Introduction Even at a time when news is flashed around the world in moments, there are few events that stop us in our tracks. If people once remembered where they were when JFK was assassinated, then 9/11 engraved itself into the consciousness of later generations so indelibly that the simple date is enough to elicit the same deep sense of shock and outrage we felt so strongly twenty years ago. We remember the burning towers; bodies falling like rag dolls from the sky, the immense buildings, those monuments to America''s pride, collapsing into rubble. We saw what happened on 11 September 2001. Some were there and lived to tell the tale. We all watched it on television. But why did it happen, and how? These are questions that have still not been answered satisfactorily all these years later. Like many people, I have visited One World Trade Center, the $25 billion complex that sits uncomfortably on the site of the Twin Towers in downtown Manhattan as a cross between a bustling tourist destination and a solemn memorial.

What remains of the rubble is scrubbed and on display in a museum filled with photographs that reflect the fading snapshots our minds. We can read how history remembers that terrible morning, but if you were to ask the survivors, or, indeed, the families of the nearly 3,000 people who died, if they what led to the attacks I can guarantee you that most of them would not be able to tell you the full story. The US government will certainly not tell you. attempting to explain the events leading up to 9/11. There are rabbit holes here that are certain to infuriate most right- minded people, let alone those who lost their loved ones. When a President of the United States publicly doubts the election results of the world''s defining democracy, and when people can seriously question whether an atrocity on the scale of the Sandy Hook school shootings that left twenty children dead even happened at all, then it is little wonder that people bristle at the term ''conspiracy theory''. There are certainly people who promote preposterous ideas for their own nefarious or deluded ends about everything from the Holocaust to the moon landings. But history is also littered with brave souls who dared to stand up and speak out, sometimes at great danger to themselves.

Indeed, what do you call a conspiracy theory that proves to be correct? I guess you''d call that the truth. Some of the so-called conspiracy theories stemming from 9/11 are not just the lunatic ramblings of the fantasist fringe; some are serious issues raised by serious people. The idea that the Twin Towers were felled not by the fires from the planes, but by controlled demolitions from explosives planted in advance, may sound far-fetched, but a group comprising literally thousands of architects and engineers points to detailed scientific evidence supporting exactly that idea. Similarly, it really does not make sense that the American military, the most powerful and advanced in the world, did not manage to get a jet fighter within miles of the doomed airliners in the one hour and seventeen minutes from when American Airlines Flight 11 first hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center, to United Airlines Flight 93''s crash landing in the fields of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In these pages, however, you will see the minute-to-minute chaos that left America''s skies disastrously vulnerable as the terrorists closed on their targets. Human error is an ever- present reminder of our fallibility, but deception and self- interest have always been close to the surface in politics and espionage, and the people who control those worlds are often selective in what they choose to disclose to the public. They will argue that it is not in our best interests to know the truth about sensitive issues, when it is more likely that our knowing is not in their best interests. The US authorities have misled the public about 9/11, of that I have no doubt.

Worse, they have deceived the families of those who lost loved ones in a purposeful, unforgivable campaign of lies and misinformation. You may think you know what happened the morning the world stood still to watch in horror as New York and Washington DC came under attack. You may even trust that, in the case of such an immense event in America''s history, those in power would do the right thing. You would be wrong. From the secret arrival of the first al-Qaeda terror teams in California in January 2000, watched and monitored by the CIA, to the secret military project that identified four of the leading 9/11 hijackers, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, eighteen months before the attacks, and through to the failure to prevent the hijackings and to the cover-ups in the aftermath of America''s nightmare, I have connected the dots with the help of inside sources and thousands of formerly classified documents to highlight examples showing exactly how the catastrophic airborne attacks could have been prevented. The conspiracy theories are all here. Some are utterly debunked.Others,withcarefulexamination,bearcloser scrutiny.

You will read the stories of decent, caring, intelligent people who absolutely reject the US government''s account of 9/11. This is the version of 9/11 that many intelligence agents closely involved in the investigation believe but are afraid to make public. After all this time, there is still too much at stake. A brave few who have come forward have been targeted by the authorities. Most importantly, this is the account of 9/11 that the commission set up by President George W. Bush in the aftermath of the attacks patently failed to tell. For the first time, twenty years after 9/11, this book explains what really happened - the real story behind the attacks on New York and Washington DC. and the truth that has been hidden from us.

David Gardner England and LA, 2021.