The 9/11 Commission Report

Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks

By: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks

Narrated by: Ken Borgers, Sal Giangrasso, Charlton Griffin, Mark Moran, Todd Mundt

Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people died in terrorist attacks upon the United States. Hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, while an additional plane crashed into the fields of Pennsylvania. This series of events resulted in the single largest loss of life from enemy attack on U.S. soil.

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002. This independent, bipartisan commission had the task of producing a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the attack, including preparedness and immediate response, and providing recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.

The 9/11 Commission released their final report to the public on July 22, 2004. During the course of the Commission's 20-month investigation, the 10 commissioners and 80 staff members conducted more than 1300 interviews in 10 countries and reviewed more than 2 million documents. In the 17 days of public hearings, the commissioners heard testimony from 140 federal, state, and local officials, and private sector experts.

The Commission was composed of Chair Thomas H. Kean, Vice Chair Lee H. Hamilton, and Commissioners Richard Ben-Veniste, Fred F. Fielding, Jamie S. Gorelick, Slade Gorton, Bob Kerrey, John F. Lehman, Timothy J. Roemer, and James R. Thompson.

(P)2004 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Finalist, Achievement in Production, 2005

"The prose is free from bureaucratese and, for a consensus statement, the report is remarkably forthright. Though there could not have been a single author, the style is uniform. The document is an improbable literary triumph." (The New York Times Book Review)

A Political Report That Actually Kept My Attention

I found this report/book very interesting and captivating throughout. Perhaps it was because the 9/11 attacks on United States, are still so recent and fresh in our minds of those who lived through it all. It was a terrifying time and I find that this report helps to answer a lot of questions with factual agreed upon bi-partisan ism that we don't see coming down from Capitol Hill too often.

This a a very long, 3 part book, but I found it to be an interesting read and keeps moving along just fast enough to keep my attention.

Is it the last word on the subject? I doubt it...there will always be conspiracy theories, books and movies that abound, and I'm sure that after "all is said and done", we may even find out more, but for now, this has got to be one of the most comprehensive reports/books yet.

Some Very Interesting Stuff Here

For a government report, this was a pretty good read. Some very interesting information about the hijackings and especially the events that took place at the twin towers. I thought the book was balanced between finding problems that needed to be fixed and avoiding the hypercritical nature of "hindsight" analysis. There were some parts that were a little slow - especially the parts on inter-agency cooperation, but a good job overall. For the price - it can't be beat. I would agree with the criticisms of the narration (3-4 different narrators). I was surprised at some of the mispronounced names & places, especially since they have been used so often in the news. Some narrators were fine, but a few could have brushed up on things. Didn't detract from the content in a major way, however.

The content was good, narration not so much.

So the content was good. I’ve read it before, decided to listen to it. However the performance was sub par. There are multiple narrators, but the problem was some had significantly worse audio quality than others. I can’t stand that. I did finish the book, so that’s why it still got 3 stars for performance.

Excellent Review of the Events

While the narration of the book suffers occasionally due to the rushed tempo of some speakers, the content itself is fascinating and should be required reading for all US schools. The failure of the Government to avoid this tragedy, and the seemingly endless stream of warnings that were not acted upon, should serve as a wake up call to all that without dramatic and rapid change, the world we live in will continue to be plagued by terror and events such as 9/11.

A Must Read (Hear) For All Americans

The information put forth in this audio book is amazing. It provides details of how our country functions and explains the events that led up to to 9/11/01. It gives straight foward testimony and documentation without bias and very little opinion. It had changed the way I had come to understand America. It is over 20 hours but worth every minute. I applaud Audible for making this title so available and inexpensive thus supporting this Commission's goals. Thank you.

Still so very relevant

At the beginning of every September, A&E takes a few hours away from 'reality' shows like "Duck Dynasty", "Storage Wars" and "Flipping (some American city hit hard by the Great Recession)" and shows actual reality - 9/11 documentaries, or somtimes, sanitized 9/11 docudramas. The History Channel sets aside "Ice Road Truckers" and "Ax Men" and returns to its roots and spends the weekend showing various aspects of 9/11, from a long interview of former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani to a three hour show exploring conspiracy theories.

I don't watch those shows, but it's not out of sense of boredom or a misplaced sense of outrage that basic cable is exploiting the anniversary. 9/11 is history, and just like my father has had a life long fascination with World War II (he was alive for the bombing of Pearl Harbor) I have a fascination for what happened, and why, that beautiful September morning. The reason I don't watch the shows is first, I'm really primarily a reader/listener; second, "The 9/11 Comission Report" (2004) is so thoroughly researched and well written, it was a finalist for a National Book Award, and no non-fiction show compares to it; and, finally, I was watching CNN as the attacks happened. I don't have to see what happened on video again. I remember all too well.

I read the entire book on line in 2004, and every year since then, I listen to parts of this book. I've been doing this long before I joined Audible. Since the book has always been in the public domain, it's been available through Librivox for years. The Librivox version was read by 19? 20? volunteer readers, the year of its release, and the quality ranges from astoundingly good to mediocre, especially with pronunciation of The Middle Eastern names. After 10 years of war, we are all mich better at Arabi names.

The question is, isn't whether the book is worth the time. It most definitely is. It's like reading/listening to a Tom Clancy on steroids. So, then, is it worth it to buy on Audible a book you can listen to or read on line for free? It definitely was and is for me. I was able to easily download it to my iPhone, although it's 200 + mB, so make sure you're on WiFi when you do. It's well narrated, and the production quality smooth. The speed of the narration is a bit of an issue - one narrator is much slower than the others. Listen to that narrator at 1.25 speed, and it's fine.

Which leads me to why I listen or read, year after year. I worry that I'll forget. No, I'll never forget some things - like watching the second plane crash into the other tower, as it happened. But I worry that I'll forget the littler things, like Barbara Olson, the wife of then Solicitor General Theodore Olson, was on Flight 77 when it was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon, and she called him during the hijack. Conservative Theodore Olson was fresh from successfully representing George Bush in Bush v Gore (2000). Theodore Olson subsequently turned to Gore's lawyer, David Boies, and together, they were responsible for overturning laws against same sex marriage. I wonder if somejow, that singular assault on democracy on 9/11 made Theodore Olson a formidable champion of civil rights for a group that hadn't been embraced by the political right.

This book also has the clearest explanation of Islam and the difference between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims that I've found. It explains a Caliphate - which is even more relevant today than it was 10 years ago, when the report was published. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (prosaically nicknamed ISIS) controls far more land than Osama bin Laden ever did.

I listen to remember; to think of how we all changed; and to keep trying to understand why.

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A must-read (or listen) for all Americans

This balanced and unbiased review of the events that led to the tragedy of 9/11 is simply astounding. The Commission did an admarable job in sifting through the often-times conflicting evidence and putting together a comprehensive and comprehensable analysis of all aspects that terrible day. The narratives of Chapter 1, which describes the hijackings and the heroism of the victims, and Chapter 9, which discusses the rescue efforts at the World Trade Center are well told and absolutely heart-wrenching. Other portions of the text, such as the descriptions of the legal impediments to intelligence agencies sharing information or the ins and outs of tracing terrorist financing, were a little bit dry (but absolutely necessary to get the whole picture). The recommendations made by the Commission were broad and far reaching, although often lacking in specifics. Particularly surprising to me was the recommendation that a committee be apointed to ensure that civil liberties are safeguarded and the encouragement of an open and tollerent discussion of the Constitutional aspects of our efforts to protect ourselfs from another attack. The Commission took great pains to show that American can be tough on terrorism while still protecting the values and freedoms that make this country great. All responsible citizens and voters should read this report to remember what occurred on that day and to make sure that we do not allow complacency and politics to allow another terrorist plot to succeed.

Important Read

Overall a good listen, the first few hours are very dramatic describing nearly every minute of each flight, what happened, who knew what when, all the audio transmissions from the planes, etc. Very much like the United 93 movie but for all 4 planes. The on-ground description of the fire/police depts at the world trade center was a excellent but emotionally painful listen. The Roots of Terrorism, UBL, etc was also very good. But much of the report is focused on the US intel community, it is very detailed, probably too detailed for the average listener. Overall, excellant value for the money even if you only listen to the first several hours.

Excellent quality of content adn narration

I was very impressed with the quality of the presentation as well as with the narration. It helped clarify for me many issues of timing and planning that I had questions about. I especially enjoyed many of the pithy quotes which I am glad were leftt in. It made it less sterile and clinical. I am indebted to Audible for bringing it at such as reasonable price.

AWESOME SHOCKING REPORT

The report's discoveries are *SHOCKING* BEYOND BELIEF. I hope the government took the recommendations to heart and implemithem!!!!!