The official 9/11 story says that a group of Muslim fanatics, full of hatred for American freedom, hijacked four airplanes on the same day, and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. Led by one person with a computer in a cave in Afghanistan, they were able to defeat America’s $400 billion defense system. Using mostly mainstream news sources, the author asks questions that no one else has asked.

US military war games took place the very hour of the 9/11 attacks. It is possible that they were designed to be so distracting that they may have contributed to the success of the real attacks. According to several experts, the destruction of the World Trade Center looked more like a controlled demolition than the result of terrorism. There is a huge difference between the temperature at which jet fuel burns, and that needed to melt reinforced steel. If planes really did bring the World Trade Center, where did those extra thousands of degrees come from? Firefighters who reached the affected floors reported a couple of small fires, but no steel-melting inferno.

The author also looks at the reasons for planning war in Afghanistan and Iraq, even before 9/11; namely, oil and drugs in Central Asia. He also looks at the connections between 9/11 and groups like Halliburton, Harken Energy and BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International).

He also explores the backlash in America, including things like the Patriot Act, the ignoring of the Posse Comitatus Act, the building of internment camps and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

This book does an excellent job of shredding, once and for all, the "official" 9/11 story. It is a first-rate piece of journalism that is very much worth reading for all Americans. ( )