Assoluta Tranquillita: Remember 9/11: Every.single.day

Fifteen years on from the biggest terrorist attack on US soil, politicians and government officials are still using the tragedy for political brownie points. As presidential candidate Hillary Clinton announces she'll be at Ground Zero today. and Donald Trump says "me too, me too,,,,", Christine Todd Whitman, head of the EPA on 9/11 now issues a statement in which she says "sorry"? What is she sorry for? Oh, this: " ... that people are dying and if the EPA and I in any way contributed to that, I’m sorry. "

Her released statement is full of 'maybe' 'might have' when even on 9/11 it was obvious to those at the pile how dangerous the air was. Read Jack Delaney here. The cynic in me notices the coincidental timing on that apology from Whitman, because you know she has had 15 years to get to that waffling. Go away, Whitman. Nobody needs to hear from you.

Meanwhile, the President of the United States issues his annual acknowledgement of this horrific event:

WASHINGTON — Hailing the values and resilience that he says both define and sustains Americans, President Barack Obama on Saturday honored the nearly 3,000 souls that were lost in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as well as the bravery of survivors and the emergency personnel who responded, and the work of scores of others who have labored since to keep the homeland safe.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said that while so much has changed in the years since 9/11 it's important to remember what has stayed the same. "The core values that define us as Americans. The resilience that sustains us," he said on the eve of the 15th anniversary of one of the nation's darkest days....

Read more at Stars and Stripes here.

As other politicians line up to deliver pronouncements on this the 15th anniversary, 9/11 mom, Diane Fairben has this to say about Trump and Clinton plans to attend Ground Zero:

On Clinton:

Stay home, IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU HILLARY...her presence alone will take away the focus of what it should be..

On Trump:

And Trump can stay home too. WTF ? I'....NO ONE, and NOTHING has the right to take any focus away from the families and survivors tomorrow

Keith and all the other heroes who lost their lives on what began as a deceptively sunny day, are missed every.single.day. I know many dads like Kenneth Fairben miss their loved ones with every breath they take.

As every single family directly affected by the act of war on the US soil continues to quietly honor their loved ones, Obama promises/threatens to veto a bill just passed unanimously in Washington, which allows families to sue Saudi Arabia:

Congress on Friday sent President Obama a bill that would allow families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia over its alleged ties to terrorism, but advocates of the legislation worry it could be defeated by a presidential veto.

The House passed the legislation by voice vote, with leaders calling it a “moral imperative” to allow victims’ families to seek justice for the deaths of loved ones as the country marks the 15th anniversary of the attacks that brought down the World Trade Center towers and damaged the Pentagon.

But bill supporters are bracing for a veto fight with the White House, which argues the bill could harm the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia and establish a legal precedent that jeopardizes American officials overseas...

Read the rest of this here.

It seems that 9/11 families and colleagues have had to continue to fight every.single.day since 2001 waiting for justice.

Every single family of the loved ones listed here continues to daily mourn the loss of their heroes from 9/11.

These pictures courtesy of Tom Cooney, whose cousin, Hughie Lynch, gave his life that day:

Squad 1 lost half of its members at the World Trade Center in the September 11th attacks. The Squad would be one of the most devastated FDNY units impacted by the collapse of the Twin Towers losing 12 members

Capt. James Amato
Lt. Michael Esposito
Lt. Edward D'Atri
Lt. Michael Russo
FF Peter Carroll
FF David Fontana
FF Thomas Butler
FF Brian Bilcher
FF Matthew Garvey
FF Stephen Siller
FF Gary Box
FF Robert Cordice

Hundreds of First Responders died on 9/11, and the survivors continue to die from the toxic legacy of their service on that day, and in the weeks, months and years since then. The survivors and their families had to fight tooth and nail - in some cases to their very last breath - to access health care they earned.

Throughout the last few years I have written of the Zadroga Bill, named after James Zadroga, who did indeed fight to his last breath. Go to this link and watch a video with him, and read some of the indisputable facts relating to the heroes we have all lost since 9/11. The statistics are heart-wrenching.

(Aug. 2015) ... More than 1800 Have Passed From 9/11 Related Illnesses (updated 9/11 Roll of Honor & Remembrance AND NYCPBA The Chief, December 3, 2010; AND World Trade Center Fatalities Report 2011)

Meanwhile, President Obama continues to play politics. Remember this?

This is Obama on his second day in office, signing his first executive order in which he promises to close GITMO within one year. Really.

As we all know,he has not managed to kept that political promise; this despite his normalisation' of relationship with Cuba, and the open door policy he has implemented- with a group of faceless bureaucrats - of giving the GITMO 'detainees' their 'get out of jail free cards'.

This last August 15, the largest group yet of 'detainees' was released.

The Department of Defense announced today the transfer of 15 detainees: Abd al-Muhsin Abd al-Rab Salih al-Busi, Abd al-Rahman Sulayman, Mohammed Nasir Yahi Khussrof Kazaz, Abdul Muhammad Ahmad Nassar al-Muhajari, Muhammad Ahmad Said al-Adahi, Abdel Qadir al-Mudafari, Mahmud Abd Al Aziz al-Mujahid, Saeed Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah Sarem Jarabh, Mohammed Kamin, Zahar Omar Hamis bin Hamdoun, Hamid al-Razak (aka Haji Hamidullah), Majid Mahmud Abdu Ahmed, Ayub Murshid Ali Salih, Obaidullah, and Bashir Nasir Ali al-Marwalah from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of the United Arab Emirates.

As directed by the president's Jan. 22, 2009, executive order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of these cases. As a result of those reviews, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, 6 of the 15: al-Busi, Sulayman, Kazaz, al-Muhajari, al-Adahi, and al-Mudafari were unanimously approved for transfer by the six departments and agencies comprising the task force.

Periodic Review Boards consisting of representatives from the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and State; the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence determined continued law of war detention of 9 of the 15: al-Mujahid, Jarabh, Kamin, bin Hamdoun, al-Razak (aka Haji Hamidullah), Ahmed, Salih, Obaidullah, and al-Marwalah does not remain necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States. As a result of those reviews, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, al-Mujahid, Jarabh, Kamin, bin Hamdoun, al-Razak (aka Haji Hamidullah), Ahmed, Salih, Obaidullah, and al-Marwalah were recommended for transfer by consensus of the six departments and agencies comprising the Periodic Review Board. The Periodic Review Board process was established by the president's March 7, 2011 Executive Order 13567.

As directed by the president's Jan. 22, 2009, executive order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of these cases. ...

Since Obama has had his efforts to close GITMO thwarted at every turn by Congress (those damn uncooperative Republicans, you know) he has wasted no time in doing an end run around due process, and has this 'committee' rubber stamping his efforts to clean out GITMO. As of last count, with this group of 15 released, there remains 61 detainees in GITMO, including the 9/11 self-proclaimed terrorists.

That paragraph beginning 'as directed...'is only a most recent addition to the DoD' s Transfer of Detainees announcements. . Prior to this absolute acknowledgement that every detainee was released for political reasons, Obama and his faceless yes men touted the release as a moral imperative,or something.

(Promising to return America to the "moral high ground" in the war on terrorism, President Obama issued three executive orders Thursday to demonstrate a clean break from the Bush administration, including one requiring that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility be closed within a year....)

It seems that in January 2016, Obama and his merry band saw no need to cloak their actions in this moral high ground and that paragraph was missing entirely.

On January 6th, this was part of the Detainee Transfer announcement:

The United States is grateful to the Government of Ghana for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The United States coordinated with the Government of Ghana to ensure these transfers took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures.

Today, 105 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay.

How precious is that, that murderers who wish on us all, are '...humane treatment measures....even as it is documented that some of them(30%?) have returned to the battlefield to continue their plots to murder on us infidels. Don't believe me? Check this out, from January about a GITMO release who vows to kill Americans.

Do any of us feel safer in the world today? Should we take comfort from Obama pronouncements that the 'world is a safer place' now?

This from 2014: