Results tagged “911families”

President Obama met yesterday with families of victims of the 9/11 attacks, trying to allay some of their fears related to his first major decision as president to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center and halt trials for four months. The president listened to them speak for forty minutes and told the group, "This is not a goodbye—it's a hello...This is just the start of our dialogue." Jim Riches, an FDNY fire chief who lost a son in the attacks, wrote an op-ed in the Post about the experience saying, "He didn't dodge any questions. He came across as a likable guy, a regular guy. He's a very good speaker. I just hope he means what he says." Also at the meeting were relatives of 17 Navy sailors slain in the October 2000 Al Qaeda attack on the destroyer Cole in Yemen. One 9/11 victim's mother told the press said that yesterday was an opportunity many relatives had not had before saying that the Cole attack was "swept under the rug...Bush tried to sweep 9/11 under the rug, too."

The group 9/11 Parents & Families of Firefighters released a statement today regarding their desire to obtain a meeting with President Obama saying, "While we realize we cannot turn back the clock regarding Guantanamo Bay, it is our hope that we can now move forward in a timely manner." That certainly sounds less incendiary than yesterday's op-ed in the News where an FDNY victim's brother stated, "With this order to close Guantanamo, the countdown to the next attack has begun." Also chiming in on the closing (shockingly) is Rudy Giuliani. He told Sean Hannity, "People that we have released from Guantanamo have gotten involved in terrorist activities again and killed people, innocent people, Americans...What are you going to do, send them to the United States or—nobody wants them." Giuliani says that he hopes the closing is only "a symbolic act rather than a real one."

Families of firefighters killed in the 9/11 attacks are looking to obtain a meeting with President Obama to discuss his decision to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Obama announced on Thursday that Gitmo would be closed for 120 days while officials review the prison known for its harsh interrogation methods. Civil Rights lawyer Norman Siegel says that the families are looking for "open and fair, but speedy trials for the prisoners who are being held there." Obama may be in store for an an earful if family members share the sentiments of Michael Burke, whose brother was a fire captain who died in the attacks and writes an op-ed for today's Daily News. He argues that it is impossible to fight terrorism under the Constitution, which would could become a "means to our destruction." He also says that Obama "is convincing these mass murderers that we are too narcissistic, too foolish and too weak to protect and defend ourselves."