The Ground Truth by John Farmer
From the senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission, a mesmerizing real-time portrayal of September 11th, 2001, why we weren't told the truth, and why our nation is still at risk As one of the primary authors of the 9/11 Commission Report, John Farmer is proud of his and his colleagues' work. Yet he came away from the experience convinced that there was a further story of the September 11th attacks to be told, one he was uniquely qualified to write. Now that shocking story can be told. Tape recordings, transcripts, and contemporaneous records that had been classified have since been declassified, and the inspector general's investigations of government conduct have been completed. Drawing on his knowledge of those sources, as well as his years as an attorney in public and private practice, Farmer reconstructs what happened on September 11th, 2001 and the disastrous circumstances that allowed it: the institutionalized disconnect between what those on the ground knew and what those in power did. He details--terrifyingly and illuminatingly--the key moments in the years, months, weeks, and days that preceded the attacks, then descends almost in real time through the attacks themselves, portraying them as they have never before been seen. Ultimately, Farmer builds the inescapably convincing case that the official version not only is almost entirely untrue but serves to create a false impression of order and American national security. The result is a major, carefully documented and deeply disturbing book, one that deserves the most serious attention of every American concerned about our future (Haynes Johnson, Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author).From 2003 to 2004, John Farmer was Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission, where he assisted in the writing of The 9/11 Commission Report. His responsibilities included reviewing the national response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, evaluating the current state of national preparedness, and assessing the current state of private sector preparedness for terrorist attacks. He was cleared to the top secret/SC1 level. From 1999 to 2002, he served as Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, overseeing approximately 10,000 people (including more than 700 lawyers and almost 3,000 state troopers) in ten divisions of the Department of Law and Public Safety, including the Divisions of Law, Criminal Justice, Civil Rights, Consumer Affairs, Gambling Enforcement, Highway Traffic Safety, Juvenile Justice, State Police, Elections, and the Office of the Attorney General. Farmer also managed New Jersey's Office of Emergency Management and directed the state's reaction to Hurricane Floyd in 1999; worked to prepare for Y2K and the potential emergency impact of the millennium; and coordinated the state's response to both the 9/11 assaults and the anthrax attacks later that year. Farmer has also worked as the chief of staff for New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, as a federal prosecutor, and as a security specialist for the United Nations Special Envoy for Middle East Regional Security.
Farmer has taught and written widely on post-9/11 safety and security concerns over the last six years, with pieces appearing in the Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today, Newark Star Ledger, the New Jersey Lawyer, and other publications. He's also given talks at Harvard Law School, the University of Southern California, Willamette Law School, and the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Farmer has counseled with a wide range of institutions and officials on anything from port security challenges to private sector readiness. He is FEMA-certified in all-hazards disaster planning and mitigation. In July 2009, he resigned as a founding partner of a New Jersey legal firm to take a position as Dean of Rutgers School of Law in Newark, where he had previously taught national security law.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781594488948 |
| ISBN 10 | 1594488940 |
| Title | The Ground Truth |
| Author | John Farmer |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Riverhead Books |
| Year published | 2009-09-08 |
| Number of pages | 400 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |