Teaching Children About 9/11

One of the few devastating dates in American history that will forever be burned in our history books and in our hearts and minds is Sept. 11.

Today, many are reliving the nightmare of seven years ago and are sharing personal stories of where they were when they discovered that their nation was being attacked and what they were doing at that very moment.

But there are a group of Americans who do not know what happened on Sept. 11 because they were either too young to remember or comprehend the day’s events or were not even born.

That is why it’s important that we teach America’s children and youth about the importance of this day and what it truly means to be an American, with all of the glories, sorrows, duties and responsibilities that are attached to being a citizen of this great nation.

While young children may not fully understand the complexities of the horrific events that occurred or how it changed our lives or forced this country to go into war with the enemy, they still need to know the importance of what went on.

Explaining it in simple ways that children can understand will help them grasp the meaning of 9/11. While just labeling “terrorists” as “bad guys,” may seem like sugarcoating what they truly are, it will help a 6-year-old boy or girl to know what happened.

Some parents will feel that explaining to a young child that planes were used to destroy buildings or to kill thousands of innocent people is too harsh, then simply saying that the “bad guys” attacked this country might be enough to satisfy their curiosity until they are older to understand.

But children should also learn about the heroism that was displayed by the passengers and crew on Flight 93 and how their sacrifice saved countless lives. They are the embodiment of what it means to be an American and to be a hero.

Yes, the details of what happened in Shanksville, Pa., are not pleasant and it will be hard to explain it in children-friendly terms, but it simply needs to be taught to the children. It is a critical piece of education for them.

Just like it is important to explain to them how this country came together on 9/11 and how people, total strangers really but Americans nonetheless, from different states where going into New York City and Washington, D.C., to help with the rescue and relief operations.

Children need to learn about these modern-day heroes, because they are as legendary as the citizens who came together and fought against tyranny and for independence more than 200 years ago.

We must never forget what happened on this date and it is our duty that the next generation of this country does not forget either.

What The Falk Is He Talking About?

U.N. official Richard Falk says that there should be investigations into the 9/11 terror attacks, believing that the destruction of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were the results of an inside job.

It’s hard to believe that Falk is the special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories for the U.N. and a former Princeton professor when he talks about baseless theories.

In a Fox News interview Falk said, “I do think there are questions that haven’t been answered, questions about the way the buildings collapsed and the failure to heed a variety of signals that there was danger coming.”

Questions about the way the buildings collapsed? Apparently, Falk did not see two giant airliners slam into the buildings. That is enough right there to make a rational person realize why the buildings collapsed.

But there is no need for such a money-wasting investigation, because Popular Mechanics has done a great feature that exposes the myths about many of the conspiracy theories that surround the events of America’s darkest day.

While many 9/11 Truthers, as they call themselves, and Falk claim that the Twin Towers collapsed because of a controlled explosion, many experts say the buildings actually fell because the jet fuel and items inside, such as furniture, carpets, etc., were burning at such a high heat that the steel lost its structural integrity. Experts say this is what really caused the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Falk also wrote the forward of a controversial book, “The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11,” by David Ray Griffin. The author also writes that the Pentagon was not hit by Flight 77 at all, which conflicts with the many eyewitnesses to the attack and the wreckage found.

And let’s not forget that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his merry band of killers took credit for the attacks. It would break their little black hearts if people began to think someone else did their dirty work.

It should be noted that in the FOX News interview that while Falk believes that 9/11 was an inside job; he says that the U.S. government was not responsible. But he does not say who is the alleged evil doer of this plot, which would make a good mystery novel.

While some are calling for Falk’s resignation as a U.N. official for his warped 9/11 beliefs, among other things, one must start questioning Falk’s senses.

While it’s easy to poke fun at people like Falk for their misguided beliefs, we have to realize that their wild, unsubstantiated theories are an insult and a slap in the face to Americans and to the victims’ family and friends.

Falk, as a U.N. official, should dedicate more time to tact and discretion than spewing insulting and groundless tall tales of 9/11.

A Funny Thing Happened At Bill Maher’s Forum

If Bill Maher isn’t going to take any bull from an elected official, he sure as hell isn’t going to take it from 9/11 conspiracy theorists.

This past Friday on his HBO show, “Real Time with Bill Maher,” 9/11 conspiracy theorists from the studio audience interrupted the program by shouting that Maher should talk about the “truth” of what really happened on 9/11. Using colorful metaphors, Maher went down to the audience and helped kick these nutty jokers out. And it’s gotten quite a bit of hits on YouTube.

Now, these people are more out of it then your normal, run of the mill conspiracy theorist. But on second thought, maybe not. These people believe that either President Bush, the U.S. government or the evil “establishment,” according to some the “establishment” and the government are two separate beings, planned the 9/11 attacks.

These “9/11 Truthers,” as they call themselves, also claim everything from that there were no hijackers aboard the planes to that a missile really hit the Pentagon. And trust me there is a whole smorgasbord of other things that these yahoos claim but who has the time to name and debunk them all? Well, thank goodness Popular Mechanics has already done that for us.

But there are little things that really fly in the face of these anti-government crusaders and they’re called facts. As my father likes to say, a little common sense goes a long way. For example, the theory that there were no hijackers on the planes. It’s really funny, because there are many things that contradict this claim. There are cockpit recordings of the hijackers and cell phone recordings of the passengers telling their loved ones or 911 operators that radical Muslim terrorists have taken over the planes.

Or the little theory that a missile really hit the Pentagon. It’s a really interesting theory and it would make a great suspense movie, except for that pesky little fact that hundreds of eyewitnesses saw American Airlines Flight 77 slam into the United States Department of Defense building.

But if you present the 9/11 Truthers with these facts, or even mention that they should talked to the family and friends of the nearly 3,000 victims who died that fateful day, expect to be called a government shill or a sheep that should stop watching FOX News or any other news organization, even if it’s a liberal one.

Sadly, these people have no credibility. They don’t even have one government official who can back up even one of their absurd claims. At least the Roswell UFO conspiracy theorists can whip out retired government officials who claim to either have seen the alien craft or its pilots, such as Air Force Major Jesse Marcel or Elias Benjamin, an MP with the 390th Air Service Squadron.

With 9/11 Truthers though, what they say is an insult to what really happened that day and to the victims’ family and friends who suffered a great loss.

Ahmadinejad Hangs Himself In Columbia Speech

I truly believe in the old saying, “Give a man enough rope and he’ll hang himself with it.” And that’s what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did today at Columbia University.

When I first heard of Ahmadinejad’s visit to America, I was outraged, as were many Americans. However, after reading about his rants to audience members at Columbia University, he showed the world what an uninformed, hypocritical and dangerous dictator he really is.

In fact, he made so many outrageous statements it’s hard to decide where to start. How about the 9/11 attacks?

“If the root causes of 9/11 are examined properly -- why it happened, what caused it, what were the conditions that led to it, who truly was involved, who was really involved …” Ahmadinejad said, as reported by CNN.

“Who was really involved.” Interesting choice of words. Ahmadinejad, who in the past claimed that Iran has plenty of freedoms, needs to give more of these elusive freedoms to his country’s state-controlled media.

If he did, Ahmadinejad would know that two weeks ago Osama bin Laden again claimed responsibility for the 9/11 terror attacks and presented a video will made by one of the terrorists on that fateful day. And that’s not even including al-Qaeda members, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who have confessed to planning the attacks.

Then Ahmadinejad made a statement that Iran has no gays. Considering that the punishment for either consenting man or woman homosexuality is either whippings or death, it’s a safe bet no one is going to come out of the closet any time soon.

Next, Ahmadinejad came to his favorite subject, Israel. In the past, he said that the Jewish State should be wiped off the map. Today, he wouldn’t give a “yes” or “no” answer when asked if he wanted to see the destruction of Israel. Although, it doesn’t take a genius to know what he would like to see.

But instead, the Iranian President said that “people of Palestine” should be the ones to vote on Israel’s status. Besides the fact that this flies in the face of nearly 60 years of established history that Israel is a country, many Palestinians have been “voting” on the Jewish State’s status by use of suicide bombs as ballots.

So in the end, Ahmadinejad hanged himself by saying he is misunderstood but did show that he is a dangerous man that needs to be taken seriously.

Never Forget, Always Remember

This is a day we must remember that nearly 3,000 of our countrymen died in an attack by a group of people who want to see our destruction.

This is a group of people who don’t know the meaning of mercy, tolerance or acceptance. These terrorists have only given us one choice: Either convert to their perverted version of the Koran or be murdered.

You cannot make peace treaties with animals like this. There can be no forgive and forget if they are still actively trying to bring down our country and our freedoms.

We can’t forget the fear, shock or courage that was in our hearts or the acts of human kindness by rescue workers and regular citizens that flashed across our television screens six years ago today.

Never forget and always remember that the freedoms that make our America so great come with a heavy price.

What’s The Point Of The Timetable Bill?

I’m sorry but I just don’t get what the House and the Senate have done. As we all know, today the Senate rebelliously passed a bill calling for U.S. combat forces to withdraw from Iraq next year.

Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus and other senior defense officials went to Capital Hill on the day the House voted on the bill to tell legislators to reconsider the timetable, saying that progress is being made but it will take time. And let’s not forget what many have been saying for a long time now: A withdraw will give the insurgents enough time to regroup and wait for the pullout and then take over Iraq in a bloody battle. And let’s not forget that we will be giving al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups a victory that will inspire them to continue their bloody Jihad against the world.

And the president has already said he will veto the bill, so what is the point of acting defiant? To send a message to the president, America and the world that they want the troops home? Big hairy deal, for years now Democrats and few Republicans have called for troop withdraw. They don’t need a bill to make that point. It’s time to stop playing politics with our troops lives and the safety of this nation and others.

But the Democrats, sadly, have made a good point as to why President Bush won in the last election. They are not showing the foresight that is needed to deal with terrorists and the safety of this country. What do they expect to happen if there is a timetable that would withdraw our troops before Iraq is ready to deal with the insurgents and terrorists? How will this affect the U.S. and Iraq and the rest of the world if Iraq is taken over by people who have vowed to kill those who do not share their views?

Because they are not asking these questions or listening to the consequences that military experts are warning of, they are not showing the interests of this country or Iraq but they are showing a way for them to win the White House in 2008.

And within those four years in office, how will that Democratic president explain to America that we need to go back into Iraq and deal with a war machine bent on supporting terrorism and destroying lives? How will that president, who voted for this bill, look Americans in the eye and tell us that it will be a harder, bloodier war because the enemy had years of preparation, planning and support? And what kind of answer will this future Democratic president give when someone asks: Why didn’t you want to deal with this when it was far more manageable than it is now?

And if it doesn’t seem manageable now, wait until the insurgents take over Iraq, and they provide funds for terrorist black markets, training grounds and attacks. And while this is only speculation but a good educated guess by what has been reported on, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will get the nuclear weapons/components he is seeking, as a payback for funding the insurgents. (Let’s not forget that there is strong evidence that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had sent his WMDs to Syria long before the war started. An insurgent-controlled Iraq in four years will certainly have them shipped back.)

It’s not a pretty picture and it’s far from being finished but it is something that supporters of the bill fail to see or consider. Is it a possible scenario? After the 9/11 attacks, we simply can’t afford to see the glass as half full when innocent lives are on the line.

Impeaching Bush For WMD Misleading?

More than 30 Vermont towns the other day voted to have President Bush impeached because, besides other things, he allegedly misled the country and the world about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, according to a Reuter’s article, published Wednesday, March 7, 2007.

Apparently, this is nothing new. Vermont holds an annual, colonial-era meeting to talk about all types of issues. And it’s also nothing new that a few towns in Vermont had similar resolutions of impeaching the president last year. And let’s face it, nothing is going to happen.

One of the biggest things that many Bush critics love to throw around is that he lied to Americans about Saddam’s WMDs. But if one has really paid attention to the lead up to the war, the real question that should be asked is this: If Bush lied about a dictator’s weapons; does that mean that all of Congress, including other global governments and organizations lied as well?

What many do not know, and a good many Bush critics do not want to acknowledge, is that it just wasn’t our own government who made these claims against Saddam. We had intelligence information from European and Middle Eastern countries, as well as the United Nations, and it came down to the same thing: Saddam had WMDs.

Our Congress saw this information, and just like Bush, they came to the same conclusions as the president: Saddam had these weapons as well. In fact, many Web sites love to feature quotes from politicians who at the time said that Saddam is a threat. Now, many of them are singing a different tune.

But the fact remains that many different governments had the same information. So, did they lie as well? Not likely. Let’s take a brief trip down memory lane. In 1998, President Bill Clinton ordered Operation Desert Fox because Saddam was not following the resolutions placed by him by the U.N. In fact, he was making things difficult for the weapons inspectors by not complying with them. The operation was to destroy known plants, factories and holding areas of these weapons.

When the operation was over, the U. N. asked Saddam if they could go in and see if the operation was a success. Saddam said no and they walked away with their tails between their legs. Never mind the fact that they had resolutions that allowed them to go in and check things out. And never mind the fact that no one blasts the U.N. for not enforcing its own resolutions against a man who had a huge history of lying about his weapons.

So, after 9/11, it was only natural to find out once and for all if Saddam had these weapons. Plus, there was so much intelligence information from different, global sources saying that Saddam never got rid of these weapons, that that was enough to warrant a search. And once the weapons inspectors were back in Iraq, Saddam gave them the same runaround as last time. But that’s where I have to part ways with the President’s plan.

There was nothing wrong with sending the U.N. in there and finding out what Saddam actually had. I always felt they should have had at least a year of searching before military action was even considered, much less acted on.

But let’s look at what has been found in Iraq. Granted, the huge stock piles of WMDs were not there. There were rumors before the war that there were huge shipments to Syria and according to Saddam Hussein's No. 2 Air Force officer, Georges Sada, that actually happened. Again, something to consider.

What was discovered was that Saddam lied about having terrorists training camps and a huge black market for terrorists.

So, if the good people really want to impeach Bush for misleading the world about those weapons, they better impeach the world governments as well.