Words of Power #28: On 9/11/06, Ask Yourself "Is This My Country?"
By Richard Power
Does the USA need a second Boston Tea Party? It could be held in New York harbor, instead of Boston harbor. Patriots could hurl television sets into the water, instead of tea crates.
It has been five years since the slaughter of the innocents on 9/11/01.
The ports have not been secured. The chemical plants have not been secured. The 911 Commission recommendations remain unfulfilled.
Bin Laden and Zawahiri are alive and free to incite violence and hatred. The Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan. The Pakistani government has established a truce with the tribes of Waziristan, allowing Al Qaeda and the Taliban to carve out a sanctuary.
In the immediate aftermath of the 911 attacks, unprecedented and almost universal good will flowed toward the USA. But the Bush-Cheney regime's foolish military adventure in Iraq and its policy of torture and degradation of prisoners have turned that good will into unprecedented and almost universal contempt and condemnation.
The US is isolated in the world.
The US military is broken, and some analysts say it will take a decade to fix it. The US Constitution (and the Bill of Rights in particular) has been seriously undermined.
And what does ABC offer you? An abomination from the hell realms. Without commercial interruption. Well, of course, it was a commercial. No need to interrupt it.
I did not know John P. O’Neill personally, but I was never farther than one handshake and one heart beat away from him in the late 1990s and until his death in the World Trade Center on 9/11/01. Two federal law enforcement officials with whom I worked and for whom I have great respect considered him their friend.
The people of the USA should know about the heroism of John P. O'Neill. They should know why he left the FBI in the summer of 2001 and went to work at the World Trade Center. Unfortunately, last night, ABC told them lies instead.
The propagandists of this regime have distorted the story of John P O'Neill and exploited it to fuel great lies, just as they distorted and exploited the story of Pat Tillman.
Remember your Orwell? Love is hate, war is peace, 2+2=5.
Here are three excellent sources for the truth about John P. O'Neill: Forbidden Truth: U.S. -Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and the Failed Hunt for Bin Laden by Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, The Man Who Knew (PBS Frontline) and The Counter-Terrorist (New Yorker).
Last night, ABC betrayed the sacrifices of both O'Neill and Tillman.
Last night, ABC also betrayed the slaughtered innocents and turned a deaf ear to the grief of their loved ones: John Beug, the widowed husband of Carolyn Beug, a former vice president at Walt Disney Records who was on the plane that slammed into 1 World Trade Center, has written a letter to Disney chief Bob Iger pleading with him not to run the film.(TPM Cafe, 9-9-06)
Warriors live with the understanding that they may be betrayed in life or in death by their governments. But the innocent and their greiving loved ones should expect better.
The disregard shown for Beug is akin to the disregard that all the cable and network organizations showed for Kristen Breitweiser and the other "Jersey Girls" when they were slimed by fascist mouthpiece Ann Coulter less than three months ago.
As I wrote in Hard Rain Journal 6-19-06: Coulter, Beck and The Death of The News, Coulter was allowed to appear on NBC’s Tonight Show, after making disgusting remarks about four 911 widows turned activists, on the network’s Today Show: "These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much." (Crooks and Liars, 6-6-06)
Consider the shameless disrespect shown to John P. O'Neill and Pat Tillman. Consider the cruel disregard shown to Kristen Breitweiser and John Beug...Is this your country? Is this what you signed on for? What are you going to do about it?
Here is the text of John Beug's letter to Bob Iger of Disney:
September 9, 2006
Dear Mr. Iger,
I have seen the advertisements for and read the press coverage of ABC’s film, “The Path to 9/11,” that your network plans to air this Sunday and Monday to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. I am writing to express my concern and deep reservations about this film and to ask you, out of respect for the victims of 9/11 and their families, not to air it.
My wife worked for the Walt Disney Corporation and was a victim of the terrorist attacks as a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11. I have great respect for you and your company and I know that you must have worked hard to make a good film. Admittedly, I have not seen it. However, accounts from those who have suggest that it contains inaccurate and invented scenes. It seems to me that fictionalizing this tragedy does not honor the memory of those who were lost on September 11th.
Given the gravity of this event for our nation and the personal loss I suffered, I believe it is critically important that we do everything possible to prevent another 9/11. That begins with making sure that we are united in our understanding of what we could have done better in the years, months and weeks leading up to the attacks of 2001. I am deeply concerned that Americans will watch this film and not fully understand –- or be led to misunderstand -– the true history of this tragedy.
I feel the 9/11 Commission Report was a correct and very responsible accounting of the terrorist attacks of 2001. Since “The Path to 9/11” deviates from this report in key instances, I strongly and respectfully urge you not to air this film.
Sincerely,
John Beug
Greg Sargent, Widowed Husband Of Former Disney Records Exec Killed On 9/11 Writes To Disney's Iger: I "Urge You Not To Air This Film," TPM Cafe, 9-9-06
SOME RELATED POSTS:
Hard Rain Journal Weekend Edition (9/9-9/10): Five Years into the Era of the National Insecurity State, Some Context & Continuity
Hard Rain Journal 9-7-06: While ABC Catapults the Propaganda, Bush’s “Key Ally” Makes Peace with Al Qaeda
Hard Rain Journal 9-3-06: Remember, Remember the First Week of September
Hard Rain Journal 8-22-06: The Central Theme of Future Historians will be Betrayal, Just Ask Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, Spike Lee & Valerie Plame Wilson
Hard Rain Journal 7-25-06: As the Next Bait & Switch Get Pulled, Remember Osama Bin Laden & the Child Brides of Afghanistan
Hard Rain Journal 7-5-06: Al Qaeda Endorsed Bush-Cheney in 2004, But US Mainstream News Media Chose to Ignore It
Hard Rain Journal 6-19-06: Coulter, Beck and The Death of The News
Hard Rain Journal 6-15-06: Foreign Affairs survey of 100 US policy leaders grades Bush-Cheney "failed" at 1.8 out of 10
Hard Rain Journal 6-14-06: Wrongly Premised “War on Terrorism” has Increased Danger from Terrorism, and Ignored Greater Risks
Words of Power #23: A Reality Check, What A Real World War on Terrorism Would Look Like, and a US Mid-Term Election Strategy
Words of Power #21: Judith Miller, Ken Lay, Florida, 9/11 and The Return of The Forbidden Truths?
Words of Power #15: Bring Me the Head of Osama, Nero Fiddles while the Planet Burns, Religion as the Crystal Meth of the People, & The Democrats' Plan
Words of Power #13: What You Need To Know About The Port Security Scandal
Words of Power #21: Judith Miller, Ken Lay, Florida, 9/11 and The Return of The Forbidden Truths?
Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and http://www.wordsofpower.net. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net
John P. O'Neill, Pat Tillman, Kristen Breitweiser, John Beug, 911, Cheney, Bush, ABC, Security, Terrorism, Osama Bin Laden, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bob Iger