[Peace] FW: Rep. McKinney: What We Know About Sept. 11

[Marianne Brun]

(excerpt)

After I've asked the tough questions, here's what
we now know:

* That President Bush was warned that terrorists were
planning to hijack commercial aircraft and crash them
into buildings in the US;

* That in the weeks prior to September 11, 24-hour
fighter cover was placed over the President's ranch in
Crawford, Texas;

* That in the weeks prior to September 11, Attorney
General Ashcroft stopped flying commercial aircraft and
instead flew Government aircraft;

* That the US received numerous high level warnings
from a wide range of foreign intelligence services
warning of impending hijackings and terrorist attacks;

* That a number of FBI agents were pleading with their
superiors to conduct intensive investigations into the
suspicious activities of various men in US flight
schools;

* That in the days prior to September 11, highly
suspicious stock market activity in aviation and
insurance stocks took place indicating that certain
well-placed people had advance knowledge of the
attacks.

And now this week we learn that the FBI had an
informant living with two of the actual 9-1-1
hijackers. All of this has become public knowledge
since I asked the simple question: What did the Bush
Administration know and when did it know it. Now
against this backdrop of so many unanswered questions,
President Bush wants us to pledge our blind support to
him. First, for his war on terrorism and now for his
war in Iraq.

How can we, in good conscience, prepare to send our
young men and women back to Iraq to fight yet another
war, when we have tens of thousands of our service men
and women poisoned and still suffering from the first
war?

And what of those veterans who are sleeping on our
streets? Within five minutes of where we are today, you
can walk there, and see them, and talk to them: Vietnam
Veterans, Gulf War veterans, veterans of our wars.
George Bush can count me out of his war-making plans.

Throughout my career, we have proudly brought blacks
and whites, Asians, and Latinos together. I'm proud
that everywhere around me the human rainbow has been
represented. And I know that as we continue to speak
out on behalf of the poor and the marginalized in this
country, my supporters across the spectrum, and across
America will be right there with me.

And that as we continue to speak out on behalf of those
who are sick and tired of greed being more important
than human needs, my supporters will be right there.

And finally, as I ponder the future of America where
voices of dissent are snuffed out by selfishness and
intolerance, I'm reminded of the words of Bobby
Kennedy, who we learned yesterday, was considering
Martin Luther King, Jr. as his Vice Presidential
running mate. Bobby Kennedy, truly a great man who
selflessly lived and died for his country, shaped an
entire generation with his thoughts, his words, and his
deeds. And it was Bobby Kennedy who reminded us
that:"The task of leadership, the first task of
concerned people, is not to condemn or castigate, or
deplore: it is to search out the reason for
disillusionment and alienation, the rationale of
protest and dissent" perhaps, indeed, to learn from it.
And we may find, that we learn most of all from those
political and social dissenters whose differences with
us are most grave: for among the young, as among
adults, the sharpest criticism often goes hand in hand
with the deepest idealism and love of country."

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