Phila. firm appeals 9/11 suit to U.S. high court By Chris Mondics INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/business_breaking/20081112_Phila...

Thousands of victims of the 9/11 attacks appealed to the Supreme Court today, asking it to overturn a lower court decision barring lawsuits against Saudi Arabia for supporting acts of terrorism.

The petition contended that U.S. intelligence agencies had unearthed ample evidence of the Saudi Arabia government's providing tens of millions of dollars to Islamist charities that in turn funded Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization.

U.S. government officials had repeatedly warned Saudi officials in the 1990s that government-backed charities were providing money and logistical support to bin Laden, but they failed to do anything about it, the petition said.

In Chicago, the Republican Congressional candidate has attacked the Democrat for a campaign ad featuring an Iraq War vet who supports the 9/11 victims families right to answers, and says the Iraq War was based on lies, including Hussein's connection to 9/11. According to the Chicago Tribune, "He also said he does not doubt that Al Qaeda terrorists were responsible for the 9/11 attacks.". "Last June, the Peoria Journal Star reported that Davis wore a black T-shirt proclaiming "Investigate 9/ 11@911truth.org" while sitting at a table at a Peoria library where books, fliers and DVDs supporting conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks were on display." "Seals spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith said she didn't "really see what is so controversial" about using Caleb Davis in the ad. Davis, 25, is a Peoria native who spent five months in Iraq as an Army diver and got an honorable discharge in 2004." The reporter and Tribune present the Republican view and also the Democrat side, which apparently supports the OCT as well as the right to freedom of speech, press and to petition the govt.

For Immediate Release
September 26, 2008


NIST has finally released its long awaited investigative report regarding the collapse of World Trade Center 7. WTC 7 was the third building in the World Trade Center Complex to collapse at 5:20 PM on September 11, 2001. However, this building was not hit by an airplane.

As family members of 9/11 victims, we were extremely interested in the findings of this report. We had hoped that NIST’s report would serve to explain the cause of a total collapse of a conventional steel building and be able to refute the rampant conspiracy theories. We also hoped that this report, in conjunction with NIST’s final reports on WTC 1 and 2, would offer recommendations for improved building and fire codes to ensure public safety in ALL buildings going forward.

While we feel that technical experts should review, critique and replicate the findings within this report, we also feel that we must express our concerns based on public comments by NIST regarding their findings.

Over the past seven years, the Families of the 9/11 Victims have been repeatedly told by fire experts, engineers and architects that we should NOT FOCUS our efforts on advocating for building and fire code changes based on the collapse of the WTC 1 and 2 towers. We were continuously reminded that the crashing of airplanes into buildings was a unique event. Additionally, we were told that the design and construction of WTC Towers 1 and 2 was unique and that there were no other buildings of that particular height or design in the world. We were repeatedly told that the key was WTC 7 since this building was of conventional design and height, yet it too collapsed without the unique event of an airplane striking it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSi6uXfzSC0

September 11, 2001 is a day that has changed everything. In 2008, WeAreChange organized a respectful and powerful demonstration that started at Ground Zero and made its way through the streets of Manhattan.

This video begins within the gathering of family members of victims of 9/11, and wends its way to Building 7 where upwards of a thousand patriots gather to begin their intense and empowering march of solidarity, visibility, and outreach.

Luke Rudkowski reminds everyone that the 9/11 truth movement is not going away.

http://www.wearechange.org
http://www.wacla.org
http://www.infowars.com
http://www.ae911truth.0rg

http://911reports.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=34

This article is an overview of the 9/11 Commission’s conflicts and "failures", and some brief summaries of some of the many important facts left out of or distorted in their final report, with links for reference and additional research.

9/11 Commission Conflicts, Corruption & Failure to Investigate:

This comes from a family member.

Why was my brother allowed to die?

What really hurt me is this part: Quote:
"...If I question anything about the official Sept. 11 story, I am called a conspiracy theorist."

what is your opinion?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/coleen-rowley/911-change-yes-we-should_b_1...

9/11 Change: Yes We Should!
Posted June 24, 2008 | 03:46 PM (EST)

Recently, our government excluded the 9/11 victims' families from attending the arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other terror suspects at the military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. Initially, none of the families, with the exception of ardent Bush supporter Debra Burlingame, were invited.

After this issue became public, the resultant furor caused Debra Burlingame to be dis-invited and a system was established whereby the 9/11 victims' families could observe future sessions via CCTV coverage at various military bases on the east coast. In addition, a lottery system was established so that selected family members, who may want to attend the trial at Guantanamo Bay, will be provided an opportunity to participate.

link

Actor Billy Crystal has been named as a director for the organisation set up to raise funds to build a memorial to victims of the 11 September attacks.

The 60-year-old joins the board of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum foundation, alongside former Analyze This co-star Robert De Niro.

The New York site will include two waterfalls where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre previously stood.

Crystal took part in a 9/11 benefit concert a month after the 2001 attacks.

'Strength and resolve'

The event, which also featured Sir Paul McCartney, David Bowie and Sir Elton John, raised more than $35m (£17.5m) for families of those who died in the terror attacks.

Crystal said he was "honoured" to join the organisation and have the opportunity to "contribute to the creation of a permanent national memorial".

The star, who was born in New York, added that the project was "an opportunity to demonstrate New York's strength and resolve, whilst ensuring that the memories of the lives lost are never forgotten".

9/11 families: Don’t let airlines off the hook
By Joe Dwinell
Monday, July 7, 2008
Senior Executive City Editor / Web

Joe Dwinell is an online and print editor assigned to the Herald's City Desk.

Families suing Massport and airlines over the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks say blaming the hijackings on a collapse of national intelligence and not a failure of airport security is a legal slap in the face to victims.

A federal judge must rule this month whether airline companies can grill FBI and CIA agents over the 19 al-Qaeda hijackers, pushing the blame away from duped airport screeners.

Family members who lost loved ones argue the fault has always been on airport security, including at Logan International Airport, from where two of the hijacked jets took off. “I can’t imagine the court allowing the blame to be shifted,” said Mike Low, whose 28-year-old daughter, Sara Elizabeth Low of Boston, was a flight attendant on American Airlines [AMR] Flight 11 out of Logan.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of Federal District Court in Manhattan must decide if national security will now take a front seat in the last lawsuits remaining in the attacks.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/594405.html

Sunshine State offers solace to 9/11 families
BY ROBERTO SANTIAGO
Dominic Puopolo Jr. of Miami Beach lost his mother on Sept. 11, 2001, when her plane, American Airlines Flight 11, was hijacked and flown into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

Joshua Rosenblum, whose mother, Sue Rosenblum, lives in Coral Springs, was killed after the same plane crashed a few stories below where he was working.

And David McCourt, of Palm Beach, lost his entire family -- his wife, Ruth, and his little daughter, Julianna, when their plane, United Airlines Flight 175, was hijacked and crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center.

In the aftermath of one of America's worst tragedies, the families of 9/11 victims have all sought to heal the scars of a horrific day.

Many remained in the New York area, but a significant number have left, choosing one particular part of the country to rebuild and resume their lives -- Florida.

Repost- better coverage of the AP article than the NY Post, and removed my dumb comment:

9/11 victims pursue bin Laden family fortune

http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/national/19959064.html

Story Published: Jun 15, 2008
Story Updated: Jun 15, 2008
By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - As the United States continues its long manhunt for Osama bin Laden, victims of Sept. 11 are in the midst of their own bin Laden pursuit: for his family's vast fortune.

Victims and survivors of the 2001 attack and insurance companies say the bin Laden family failed to cut off ties with their infamous relative after learning he was devising terrorism plots and should be held liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Lawyers for the victims and survivors argued Thursday that the family members are getting off easy in defending against the claims that they turned a blind eye to his evil ways after learning of his terroristic leanings in 1993.

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKNASU6040120080605

9/11 families excluded from Guantanamo hearing

Thu Jun 5, 2008 4:03am BST

By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - As the Guantanamo war crimes court prepared to arraign five prisoners on death penalty charges of orchestrating the September 11 attacks, a Pentagon official apologized on Wednesday for excluding victims' families from the hearing.

The U.S. military quietly invited one woman whose brother was an American Airlines pilot killed in the plane that crashed into the Pentagon in the 2001 attacks.

But the invitation to attend Thursday's arraignment at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba was rescinded when the New York Daily News revealed that lone invitee Debra Burlingame was an ardent defender of President George W. Bush who spoke in support of his administration at the Republican Party convention during his 2004 re-election campaign.

Relatives of other victims complained that the Guantanamo trials were being politicized and the Pentagon's legal adviser, Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, acknowledged the matter was mishandled.

Lots of html links in the article; follow the link to to the original for working links:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/hot_topics/19374964.html

Posted on Thu, May. 29, 2008

Sept. 11 Lawsuit

The lawsuit

An epic lawsuit filed by Philadelphia firm Cozen O'Connor looks to place direct blame for the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a host of individuals, banks and groups so that it can recover billions of dollars in damages.

The following excerpts from the lawsuit are in the form of .pdfs, and vary in length from 12 to 61 pages. There is some overlap, in instances where a section ended in the middle of the page; the excerpt that follows picks up on that same page.

1. The list of plaintiffs and defendants. Read the document

2. Background on the actions leading to the lawsuit, and beginning of the allegations against each defendant. Read the document

3. More background on the actions leading to the lawsuit. This section presents allegations against the defendant banks and other financial institutions. Read the document

Related to the Cozen 9/11 Saudi victim's family lawsuit:

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20080531_A_former_al-Qaeda_fighter...

Posted on Sat, May. 31, 2008

Special Report

A former al-Qaeda fighter accuses a Saudi charity

By Chris Mondics
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

DOBOJ, Bosnia - For years, Saudi Arabia flatly denied it had provided money and logistical support for Islamist militant groups that attacked Western targets.

But that assertion is disputed by a former al-Qaeda commander who testified in a United Nations war-crimes trial that his unit was funded by the Saudi High Commission for Relief of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ali Ahmed Ali Hamad, the former al-Qaeda fighter, gave the same account to The Inquirer in an interview in this struggling city in the central Balkans.

"Because it was the biggest charity, [the commission] helped the mujaheddin the most," Hamad said, adding that it had provided "everything a person needed to exist."

For Immediate Release
February 19, 2008

The recent news reports that our government has finally charged the “6 Guantanamo Detainees” for crimes connected to the 9/11 terrorist attacks has focused on the fact that our government is calling for the death penalty. While we all agree that the perpetrators of 9/11 should be brought to justice, the death penalty is not the issue.

The real issue is that it must first be proven that these six detainees are indeed the guilty parties.

The following is every statement issued by the 9/11 Family Steering Committee during the 9/11 Commission, and after it. Aside from the unanswered questions, the Steering Committee's website is an invaluable resource if you truly want to understand the process in which 9/11 was/wasn't investigated. I hope that everyone takes the time to read through this. Earlier statements made by the Committee are available for download here.

Comment on the Third Public Hearing of the 9/11 Commission
Topic: Terrorism, Al Qaeda, and the Muslim World

http://www.911independentcommission.org/july092003.html

July 9, 2003

I'm not sure of the legal implications here. How important is this? GW?

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/news/city_desk_wired/index.php/2007/11...

Buried deep within White House press releases and proclamations is a rare link to the 9/11 lawsuits. For those who lost loved ones that fateful fall day, it’s seen as a small act of bureaucratic kindness.

www.whitehouse.gov: The law, signed by the president this past Thursday, reads …

S. 2106, the “Procedural Fairness for September 11 Victims Act of 2007,” which provides for nationwide service of subpoenas in litigation arising out of the hijacking and subsequent crashes of the terrorist-related flights of September 11, 2001.

* Link to legislation as recorded in the Library of Congress (Note: The link is broken.)

( This a "rough cut", we are currently in the process of post production on the entire event which will be available on DVD in the coming weeks....check 911Hartford.org for updates.)
(Go to full page of videos by clicking 'read more' link at bottom for all 3 speechs plus Q &A)

Donna Marsh O'Connor

Flyby News Alert -
29 October 2007
Editor - Jonathan Mark - www.FlybyNews.com

East Coast - West Coast Feature 9/11 Truth Events

Notes: These two events are indicative of the information and substance,
and the quality of people coming forth, to confront mainstream America,
its media and institutions, with a just demand for new 9/11 investigations.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Last Man Out of the North World Trade Center Tower Tells his Story
William Rodriguez - November 1st- November 7th, 2007
From Oakland, California to Seattle, Washington

Press Advisory

William Rodriguez will share his harrowing tale of transformation from janitor to international hero on Thursday, 7 pm November 1st, at the Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Avenue in Oakland, California, the first stop, on a North West Tour that will take him from Oakland to Sonoma, Sacramento, Eureka, Portland, and Seattle. Other guest speakers include Peter Dale Scott and Cindy Sheehan, the main talk will be followed by a reception for Rodriguez and local heroes.

Thank you Michele. - Jon

Open Letter

My name is Michele Little, sister of Fallen Firefighter FDNY, David M. Weiss of Rescue 1, Midtown Manhattan.

I met Jon Gold in Chandler, AZ at the 9/11 Accountability Conference in February 2007 where I was an invited to speak as a family member. Jon and I became fast friends and we speak on a consistent basis.

Jon is known by many family members as a compassionate man who stands by our side for truth and justice. Through the 9/11 Truth Movement, he speaks out sharing his knowledge for truth and justice with anyone who is ready to wake up to facts that are pivotal to being an American.

To hear anything to the contrary as many people heard through Webster Tarpley’s words and finger pointing in New York City the weekend before September the 11th Memorial was unimaginable and unexpected.

Jon is a good man with good intentions and should be honored for his kindness, thoughtfulness and outspokenness on behalf of the 9/11 Family Members, Survivors and 9/11 Responders.

Thanks to www.cooperativeresearch.org, and many many thanks to Lorie Van Auken

Lorie Van Auken
9/20/2007

Sibel Edmonds tried her best, to speak with the 9/11 Commissioners regarding the information that she had, which she felt was relevant to the 9/11 investigation. The Commissioners didn't respond to her, so having heard about us, the 9/11 widows from New Jersey, she contacted us.

Sibel asked to meet with us in order to discuss why she wanted to testify. She couldn't speak completely freely, having been gagged, but we were none the less appalled by what she told us, and were able to glean the importance of having her information put before the 9/11 Commission.

I thought these were important for all of the new people to see. - Jon

Chaired by Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
Thanks to www.911busters.com

Commission Mission Statement
Media Player: Click Here
Quicktime: Click Here

Commissioners' Opening Words
Media Player: Click Here
Quicktime: Click Here

Barry Zelman Reflects on Loss
Media Player: Click Here
Quicktime: Click Here

Mindy Kleinberg Testimony
Media Player: Click Here

Thanks to www.airamerica.com/clout/

September 11th, 2001
Click Here

Congratulations to both Lorie and Janice for doing so well.

September 11, 2007

The day is somber as it always is now on September 11th. Today it is literally somber, the weather gloomy and I feel somber. But this year I'm home, not in New York City begging for 9/11 truth, nor in Valhalla where Vanessa is buried, nor in Washington, D. C. lobbying persons wrapped so tight in metaphoric suits that they cannot see beyond their own tailored personae to understand what I want. It's really unfair to them, after all, since I can never really have what I want.

Somehow I am a part of the "truth" movement-a movement of those family members and citizens who believe at least that there are key questions to the events leading up to 9/11, the events of that day, and the events post 9/11 that were never asked (forget answered) and that these questions need to be asked so that the world can go back to its bucolic ways pre November 2000.

Over the last few months, Monica and I have become friends. She is as witty, as she is strong. - Jon

Source: courant.com

Rick Green
September 11, 2007

Before she became someone else, before she watched the South Tower crumble, before she believed six years could pass and nothing would change, Monica Gabrielle's thoughts were of early retirement with her husband, maybe a trip to Europe.

Pay your taxes, raise your kid, don't ask questions and hope things work out.

"You suddenly realize that is not enough," she told me when I called. Gabrielle lost her husband and a well-ordered life in West Haven on 9/11. She has been raising hell ever since.

"I am disgruntled, disgusted and dismayed," Gabrielle said, reminding me of unsecured borders, vulnerable ports, a fear-mongering president and his misguided Iraq war.

A beautiful tribute I found on LiveLeak! (I think it's in German?)

(BTW, I think it was more like 60 police officers, not 23 as written with the video, who were stolen from us on 9/11. We must also count the gravely ill first responders who are suffering to this very day!)

The pics of the crying children who had lost loved ones just broke my heart! (This is why we fight for 9/11 truth! So nothing like this can ever happen again!)

The image above is the only media I have because someone didn't push the charge plug all the way into the camera, and the battery was dead on arrival.

Sorry.

Newsday
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/am-wtc0829,0,1492337.story?col...

Rudy's role in 9/11 ceremony sparks ire
By David Freedlander, amNewYork Staff Writer dfreedlander@amny.com
August 28, 2007

Almost six years after Rudy Giuliani became America's mayor as he guided the city through the worst terror attack in U.S. history, many of those who stood by him then are now attacking his traditional role at the annual memorial ceremony at Ground Zero.

Criticism is coming his way because he's running for president and has been accused of exploiting 9/11 to lift his national profile.

"I think it's a horrible decision and I'm outraged," said Jim Riches of Brooklyn, whose son died in the attack on the World Trade Center and who is also a deputy chief with the fire department. "Seventy percent of us are now sick because he lied about the air quality down at Ground Zero, and he was too busy raising money and going to the World Series to pay attention to what was happening down there. He should just go to a Yankees baseball game instead."

Source: 911truth.org

This September 11 will be the sixth anniversary of the day I had my last chance to talk to my daughter, Vanessa Lang Langer. I was barely out of bed and conscious during the dwindling moments that would come to be the remaining time her blood coursed through her veins, her heart beat, she had her hands on her steering wheel as she parked her car in the garage on Washington Street, sat at her desk, thought about her brothers, her husband, her coming child. I did not know it would be the last opportunity, and in this post-traumatic world that I now occupy I know there are millions of people out there who know how intensified my grief gets with each passing year and with each new crime perpetrated by the Bush administration and the many in our government who enable them. I know, and there is some comfort in knowing, that many of you are just as outraged, just as traumatized by the failure to bring to light that what was done to my daughter in body, and to our country and, indeed, the world, in spirit and action was (in whole or in part) facilitated by factions in our own government. The most important thing then is be certain that as we ask for an investigation or for impeachment we are conscious that we are asking for what may constitute our only hope to get out of this alive.

We must be strategic. Not sentimental. Not stupid. Not so angry that we lose sight of this first truth--even 9/11 occurred in the "post 9/11 world". On that day when so many are thinking about their last opportune moments to connect to those they love, we need to give them the space (intellectual and emotional) to see with their own eyes how this land has fared, how our government has failed us as it grew its own power. Because the most important thing is not respect for the dead and for the grieving who on this day will have those events unfold for them moment by moment--the most important thing is to stop it from happening again. And continuing. So on that day and only on that day in the places where the mourners gather, I am asking all of you to pause.

Donna Marsh O'Connor
Mother of Vanessa Lang Langer, WTC Tower II, 93rd floor