9/11 Commission Report, The: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (Authorized Edition)
by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 588)
Read in May, 2002
The first part is the best. It begins with the actual attack told from several different points of view - passengers and crew on the doomed planes, air traffic controllers, FAA officials, and NORAD and military personnel. It also describes how the President and other government officials were informed and how they responded. For example, Bush knew before he entered the school that a commercial airliner had crashed into one of the Twin Towers, but that's all the information he had. Like myself an...more
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Read in November, 2004
recommends it for:
Conspiracy theorists whove never actually read the damn thing.
Stunning and informative and depressing and scary. It is hard to say what is more unnerving about the revelations of this tome; that so many conspiracy theories persist, or that the true lessons of it seem to have gone completely unheeded by both sides of the political divide. One startling implication of the report is the freezing effect the Republican campaign to impeach Bill Clinton hindered our ability to get Bin Laden. Many times, apparently, opportunities were halted for political reasons,...more
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This is an important starting point for anyone who wants to understand what happened on September 11 and try to put events in perspective. The commission did an excellent job of writing a report that could easily be understood by ordinary readers and scholars alike. But it is necessary to read more than one book to understand what has shaped the Middle East over many decades and centuries. You can read novels and non-fiction and each will contribute only a small portion of the information you ne...more
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Read in February, 2008
The first 10% of this book is very well worth reading, offering as it does a detailed, minute-by-minute breakdown of exactly what happened on September 11, 2001, from the perspective of the various aviation and federal organizations. If you were mesmerized, like I was, by the documentary-like vision of the movie "United 93" and interested in the particulars of how the other three planes were hijacked, and how the casual ineptness of human agency allowed it to happen, that first chapte...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
people who want to know more about why and how it happened
This book is an incredibly good read considering the genre (committee report). Keeping track of all the names is harder than reading War and Peace and I hope that one day they'll publish and indexed version so that it would be easier to go back and link up people with their various roles in the plot and its aftermath. Compelling, scary, instructive, but also makes you wonder what isn't in there that we also ought to know.
Reading this while I was also watching 24 on DVD was an interesting s...more
Reading this while I was also watching 24 on DVD was an interesting s...more
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Read in January, 2007
Not the most enjoyable of reads, but in all honesty, I feel like a much more informed citizen having read this book. Not only does it offer a bi-partisan look at the tragic events of 9/11, but it puts the entire situation into context with an in-depth history of the events leading up to 9/11. In addition, it offers forward-looking statements about how the people and the government of the United States should move forward with some of the most critical National Security issues that our nation cur...more
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recommends it for:
George W. Bush
I thought that the dry tone of this book would detract from the subject matter and put me to sleep, but it's well-researched and very illuminating. I certainly don't agree with everything here (can you say Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001?), but does offer insights into how we could have held on to the sympathy felt for us by most of the world afer 9/11 by practicing religious tolerance and cultural awarene...more
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
Heck of a job, Brownie!
It's an eye-opener to say the least. One chapter of this book will make you furious when you realize how incompetent and embarrassing the US intelligence services are and how dangerously narrow the Bush Administration's vision is. If you are one of those assholes who think the Clinton Administration is to blame, you clearly haven't read this non-partisan, commissioned report. Even more anger spouts forth when you realize that, six years later, congress has yet to seriously investigate the detail...more
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Another book store tragedy. This book was difficult to get one's hands on when it was first released--I think because we all felt somewhat deceived and were looking for solace.
I worked at a book store at the time of its release and remember hearing that customers could buy a photocopied edition from Kinkos if they didn't want to wait on book stores to receive back-ordered copies. This was legal and didn't infringe Copywrite laws since it was a public government document.
I'm not sure if...more
I worked at a book store at the time of its release and remember hearing that customers could buy a photocopied edition from Kinkos if they didn't want to wait on book stores to receive back-ordered copies. This was legal and didn't infringe Copywrite laws since it was a public government document.
I'm not sure if...more
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Read in July, 2007
I'm slogging through this book...sometimes I read it in two day chunks, other days I keel over after a few paragraphs. This book is surprisingly engaging, thanks to some very good writing. I'm biased...I imagine a bunch of busy poli sci graduates clicking away to properly document this event. This copy doesn't include the notes but does make me want to check out the original sources very badly. If you want to swim out of the muck of "making America safer" speeches, read this and begin...more
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Read in September, 2005
recommends it for:
Everyone
Its amazing how the commission was able to meticulously piece together the events leading to 9/11 in such a short amount have time and yet still, the most powerful and efficiently high tech agency in the world the Central Intelligence Agency with there annual billion dollar budgets weren't able to prevent the 9//11 hijackers from carrying our their despicable and barbaric act on American soil of all places. There is much to it than our government is really willing to divulge.
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If you are interested in the events that the city/state/federal government knew about leading up to, during, and after 9/11, you should read this.
Or, if you listen to, quote, or accuse anyone for any of those events and are just regurgitating what someone else told you, you should read this book.
It is an easy read, mostly it reads like a novel and is a good chronicle of events according to the records and testimony of people involved.
I found it really interesting.
Or, if you listen to, quote, or accuse anyone for any of those events and are just regurgitating what someone else told you, you should read this book.
It is an easy read, mostly it reads like a novel and is a good chronicle of events according to the records and testimony of people involved.
I found it really interesting.
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
those interested in 9/11
While the book is tedious to read, it is not as unreadable as you've heard, if you're interested in the story, most of which has been gleaned (from a look at the end notes) from the imprisonment and possible torture of Khalid Sheik Muhammad, one of the 1993 World Trade Center co-conspirators, who had intimate knowledge not only of Al Queda, but of the 9/11 plot itself.
Those who indignantly declare that torture never results in reliable intelligence should read this book.
Those who indignantly declare that torture never results in reliable intelligence should read this book.
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Read in July, 2008
This report, and it is more of a report than a book, goes further into detail about the events leading up to September 11, the actual events of that day and the aftermath than I ever thought imaginable. It is not a book for everyone as it will surely bring back undesirable images and rekindle fears that you have allowed yourself to suppress over time. But make no mistake about it, if you are at all curious about what happened and why, this is the only source you need.
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who wants to know the details
A really interesting look at the events leading up to, during, and after the attacks of 9/11. It includes in depth history of the taliban, jihad, sunni vs shiite relations, and the relationship to the US. There is a play by play of the events on the day of the attacks from beginning to end. Finally there is a analysis of what went wrong. I enjoyed it but it was long and packed with information and should be taken with a grain of salt.
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Objectivity usually translates into a dry, unmemorable read. This is true of the 9/11 Commission Report. But, it is a necessary evil to try to make sense of one's political environment.
The main focus of this book is to gather the clues in hindsight and play back the plane crashes as a news reel. It does not delve into the pshycology behind the political players.
This book humbled me.
The main focus of this book is to gather the clues in hindsight and play back the plane crashes as a news reel. It does not delve into the pshycology behind the political players.
This book humbled me.
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Read in October, 2004
Reads like a spy novel, but not very believable in the end. I suppose it's just my bitterness, pessimism, and well-founded skepticism toward anything our government says/does about those it terms "terrorists".
That being said, this does offer an insight into how the military and Bush administration work.
That being said, this does offer an insight into how the military and Bush administration work.
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Surprisingly engaging and informative. Despite being politically safe (read cowardly) and avoiding blame it points to key shortcomings that allowed 9/11 to happen. Yet it only touches upon the dangers inherent to a free, open society and the choices that can increase security while restricting liberty.
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Read in September, 2004
Story about the build-up and the actual events of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Much of the book was informative, but I espcially loved the tension of the opening chapters describing the confusion and chaos of those first fateful hours on that horrific day.
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Read in January, 2004
The 9/11 Commission did a pretty good job. I would highly recommend reading Wright's "The Looming Tower" as a counterpoint to the Final Report. Wright digs deeper into the development of al Qaeda and also corrects a couple of errors of the Final Report.
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