"TITTER YE NOT"
*********************
I'm downloading the Qur'an
from an ebook site.
I've got a slow connection but
it should be done by Saturday the 11th.
I'm putting it on disk, if anyone wants one I can burn a copy
for you.
*********************
America's policy of shooting
first and asking questions later has always been their
downfall.
I mean, just think how useful
King Kong could have been on September the 11th.
*********************
OK how about a compromise?
Instead of turning ground zero
into a mosque, let's turn a few mosques into ground zero.
**********************
I don't know why there is so
much negative talk about the
Twin Towers.
In my opinion it's the best Lord
of the Rings film.
***********************
9/11 UNSEEN FOOTAGE
LIBERTY ATTACKED
The September the 11th attacks (also referred to as September
the 11th, September 11th, or 9/11) were a series of four
coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group
al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday,
September the 11th, 2001.
The attacks consisted of suicide attacks used to target symbolic
U.S. building landmarks. The hijackers crashed planes into the
World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington County, and a field in Shanksville,
after the passengers revolted. The attacks claimed the lives of 2,996 people (including 19 hijackers)
and caused at least $10 billion in property and infrastructure damage. Four passenger airliners—
which all departed from the U.S. East Coast to California—were
hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists to be flown into the Twin
Towers.
Two of the planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United
Airlines Flight 175, were crashed into the North and South
towers, respectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New
York City. Within two hours, both 110-story towers collapsed with debris and the resulting fires causing partial or complete collapse
of all other buildings in the World Trade Center complex,
including the 47-story 7 World Trade Center tower, as well as significant damage to ten other large surrounding structures. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon—the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense—in Arlington County, leading to a partial collapse in the Pentagon's western side. The fourth plane,United Airlines Flight 93, initially was steered toward Washington, D.C., but crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers. In total, 2,996 people died in the attacks, including the 245 civilians, a law enforcement officer, and the 19 perpetrators aboard the four planes. It was the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed respectively.
Suspicion for the attack quickly fell on al-Qaeda. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, which had harbored al-Qaeda. Also, many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism
legislation and expanded the powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies
to prevent terrorist attacks. Although al-Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden, initially
denied any involvement, in 2004, he claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in
Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives. Having evaded capture for
almost a decade, Bin Laden was located and killed by members of the U.S. military
in May 2011.
The destruction of the World Trade Center and nearby infrastructure caused
serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan and had a significant effect on
global markets, closing Wall Street until September the 17th and the civilian
airspace in the U.S. and Canada until September the 13th. Many closings,
evacuations, and cancellations followed, out of respect or fear of further attacks.
Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, and the
Pentagon was repaired within a year. On November the 18th, 2006, construction
of One World Trade Center began at the World Trade Center site. The building was
officially opened on November the 3rd, 2014. Numerous memorials have been
constructed, including the National September the 11th Memorial & Museum in
New York City, the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington County, and the Flight 93
National Memorial in a field near Shanksville.
The origins of al-Qaeda can be traced to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded
Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden traveled to Afghanistan and helped organize Arab
mujahideen to resist the Soviets. Under the guidance of Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin
Laden became more radical. In 1996, bin Laden issued his first fatwā, calling for
American soldiers to leave Saudi Arabia.
In a second fatwā in 1998, bin Laden outlined his objections to American foreign
policy with respect to Israel, as well as the continued presence of American troops
in Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War. Bin Laden used Islamic texts to exhort Muslims
to attack Americans until the stated grievances are reversed. Muslim legal scholars
"have throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the jihad is an individual
duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries.", according to Bid Laden.
Osama Bin Laden, who orchestrated the attacks, initially denied but later admitted involvement. Al Jazeera broadcast a statement by bin Laden on September the 16th, 2001, stating, "I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation." In November 2001, U.S. forces recovered a videotape from a destroyed house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
In the video, bin Laden is seen talking to Khaled al-Harbi and admits fore knowledge of the attacks. On December the 27th, 2001,
a second bin Laden video was released. In the video, he said, "It has become clear that the West in general and America in particular have an unspeakable hatred for Islam....It is the hatred of crusaders. Terrorism against America deserves to be praised because it was a response to injustice, aimed at forcing America to stop its support for Israel, which kills our people...We say that
the end of the United States is imminent, whether Bin Laden or his followers are alive or dead, for the awakening of the Muslim umma (nation) has occurred", but he stopped short of admitting responsibility for the attacks. The transcript references several times to the United States specifically targeting Muslims.
Shortly before the U.S. presidential election in 2004, in a taped statement, bin Laden publicly acknowledged al-Qaeda's involvement in the attacks on the U.S. and admitted his direct link to the attacks. He said that the attacks were carried out because, "we are free.. and want to regain freedom for our nation. As you undermine our security we undermine yours." Bin Laden said he had personally directed his followers to attack the World Trade Center. Another video obtained by Al Jazeera in September 2006 shows bin Laden with Ramzi bin al-Shibh, as well as two hijackers, Hamza al-Ghamdi and Wail al-Shehri, as they make preparations for the attacks. The U.S. never formally indicted bin Laden for the 9/11 attacks but he was on the FBI's Most Wanted List for the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. After a 10 year manhunt, bin Laden was killed by American special forces in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May the 2nd, 2011.
The journalist Yosri Fouda of the Arabic television channel Al Jazeera reported that, in April 2002, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed admitted his involvement, along with Ramzi bin al-Shibh. The 9/11 Commission Report determined that the animosity towards the United States felt by Mohammed, the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks, stemmed from his "violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel". Mohammed was also an adviser and financier of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the uncle of Ramzi Yousef, the lead bomber in that attack.
Mohammed was arrested on March the 1st, 2003, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, by Pakistani security officials working with the CIA, then transported to Guantanamo Bay and interrogated using methods including waterboarding. During U.S. hearings at Guantanamo Bay in March 2007, Mohammed again confessed his responsibility for the attacks, stating he "was responsible for the 9/11 operation
from A to Z" and that his statement was not made under duress.
In "Substitution for Testimony of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed" from
the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, five people are identified as having
been completely aware of the operation's details. They are bin
Laden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Abu Turab
al-Urduni, and Mohammed Atef. To date, only peripheral figures
have been tried or convicted for the attacks.
On September the 26th, 2005, the Spanish high court sentenced
Abu Dahdah to 27 years in prison for conspiracy on the 9/11
attacks and being a member of the terrorist organization
al-Qaeda.
At the same time, another 17 al-Qaeda members were sentenced
to penalties of between six and eleven years. On February the 16th,
2006, the Spanish Supreme Court reduced the Abu Dahdah penalty
to 12 years because it considered that his participation in the
conspiracy was not proven.
Puff Daddy/Faith Evans/112 - I'll Be Missing You
In memorial of the 2996 victims
Also, in 2006, Moussaoui, who some originally suspected might have been the assigned 20th hijacker, was convicted for the lesser role of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism and air piracy. He is serving a life sentence without parole in the United States.
Mounir el-Motassadeq, an associate of the Hamburg-based hijackers, is serving 15 years in Germany for his role in helping the hijackers prepare for the attacks.
The Hamburg cell in Germany included radical Islamists who eventually came to be key operatives in the 9/11 attacks Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and Said Bahaji were all members of al-Qaeda's Hamburg cell.
Osama bin Laden's declaration of a holy war against the United States, and a 1998 fatawā signed by bin Laden and others, calling for the killing of all Americans, are seen by investigators as evidence of his motivation. In bin Laden's November 2002 "Letter to America", he explicitly stated that al-Qaeda's motives for their attacks include:
-
U.S. support of Israel
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Support for the "attacks against Muslims" in Somalia
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Support of Russian "atrocities against Muslims" in Chechnya
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Pro-American governments in the Middle East (who "act as your
agents") being against Muslim interests
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Support of Indian "oppression against Muslims" in Kashmir
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The presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia
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The sanctions against Iraq
After the attacks, bin Laden and al-Zawahiri released additional video tapes
and audio tapes, some of which repeated those reasons for the attacks. Two
particularly important publications were bin Laden's 2002
"Letter to America", and a 2004 video tape by bin Laden.
Bin Laden interpreted Muhammad as having banned the "permanent
presence of infidels in Arabia". In 1996, bin Laden issued a fatwā calling for
American troops to leave Saudi Arabia. In 1998, al-Qaeda wrote, "for over
seven years the United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in
the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches, dictating
to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbors, and turning its
bases in the Peninsula into a spearhead through which to fight the
neighboring Muslim peoples."
The words "looming towers" or "lofty towers"
appear in the Qur'an 4:78. According to Lawrence
Wright, Osama bin Laden, at a wedding before the
9/11 attack, quoted the line, repeating it three
times:
"Wherever you are, death will find you, even
if you are in lofty towers"
Bin Laden claimed, in 2004, that the idea of destroying the towers had first occurred to him in 1982, when he witnessed Israel's bombardment of high-rise apartment buildings during the 1982 Lebanon War. Some analysts, including Mearsheimer and Walt, also claim that one motivation for the attacks was U.S. support of Israel. In 2004 and 2010, bin Laden again connected the September 11 attacks with U.S. support of Israel, although most of the letter expressed bin Laden's disdain for President Bush and bin Laden's hope to "destroy and bankrupt" the U.S.
Other motives have suggested In addition to those cited by bin Laden and al-Qaeda, including, western support of Islamist and
non-Islamist authoritarian regimes in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan and northern Africa, and the presence of western troops in some of these countries. Some authors suggest the "humiliation" resulting from the Islamic world falling behind the
Western world – this discrepancy rendered especially visible by the globalization trend and a desire to provoke the U.S. into a broader war against the Islamic world in the hope of motivating more allies to support al-Qaeda. Similarly, others have argued that 9/11 was a strategic move with the objective of provoking America into a war that would incite a pan-Islamic revolution.
The idea for the attacks came from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who first presented it to Osama bin Laden in 1996. At that time, bin Laden and al-Qaeda were in a period of transition, having just relocated back to Afghanistan from Sudan. The 1998 African Embassy bombings and bin Laden's 1998 fatwā marked a turning point, as bin Laden became intent on attacking the United States.
In late 1998 or early 1999, bin Laden gave approval for Mohammed to go forward with organizing the plot. A series of meetings occurred in early 1999, involving Mohammed, bin Laden, and his deputy Mohammed Atef. Atef provided operational support for
the plot, including target selections and helping arrange travel for the hijackers. Bin Laden overruled Mohammed, rejecting some potential targets such as the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles because, "there was not enough time to prepare for such an operation".
Bin Laden provided leadership and financial support for the plot, and was involved in selecting participants. Bin Laden initially selected Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, both experienced jihadists who had fought in Bosnia. Hazmi and Mihdhar arrived in the United States in mid-January 2000. In spring 2000, Hazmi and Mihdhar took flying lessons in San Diego, California, but both spoke little English, performed poorly with flying lessons, and eventually served as secondary – or "muscle" – hijackers.
In late 1999, a group of men from Hamburg, Germany arrived in Afghanistan, including Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Ziad Jarrah, and Ramzi bin al-Shibh. Bin Laden selected these men because they were educated, could speak English, and had experience living in the West. New recruits were routinely screened for special skills and al-Qaeda leaders consequently discovered that Hani Hanjour already had a commercial pilot's license.
Hanjour arrived in San Diego on December the 8th, 2000, joining Hazmi. They soon left for Arizona where Hanjour took refresher training. Marwan al-Shehhi arrived at the end of May 2000, while Atta arrived on June the 3rd, 2000, and Jarrah arrived on June the 27th, 2000. Bin al-Shibh applied several times for a visa to the United States, but as a Yemeni, he was rejected out of concerns he would overstay his visa and remain as an illegal immigrant. Bin al-Shibh stayed in Hamburg, providing coordination between Atta and Mohammed. The three Hamburg cell members all took pilot training in South Florida.
In spring 2001, the secondary hijackers began arriving in the United States. In July 2001, Atta met with bin al-Shibh in Spain,
where they coordinated details of the plot, including final target selection. Bin al-Shibh also passed along bin Laden's wish for the attacks to be carried out as soon as possible.
Early on the morning of September the 11th, 2001, 19 hijackers took control of four commercial airliners (two Boeing 757 and two Boeing 767) en route to California (three headed to LAX in Los Angeles, and one to San Francisco) after takeoffs from Boston, Massachusetts; Newark, New Jersey; and Washington, D.C. Large planes with long flights were selected for hijacking because they would be heavily fueled.
Media coverage was intense during the attacks and aftermath, beginning moments after the first crash into the World Trade Center.
USA CITIZENS BEFORE AND AFTER THE ATTACK
On every anniversary, in New York City, the names of
the victims who died there are read out against a
background of somber music.
The President of the United States attends a memorial
service at the Pentagon, and asks Americans to
observe Patriot Day with amoment of silence. Smaller
services are held in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, which are usually attended by the President's spouse.
9/11 humor is black comedy or off-color humor that aims to make light of the September the 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in New
York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. A number of scholars have studied the ways in which humor has been used to deal with the
trauma of the event. Researcher Bill Ellis found jokes about the attacks from Americans the day afterwards, and Giselinde Kuipers found jokes on Dutch websites a day later. Kuipers had collected around 850 online jokes about 9/11, Osama Bin Laden, and the Afghanistan war by 2005. An infamous early public attempt at 9/11 humor was done by Gilbert Gottfried just a few weeks after the attacks. During a comedy roast for Hugh Hefner at the Friars Club his 9/11 gag didn't go over well with the crowd. Many audience members at the club yelled out "too soon," which has since become something of a meme for jokes told in the immediate wake of tragedies. Gottfried then improvised and performed "The Aristocrats"routine, which released a great deal of tension and got rousing applause from the crowd.
In contrast to these early jokes about 9/11, late-night comedy shows and humorous publications did not appear for several weeks following the attacks. The Onion, a satirical newspaper, cancelled the issue that had been scheduled to be released on September the 11th, 2001, and then returned to print with a special edition on September the 26th, 2001 which was devoted to the attacks. When the issue was released, the newspaper staff felt trepidation over making light of such a tragic event. "Everyone thought this would be our last issue in print," according to one staff writer. However, The Onion staff was quickly inundated with comments from readers, the vast majority of which were positive.
One of the first 9/11 jokes made by a major American comedian in the UK was one told by Joan Rivers in London in 2002. The joke concerned the widows of fire fighters killed in the attacks, who Rivers said would be disappointed if their husbands had been found alive as they would be forced to return money they had received in compensation for their late spouses. The joke received condemnation from Harold Schaitberger, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
In the Family Guy episode "Back to the Pilot", broadcast in November 2011, Brian and Stewie take a trip back in time during which Brian tips off his past self about 9/11 so that the old him can play hero and stop the terrorist attacks. This causes George W. Bush
not to be re-elected, meaning a Second Civil War starts that leads to nuclear attacks on the Eastern Seaboard.The Daily Mail
reported on the episode, writing "Nothing is ever off limits for Family Guy and its creator Seth MacFarlane. No topic is taboo, not the Holocaust, not drunk driving and not even abortion, but last night's episode may finally have crossed the line." A Time critic also wrote of the episode, "It sounds custom-made for a 'too soon' label, and it probably is. But avid Family Guy viewers live for "too
soon" moments, no matter how sensitive the material." Other news organizations, including Aly Semigran of Entertainment Weekly, also thought the show had gone too far with the reference. Deadline also commented that it "squeaked past the Fox standards and practices department but is sure to raise as many eyebrows."
The Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) conducted an internal review of the agency's pre-9/11 performance and was harshly critical of senior CIA officials for not doing everything possible to confront terrorism. He criticized their failure to stop two of the 9/11 hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar as they entered the United States and their failure to share information on the two men with the FBI. In May 2007, senators from both major U.S. political parties drafted legislation to make the review public. One of the backers, Senator Ron Wyden said, "The American people have a right to know what the Central
Intelligence Agency was doing in those critical months before 9/11."
Immediately after the attacks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation started PENTTBOM, the largest criminal inquiry in the history of
the United States. At its height, more that half of the FBI's agents worked on the investigation and followed a half million leads. The
FBI concluded that there was "clear and irrefutable"
evidence linking al-Qaeda and bin Laden to the attacks.
In the days immediately following the attacks, many
memorials and vigils were held around the world, and
photographs of the dead and missing were posted
around Ground Zero. A witness described being
unable to "get away from faces of innocent victims who
were killed. Their pictures are everywhere, on phone
booths, street lights, walls of subway stations.
Everything reminded me of a huge funeral, people quiet
and sad, but also very nice. Before, New York gave me
a cold feeling; now people were reaching out to help
each other.”
TWIN TOWERS FLAG
THE ICONIC FALLING MAN
The Falling Man is a photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew of a man falling from the North Tower of
the World Trade Center at 9:41:15 a.m. during the September the 11th attacks in New York City. The subject of the image, whose identity remains uncertain, was one of the people trapped on the upper floors of the skyscraper who either fell searching for safety
or jumped to escape the fire and smoke. At least 200 people are believed to have fallen or jumped to their deaths that day while other estimates say the number i half of that or less. Officials could not recover or identify the bodies of those forced out of the buildings prior to the collapse of the towers. All deaths in the attacks except those of the hijackers were ruled to be homicides due to blunt trauma apposed to suicides). The New York City medical examiner's office said it does not classify the people who fell to their deaths on September 11th as "A 'jumper' is somebody who goes to the office in the morning knowing that they will commit suicide. These people were forced out by the smoke and flames or blown out."
The photograph gives the impression that the man is falling straight down; however, a series of photographs taken of his fall showed him to be tumbling through the air.
The photographer has noted that, in at least two cases, newspaper stories commenting on the image have attracted a barrage of criticism from readers who found the image "disturbing". Regarding the social and cultural significance of the Falling Man, the theologian Mark D. Thompson said that" perhaps the most
powerful image of despair at the beginning of the twenty-first century is not found in art or literature, or even popular music. It is found in a single photograph."
The photograph initially appeared in newspapers around the world, including on page 7 of The New York Times on September the 12th, 2001. The photo's caption read "A person falls head first after jumping from the north tower of the World Trad e Center. It was a horrific sight that was repeated in
the moments after the planes struck the towers." It appeared only once in the Times
because of criticism and anger against its use. Six years later, it appeared on page 1
of the New York Times Book Review on May the 27th, 2007.
"The Falling Man" is the title of an article about the photograph by Tom Junod that
was published in the September 2003 issue of Esquire magazine. The article was
adapted as a documentary film by the same name. The article and film reveal the
"Falling Man" may have been Jonathan Briley, who worked on the 106th floor of the
north tower of the World Trade Center. If the falling man was indeed Jonathan Briley,
he may have fallen accidentally from the restaurant on that floor while searching for
fresh air and safety, or decided to jump. He was an asthmatic and would have known
he was in danger when smoke began to pour into the restaurant.
9/11: The Falling Man is a 2006 documentary film about the picture and the story
behind it. It was made by American filmmaker Henry Singer and filmed by Richard Numeroff,
a New York-based director of photography. The film is loosely based on Junod's Esquire
story. It also drew its material from photographer Lyle Owerko's pictures of falling people. It
debuted on March the 16th, 2006, on the British television network Channel 4. It later made
its North American premiere on Canada's CBC Newsworld on September the 6th, 2006, and
has been broadcast in over 30 countries. The U.S. premiere was September the 10th, 2007,
on the Discovery Times Channel.
"I see water. I see buildings. I see buildings! We are flying
low. We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low.
Oh my God we are flying way too low. Oh my God! —” –
Flight attendant Madeline Amy Sweeney describing the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 11 at the end of her phone call to a supervisor.
“Sept. 11, 2001, seems destined to be the watershed event of our lives and the greatest test for our democracy in our lifetimes.” -- Lt. Col. Shelton F. Leskford, U.S. Marine Corps, in 2008.
