AMERICA- STILL THE LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE

~~WE WILL NEVER FORGET ~~

Laura Bush To Speak At 911 Fundraiser Memorial

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. – Former first lady Laura Bush will speak at a National Park Foundation fundraiser in Pittsburgh on Friday, a day before joining Michelle Obama in rural Pennsylvania to remember the victims of Flight 93, which crashed there in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bush's appearance is part of a wider effort to raise money for the memorial to the 40 passengers and crew who died after they fought back against their hijackers.

Just $40 million of the $58 million needed for the memorial has been raised, and the first phase of the project is scheduled to be dedicated in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks next year.

A memorial plaza is under construction in these rolling hills, part of a long-awaited 2,200-acre national park that will eventually honor the victims. The finished memorial will include a 93-foot tower at the entrance with wind chimes for each of the victims and a grove of trees.

The project's planners say they hope Bush's and Obama's efforts help bring attention and much-needed cash to the project.

"In a world where there's so much politics, one thing we have always found is that our story and our efforts resonate across the board. And this is just one more indication of that," said Gordon Felt, the president of the Families of Flight 93, whose brother died aboard the flight.

Patrick White, whose cousin, Louis "Joey" Nacke II, died in the crash, called donating to the memorial "a patriotic thing to do."

"This is America's memorial, certainly primarily to the 40 heroes of Flight 93, but indirectly to the events of the day as well," he said.

More than 1.2 million people have visited the temporary memorial since the crash. Planners predict that about 250,000 people will visit the permanent memorial each year.

The park foundation has recently stepped up its efforts to raise money, including a new public service campaign encouraging people to make a $10 donation by texting the word MEMORIAL to 90999, or to contribute online at http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_bi_ge/storytext/us_

flight93_anniversary/37505749/SIG=10um8nnju/*http://www.honorflight93.org.

Flight 93 was en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco when hijackers seized control and diverted it toward Washington, D.C. But the passengers fought back and the hijackers responded by crashing the plane about 60 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.

It's imperative to honor the victims, said David Beamer, whose son Todd was believed to have led the revolt with the words "Let's roll." He said some textbooks only casually reference Flight 93 as the fourth plane to crash on Sept. 11, with no details.

"That's not sufficient," Beamer said.

www.yahoo.com

State Department Sending Mosque Imam To Mideast

Are the American taxpayers REALLY paying for this??

WASHINGTON (AP) - The imam behind controversial plans for a mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks is being sent by the State Department on a religious outreach trip to the Middle East, officials said Tuesday, in a move that drew criticism from conservative lawmakers.

The department is sponsoring Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's visit to Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, where he will discuss Muslim life in America and promote religious tolerance, spokesman P.J. Crowley said. He said the imam had been on two similar trips and that plans for the upcoming tour predated the mosque controversy.

"We have a long-term relationship with him," Crowley told reporters, noting that Rauf had visited Bahrain, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in 2007 and went to Egypt last January as part of an exchange program run by the State Department's Office of International Information Programs.

"His work on tolerance and religious diversity is well-known and he brings a moderate perspective to foreign audiences on what it's like to be a practicing Muslim in the United States," Crowley said.

Rauf will not be allowed to raise funds for the proposed center during the trip, Crowley said.

Two Republican members of Congress, Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Peter King of New York, called government sponsorship of Rauf's trip "unacceptable" in a joint statement. They said he had suggested in at least one interview that the United States was to blame for the 2001 attacks and that taxpayer money should not be used to fund the tour.

"The State Department's selection of Feisal Abdul Rauf to represent the American people through this program further calls into question the administration's policy and funding priorities," Ros-Lehtinen and King, who are the ranking members of the Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security committees, said in their statement.

The mosque, to be located two blocks from ground zero, would be part of a 13-story, $100 million Islamic center that would feature a 500-seat auditorium, a swimming pool and a gym. It's a project of the Cordoba Initiative, an advocacy group that promotes improved relations between Islam and the West.

The mosque has drawn vocal opposition from many relatives of Sept. 11 victims and local and national Republican leaders. The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group, is also opposed.

Crowley said the Obama administration has no position on Rauf's plans, which he termed a local zoning matter for New York. But he acknowledged that the State Department had posted a transcript of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Aug. 3 speech defending the project on a website that it runs for foreign audiences.

"We posted it because we thought it was useful for people overseas to understand perspectives on this issue," Crowley said. "We certainly support what the mayor was underscoring, which is the history of religious diversity and religious tolerance in his city."

In addition to the original English language version of Bloomberg's speech, the department has posted Arabic and Farsi translations of the remarks in which the mayor adamantly rejected opposition to the mosque.

New York Gov. David Paterson on Tuesday offered state assistance if developers agree to move the project farther from the Sept. 11 site. While saying he doesn't oppose the project as planned, the governor indicated that he understands the views of its opponents and said he was willing to intervene to seek other suitable state property.

"I think it's rather clear that building a center there meets all the requirements, but it does seem to ignite an immense amount of anxiety among the citizens of New York and people everywhere, and I think not without cause," Paterson said during a news conference in Manhattan.

"I am very sensitive to the desire of those who are adamant against it to see something else worked out," he said.

The developers declined to comment on Paterson's suggestion. Bloomberg declined to comment through a spokesman.

www.wtop.com

UPDATE: Vote Clears Way For GROUND ZERO Mosque

NEW YORK — A New York City panel today denied landmark status to a building near ground zero, freeing organizers to build an Islamic center and mosque there.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission’s decision allows organizers to transform the 152-year-old building into an Islamic community center blocks from the site of the Sept. 11 attacks.

National and New York politicians and the Anti-Defamation League have come out in recent weeks against plans for the mosque, saying it disrespects the memory of Sept. 11 victims. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has supported the mosque.

The commission voted 9-0 against granting landmark status to the building.

Commissioners said the building didn’t meet historic criteria to qualify as a landmark.

A leading Jewish oranization come out against the mosque last week. The Anti-Defamation League said "some legitimate questions have been raised" about the Cordoba Initiative's funding and possible ties with "groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values.

www.timesdispatch.com