In February I was among a group of USS Cole and 9/11 victims’ families who met with the president at the White House to discuss his policies regarding Guantanamo detainees. Although many of us strongly opposed Barack Obama’s decision to close the detention center and suspend all military commissions, the families of the 17 sailors killed in the 2000 attack in Yemen were particularly outraged.
Over the years, the Cole families have seen justice abandoned by the Clinton administration and overshadowed by the need of the Bush administration to gather intelligence after 9/11. They have watched in frustration as the president of Yemen refused extradition for the Cole bombers.
Now, after more than eight years of waiting, Mr. Obama was stopping the trial of Abu Rahim al-Nashiri, the only individual to be held accountable for the bombing in a U.S. court. Patience finally gave out. The families were giving angry interviews, slamming the new president just days after he was sworn in.
The Obama team quickly put together a meeting at the White House to get the situation under control. Individuals representing “a diversity of views” were invited to attend and express their concerns.
On Feb. 6, the president arrived in the Roosevelt Room to a standing though subdued ovation from some 40 family members. With a White House photographer in his wake, Mr. Obama greeted family members one at a time and offered brief remarks that were full of platitudes (”you are the conscience of the country,” “my highest duty as president is to protect the American people,” “we will seek swift and certain justice“). Glossing over the legal complexities, he gave a vague summary of the detainee cases and why he chose to suspend them, focusing mostly on the need for speed and finality.
Many family members pressed for Guantanamo to remain open and for the military commissions to go forward. Mr. Obama allowed that the detention center had been unfairly confused with Abu Ghraib, but when asked why he wouldn’t rehabilitate its image rather than shut it down, he silently shrugged. Next question.
Mr. Obama was urged to consult with prosecutors who have actually tried terrorism cases and warned that bringing unlawful combatants into the federal courts would mean giving our enemies classified intelligence — as occurred in the cases of the al Qaeda cell that carried out the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and conspired to bomb New York City landmarks with ringleader Omar Abdel Rahman, the “Blind Sheikh.” In the Rahman case, a list of 200 unindicted co-conspirators given to the defense — they were entitled to information material to their defense — was in Osama bin Laden’s hands within hours. It told al Qaeda who among them was known to us, and who wasn’t.
Mr. Obama responded flatly, “I’m the one who sees that intelligence. I don’t want them to have it, either. We don’t have to give it to them.”
How could anyone be unhappy with such an answer? Or so churlish as to ask follow-up questions in such a forum? I and others were reassured, if cautiously so.
News reports described the meeting as a touching and powerful coming together of the president and these long-suffering families. Mr. Obama had won over even those who opposed his decision to close Gitmo by assuaging their fears that the review of some 245 current detainees would result in dangerous jihadists being set free. “I did not vote for the man, but the way he talks to you, you can’t help but believe in him,” said John Clodfelter to the New York Times. His son, Kenneth, was killed in the Cole bombing. “[Mr. Obama] left me with a very positive feeling that he’s going to get this done right.”
“This isn’t goodbye,” said the president, signing autographs and posing for pictures before leaving for his next appointment, “this is hello.” His national security staff would have an open-door policy.
Believe … feel … hope.
We’d been had.
Binyam Mohamed — the al Qaeda operative selected by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) for a catastrophic post-9/11 attack with co-conspirator Jose Padilla — was released 17 days later. In a follow-up conference call, the White House liaison to 9/11 and Cole families refused to answer questions about the circumstances surrounding the decision to repatriate Mohamed, including whether he would be freed in Great Britain.
The phrase “swift and certain justice” had been used by top presidential adviser David Axelrod in an interview prior to our meeting with the president. “Swift and certain justice” figured prominently in the White House press release issued before we had time to surrender our White House security passes. “At best, he manipulated the families,” Kirk Lippold, commanding officer of the USS Cole at the time of the attack and the leader of the Cole families group, told me recently. “At worst, he misrepresented his true intentions.”
Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder told German reporters that 30 detainees had been cleared for release. This includes 17 Chinese fundamentalist Muslims, the Uighurs, some of whom admit to having been trained in al Qaeda and Taliban camps and being associated with the East Turkistan Islamic Party. This party is led by Abdul Haq, who threatened attacks on the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing and was recently added [April 20, 2009] to the Treasury Department’s terrorist list. The Obama administration is considering releasing the Uighurs on U.S. soil, and it has suggested that taxpayers may have to provide them with welfare support. In a Senate hearing yesterday, Mr. Holder sidestepped lawmakers’ questions about releasing detainees into the U.S. who have received terrorist training.
What about the terrorists who may actually be tried? The Justice Department’s recent plea agreement with Ali Saleh al-Marri should be of grave concern to those who believe the Obama administration will vigorously prosecute terrorists in the federal court system.
Al-Marri was sent to the U.S. on Sept. 10, 2001, by KSM to carry out cyanide bomb attacks. He pled guilty to one count of “material support,” a charge reserved for facilitators rather than hard-core terrorists. He faces up to a 15-year sentence, but will be allowed to argue that the sentence should be satisfied by the seven years he has been in custody. This is the kind of thin “rule of law” victory that will invigorate rather than deter our enemies.
Given all the developments since our meeting with the president, it is now evident that his words to us bore no relation to his intended actions on national security policy and detainee issues. But the narrative about Mr. Obama’s successful meeting with 9/11 and Cole families has been written, and the press has moved on.
The Obama team has established a pattern that should be plain for all to see. When controversy erupts or legitimate policy differences are presented by well-meaning people, send out the celebrity president to flatter and charm.
Most recently, Mr. Obama appeared at the CIA after demoralizing the agency with the declassification and release of memos containing sensitive information on CIA interrogations. He appealed to moral vanity by saying that fighting a war against fanatic barbarians “with one hand tied behind your back” is being on “the better side of history,” even though innocent lives are put at risk. He promised the assembled staff and analysts that if they keep applying themselves, they won’t be personally marked for career-destroying sanctions or criminal prosecutions, even as disbelieving counterterrorism professionals — the field operatives and their foreign partners — shut down critical operations for fear of public disclosure and political retribution in the never-ending Beltway soap opera called Capitol Hill.
It worked: On television, his speech looked like a campaign rally, with people jumping up and down, cheering. Meanwhile, the media have moved on, even as they continue to recklessly and irresponsibly use the word “torture” in their stories.
I asked Cmdr. Kirk Lippold why some of the Cole families declined the invitation to meet with Barack Obama at the White House.
“They saw it for what it was.”
—— Editor’s notes ——
Debra Burlingame, a former attorney and a director of the National September 11 Memorial Foundation, is the sister of Charles F. “Chic” Burlingame III, the pilot of American Airlines flight 77, which was crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and the co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America.
This commentary by her appeared today on the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal. The supporting links and video only appear here.
May 9, 2009: See additional (98 so far) comments here. A sample:
Fri May 08, 2009 10:15 ‘Red Fred‘ said: “Mr. Obama responded flatly, ‘I’m the one who sees that intelligence. I don’t want them to have it, either. We don’t have to give it to them.’ Well case closed. He can withhold whatever information from defense he darn well pleases. Mr. Constitutional scholar strikes again.”
I still feel the pain of Americans when 9/11 hit us. I did not vote for Obama, he is so cocky right now I can not stay on any tv station that airs his views as correct. He will ruin our country. The democrats just say,We Won!we can do anything we want. I am against all the bills. No one wants a terrorist let loose without paying for that crime. I am glad I watch Fox and O’Reilly,but as soon as I saw him Campaigning I had a gut feeling he was wrong for our country. Bless all of you who have lost loved ones.
Debra,
You are a true American hero who speaks for those of us who only sat and watched those horrifying images on that day we will never forget. That “man” in the White House has no interest in protecting this country and your article exposes him for what he is, a prancing poser with a soothing voice. The only thing “swift and certain” about Mr. Obama is that I am certain he will swiftly destroy this country by any means necessary. He is a Manchurian Candidate in every way. His words are unimportant and we do not hear him.
The uncontrolled exuberance and adulation by the CIA employees is amazing and downright embarrassing. No wonder Bush had problems with the CIA
WE REAP WHAT WE SOW AND I BELIEVE WE ARE SEEING EVEIL INCARNATE BEING SHOWN TO US EVERY TIME OUR PRESIDENT APPEARS PUBLICLY TO FILL THE AIRWAYS WITH ARRAGANT PHRASES OF HOW HE INTENDS TO CHANGE OUR SYSTEM FOR OUR OWN GOOD. GOD HELP US.
TOM GORMAN
WITH ALL THE INFORMATION ON OBAMMBA HUSSIN BEFORE ELECTION ON ONE NEWS PROGRAM. (FOX) NEWS WAS TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS SO CALLED PRESIDENT. THE OTHER NEWS OUTLETS COVERED UP EVERYTHING ABOUT HIS PAST. THEY ARE NOT NEWS (THEY ARE LEFT WING SOCIALIST) HAD OBAMBAAM HUSSSIN BEEN A KILLER, CNN, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, TIME, NEW YORK TIMES. WOULD HAVE BEEN PRESSING FOR HIS ELECTION. HUSSIN CAN DO NO WRONG.
WE DO HAVE THE CHICAGO MOB IN THE WHITE HOUSE. (ERIC HOLDER, RAHM EMMANUEL) THIS ANTI-AMERICAN PRESIDENT IS OUT TO DESTROY AMERICA. HE HAS ALREADY DESTROYED AMERICA.
OBAMBAMM HUSSIN, USES STRONG ARM GOVERNMENT RULES ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. I FEEL I AM IN THE SOVIET UNION, OR NORTH KOREA. WE HAVE THE HATE CRIME BILL. YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO THINK WITHOUT THE GOVERNMENT’S APPROVAL.
WE HAVE TO STOP THIS CHICAGO MOB.
It gets scarier and scarier every day. The only one standing up for us Americans and terror right now is Dick Cheney…
Just wanted the morons in Washington to know what I think. Sent them all the following this morning:
May 11, 2009
Dear Senator,
I’m writing you to urge you NOT to support Barack Hussein Obama’s executive order to close Guantánamo Bay. To turn these animals loose, you’d have to be either a traitor or a moron.
• These barbaric animals are not covered under the Constitution of the United States. They are NOT American citizens.
• Why would anybody purposely bringing these bacteria into my country?
• I don’t need you using my hard-earned tax money to hire liberal lawyers to get these killers turned loose on my streets. You’ve pissed away enough of the American citizens money as it is.
• These animals were captured on the battlefield, attempting to kill my beloved soldiers defending my country. They were not fighting under any country’s flag and were not in any nation’s uniform. They are not in any way, shape or form covered by the Geneva Convention.
• Sixty-one of these bacteria, who were previously let go, are back on the battlefield attempting to murder American soldiers and innocent civilians.
• Last but certainly not least, you forget, that these same animals were on their way to incinerate you and your buddies on September 11, 2001. Had it not been for the heroes on Flight 93, one of which was a close friend and loved one of mine, and who had the courage and conviction to fight these scum, we would have had the opportunity to elect some new representatives with a spine.
Please take my urging very, very seriously.
Sincerely,
David Hill
Great analysis. Everything we feared before the elections is coming true. The problem is where are the counter voices. If there is no viable alternative, he will win reelection. This man must be stopped.
Mark
http://mark24609.blogspot.com/
I will NEVER forget 9/11. The fact that so many can astounds me!
This is an excellent article Debra!
Barry is intent on moving our country into position for another attack of some kind. I just can’t believe what he has done in the name of “taking the higher moral ground” with regards to terrorists in Gitmo. A man who voted for late term abortion says he’s taking the “higher moral ground”?
The man disgusts me to the core!
BHO is out to destroy this country.
I am afraid for my country. I am afraid of Gitmo terrorists being let loose…I am afraid of Nancy Pelosi and her continual lies…I am afraid of Eric Holder who can’t say anything without dodging the issue at hand. Most of all, I am afraid of the rock star masquerading as POTUS. Hhe has an agenda so it seems to me, it is terrifying. Oh…did I forget Rahm Emmanuel…sleazey as they come? What goes around DOES come around…I just hope I am there to see it.
[...] And if you missed Debra Burlingame’s piece on the utter unseriousness of Obama with regard to the Gitmo detainees, read it as 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America — with supporting links and video — here. Posted in: Scare Force One Send to a Friend Printer Friendly comments (0) trackbacks (0) [...]
Debra, I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult a ‘row’ you have chosen to hoe. Fate put you on the front lines of America’s defense. Your brother would be enormously proud. I am incredibly grateful. Stay strong! And just know that what goes around will eventually come around to the Barack Obama’s and Rahm Emanuel’s of this world. They’re just cheap Chicago gangsters who will eventually get what they deserve.
Let’s see how Debra is treated by the MSM. I bet her motivations are suspect; her sincerity questioned. 9/11 family members (I am one) that take positions contrary to the MSM’s dogma, such as against the closing of Gitmo, defending interrogations of global terrorists and mass murderers (as oppossed to say, getting them a lawyer and advising them to remain silent) and supporting our troops and their missions overseas, are of course, either closet Republican operatives or nitwits being manipulated by the Right wing. 9/11 family members that target Bush or adhere to the MSM’s gospel are, of course, noble, intelligent, pure and great tragic figures, struggling against personal loss and grief for truth and justice. And always photograped lit like saints.
Obama thinks all the anti-Americanism in the world was borne of American foreign policy and deeds, as well as the freedom in this country that has produced a great standard of living.
Obama doesn’t like any of it and is out to level us out with the rest of the miserable world. It won’t soothe the anti-Americans out there, but they’ll apporve of the big Zero’s actions.
It is utterly disgusting to watch Obama in action.
Barry Hussein is an ambivalent American. And thats me being generous to His Glory, Oprah’s Messiah.
He’s a media creation, a leftist, race baiting lawyer with the gift of gab. He’s really nothing more. Other than his fake, studied “Southern Preacher cadence” when he speaks, he’s an empty suit who plays on caucasian liberal’s “white guilt”.
He is ambivalent towards the United States, toward the Western world, towards the Judeo-Christian tradition of the USA. He is comfortable in and around terrorist muslims, anarchists, socialist intellectuals in academia, etc.
This is all due to his family problems; the abandonment by his father, step-father and even his mother.
Now the American people have to put up with a far left wing statist, who’s solution to every problem is “MORE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS and MORE GOVERNMENT JOBS!”.
Duh.
Great job, Debra.
“This isn’t goodbye, this is hello”. Very touching, especially without Mr. Teleprompter.