Friday, February 27 2009   -   9/11 Consequences

February 25, 2009
Nadler.house.gov

Washington, D.C. -- Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Peter King (R-NY), and Michael McMahon (D-NY) today hailed the House passage of the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (H.R. 1105), which contains $70 million in new funding for federal 9/11 health programs. The new funding, combined with $112 million carried over from previous years, will cover the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program's $182 million estimated cost for FY 2009.

"The $70 million in this bill will ensure that the heroes of 9/11 can get the care they need for another year," Maloney said. "Once again, I thank Chairman David Obey for helping fulfill our nation's moral responsibility to help those who are sick as a result of 9/11. With the support of President Obama and Speaker Pelosi, we hope to pass comprehensive legislation this year to provide long-term care and compensation to 9/11 responders, lower Manhattan residents, and others in need."

 

Tuesday, February 17 2009   -   9/11 Consequences

Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state.

By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor
Telegraph.co.uk
17 Feb 2009

Dame Stella [who became the first woman director general of MI5 in 1992] accused ministers of interfering with people's privacy and playing straight into the hands of terrorists.

"Since I have retired I feel more at liberty to be against certain decisions of the Government, especially the attempt to pass laws which interfere with people's privacy," Dame Stella said in an interview with a Spanish newspaper.

"It would be better that the Government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism: that we live in fear and under a police state," she said.

Dame Stella, 73, added: "The US has gone too far with Guantánamo and the tortures. MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect: there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification." She said the British secret services were "no angels" but insisted they did not kill people.

 

Friday, February 13 2009   -   9/11 Consequences

by Stephen C. Webster
February 12, 2009
RawStory.com

Three major human rights organizations have declared the Department of Defense was running secret prisons at Bagram and in Iraq, actively sought ways around the terms of the Geneva conventions and cooperated with the CIA's "ghost detention" program which saw prisoners hidden from Red Cross oversight.

The arrival of the documents comes on the same day the ACLU published two unredacted pages of a government report which reveals detainees in US custody were tortured to death.

 

Wednesday, February 11 2009   -   9/11 Consequences

Washington, D.C. -- Today, Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Peter King (R-NY), and Michael McMahon (D-NY) reintroduced bipartisan legislation to address the health crisis caused by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. H.R. 847, the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, would provide medical monitoring and treatment for those exposed to toxins released by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. The bill would also provide compensation for economic losses due to illnesses or injuries caused by the attacks.

The previous version of the bill was set to be considered by the House last fall but because of the financial crisis and other factors, it had to be delayed. The Members of Congress are hopeful that the bill will have strong bipartisan support when it is voted on by the House in the coming months. In addition, during his presidential campaign President Barack Obama signaled his strong support for helping the heroes and heroines of 9/11.

"Thousands lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks, but in the years that followed thousands more lost their health. This bill provides proper care to those who are suffering and demonstrates that America will not abandon its first responders and all those affected," Rep. Maloney said. "I thank Speaker Pelosi and my colleagues in the New York delegation for their dedication to fulfilling America's moral responsibility to care for those who were harmed by the terrorist attacks on our nation."

 

Wednesday, February 11 2009   -   9/11 Consequences

by Leo Standora
NY Daily News
February 5th 2009

Many Sept. 11 first responders - most of them cops, firemen and construction workers who took ill after working at Ground Zero - suffered lung problems more than five years later, according to a new study.

Experts say findings by Mount Sinai Medical Center's medical monitoring program prove those exposed to toxic dust in the twin towers' collapse suffer persistent illnesses, ranging from asthma to reactive airway disease and shortness of breath.

The study could help experts who have long been struggling to set standards for defining a post-Sept. 11 illness and how long it takes to develop.

The monitoring program examined more than 3,160 WTC responders between 2004 and 2007, repeating exams conducted between the middle of 2002 and 2004.

Slightly more than 24% of those examined had abnormal lung function, the study found.

 

Tuesday, February 10 2009   -   9/11 Consequences

For Immediate Release
February 10, 2009

September 11th Advocates
Statement Regarding Guantanamo Quagmire and Accountability
February 10, 2009

The Military Commissions System at Guantanamo Bay was an attempt by the Bush Administration to create an “extralegal zone”, wherein the rule of law was ignored. Many Guantanamo detainees were subject to detention without charges, rendition and illegal torture. The Military Commissions System, which allowed evidence obtained through torture and coercive interrogation tactics, has been a dismal failure both legally and practically. The Supreme Court has rejected the policies of this system each time it has reviewed them. Because of the Bush Administration’s mistaken belief in its ability to craft a new legal system, which clearly created avoidable moral and legal challenges, justice may never be served.

President Obama has paused all proceedings at Guantanamo Bay for 120 days in order for his legal team to attempt to design a system in which the verdicts will withstand the scrutiny of the inevitable appeals process. He is rightfully attempting to fix the quagmire that was created by the previous administration.

 

Wednesday, January 28 2009   -   9/11 Consequences



WeAreChange would like to recognize the leadership of George Martin, NFL star and SuperBowl Champion with the NY Giants in 1987. George raised over two million dollars for the first responders of 9/11, raising money and awareness by walking all the way across the country, from New York to California. See http://www.ajourneyfor911.info

WeAreChange also caught up with some of the SuperBowl Champs from 2008. On the video is the messages they had for the first responders. As we watch another SuperBowl pass let's remember who the real heroes in our country are, and how badly they're in need. Support H.R. 7174 (James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act) Visit www.fealgoodfoundation.com for updates on this bill as it's introduced into the current Congress (with a new bill number). [911Truth.org will also post this information as soon as we learn details.]  

Friday, January 23 2009   -   9/11 Consequences

January 23, 2009
By Michael Doyle
McClatchy Newspapers

...As one of his first acts, President Barack Obama issued an order reversing his predecessor's approach toward the release of government documents. Scholars, journalists, farmers and the simply curious now await the reopening of federal information taps tightened since 2001.

In fiscal 2007, for instance, the Defense Department completely granted approximately 48 percent of the FOIA requests it processed. In fiscal 1998, by contrast, the Clinton administration's Defense Department completely granted approximately 61 percent of FOIA requests.

The Pentagon was not alone, a review of federal agency reports shows. Percentages are approximate, because of how the reports are compiled, but trends are obvious.

 

Friday, January 23 2009   -   9/11 Consequences

David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Wednesday January 21, 2009
RawStory.com

 

Wednesday, January 21 2009   -   9/11 Consequences

January 21, 2009
by Philippe Naughton
TimesOnline

Barack Obama has wasted no time in getting down to the business of government, asking prosecutors to halt controversial military trials at Guantanamo Bay within hours of his inauguration.

The request was issued via the Department of Defence even as President Obama and his wife Michelle waltzed their way through a series of glitzy inaugural balls.

Mr Obama pledged during his campaign to close the prison camp on Cuba set up in 2001 to hold detainees from the 'War on Terror'. The camp's legality has always been questioned, and former inmates and human rights experts said the harsh interrogation techniques deployed inside it amounted to torture.

Last night's request was for a 120-day stay in the trials of five alleged 9/11 plotters - including the self-proclaimed 'mastermind' behind America's worst terror attack - and of a Canadian accused of killing a US soldier in Afghanistan. Mr Obama had been expected to issue an executive order as early as today for the full closure of the camp, but accepts that it might take months to rehouse some 250 inmates still held there.

 

Sunday, January 18 2009   -   9/11 Consequences

What Obama Must Do
A Letter to the New President

PAUL KRUGMAN
Jan 14, 2009
Rolling Stone

Dear Mr. President:

Like FDR three-quarters of a century ago, you're taking charge at a moment when all the old certainties have vanished, all the conventional wisdom been proved wrong. We're not living in a world you or anyone else expected to see. Many presidents have to deal with crises, but very few have been forced to deal from Day One with a crisis on the scale America now faces.

So, what should you do?