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The New Pearl Harbor: A Debate On A New Book That Alleges
The Bush Administration Was Behind The 9/11 Attacks
Chalmers Johnson: The Sorrows of Empire Militarism, Secrecy,
and the End of the Republic
The New Pearl Harbor: A Debate On A New Book That
Alleges The Bush Administration Was Behind The 9/11 Attacks
In a new book, well known theologian David Ray Griffin,
alleges the Pentagon may have been hit by a missile on Sept.
11 and that the Twin Towers collapsed from a controlled explosion.
The book has been hailed by many who question the official
record of what happened on Sept. 11. But Chip Berlet of the
Public Research Associates, who has studied conspiracy theory
movements, charges Griffin's book doesn't hold up because
it is based on faulty premises and unreliable sources. Today
we have a debate on the book and what happened on 9/11.
In the nearly 3 years since the September 11th attacks,
the US government’s official inquiry has come under
increasing scrutiny, particularly from families of the victims.
At the public hearings of the 9/11 commission, there have
been multiple protests both inside and out. And the Bush administration
has refused to cooperate fully in the investigation. For weeks,
National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice refused to appear
before the commission, eventually saying she would appear
but not under oath. But after public outcry, she ultimately
testified. President Bush and Vice President Cheney met with
the commission members in a non-public, closed-door meeting.
They refused to give any sworn testimony, the meeting was
not recorded and the handwritten notes of commission members
were confiscated before they left the meeting.
In recent days, members of the 9/11 commission have warned
that the panel may fail to produce a unanimous final report
this summer. Meanwhile, several of the victims’family
members have refused to take any money from the US government’s
compensation fund—people like Ellen Mariani, who was
on this program last week. Her husband Neil died on September
11th and she has rejected up to $1.8 million, calling it hush
money.
There are a number of groups that have formed a movement
over the past 3 years called the 9-11 Truth Movement. They
allege that the official version of events on September 11
is filled with holes and has left many unanswered questions.
Their case is summarized in part in a book by David Ray Griffin,
a professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Claremont School
of Theology in California. The book is called The New Pearl
Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration
and 9/11.
- David Ray Griffin, author of The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing
Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11. He is
a professor of Philosophy of Religion and Theology at the
Claremont School of Theology in California.
- Chip Berlet, senior analyst at Political Research Associates
in Somerville, Massachusetts. He recently wrote a critique
of David Ray Griffin's book The New Pearl Harbor.
- Read the Political Research Associates critique
of The New Pearl Harbor
- Read David Ray Griffin's response
Chalmers Johnson: The Sorrows of Empire Militarism,
Secrecy, and the End of the Republic
Former CIA analyst and retired University of California
professor Chalmers Johnson examines the concept of blowback
-- the unintended costs and consequences of American imperialism
and how it is connected to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Since September 2001, the United States has “undergone
a transformation from republic to empire that may well prove
irreversible.”
This is what scholar and author Chalmers Johnson writes in
his new book The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy and
the End of the Republic. The book discusses the roots of American
militarism, the rise and extent of the military-industrial
complex, and the close ties between arms industry executives
and high-level government officials.
* Chalmers Johnson, leading scholar of Asia and US-Asian
relations, his previous book is Blowback: The Costs and Consequences
of American Empire.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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