In one volume, Mounting Evidence provides the most important evidence accumulated over many years that calls into question the government's account of 9/11. Any citizen of conscience reading it will demand a new investigation. -Mike Gravel, United States Senate, 1969-1981 There's little doubt the tragic attacks on 9/11 soon became the defining events of our time, shaping much of what has followed. But even now, over a decade later, how well does the public actually understand them? Other researchers have written about key facets of 9/11-the fall of World Trade Center buildings, the air-defense failures, the backgrounds of the hijackers, or the role of the Saudi funders. This impressively researched volume, however, is the first comprehensive treatment of the many different angles. It connects the dots to reveal disturbing patterns. Years after many of us thought the Crime of the Century was solved, "case closed" additional evidence demands a closer look. These findings, which Dr. Rea presents in a lively, accessible way, call out for a new investigation. In Mounting Evidence, Dr. Rea shows how, by understanding the shattering events of that dark day, Americans can end seemingly endless wars, take back personal liberties they've lost, and restore their democracy.

Mounting Evidence

Why We Need a New Investigation Into 9/11By Paul W. Rea

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Paul W. Rea, PhD
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-0066-1

Contents

Acknowledgments...............................................................................ixAuthor's Preface..............................................................................xiAcronyms & Abbreviations......................................................................xiiiPrologue......................................................................................11. "The Eye Begins to See": 9/11 in Meaningful Contexts.......................................102. How America Starts Its Wars................................................................283. The Power of Patterns and Precedents.......................................................504. Media Mythmaking in the Wake of Catastrophe................................................665. "It Did Not Fit with the Story We Wanted to Tell"..........................................916. The Joint Congressional Inquiry: "There Are Some Bombshells Out There".....................1147. Selecting the Cover-Up Squad...............................................................1338. The Commission's Troubling Staff Appointments..............................................1529. The Commission: How the Process Went Wrong.................................................16910. The Commission's Report: "Not Bad for Government Work"....................................18711. The Politics of Time: Commission Shifts Times for Key Events..............................21012. Paralysis: Strangely Dysfunctional Air Defenses...........................................23613. Untapped Resources: Atlantic City, Andrews, and Beyond....................................26314. How Drills Helped Paralyze Air Defenses...................................................28815. Islamists, al Qaeda, and the Saudi Factor in 9/11.........................................31016. Al Qaeda Operatives with Special Protection...............................................33617. Osama bin Laden: The Man, the Myth, and the Mythmaking....................................36618. Islamists, Pakistan, and Its ISI..........................................................39319. Flight 77 and the Pentagon................................................................41320. Flight 93: Legends and Realities..........................................................44021. The Fall of the Twin Towers...............................................................46622. "Building What?" The Strange Fall of WTC-7................................................496Conclusion: The Need for a New Investigation..................................................523About the Author..............................................................................535Recommended Resources: Films, Websites, and Readings..........................................537Index.........................................................................................545

Chapter One

"The Eye Begins to See": 9/11 in Meaningful Contexts

As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such a twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air—however slight—lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

—Justice William O. Douglas

The ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus famously observed that "in war, truth is the first casualty." Today, however, this strikes us as an understatement: given so many wars, truth has died a thousand deaths. Generating war propaganda may be "the world's second oldest profession," and today its practitioners are very well paid.

Even when truth survives, it's often hidden within a thicket of distortions, half truths, and outright lies. Prof. Peter Phillips of Project Censored alerts us to a "truth emergency" in which "we're awash in a sea of information but left without contexts for real understanding" (M. Huff Censored 2011 pp. 221-229). True, we live in the "information age," blessed by all the possibilities enabled by the internet, but we also live in a time of misinformation, disinformation, and just plain info overload. Confusing information with understanding, we face a crisis of meaning—of knowledge framed so we can act on it.

While today's shortage of readily available, accurate, meaningful knowledge has many causes, two stand out: secrecy and suppression. Many, even most government officials and corporate media outlets perceive sharing the truth as contrary to their interests. This said, certain "sensitive" areas are particularly prone to secrecy and suppression.

Areas of Special Secrecy and Suppression

All matters nuclear have long been shrouded in secrecy and subjected to suppression. Taking one example among many, How was it possible, when all of Europe was finding fallout from the Chernobyl disaster, that the French government could doggedly deny that radioactive dust had fallen on France? (DVD: The Story of Chernobyl). Even after all the media coverage devoted to the Fukushima disaster, how many of us understand how governments treat nuclear power?

Compounding the problem, many of our fellow citizens aren't paying much attention, and even fewer are demanding the truth. As American humorist Josh Billings quipped, "scarce as truth is, the supply has always exceeded the demand" (www.quotedb.com/quotes/1588). As a result, the public is fed—and too often swallows—readily available junk food for thought.

The 9/11 tragedy is another area of especially intense secrecy and suppression. Pulling together solid facts about 9/11 is like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing, lost, or destroyed—and with still others impounded by government agencies. The picture that emerges is incomplete, riddled with holes.

More broadly, few areas are more beset by a lack of candor than national security and military matters. Because 9/11 lies at the intersection of these realms, and because this watershed event threatened to expose powerful interests, it's been a bastion of especially strong resistance to truth-telling. When the air-defense failures raised questions about the ability of the federal government to protect citizens, they activated the usual mechanisms for evasion: adoption of an Official Story, media spin, distortion, suppression, and denial.

A Closer Look at the 9/11 Commission

Whatever its other failings, the 9/11 Commission didn't let facts get in the way of telling a good story. Comprised almost entirely of Washington insiders, the Commission—as we'll see later—was most interested in covering for both parties as well as for the federal agencies most implicated in the debacle. The Commission seemed especially keen on buffing the tarnished image of the Pentagon brass.

When the Commission finished its work in 2004, three months before George Bush and Dick Cheney were up for election, it seemed obvious to many that it didn't want to be held responsible for their defeat. Wanting to appear bipartisan, the Commission basically said, "Clinton was somewhat at fault, and Bush was somewhat at fault, but nobody was responsible." Early on, its Report made it clear that it would establish "no individual blame" (Report p. xiv). How could...