October 2008

(For a historical archive of our old site visit http://911blogger.com/archive)

Davison Army Airfield and the 12th Aviation Battalion on 9/11: Pentagon Attack Oral Histories Reveal New Details

Minutes after the Pentagon was hit on September 11, two aircraft were seen on the radar screen at a nearby Army airfield, circling the Pentagon and rapidly descending, with one of them emitting an emergency distress signal. The identities of these aircraft are unclear, as is the reason one of them was emitting the distress signal. These and other details about the 9/11 Pentagon attack were revealed by a supervisor of air traffic control at the airfield, in one of over 1,300 oral histories relating to the attack that were recorded by military employees. To date, only a small number of the oral histories have been publicly released, which raises questions about what important details might be in the other, unreleased interviews.

UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFT OVER THE PENTAGON

British diplomat advises leaving "acceptable dictator" in Afghanistan

British diplomat feels Afghan war being lost: report
Story cites leaked cable from France's deputy ambassador in Kabul
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 | 10:14 AM ET
CBC News

A French newspaper has published what appears to be a diplomatic cable saying Britain's ambassador to Kabul thinks the West is losing the battle for Afghanistan.

The coded cable reproduced Wednesday in Le Canard Enchaîné seems to be from France's deputy ambassador to Afghanistan, François Fitou, describing a conversation he had with the British ambassador to Kabul, Sherard Cowper-Coles.

It says Cowper-Coles believes the West's war against Taliban forces in Afghanistan is being lost and the coalition that includes Canada's Armed Forces should leave an "acceptable dictator" in charge of the country within five to 10 years.

"We have no alternative to supporting the United States in Afghanistan, but we should tell them that we want to be part of a winning strategy, not a losing one," the cable paraphrases the ambassador as saying.

FBI Prevents Agents from Telling 'Truth' About 9/11 on PBS

I just saw this article at the Congressional Quarterly. It is a major, major development:

The FBI has blocked two of its veteran counterterrorism agents from going public with accusations that the CIA deliberately withheld crucial intelligence before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

FBI Special Agents Mark Rossini and Douglas Miller have asked for permission to appear in an upcoming public television documentary, scheduled to air in January, on pre-9/11 rivalries between the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency.

The program is a spin-off from The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America, by acclaimed investigative reporter James Bamford, due out in a matter of days.

The FBI denied Rossini and Miller permission to participate in the book or the PBS "NOVA" documentary, which is also being written and produced by Bamford,/ on grounds that the FBI "doesn't want to stir up old conflicts with the CIA," according to multiple reliable sources.

Continued here.

Will Wall Street's Meltdown Turn America Into a Police State? By Scott Thill September 30, 2008

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20901.htm

Will Wall Street's Meltdown Turn America Into a Police State?

By Scott Thill

"Raw capitalism is dead." -- Henry Paulson, U.S. Treasury secretary

"Can't we just all go out and say things are OK?" -- President Bush, to congressional leaders during bailout negotiations

30/09/08 "AlterNet" - -- I'm not much of an Army Times reader, but after reading that a brigade was shipping from Iraq in October to serve as "an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks" in the homeland right before the election, my antennae perked up. Same as they did when I read that an electoral college doomsday scenario exists in which Dick Cheney casts the deciding vote that gives McCain-Palin the White House.

JOB OPENING: Lead Scientist for Post-9/11 Health Study for "The World Trade Center Health Registry"

Tuesday, September 30, 2008
New York: Lead Scientist Epidemiological Methods, World Trade Center Health Registry
Lead Scientist Epidemiological Methods
Job Code: MRDOHMH07 POSTED: Sep 25

Salary: Open
Location: New York, New York
Employer: World Trade Center Health Registry
Type: Full Time - Experienced
Categories: physicians - general, physicians - international / global health, physicians/surgeons (M.D./D.O.)
Preferred Education: Doctorate

Description

World Trade Center Health Registry

Lead Scientist Epidemiological Methods

The World Trade Center Health Registry (WTCHR) was developed as a public health response to document and evaluate the physical and mental health impact of the September 11th, 2001 disaster on a large, diverse population. The WTCHR provides a means for long-term follow-up of the 71,000 people who have volunteered to participate in the Registry. The WTCHR program, in the Division of Epidemiology, is seeking one City Research Scientists Level III Lead Scientist for Epidemiological Methods to work in collaboration with the Director of Research and other WTCHR lead scientists in evaluation and analysis of WTCHR data.

Reports warn of problems at ground zero hub in NYC

Reports warn of problems at ground zero hub in NYC
By AMY WESTFELDT – 9/30/2008

NEW YORK (AP) — The glittering, steel and glass domed rail hub had seemed for years to be the only thing that was going right at ground zero.

Lately, not so much.

The World Trade Center rail station — a planned architectural masterpiece with steel ribs jutting like a bird's wings from the dome, a retractable skylight and a vast, naturally lit concourse — is currently hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and five years behind schedule.

The delays are creating a domino effect, slowing construction of the Sept. 11 memorial and most other projects on the problem-ridden 16-acre site.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the owners of ground zero and the agency building the hub, is expected to announce another re-design of the project this week along with new cost estimates that put the price tag at around $3 billion, more than $500 million over its original budget.

MENTAL HEALTH STUDY: 9/11 rescue workers at increased risk for PTSD

NEW YORK — A new study likens post-traumatic stress disorder in World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers to that of U.S. war veterans returning from Afghanistan.

The findings are published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
FULL STUDY in PDF:
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2008/11164/11164.pdf

The study found that the many trade center workers suffered chronic impairment of mental health and social functioning, as well as psychological distress levels that substantially exceeded population norms.

Its authors say the findings underscore a need for long-term mental health screening and surveillance, and continued treatment for the workers and their families.

Questionnaires were filled out by 10,132 workers. The authors say nearly 9 percent met criteria for depression, 5 percent for panic disorders, 62 percent for "substantial stress reaction," and 11 percent for post-traumatic stress disorder.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,430745,00.html

The Washington Report covers challenge at LA City Council to Mayor's LAX consulting deal with Israeli security experts

On June 25th, 2008, a group of about 20 activists, predominantly Jewish, convened on the Los Angeles City Council to put their deep concerns and protests about multiple aspects of a trip to Israel that LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took in the spring of 2008, along with numerous city officials, onto the City's official record. Key among these concerns was a deal that put Israeli-intel connected security experts into a consulting role at LAX. Jack Weiss, the LA City Councilman who helped develop the relationship, has said that he believes the agreement is the first of its kind between a U.S. airport authority and foreign government agency. With the documented history of Israeli-intel driven black ops, and serious questions still lingering about the role of Israeli-owned, intel-connected company ICTS in 9-11-01 security "breakdowns" at multiple airports, it seems appropriate to pause and consider the wisdom in creating such a close working relationship with Israeli experts without inquiry into potential security threats.

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