I'm as suspicious as anyone about government (especially this one) but the idea that the real cause of the AA crash would be withheld is just not plugging into reality.

Look at it this way: There are enough competing interests to assure that no cause other than the real one will be to blame. As you mention, if it's not a deliberate act, then AA and/or GE and/or others were in error. They're not going to accept that blame and responsibility unless it's true.

I doubt a flight that lasted 107 seconds before major trouble was anything but a major mechanical or pilot error.

There are literally hundreds of people investigating this event. Let's let them do their job-I'm sure we'll have a good idea what happened in a few days.