America / 911 / September 11TH

"Your government failed you, and I failed you," he said. "We tried hard, but that doesn't matter because we failed you. And for that failure, I would ask, once all the facts are out, for your understanding and for your forgiveness." Former Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection Richard Clarke I don't think any of us, or anyone who's worked on these issues, can feel any sense of satisfaction with 3,000 of our fellow citizens horribly murdered. -- Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage BUT THERE WAS ONE MAN WHO KNEW

John P. O'Neill Sr Very Unfortunately NO ONE Listened to John !

May 31ST 2004. My Wife Jackie, my Daughter Wendy, her Husband Toby and my Grand Children Wyatt and Bridger all went to Ground Zero today. We took the subway to the end, Chambers street, and walked up some stairs to a large area that looked like a ramp garage. As we walked across the cement floor toward the opening, we came upon the huge hole that is Ground Zero. That was the World Trade Center. It seemed to come up so fast, and I was not ready for the flood of emotions I felt. To be standing in front of this now holy place, where over Three Thousand People died, is overwhelming. First I felt very sad, and then tears fell - - - And then I became very angry ! There needs to be justice for all of these innocent people ! They and The United States did not deserve this ! Dave Kaspersin While we were at Ground Zero a women came up to my daughter and told her on the morning of September 11, there were no Taxi Cabs anywhere in the vinicity of the WTC. She said that normally there would have been many cabs there. It was understood that they had been informed ahead of time not to be in the area that morning, but they didn't know why. So I went up to two New York police officers at the site and asked them if what she had told us was true. One officer looked at the ground and the other looked at me and said it was true. I said "so that means a lot of people knew?" ? And he replyed "the Arab community knew". Which makes me wonder if our government knew too - - - Was 911 an excuse to go to war and secure the oil ? I hope not, but I can't help wonder. I do not trust the Bush administration ! Dave Kaspersin More

Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record: "This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it. When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, war mongering Americans.

I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon-not once, but several times-and safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."

Stand proud, America!

Radio Broadcaster Gordon Sinclair (1900-1984)

Gordon Sinclair was a colorful figure in 20th-century Canadian radio journalism. For over 40 years he produced a daily radio series called "Let's Be Personal;" he gained a reputation for "telling it like it is" and became a familiar figure to millions of listeners. Sinclair is especially remembered for a broadcast he made praising the United States on June 5, 1973. The text of that broadcast, known as "The Americans," has been widely circulated on the Internet, particularly after the air attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in September of 2001.

News Broadcasting - "Unique Stories"

"The Americans" - by Gordon Sinclair

On June 5, 1973, Gordon Sinclair sat up in bed in Toronto and turned on his TV set. The United States had just pulled out of the Vietnamese War which had ended in a stalemate - a war fought daily on TV, over the radio and in the press. The aftermath of that war resulted in a world-wide sell-off of American investments, prices tumbled, the United States economy was in trouble. The war had also divided the American people, and at home and abroad it seemed everyone was lambasting the United States.

He turned on his radio, twisted the dial and turned it off. He picked up the morning paper. In print, he saw in headlines what he had found on TV and radio - the Americans were taking a verbal beating from nations around the world. Disgusted with what he saw and heard, he was outraged!

At 10:30, on his arrival at CFRB to prepare his two pre-noon broadcasts, he strode into his office and "dashed-off" two pages in 20 minutes for LET'S BE PERSONAL at 11:45 am, and then turned to writing his 11:50 newscast that was to follow. At 12:01 pm, the script for LET'S BE PERSONAL was dropped on the desk of his secretary who scanned the pages for a suitable heading and then wrote "Americans"" across the top and filed it away. The phones were already ringing.

Gordon Sinclair could not have written a book that could have had a greater impact in the world than his two-page script for THE AMERICANS. A book should have been written on the events that followed. But, no one at CFRB, including Sinclair himself, could have envisioned the reaction of the people of the United States - from presidents - state governors - Congress - the Senate - all media including TV, radio, newspapers, magazines - and from the "ordinary" American on the street. Nor could have the Canadian government - stunned by the response to what has come to be regarded as one of Canada's greatest public relations feats in the history of our relations with the United States of America.

But, how did Sinclair's tribute to Americans reach them? It had been swept across the United States at the speed of a prairie fire by American radio stations - first, a station in Buffalo called and asked to be fed a tape copy of the broadcast with permission to use - both freely given. Nearby American stations obtained copies from Buffalo or called direct. By the time it reached the Washington, DC area, a station had superimposed Sinc's broadcast over an instrumental version of BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER, and was repeating it at fixed times several times a day.

Congressmen and Senators heard it. It was read several times into the Congressional Record. Assuming that it was on a phono (33 1/3 rpm), Americans started a search for a copy. CFRB was contacted. To satisfy the demand, CFRB started to make arrangements with AVCO, an American record company, to manufacture and distribute it as a "single".

As they were finalizing a contract that would see all royalties which would normally be due Gordon Sinclair be paid (at his request) to the American Red Cross, word was received that an unauthorized record, using Sinclair's script but read by another broadcaster, was already flooding the US market. (Subsequently, on learning that this broadcaster had agreed to turn over his royalties to the Red Cross, no legal action was taken).

Sinclair's recording of his own work (to which Avco had added a stirring rendition of THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC) did finally reach record stores, and sold hundreds of thousands of copies, but the potential numbers were depressed by the sale of the infringing record. Other record producers and performers (including Tex Ritter) obtained legal permission to make their own versions. In Ritter's case, because of the first-person style of the script, Tex preceded his performance with a proper credit to Sinclair as the author. The American Red Cross received millions of dollars in royalties, and Gordon Sinclair was present at a special ceremony acknowledging his donation.

Advertisers using print media contacted CFRB for permission to publish the text in a non-commercial manner; industrial plants asked for the right to print the script in leaflet form to handout to their employees.

Gordon Sinclair received invitations to attend and be honoured at many functions in the United States which, by number and due to family health problems at the time, he had to decline. However, CFRB newscaster Charles Doering, was flown to Washington to give a public reading of THE AMERICANS to the 28th National Convention of the United States Air Force Association, held September 18, 1974 at the Sheraton Park Hotel. His presentation was performed with the on-stage backing of the U.S. Air Force Concert Band, joined by the 100-voice Singing Sergeants in a special arrangement of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

8 years after the first broadcast of THE AMERICANS, U.S. President Ronald Reagan made his first official visit to Canada. At the welcoming ceremonies on Parliament Hill, the new President praised "the Canadian journalist who wrote that (tribute)" to the United States when it needed a friend. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had Sinclair flown to Ottawa to be his guest at the reception that evening.

Sinc had a long and pleasant conversation with Mr. Reagan. The President told him that he had a copy of the record of THE AMERICANS at his California ranch home when he was governor of the state, and played it from time to time when things looked gloomy.

On the evening of May 15th, 1984, following a regular day's broadcasting, Gordon Sinclair suffered a heart attack. He died on May 17th. As the word of his illness spread throughout the United States, calls inquiring about his condition had been received from as far away as Texas. The editorial in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune of May 28th was typical of the reaction of the United States news media - A GOOD FRIEND PASSES ON.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan: "I know I speak for all Americans in saying the radio editorial Gordon wrote in 1973 praising the accomplishments of the United States was a wonderful inspiration. It was not only critics abroad who forgot this nation's many great achievements, but even critics here at home. Gordon Sinclair reminded us to take pride in our nation's fundamental values."

Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau: "Gordon Sinclair's death ends one of the longest and most remarkable careers in Canadian Journalism. His wit, irreverence, bluntness and off-beat views have been part of the media landscape for so long that many Canadians had come to believe he would always be there."

Following a private family service, two thousand people from all walks of life filled Nathan Phillips Square in front of Toronto's City Hall for a public service of remembrance organized by Mayor Art Eggleton. Dignitaries joining him on the platform were Ontario Lieutenant-Governor, John Black Aird; the Premier of Ontario, William Davis; and Metro Chairman Paul Godfrey. Tens of thousands more joined them through CFRB's live broadcast of the service which began symbolically at 11:45 - the regular time of Sinc's daily broadcast of LET'S BE PERSONAL.

As Ontario Premier William Davis said of him "The name GORDON SINCLAIR could become the classic definition of a full life."

(recalled by J. Lyman Potts who was "there")

This letter was sent to a friend by a retired Navy Capt. in Maine whose son is also a Navy Capt. and works in the Washington area. Two or three times a week he has meetings at the Pentagon and was familiar with many who lost their lives . l don't know the author 's name but the letter should be sent to all until it reaches the intended audience . September 11, 2001 An Open Letter to Terrorists I don't know your name, or names - we may never know who you are - so I can't address you personally. Today,you killed several thousands of our friends...perhaps not people who we knew personally, but people like us. People who worked hard to make a living, who loved someone, who were loved by someone, who worried about making a better life for their children and grandchildren, who believed in God and the American Dream, who criticized this country for its insufficiencies and cared enough to try and change things and ensure a better future, not just for us, but for the world. People who leave behind scores of loved ones, friends, pets, neighbors, coworkers, and members of their faiths. Perhaps even people who derived from your own country and who sought refuge here. Your act was a slaughter of the innocents. You are like an insidious cancer that strikes without warning, ravages bodies, tears families apart, and in the end can never destroy the soul. You are the ultimate coward. You may topple our buildings, collaps eour communication systems, disrupt our government, crash our markets, and leave behind the carnage of bodies, but you will never destroy the soul of America. We made this country from the bits and pieces of the rest of the world; we took the best, the worst of every culture and nationality, race and creed, and made an alloy that may be dented, but not even a trial by fire can melt. I don't know what god you believe in,or what hateful rhetoric you espouse, or what your misguided political beliefs might be that allows you to do what you did today without a fear of eternal damnation. I only know that you may win a battle or two, but you will never win this war. We have the entire history of the world on our side, and no dictator, despot, or madman has survived as long as America has thrived and prospered. If you accomplished anything at all today, it was to give America a wake-up call, and we will now rise up stronger than before. You are defeated before you've even begun, there in your private hell and later in your eternal one. Someday your people may even need our help, and because we are America, we would respond. May God bless the friends we lost, their families, friends, neighbors and coworkers. We will help them rebuild from the ashes. May God continue to bless America, help her to protect us all, and may she continue to shine as a beacon of democracy and hope to the rest of the world. Copyright Jim Willis 2001 In deepest sympathy to those who have lost a loved one. Permission to share.

Americans for Justice in Palestine Press Statement FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Ramallah, September 12, 2001) - One cannot express enough horror and disbelief at the events that we have been witnessing over the past 24 hours. Our prayers are with the victims, their families and our fellow Americans during these most difficult and trying times. We applaud today's statement of Secretary of State Colin Powell who made very clear that this act of terrorism is just that, terrorism, and cannot be associated with any country, people or religion without a proper investigation of the facts. In full agreement with Secretary of State Powell, we would like to emphasize the negative repercussions of irresponsible journalism during this unfolding tragedy. Speculative reporting on the fact that some individuals have been celebrating the attacks on the US is not, by the furthest stretch of the imagination, representative of the reaction of the mass majority of Palestinians. On the contrary, these attempts to stereotype an entire people in light of such a horrendous event are very dangerous and counterproductive. Placing blame on an entire people or religion will only fuel a backlash and promote unfounded attacks that Arab Americans have already begun facing across the US. Palestinians living under occupation are glued to their television sets like the rest of the world. The few misled Palestinians in the streets were isolated incidents and those are the images that some US media have chosen to focus on. Victimized as they are, Palestinians as a community as well as their leaders, would never find joy in seeing this tragedy unfold and we deplore these individual incidents of celebrations as well as the media fallacy that Palestinians are jubilant at innocent death and destruction. All of us, American citizens and our friends here in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, have been receiving numerous phone calls from Palestinians concerned about our families and friends living in the US. Everyone is expressing their outright shock, condemnation and condolences at yesterday's events. Again, our prayers are with the victims, their families and all our fellow Americans. ============================= From: Beit Sahour Municipality In the name of Beit Sahour Municipality and in the name of each and every citizen of the Shepherds field Beit Sahour; we convey our deepest condolences to the entire American people for the horrific loss of innocent lives as a result of the horrible acts of terror. In particular, we share the grievances of all the families of the victims. We pray to God to please give these families the patience and the strength. As Palestinians who suffer daily form acts of Israeli aggression against our innocent people, we cannot find the words to express how shocked we were to see the horrific scenes on TV. We condemn such acts and we do not accept such horrific acts in the 3rd millennium where peace, prosperity, and freedom should cover the whole world. We reiterate our deepest condemnation of this horrible act on these innocent humans. No matter how can we express our sorrow, we can't find enough words to say how sorry we are. Please let us work together to stop these acts of terrorism all over the world. Let us work hand in hand for establishing a safer world to live in. ============================== Dear Bat Shalom Friends and Allies: The Jewish and Palestinian Israeli women of Bat Shalom send our condolences to the families and communities who have lost their loved ones in yesterday's outrageous and inhumane attacks in the United States. It is hard to believe that our recently born 21st century has already seen such unimagined tragedy and destruction. Thousands of innocent people continue to lose their lives in a world in which violence has become the most recognizable international language. As the smoke over the east coast settles, and governments and armed forces plan and implement their political and military esponses, we call upon those in positions of leadership to acknowledge that more destruction, death or indictment of entire populations can lead us only just so far - to exactly where we are right now. Humanity deserves more and better answers to conflicts than bombs, hijackings, assasinations, occupation and terrorism. And if they continue to be the only answers, we are not yet asking the right questions. Again, we send you all our deepest sympathies during these difficult times, Terry Greenblatt Director, Bat Shalom

Subject: Deepak Chopra speaks on the subject Here's what Deepak Chopra says on this subject: The Deeper Wound As fate would have it, I was leaving New York on a jet flight that took off 45 minutes before the unthinkable happened. By the time we landed in Detroit, chaos had broken out. When I grasped the fact that American security had broken down so tragically, I couldn't respond at first. My wife and son were also in the air on separate flights, one to Los Angeles, one to San Diego. My body went absolutely rigid with fear. All I could think about was their safety, and it took several hours before I found out that their flights had been diverted and both were safe. Strangely, when the good news came, my body still felt that it had been hit by a truck. Of its own accord it seemed to feel a far greater trauma that reached out to the thousands who would not survive and the tens of thousands who would survive only to live through months and years of hell. And I asked myself, Why didn't I feel this way last week? Why didn't my body go stiff during the bombing of Iraq or Bosnia? Around the world my horror and worry are experienced every day. Mothers weep over horrendous loss, civilians are bombed mercilessly, refugees are ripped from any sense of home or homeland. Why did I not feel their anguish enough to call a halt to it? As we hear the calls for tightened American security and a fierce military response to terrorism, it is obvious that none of us has any answers. However, we feel compelled to ask some questions. Everything has a cause, so we have to ask, What was the root cause of this evil? We must find out not superficially but at the deepest level. There is no doubt that such evil is alive all around the world and is even celebrated. Does this evil grow from the suffering and anguish felt by people we don't know and therefore ignore? Have they lived in this condition for a long time? One assumes that whoever did this attack feels implacable hatred for America. Why were we selected to be the focus of suffering around the world? All this hatred and anguish seems to have religion at its basis. Isn't something terribly wrong when jihads and wars develop in the name of God? Isn't God invoked with hatred in Ireland, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine, and even among the intolerant sects of America? Can any military response make the slightest difference in the underlying cause? Is there not a deep wound at the heart of humanity? If there is a deep wound, doesn't it affect everyone? When generations of suffering respond with bombs, suicidal attacks, and biological warfare, who first developed these weapons? Who sells them? Who gave birth to the satanic technologies now being turned against us? If all of us are wounded, will revenge work? Will punishment in any form toward anyone solve the wound or aggravate it? Will an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and limb for a limb, leave us all blind, toothless and crippled? Tribal warfare has been going on for two thousand years and has now been magnified globally. Can tribal warfare be brought to an end? Is patriotism and nationalism even relevant anymore, or is this another form of tribalism? What are you and I as persons going to do about what is happening? Can we afford to let the deeper wound fester any longer? Everyone is calling this an attack on America, but is it not a rift in our collective soul? Isn't this an attack on civilization from without that is also from within? When we have secured our safety once more and cared for the wounded, after the period of shock and mourning is over, it will be time for soul searching. I only hope that these questions are confronted with the deepest spiritual intent. None of us will feel safe again behind the shield of military might and stockpiled arsenals. There can be no safety until the root cause is faced. In this moment of shock I don't think any one of us has the answers. It is imperative that we pray and offer solace and help to each other. But if you and I are having a single thought of violence or hatred against anyone in the world at this moment, we are contributing to the wounding of the world. Love, Deepak

At 04:41 PM 9/12/01 -0300, you wrote: Dear American Friends; Just a short note to let you know that you are thought of and prayed for in this time of tragedy by your Canadian friends across the border. May the Lord keep you and comfort you. May He make Himself known to those who are alone fighting for their lives, may He comfort the grieving families and may He hold them close to Himself and walk them through this difficult time. We are praying for President Bush that the Lord will give him wisdom and direction and that he will have ears to hear what the Lord is saying to him. Most of all God's Peace! The Lord does not make mistakes... this tragedy is not His fault but it is the result of the sinful nature of man. I pray that this tragedy will allow us to reflect on our own hearts and lives and cause us to ask ourselves... Are we living the lives that God intended for us to live? Are we living according to His word? May the Lord grant you His peace that passes all understanding at this time. If you have any prayer needs please do not hesitate to email me and we will surely go to the throne of God grace on your behalf. In His Name Brenda Geneau Polished Arrow Ministries Grand-Falls, N.B. Canada

REST IN PEACE (by Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet, and former nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, Thich Nhat Hanh) I am a World Trade Center tower, standing tall in the clear blue sky, feeling a violent blow in my side,

and I am a towering inferno of pain suffering imploding upon myself

and collapsing to the ground. May I rest in peace.

I am a terrified passenger on a hijacked airplane not knowing where we are going or that I am riding on fuel tanks that will be instruments of death, and I am a worker arriving at my office not knowing that in just a moment my future will be obliterated. May I rest in peace. I am a pigeon in the plaza between the two towers eating crumbs from someone's breakfast when fire rains down on me from the skies, and I am a bed of flowers admired daily by thousands of tourists now buried under five stories of rubble. May I rest in peace. I am a firefighter sent into dark corridors of smoke and debris on a mission of mercy only to have it collapse around me, and I am a rescue worker risking my life to save lives who is very aware that I may not make it out alive. May I rest in peace.

I am a survivor who has fled down the stairs and out of the building to safety who knows that nothing will ever be the same in my soul again, and I am a doctor in a hospital treating patients burned from head to toe who knows that these horrible images will remain in my mind forever. May I know peace.

I am a tourist in Times Square looking up at the giant TV screens thinking I'm seeing a disaster movie as I watch the Twin Towers crash to the ground, and I am a New York woman sending e-mails to friends and family letting them know that I am safe. May I know peace. I am a piece of paper that was on someone's desk this morning and now I'm debris scattered by the wind across lower Manhattan, and I am a stone in the graveyard at Trinity Church covered with soot from the buildings that once stood proudly above me, d! death meeting death. May I rest in peace.

I am a dog sniffing in the rubble for signs of life, doing my best to be of service, and I am a blood donor waiting in line to make a simple but very needed contribution for the victims. May I know peace.

I am a resident in an apartment in downtown New York who has been forced to evacuate my home, and I am a resident in an apartment uptown who has walked 100 blocks home in a stream of other refugees. May I know peace. I am a family member who has just learned that someone I love has died,

and I am a pastor who must comfort someone who has suffered a heart-breaking loss. May I know peace. I am a loyal American who feels violated and vows to stand behind any military action it takes to wipe terrorists off the face of the earth, and I am a loyal American who feels violated and worries that people who look and sound like me are all going to be blamed for this tragedy. May I know peace. I am a frightened city dweller who wonders whether I'll ever feel safe in a skyscraper again, and I am a pilot who wonders whether there will ever be a way to make the skies truly safe. May I know peace. I am the owner of a small store with five employees that has been put out of business by this tragedy, and I am an executive in a multinational corporation who is concerned about the cost of doing business in a terrorized world. May I know peace. I am a visitor to New York City who purchases postcards of the World Trade Center Twin Towers that are no more, and I am a television reporter trying to put into words the terrible things I have seen. May I know peace. I am a boy in New Jersey waiting for a father who will never come home, and I am a boy in a faraway country rejoicing in the streets of my village because someone has hurt the hated Americans. May I know peace. I am a general talking into the microphones about how we must stop the terrorist cowards who have perpetrated this heinous crime, and I am an intelligence officer trying to discern how such a thing could have happened on American soil, and I am a city official trying to find ways to alleviate the suffering of my people. May I know peace. I am a terrorist whose hatred for America knows no limit and I am willing to die to prove it, and I am a terrorist sympathizer standing with all the enemies of American capitalism and imperialism, and I am a master strategist for a terrorist group who planned this abomination. My heart is not yet capable of openness, tolerance, and loving. May I know peace. I am a citizen of the world glued to my television set, fighting back my rage and despair at these horrible events, and I am a person of faith struggling to forgive the unforgivable, praying for the consolation of those who have lost loved ones, calling upon the merciful beneficence of God/Yahweh/Allah/Spirit/Higher Power. May I know peace.

I am a child of God who believes that we are all children of God and we are all part of each other. May we all know peace.

A Captain to Remember The following is from a letter by a professional friend and her return flight to D.C. this week. "I just wanted to drop you all a note and let you know that I arrived safe and sound into Dulles Airport tonight [9/15] at about 600. It was an interesting flight. The airport in Denver was almost spooky, it was so empty and quiet. No one was in line for the security check point when I got there so that went fairly quickly, just x-ray of my bags and then a chemical test to be sure nothing explosive was on them. Then I waited 2 1/2 hours to board the plane. What happened after we boarded was interesting and thought I would share it with you. The pilot/captain came on the loudspeaker after the doors were closed. His speech went like this First I want to thank you for being brave enough to fly today. The doors are now closed and we have no help from the outside for any problems that might occur inside this plane. As you could tell when you checked in, the government has made some changes to increase security in the airports. They have not, however, made any rules about what happens after those doors close. Until they do that, we have made our own rules and I want to share them with you. Once those doors close, we only have each other. The security has taken care of a threat like guns with all of the increased scanning, etc. Then we have the supposed bomb. If you have a bomb, there is no need to tell me about it, or anyone else on this plane; you are already in control. So, for this flight, there are no bombs that exist on this plane. Now, the threats that are left are things like plastics, wood, knives, and other weapons that can be made or things like that which can be used as weapons. Here is our plan and our rules. If someone or several people stand up and say they are hijacking this plane, I want you all to stand up together. Then take whatever you have available to you and throw it at them. Throw it at their faces and heads so they will have to raise their hands to protect themselves. The very best protection you have against knives are the pillows and blankets. Whoever is close to these people should then try to get a blanket over their head--then they won't be able to see. Once that is done, get them down and keep them there. Do not let them up. I will then land the plane at the closest place and we WILL take care of them. After all, there are usually only a few of them and we are 200+ strong! We will not allow them to take over this plane. I find it interesting that the US Constitution begins with the words "We, the people"--that's who we are, THE people and we will not be defeated. With that, the passengers on the plane all began to applaud, people had tears in their eyes, and we began the trip toward the runway. The flight attendant then began the safety speech. One of the things she said is that we are all so busy and live our lives at such a fast pace. She asked that everyone turn to their neighbors on either side and introduce themselves, tell each other something about your families and children, show pictures, whatever. She said "for today, we consider you family. We will treat you as such and ask that you do the same with us." Throughout the flight we learned that for the crew, this was their first flight since Tuesday's tragedies. It was a day that everyone leaned on each other and together everyone was stronger than any one person alone. It was quite an experience. You can imagine the feeling when that plane touched down at Dulles and we heard "welcome to Washington Dulles Airport, where the local time is 540". Again, the cabin was filled with applause. Last night I saw a program with college students where one of them said that at their campus there are no more hyphenated titles, i.e., African-American, etc., everyone is just an American. No one will ever be able to take that pride away from us. "

After de tragic events of tuesday morning in New York and Waschington, we would like you to know that you and our friends in United States have our fullest sympathy and compassion at this moment. We would also like to let you know that we are standing with you at this time, Yours sincerely. Director and the employees of P.T.H. Meopta Sp. z o.o., Pozna�, Poland

To: wdyn@wdyn.net Subject: hi there Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 12:06:11 +0000 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: X-OriginalArrivalTime: 15 Sep 2001 12:06:11.0957 (UTC) FILETIME=[CFB08250:01C13DDE] X-UIDL: 8dd64d09d4fcf49551c5f4a0d6b4c8be (Please read out this to the listeners, thank you) Dear listeners, May I on behalf of myself, my family, the Kurdish and Iraqi community in London and around the world, give our deepest sympathy to those who lost their loved ones. I was shocked and couldn't believe what I heard or saw on Tuesday, it was one of the evilest acts ever; words really cannot describe it. Don�t matter how bad American policy might be, No one can Ever Justify the killing of innocent people going on about their normal life. I pray to God that the American government do not retaliate in anger, but stay calm and realise that justice will be done in time. Please do not ever think that people from our part of the world have any thing against you. We really can not do much about a group of very Evil people, claiming to represent a religion or race and committing such Horrific act and shaming and destroying the image of their own people. Deep down in our heart, we got nothing but love for you. May God bless you and protect us all against evil.

A perspective from an American from Afghanistan... Dear Colleagues, As we reflect upon the tragic events of this week and an appropriate "response," I thought you might like to see this letter from my college roommate, who grew up in Afghanistan. I think he offers an interesting perspective on Bin Laden, the Taliban, and Afghanistan. Dear Friends, Yesterday I heard a lot of talk about "bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age." Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio allowed that this would mean killing innocent people, people who had nothing to do with this atrocity, but "we're at war, we have to accept collateral damage," and he asked, "What else can we do? What is your suggestion?" Minutes later I heard a TV pundit discussing whether we "have the belly to do what must be done." And I thought about these issues especially hard because I am from Afghanistan, and even though I've lived here for 35 years I've never lost track of what's been going on over there. So I want to share a few thoughts with anyone who will listen. I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no doubt in my mind that these people were responsible for the atrocity in New York. I fervently wish to see those monsters punished. But the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan. They're not even the government of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who captured Afghanistan in 1997 and have been holding the country in bondage ever since. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a master plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps." It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators. They would love for someone to eliminate the Taliban and clear out the rats nest of international thugs holed up in their country. I guarantee it. Some say, if that's the case, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban themselves? The answer is, they're starved, exhausted, damaged, and incapacitated. A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no food. Millions of Afghans are widows of the approximately two million men killed during the war with the Soviets. And the Taliban has been executing these women for being women and have buried some of their opponents alive in mass graves. The soil of Afghanistan is littered with land mines and almost all the farms have been destroyed . The Afghan people have tried to overthrow the Taliban. They haven't been able to. We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age. Trouble with that scheme is, it's already been done. The Soviets took care of it . Make the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their houses? Done. Turn their schools into piles of rubble? Done. Eradicate their hospitals? Done. Destroy their infrastructure? There is no infrastructure. Cut them off from medicine and health care? Too late. Someone already did all that. New bombs would only land in the rubble of earlier bombs. Would they at least get the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, only the Taliban eat, only they have the means to move around. They'd slip away and hide. (They hae already, I hear.) Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans, they don't move too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. But flying over Kabul and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike against the criminals who did this horrific thing. Actually it would be making common cause with the Taliban--by raping once again the people they've been raping all this time So what else can be done, then? Let me now speak with true fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in there with ground troops. I think that when people speak of "having the belly to do what needs to be done" many of them are thinking in terms of having the belly to kill as many as needed. They are thinking about overcoming moral qualms about killing innocent people. But it's the belly to die not kill that's actually on the table. Americans will die in a land war to get Bin Laden. And not just because some Americans would die fighting their way through Afghanistan to Bin Laden's hideout. It's much bigger than that, folks. To get any troops to Afghanistan, we'd have to go through Pakistan. Would they let us? Not likely. The conquest of Pakistan would have to be first. Will other Muslim nations just stand by? You see where I'm going. The invasion approach is a flirtation with global war between Islam and the West. And that is Bin Laden's program. That's exactly what he wants and why he did this thing. Read his speeches and statements. It's all right there. At the moment, of course, "Islam" as such does not exist. There are Muslims and there are Muslim countries, but no such political entity as Islam. Bin Laden believes that if he can get a war started, he can constitute this entity and he'd be running it. He really believes Islam would beat the west. It might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into Islam and the West, he's got a billion soldiers. If the West wreaks a holocaust in Muslim lands, that's a billion people with nothing left to lose, even better from Bin Laden's point of view. He's probably wrong about winning, in the end the west would probably overcome--whatever that would mean in such a war; but the war would last for years and millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly for that? Bin Laden yes, but anyone else? I don't have a solution. But I do believe that suffering and poverty are the soil in which terrorism grows. Bin Laden and his cohorts want to bait us into creating more such soil, so they and their kind can flourish. We can't let him do that. That's my humble opinion.

World Tallies Number of Citizens Dead, Missing Date: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 Country: United States Source: Sydney Morning Herald Story: International shock at the attacks in the United States continued to reverberate yesterday as countries tallied the number of their citizens among the dead and missing. Emergency workers at the site of the shattered World Trade Centre have so far recovered just 180 bodies of the more than 5,000 people believed to be under the rubble, leaving distraught families around the world clinging to the very thin hope that those missing might yet be found alive. THE UNITED STATES has not established a toll of its nationals likely killed in the attacks on the World Trade Centre, but New York City authorities said 5,097 people were missing. There is virtually no hope of finding any of them alive. The missing figure includes 300 firefighters, 44 Port Authority police, 23 police officers, an FBI agent and a Secret Service agent. New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said 180 bodies have so far been pulled from the wreckage of the World Trade Centre and 115 of them have been identified. The total death toll, when it is established, will include the 265 people on board the four hijacked planes, two of which exploded in huge fireballs on the upper floors of the 110-storey twin towers of the WTC and one in the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in southwestern Pennsylvania. ARGENTINA said four of its nationals were missing. AUSTRALIA said three of its nationals were confirmed dead. Another 69 who were in the vicinity of the World Trade Centre at the time of the attacks were unaccounted for. AUSTRIA said 40 of its nationals were missing, one of them a 25-year-old woman who worked in a bank in the World Trade Centre. BANGLADESH said at least 50 Bangladeshis were presumed killed in the carnage at the World Trade Centre, where many worked in restaurants and offices. BELGIUM said 60 of its nationals present in New York at the time of the attack, including four workers in the World Trade Centre, were still missing. BRAZIL said at least 55 of its nationals were missing. BRITAIN said nearly 100 of its citizens were confirmed dead. Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that the death toll of Britons, probably 200 to 300, would be the highest in any attack since the end of World War II. CAMBODIA said it feared that some 20 of its nationals were missing following the attacks. CANADA said three of its nationals were confirmed dead and between 50 and 100 were still missing. CHILE said three of its nationals were feared dead, although more than 250 have been reported missing by relatives. CHINA said that three Chinese nationals died and another was missing. A man and woman, both in their 60s, died aboard the plane that was sent into the side of the Pentagon. A 41-year-old Chinese person was missing, and authorities were checking on a report that a fourth Chinese was not accounted for. COLOMBIA's Red Cross said 295 people were reported missing. While 17 people worked in the twin towers, others may have been present in the area at the time. Two Colombians were aboard one of the four hijacked planes. DENMARK's foreign ministry said five tourists were still unaccounted for. The DOMINICAN REPUBLIC said one citizen was found dead and seven are missing. ECUADOR listed two citizens as dead and 31 missing. EGYPT's ambassador to the United States said four Egyptians were feared dead. EL SALVADOR said one of its citizens died on one of the four hijacked planes, and 100 others were missing. FINLAND said its consulate in New York was trying to track down 17 nationals unaccounted for. FRANCE said a small number of its nationals working in the World Trade Centre were unaccounted for. A foreign ministry spokesman said no French dead have yet been confirmed. GERMANY said 270 of its nationals were still missing after the attack, but a foreign ministry spokeman said the actual number of Germans killed would almost certainly be much lower and the list of missing persons was rapidly shrinking. On Friday, the ministry said some 700 Germans were missing. HONG KONG said 19 people were missing. HONDURAS said one of its nationals was killed at the trade centre, but added that it had information that up to 500 Hondurans and Salvadorans worked in the towers, although not necessarily at the time of the disaster. INDONESIA said one of its citizens died on one of the four hijacked planes and another of its citizens was missing. IRELAND said four Irish citizens had been confirmed dead, including a woman and her four-year-old daughter who perished aboard one of the jets that hit the World Trade Centre and a worker in one of the towers. More than 20 other Irish nationals were missing. ISRAEL said two of its nationals died on board the doomed flights and two others who worked in the World Trade Centre were missing. In addition six people who were near the World Trade Centre when the attacks took place are unaccounted for. ITALY said 57 Italians were missing on the basis of data supplied by its consulate in New York. Most worked in the World Trade Centre or lived in the area. The foreign ministry said 29 people with Italian names were among the injured in hospital, but their nationality had not been confirmed. JAPAN said two Japanese died on the hijacked planes, and that another 24 who were at the World Trade Centre were missing. KENYA was missing one national, a computer analyst who worked in the World Trade Centre, according to local media. LEBANON said two of its nationals, including one of the suspected hijackers, are confirmed dead and two others are missing. MALAYSIA said seven of its nationals working in the World Trade Centre were missing. MEXICO was missing 19 nationals in the attacks on the World Trade Centre, according to the Mexican consul in New York. The consul, Salvador Beltran, said 150 Mexicans worked in the centre, though media said hundreds more worked in the restaurants on the lower levels and in the immediate vicinity. Tepayac, a network of Mexican community organisations, said as many as 500 Mexicans are feared dead in the collapsed towers. THE NETHERLANDS said at least three citizens had died in the terror attacks. NORWAY said one tourist is unaccounted for, but there was no indication he had been at the World Trade Centre. PAKISTAN said one Pakistani has been confirmed dead in the attacks but that the figure was certain to rise. A government spokesman said around 650 Pakistani nationals worked in the World Trade Centre. PARAGUAY said one citizen, an architect, was missing. PERU had one dead, a New York resident who worked in the World Trade Centre, according to local media, and Peruvian diplomats in the United States said another five Peruvians were missing. THE PHILIPPINES said two Filipinos were confirmed dead and 115 were missing. PORTUGAL said five Portuguese were believed to have died in the World Trade Centre. RUSSIA said 117 of its nationals were missing, believed killed. The Russian embassy in Washington said it compiled its list on the basis of calls received from Russians unable to contact relatives or friends. SOUTH AFRICA said at least one South African businessman was presumed dead, killed aboard one of the planes. The government said it another 24 South Africans may have been in the World Trade Centre, the two planes that destroyed it, and in or near the disaster sites in New York and at the Pentagon. SPAIN said it was without news of nine of its citizens, but declined to describe them as officially missing. Press reports said they were seven people living in New York and two tourists. SOUTH KOREA said 19 of its nationals were missing. SWEDEN said one of its citizens, employed by a New York insurance firm, was missing. SWITZERLAND said four of its citizens were killed: two on board one of the planes that smashed into the World Trade Centre, and two who were in the towers. Another two who were in the vicinity were missing. THAILAND has said two Thais working for private companies at the World Trade Centre are missing. Another 17 staff working for government agencies with offices in the buildings have been accounted for. TURKEY said it was tracking 131 people still unaccounted for. A total of 326 Turks had been traced alive out of 457 reported missing. Around 500 Turks worked in the World Trade Centre. TAIWAN said nine Taiwanese were missing. URUGUAY's former cycling champion Alberto Dominguez, 65, was on one of the flights that crashed into the twin towers. VENEZUELA reported two men and a woman missing. They worked for Chase Manhattan Bank and Eurobrokers International. ZIMBABWE's ambassador to the US was quoted as saying six Zimbabweans were missing and feared dead. Ambassador Simbi Mubako told the state-owned Herald newspaper that at least five Zimbabweans were known to have been working at the World Trade Centre, while one worked in the Pentagon as an engineer. AFP Copyright - 2001. All rights reserved.

A DAY THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY So many people spoke of Pearl Harbor and the day that will live in infamy. Of how that historical hell was surpassed in a morning in similar fashion. With kamikaze pilots against the symbols of our land. Of death dealt to the innocent by the darkest of the dark. By the killers of the young and weak and pure. A brilliant and simple plan from the chambers of evil's heart. And we watched on live television. An accident, for a moment we believed, like that Army bomber at the Empire State Building, with flame and smoke and, "Oh, my God!" And the silhouette of a plane, banking hard, and then a fireball and a sick feeling and a shock that most people never know, shared instantly, by tens of millions in front of their TVs. They blew it up, live on the satellite. Oh, my God indeed. A day that will live in infamy. The Pearl Harbor of our generation, only 10 or 50 times as bad, a new "Arizona" hit and burned and sunk. And a pall hangs over Gotham and the home of the free and the brave. A great white cloud of fire and destruction, ignited by hate and fueled by trust. We lived like men and the savages have gone for our throats. A day that will live in infamy. December 7, 1941. That's what it made us think of. Of the last sneak attack. Of the last time some no-nut bastards were too cowardly to take us on man-to-man. Of the last time vile infidels spat in our face. The last time some deranged sub-humans prayed to their pagan gods and went thirsting for American blood. And this time it may be in the tens of thousands. A small city of Americans killed. A year of the Vietnam War crammed into an hour and a half. Depending on how many got out and got away before the great monument of the 1970s came sloughing to the ground, a thundercloud of evil spreading from Manhattan across the globe. The most casualties sustained in combat in one day in American history. More than Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima and D-Day and Gettysburg and Antietam Creek. A day that will live in infamy. The first enemy assault on the American homeland since the War of 1812. A new page in our history. A day that will live in infamy. December 7, 1941. That's what they all said. It was just like then. Except that then wasn't just then. Then was the beginning. And it was inextricably tied to the end. To August 6, 1945. To the day America returned the favor. The day the world learned you don't mess with the red, white and blue. The day the sneak attack came home to roost. The day American might bought American security. That is the date we look forward to now. The new day of payback. The day of justice and accounting. The day we blow them to hell. In a flash of light with munitions from a plane, or in the heavy bombardment of offshore guns, or in the nasty bite of a .45 through the head. They have tried to beard the lion in its den, and it will now rise up and devour them. Cause somebody's going to burn for this. Not some trial in three years with polite arguments at the Hague, not with blustering press conferences, not with hollow rantings at the United Nations, but with cold steel and hot lead. This was an act of war, it must be responded to with an act of war, ruthless and savage war. Somebody's got to pay for this, just on principle. Somebody's got to be pounded good. Not a surgical strike, not a commando raid, but blood for blood, life for life. Not as an act of vengeance exclusively, but as an act of prevention and protection, because the failure to retaliate and demonstrate national rage and power will do nothing but invite further violence and attack. We must declare war on terrorism, on all terrorism and all terrorists, they are all our enemies. And we must physically destroy them and the nations and interests who support them. If you do not repay the defiler of your home, if you do not recompense him fivefold for his violation, you have surrendered. You have empowered and enticed him and those who would emulate him. You have shown yourself weak. And it is only the strong who are safe. A day that will life in infamy. September 11, 2001. Nine-one-one. They called, and we're going to answer. We will bury our dead and nurse our wounded and soon we will visit our enemies, and the jackals will pick their bones. Because Pearl Harbor was not an end it was a beginning. A beginning of the end of our enemies' might. Because the American spirit is not slain or wounded, it is only pricked, pricked and awakened and enraged. We will pray and mourn and comfort, and then we will gird up our loins. And heaven help the bastards who did this. Because their days are numbered. We didn't start this, but we're going to finish it. And 50 years from now we will remember our dead, and piss on our enemies' graves. - by Bob Lonsberry � 2001

We Really Are and Should Be ONE People on This Planet!
Dave Kaspersin

Only the uniforms have changed

1. I Am Old Glory - Jeff Riales & Peg Dolan (Country Version) 3:10
MP3
   2. I Am Old Glory - Jeff Riales & Peg Dolan (Rock Version) 3:12
MP3
   To find out more about I Am Old Glory or to order a complete copy Please click Here.

Listen, Watch and Reflect .......

America: The Good Neighbor

United We Stand

We Really Are and Should Be ONE People on This Planet! Dave Kaspersin

Only the uniforms have changed

1. I Am Old Glory - Jeff Riales & Peg Dolan (Country Version) 3:10 MP3 2. I Am Old Glory - Jeff Riales & Peg Dolan (Rock Version) 3:12 MP3 To find out more about I Am Old Glory or to order a complete copy Please click Here.

Listen, Watch and Reflect .......

America: The Good Neighbor

United We Stand

We Really Are and Should Be ONE People on This Planet!
Dave Kaspersin

1. I Am Old Glory - Jeff Riales & Peg Dolan (Country Version) 3:10
MP3
2. I Am Old Glory - Jeff Riales & Peg Dolan (Rock Version) 3:12
MP3
To find out more about I Am Old Glory or to order a complete copy Please click Here.