Obama Politicizes 9/11

Today, the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, was supposed to be a day when the presidential candidates were going to put aside the rancor and sniping.

In a statement, Barack Obama injected politics.

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. -- Recalling the nation's unity in a time of peril seven years ago, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama placed their partisan contest on hold Thursday and spoke as one in honoring of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Obama and McCain were making ground zero in New York their common ground, joining in homage to the dead from the fallen Twin Towers and the hijacked planes flown into them.

Beforehand, McCain spoke briefly at a simple ceremony in remote, rural western Pennsylvania, held on a large hilly field close to where United Airlines Flight 93, the third of four airliners commandeered by terrorists, crashed. Investigators believe some of the 40 passengers and crew rushed the cockpit and thwarted terrorists' plans to use that plane as a weapon like the ones that hit the World Trade Center and Pentagon. All aboard all planes died.

The Arizona senator said those on the flight might have saved his own life, as some believe the terrorists wanted to slam that plane into the U.S. Capitol. He said the only way to thank those who died on the flight is to "be as good an American as they were."

"We might fall well short of their standard, but there's honor in the effort," McCain said.

Obama, in a statement, said that on Sept. 11, 2001, "Americans across our great country came together to stand with the families of the victims, to donate blood, to give to charity, and to say a prayer for our country. Let us renew that."

The Illinois senator added: "Let us remember that the terrorists responsible for 9/11 are still at large, and must be brought to justice."

Granted, Obama's political swipe is subtle, but inappropriate nonetheless.

Was it really necessary to to say that we should "remember that the terrorists responsible for 9/11 are still at large"?

First, Obama is wrong. Not all ARE at large.

Has Obama heard of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?



From an Associated Press report:

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a chilling string of other terror plots during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released Wednesday by the Pentagon.

"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," Mohammed said in a statement read during the session, which was held last Saturday.

...In a section of the statement that was blacked out, he confessed to the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, The Associated Press has learned. Pearl was abducted in January 2002 in Pakistan while researching a story on Islamic militancy. Mohammed has long been a suspect in the killing.

Using his own words, the extraordinary transcript connects Mohammed to dozens of the worst terror plots attempted or carried out in the last 15 years — and to others that have not occurred. All told, thousands have died in operations he directed.

His words draw al-Qaida closer to plots of the early 1990s than the group has previously been connected to, including the 1993 World Trade Center truck bombing. Six people with links to global terror networks were convicted in federal court and sentenced to life in prison.

...In all, Mohammed said he was responsible for planning 28 attacks and assisting in three others. The comments were included in a 26-page transcript released by the Pentagon, which blacked out some of his remarks.

Has Obama ever heard of Zacarias Moussaoui?

Obama really needs to do some studying on 9/11 and the War on Terror. Apparently, he doesn't know that many of the terrorists responsible for the attacks are in U.S. custody or dead. Certainly, the 19 9/11 hijackers are not at large.

Second, it's cheap to slip in his snarky criticism that Osama bin Laden has not been captured. Inappropriate.

Furthermore, when Obama talks about bringing the terrorists to justice, what does he really mean?

Read more on Obama's idea of justice for bin Laden.

Obama wants to lead this country, blue states and red states. He says he can transcend politics and unite this nation.

He has a weird way of going about it. He's playing politics rather than being a statesman when he vowed otherwise.

Today is a day of solemn remembrance.

Remember.