The 5 Unanswered Questions about 9/11: What the 9/11 Commission Report Failed to Tell Us

by James Ridgeway

Book Overview

The 9/11 Commission Report is widely declared to be the definitive account of the most devastating attack ever to take place on American soil, but in truth the most vital questions about 9/11 have not been asked, and an ever-growing number of facts casts clouds of suspicion over the actions and motivations of many key government officials and agencies. The 5 Unanswered Questions cuts through the official accounts and political "spin" to the questions...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1583227121
• ISBN13: 9781583227121
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.9" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Five Stars for Five Unanswered Questions

"The 5 Unanswered Questions About 9/11" reminds me of one of those movies that doesn't seem to draw the audience it deserves. This wasn't a bestseller, but should have been. You know what happened, but this one goes into the details. It asks the following five questions and answers them, with each answer being like a thriller of unimaginable proportions: 1. Why Couldn't We Stop an Attack from the Skies? Actually, we could have, but we didn't. Thirteen years after the explosion of Pan Am Flight 103, 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland, the FAA, which is charged with regulating the airlines to protect the public failed to ensure that airlines had maintained the safety and security they were supposed to provide. In addition, deregulation allowed airlines a freer hand in reducing and preventing government oversight and interference. Paying enormous fees to their lobbies, they were able to convince our government that newer security measures such as reinforced cockpit doors and a more professional security force were too costly. The government nodded its assent in allowing airlines to put profits above safety of their passengers. Worse, airlines not only knew of terrorist warnings that were coming in with regularity, American Airlines was notified of the first hijacking thanks to calm and quick-thinking flight attendants who were relaying information to employees on the ground. They gave this information before other hijacked airlines would even leave the tarmac. They did nothing. They didn't notify crews. They didn't ground aircraft. They didn't notify the FAA. They even tried to keep it under wraps. However, their subsequent lobbying effort took off at supersonic speed. They overestimated their losses, got Congress to give them five billion dollars more than they needed and pass a law preventing them from being sued. They also began laying off thousands from their workforce as they promised they wouldn't do. 2. Why Didn't the Government Protect Us? Or, who was actually running the country? And this is truly the sad part. The FAA and the airlines having already known that two aircraft had already hit the World Trade Center did not send out warnings to other aircraft that had yet to be hijacked, and the FAA had failed to notify the military as protocol demanded. For such a secretive administration as this one that has shown so little trust for the public, it was the public only that took action. A United flight dispatcher took the initiative and began sending warnings of hijackings to other United aircraft. Knowing what the hijackers intended to do, brave Americans on board Flight 93 didn't wait for their government to protect them or rescue them. They decided to prevent further catastrophe and stormed the cockpit just 25 minutes from Washington D.C. On September 11, 2001, the President of the United States was so clueless as to what was going on his first reaction was that whoever was flying the plane had to be a bad pilot. Even after an aid

We have been lied to.

This is a very good book. So many questions about 9/11 have gone unanswered, and Americans deserve answers.

Challenge to the Conventional Wisdom

This is a well researched and strongly documented book that raises serious questions. It makes a convincing case as to the incompetence and neglect by the Bush Administration and by several key agencies such as the CIA, FAA & FBI. Ridgeway points ou that there are several unanswered questions concerning 9/11. Why was nobody in the Federal government held accountable for the tragedy? Why did the 9/11 Commission fail so completely in doing its job? For a work that is only 180 pages long, this book packs a wallop.

raises good questions

At the very least this book raises some good questions. It is well researched, only 180 pages and seems to be well documented. Follow up research is necessary but it seems to expose incompetence and neglect on the part of the FBI, CIA and the Administration.

Cover-up At The Highest Level

James Ridgeway brings up some very interesting questions concerning 9/11 that every American should address--the Bush-Saudi connection, the FBI informant who had connections to two of the hijackers, and why nobody in the government was held accountable for this tragedy. These are just a few of the areas that should raise the question, "Who was really responsible"??