Friday, September 30, 2011

The Eleventh Day

It is a measure of the respect that I have for this book that I have revised my opinion on several issues based on the evidence provided by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan.

The Pakistani ISI's connections to 9-11 definitely deserve more attention by the mainstream media.  Don't get me wrong, I still have grave doubts about the claim of $100,000 supposedly wired to Mohamed Atta the day before the attacks, and The Eleventh Day  completely ignores this nonsense.  The authors make strong points about Pakistan's support for Al Qaeda and the Taliban without endorsing the more fanciful accounts.

The section dealing with Saudi support for the terrorists also seems worthy of deeper review, and I am willing to join in the call for the release of the complete 28-page section of the 9-11 Commission Report dealing with this subject.  The book makes a strong case against Omar al-Bayoumi, the Saudi responsible for finding accommodations for the first two hijackers to arrive in the United States, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.

The book also contained some surprises; I had not been aware that Osama Bin Laden had in fact visited the United States.  The authors reveal that this was disclosed in a 2009 book by his wife.  So whether you have a deep knowledge of the events of 9-11 or just a modest understanding of the events of that day, the book will certainly enlighten you on certain aspects.

The authors make little secret of their disdain for the 9-11 Truthers, and this section of the book will probably provide the most delight to our rational readers.  Summers and Swan take a bat to such kooks as David Ray Griffin, Laura Knight Jadczyk and A.K. Dewdney.  There is a reasonably accurate summary of the history of the movement, although oddly the authors ignore Eric Hufschmid's importance as the first American author and filmmaker of 9-11 Truth.

I do have a few reservations about the book.  The authors repeat the canard that workers on the pile relied on the EPA's advisory that the air was safe to breathe in Lower Manhattan.  I looked into this extensively and found numerous citations indicating that respirators were generally required on the pile, although the workers commonly refused them because of the discomfort and the inability to smoke cigarettes while wearing them. Here's an NPR interview from earlier this month with a journalist for the Atlantic Monthly, who talks about the respirators:

Cleanup workers themselves were rebellious. Almost no one wore respirators, Langewiesche says, except in the most extreme conditions.
"They didn't put them on, and I didn't either," he says. "And the reason was — it was sort of necessary in a weird way. It wasn't self-sacrificial. But there had to be this kind of reckless courage, even if it was nonsensical, that was part of the beauty."
 If anybody can be criticized about the workers not wearing respirators, it's OSHA.

According to an e-mail message to the regional director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Mr. McKinney said at an Oct. 7, 2001, meeting that the city wanted the respirator rules enforced because “contractors ‘fear’ OSHA’s ability to issue penalties and that would cause compliance.”
 I am also concerned that the Able Danger claims and Richard Clarke's account are presented without any recognition of the problems associated with them.  Able Danger was investigated by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which found that the most sensational claim, that Mohamed Atta was identified as a terrorist by the system well before 9-11 and appeared on a chart as part of the "Brooklyn Cell" was unfounded.


As for Clarke, his self-serving account of his actions before and during the events of 9-11 is riddled with inconsistencies. To give just two examples, Clarke claimed that his teleconference on 9-11 included both Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Myers, but we know that in fact neither of those two men participated. In addition, I noted something about Clarke's appearance on 60 Minutes back in 2004. When Lesley Stahl asked him about his party affiliation, Clarke gave a very curious answer:
"Last time I had to declare my party loyalty, it was to vote in the Virginia primary for president of the United States in the year 2000. And I asked for a Republican ballot."
I thought at the time that it was an odd circumlocution, so I did a little digging and discovered that Clarke could not have asked for a Democratic ballot in 2000, because the Democrats did not have a primary in Virginia in 2000:
While it's not a lie, it strikes me as an intentionally deceptive statement. Still, overall The Eleventh Day strikes me as belonging on the top shelf of the 9-11 books, right up there with The Looming Tower and Perfect Soldiers.

41 Comments:

At 30 September, 2011 12:55, Blogger Pat Cowardly said...

"I am willing to join in the call for the release of the complete 28-page section of the 9-11 Commission Report dealing with this subject." -Scat Scurrilous

Congratulations on being a "troofer" now, you fat mucous.

 
At 30 September, 2011 13:06, Blogger GuitarBill said...

So goat fucker (aka, "Pat Cowardly"), given that you're a provocateur not a real troofer, I was wondering if you'd take a break from your hectic masturbatory itinerary and answer a question:

For an ass-clown with an alleged "scientific reputation," why do you live in fear of a Puerto Rican janitor?

And remember, you oily degenerate, I'm just askin' questions...

 
At 30 September, 2011 13:53, Blogger zendingo said...

i'm still wondering if willie rodriguez (that is who you're thinking of bill, isn't it?) still endorses a conspiracy theory that implicated the federal government.....

 
At 30 September, 2011 13:53, Blogger Michael Lewis said...

Congratulations on being a "troofer" now, you fat mucous.

Nobody's opposed to releasing that those pages. Pat has supported releasing them in the past.

What do you think's in those pages?

 
At 30 September, 2011 13:54, Blogger zendingo said...

just askin......

 
At 30 September, 2011 13:58, Blogger zendingo said...

What do you think's in those pages?

i'm guessing the 28 pages will implicate the saudi royal family in a way that makes invading afganistan and iraq instead of saudi arabia look like some kind of conspiracy...

 
At 30 September, 2011 16:03, Blogger James B. said...

I picked up a copy at Border's on clearance, but haven't had a chance to read it.

The Osama living in the US story has been floated before. Haven't seen any other evidence of it though.

 
At 30 September, 2011 16:32, Blogger GuitarBill said...

"...i'm still wondering if willie rodriguez (that is who you're thinking of bill, isn't it?) still endorses a conspiracy theory that implicated the federal government."

I have no idea, and I'm not sure that I care.

All I know is that I was looking forward to making some popcorn and watching a good troofer cat fight. The goat fucker, however, chickened out and ran squealing and crying from Willie's challenge to debate. Not once but twice.

 
At 30 September, 2011 19:34, Blogger Pat said...

Willie has assured me in several communications that while he stands by his statement about an explosion below him, he does not believe in the conspiracy theories.

 
At 01 October, 2011 07:13, Blogger Len said...

Pat does he still stand by his claim the explosion from below preceded the one from above?

As for the respirators you seem to have a blind spot regarding this issue, several resuce workers said they were unvailable especially in the first few weeks? And yes the EPA did say the air was OK.

 
At 01 October, 2011 13:08, Blogger snug.bug said...

Willie sued the president and 150 others, accusing them of planting explosives in the twin towers. In that suit he also alleged that he had single-handedly rescued fifteen persons and that when the towers fell down he had lost his livelihood.

 
At 01 October, 2011 19:32, Blogger GuitarBill said...

So what?

To Willie's credit, he had the brains and the honesty to retract his conspiratorial speculation when evidence was presented to the contrary. In other words, Willie's mistaken beliefs were falsifiable.

So what's your excuse, Mr. Delusional?

 
At 02 October, 2011 08:42, Blogger snug.bug said...

Willie withdrew his conspiratorial speculations when his incompetent lawsuit was thrown out of court and when the truth movement recognized that he was a liar and stopped sponsoring his nonsense.

 
At 02 October, 2011 12:39, Blogger Ian said...

Willie has assured me in several communications that while he stands by his statement about an explosion below him, he does not believe in the conspiracy theories.

As I'm sure every non-truther here understands, there's nothing about an explosion below Rodriguez that would necessarily indicate explosives below Rodriguez. The Naudet documentary clearly shows windows on the ground floor blown out. It's what happens when you have burning jet fuel traveling down elevator shafts.

 
At 02 October, 2011 12:40, Blogger Ian said...

Willie withdrew his conspiratorial speculations when his incompetent lawsuit was thrown out of court and when the truth movement recognized that he was a liar and stopped sponsoring his nonsense.

Um, no.

The only liar who was thrown out of the truth movement was you, for being a vicious sex stalker.

 
At 02 October, 2011 12:45, Blogger snug.bug said...

Your inability to distinguish fiction from fact goes a long way to explain why you are so confused about 9/11.

 
At 02 October, 2011 12:54, Blogger Ian said...

Your inability to distinguish fiction from fact goes a long way to explain why you are so confused about 9/11.

Brian, you've posted this dumbspam already. It doesn't change the fact that you're a liar and lunatic who was thrown out of the truth movement and can't do anything but squeal about it to people who laugh at him.

So have the widows had their questions answered yet? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

 
At 02 October, 2011 14:10, Blogger snug.bug said...

Are you ugly or what?

 
At 02 October, 2011 14:43, Blogger Ian said...

Brian, you didn't answer my question. What do you think Laurie Van Auken would think if she knew you weren't answering questions?

 
At 02 October, 2011 16:26, Blogger snug.bug said...

Probably she'd say your dumb questions weren't worthy of a response.

 
At 02 October, 2011 16:45, Blogger Ian said...

Probably she'd say your dumb questions weren't worthy of a response.

Squeal squeal squeal!

Here's another question: have you ever succeeded at anything, Brian? I ask because your 9/11 truth efforts are comical in their abysmal failure.

 
At 03 October, 2011 17:03, Blogger snug.bug said...

I can't think of anything I've tried that I haven't succeeded at.

 
At 03 October, 2011 17:24, Blogger Ian said...

I can't think of anything I've tried that I haven't succeeded at.

So you've gotten the widows questions answered? You've gotten a new investigation into 9/11? You've gotten your meatball on a fork model published in an engineering journal? You have a job? You've married Willie Rodriguez?

 
At 03 October, 2011 17:35, Blogger snug.bug said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 03 October, 2011 17:48, Blogger Ian said...

I'm working on getting the questions answered and the investigations.

And failing. I mean, it's been a decade. How much longer do we have to wait?

As to Willie, why would I want to marry him?

Because you're a deranged pervert who is sexually obsessed with the man. Your lust for him is insane.

 
At 03 October, 2011 23:54, Blogger snug.bug said...

I've only been working on it for 5 years. And there have been a lot of people (like Willie R.) doing their damndest to see that the questions are never answered.

But murder will out and the truth will prevail.

 
At 04 October, 2011 04:41, Blogger Ian said...

I've only been working on it for 5 years. And there have been a lot of people (like Willie R.) doing their damndest to see that the questions are never answered.

Ah, "only" 5 years. Well, maybe after 5 years you should try a different approach? Somehow I doubt calling people "girls" here for laughing at you is getting you any closer to an investigation.

But murder will out and the truth will prevail.

Yup, the truth has prevailed. You're just a liar and lunatic who can't accept the truth, so you post endless dumbspam here in a desperate attempt to be taken seriously. Of course, you just get laughed at, which leads to you squealing and calling people "girls". It's endless comedy.

 
At 04 October, 2011 10:01, Blogger snug.bug said...

And it doesn't seem to trouble you that what you're laughing at is an unclever lie of your own devising, and a mighty stale one at that.

Why put in so much energy on the wrong side of history? Why take such delight in the frustration of the innocent victims of 9/11?

 
At 04 October, 2011 15:25, Blogger WhyAskQuestions said...

Why put in so much energy on the wrong side of history? Why take such delight in the frustration of the innocent victims of 9/11?

There is no "wrong side" of history. All the evidence history shows is explained in detail, which you can't possibly read about because you ignore it.

You are not a victim nor a family member. Piss off!

 
At 04 October, 2011 16:18, Blogger Ian said...

And it doesn't seem to trouble you that what you're laughing at is an unclever lie of your own devising, and a mighty stale one at that.

Brian, I'm laughing at you, not some "lie". I'm laughing because you're a self-important blowhard with delusions of grandeur.

Why put in so much energy on the wrong side of history? Why take such delight in the frustration of the innocent victims of 9/11?

See what I mean?

 
At 04 October, 2011 23:19, Blogger snug.bug said...

Ian, you really don't know anything about me. What you're laughing at is a figment of your imagination.

 
At 05 October, 2011 04:29, Blogger Ian said...

Ian, you really don't know anything about me. What you're laughing at is a figment of your imagination.

False. I'm laughing at you: the failed janitor and lunatic who was thrown out of the truth movement for being a sex stalker and who nevertheless expects to be taken seriously when talking about such brilliant ideas as "meatball on a fork".

 
At 05 October, 2011 08:29, Blogger snug.bug said...

Thanks for proving my point.

 
At 05 October, 2011 17:31, Blogger Ian said...

Thanks for proving my point.

So Brian, have the widows had their questions answered yet?

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

 
At 05 October, 2011 22:03, Blogger snug.bug said...

And once again proving my point.

Too Pig, You've Failed.

 
At 06 October, 2011 18:31, Blogger Ian said...

And once again proving my point.

I'll take that as a no. So, just as you've failed to hold down a job, and failed to get a new investigation, and failed to get your meatball on a fork model published, and failed to marry Willie Rodriguez, you've failed to get the widows' questions answered.

You're a total failure, Brian. It's so hilarious to see all the dumbspam you post in a desperate attempt to deny this.

Too Pig, You've Failed.

See what I mean?

 
At 06 October, 2011 18:38, Blogger snug.bug said...

Where do you get the idea that I've failed to hold down a job? All you know about me is the lies you've invented.

 
At 06 October, 2011 18:45, Blogger Ian said...

Where do you get the idea that I've failed to hold down a job? All you know about me is the lies you've invented.

So you have a job, Brian? Does your employer know that you spend all your time at work posting dumbspam on blogs?

 
At 06 October, 2011 20:13, Blogger snug.bug said...

Maybe you spend all your time at work posting dumbspam on blogs. I certainly don't.

You don't know anything about me, and you just make stuff up.

 
At 06 October, 2011 20:28, Blogger Ian said...

Maybe you spend all your time at work posting dumbspam on blogs. I certainly don't.

Of course you don't. You don't have a job. That's why you can spend all your time babbling about magic thermite elves all over the internet.

You don't know anything about me, and you just make stuff up.

It's funny to see the desperation in your posts, Brian. You know I've pwn3d you yet again, and you know there's nothing you can do about it.

 
At 06 October, 2011 21:35, Blogger snug.bug said...

nwor

 

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