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As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld , Feb. 12, 2002, Department of
Defense news briefing

Yep, that seems to sum it up. That pretty well characterizes our
understanding of the 9/11 Tragedy, too. Think back to those times, think
about how the events unfolded. Try to put aside the magnitude, sheer horror
of the tragedy. Look only at the facts as they happened. Were there things
that you heard or saw that just didn't make sense to you then? A question
that popped into my mind on Sep. 12: How was it that within 24 hours we had
the names, what plane they were on and pictures of the terrorists? How did
we know it was the work of Al Queada's Osama? Yesterday it was a complete
surprise, totally unsuspected. Today we have pictures of the guys that did it
(who were all burned up or buried at the various crash sites).    And...later
when I saw the clip on TV of the President's reactions when he heard that a
second plane had hit the second tower: he had no reaction at all.    He just
continued his session with the school kids. That seemed really strange to me.

A mountain of information has been developed surrounding 9/11. It seems,
though, this information leads to more questions than answers.   It is as if
"There are things we know we know, we also know, there are known
unknowns, that is to say, we know there are some things we do not know"....
And I have to ask: Why not?

There have been various committees dedicated to finding out what happened
on 9/11, and to assess thevalidity of the intelligence that led up to the war with
Iraq. Each of these committees has run into road blocks at the gates of the
White House. The Joint Intelligence committee had trouble getting information,
and then had 28 pages redacted from their report. The Kean commission has
found it necessary to subpoena information from the White House. The most
recently appointed independent Iraq intelligence committee is being stymied
at the outset. John McCain is livid over the committee not being given
subpoena power, and they are not to delve into the how the intelligence was
interpreted. They can look only at how and what was gathered.   Is the
administration afraid the "unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we
don't know" will be uncovered?

On 9/11 a horrendous crime was committed against this country; the worst
crime in our history! Wouldn't you think the President would place the highest
priority on getting to the bottom of it? Why is he willing to sacrifice his
reputation by keeping secrets?

I have read much of the published testimony and findings of the Kean
Commission (National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United
States). (1) In my opinion they seem to be doing a good job at finding the
frailties in our national security systems. Most of what I have read seems
plausible; though one statement stood out as particularly odd. In staff
statement #1, which discusses how the hijackers got into the United States,
references are made to passports that have been recovered - "Two
[passports] were recovered from the crash site of UA #93 in Pennsylvania.
One[recovered] belonged to a hijacker on American Airlines Flight 11 [Tower
One]. A passerby picked it up and gave it to a NYPD detective shortly before
the World Trade Center towers collapsed ?????

Aside from allowing a few of the family members of victims to testify; the Kean
commission does not seem to be zeroing in on resolving the questions posed
by those family members. Most questions from these victims have been
silenced by settlements the government made with them for the loss of their
loved ones. That settlement carried with it an agreement that the victims could
not take the government or the airlines to court for negligence.

Ellen Mariani has refused the nearly $1 M offered her for the death of her
husband Neil. Neil was on UA 175 when it struck the second tower. She and
her attorney Phil Berg (former Deputy Attorney General for Pennsylvania) are
instead suing the White House et.al. under the RICO (racketeering) Act in the
hopes of uncovering the whole truth about 9/11. (Please note: Suits filed
under the RICO Act are criminal suits, thus Ellen will not receive any
settlement -- money -- if she wins). Mindy Kleinberg (her husband Alan was a
NASDAQ trader in tower 1) testified before the Commission. Mindy addressed
a statement commonly used to explain away questions about how 9/11 could
have happened: "It has been said that the intelligence agencies have to be
right 100% of the time and the terrorists only have to get lucky once." In
Mindy's testimony she shows how the terrorists seemed to have "gotten lucky"
time, after time, after time. I invite you to read her testimony at:

http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing1/witness_kleinberg.htm . It
will give you some idea of the breadth and depth of the questions being
posed by the families of the victims, and ignored by the government.

Are there conspiracy theories out there? .... by the buckets full. Some so
involved and convoluted it would require a cast of thousands to pull off a plot
that would dazzle the likes of the writers of "X Files." Ellen Mariani on the
other hand, hasn't picked up on these theories. Instead, she and her attorney
stick to true situations that are documented and then ask the question, 'how
or why did this happen?' Here are a few of the questions:

1. Why did the NORAD air defense network fail to intercept the four hijacked
jets? How could four hijacked planes cruise the American skies with impunity
for nearly two hours without being intercepted by Air Force fighter jets? This is
in violation of standard operating procedure. Why was nothing done to
intercept Flight 77, for example, which struck the pentagon a full 47 minutes
after officials knew it was hijacked? Two full combat ready squadrons of F
16's & F/A 18's are stationed at Andrews Airforce Base for the protection of
the White House. Andrews is only 15 miles away. The planes finally
dispatched to intercept Flight 77 were sent from Langley 150 miles away.
When golfer Paine Stewart's plane did not respond, the air controller
contacted the military within 4 1/2 minutes. (2)

2. Who made a small fortune "shorting" United and American airlines stock
before Sept. 11? In the days just prior to 9/11 someone appeared to have
advance information about the impending attacks. Purchases of "put "
options exceeded by 25 times the average trade ratio for these airlines. (and
no other airlines) Some of the options were purchased at AB Brown once
headed by CIA Director Buzzy Krongard (who quietly resigned immediately
after 9-11 with no investigation.) $2.5 million of these stock winnings are still
unclaimed. Who made these purchases ? Why has this trail never been
followed? "This money trail is the closest investigators have come to “a
smoking gun” and could lead directly to those who planned the attacks. But
with the notable exception of Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D.-Ga.), Congress has
yet to demand a thorough and open investigation". (3)

3. Most of what we know happened on those planes that day come from calls
made from the victims to loved ones or from airline personnel calling their
airlines to report the hijackings.   Where are the planes' "black boxes"?
Nothing is more critical to learning about air disasters than the "black boxes."
Yet the government has continued to keep them secret. Why? Why not
release the information to the public or the 9/11 Commission?

4. Why didn't the CIA arrest Bin Laden when they met him in an American
hospital in Dubai in July (seven weeks)before September 11? (4) (5)

There are other questions including the two that came to me as mentioned in
the first paragraph. Rather than list all of Ellen Mariani's questions, I suggest
you go to the government website mentioned earlier for Mindy Kleinberg's
testimony. That is, if you are interested in seeing all of the unanswered
questions.

In short, (I'm sure not brief enough for many of you); there are a lot of "known
unknowns" that must be converted to "known knowns" to satisfy the questions
of the victims' families, and to satisfy the average American that has followed
the investigations of 9/11. The Kean Commission does not seem to have the
power to obtain all of the needed information. It's time for the populace to step
in and let the administration know; we want to know everything! We have only
a little over 4 months before the investigation will be closed forever!

To do this it will take some effort on your part. The simplest way is to join the
almost 7000 that have already signed Ellen Mariani's petition: @     http:
//www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?911ftt&2301 . That's the
minimum. Everybody should at least do that!   For those who really want to
help there is a campaign going on right now to contact major movers and
shakers in congress and elsewhere to apply pressure to get this information
released. To help further go to this website (www.911visibility.org)for further
instructions. Join in the worldwide "Phone, Fax, and Email Campaign". If you
are a President Bush supporter you should especially want him to clear the
clouds that have gathered above the White House.

It's time to get loud. As I have said so many times before:

“This,” cried the Mayor, “is your town’s darkest hour
The time for all whos who have blood that is red
To come to the aid of their country!” he said.
“We’ve GOT to make noises in greater amounts!
So open your mouth lad! For every voice counts!”

                                                              "Horton Hears A Who" - Dr. Seuss

Take Care

Paul






						But there are also unknown unknowns, The ones we don't know We don't know.

							9/11, A Conspiracy ?