Huge: 9/11 Families Throw the Gauntlet Down to Bush.

[JackRiddler]

The Family Steering Committee Statement and Questions Regarding the 9/11 Commission Interview with President Bush

February 16, 2004

The Family Steering Committee believes that President Bush should provide sworn public testimony to the full ten-member panel of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

Collectively, the Commissioners are responsible for fulfilling the Congressional mandate. Therefore, each Commissioner must have full access to the testimony of all individuals and the critical information that will enable informed decisions and recommendations. Before an audience of the American people, the Commission must ask President Bush in sworn testimony, the following questions:

1. As Commander-in-Chief on the morning of 9/11, why didn't you return immediately to Washington, D.C. or the National Military Command Center once you became aware that America was under attack? At specifically what time did you become aware that America was under attack? Who informed you of this fact?

2. On the morning of 9/11, who was in charge of our country while you were away from the National Military Command Center? Were you informed or consulted about all decisions made in your absence?

3. What defensive action did you personally order to protect our nation during the crisis on September 11th? What time were these orders given, and to whom? What orders were carried out? What was the result of such orders? Were any such orders not carried out?

4. In your opinion, why was our nation so utterly unprepared for an attack on our own soil?

5. U.S. Navy Captain Deborah Loewer, the Director of the White House Situation Room, informed you of the first airliner hitting Tower One of the World Trade Center before you entered the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. Please explain the reason why you decided to continue with the scheduled classroom visit, fifteen minutes after learning the first hijacked airliner had hit the World Trade Center.

6. Is it normal procedure for the Director of the White House Situation Room to travel with you? If so, please cite any prior examples of when this occurred. If not normal procedure, please explain the circumstances that led to the Director of the White House Situation Room being asked to accompany you to Florida during the week of September 11th.

7. What plan of action caused you to remain seated after Andrew Card informed you that a second airliner had hit the second tower of the World Trade Center and America was clearly under attack? Approximately how long did you remain in the classroom after Card's message?

8. At what time were you made aware that other planes were hijacked in addition to Flight 11 and Flight 175? Who notified you? What was your course of action as Commander-in-Chief of the United States?

9. Beginning with the transition period between the Clinton administration and your own, and ending on 9/11/01, specifically what information (either verbal or written) about terrorists, possible attacks and targets, did you receive from any source?

This would include briefings or communications from:

* Out-going Clinton officials
* CIA, FBI, NSA, DoD and other intelligence agencies
* Foreign intelligence, governments, dignitaries or envoys
* National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
* Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism czar

10. Specifically, what did you learn from the August 6, 2001, PDB about the terrorist threat that was facing our nation? Did you request any follow-up action to take place? Did you request any further report be developed and/or prepared?

11. As Commander-in-Chief, from May 1, 2001 until September 11, 2001, did you receive any information from any intelligence agency official or agent that UBL was planning to attack this nation on its own soil using airplanes as weapons, targeting New York City landmarks during the week of September 11, 2001 or on the actual day of September 11, 2001?

12. What defensive measures did you take in response to pre-9/11 warnings from eleven nations about a terrorist attack, many of which cited an attack in the continental United States? Did you prepare any directives in response to these actions? If so, with what results?

13. As Commander-in-Chief from May 1, 2001 until September 11, 2001, did you or any agent of the United States government carry out any negotiations or talks with UBL, an agent of UBL, or al-Qaeda? During that same period, did you or any agent of the United States government carry out any negotiations or talks with any foreign government, its agents, or officials regarding UBL? If so, what resulted?

14. Your schedule for September 11, 2001 was in the public domain since September 7, 2001. The Emma E. Booker School is only five miles from the Bradenton Airport, so you, and therefore the children in the classroom, might have been a target for the terrorists on 9/11. What was the intention of the Secret Service in allowing you to remain in the Emma E. Booker Elementary School, even though they were aware America was under attack?

15. Please explain why you remained at the Sarasota, Florida, Elementary School for a press conference after you had finished listening to the children read, when as a terrorist target, your presence potentially jeopardized the lives of the children?

16. What was the purpose of the several stops of Air Force One on September 11th? Was Air Force One at any time during the day of September 11th a target of the terrorists? Was Air Force One's code ever breached on September 11th?

17. Was there a reason for Air Force One lifting off without a military escort, even after ample time had elapsed to allow military jets to arrive?

18. What prompted your refusal to release the information regarding foreign sponsorship of the terrorists, as illustrated in the inaccessible 28 redacted pages in the Joint Intelligence Committee Inquiry Report? What actions have you personally taken since 9/11 to thwart foreign sponsorship of terrorism?

19. Who approved the flight of the bin Laden family out of the United States when all commercial flights were grounded, when there was time for only minimal questioning by the FBI, and especially, when two of those same individuals had links to WAMY, a charity suspected of funding terrorism? Why were bin Laden family members granted that special privilege � a privilege not available to American families whose loved ones were killed on 9/11?

20. Please explain why no one in any level of our government has yet been held accountable for the countless failures leading up to and on 9/11?

21. Please comment on the fact that UBL's profile on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives poster does not include the 9/11 attacks. To your knowledge, when was the last time any agent of our government had contact with UBL? If prior to 9/11, specifically what was the date of that contact and what was the context of said meeting.

22. Do you continue to maintain that Saddam Hussein was linked to al Qaeda? What proof do you have of any connection between al-Qaeda and the Hussein regime?

23. Which individuals, governments, agencies, institutions, or groups may have benefited from the attacks of 9/11? Please state specifically how you think they have benefited.

The Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Independent Commission

http://www.911independentcommission.org/

[laruemtt]

1. his answers should be

very interesting to say the least. stay tuned - this is about to get good!

[JackRiddler]

2. Of course he will not be answering a thing...

This is up to US and others to spread such news as widely as possible. The Bush regime and its supporters continue to exploit "the victims of 9/11" to shut up critics and justify every Bush policy. People need to know what the actual 9/11 families think. This list shows that they have done much the same research* and are open to the same possibilities as those who argue the possibility of LIHOP on this board.

(* - based on the quality and knowledgability of the questions, their research actually is clearly on a higher, more nuanced level than the LIHOP average.)

[smirkymonkey]

3. Won't they just get the usual

battery of lies and evasions?? Why would anyone expect the truth from this psychopathic lying liar from hell??

[JackRiddler]

5. That's not the point!

Obviously he will evade.

We need to keep getting the word out about why they are posing these questions in the first place, what they may mean, the significance of the obstruction...

[RainDog]

4. We would all like answers to those questions

and we deserve answers to those questions.

[liberalhistorian]

6. And the fact that they're coming from

9/11 families themselves, will hopefully give them more legitimacy in the eyes of the media whores.

[JackRiddler]

8. Not if we don't ALL use every channel available to us

to get this message out.

The time is here, we must translate all this away from Internet and into public pressure on the street. Only once it is impossible to ignore will the media cover up begin to crack. I know, I was at the last two 9/11 Commission press conferences and most of the mainstream media WILL avoid the obvious when not under pressure. (Just doing their jobs, you know.)

[MI Cherie]

7. Every patriotic American should be ...

... demanding those questions be answered — under oath!

Anyone not supporting this effort to get truthful answers should feel ashamed.

[oasis]

9. This comes when Bush's credibility is in a freefall.

[OneBlueSky]

10. well, ain't these some interesting questions . . .

how about just answering, say, five of them, Mr. Resident . . . just as a start, mind you . . . you can even pick which five . . .

[Beam Me Up]

11. You said that right . . .

. . .he can't answer a damnend one of them HONESTLY.

This is a LOSE LOSE situation for the * administration. If they don't answer, they loose credibility. If they do answer they will have to lie. If they do lie their lies will be OBVIOUS to many.

They've lied WAY TOO MANY TIMES. You can fool most of the people most of the time (or so it seems). But the FACT is, nothing this administration has done in relation to 9/11 has been CREDIBLE from the very beginning. The events of 9/11 were certainly tragic and spectacular--but the government's LACK OF RESPONSE was--and continues to be--NOT CREDIBILE.

You can not SPIN this as some lack of preparedness or some sort of "intelligence failure." Even if this were true (which it most assuredly is not) it would beg ACCOUNTABILITY--possibly criminal negligence and/or dereliction of duty. The facts, however, are otherwise. EVERYONE DID THEIR JOB AS THEY WERE INSTRUCTED TO DO. There were no lapses in either pre-warning intelligence OR responsiveness at the time. Consequently, there can not be any accountability for failure as no "failure" ever occured.

Three thousand citizens were sacrificed on 9/11 because it was in the military industrial complex's interest--a matter of National Security coming to be known as "peak oil"--to do so. The events of 9/11 not only killed three thousand people, they have taken the entire US population HOSTAGE to an IMPERICAL AGENDA.

BMU

Edit: spelling and clarity

[gandalf]

15. No. It's not a "LOSE LOSE situation for the * administration."

Your argument presumes that these questions are widely published and discussed, because the administration losing credibility requires cognitive processes in the minds of millions. And that remains doubtful imho. Do you think the NY Times will print these questions?

[Hekate]

12. Brilliant questions

This questionnaire should be printed in every newspaper in the country.

The 9-11 families are doing good work against terrible odds. What is so heartening is that the Bushistas seem to have entirely underestimated them. The Towers were the locus of a lot of businesses that demanded high-end skills, drive, and intelligence of their workers -- I would have predicted that their widows and other family members would have similar characteristics, and now these people have turned their energies to digging answers out of this pathetic excuse for an American administration. They may not get those answers -- yet; but it won't be for lack of persistantly asking the right questions.

Hekate

[DeepModem Mom]

13. This, I hope, represents the final blow to Bush's credibility...

with the American people. It won't happen overnight, but if it happens before November, we will be free of the fraud in our White House.

[alfredo]

14. E-mail these questions with the link to everyone

on your mailing list.

[graphixtech]

16. it's time for ALL thinking Americans

to raise Hell about this atrocity.

There is but a small window in history for any public influence here.

On a personal note, I will assure readers that there is a noticable increasing public support at our regular Saturday KC 911 Visibility protests. Many people realize that the media is ignoring this scandel and are HUNGRY for independent information about this issue. Last Saturday, there were more honks of support and excitement than I ever remember hearing. There was also much less negativity than just a few months ago.

Forming a 9-11 visibility group in your area is easy and is a healthy outlet. NOW is a great time to start your town in this 9-11 Visibilty movement.
http://septembereleventh.org/

We have provided a step-by-step how-to guide to help you get your group together, complete with tips on tabling at events, organizing actions and demos, networking with local peace and justice groups, etc. Everything you need to get started, including where to buy 9-11 books, videos and other materials, is in an online guide.

learn more about this upcoming Sunday's Ellen Mariani Kansas City visit: (huge turnout expected, stay tuned)
http://septembereleventh.org/kc/index.php

my new iMovie showing KC's 911 Visibility efforts in action:
http://homepage.mac.com/snapshots1/iMovieTheater1.html

[Q]

17. Clinton was forced to testify...

...UNDER OATH...about where he and Monica touched each other. Certainly this issue is more important to the nation than that?

- An issue should be make about no one in the Bush* admin. willing to testify under oath about matters directly related to their duties and responsibilities.

- We should also constantly point out that obvious...that the Bushies are acting as if they're ABOVE THE LAW.

[trumad]

18. I would pay good money to see Bush attempt to answer these...

Bush can't answer "What he had for breakfast" questions....

[ignatius]

19. Isnt' it telling that the FCC launches an inquiry into a half time

football game 2 days aftr it happens and this GD administration is STILL stonewalling the investigation 2.5 years later of this.

You are right, this is a perfect time to pressure the media into asking these ques tions, made even more relevant by the questioners themselves.

[nostamj]

20. brilliant set of questions!

not that I'm surprised.

questions regarding 9/11 should not be considered partisan but I can see the corporate media ignoring them as bush-bashing, gutter politics.

i agree they must be sent far and wide.

he can't get away with his standard answers: tax cuts, terra

sending them to Helen Thomas immediately after posting this.

[JackRiddler]

21. kicker

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

22. kick

I can't wait for the GOP convention in NYC. They *really* bit off more than they can chew.

[BGrier]

23. Question Number 6

Question 6 is very interesting. I haven't heard that one before.

[calimary]

24. 1 (800) 839 - 5276 - TOLL FREE to Capitol Hill! Call 'em on this!

It's FREE. They transfer you, free, to any office on the Hill that you request. DEMAND that they look these up, and act on them. Somebody has to!

If they think we don't care, they won't, either.

[Kazak]

25. Great questions!

I'd love to hear the answers.

[Q]

26. They are great questions...

...but the only way Georgie* will be compelled to answer them is if the DEMOCRATIC PARTY gets off their butts and demands that he testifies under oath.

[JackRiddler]

27. keep it kicked

Damn it, I wish the Jersey Moms were running for President.

[historian]

28. e mail to them

I asked them whether they planned any demonstrations either in New York (at the site of the towers) or in Washington. They havent answered me yet, but what on earth could slimebag do about it? Send the national guard out to harass widows, victims of his own conniving BS????

[JackRiddler]

29. So kick & Call your representatives - your media - now!