Posts in "9/11"

DHS/Cincy SWAT on Campus for Unannounced Drill on 9/11

Sep 15, 2012 at 5:02 PM

With regards to the Department of Homeland Security/Cincinnati SWAT team training on campus, there are several reasons why I, along with several other UC students, people in the community, my parents, and other students parents, are concerned with what went on this past week.

I believe as taxpayers on a student-funded campus at a public university, we should be notified ahead of time when training drills like this will be occurring. Most students that walk past a squad of DHS/SWAT dressed up in their black uniforms with body armor, full face masks, riot shields, handguns, and AR-15 style rifles probably wonder what is wrong -- not to mention that this might be an intimidating sight that makes students fearful and worried.

Having a training drill like this on campus during any regular day is one thing, but having an unannounced display of militarized police on 9/11 is taking it to another level that many find very distasteful.

How One World Trade Center is a Fitting Tribute to the Victims of 9/11

Sep 11, 2012 at 12:09 PM

By John McKenna

Eleven years ago today, America was the victim of the most brutal terrorist attack in our history. Nearly 3,000 men, women, and children, were taken from us by “faceless cowards,” who crashed jumbo jets into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and western Pennsylvania (which did not meet its intended target thanks to the heroism of the passengers on board the hijacked United 93.)

We mourned as a nation then, and we still do today, as the peaceful world many of us knew gave way to a world of war, fear, and resolve. As for the area where those 110-story buildings once stood, there will soon be a new building that is as much a tribute to those lost as it is to American resolve and perseverance: One World Trade Center.

For the past eleven years, there had been controversy regarding what should be done at that spot in Lower Manhattan. Should it be a memorial? Should new office buildings go in? Should it remain empty? The architects of that area decided to do both: build a 1,776-foot skyscraper (104 floors) on one side, and two waterfalls and a museum on the other, where the original two towers once stood. The skyscraper, now called One World Trade Center, or the “Freedom Tower''” will be fitting tribute because it represents the spirit of New York City: a place where the world does its business, and free people work to achieve a better life for themselves in a free society.

YAL-OSU Member's Video of Judge Nap's 9/11 Speech

Sep 30, 2011 at 12:45 PM

By Mikayla Hall

Daniel Cespedes, a YAL member from Oregon State University, made this awesome video based on Judge Andrew Napolitano's segment on Freedom Watch, "Rembembering 9/11: One Day, Our Descendants Will Know the Truth."

Comments (1)

Lee introduces bill to repeal 'Authorization for Use of Military Force'

Sep 15, 2011 at 4:17 PM

By Jayel Aheram

Rep. Barbara Lee has introduced a bill to repeal the odious “Authorization for Use of Military Force” that Congress passed a week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks:

Dear Colleague:
Please join me as an original cosponsor of the ‘Repeal of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Act of 2011.’ This legislation repeals the joint resolution providing overly-broad authorization to the President to use all necessary and appropriate force against those involved in attacking our nation and to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States.
This broad authorization of force has had far-reaching implications which shake the very foundations of our great nation and democracy. It has been used to justify warrantless surveillance and wiretapping activities, indefinite detention practices that fly in the face of our constitutional values, extrajudicial targeted-killing operations, and an ever-growing and indefinite pursuit of an ill-defined enemy abroad.

Movie Uncannily Predicts US Response to Terrorism

Sep 14, 2010 at 3:58 PM

By Creighton Harrington

I'm sure many people have seen 'The Siege,' starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis, but I had not until recently. I have to say -- it's unbelievable that it came out before the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

This movie, released in 1998, deals with the United States government's response to well-cooridinated terrorist attacks on New York City. Without giving away too much plot for those who haven't seen it, let me just say that all the actions of the US government, in regards to "keeping us safe" in post 9/11 America, are predicted almost prophetically. From the role of the CIA in training future terrorists, to the effects of blowback, to the use of torture, even hinting at what America would use the National Guard for...this movie hits the nail on the head. I recommend it not only for personal viewing, but it is an excellent movie for your chapter to show on campus. It would definitely evoke deep discussion. Just watch it and you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, trailer here:

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America's County: Displaying the Heroism of the Individual

Sep 14, 2010 at 7:44 AM

By Zak Slayback

Recently, my town -- Somerset, Pennsylvania -- was featured on CNN.com. The town hasn't had much media attention until 2001 with the crash of United 93 in a strip-mine nearby. The feature is worth a read; it's a good look at the heroism of the private individual against disaster and tyranny.

Click to read the article here.

It is from my personal experience around so much tragedy firsthand that I have grown to be a staunch opponent of the 9/11 Truther Movement, but that's another post, for another day.

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Seriously?

Aug 17, 2010 at 8:38 AM

By Zak Slayback

So apparently 70% of Americans oppose the "mosque at Ground Zero" (even though it's more of a YMCA/office building for Muslims with a mosque and a 9/11 memorial in it...but shhh; details ruin a good story) but don't give two thoughts about this? Seriously?

Things like 9-11, Fort Hood, and the honor killings... these are possibly not isolated incidents," Dove World Outreach Center pastor Terry Jones said. "These are things that, if we don't stand up now, they can increase.

*Facepalm*

I hope somebody tells him, his followers, and his supporters that the same amendment to the Constitution that protects their freedom to do that also protects the freedom of somebody to build a mosque -- not just an islamic center, but a full blown mosque -- ANYWHERE.

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Religious Freedom ... Just Not for Muslims

Aug 5, 2010 at 11:37 PM

By Adam Fowler

The so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” is a rather good test of our committment to religious freedom. It seems that under different circumstances, say a group of Christians wanting to build a church on property they owned, there would be little to no outcry. But it’s not Christians wanting to build a house of worship near the site where the Twin Towers once stood, it’s Muslims. And that’s clearly the crux of the matter. Despite secondary appeals to saving the present building there as a historic landmark, the real issue boiling the blood of many Americans is that the site will be used to house a mosque.

And in some sense they are rightfully justified in noting the seemingly insensitive desire to place a shrine to Islam so close to the spot where Islamic terrorists killed around 3,000 innocent Americans. The unsettling nature of it is evident. But the crux of the issue is whether those opposing the mosque believe they should oppose it through protests or through government action. It’s clear that many opponents are pursuing the legal route.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a conservative legal group connected with the Rev. Pat Robertson, has sought court action, basing its objections at least nominally on the process used to deny the site landmark status. But one can’t deny that behind these objections is a specific aversion to the creation of a large Muslim place of worship just blocks away from the 9/11 site. The rhetoric on cable news and talk radio is abuzz with anger over the plan to build a mosque — not the idea that the present building on the site should be preserved as some sort of landmark.

Newt Gingrich's Statement on Ground Zero Mosque

Jul 22, 2010 at 3:28 PM

By Joseph Brown

Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House, just issued a statement on the proposed “Cordoba House” Mosque at Ground Zero. You can probably guess how tolerant and pro liberty it was.

There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia.

Really, Newt? I suppose we should have no freedom of speech until Saudi Arabia has it too. What a great argument. Actually, Newt, I'll take you up on your logic -- how about we have no Capitol, White House, or Pentagon so long as there are none in Saudi Arabia?

America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization. Sadly, too many of our elites are the willing apologists for those who would destroy them if they could.

I love how Newt talks like he isn't one of these "elites." The truth of the matter is that it is the government's spending, borrowing, inflating, and countless other interventions that are undermining and destroying our civilization -- and Gingrich is a willing apologist for it all!

What it comes down to is this: The Mosque owner and everyone else has the right to do whatever they want with their property as long as they do not aggress against the person or property of another.

Comments (1)

Ground Zero Mosque

Jul 20, 2010 at 8:45 PM

By Creighton Harrington

I'm sure everyone knows there is a vocal debate going on about the mosque that is proposed to be built at ground zero in New York. I remember that after 9/11 it was very easy to hear widespread anti-Islamic sentiment in response to the attacks, just as response to Pearl Harbor was internment camps for Japanese, or WWI was internment for Germans. I also remember the noble attempts by many to make sure everyone understood that it wasn't Islam that attacked America, but terrorists.

My own father and grandfather still hold this illogical fear of Islam the religion (and I argue with them about it all the time) and, unfortunately, I can't say I'm certain if the sentiment has changed much since 9/11. Maybe unfortunate is too soft a word. Accordingly, I have to say I find the fact that those opposed to the mosque are opposed on the grounds of "respect for the victims of 9/11" is, well, atrocious. That very argument, taken to its logical end, means that Islam the religion promotes the murder of thousands of people. It seems to me to be an example of the work that needs to be done to educate people on the effects of our foreign policy and how it is not directly the religion that promotes so much destruction, but merely is a medium for those who have lost so much from the interference of our war machine in their lives.