[ return to summeroftruth.org ]
Report: Sept. 11 Families' press conference against Bush Ground Zero ads
Who Owns September 11th?
By Nicholas Levis
911Truth.org <newyorkcity@snafu.de>
Friday, March 5th, 2004
NEW YORK CITY. Who owns the imagery of Ground Zero? Who controls its meaning? When is it appropriate for a political campaign to use traumatizing pictures in an effort to influence the vote?These were the underlying questions conjured when relatives of people killed in the Sept. 11 attacks and a firefighter involved in the rescue attempts issued an impassioned plea to George W. Bush to withdraw new campaign ads that employ footage of the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center.
Speaking today to an overcrowded hall of press and camera crews at the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan, Rita Lasar described how she lost her brother in the attacks. He had worked on the 27th floor of the North Tower, and decided not to evacuate after a plane hit the building, instead staying behind with a quadraplegic co-worker and await rescuers. They were caught in the building's collapse.
"Ground Zero is a burial place," Lasar said. Two and one-half years have passed, but: "Any family family member will tell you, for us it's still like the first day." She noted that in a 2002 speech, George W. Bush promised never to use the Ground Zero site for political purposes. "We trusted him, and he broke his promise," she said. "To say we are outraged today is simply the truth. We feel deep sorrow that any politician would seek to gain advantage with these images."
Lasar is a founding member of Peaceful Tomorrows - a group of victims' relatives who since the attacks have warned against perpetuating the cycle of violence by waging war on whole nations.
Bob McIlvaine lost his son, a 26-year-old employee of Merrill Lynch, who worked on the 106th floor. "My son was murdered," he said. "Although I have spoken about this a hundred times since, saying that is always the hardest part to get through." He said he was absolutely outraged that any political party would use Ground Zero for political gain. "It makes me sick."
The controversial ads, which suggest that Bush has made the nation safer, are a misrepresentation given how little disclosure there has been about what actually happened on the day, McIlvaine said: "They say our nation is stronger, but people forget the 3,000 who died. Many, many questions have been left unanswered. I am absolutely outraged why these answers have not been given. Instead of parading around telling us how secure this country is, tell us why it was left unprotected."
Tom Ryan, a former firefighter who was with the rescue crews at Ground Zero after the attacks, objected to the images of rescue workers carrying the body of dead firefighters, as used in the commercials for the Bush 2004 campaign. "We are not allowed to see dead soldiers from Iraq. Why are we allowed to see dead firefighters?" he asked.
"It's raw. you relive every moment," Ryan said. Ground Zero "is a sacred ground, and it shouldn't be used for political gain." He noted that he has had respiratory problems since his work at the site, which was still smoking many weeks after the attacks. "Hundreds of firefighters have problems, I don't want any politician exploiting that," he said.
Ryan described as a further contradiction that even as the ads run on television, the White House is still obstructing the investigation of the 9-11 Commission. "At the end we have sixty days?" he asked, referring to the recent extension of the 9-11 Commission's deadline - which the White House fought against for weeks. "Is that enough?"
In response to reporters' questions, Lasar and the other speakers clarified repeatedly that they by no means meant that Sept. 11th should be avoided as an issue. On the contrary, they suggested the real issues of Sept. 11th have yet to be addressed - because of the failure of investigators to credibly answer many of the open questions.
The point of contention is specifically with the use of images of the attack, which Lasar called manipulative, and which McIlvaine characterized to one reporter as inspiring fear in an effort to sway the hearts and minds of voters.
"I am not saying (Sept. 11th) is not to be talked about," Lasar said. "Of course we must talk about this. This is what the 9-11 Commission is supposed to do. All we are saying is, don't use sacred ground, don't use the images as a backdrop to change the minds of voters. Don't show the firefighters. It's obscene."
One reporter wanted to know if the speakers were members of political parties. "To tell you the truth, I have no clue what party I am in, or anyone else here," McIlvaine said. He explained that "Peaceful Tomorrows" is not a partisan group, and that the name is from a speech by Martin Luther King.
A reporter asked McIlvaine to specify his concerns about the 9/11 investigations. "I am extremely frustrated, anxious," he replied. "They are stonewalling everything." He recalled "all the commissions in the 1990s" - on which more than 100 million dollars were spent, he said - and compared that to the just 3 million dollars in the original appropriation for the 9/11 Commission. A later appropriation, of 8 million additional dollars, was initially opposed by the White House.
"We have lots of questions - not one has been answered," McIlvaine continued. "All investigations are compromised, all are political. There is no cooperation" with the investigations by government authorities, McIlvaine said. He said the families had expected the investigations to be run by "independent people," not exclusively by politicians and former members of the government, as is the case with the Commission.
"Why do you think that is?" one reporter asked.
"Well, you should tell me!" McIlvaine shot back. He went on to the next question, but whether intended or not, the remark stood as an accusation against the mass media's failure to cover or even acknowledge the many open questions of Sept. 11th and the ongoing controversies in the investigations.
"We get threatening phone calls telling us every day to get over it, to forget about it," McIlvaine said, asking how the families could forget when so much remains unresolved.
Finally, it fell to someone who was not present as a journalist to ask: "What are some of your unanswered questions?"
In rapid-fire phrases, McIlvaine brought up three issues:
• The failure of U.S. air defenses to mount interception attempts of the Sept. 11 flights, as required under standard operating procedures.
• The 45 minutes of inactivity by Bush during the attacks as he stayed at a Florida school with children, which was covered live on television.
• The government admission that 140 Saudis left the United States in the days after the attacks, and were allowed to fly during the period when all civilian flights were grounded. Among those who left were relatives of Osama Bin Laden and members of the Saudi royal family, whom some in the FBI had wanted to question.
McIlvaine cautioned these questions represented only the beginning of an inquiry.
The Family Steering Committee, which is tracking the work of the 9-11 Commission, recently issued a set of 23 questions they would like George W. Bush to answer in public testimony under oath.
http://www.911independentcommission.org/bush2162004.htmlA New York Daily News reporter spoke up to say that some family members have different views on the issue, and have said they are not offended by the Bush ads.
"It's so hard to deal with this as a family member because it is in your face," McIlvaine replied. "A lot say, I don't want to deal with it."
Question: "How would you like to see Bush talk about Sept 11th?"
"Go to the Commission," McIlvaine said. "That is the forum for it. Why do we use war as a political tool?" He noted the example of John Kerry also using his service in Vietnam as a political tool, and wondered how this was relevant to actual policy questions of the day.
"What matters (about Sept. 11th) is that, until we find out what happened, we will never protect this country," McIlvaine said. "Because the world is at war due to Sept. 11, we are not normal, breathing families who can be left alone. Every single day, we are called upon and reminded."
A final admonishment to Bush: "Find some other way to run a campaign, without stepping on the bodies of the dead."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2004 Nicholas Levis - 5 Mar 04 / 3 p.m.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
German-language press release by American Voices Abroad - Berlin based on the above report, 6 March 2004:
American Voices Abroad Berlin solidarisieren sich mit unseren Landsleuten in den USA die, als Angehörigen der Opfer des 11.9.2001, empört sind, wie George W. Bush ihr Leid zu Wahlkampfzwecken missbraucht. Wir stützen uns dabei auf einem Bericht unseres Mitgliedes Nicholas Levis, der sich z.Z. in New York aufhält und einer Pressekonferenz der Angehörigen beiwohnte, bei der Mitglieder der Hinterbliebenengruppe "Peaceful Tomorrow" (Friedlicher morgen) den inzwischen bekannten Fernsehspot der Republikaner anprangerten, die Szenen aus dem Anschlag zeigt.
Rita Lasar deren Bruder starb, als er einen behinderten Kollegen nicht verlassen wollte, erinnert sich, wie George W. Bush 2002 in einer Rede versprach, den Anschlag niemals für politische Zwecke auszuschlachten. "Wir vertrauten ihm, und er brach sein Versprechen", sagte sie. "Zu sagen, dass wir heute empört werden, ist einfach die Wahrheit. Wir fühlen tiefe Trauer, die jeder Politiker versuchen würde, Vorteil mit diesen Abbildungen zu gewinnen." Lasar ist Gründungsmitglied von "Peaceful Tomorrow" die es ablehnt, die Angriffe als Grund für Kriege zu missbrauchen.
Tom Ryan, ein ehemaliger Feuerwehrmann, der am 9.11. dabei war, lehnt es ab, dass die Rettungsarbeiten im genannten Fernsehspott gezeigt werden. Ryan leidet seit dem Einsatz unter Atemprobleme "Hunderte von Feuerwehrleuten haben Probleme, ich will nicht, dass irgendein Politiker das ausnutzt", sagte er.
Ryan beklagte, dass das Weiße Haus zwar die Fernsehspots zeige, jedoch immer noch die Untersuchung der Kommission zum Anschlag des 11.9. behindere. Auch Lasar und andere Sprecher meinten, es gehe nicht darum das Thema zu verschweigen. Im Gegenteil: Man müsse vielmehr zur Problematik aufklären, es nicht jedoch verklären, um die Wähler umzustimmen.
Bob McIlvaine, der ebenfalls einen Sohn verlor, zweifelt an die Ernsthaftigkeit der Aufklärung. "Sie mauern bei allem." Frühere Untersuchungskommissionen hätten dreistellige Millionenbeträge verschlungen, die zum 11.9. habe sich zunächst mit nur 3 Millionen Dollar zufrieden geben müssen, letztlich seien dann, allerdings gegen den harten Widerstand des Weißen Hauses, zusätzliche 8 Millionen Dollar hinzugefügt worden. Auf die Frage nach den konkreten Punkten der geforderten Aufklärung sagten die Angehörige, es handele sich u.a. um:
• Der ausbleibende Einsatz von Abfangjägern, die routinemäßig bei weit weniger gewichtigen Fällen starten
• Die 45-minütige Untätigkeit von Bush während des Angriffs, zunächst bei einer Grundschule in Florida;
• Die genehmigte Abreise von 140 Saudiarabier aus den USA in den Tagen nach dem Angriff, also noch der gesamte zivile Flugverkehr gesperrt war, einschließlich Verwandte von Osama bin Laden und andere, die einige FBI-Agenten befragen wollten.
Die Gesamtliste von 23 Fragen ist abzurufen unter:
http://www.911independentcommission.org/bush2162004.html