...ask for "clear and convincing" evidence from NIST that "all the insulation was knocked off the core columns, since that is crucial to their conclusions."
Engineers involved with other studies of the WTC destruction also are weighing in on the latest NIST reports. "We think that rigorous efforts like these, taking a year or more, are needed to counteract the kind of rash judgments that immediately followed the events of 9/11," says Najib N. Abboud, associate principal of Weidlinger Associates Inc. The New York City-based firm led a WTC probe sponsored by the WTC leaseholder, Silverstein Properties, which is among the firms being blamed for the WTC deaths in pending personal injury lawsuits. "Such premature judgments have misled victims families and unfairly besmirched the reputation of innocent parties," adds Abboud.