The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions

by David Ray Griffin

The 9/11 Commission's Report, by popular reckoning, has made an impression with its heft, its footnotes, its portrayal of the confusion of that sobering day, its detail, its narrative finesse. Yet under the magnifying glass of David Ray Griffin, eminent theologian & author of The New Pearl Harbor, the report appears much shabbier. In fact, there are holes in the places where detail ought to be thickest: Is it possible that Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has given three different stories of what he was doing the morning of 9/11, & that the Commission combines two of them & ignores eyewitness reports to the contrary? That the Commission fails even to mention Coleen Rowley, FBI whistleblower & Time person of the year? Griffin's critique of the Kean-Zelikow report makes clear that that the Commission charged with investigating all of the facts surrounding 9/11 has succeeded in obscuring, rather than unearthing, the truth.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Conspiracy Theories, Military Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Dr. Griffin, a retired emeritus professor of Philosophy of Religion and Theology at the Claremont School of Theology, has published over 30 books and 150 articles. His 9/11 books have been endorsed by Robert Baer, William Christison, William Sloane Coffin Jr., Richard Falke, Ray McGovern, Paul Craig Roberts and Howard Zinn.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read and much easier to get through than The 9/11 Commission Report by Commission National. David Ray Griffin is excellent.

[Amir Gadhvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant. David Ray Griffin does a great job on all the information that was not mentioned or changed. This is a must read for all Americans and everyone who really wants to know about 9/11. The 9/11 Commission was just a cover up - David Ray Griffin's book pretty much proves it.

The only thing in the book was Part I was was very exciting and informative. Part II goes on too much about the timelines of the various government agencies. It maybe important for many but I thought it was pretty repetitive.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Ray Griffin lays out the omissions and distortions of the 9/11 Commission Report. It should give you a better idea of who the REAL terrorists were that brought down the Twin Towers and Bldg. 7

[Eva Aurora · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a frightening book. What Griffin says makes a lot of sense, and so it was hard to read at times. It's not that I don't believe there is a massive conspiracy that is trying to create a socialistic world government and that it is attempting to forcibly create some misguided sort of Utopia. I believe it. It's still hard to be faced with the evidence that there are so many holes in the official story about 9/11 that you could drive a dozen tanks into it. Hmmm....

[Ruthie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Were those 19 guys we were shown really the hijackers of 9/11/2001? Wasn’t there enough time to scramble fighter jets? What about the anti aircraft missiles in place to defend Washington DC? How were civilian planes able to be used as weapons against the literal PENTAGON?? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Mark Lane's Rush to Judgment closely examined the Warren Commission Report on the assassination of JFK, disclosing many omissions, distortions and internal contradictions, so David Ray Griffin's book tears apart the 'findings' of the 'independent' 9/11 Commission.
Like his previous work on the subject, Griffin is cautious, citing sources carefully, explicitly pointing out where the Commission evaded or contradicted documented evidence which opposed the thrust of their analysis. He never says says that elements of the Bush administration engineered 9/11, but he gives those that do the opportunity to have their testimony put beside the text and conclusions of the Commission. The result is damning. At the very least the Commission did an extraordinarily poor (and tendentious) job in executing its task.
The greatest and distinctive strength of this book may be in its second-by-second analysis of the flights of the four doomed planes and their putative pursuers, an analysis that takes account of many (I would like to say 'all', but I don't know enough to do that) of the varying and often mutually exclusive accounts of that day, including the ever-revised 'official' accounts.

[Scot León Pfuntner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The logical approach that Mr. Griffin takes at evaluating the Kean/Zelikow Ommission report for 9/11 is clear and effective. The goal was to evaluate the methods of discovering the truth of 9/11 by the Commission and whether those methods were deliberately misdirected or biased. Mr. Griffin does a fantastic job of revealing the ulterior motives of the politicians and how they used their report to protect, harbor, and even praise the agencies of the government (Bush administration included) that were complicit in the attacks that occurred on 9/11. They either deliberately took an active role in 9/11 or inadvertently made it possible for Saudi/Pakistani sponsored terrorists. Through the Commission Report we see an intricate attempt to obfuscate, hide, and distort the truth of what happened on that dark day.

[Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly will have you questioning the whole process of commissions. What an eye-opener.

[Steven H · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE MOST EXTENSIVE CRITIQUE OF THE COMMISSION'S FINAL REPORT

Retired theologian David Ray Griffin nowadays devotes his time to 9/11; he has written many other books, such as 'The New Pearl Harbor Revisited,' '9/11 Ten Years Later: When State Crimes Against Democracy Succeed,' 'The Mysterious Collapse of World Trade Center 7,' etc.

He wrote in the Introduction to this 2005 critique, "In the present book, I question whether this report really deserves to be treated as the definitive account of 9/11." Later, he added, "in the present book... I do not try to explain 'what really happened.' My focus is on problems in the official accounts... I focus on problems in the 9/11 Commission's attempt to defend that official account." (Pg. 65) He suggests that omissions in the final report "are by no means random, but reveal a pattern." (Pg. 13)

He notes that "at least six of the nineteen men officially identified as the suicide hijackers reportedly showed up after 9/11... The Commission's report fails to mention the fact that at least six of the identifications have been shown to be incorrect." (Pg. 19-20) He questions why hijacker Mohamaed Atta would have brought flight simulation manuals, a Quran, a religious cassette tape, a note to the hijackers, his will, passport, and driver's license "on a plane he expected to be totally destroyed?" (Pg. 21)

He wonders why the rubble was removed from the "crime scene" so quickly; noting that "The excuse given by authorities was that victims of the collapse might still be alive in the rubble, so that it was necessary to remove the steel quickly so that rescuers could get to them." But he points out that this doesn't explain WTC 7, from which everyone had been evacuated. (Pg. 30) He also notes that President Bush's brother and cousin "were principals in the company that was in charge of security for the World Trade Center." (Pg. 31)

He admits that there were "eyewitnesses who reported seeing an American Airliner hit, or at least fly towards, the Pentagon. But eyewitness testimony cannot trump physical evidence, especially if... (it is) less clear than it initially seemed..." (Pg. 38)

He concludes that the actual purpose of the 9/11 Commission was "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." (Pg. 277)

Whether one agrees or disagrees with any/all of Griffin's arguments and interpretations, this is a definite "must read" for anyone studying the 9/11 attacks and aftermath.

[Mark M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of Griffin's gifts are tireless thoroughness and a brilliantly analytical mind.

[Arjun]

The manager tried to notify the regional managers and was told that they were discussing a hijacked aircraft (presumably American 11) and refused to be disturbed

[Shoshana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very compelling, but it was just very slow. I thought it was interesting but a lot of work to get through.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Essentially a list of things that David Ray Griffin thinks the 9/11 Commission should have addressed. Some of his points are interesting, but simply comparing the footnotes for this book with the footnotes of the full Commission Report reveals the severe asymmetry of the two books. The Commission is thoroughly researched, but it could not explore everything. Griffin has a number of very specific complaints that, while interesting, don't convince me that the Commission was actively seeking to conceal the truth.

[Reader2007]

ha! This is a fun bit of reading...

[Anxious · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole thing is BS, the American people deserve to know the truth and this book does nothing to help in that matter.

[Pelvis Resley · Rating 4 out of 5]

White House swamps process,
trumpets gaseous fraudulence.
Flatulent farce reeks.