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Unanswered Questions : Thinking for ourselves.
9/11 Victims’ Families to Rally in Long Island Demanding 9/11 Answers
Press Release
For Immediate Release
March 10, 2004
Family members of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks will be rallying at Eisenhower Park this Thursday at
4:30PM to demand answers to the "unanswered questions" of 9/11. President Bush will be attending a campaign fundraiser
at this time. Organizers have pushed back the start of their rally in deference to family members attending an afternoon
ceremony at a future Nassau County 9/11 Memorial for those they lost on 9/11.
The 9/11 Family Steering Committee for an Independent Commission has taken the lead by presenting twenty-three questions
for President Bush. [see below] 9/11 Commissioner Jamie Gorelick has referred to the Steering Committee questions as "a
road map" for the government's investigation. Today at the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan said "the
president of course is going to answer all the questions they want to raise."
"Yes, of course he should, as should President Clinton, but it should be done in public and under oath not cloaked in
secrecy behind closed doors," responded Kyle F. Hence of 9/11 CitizensWatch. The White House had, until yesterday,
insisted on limiting Bush's and Cheney's testimony to only one hour and still insist they will only field questions
privately from 9/11 Commission Chairman Kean and Vice-Chairman Hamilton. "If President Bush and Vice-President Cheney
have nothing to hide, and in fact are proud of their record surrounding 9/11 they should confidently defend it openly
before the American people and all ten of the Commissioners," said former Bush I official Catherine Austin Fitts.
Organizers and family members will also call for Condoleezza Rice, who made misleading statements about pre-attack
intelligence, to testify publicly before the 9/11 Commission. The Rally will take place at the Stewart Avenue entrance
to Eisenhower Park in East Meadow where President Bush will be attending an evening fundraiser at a restaurant on the
park grounds. Some 9/11 victims' family members expressed outrage last week regarding Bush campaign ads that use images
of 9/11. Now victims' family members and others are calling on him to:
1) Immediately end all stonewalling of the 9/11 investigation and provide access to all documents sought by the
Commission including the full text of the August 6th Presidential Daily Briefing and minutes from the July 5, 2001
National Security Council meeting.
2) Call upon and join President Clinton and Vice-President Gore to testify under oath before all ten of the 9/11
Commissioners and the general public.
3) Compel Condoleezza Rice, who on May 16 made misleading or ill-informed statements about the nature of pre-9/11
intelligence and warnings, to testify at the next 9/11 Commission hearing scheduled for March 23-24 in Washington, D.C.
with her Clinton Administration counterpart, Sandy Berger.
4) Answer all 23 questions formally submitted to the Commission by the 9/11 Family Steering Committee [See below] and
additional questions to be submitted for VP Cheney and National Security Advisor Rice.
Contact: Kyle F. Hence 401-935-7715
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There is no parking at the site of the Rally. Merrick Ave will be closed due to security concerns. So we recommend all
take public transport or have friend drops you off as close as possible to the Stewart Ave. entrance.
DIRECTIONS by Public Transport:
From NYC - take the HEMPSTEAD LIRR train to Hempstead - this is the last stop of the train. The Hempstead bus terminal
is across the street. Take bus #35 from Hempstead to Eisenhower Park. In traffic the trip could be 20 minutes. Ask for
the stop at the end of Stewart Ave. We have been asked to convene approximately 150 north of the Stewart St. entrance to
the Park.
*******************
Subject: 9/11 Family Steering Committee: Questions for Bush
The Family Steering Committee Statement and Questions Regarding the 9/11 Commission Interview with President Bush
February 16, 2004
The Family Steering Committee believes that President Bush should provide sworn public testimony to the full ten-member
panel of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
Collectively, the Commissioners are responsible for fulfilling the Congressional mandate. Therefore, each Commissioner
must have full access to the testimony of all individuals and the critical information that will enable informed
decisions and recommendations. Before an audience of the American people, the Commission must ask President Bush in
sworn testimony, the following questions:
1. As Commander-in-Chief on the morning of 9/11, why didn't you return immediately to Washington, D.C. or the National
Military Command Center once you became aware that America was under attack? At specifically what time did you become
aware that America was under attack? Who informed you of this fact?
2. On the morning of 9/11, who was in charge of our country while you were away from the National Military Command
Center? Were you informed or consulted about all decisions made in your absence?
3. What defensive action did you personally order to protect our nation during the crisis on September 11th? What time
were these orders given, and to whom? What orders were carried out? What was the result of such orders? Were any such
orders not carried out?
4. In your opinion, why was our nation so utterly unprepared for an attack on our own soil?
5. U.S. Navy Captain Deborah Loewer, the Director of the White House Situation Room, informed you of the first airliner
hitting Tower One of the World Trade Center before you entered the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota,
Florida. Please explain the reason why you decided to continue with the scheduled classroom visit, fifteen minutes after
learning the first hijacked airliner had hit the World Trade Center.
6. Is it normal procedure for the Director of the White House Situation Room to travel with you? If so, please cite any
prior examples of when this occurred. If not normal procedure, please explain the circumstances that led to the Director
of the White House Situation Room being asked to accompany you to Florida during the week of September 11th.
7. What plan of action caused you to remain seated after Andrew Card informed you that a second airliner had hit the
second tower of the World Trade Center and America was clearly under attack? Approximately how long did you remain in
the classroom after Card's message?
8. At what time were you made aware that other planes were hijacked in addition to Flight 11 and Flight 175? Who
notified you? What was your course of action as Commander-in-Chief of the United States?
9. Beginning with the transition period between the Clinton administration and your own, and ending on 9/11/01,
specifically what information (either verbal or written) about terrorists, possible attacks and targets, did you receive
from any source?
This would include briefings or communications from:
* Out-going Clinton officials
* CIA, FBI, NSA, DoD and other intelligence agencies
* Foreign intelligence, governments, dignitaries or envoys
* National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
* Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism czar
10. Specifically, what did you learn from the August 6, 2001, PDB about the terrorist threat that was facing our nation?
Did you request any follow-up action to take place? Did you request any further report be developed and/or prepared?
11. As Commander-in-Chief, from May 1, 2001 until September 11, 2001, did you receive any information from any
intelligence agency official or agent that UBL was planning to attack this nation on its own soil using airplanes as
weapons, targeting New York City landmarks during the week of September 11, 2001 or on the actual day of September 11,
2001?
12. What defensive measures did you take in response to pre-9/11 warnings from eleven nations about a terrorist attack,
many of which cited an attack in the continental United States? Did you prepare any directives in response to these
actions? If so, with what results?
13. As Commander-in-Chief from May 1, 2001 until September 11, 2001, did you or any agent of the United States
government carry out any negotiations or talks with UBL, an agent of UBL, or al-Qaeda? During that same period, did you
or any agent of the United States government carry out any negotiations or talks with any foreign government, its
agents, or officials regarding UBL? If so, what resulted?
14. Your schedule for September 11, 2001 was in the public domain since September 7, 2001. The Emma E. Booker School is
only five miles from the Bradenton Airport, so you, and therefore the children in the classroom, might have been a
target for the terrorists on 9/11. What was the intention of the Secret Service in allowing you to remain in the Emma E.
Booker Elementary School, even though they were aware America was under attack?
15. Please explain why you remained at the Sarasota, Florida, Elementary School for a press conference after you had
finished listening to the children read, when as a terrorist target, your presence potentially jeopardized the lives of
the children?
16. What was the purpose of the several stops of Air Force One on September 11th? Was Air Force One at any time during
the day of September 11th a target of the terrorists? Was Air Force One's code ever breached on September 11th?
17. Was there a reason for Air Force One lifting off without a military escort, even after ample time had elapsed to
allow military jets to arrive?
18. What prompted your refusal to release the information regarding foreign sponsorship of the terrorists, as
illustrated in the inaccessible 28 redacted pages in the Joint Intelligence Committee Inquiry Report? What actions have
you personally taken since 9/11 to thwart foreign sponsorship of terrorism?
19. Who approved the flight of the bin Laden family out of the United States when all commercial flights were grounded,
when there was time for only minimal questioning by the FBI, and especially, when two of those same individuals had
links to WAMY, a charity suspected of funding terrorism? Why were bin Laden family members granted that special
privilege, a privilege not available to American families whose loved ones were killed on 9/11?
20. Please explain why no one in any level of our government has yet been held accountable for the countless failures
leading up to and on 9/11?
21. Please comment on the fact that UBL's profile on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives poster does not include the
9/11 attacks. To your knowledge, when was the last time any agent of our government had contact with UBL? If prior to
9/11, specifically what was the date of that contact and what was the context of said meeting.
22. Do you continue to maintain that Saddam Hussein was linked to al Qaeda? What proof do you have of any connection
between al-Qaeda and the Hussein regime?
23. Which individuals, governments, agencies, institutions, or groups may have benefited from the attacks of 9/11?
Please state specifically how you think they have benefited.
The Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Independent Commission http://www.911independentcommission.org/
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