Reply to Popular Mechanics,” www.serendipity.li;
16 Valentine: Valentine articles, “Operation 911: No Suicide Pilots,” 10/6/01, www.public-action.com, “Internet Censorship and Jewish Destiny,” http://library.flawlesslogic.com, “Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum: Fire,” www.public-action.com, & “Waco Suits for Waco Suckers,” www.web-ak.com;
17 Vialls/“electronically hijacked”: “Flight 93 Saddest Flight of All,” and various Vialls articles at www.vialls.homestead.com, “Home Run, Electronically Hijacking the WTC Attack Aircraft,” 10/01, www.geocities.com;
18 “very strange”: “Reality Check,” No. 82, 10/12/01, www.ratical.org;
19 Dewdney: “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” 1/22/02, www.ilaam.net;
20 “ordered to land”: “Operation Pearl,” 8/03, www.serendipity.li;
21 Dewdney professor: Dewdney bio. on University of W. Ontario website, www.csd.uwo.ca;
22 North Ph.D: www.garynorth.com;
23 “aeronautical engineer”: www.vialls.homestead.com;
24 Valentine: “About” page on www.comeandhear.com;
25 Meyer degrees: “Interzine” int. of Meyer at www.deoxy.org;
26 Christian/“attempt to apply”: see masthead of North’s periodical Remnant Review & see Gary North & Gary DeMar, Christian Reconstructionism: What It Is, What It Isn’t, Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1984;
27 Cuba “soon”: “China Backs Iran Against the Great Satan,” 12/22/04, www.web.archive.org, “Why the March 8.7 Quake Did Not Cause a Tsunami,” www.whale.to;
28 Waco Museum/shot: “Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum: Catalogue of Evidence,” www.public-action.com, “Internet Censorship & Jewish Destiny,” 11/8/98, http://library.flawlesslogic.com;
29 Meyer indulged/“Timewave Zero”: “Interview of TWZ Programmer Peter Meyer,” Interzine, issue 2, http://deoxy.org, “DMT & Hyperspace,” & “Interpretations of the Experience” by Peter Meyer, Psychedelic Monographs & Essays, no. 6, www.lycaeum.org.
30 The Big Lie: Thierry Meyssan, 9/11: The Big Lie, NY: Carnot, 2002, esp. 24, 28, 39, 56, 60, 139, www.effroyable-imposture.net, eds. David Dunbar & Brad Reagan, Debunking 9/11 Myths, NY: Hearst, 2006, 60. The book was first published in France as L’Effroyable Imposture, which translates as The Appalling Deception; Griffin bio/“dean” of opposition: e.g., Griffin as “high priest of the ‘truther’ movement,” The News Statesman (U.K.), 9/24/09;
31 “show that the attacks”: Griffin speech, University of Wisconsin, 4/18/05, BookTV, C-SPAN2; Loose Change: viewable on www.youtube.com in various editions—the authors have primarily viewed Loose Change—The Final Cut (Louder Than Words, 2007) and Loose Change 9/11—An American Coup (Collective Minds Media, 2009);
32 125 million: “Fact Sheet,” www.loosechange911.com;
33 “This is our”: Vanity Fair, 8/06;
34 $2,000/$1 million: “Fact Sheet”;
35 Avery: “Bios,” www.loosechange911.com;
36 “to get the”: Barrie Zwicker, Towers of Deception, Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society, 2006, 303.
37 Falk/foreword: to U.S. edition of David Ray Griffin, The New Pearl Harbor, Northampton, MA: Interlink, 2004, foreword also posted at www.transnational.org, & see Jerusalem Post, 1/27 & 1/31/11; Falk has praised the professor’s work as “objective and compelling” as recently as 2008—and his comments on 9/11 were still causing controversy in early 2011. He referred then to “the apparent cover up” (Richard Falk, “9/11: More than Meets the Eye,” 11/9/08, www.journal-online.co.uk, Sky News, 1/29/11, “Interrogating the Arizona Killings from a Safe Distance, 1/11/11,” http://richardfalk.wordpress.com).
38 Internet groups: David Ray Griffin, The Mysterious Collapse of World Trade Center 7, Northampton, MA: Olive Branch, 2010, 5;
39 skeptics: e.g., “Reply to Scientific American’s Attempted Debunking of 9/11 Skeptics,” www.serendipity.li.
40 Fetzer/Jones: Fetzer bio, www.d.umn.edu; Jones CV, www.physics.byu.edu, Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 10/22/06. Fetzer’s group retains the name Scholars for 9/11 Truth, while Jones’ group took the name Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice. The appellation “Scholars” is loose—the membership ranges from people with Ph.D.’s in anything from physics to classics to French, medical doctors and dentists, attorneys, college students, and a yoga instructor. In
a public statement in 2005, Jones’s department and college administrators at Brigham Young University said they were “not convinced that his analyses and hypotheses [on 9/11] have been submitted to relevant scientific venues that would ensure rigorous technical peer review.” Jones took early retirement in 2007 (membership ranges: “Full Member List,” www.911scholars.org, “Members,” http://stj911.org; Jones: “BYU Discredits Prof. Jones for 9/11 WTC Paper!,” by Greg Szymanski, 11/29/05, www.rense.com, Jones CV, Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 10/22/06).
41 members “believe”/“established”/“high-tech”: “Scholars for 9/11 Truth—Who Are We?” & “Scholars: On Its First Anniversary,” www.9/11scholars.org;
42 “discretion”/“Scientific”: “What Is the Goal of the 9/11 Truth Community?,” by Steven Jones, http://stj911.org;
43 “inside job”: Guardian (U.K.), 9/5/06;
44 MacDonald: cited at www.patriotsquestion911.com;
45 Reynolds: “Bush Insider Says WTC Collapse Bogus,” by Greg Szymanski, undated 2005, www.americanfreepress.net;
46 Roberts: “What We Don’t Know About 9/11,” by Paul Roberts, 8/16/06, www.informationclearinghouse.info;
47 CIA veterans: “Seven CIA Veterans Challenge 9/11 Commission Report,” 9/23/07, www.opednews.com;
48 Christison: “Stop Belittling the Theories About September 11,” 8/14/06, www.dissidentvoice.org;
49 Charlie Sheen: int. on Alex Jones Show, 3/20/06;
50 Cotillard: “Plus Fort Que Thierry Meyssan,” 2/29/08, www.marianne2.fr;
51 Lynch: int. on Wereldgasten, VPRO (Dutch TV), 12/3/06;
52 O’Donnell: The View, ABC News, 3/29/07;
53 Nelson: int. on Alex Jones Show, 2/4/08;
54 Ventura: “9/11,” Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, 12/9/09, www.trutv.com, int. on Alex Jones Show, 4/2/08; Jesse Ventura with Dick Russell, American Conspiracies, NY: Skyhorse, 2010;
55 Hirschhorn: “Painful 9/11 Truth,” by Joel Hirschhorn, www.blogcritics.org, bio on http://word.world-citizenship.org;
56 Deets: profile on www.ae911truth.org—the adjective “pyroclastic” is used to refer to material formed by volcanic or igneous action;
57 Erickson: profile on www.ae911truth.org;
58 Griscom: Griscom blog, www.impactglassman.blogspot.com;
59 Waser: profile on www.ae911truth.org;
60 thousand architects & engineers: Examples of others who have made their views known on the collapses, or joined their names to petitions, include:
In the United States:
Dr. Robert Bowman, formerly an Air Force lieutenant colonel who served as director of Advanced Space Programs Development, questioned the towers’ collapses and called for a new investigation (bio on www.thepatriots.us)
Major Jon Fox, former Marine Corps fighter pilot and pilot for Continental Airlines, thought research “proved” the use of explosives (statement to http://patriotsquestion911.com)
Former Navy commander Dennis Henry, who worked as a civil engineer for thirty-four years, doubted the simple collapse account (profile on www.ae911truth.org) Commander Ralph Kolstad, former fighter pilot and commercial airline captain, said the collapse story did not “make any sense” (statement to http://patriotsquestion911.com) Joel Skousen, a fighter and commercial airplane pilot, thought there was “significant evidence that the airplane impacts did not cause the collapse” (“Debunking the Debunkers,” by Joel Skousen, 2/14/06, www.rense.com)
Roy Andes, a former assistant attorney general of the state of Montana, signed a petition on the collapses (petition at www.ae911truth.org)
Barbara Honegger, a senior military affairs journalist at the Naval Postgraduate School, suggested that “the U.S. military, not al Qaeda, had the sustained access weeks before 9/11 to also plant controlled demolition charges throughout the superstructures of WTC 1 and WTC 2, and in WTC 7, which brought down all three buildings” (“The Pentagon Attack Papers,” by Barbara Honegger, www.physics911.net) Karen Johnson, a member of the Arizona state legislature, expressed doubt about the collapses and joined her name to a call for a new investigation (Arizona Republic, 5/3/08, petition at www.ae911truth.org)
William Nugent, former assistant director of research for Technology Services at the Library of Congress, thought “controlled demolition the only scientifically plausible explanation” of the collapses (statement at www.ae911truth.org)
Lon Waters, a former staff member of a Defense Department–funded computing and research facility in Hawaii, signed the architects and engineers’ petition on the collapses (petition at www.ae911truth.org)
Outside the United States:
In Denmark: Commander Jens Claus Hansen, of the Danish Defense Academy, thought “bombs must have been placed inside the Trade Center towers” (http://patriotsquestion911.com)
In Finland: Heikki Kurtila, a veteran in the investigation of pressure-vessel explosion accidents, said the “great speed of the [Building 7] collapse and the resistance factor strongly suggest controlled demolition” (“Collapse Examination of WTC7,” by Heikki Kurtila, 11/18/05, www.syyskuun11.ja)
In Japan: Yukihisa Fujita, a member of the upper house of the Diet, included doubt about the collapses in a forty-minute presentation to the Committee on Foreign Affairs in 2008 (http://patriotsquestion911.com)
In Malaysia: Former prime minister Tun Mahathir bin Mohammad expressed doubts about the collapses and said he “could believe” the U.S. government would organize the strikes to have an excuse for war in Iraq (“No Place for War Criminals,” 10/6/07, www.globalresearch.ca)
In Norway: Lieutenant Commander Rolf Hustad, a navy weapons specialist, said the statistical likelihood of the “only three steel-framed buildings ever to collapse [due to fire] … is just too remote to grasp” (profile at www.ae911truth.org)
In Switzerland: Lieutenant Colonel Albert Stahel, senior lecturer in strategic studies at the Federal Institute of Technology, has raised questions about the collapses, and especially about Building 7 (“Je Mehr Wir Forschen, Desto Mehr Zweifeln Wir,” 9/15/06, www.blick.ch)
Celebrities:
Actors Ed Asner, Juliette Binoche, Janeane Garofalo, and Woody Harrelson have expressed doubts in a more general sense (Post Gazette [Pittsburgh], 11/27/06, Asner letter, 4/26/04, www.septembereleventh.org, Telegraph [U.K.], 9/1/07, http://patriotsquestion911.com)
61 Nelson: “Aircraft parts and the Precautionary Principle,” www.physics911.net, bio. at www.patriotsquestion911.com.
62 Latas: bio. at www.latasgroup.com, int. of Jeff Latas for Pilots for 9/11 Truth, audio on www.youtube.com; the Flight Data Recorder from Flight 77 was recovered from the ruined section of the Pentagon, in decipherable condition. The voice recorder, though also recovered, was reportedly so badly damaged as to be of no use (corr. NTSB’s Ted Lopatkiewicz, 2010, “Specialist’s Factual Report of Investigation Digital Flight Data Recorder, NTSB no. DCA01MA064,” 1/31/02, www.ntsb.gov);
63 Davis: www.patriotsquestion911.com;
64 Kwiatkowski: eds. David Ray Griffin & Peter Dale Scott, 9/11 and American Empire, Northampton, MA: Olive Branch, 2007, 28–;
65 Citizen Investigation Team: www.citizeninvestigationteam.com.
CHAPTER 11
1 200, etc.: FAQ, 8/30/06, http://wtc.nist.gov;
2 NIST/FEMA conclusions/“no corroborating”: Executive Summary, “World Trade Center Building Performance Study,” FEMA, Washington, D.C., 2002, & Executive Summary, “Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers,” NIST, Washington, D.C., 9/05;
3 “pancaked”/bowing: FAQ, 8/30/06;
4 Mackey: “On Debunking 9/11 Debunking: Examining Dr. David Ray Griffin’s Latest Criticism of the NIST World Trade Center Investigation,” 5/08, corr. Ryan Mackey, 2009, 2010;
5 “baloney”/“violates”: cited in Mackey, 137–,147;
6 “are so numerous”: ibid., 2;
7 “breaking”: David Ray Griffin, Debunking, 157, Mackey, 25;
8 “would be very”: Griffin, Debunking, 2
48–, 181–;
9 no good evidence/“particularly”/“high-temperature”: Mackey, 82–, 86;
10 Jones’s four samples: Niels H. Harrit, Jeffrey Farrer, Steven E. Jones, et al., “Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe,” Open Chemical Physics Journal, Vol. 2 (April 3, 2009): 7–31, www.bentham.org;
11 fellow scientists: corr. Ryan Mackey, 2010, “Active Thermitic Material Claimed in Ground Zero Dust May Not Be Thermitic at All,” 4/13/09, http://undisettembre.blogspot.com, “Steven Jones,” article at www.ae911truth.info;
12 university website: Steven Jones, “Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse?,” http://web.archive.org; Journal: Steven Jones, “Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Completely Collapse?,” www.journalof911studies.com;
13 coeditor/“peer-reviewed”: “Home” page, http://www.journalof911studies.com;
14 “masquerade”: Mackey, 13, 40, Mackey corr. 2010, but see Dr. Jones’s riposte to such criticism in “An Open Letter to Dr. Steven Jones by James Bennett, with Replies by Steven Jones,” www.journalof911studies.com. When Jones’s and his colleagues’ most recent take on thermite was published in 2009, in The Open Chemical Physics Journal, the person whose name appeared on the masthead as “editor” promptly disassociated herself from the publication. The article, said Marie-Paule Pileni, a highly distinguished French scientist, had been printed without her knowledge. She characterized the periodical itself as “sheer nonsense … I do not want my name associated with this kind of stuff” (“sheer nonsense”: “Chefredaktor skrider efter kontroversiel artikel om 9/11,” videnskab.dk, 4/28/09, excerpts translated from the Danish by Marianne Gurnee, 2010, corr. Marie-Paul Pileni, 2010).
15 “heard”: WSJ, 4/8/02;
16 “individual floors”: Bussey cited in Cathy Trost & Alicia Shepard, Running Toward Danger, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002, 87;
17 “It just descended”: Judyth Sylvester & Suzanne Hoffman, Women Journalists at Ground Zero, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002, 19—in his article “Explosive Testimony,” www.911truth.org, Griffin rendered the text’s word “implosion” as “explosion.”