From a skeptical vantage-point, but also taking to heart the classic idea that those who benefit from a crime ought to at least be investigated, Griffin, an eminent philosopher and theologian, brings together an account of the national tragedy that is far more logical than the one we've been asked to believe. Gathering stories from the mainstream press, reports from other countries, the work of other researchers, and the contradictory words of members of the Bush administration themselves, Griffin presents a case that leaves very little doubt that the attacks of 9/11 need to be further investigated.

The disturbing questions emerge from every part of the story, from every angle, until it is impossible not to seriously doubt the official story, and suspect its architects of enormous deception. Long a teacher of ethics and systematic theology, Griffin writes with compelling and passionate logic, urging readers to draw their own conclusions from the evidence outlined. The New Pearl Harbor rings with the conviction that it is possible, even today, to search for the truth; it is a stirring call that we demand a real investigation into what happened on 9/11.

"A philosopher at the Claremont School of Theology, Griffin scrutinizes the time line and physical evidence of September 11 for unresolved inconsistencies. Griffin draws heavily on three similarly skeptical examinations, by Nafeez Ahmed, Paul Thompson and Thierry Meyssan, whose The Big Lie was a bestseller in France, and which the New Republic has called 'thin — and thinly argued.' Based on these sources, Griffin maintains that a full investigation of the events of that tragic day is necessary to answer such questions as whether American Airlines Flight 77 did crash into the Pentagon (though many will find it impossible to doubt this) and how United Airlines Flight 93 was downed. He claims that if standard procedures for scrambling fighter jets had been followed, the hijacked planes should have been intercepted in time, and that structurally, the collapse of the World Trade Center towers most likely was caused by explosives placed throughout the towers, not from the plane crashes. He strongly implies that the Bush administration had foreknowledge of the attack and sought to conceal what Griffin suggests was the Pakistani intelligence agency's involvement in the planning for the attacks. His analysis is undergirded by the theory that a significant external threat, on the scale of Pearl Harbor, was very much in the interest of the Bush administration, which he believes is intent on self-interested aggressive foreign policies. Even many Bush opponents will find these charges ridiculous, though conspiracy theorists may be haunted by the suspicion that we know less than we think we do about that fateful day. (Mar. 31)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

In the wake of the September 11th attacks, numerous individuals on the Internet and elsewhere began attacking the official accounts of how they occurred, raising questions over the actual physical evidence, the construction of the evidence, and the conduct of the government investigations. Although dubbed "conspiracy theorists" by many, former philosophy of religion professor Griffin prefers to call them "revisionists," arguing that they have made a strong prima facie case for some version of official complicity in the attacks. Collecting and collating the work of the conspiracy theorists/revisionists, Griffin admits that "although I have repeated only evidence that seemed credible to me, I have not independently verified the accuracy of this evidence." Some of the evidence seems easily dismissible, such as the possibility that the Pentagon was hit by a guided missile and not an airliner or that the twin towers were felled by controlled demolition explosives, while some, such as reports that the head of Pakistan's intelligence had wired money to the hijackers or that the Bush administration failed to adequately address warnings of the likelihood and nature of the attacks, will likely strike a significant number of readers as demanding further investigation.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"David Ray Griffin has done admirable and painstaking research in reviewing the mysteries surrounding the 9-11 attacks. It is the most persuasive argument I have seen for further investigation of the Bush administration's relationship to that historic and troubling event." Howard Zinn

"That 9/11 has become a defining moment in our history cannot be gainsaid. But its exact significance is an exceedingly contentious question notwithstanding the seeming clarity of prevailing accounts. David Ray Griffin deconstructs those accounts with a host of unresolved puzzles strongly suggestive of some sort of culpable complicity by US officials in the event. His book presents an incontrovertible argument of the need for a genuinely full and independent investigation of that infamous day." Douglas Sturm, Presidential Professor of Religion and Political Science, Emeritus, Bucknell University

David Ray Griffin has been a professor of philosophy of religion and theology at the Claremont School of Theology in California for over 30 years. He is co-director of the Center for Process Studies there and the author or editor of over 20 books.