Judge Andrew Napolitano talks about the lessons learned from 9/11, the loss of liberty and the search for truth:
Update:Transcript of Remembering 9/11: Life, Liberty & Truth
Does the government work for us or do we work for the government? Is the loss of life on 9/11 a justification for the loss of freedom that the Bill of Rights guarantees? Tonight, life, liberty, and truth.
Sunday is the tenth anniversary of 9/11. One decade later, Americans are still struggling to understand what happened. What will we remember and what will future generations come to believe about 9/11? Will it be the loss of life on that day, or will it be the even greater loss of life in the global conflicts that directly ensued? Will it be the short term security precautions such as the orders to shoot down any planes carrying innocent civilians, or will it be the lingering destruction of our rights to privacy from unlawful government surveillance, the institutionalization of government torture, and the government-generated semi-nudity and near sexual assaults at our airports? Will future generations ever know the full truth about the events that led to 9/11, or will they accept the government account of what happened; an account that the CIA’s own Bin Laden unit chief, Michael Scheuer, calls a “whitewash from top to bottom.”
In the years preceding 9/11, Osama bin Laden was a young freedom-fighter who promised American officials he’d help them to oust the Soviets from Afghanistan. Following the defeat of the Soviets and the fall of the Berlin Wall, capitalism was triumphant and Communism was gone. But in 1991, when the United States invaded Iraq for the first time, we established military bases in the land revered by Islam. Furious at the American government for desecrating their lands, Bin Laden and his maniacal associates began plans that would lead to the clash of civilizations that culminated in the tragic events of 9/11.
The signs of trouble were apparent after the bombings of American embassies in Africa and the initial bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. It has now become increasingly clear that the Clinton administration should have done something. Michael Scheuer claims that Bin Laden was identified as the mastermind of those attacks and was targeted multiple times and could have been captured and tried for these assaults; but President Clinton himself said: NO .
Last year, retired Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, a career intelligence officer, wrote a book titled “Operation Dark Heart”, in which he shows that during his time serving on the secret Able Danger Project, he and his colleagues identified Mohammad Atta, the key 9/11 hijacker involved in the planes that struck the towers, a year before he struck. And they found him in America. Although Col. Shaffer fought to bring this to the 9/11 Commission and was told he would testify, he was eventually turned away and none of this intelligence was given to the American people. It was literally the politicians covering for each other because they failed to protect us.
How many government agents and bureaucrats have been fired for being asleep at the switch on 9/11? Answer: NONE. How many persons have been prosecuted for failing to do their duty in the years preceding 9/11? Answer: NONE. How many persons have been tried for committing the attacks on 9/11? Answer: NONE. Why is the government afraid of the truth?
In the days after 9/11, while the country wept and the war hawks screamed for blood, one quiet voice rang out from the despair and offered a simple solution to solve our problems in a manner set forth in the Constitution. Texas Congressman Ron Paul offered legislation to authorize the President to send paid assassins to capture or kill Bin Laden and his cohorts. It would have cost a few hundred thousand dollars, instead of the two trillion that Presidents Bush and Obama have borrowed and spent on the wars in the Middle East. But that voice was drowned out in the ocean of tears and cries for blood and occupation and regime change. The bill failed and the wars came, and the blood flowed, and the borrowing of cash couldn’t come fast enough.
Now here we stand a decade after the attacks with thousands more dead and a bill for $2 trillion. What have we learned, America? Do they truly hate us for our freedoms or for our presence in their lands? Have the terrorists won by getting us to surrender our most basic rights in return for a false sense of security? Are the Constitution and our economy stronger now after this tragedy or are they infinitely weaker? We will continue to ask all this here on FreedomWatch.
We have never forgotten the victims who were slaughtered and the heroes who died trying to save them. The firefighters and police who responded will forever be iconic of the bravery that was necessary to save those who could be saved. And God bless the troops. They don’t belong there. When they leave, chaos will ensue. Though I profoundly reject their mission, I am in awe of the selfless men and woman who have served their country honorably and well.
One day our descendants will know the answers to all this.
Will you?
there will be hell to pay … for the mass-murder criminals
I agree with everything here except "God Bless the Troops". Why would God ever bless the invasion of a sovereign country, a war of aggression, and the killing of innocents?
God bless the troops because they swore an oath to go where ever they were told without question. They are faithful, they fulfill that oath even unto the point of dying for a cause that they themselves most likely feel as you and I do about. They didn't choose these wars, they are simply fulfilling their duty and their higher calling. God bless them for that, and God help those who so wantonly sent them in such an unjustified manner.
Exactly the same thing could be said of the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II.
It is insane that nationalism takes all of the evidence and transforms it into nothingness. People are not interested in knowing any of this all they want still want to do is react with hate. That is exactly what the neo cons want. I am not fond of birthers or truthers but the 9/11 commission was a lie.
I showed someone some fine factual documentaries that are based on much of what has been said about and from Bill Gates book, From the Shadows. Her conservative response was "I am an American and I know what American is." I walked away. Someone said it the best "If the World War II generation was "The Greatest Generation," their baby-boom offspring upon whose watch 9/11 occurred are "The Weakest and Most Narcissistic Generation."
Do something about it. http://9-11cc.org/
Read – Research