Obama To Meet Victims, Relatives Of 9/11 Attacks

[Gold9472]

Obama to Meet Victims, Relatives of 9/11 Attacks

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020502847.html

Michael D. Shear, Peter Finn and Dan Eggen
The Washington Post
Thursday, February 5, 2009; 6:23 PM

President Obama will gather tomorrow with victims and families of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and U.S.S. Cole bombing for a face-to-face meeting as his administration struggles to decide how to handle detainees at Guatanamo Bay, Cuba, several of those invited said.

The previously undisclosed meeting at the White House tomorrow afternoon will give the new president a chance to explain his decision to close the controversial prison facility where the U.S. has placed many suspected terrorists since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Obama has been assailed by conservative critics who say the decision to close the facility within a year will lead to putting many of those terrorists back on the street. In a recent interview, former vice president Dick Cheney, an architect of the Bush administration's war on terror, criticized the decision as reckless.

In an interview with Politico.com, Cheney accused the Obama administration of following "campaign rhetoric" on Guantanamo and warned that the new president's policies could put the country at greater risk of a new attack.

"When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an al-Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry," Cheney said.

Obama has defended his decision, saying that closing the facility will make the country safer by putting an end to one of the most controversial symbols of the U.S.-led war against terrorism. He said that symbol has helped terrorists recruit new volunteers.

One 9/11 activist, who declined to be identified talking about the meeting, said "fireworks" are likely at the gathering because it will include both relatives who oppose and those who support Obama's plan to close Guantanamo Bay. "There's been some noise that some families don't like the idea and others do, so this is a chance to discuss that," the activist said.

Jim Riches, a retired New York firefighter whose son, Jimmy Riches, died in the 9-11 attacks, said in an interview Thursday that he wants to hear directly from President Obama what the government intends to do with the prisoners.

"I want to know, are they going to drop the charges? Are they going to try them in another court?" he said. "I want to let them know that these men are dangerous."

Riches praised Obama for agreeing to a meeting so soon after taking office.

"The issue tomorrow is what are they going to do with those detainees. We want justice for the ones that said they did it," he said. "Some people may say it's a political move. But I want my voice to be heard. It's a sign of an open door policy, and that's good."

Obama aides did not respond to questions about the meeting. The administration may want to impress on families that they are not dropping charges against alleged terrorists, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks who is facing capital charges in Guantanamo, and that he and others will be brought to justice.

Obama had instructed military prosecutors to seek a 120-day continuance in the military commissions in Guantanamo Bay while the administration studied how to handle the approximately 245 detainees at the facility when the prison in Cuba is closed. In an executive order, Obama said the prison should be closed within a year.

But the request for a stay was rejected by the chief military judge in Guantanamo, who decided to proceed with the arraignment Monday of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is accused of organizing the 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole.

The refusal by Judge James Pohl, an Army Colonel, has left the administration with little choice but to withdraw the charges "without prejudice" against Nashiri, a procedural move that allows the government to halt proceedings without reference to the judge.

The administration has yet to act in the case, and Friday's meeting may, in part, be to explain that the charges can be reinstated at a later date in some reformed military commissions system. The tactic was also used by the Bush administration when it wanted to stop various proceedings in Guantanamo. The Pentagon has dismissed without prejudice charges in six cases, and reinstated them later in three of those cases.

If Nashiri, a Saudi facing capital charges, pleads guilty Monday, he could box in the administration as the legal principle of double-jeopardy would apply and it would be very difficult to move his case to another court, according to defense attorneys.

Withdrawing the charges against Nashiri could also trigger a withdrawal against all 20 other detainees currently facing trial in Guantanamo. Defense lawyers said they would insist that all detainees be treated equally during the review process.

The president may also want to explain some possible alternative to military commissions, including moving proceedings to federal court or military courts martial.

The relatives of 9/11 victims have divided along somewhat partisan lines in the seven years since the attacks, with some strongly supporting Bush's policies and others growing increasingly dismayed by the direction of U.S. counterterrorism efforts. As a result, Obama's plan to close Guantanamo Bay prompted differing reactions among various groups.

September 11th Advocates, for example, issued a statement last month praising Obama's announcement and calling Guantanamo "an enormous stain on America's reputation."

"The temporary halting of proceedings at Gitmo gives us the 'audacity to hope' that President Obama will be able to restore America's good name, which has been repeatedly tarnished during the past eight years," said the statement from the group, which is led by four New Jersey widows of 9/11 victims. "We appreciate the tough decisions that President Obama has been forced to make and admire him for taking these difficult tasks on."

A group called 9/11 Parents and Families of Firefighters, by contrast, questioned Obama's decision to suspending the trials of several detainees while he maps out the closure of Guantanamo Bay. "We cannot understand why it has taken so long for the prosecution of the detainees in cases where substantial evidence exists of direct or

indirect involvement in the terrorist attacks" of 9/11, the group said in a Jan. 25 statement.

[Gold9472]

Obama to meet with families of 9/11, Cole victims

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLy-7Qsm2KeE15rL6Is9p56BcWhwD96618180

By LARA JAKES – 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama was spending time with families of 9/11 victims and the 17 sailors killed in the bombing of the USS Cole after a senior Pentagon judge dropped charges against an al-Qaida suspect in the Cole attack being held at Guantanamo Bay.

The legal move Thursday by Susan J. Crawford, the top legal authority for military trials at Guantanamo, upholds Obama's Jan. 22 executive order to halt terrorist court proceedings at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba. The charges against suspected al-Qaida bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri marked the last active Guantanamo war crimes case.

Groups representing victims' families were angered by Obama's order, charging they had waited too long already to see the alleged attackers brought to court.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk S. Lippold, the commanding officer of the Cole when it was bombed in Yemen in 2000, said he would be among family members of Cole and 9/11 victims who are meeting with Obama at the White House on Friday afternoon.

"I was certainly disappointed with the decision to delay the military commissions process," Lippold, now a defense adviser to Military Families United, said in an interview. "We have already waited eight years. Justice delayed is justice denied. We must allow the military commission process to go forward."

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Crawford withdrew the charges against al-Nashiri. However, new charges could be brought again later, and al-Nashiri will remain in prison for the time being.

"It was her decision, but it reflects the fact that the president has issued an executive order which mandates that the military commissions be halted pending the outcome of several reviews of our operations down at Guantanamo," Morrell said.

Crawford's ruling also gives the White House time to review the legal cases of all 245 terror suspects held there and decide whether they should be prosecuted in the U.S. or released to other nations.

Seventeen U.S. sailors died on Oct. 12, 2000, when al-Qaida suicide bombers steered an explosives-laden boat into the Cole, a guided-missile destroyer, as it sat in a Yemen port.

The Pentagon last summer charged al-Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian, with "organizing and directing" the bombing and planned to seek the death penalty in the case.

In his Jan. 22 order, Obama promised to shut down the Guantanamo prison within a year. The order also froze all Guantanamo detainee legal cases pending a three-month review as the Obama administration decides where — or whether — to prosecute the suspects who have been held there for years, most without charges.

Two military judges granted Obama's request for a delay in other cases.

But a third military judge, Army Col. James Pohl, defied Obama's order by scheduling a Feb. 9 arraignment for al-Nashiri at Guantanamo. That left the decision on whether to continue to Crawford, whose delay on announcing what she would do prompted widespread concern at the Pentagon that she would refuse to follow orders and allow the court process to continue.

Crawford was appointed to her post in 2007 by then-President George W. Bush. She was in the news last month when she said interrogation methods used on one suspect at Guantanamo amounted to torture. The Bush administration had maintained it did not torture.

Last year, al-Nashiri said during a Guantanamo hearing that he confessed to helping plot the Cole bombing only because he was tortured by U.S. interrogators. The CIA has admitted he was among terrorist suspects subjected to waterboarding, which simulates drowning, in 2002 and 2003 while being interrogated in secret CIA prisons.

[Gold9472]

9/11 survivors at the White House

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/more-info/story/891385.html

By Herald Staff Report
gitmo@miamiherald.com

Who is meeting with President Barack Obama?

Debra Burlingame of New York. Her brother was the pilot on the hijacked American airliner that crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

John Clodfelter of Virginia. His sailor son died in the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole.

Louge Gunn of Virginia. His sailor son died in the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole.

Kirk Lippold of Virginia. He was Cole commander at the time, now a retired Navy commander.

Valerie Lucznikowska of New York. Her stock broker nephew died in the World Trade Center.

Sally Regenhard of New York. Her firefighter son died at the World Trade Center.

John Riches of New York. His firefighter son died at the World Trade Center.

Adele Welty of New York. His firefighter son died at the World Trade Center.

[Gold9472]

Obama Meets With Family Members of U.S.S. Cole, 9/11 Victims

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/obama-meets-with-family-members-of-uss-cole-911-victims/

By Jeff Zeleny

President Obama on Friday assured family members of Americans who were killed in the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole and in the Sept. 11 attacks that the terror suspects will be prosecuted and brought “to a swift and certain justice.”

Mr. Obama met for more than an hour with about 40 relatives of terror victims during an emotional afternoon session in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House. He explained his rationale for ordering the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be closed within a year, but pledged that the terror cases would be reviewed and handled through the courts.

The president spoke for about 10 minutes before taking about 16 questions and talking individually with the participants, many of whom brought pictures of their loved ones who were killed in the attacks. The meeting was closed, but participants described it as an intense, but civil session with little contention.

While some of the family members have disagreed openly with the president’s decision to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, there was no hostility at the meeting, according to participants and White House officials who attended.

John Clodfelter of Mechanicsville, Va., whose son, Kenneth, was killed in the Cole bombing, said he came to the meeting with apprehension over the decision to close the prison and the delay in prosecutions. But after listening to the president and being assured that the terror suspects would not be released, Mr. Clodfelter said his opinion changed.

“I did not vote for the man, but the way he talks to you, you can’t help but believe in him,” Mr. Clodfelter said on Friday evening. “He left me with a very positive feeling that he’s going to get this done right.”

The president and his advisers are reviewing the cases, aides said, to ensure that the 245 suspects at Guantanamo Bay are afforded their legal rights. The review will determine whether the terror suspects will be and tried in U.S. courts or dispatched to other countries for prosecution.

Retired Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, who represents victims of the Cole and was the commanding officer of the vessel at the time of the attack in 2000, has disagreed with the decision to close the prison. But in an interview after the meeting, he said he was very pleased with the president’s explanation and commitment to bringing the suspects to justice.

“It went far better than I had imagined,” Commander Lippold said Friday evening. “I was surprised with how well it went.”

[Gold9472]

Obama Sits Down with 9/11, USS Cole Families to Discuss Guantanamo, Terror Prosecutions

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/02/obama-sits-down.html

February 06, 2009 7:39 PM

ABC News' Karen Travers reports:

President Obama met for an hour this afternoon with 40 family members of victims of Sept. 11 and the USS Cole bombing to discuss his plans for closing Guantanamo Bay and prosecuting terror suspects.

The president took questions and engaged in a back-and-forth discussion that two participants said was emotional at times.

Cmdr. Kirk Lippold (Ret.), commander aboard the USS Cole when it was bombed Oct. 12, 2000, said after the meeting that he liked what he heard from President Obama today and was pleased with the fact that families of 9/11 victims and USS Cole victims will have a part in the discussions going forward on detainee policy.

This week Lippold, of Alexandria, Va., had expressed his concerns to ABC News about the President’s plan to close Guantanamo Bay and not follow through with the military commissions process, but said he was willing to hear what Obama had to say.

Tonight Lippold reiterated that he went in with an open mind and that while he agrees “in principle” with President Obama’s decision on Guantanamo, he has an issue with the timeline the president has laid out and feels that Obama has not articulated the procedures and policies.

He said he still has concerns with how the government will deal with detainees going forward.

Lippold said it was unfortunate that the White House decision “developed so swiftly” without any consultation with 9/11 and USS Cole families. “He should have sat down with the families ahead of time,” Lippold said. He felt that today’s meeting could have turned into an information session, one-sided on the part of the White House, but said “the fact that it did turn into a discussion was promising.”

The meeting changed the mind of John Clodfeller, whose son was killed in the USS Cole bombing.

Clodfeller, of Mechanicsville, Va. said he went into this meeting with a negative view of Obama’s decision and felt that he was dropping the charges and releasing a criminal. He said that he now believes that is not the case and his view changed after he heard the President explain his decision and the process going forward.

Clodfeller admitted he did not vote for President Obama but had nothing but positive things to say post-meeting. He said he has confidence in the president and that Obama was heartfelt in his approach and wanting to solve the detainee issue. Clodfeller also offered that he thinks Obama has a good possibility of being one of the better presidents.

Clodfeller and Lippold both said this was the first time that Cole families have met with a president and they were optimistic that they will continue an open dialogue with the White House as it considers the legal issue.

[Gold9472]

Obama talks with US terror victim families

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g3m8Os9dSKSdoR7Ugl4_3dl7g8uw

2 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — President Barack Obama Friday had an "emotional" meeting with families of victims of the USS Cole bombing and the September 11 attacks to explain his plans to close the Guantanamo Bay 'war on terror' camp.

The White House said the meeting with around 40 family members lasted an hour, and the president told his guests that he wanted the meeting to be "just the beginning of a dialogue" about shuttering the site.

It came the day after a Pentagon judge withdrew charges against a Saudi detainee at the camp accused of complicity in the deadly October 2000 attack on the Cole in Yemen.

The move was designed to fall in line with Obama's executive order issued shortly after taking office for a 120-day delay in proceedings against terror suspects at held at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba camp.

John Clodfelter's son Kenneth died in the Cole attack and said he went into the meetings with very "negative" feelings about the closure plan, but was won over by Obama.

"Just his demeanor, he really felt what he was saying. He was very honest, he really wants our help in trying to resolve this issue," said Clodfelter.

"I think this president has the possibility of being one of our very best presidents because of the way he is as a human being."

Retired navy commander Kurt Lippold, who was at the helm of the Cole during the attack which killed 17 US sailors, said Obama met the families and immediately gave them a run-down of his plans to close the camp.

"It was very emotional," he said, adding that the president then took questions from the families.

Obama "agreed to have an open door," Lippold said, though he expressed reservations about the fact that no procedures had yet been put in place to close the camp or dispose of its inmates.

In a statement, the White House said that Obama "made it clear that his most important responsibility is to keep the American people safe."

The president "explained why he believes that closing Guantanamo will make our nation safer and help ensure that those who are guilty receive swift and certain justice within a legal framework that is durable, and that helps America fight terrorism more effectively around the world."

Obama says that Guantanamo Bay has become a powerful symbol for terrorist recruitment around the world, threatens the US image overseas, and represents an abrogation of US values.

He has vowed to close the camp within a year and has tasked top officials with working out what to do with the inmates -- many of whom have been kept in detention for years without trial or being charged.

Saudi national Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was due to be arraigned on Monday, at Guantanamo Bay and the Pentagon prosecutor had sought the death penalty for him.

Born in Mecca, Nashiri, 43, was accused of conspiring to help two Islamic extremists who steered an explosives-laden barge alongside the US Navy destroyer Cole, which was docked at the port of Aden, Yemen. The attackers then detonated themselves and their load.

The Cole attack killed 17 US sailors and wounded dozens of others. The blast punched a 12-meter (40-foot) hole in the ship's side.

Nashiri was arrested in 2002, and held in a secret CIA prison for almost four years before being transferred to the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay.

[Gold9472]

Modified military commissions possible, Obama tells 9-11 families

http://www.kansascity.com/444/story/1021805.html

By MARGARET TALEV AND CAROL ROSENBERG
McClatchy Newspapers

After an emotional, private meeting at the White House with President Barack Obama, survivors and victims' relatives of two al-Qaida attacks said Friday that the president quelled some of their fears about closing the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center, promised them an "open-door" policy and a hand in shaping anti-terror policies, and said he is considering a modified military commission system to try detainees.

In a question-and-answer period with Obama that lasted about 35 minutes, some of the roughly 40 attendees affected by the USS Cole and Sept. 11, 2001, attacks emphasized concerns that a year might not be long enough to safely empty the Guantanamo prison as planned, said participant Kirk Lippold, a retired Navy commander in charge of the USS Cole when it was attacked on Oct. 12, 2000.

Participants also made clear their fears about detainees being brought to the United States and into a court system that afforded them full constitutional privileges. Obama did not rule anything out but said he also had his concerns, and "he did open the door that he might do modified military commissions" instead, Lippold said.

"I think people were more reserved, and they were willing to listen and extend to him the olive branch of 'let's wait and see what you're going to do,'" Lippold said.

The president was greeted with applause when he entered the meeting in Room 350 of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building just west of the White House, said New Yorker Valerie Lucznikowska, whose stockbroker nephew died in the World Trade Center on 9-11.

She said the president made his way around the room shaking hands with some and hugging others, and left the attendees feeling impressed, if not universally sold on his plans.

"He made the point that he is closing Guantanamo because it is a symbol to the world of something that got tangled up in Abu Ghraib," she said. "We need our foreign allies to help us catch the terrorists."

Obama told the participants that his general counsel, Gregory Craig, would be their point of contact, and that the door was always open. He also assured them that Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, an alleged organizer of the Cole bombing, would remain in custody and eventually be tried.

Obama had invited the group to address the concerns of vocal critics among them and to explain the administration's overall thinking, as well as the withdrawal of military commission charges late Thursday against al-Nashiri, who was facing the death penalty.

To some extent, Obama and his aides also seemed to be seeking to reframe the reasoning for closing Guantanamo.

On the campaign trail, Obama, a constitutional lawyer, spoke often about how indefinite detentions went against basic principles of American democracy and human rights, and he said the end did not justify the means.

On Friday, however, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "I think the main concern that the president has is the military commissions' failure to bring those in detention to swift justice."

Lippold said that Obama told the attendees that "his goal is to provide swift and certain justice for terrorists; he views Guantanamo Bay as an impediment to justice."

[Gold9472]

Obama meets families of USS Cole, Sept. 11 victims

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLy-7Qsm2KeE15rL6Is9p56BcWhwD966BVUO0

3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has met with relatives of victims of the bombing of the USS Cole and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

One woman who attended the meeting says Obama assured them he wants the same thing they do — justice for their loved ones.

Sally Regenhard says Obama promised to make sure that justice is done and that the families will have an open line of communication with the White House.

Regenhard lost her son, a New York City firefighter, at the World Trade Center on 9/11.

Obama is concerned that terror suspects have been held for years at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, without trial. He wants to close the facility and has signed an executive order to do so within a year.

[Gold9472]

Obama meets families of USS Cole, Sept. 11 victims

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gLy-7Qsm2KeE15rL6Is9p56BcWhwD966E3AO0

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama held an emotional meeting Friday with relatives of victims of the bombing of the USS Cole and the Sept. 11 attacks who are still waiting for justice to be served years after the deadly acts of terrorism.

Obama promised the roughly 40 family members who attended that the meeting would be the first of many.

Some of the victims' relatives said they welcomed Obama's gesture. Still, they aren't entirely convinced that his decision to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, facility, where terrorism suspects are being detained, and halt legal action on their cases is the right thing to do.

Obama has expressed concerns about the fact that detainees have been held for years without trial. He has signed an executive order to close the facility within a year while the administration reviews other options for seeing that the detainees get their day in court.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk S. Lippold, commanding officer of the Cole at the time of the Oct. 12, 2000, bombing, said he was disappointed when he first learned of the decision and remained skeptical. He also faulted Obama for not consulting the families ahead of time.

"In principle, his reason for closing it may be good," Lippold, a defense adviser to Military Families United, told reporters after the hourlong meeting.

Lippold said Obama's stance is "well-intentioned, but the problem I have remains that we still don't have any procedures" for what will become of the terror suspects after the detention center is closed.

Lippold was commander of the USS Cole when al-Qaida suicide bombers struck as it sat in a port in Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors.

The White House said Obama made clear at the meeting, held next door at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, that his most important responsibility is keeping the American people safe.

He also explained why he thinks closing the Guantanamo facility will make the country safer and "help ensure that those who are guilty receive swift and certain justice within a legal framework that is durable, and that helps America fight terrorism more effectively around the world."

The meeting took place a day after a senior Pentagon judge dropped charges against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, an al-Qaida suspect held at Guantanamo and accused of masterminding the USS Cole bombing. New charges against al-Nashiri could be brought later, and he will remain in custody for the time being.

A legal move late Thursday by Susan J. Crawford, the top legal authority for military trials at Guantanamo, marked the last active war crimes case there.

The Obama administration is reviewing the system to make sure the 245 suspects remaining there are given international and U.S. legal rights. That review largely will determine whether the terror suspects should be tried in U.S. courts or released to other countries.

The White House said the meeting was the first the USS Cole victims have had with a president.

Lippold said the meeting was very emotional, and that the discussion largely focused on how to deal with the detainees, the impact of the decision on trials and what it would mean to the U.S. image abroad.

He said he expected the families would be asked for input after the 120-day review period.

"I'm looking forward to working with them as we have never had an opportunity as families to help shape policy when it comes to keeping our nation safe," Lippold said.

John Clodfelter, an Air Force veteran who lost his son, Kenneth, on the USS Cole, said he went into the meeting with a negative attitude.

"I didn't vote for the man," he said, still emotional hours after the meeting. "But ... the way he conducts himself, the way he talks, you can't help but believe him."

Clodfelter also expressed frustration with the lack of a trial for al-Nashiri eight years after the attack.

"We should have already had this man tried and executed if that's what the case is," he said. "I can't imagine an American that's in one of our prisons for eight years without anything being done for him."

Sally Regenhard, who lost her son, Christian, during the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on New York's World Trade Center, said the families had a good experience with Obama.

"He said that he's going to make sure that justice is done regarding the terrorists," she said in a telephone interview. "And we'll have an open line of communication with the White House regarding the family members. That's revolutionary."

"He assured us that he wants the same things that we want," Regenhard added.

[Gold9472]

9/11 survivors at the White House

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/more-info/story/892040.html

By Herald Staff Report
gitmo@miamiherald.com

Who was at the meeting with President Barack Obama?

Kristen Breitweiser of New Jersey. Her husband died in the World Trade Center.

Debra Burlingame of New York. Her brother was the pilot on the hijacked American airliner that crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

Patty Casazza of New Jersey. Her husband died in the World Trade Center.

John and Gloria Clodfelter of Virginia. Their sailor son died in the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole.

Lou Gunn of Virginia. His sailor son died in the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole.

Mindy Kleinberg of New Jersey. Her husband died in the World Tade Center.

Kirk Lippold of Virginia. He was Cole commander at the time, now a retired Navy commander.

Valerie Lucznikowska of New York. Her stock broker nephew died in the World Trade Center.

Hamilton Peterson of Maryland. He lost his father and stepmother in the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.

Sally Regenhard of New York. Her firefighter son died at the World Trade Center.

John Riches of New York. His firefighter son died at the World Trade Center.

Lorie Van Auken of New Jersey. Her husband died in the World Trade Center.

Adele Welty of New York. His firefighter son died at the World Trade Center.

[Gold9472]

Obama Talks to Sept. 11, USS Cole Families About Guantanamo Prison

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/06/AR2009020603516.html?hpid=topnews

By Peter Finn and Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 7, 2009; Page A03

President Obama assured relatives and victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole that he is keeping an open mind about how to handle the approximately 245 detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to participants in an hour-long meeting yesterday at the White House.

The president met with about 40 family members and victims, who hold different views on his decision to close the prison in Cuba within a year. The exchange, which was sometimes passionate but never acrimonious, left some who were deeply skeptical of the administration's decision to suspend military commissions at Guantanamo Bay satisfied that the president has not yet decided to abolish the current system of prosecuting suspected terrorists.

Obama told the group that he was only hitting the "pause button" when he sought the suspension of proceedings against 21 detainees, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. And he assured the group that he wants the swift prosecution of those responsible for the terrorist attacks and their facilitators.

"It was evident he was genuinely conflicted about the best approach," said Hamilton Peterson of Bethesda, who lost his father and stepmother on United Flight 93 and thinks Guantanamo Bay should be kept open. "All of us were impressed with his sincerity and the amount of time he spent with us."

The White House press office said Obama wanted yesterday's meeting "to be just the beginning of a dialogue."

"The President started the meeting by thanking those in attendance for serving as the nation's conscience and continuing to speak out about these tragic events," the White House said in a brief statement describing the session. "The President made it clear that his most important responsibility is to keep the American people safe. He explained why he believes that closing Guantanamo will make our nation safer and help ensure that those who are guilty receive swift and certain justice within a legal framework that is durable, and that helps America fight terrorism more effectively around the world."

The administration is examining the profile of each Guantanamo Bay detainee to determine who can be released, who can be prosecuted and how. Officials have not settled on a legal strategy for prosecution, which could involve reforming the current system of military commissions or, as human rights groups advocate, shifting trials to federal courts or military courts-martial.

Lorie Van Auken, a leader of September 11th Advocates, a group headed by four New Jersey women who lost their husbands in the attacks, called the meeting "impressive," saying Obama gave detailed answers to their questions and allayed many of their concerns. She said the president did not rule out some form of military commissions in the future and acknowledged shortcomings in dealing with terrorism suspects in regular criminal courts.

"He acknowledged this was quite a mess and it really needed to be looked at by his legal team and by him," said Van Auken, whose husband, Kenneth Van Auken, was killed in the World Trade Center and whose group supports closing Guantanamo Bay. "I think everybody recognized, no matter which side of the issue they're on, that this is a quagmire that will not be solved easily."

Mindy Kleinberg, another member of the group, said Obama also made clear that "nobody is just going to get freed by the closing of Guantanamo."

"I think the point was that you have to make sure they have a system in place that can actually work," said Kleinberg, whose husband, Alan Kleinberg, also died in the World Trade Center. "I think even the people who came to the meeting who wanted to keep it open could understand his point of view."

Kirk S. Lippold, former commanding officer of the USS Cole, which was bombed in Yemen in 2000, emerged from the White House sounding much more open to Obama's decisions than he had earlier.

"The most important thing that came out of this for me and for many of the families there was the fact that the president agreed to have an open door," he said outside the White House.

"There was passion and emotion, but it was enormously respectful," Peterson said. "I was extremely satisfied and impressed with his facility with the issues and his genuine commitment to take into consideration the views of family members who want to see Guantanamo rehabilitated, not dispensed with."

[Gold9472]

I Have To Give Credit When Credit Is Due

Jon Gold
2/6/2009

Yesterday, President Obama met (http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20311) with several 9/11 Family Members. Those that are familiar to us would be Sally Regenhard, Lorie Van Auken, Mindy Kleinberg, Patty Casazza, and Kristen Breitweiser.

Washington Post reports (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/06/AR2009020603516.html?hpid=topnews):

Lorie Van Auken, a leader of September 11th Advocates, a group headed by four New Jersey women who lost their husbands in the attacks, called the meeting "impressive," saying Obama gave detailed answers to their questions and allayed many of their concerns. She said the president did not rule out some form of military commissions in the future and acknowledged shortcomings in dealing with terrorism suspects in regular criminal courts.

"He acknowledged this was quite a mess and it really needed to be looked at by his legal team and by him," said Van Auken, whose husband, Kenneth Van Auken, was killed in the World Trade Center and whose group supports closing Guantanamo Bay. "I think everybody recognized, no matter which side of the issue they're on, that this is a quagmire that will not be solved easily."

Mindy Kleinberg, another member of the group, said Obama also made clear that "nobody is just going to get freed by the closing of Guantanamo."

"I think the point was that you have to make sure they have a system in place that can actually work," said Kleinberg, whose husband, Alan Kleinberg, also died in the World Trade Center. "I think even the people who came to the meeting who wanted to keep it open could understand his point of view." Sally Regenhard had this to say (http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showpost.php?p=96416&postcount=9):
"He said that he's going to make sure that justice is done regarding the terrorists," she said in a telephone interview. "And we'll have an open line of communication with the White House regarding the family members. That's revolutionary."

"He assured us that he wants the same things that we want," Regenhard added.Now, I'm no fan of President Obama, but the fact that he was willing to give time to the families, and promised them "an open line of communication with the White House" is as Sally Regenhard said, "revolutionary." Especially when you take into account how the previous White House treated the 9/11 families.

So thank you President Obama for giving them the time of day.

[Gold9472]

9/11, Cole victims' families pleased after visit with President Obama over Gitmo

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/02/06/2009-02-06_911_cole_victims_families_pleased_after_.html

BY James Gordon Meek
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Saturday, February 7th 2009, 6:24 AM

WASHINGTON - President Obama vowed "swift justice" for the 9/11 plotters when he met with relatives of the 2001 attack's victims Friday, calming them about his plan to shut down Guantanamo Bay's prison and delay some terror trials.

When the emotional and dramatic White House meeting was over an hour later - double the alloted time - Obama looked at photos of slain loved ones brought by their families and signed copies of his book, "The Audacity of Hope."

He asked each of the 40 who attended for their names and shook hands one by one with the 9/11 kin, as well as relatives of 17 Navy sailors slain in the October 2000 Al Qaeda attack on the destroyer Cole in Yemen.

"This is just the start of our dialogue," Obama told them gently, promising future meetings with his aides. "This is not a goodbye - it's a hello."

Some begged the new President to keep the prison at the U.S. naval base in Cuba open and expressed fear of more delays caused by his order to halt military commission prosecutions for four months.

Carol Ashley, whose daughter Janice was killed on 9/11, told the Daily News, "He gave us time to hear our concerns."

Obama heard them out, but explained that the military trials were "flawed" and Gitmo has "tarnished America's image," said Lorie Van Auken, whose husband, Kenneth, died in the World Trade Center.

"It was an amazing meeting," she swooned.

"I feel okay - I'm gonna give him a chance," said retired FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches, whose firefighter son Jimmy was killed in the twin towers and who has been wary of Gitmo closing.

"He's not stopping it," insisted Jamal Gunn, whose brother Cherone was murdered when the Cole was bombed.

Obama just wants to get the prosecutions right and feared losing appeals of military cases, Gunn said.

Most of the terrorists at Gitmo's Camp Delta will land in prisons inside the U.S. and be tried in civilian courts, the President said, according to those in the room.

"His goal is swift justice," Ashley said.

Asked by a reporter afterward if any feared the release of thugs like 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a dozen relatives replied in unison: "No."

"This gave us hope we can one day trust our government again," said Mindy Kleinberg, the widow of World Trade Center worker Alan Kleinberg. "I think he was able to allay everybody's fears."

Kleinberg and Van Auken were half of the outspoken team of New Jersey widows known as the "Jersey Girls," who, along with Ashley and others, pressed Congress to create the 9/11 Commission.

Most at Friday's meeting never got an audience with ex-President Bush.

"We didn't have that opportunity with President Bush," said 9/11 activist Mary Fetchet, whose son Brad was killed.

At one point, her husband, Frank, choked up as he spoke to Obama, she said. But most emotions stayed in check.

The day brought together for the first time 9/11 kin and families of Cole sailors who died days before the 2000 election. The Cole attack was "swept under the rug ... and it created a big monster," said Mona Gunn, Cherone's mom.

Van Auken reached over and wrapped her arm around the Gold Star mother as they stood in front of the White House.

"Bush tried to sweep 9/11 under the rug, too," she said.

[Gold9472]

OBAMA PROMISES ACTION IN MEETING WITH VICTIMS' KIN

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02072009/news/politics/obama_promises_action_in_meeting_with_vi_153943.ht m

By CHARLES HURT
Last updated: 3:04 am
February 7, 2009
Posted: 2:36 am
February 7, 2009

WASHINGTON - President Obama held an emotional meeting yesterday with family members of 9/11 victims and told them he wants "swift and certain justice" for the jailed terrorists.

The family members gave the president high marks for his forthright attitude during the hour-long session in the Old Executive Office Building about his plan to close Guantanamo Bay prison and halt trials there.

"I didn't want this to be, 'Obama schmoozing 9/11 families' - and he didn't do that," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother was a pilot aboard the hijacked American Airlines jet that hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11.

About 30 to 40 people, including relatives of sailors who died in the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, another al Qaeda target, attended.

"He was very knowledgeable about the issues and was very engaged and asked a lot of questions," said Lorie van Auken.

When one family member said he hopes Obama gets down to see Guantanamo firsthand before he closes it, the president acknowledged with a smile that he had not been there, witnesses said.

Burlingame, who wants Gitmo to remain open, said the meeting didn't change her mind, but helped her understand Obama's point of view.

[Gold9472]

Obama provides comfort -- but no assurance -- on 9/11 prosecutions

http://blog.nj.com/njv_bob_braun/2009/02/obama_provides_comfort_but_no.html

Posted by Bob Braun/Star-Ledger Columnist February 08, 2009 8:21PM

Representatives of families who lost relatives to the 9/11 attacks are satisfied with the new president's handling of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

For now. But expectations may be too high.

"After years of having doors shut in our faces, he opened the doors to us, and it was wonderful," said Diane Horning of Scotch Plains, one of 53 family members who crowded into a small conference room in the old Executive Office Building next to the White House to meet President Obama Friday. She lost her son Matthew in the attacks.

"I was delighted by how he spoke with us, and he promised this was just the beginning," said Sally Regenhard of the Bronx. "We're going to have a continuing relationship with him." Her son Christian, a New York firefighter, was killed.

Mindy Kleinberg of East Brunswick, whose husband Alan died that day, said she believed Obama "would get it right this time"-- in his handling of terror suspects.

Kleinberg is one of the so-called "Jersey girls," five women who pressed early on for an investigation into the 9/11 attacks.

Other family members -- including relatives of those killed in the attack on the USS Cole in October 2000 -- told other media outlets they were satisfied with the session.

Although family members follow an unwritten code never to criticize each other publicly, the groups are split along the same partisan lines as the rest of the nation -- but their private differences often are intensely felt.

The meeting included some who campaigned for George Bush in 2004 -- Debra Burlingame -- and John Kerry supporters, like Kleinberg and Monica Gabrielle. Yet relatives reported the session was free of contentiousness. Obama, said Horning, "was a calming influence."

"You could feel his compassion," she said, noting he greeted each family member individually and paused to look at pictures they brought of victims. "He didn't talk down to us, and he made an effort to explain his views."

Obama didn't say much he hadn't said before, participants reported. He is determined to close Guantanamo because, to allies and enemies alike, it is tied to abuses in places like Abu Ghraib, the military prison outside Baghdad.

He asked for time to find a way of handling the cases -- ranging from hundreds of detainees taken from Afghanistan who may or may not be dangerous to a man like Khalid Sheik Muhammad, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

"He said he would find a way to bring swift justice to them," Regenhard said.

Not easy. Despite his assurances, Obama, a constitutional law professor before he entered politics, knows the constraints that may seem mere technicalities to families.

Regenhard, for example, believes the admissions of guilt by some -- including Muhammad -- counter confessions secured by torture. "They had a chance to recant."

Kleinberg said she believed that, despite Obama's best intentions, it is too late to create any sort of trial mechanism that could provide fair trials that would pass constitutional standards once reviewed in appeals courts.

"The previous president created this quagmire -- I'm not sure we can ever get out of it, at least not with real trials," Kleinberg said. She said she believed members of the previous administration should be held accountable for the failure of the system to work.

Obama told the relatives he would prosecute any official found to have violated the law in dealing with detainees, but few participants believed that would happen.

The Bush administration created military commissions that processed few prisoners, some held for seven years without trial or even charges. Only one, Salim Hamdan, was convicted -- and he is now free in his native Yemen; another, David Hicks, pleaded guilty, and he, too, is free, in Australia. Neither was convicted of serious charges and spent a few months in confinement afterward.

Conventional federal courts have a better record, including the conviction and life imprisonment of Zacarias Moussaoui, at one time believed to be a hijacker who was dropped from the 9/11 plans before they were executed.

Obama left the participants, not only with the hope he would find a way to try 9/11 defendants and other terrorists, but also would -- through his staff -- maintain interest in a variety of causes the family members embrace.

Horning, for example, left him with photographs and other materials dramatizing her efforts to bring the ashen remains of 9/11 victims out of the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. Regenhard, who heads groups dedicated to building safety and the health of firefighters, said she believes Obama will be concerned about those issues.

"I am convinced he will follow through," Regenhard said.

[Gold9472]

Terror victims deliver dueling messages over Obama meeting

http://www.miamiherald.com/1218/story/897516.html

BY CAROL ROSENBERG
crosenberg@MiamiHerald.com

Days after President Barack Obama heard from victims of al Qaeda at the White House, some participants are issuing dueling press releases on the president's plan to empty the prison camps at Guantánamo.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold fired the first rhetorical shot across the bow Monday with a challenge to the president to include military families in national security decisions.

Lippold, now a fellow at the advocacy group Military Families United, lost 17 American sailors under his command to a suicide bombing of the USS Cole off Aden, Yemen, in October 2000.

In addition, he had a role as strategic planner at the Pentagon when the Bush administration set up detainee policy -- and he opposes emptying detainees from Guantánamo and abandoning the Bush formula for Military Commissions.

''We look forward to working with him to craft policies on the future of the Guantánamo Bay detainees, the completion of our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and providing the funding that our military and veterans deserve,'' he said.

Tuesday brought a reply from the so-called Jersey Girls, widows of men who died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and consider the prison camps ``an enormous stain on America's reputation:

''The Military Commissions System, which allowed evidence obtained through torture and coercive interrogation tactics, has been a dismal failure both legally and practically,'' wrote Patty Casazza, Monica Gabrielle, Mindy Kleinberg and Lorie Van Auken.

The women were among 40 or so relatives of men and women killed on Sept. 11, 2001 and at the USS Cole who met with Obama on Guantánamo policy Friday, along with Lippold.

The White House arranged the meeting to enlist survivors' support for the 120-day pause in the trials, which they called an attempt ``to fix the quagmire that was created by the previous administration.

Obama held the meeting a day after a Bush appointee at the military commissions withdrew Cole conspiracy charges against a Guantánamo captive, Abd el Rahim Nashiri, a Saudi, to give the new administration time to study the best way to prosecute accused terrorists and war criminals.

Lippold was especially angry about that decision -- ''the families have been through enough,'' he said -- because the Pentagon had already lined up family members to travel to Guantánamo for a pre-trial hearing.

One issue in the Nashiri case is that the CIA waterboarded him in secret custody somewhere overseas before his September 2006 transfer to Guantánamo. Attorney General Eric Holder considers waterboarding torture, meaning evidence gleaned that way would not be admissible at trial.

''If, ultimately, the detainees held at Guantánamo Bay are unable to be properly prosecuted because of the fatal flaws in the system, then those in the Bush administration who were responsible for creating that failed system should be held accountable,'' the widows' statement said.

Moreover Nashiri told U.S. military officers at a status hearing in Guantánamo in March 2007 that he concocted a confession to please his CIA captors. ''From the time I was arrested five years ago, they have been torturing me,'' he said then, according to a Pentagon transcript.

That hearing was closed to the media, meaning only attorneys assigned to defend him and delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross have actually seen him -- in addition to the CIA and his U.S. military jailers.

[Gold9472]

September 11th Advocates Statement Regarding Guantanamo Quagmire and Accountability

For Immediate Release
February 10, 2009

The Military Commissions System at Guantanamo Bay was an attempt by the Bush Administration to create an “extralegal zone”, wherein the rule of law was ignored. Many Guantanamo detainees were subject to detention without charges, rendition and illegal torture. The Military Commissions System, which allowed evidence obtained through torture and coercive interrogation tactics, has been a dismal failure both legally and practically. The Supreme Court has rejected the policies of this system each time it has reviewed them. Because of the Bush Administration’s mistaken belief in its ability to craft a new legal system, which clearly created avoidable moral and legal challenges, justice may never be served.

President Obama has paused all proceedings at Guantanamo Bay for 120 days in order for his legal team to attempt to design a system in which the verdicts will withstand the scrutiny of the inevitable appeals process. He is rightfully attempting to fix the quagmire that was created by the previous administration.

If, ultimately, the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay are unable to be properly prosecuted because of the fatal flaws in the system, then those in the Bush Administration who were responsible for creating that failed system should be held accountable.

# # #

Patty Casazza
Monica Gabrielle
Mindy Kleinberg
Lorie Van Auken