I agree — this is infuriating. I’ll mention it tonight in my speech with Cindy Sheehan William Rodriguez. This should go on other 911 blogs as well. - Peter Dale Scott

Saying James Zadroga isn’t a hero is like saying Michael Boomberg isn’t the mayor, George Bush isn’t the president, and Christine Todd Whitman never lied. The sad fact is all three are true, and all three have played a part in the death of a NYPD hero, and countless others. In closing, science says Bush has no brains Bloomberg has no heart, and Whitman has no regard towards human life. - John Feal

By Jon Gold
10/31/2007

On 1/7/2006, it was reported that “a police detective has died from lung disease, which the NYPD believes he contracted while working at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks.” [...] “The tragedy makes James Zadroga, 34, the first rescue worker to die from illness attributed to the Ground Zero rubble, a police spokesperson said yesterday.” [...] “He was a hero, he disregarded his own health and life to rescue people at Ground Zero,” said Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives’ Endowment Association.”
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Source: newswithviews.com

By: Devvy
October 25, 2007

“It just didn’t make any sense to me… When one starts using his own mind, and not what one was told, there is very little to believe in the official story.” September 5, 2007 - U.S. Navy ‘Top Gun’ pilot, Commander Ralph Kolstad

On October 19, 2007, some individuals in the audience of a taping of the Bill Maher show disrupted the airing; Maher joined security in removing these folks from the building. I know little about Maher and have never subscribed to any of the so-called premium channels like HBO on moral grounds. The individuals removed wanted Maher and his guests to talk about 911. The aftermath was a fresh barrage of verbal missiles aimed at anyone with questions about 911. Useful idiot, John Gibson, of the FAUX (FOX) Network, refers to people with reasonable questions about 911 as “ragtag conspiratorialists.”
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Click Here

From tonight’s “Talking Points Memo.”

Thanks to www.cooperativeresearch.org

January 20, 1989: George H. W. Bush Is Inaugurated US President
George H. W. Bush replaces Ronald Reagan and remains president until January 1993. Many of the key members in his government will have important positions again when his son George W. Bush becomes president in 2001. For instance, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Colin Powell later becomes Secretary of State, and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney later becomes vice president.
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Thanks to www.cooperativeresearch.org

1980s and 1990s: Most 9/11 Hijackers Have Middle-Class Backgrounds
After 9/11, some in Western countries will say that one of the root causes of the attacks is poverty and assume that the hijackers must have been poor. However, most of them are middle class and have relatively comfortable upbringings. The editor of Al Watan, a Saudi Arabian daily, will call them “middle-class adventurers” rather than Islamist fundamentalist ideologues. [Boston Globe, 3/3/2002]

• Mohamed Atta grows up in Cairo, Egypt. His father is an attorney, and both Atta and his two sisters attend university. [McDermott, 2005, pp. 10-11]
• Marwan Alshehhi is from Ras al-Khaimah Emirate in the United Arab Emirates. His family is not particularly wealthy, but his father is a muezzin and one of his half-brothers a policeman. He attends university in Germany on an UAE army scholarship (see Spring 1996-December 23, 2000). [McDermott, 2005, pp. 55]
• Ziad Jarrah is from Beirut, Lebanon. His father is a mid-level bureaucrat and his mother, from a well-off family, is a teacher. The family drives a Mercedes and Jarrah attends private Christian schools before going to study in Germany. [McDermott, 2005, pp. 49-50]
• Hani Hanjour is from Taif, near Mecca in Saudi Arabia. His family has a car exporting business and a farm, which he manages for five years in the mid-1990s. [Washington Post, 10/15/2001]
• Nawaf and Salem Alhazmi are from Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Their father owns a shop and the family is wealthy. [Arab News, 9/20/2001; Wright, 2006, pp. 378]
• Abdulaziz Alomari is from south-western Saudi Arabia. He is a university graduate (see Late 1990s). He apparently marries and has a child, a daughter, before 9/11. [Sunday Times (London), 1/27/2002; Saudi Information Agency, 9/11/2002; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 232]
• Mohand Alshehri is from Tanooma in Asir Province, Saudi Arabia. He attends university (see Late 1990s). [Saudi Information Agency, 9/11/2002]
• Hamza Alghamdi is from Baha Province, Saudi Arabia. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 231] He works as a stockboy in a housewares shop. [Boston Globe, 3/3/2002]
• Fayez Ahmed Banihammad is from the United Arab Emirates. He gives his home address as being in Khor Fakkan, a port and enclave of Sharjah Emirate on the country’s east coast. [US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, 7/31/2006] The 9/11 Commission will say he works as an immigration officer at one point. [9/11 Commission, 8/21/2004, pp. 20 pdf file]
• Maqed Mojed is from Annakhil, near Medina in western Saudi Arabia. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 232] He attends university (see Late 1990s).
• Ahmed Alhaznawi is from Hera, Baha Province. His father is an imam at the local mosque and he is reported to attend university (see Late 1990s).
• Ahmed Alnami is from Abha, Asir Province. His family is one of government officials and scientists and his father works for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. He attends university (see Late 1990s). [Daily Telegraph, 9/15/2002]
• Wail Alshehi and Waleed Alshehri are from Khamis Mushayt in Asir Province, southwestern Saudi Arabia. Their father is a businessman and builds a mosque as a gift to the town. They both go to college (see Late 1990s). The Alshehris are a military family with three older brothers who hold high rank at the nearby airbase. Their uncle, Major General Faez Alshehri, is the logistical director of Saudi Arabia’s armed forces. [Boston Globe, 3/3/2002] Dr. Ali al-Mosa, a Saudi academic, will later comment: “Most of them were from very rich, top-class Saudi families. The father of the Alshehri boys is one of the richest people in the area and the other families are not far behind him.” [Sydney Morning Herald, 10/5/2002]

The social situation of the families of Satam al Suqami, Ahmed Alghamdi, Saeed Alghamdi, and Khaled Almihdhar is not known. However, Almihdhar is from a distinguished family that traces its lineage back to the prophet Mohammed. [Wright, 2006, pp. 379]
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September 12th, 2001 - Present 9/11 First Responder Injured At Ground Zero Dedicates Life To Helping Sick And Dying 9/11 First Responders
A day after the 9/11 attacks, Demolition Supervisor John Feal does as many others do, and goes to Ground Zero to help with rescue efforts. On September 17th, 2001, an estimated 8000lbs of steel crushed his left foot. As a result, he spent two weeks at Bellevue Hospital, and eight weeks at North Shore In University. In 2003, he began a solo effort to help responders because according to John, “with power comes responsibility, and those in power (elected officials) have failed heroes, good people and Americans at large, with corruption, incompetence and greed. That is why I started, to see good people not get abandoned anymore.” In 2004, he helped to co-found Unsung Heroes Helping Heroes, an organization dedicated “to advocate, disseminate information and raise funds to assist responders, clean-up rescue and recovery workers from the 9-11-01 World Trade Center disaster and other catastrophic events, in securing the necessary medical and psychological treatment, rehabilitation and pecuniary benefits.” In August of 2005, John started his own organization using his name, The FealGood Foundation. Their goal is “to spread awareness and educate the public about the catastrophic health effects on 9/11 first responders, as well as to provide assistance to relieve these great heroes of the financial burdens placed on them over the last five years. A secondary goal of our Foundation is to create a network of advocacy on 9/11 healthcare issues. We not only advocate for Ground Zero workers, but show others how they can advocate for themselves and help others through grassroots activism.” Since the inception of the FealGood Foundation, Anne Marie Baumann, Vito Valenti, Alan Forcier, Frank Andrea, Sean Riordan, Joe Miccoli, and Glen Klein have joined to help John with his efforts. The FealGood Foundation was contacted by Michael Moore in March 2005 in an effort to get 9/11 First Responders for his latest movie, “Sicko.” In September 2006, Paul Grossfeld emailed John asking for help finding a kidney. John agreed in their first correspondence to donate his own. On August 30th, 2007, John donated his kidney to Maureen Burns so Paul Grossfeld could receive a kidney of his own. The FealGood Foundation has appeared on “The View”, “Star Jones”, “Amy Goodman”, “Fox & Friends”, and many other mainstream media outlets. They have managed to help hundreds of 9/11 First Responders, and continue to help more everyday. [John Feal, Jon Gold 10/27/2007]

Thanks to www.cooperativeresearch.org

9:48 a.m. September 11, 2001: Capitol Building Finally Evacuates
The Capitol building in Washington begins evacuation. Congress is in session, but apparently the chambers are not filled with congresspeople. [Associated Press, 8/19/2002; Guardian, 7/22/2004] Senator Tom Daschle, Majority Leader of the Senate, later states, “Some capitol policemen broke into the room and said, ‘We’re under attack. I’ve got to take you out right away.’” Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, third in line of succession to the presidency behind Vice President Cheney, is in the Capitol building with other congresspeople. Only after this time are Hastert and others in the line of succession moved to secure locations. Some time after this, Hastert and other leaders are flown by helicopter to secret bunkers. [ABC News, 9/11/2002]
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Thanks to www.cooperativeresearch.org

Early 1980: Osama Bin Laden, with Saudi Backing, Supports Afghan Rebels
Osama bin Laden begins providing financial, organizational, and engineering aid for the mujaheddin in Afghanistan, with the advice and support of the Saudi royal family. [New Yorker, 11/5/2001] Some, including Richard Clarke, counterterrorism “tsar” during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, believe he was handpicked for the job by Prince Turki al-Faisal, head of Saudi Arabia’s Secret Service. [New Yorker, 11/5/2001; Sunday Times (London), 8/25/2002] The Pakistani ISI want a Saudi prince as a public demonstration of the commitment of the Saudi royal family and as a way to ensure royal funds for the anti-Soviet forces. The agency fails to get royalty, but bin Laden, with his family’s influential ties, is good enough for the ISI. [Miami Herald, 9/24/2001] (Clarke will argue later that the Saudis and other Muslim governments used the Afghan war in an attempt to get rid of their own misfits and troublemakers.) This multinational force later coalesces into al-Qaeda. [Clarke, 2004, pp. 52]
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Thanks to www.cooperativeresearch.org

(August 1992): Clinton Calls for Military Intervention in Bosnia
Presidential candidate Bill Clinton campaigns “vociferously in support of greater US engagement in Bosnia.” A commission, created by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to devise a post-Cold War foreign policy framework, has been “hand-feed[ing]” key Democrats its recommendations (see February 1992) in advance of the release of its reports. [American Spectator, 6/1999; Daalder, 2000, pp. 6]
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Thanks to www.cooperativeresearch.org

April 5, 1997: US Again Not Interested in Sudan’s Al-Qaeda Files
The Sudanese government, frustrated in previous efforts to be removed from a US list of terrorism sponsors, tries a back channel approach using Mansoor Ijaz, a multimillionaire Pakistani-American businessman. Ijaz is personally acquainted with President Clinton, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, and other high-level US officials. With help from Ijaz (who is also hoping to invest in Sudan), on April 5, 1997, Sudan President Omar al-Bashir writes a letter to Lee Hamilton, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It states, “We extend an offer to the FBI’s Counterterrorism units and any other official delegations which your government may deem appropriate, to come to the Sudan and work with [us] in order to assess the data in our possession and help us counter the forces your government, and ours, seek to contain.” This is a reference to Sudan’s extensive files on al-Qaeda gathered during the years bin Laden lived there, which the Sudanese had offered the US before (see March 8, 1996-April 1996). Sudan allows Ijaz to see some of these files. Ijaz discusses the letter with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Berger, and other prominent US officials, but to no success. No US official sends any reply back to Sudan. Tim Carney, US ambassador to Sudan, will complain, “It was an offer US officials did not take seriously.” ABC News will report in 2002 that the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry plans to investigate Sudan’s offer. Sen. Bob Graham (D), co-chairman of the inquiry, will ask, “Why wouldn’t we be accepting intelligence from the Sudanese?” But the inquiry’s 2003 final report will make no mention of this offer or other offers to hand over the files (see February 5, 1998; May 2000). (It should be noted the report is heavily censored so this might be discussed in redacted sections.) Hamilton, the recipient of the letter, will become the Vice Chairman of the 9/11 Commission. The Commission’s 2004 final report will fail mention Sudan’s offers and will fail to mention the direct involvement of the Commission’s Vice Chairman in these matters. [Vanity Fair, 1/2002; ABC News, 2/20/2002]
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