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The War on Freedom: How and Why America was Attacked, September 11, 2001

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A disturbing exposé of the American government’s hidden agenda, before and after the Sept.11, 2001 terrorist attacks. A wide range of documents show U.S. officials knew in advance of the "Boeing bombing" plot, yet did nothing. Did the attacks fit in with plans for a more aggressive U.S. foreign policy? Nafeez Ahmed examines the evidence, direct and circumstantial, and lays it before the public in chilling how FBI agents who uncovered the hijacking plot were muzzled, how CIA agents trained Al Qaeda members in terror tactics, how the Bush family profited from its business connections to the Bin Ladens, and from the Afghan war. A "must read" for anyone seeking to understand America’s New War on Terror.

400 pages, Paperback

First published September 11, 2002

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About the author

Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed

12 books63 followers
Nafeez Ahmed is an investigative journalist, bestselling author and international security scholar. He is the author of the forthcoming science fiction thriller, ZERO POINT.

Nafeez is an environment writer for The Guardian, the world's third most popular newspaper website, reporting on the geopolitics of interconnected environmental, energy and economic crises via his Earth Insight blog.

Nafeez has also written for the Independent on sunday, The Independent, The Scotsman, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Huffington Post, Foreign Policy, Le Monde diplomatique, The New Statesman, and Prospect Magazine, among others.

His journalistic work combines insider information from senior government, intelligence, industry and other sources with interdisciplinary analysis of specialist literature.

Nafeez is co-producer, writer and presenter of the critically-acclaimed documentary feature film, the crisis of civilization (2011), adapted from his non-fiction book, a user’s guide to the crisis of civilization: and how to save it (pluto, macmillan, 2010). The film was endorsed by BAFTA lifetime award-winning filmmaker Nick Broomfield

He is the bestselling author of The War on Freedom: How & Why America was Attacked: September 11, 2001, which won him the Naples Prize, Italy’s most prestigious literary award, in 2003. The War on Freedom (2002), the first book to critique the official narrative of 9/11, was described by Gore Vidal in the London Observer as “the best, most balanced, analysis of 9/11”.
The book is archived in the ‘9/11 commission materials’ special collection at the US National Archives in Washington DC – it was among 99 books made available to each 9/11 commissioner of the national commission on terrorist attacks upon the united states to use during their investigations.

Nafeez’s other books include The London Bombings: An Independent Inquiry (2006), which has been profiled in the Independent on Sunday and Sunday Times; The War on Truth: 9/11, Disinformation and the Anatomy of Terrorism (2005); (2003).

His latest non-fiction book, A User's Guide to the Crisis of Civilization: And How to Save It (2010) is a peer-reviewed academic study of the interconnections between climate change, energy depletion, food scarcity, economic meltdown, terrorism, the police-state, and war.

Nafeez and his writings are cited and reviewed in the New York times (Thomas Friedman), Sunday Times (Bryan Appleyard), Times Higher Educational Supplement, The Guardian (Steven Poole), The Independent (Yasmin Alibhai Brown), The observer (Gore Vidal), Big Issue Magazine, Vanity Fair (Christopher Hitchens), among other publications

Nafeez lives in London with his wife and children, plays guitar, and writes music in his spare time.

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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Richard.
165 reviews2 followers
April 19, 2007
This book is an expose on the American 'War Against Terror'. Focusing on what was known about the run up to the attack on the World Trade Centre and then on who stood to gain by the aftermath, this is a powerful indictment of the US Government.

The overall conclusion of the book, that the attack on the WTC was known about, but no attempt was made to stop it is difficult to swallow, but the aftermath, with the special treatment that the Saudis associated with Osama Bin Laden is easier to understand.

So was it all a conspiracy? I don't know, but this book is well written, easy to read and damning of many of those involved.
15 reviews3 followers
May 4, 2009
This book proves everything you already knew but didn't want to hear: 9/11 only happened because Bush and Cheney were in charge. It also explains other great lies such as Pearl Harbor, the Gulf of Tonkin, the Lusitania,... Nobody is stupid enough to attack the mightiest nation in the world, so if they want to go to war (and we all know how much they love war) they must attack themselves. Yet, most people remain ignorant of this fact. Even the other guy who wrote a review of this book (I guess he is American) didn't want to believe it. That's a shame.
11k reviews36 followers
July 25, 2024
PERHAPS THE MOST EXTENSIVE "POLITICAL" INTERPRETATION OF 9/11 BY A "TRUTHER”

Nafeez M. Ahmed is "a leading political scientist and human rights activist"; he has also written The War on Truth: 9/11, Disinformation and the Anatomy of Terrorism.

He wrote in the Preface to this 2002 book, "The purpose of this study is not to provide exhaustive conclusions, but to point to the most pertinent questions and issues that have as yet to be thoroughly examined in a comprehensive manner, by assessing the facts on record. Nevertheless, I do outline a variety of conclusions based on examination of the facts surrounding the 11th September attacks." (Pg. 10-11)

He suggests that until just after 9/11, "the Bush family had close financial ties to the bin Laden family, and both were set to reap substantial profits from the war in Afghanistan through their mutual involvement in the U.S. defense industry." (Pg. 17; also pg. 187)

He asserts that "all U.S. intelligence agencies were fully expecting an impending attack by Al-Qaeda by the beginning of July 2001, and... 'terrorists were planning to hijack commercial aircraft to use as weapons to attack important symbols of American ... culture.'" (Pg. 88) Later, he adds, "the intelligence community knew what Al-Qaeda was planning---it was just a matter of who and when." (Pg. 127) He argues that "the U.S. government had enough advance warning to be at least certain of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil ... but despite this, failed to institute even the most minimal of preventative measures." (Pg. 131)

In his summation, he asserts that "a specific war on Afghanistan ... had been planned for at least a year," that "the Bush administration furthermore systematically blocked investigations of terrorists," which "has effectively supported their activities. The objective of U.S. policy has... been focused principally on securing elite strategic and economic interests abroad, while deterring public understanding at home." (Pg. 290-291)

For those interested in political interpretations of 9/11, Ahmed's books are essential reading.
54 reviews1 follower
December 11, 2020
I'm not sure I agree with a lot of the author's conclusions. He has done a lot of good strong research. But his bias is definitely present. I think this book is well worth reading and that you can learn new information you probably didn't know about the event and the situation. But I would caution you from seeing how that is interpreted solely through his lens.
24 reviews
November 8, 2025
Fantastic and detailed analysis of the events leading up to and following the September 11th attacks. Everyone should read this, even though the findings are incredibly disturbing and highlight the complicity of the US Government in the attacks.
Profile Image for sologdin.
1,870 reviews923 followers
October 20, 2014
probably one of the stronger variants of trutherism, which here alleges foreknowledge and deliberate foot-dragging regarding an AQ suicide attack, in order to consolidate an unlawful domestic mandate and authorize increased military presence in central asia, vis-a-vis former soviet mineral resources. of course, it's hard not to be the strongest variant when the competition is:

a) bush orchestrated the whole thing to launch an end times crusade, or
b) jews orchestrated the whole thing to cover up the fakeness of the holocaust, or
c) aliens did it to save vampires from robots.
156 reviews2 followers
Read
May 10, 2009
Recommended
15 reviews1 follower
February 12, 2011
Should be read by anyone interested in why we were attacked on 9/11.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews