Funny, lot's of comments based on opinions about one part of my post, but very little on the nub of my argument which is this:
let's not discuss your "nub" here please
We have the LOGICAL sequence:
1. That the fire could not be contained.
2. That LS thought it was time to "pull it".
3. A decision was made to "pull it".
4. The building collapsed.
I think you can probably expand the logical sequence inferring from what happened and exactly what he said:
"I remember getting a call from the fire department commander,
So prior to this, he has seen both collapses and obviously knows that many of the surrounding buildings are either also destroyed or damaged or burning or whatever.
If in fact he did speak to someone with the FD, they were calling to tell him:
telling me that they were not sure they were gonna be able to contain the fire,
So now he knows that WTC 7 is on fire and that they won't be able to save it. Perhaps, there was a time when he may have cared a bit about the property itself, but at this point, it's obvious that any attempts to stop the fires and limit damage were either fruitless or too risky to continue.
The ultimate decision to keep firemen fighting the fire never rested with LS. So I think your logical step of
2. That LS thought it was time to "pull it".
Is totally moot. He is opining on a decision made by others:
and I said, 'We've had such terrible loss of life, maybe the smartest thing to do is pull it.'
All he is doing here is psychologically agreeing with the decision that the FD made. He is more than likely just repeating and paraphrasing what was said to him over the phone.
And of course, referring to "loss of life" obviously means fire fighters and rescue personnel. The logical conclusion is that the beginning of the sentence directly refers to loss of life and he completes the thought by saying to pull "people" to prevent loss if life.
The Logic as I see it:
WTC 7 is burning
the building is probably beyond saving
people fight fires
people are in danger fighting the fire at WTC 7
there has already been significant loss of life
in order to prevent further loss of life
remove people from danger
having no means of saving the structure
building falls
How does "pulling it" (meaning the building) save lives?
And they made that decision to pull
and we watched the building collapse."
There is no sense of time in this concluding quote. Yes he used the word "and" but does that mean they "pulled" the firefighters and within ______ amount of time, the building fell? Seconds, minutes, hours?????
The only logical conclusion that can be inferred is that the only hope of saving the structure was that "people" would have to be put in danger.....and to prevent harming more people, they were not permitted to try to save the building. As a result of there being no efforts from people trying to fight fires and maybe shore up portions of the building or whatever efforts were required, the building fell.
Now what I see here is that the "pulling" RESULTED in the collapse.
Almost correct: pulling the only possible means of saving the structure (people fighting the fires) from their efforts in trying to save it. Pulling resulted in the collapse. Pulling didn't CAUSE the collapse per se.
The word "and" in the phrase "they made that decision to pull and we watched the building collapse" logically connects the decision to pull with the observed result - WTC 7 collapsed.
See above. Regardless of what transitional word being used, you are still semi-correct.
Cause (pull it) -> Effect (collapse)
LS did NOT say: "We made the decision to pull, THEN the building collapsed.
That is logically saying the same thing as "and". Maybe not the BEST word to be used but still makes sense in a colloquial fashion.
I ran down the stairs too fast, tripped
AND broke my leg.
I ran down the stairs too fast, tripped
THEN broke my leg.
What's the difference?
In fact LS expresses no surprise that the building collapsed after the decision to pull (it). He did NOT say: "We made the decision to pull and to our surprise the building collapsed." Nor does he say: "We made the decision to pull, to let the fire burn itself out, but the building suddenly collapsed." No! LS makes it clear that the building collapsed because of the decision to "pull it".
There are numerous quotes of firefighters and onlookers who have commented that WTC 7 appeared ready to fall. If a building burns for more than 7 hours, has a large sky scraper fall into it, is constructed in a semi-non-traditional fashion.....is it not too unlikely that you might infer that removing efforts to save the structure would result in collapse after having been hit and burn for hours?
This seems like such a stupid and trivial thing, that I am still amazed that it is being discussed.
I 100% agree with you and others that LS left much ambiguity in his phraseology. Had he clearly articulated what he later explained, this would not be an issue at all.