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The New Pearl Harbor

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The cover ofThe New Pearl Harbor,published in 2004 byDavid Ray Griffin

The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11(2004) is a book written byDavid Ray Griffin,a retired professor ofphilosophyat theClaremont School of Theology.It draws analogies between theSeptember 11 attacksand theattack on Pearl Harborin 1941. The title is taken from the 2000 paper "Rebuilding America's Defenses" produced by theProject for the New American Century,which asserted that only a "new Pearl Harbor" would enable the military and defense policy transformations the group desired to rapidly take place.[1]

The book was included in the official selection of 99 books made available to all members of9/11 Commission[2]and was found onOsama bin Laden's bookshelf during theraid.[3]

Content

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In the book, Griffin presents pieces of evidence and arguments which he believes support a conclusion that theGeorge W. Bush administrationwas complicit in the September 11, 2001, attacks, and therefore constituted afalse flagincident.[4]

The foreword was written byRichard A. Falk,professor emeritus atPrinceton University.[5]

Part One of the book looks at the events of 9/11, discussing each Flight in turn and also the behavior of PresidentGeorge W. Bushand hisSecret Serviceprotection. Part Two examines 9/11 in a wider context, in the form of four "disturbing questions":

  • Did US Officials have advance information about 9/11?
  • Did US Officials obstruct investigations prior to 9/11?
  • Did US Officials have reasons for allowing 9/11?
  • Did US Officials block captures and investigations after 9/11?

Critical response

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Critics of the book argue that many of the claims in the book are easily refuted, and that there are many leaps of logic.[6]Griffin rejects such criticisms[7]and has debated his critics.[8]

According to formerCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA) agentRobert Baer,writing inThe Nationmagazine:

What's notable about Griffin's take on these events is how easily he leaps to larger evils, a conspiracy at the top. Griffin is a thoughtful, well-informed theologian who before September 11 probably would not have gone anywhere near a conspiracy theory. But the catastrophic failures of that awful day are so implausible and the lies about Iraq so blatant, he feels he has no choice but to recycle some of the wilder conspiracy theories, several of which were popularized byThierry MeyssaninL'Effroyable Imposture(9/11: The Big Lie), a bestseller in France.[9]

Baer adds that Griffin's subtitle,Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11,"suggests this book is a search for truth, but don't let that fool you. His mind is all but made up."[citation needed]

In January 2002, Baer wrote about the events of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks inThe Guardian"[D]id bin Laden act alone, through his ownal-Qaidanetwork, in launching the attacks? About that I'm far more certain and emphatic: no. "[10]He later stated, "For the record, I don't believe that the World Trade Center was brought down by our own explosives, or that a rocket, rather than an airliner, hit the Pentagon. I spent a career in the CIA trying to orchestrate plots, wasn't all that good at it, and certainly couldn't carry off 9/11. Nor could the real pros I had the pleasure to work with."[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Defense and National Security".Project for the New American Century.Archived fromthe originalon 10 October 2013.
  2. ^"9/11 Commission Materials".Archives.gov.9 November 2010.
  3. ^"Bin Ladin's Bookshelf".Dni.gov.Retrieved2015-05-21.
  4. ^David Ray Griffin (2013).9/11 Ten Years Later: When State Crimes against Democracy Succeed.Interlink Books. p. 21.ISBN978-1623710033.Retrieved2014-01-20.It appears, therefore, that 9/11 was the most elaborate example yet of a false-flag attack
  5. ^Falk, Richard(16 June 2004)."Foreword to" The New Pearl Harbor "written by David Ray Griffin".Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research.Archived fromthe originalon 20 January 2012.
  6. ^"The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11 by David Ray Griffin Review by Chip Berlet".Publiceye.org.
  7. ^"Response to Chip Berlet's Review of the New Pearl Harbor".Publiceye.org.1 May 2004.
  8. ^"The New Pearl Harbor: A Debate On A New Book That Alleges The Bush Administration Was Behind The 9/11 Attacks".Democracy Now!.
  9. ^"Dangerous Liaisons".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-12-28.Retrieved2005-08-26.
  10. ^The Guardian:See No Evil.January 11, 2002.
  11. ^Baer, Robert (December 7, 2007)."Commentary: The CIA's Gift to Conspiracy Theorists".Time.Archived fromthe originalon December 8, 2007.Retrieved2010-03-18.
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