"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Monday, September 05, 2011

NO JUSTICE OR PEACE FOR 9-11 VICTIMS' FAMILIES ON EVE OF 10TH MEMORIAL

Bradley Blakeman, who lost his nephew, court officer Thomas Jurgens, on 9-11, has written on Fox News about how, 10 years after the tragedy, there is still no justice for the victims:
While I cannot speak for all victims of 9/11, I can speak for one.

On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the attacks to our homeland, our nation still has not brought 5 admitted perpetrators to justice, Ground Zero still remains to be rebuilt and Shanksville Pennsylvania is without a finished memorial to the victims of United Airlines Flight 93.

There can be no justice unless and until those responsible for the horrific attacks are held to account for their crimes and there on can be no peace for the souls who died on 9/11 until the day Ground Zero is fully and completely restored and Shanksville Pennsylvania has a finished memorial to the victims of Flight 93.

How is it possible that our government has not been able in 10 years time to bring admitted killers to justice? There is no good answer.

How is it possible that the greatest most advanced nation on the planet has been unable to restore a few blocks in lower Manhattan to its former glory and have not been able to build a fitting memorial in Shanksville Pennsylvania in 10 years time? There is no good answer.

Our government has let us down. We should have moved swiftly to bring those responsible to justice and we should have moved with due speed as a national priority to rebuild Ground Zero and erect a fitting memorial to victims of Flight 93 in Shanksville Pennsylvania.

To add insult to injury the Obama administration in advance of the 10th anniversary sent out "talking points" to their personnel instructing them to advance the position that the attacks are "not just about us." Weren't we the ones attacked on 9/11? The memo went on to instruct officials to "minimize references to Al Qaeda" because bin Laden is dead and "Al Qaeda and its adherents have become increasingly irrelevant."

Wasn't it bin Laden who ordered the attacks and wasn't it Al Qaeda who carried them out? And if Al Qaeda is irrelevant why then do we have 100,000 U.S. troops fighting them in Afghanistan?

Who is the administration seeking to console and protect on this anniversary -- the victims or the perpetrators, sympathizers and collaborators?

We as Americans can do anything we put our collective minds and hands to. After all, America has always been the beacon of freedom, hope and justice for the world.

It has been said, "justice delayed is justice denied." The fact that America has yet to mete out justice swiftly, fairly and surly to those responsible for the horror of 9/11 has been hurtful to our nation. It calls into question our ability to practice what we preach and to stand true to our Constitution and the rule of law.

The fact that we as a nation did not demand the Ground Zero be rebuilt in record time and that a fitting memorial be erected in Shanksville is a national disgrace.

As an attorney I am ashamed; as an American I am embarrassed and as a relative of a victim I am outraged by our governments failures to bring 9/11 perpetrators to justice and to rebuild and memorialize the sites of the attacks to date.

The enemy that attacked us on September 11, 2001 and those who continue to plot against us -- did so and do so -- because they hate America and all we stand for. They hate our freedom, tolerance, multi-cultural, multi-religion tolerance, our rule of law and our power.
As a former employee of the Dubya administration, I hope he realizes that Dubya too has to shoulder some blame for not working properly on his part to identify the cause of the problems and not making a proper effort to oppose Islamofascism in America. Other than that, Blakeman's op-ed is very good and brings to light the continuation of some very serious problems. Especially the denial of justice.

In a related note, Rep. Michael Grimm is planning to introduce legislation to make the steel cross found at Ground Zero into a national monument.

Update: Sen. Joe Lieberman has said something straightforward: Obama is harming the war effort by refusing to call violent Islamic extremism what it is.

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