'' The Terror Timeline: Year by Year, Day by Day, Minute by Minute: A Comprehensive Chronicle of the Road to 9/11 — and America's Response '' is a compilation of over 5,000 reports and articles concerning the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
.
The book was compiled by a
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
alumnus and 9/11 researcher Paul Thompson, and by other contributors to the
History Commons
The History Commons is a website and organization that documents events and issues of great social and political significance, focusing primarily on events and issues from the 1970s to the present day. The History Commons operates under a Creative ...
website (formerly operated by the Center for Cooperative Research).
Influence
The book and its online counterpart were used by the
Jersey Girls
The Jersey Girls or Jersey Widows refers to four American women who lost their husbands in the September 11 attacks. All four—Kristen Breitweiser, Patty Casazza, Lorie Van Auken, and Mindy Kleinberg—were residents of New Jersey, and helped l ...
in their attempts to influence the work of the
9/11 Commission
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks", includin ...
. Kristen Breitweiser has personally endorsed the book, stating, "If you want to know everything about 9/11, you must read this book ... Our intelligence agencies should be recruiting people like Paul Thompson, because he's brilliant".
[Thompson, Paul (2004). ''The Terror Timeline''. Harper Collins, New York. ] The
9/11 Truth Movement film "
9/11: Press for Truth" documents the journey of the Jersey Girls and it uses the book and website as its primary reference.
Thompson's work was cited as a key piece of research in a
Complaint
In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...
and
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...
, which seeks a criminal inquiry and/or grand jury investigation into "the many still unsolved crimes of September 11, 2001," that was filed with and accepted by the
New York Attorney General's Office.
His work is also cited in the books ''Bad News'' by
Tom Fenton and ''Fog Facts'' by
Larry Beinhart
Larry Beinhart is an American author. He is best known as the author of the political and detective novel '' American Hero'', which was adapted into the political-parody film ''Wag the Dog''.
Biography
An early inspiration was the works of Geor ...
.
Richard Clarke has put it on his reading list for his course on "Terrorism, Security, and Intelligence" at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.
Contents
# "Before 9/11" - the background of
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
and the beginnings of
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
; early assessments by intelligences agencies concerning the possibility of a large scale attack.
# "The Terrorists" - profiles the al-Qaeda cell in
Hamburg, Germany
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, the mastermind of 9/11,
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaikh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born March 1, 1964 or April 14, 1965) is a Pakistani Islamist militant held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-re ...
, and the other terrorists who were involved with the plot.
# "Geopolitics and 9/11" -
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
: their relationships with and assessments of al-Qaeda.
# "The Attacks" - a minute-by-minute account of the day, September 11, 2001.
# "The post 9/11 World" - America's response in the
War on Terror
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...
and the investigations into the attacks on 9/11.
The ''Terror Timeline'' had contained previously published reports that were subsequently retracted, including allegations against a Saudi man,
Mohammed Al Amoudi
Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-'Amoudi ( ar, محمد حسين علي العمودي; born 1946) is a Saudi billionaire businessman. He was born Ethiopia in 1946 to a Yemeni father from Hadhramaut and Ethiopian Amhara mother from Wollo.
In 2016 ...
, that he had funded, supported, or is associated with
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
,
Al Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...
, and their terrorist activities.
[HarperCollins' Public Statement Re: The Terror Timeline, Business Wire January 25, 2005] The sources cited in the book also incorrectly said that Al Amoudi was a defendant in a lawsuit filed by families of 9/11 victims.
These reports were based on published news reports that were later retracted but cited in first edition runs of the book before later being retracted by the news sources who made the allegations.
HarperCollins removed these references in reprints after January 2005.
Upon discovery of this, Paul Thompson and the Center for Cooperative Research made a public apology and the information was removed from the organization's website as well as from future editions of the book.
Author - Paul Thompson
Paul Thompson is the author of ''The Terror Timeline'', a compilation of over 5,000 reports and articles concerning the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
.
The book was based on research conducted by himself and other contributors to the History Commons website. Thompson's research in the field has garnered over 100 radio interviews, along with TV interviews on
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
and
Air America and interviews in print, such as for Buzz Magazine. Articles about himself, his research and its reception by the
9/11 Truth Movement have appeared in
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
and
Esquire Magazine's "Genius Issue".
and recognition as "an authority on terrorism", even though, "He never studied, trained", as noted by Esquire.
In 2005, Thompson was asked to speak at a congressional briefing on the
9/11 Commission’s final report, he addressed what he defined as failures by the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
Paul Thompson was born in
Pacific Beach, California and currently holds a psychology degree from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
obtained in 1990.
He now spends time there and in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. He is a freelance researcher and has worked in the past as an environmental activist at an environmental-protection firm.
Mr. Thompson has made numerous appearances on
Link TV
Link TV, originally WorldLink TV, is a non-commercial American satellite television network providing what it describes as "diverse perspectives on world and national issues." It is carried nationally on DirecTV (ch. 375) and Dish Network (ch. ...
and
Free Speech TV
Free Speech TV (FSTV) is an American progressive news and opinion network. It was launched in 1995 and is owned and operated by Public Communicators Incorporated, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization founded in 1974. Distributed pri ...
. He helps these independent channels raise money.
Notes and references
External links
History Commons (Formerly operated by the Center for Cooperative Research)The Complete 9/11 Timeline investigative projectNieman Foundation Feature on History Commons9/11 - Press for Truth (includes an interview with Paul Thompson)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terror Timeline
Books about the September 11 attacks
Criticism of the official accounts of the September 11 attacks
Works published under a pseudonym
2004 non-fiction books
ReganBooks books