Good old boys down at the bar
Peanuts and politics
They think they know it all
They don’t know much of nothing
Even if one of them was to read the newspaper
Cover to cover
That ain’t what’s going on
Journalism’s dead and gone
(The Eagles Band; Frail grasp on the big picture; Album: Long Road Out of Eden)
During FY 2012, the U. S Navy relieved twenty-five commanding officers of their command. In 2011, there were twenty-two commanders who befell the same fate.
The reason(s) for these decisive and all but career-ending actions varied from personal misconduct, to poor organizational performance, wrongful leadership practices, deviation from safety and security regulations, and the result(s) of incident/accident reports; all of which are adjudicated by protocols contained within the body of military law.
Likewise, every city, county and state, as well as the federal government, adhere to established protocols in those instances when legal contemplation—whether civil or criminal in nature—is called for. From traffic, family, district and superior courts to the empanelment of a Grand Jury, there exist a body of instructions and procedures which address every possible contingency.
As of this date, neither the state, county or city of New York, nor the Department of Defense, nor the Attorney General of the United States have employed—in response to the events of 9/11/2001—any of the criminal investigation and forensic examination vehicles available to them; as they boldly and with obvious forethought, cast aside every accepted and normally employed crime investigation and crime-scene protocol.
Equally inexplicable, not one person was charged or prosecuted for the innumerable systemic failures of our nation’s intelligence (FBI, CIA) and air defense (DOD/NORAD) systems.
As world events are measured, there are very few that have changed the course of a nation’s history more than the tragedy of September 11, 2001; which, consequently and at the very least, has caused a profound change in the day-to-day life in the United States of America -- as well as much of the world. Thus, it but stands to reason that the many anomalous, highly suspicious and inexplicable incidents of that fateful day—especially when considering the manner in which that heinous criminal act was investigated and reported—would provoke theories that are in stark contrast with the United States government’s Official 9/11 Commission Report.
As of this date, 1,766 professional Architects and Engineers -- plus 16,381 other supporters (including yours truly) -- have signed a petition calling for a renewed investigation into the events of September 11, 2001.
Defenders of the official government version, nonetheless, have a distinct and commanding advantage: the psychological barrier that resides in fear; the gripping phobia of one day having to [possibly] acknowledge the awful truth.
Moreover, the broader sense of trepidation is both natural and understandable; for to accept the possibility that those responsible for 9/11 were not Muslim terrorists conjures the ugliest of all possibilities: [that] elements of our federal government were complicit in the cold, premeditated murder of the near 3,000 victims on 9/11/2001.
Additionally, the more than 6,500 deaths of our brothers and sisters in arms, the hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties, and the sweeping, liberty-inhibiting changes to our domestic policies such as the USA Patriot Act and features of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that allows for: “indefinite detention” of American citizens with no legal representation; and the assassination of American citizens on American soil -- is most assuredly a sign that things are not all that well in the land of purple mountains and fruited plains.
Admittedly, the “facts” of 9/11 are truly hard to come by; especially when considering that the massive amount of World Trade Center rubble was never forensically examined; thereby leaving both the pro and con conspiracy theorists awash in uncertain speculation.
In that sense, neither side can lay claim to factual data garnered from hard, physical evidence that should have been collected, catalogued, examined and reported in accordance with currently accepted crime scene evidence processing protocols.
Why these protocols were not followed is an inexplicably obscure irregularity; which leads to a critically important question: Why was a Grand Jury not empaneled?
Had investigation protocols been accomplished in accord with, direction by, and submitted to, a duly empaneled juridical authority, there would be no uncertainties, no theories and no unanswered questions -- as to the provenance of the events of 9/11/2001.
A politically officious panel—it’s formation initially resisted by the Bush administration—that had neither the powers of indictment or prosecution, the 9/11 Commission provided no answers beyond those that had already been published, nor the legal means over and above the political imbroglios found in congressional referrals.
In the report’s Preface (Pages xv and xvi), the commission declares: “ ... we have reviewed more than 2.5 million pages of documents and interviewed more that 1,200 individuals from ten countries;” “ ... we held nineteen days of hearings and took public testimony from 160 witnesses;” “ ... Our aim has not been to assign individual blame. Our aim has been to provide the fullest possible account of the events surrounding 9/11 and to identify lessons learned.”
Amazing! Two-thousand nine-hundred ninety-six people murdered; billions of prime and iconic real estate destroyed, and not one government employee is investigated, charged, tried and/or held accountable for, at a minimum and in a best case scenario, gross dereliction of their assigned duties and responsibilities.
The commission employed an administrative staff of 81 people; 21 of whom were attorneys (26%). Among the 160 witnesses who provided testimony, there were no practicing experts in the fields of architecture, engineering, building construction, firefighters, law enforcement, or first responders.
This absurd conflict of interest is most revealing as to the true goals of the commission: mitigate government liability, reinforce public acceptance of the unofficial accounting of the events of 9/11, and constitute a war on terror in perpetuity.
Lacking the physical evidence needed to answer the many logically challenged anomalies that can only be expressed in theory, it but stands to reason that a critical examination of the Official 9/11 Commission Report is called for.
From the 9/11 Commission Report: (The entire report can be downloaded in “pdf” format)
-- The deliberate exclusion of any mention of the late afternoon collapse of WTC Building 7 is noteworthy; and most certainly provided considerable fuel to the furtherance of the many varied conspiracy theories. (SEE VIDEO OF COLLAPSE)
-- From Chapter 9; Para. 9.1; Page 278: “ ... On any given workday, up to 50,000 office workers occupied the towers, and 40,000 people passed through the complex.” (The contents of “Footnote 1” are in the paragraph to follow)
-- From notes on Chapter 9; Page 541; Note 1; states: “In addition, the outside of each tower was covered by a frame of 14-inch-wide steel columns; the centers of the steel columns were 40 inches apart. These exterior walls bore most of the weight of the building. The interior core of the buildings was a hollow steel shaft in which elevators and stairwells were grouped.”
[NOTE: The word “hollow” is defined: “ ... having a hole or empty space inside.” The implication (as clearly stated by the 9/11 Commission) is that the weight-bearing structural support in the center core of both towers was minimal.]
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Each of the twin towers’ design and structure featured a center core comprised of forty-seven columns that ran the full bottom-to-top height of the towers; with the heftier center core weight-bearing columns positioned as the inner supports for the floor trusses.
Asserting that the weight-bearing support for the towers were primarily the exterior wall(s) columns was a deliberate deception -- not to mention a structural impossibility.
Exhibit (A) is a distance photo depicting both the outer wall(s) fork-shaped columns and the rectangular center structure featuring the forty-seven inner core columns as it’s framework.
Exhibit (B) is a close-up photo depicting the structural relationship between the outer wall columns, the floor trusses, and the inner core columns; revealing that the trusses were supported by both the outer and inner columns.
Exhibit (C) is a line art drawing depicting a cross section of the size, shape and structural features of the twin towers’ core columns.
Following publication of the official report, further evidence has been discovered which supports the theory that explosives were central to the destruction of WTCs 1, 2 and 7. “ ... For example, a search in 2010 found 76 more fragments of remains on the roof of the 40-story Deutsche Bank building 250 feet from the South Tower. Previously, over 750 human bone fragments, each less than a half-inch long, were collected from this roof.”
Absent the absolute, unvarnished truth, thoughts of achieving justice are relegated to nothing more than wishful thinking. The last time the American people witnessed justice at the highest levels of government was when—thanks to the Washington Post, Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward and one honest and courageous witness: John Dean—Richard Nixon was forced to resign and forty-three of his political operatives sentenced to varied terms in prison.
Sadly, courage and honesty have been supplanted by the obfuscations, half-truths and lies that reside in fear, greed and the subtle inducements to pragmatism. The media has all but abandoned the concept of investigative journalism. Whistleblowers are labeled as disgruntled employees and seekers of truth depicted as crazed and deluded conspiracy theorists.
Unless and until the recent trending is lawlessness is reversed; unless and until the American people re-embrace the concepts of integrity, morality and virtue ... this once great nation will also pass away -- just as other misguided fools in history who thought they could rule the world.
Weavin’ down the American highway
Through the litter and the wreckage and the cultural junk
Bloated with entitlement, loaded on propaganda
Now we’re drivin’ dazed and drunk
Been down the road to Damascus, the road to Mandalay
Met the ghost of Caesar on the Appian Way
He said, it’s hard to stop this bingein’ once you get a taste
But the road to empire is a bloody stupid waste
Behold the bitten apple, the power of the tools
But all the knowledge in the world is of no use to fools
And it’s a long road out of Eden . . .
(The Eagles Band; Title track from the album: Long Road Out of Eden)
