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From the Los Angeles Times

Sept. 11 observances

Services at three attack sites

September 11, 2010

The three sites where nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, will be venues for memorial services Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Pentagon Memorial: President Obama will deliver remarks at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Va. The memorial honors the 184 victims killed — 59 on American Flight 77 and 125 on the ground.

Flight 93 Memorial: First Lady Michelle Obama and former First Lady Laura Bush will speak at a ceremony in Shanksville, Pa., where Flight 93 crashed into a field after 40 passengers and crew members fought back against terrorists who had taken over the plane.

New York City: The names of the 2,752 victims killed at the World Trade Center will be read aloud and four moments of silence will be observed to mark the times that the planes hit the towers and the times that each of the two towers fell.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sept11-box-20100911,0,530172,print.story

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Obama calls for religious tolerance

In a news conference on the eve of Sept. 11, he speaks of his own Christianity, the economy, and asks Americans to remember they're not at war with Islam, but with terrorists that distort the faith.

By Christi Parsons, Tribune Washington Bureau

September 11, 2010

Reporting from Washington

On the eve of the Sept. 11 remembrance, President Obama spoke of his own Christianity on Friday while calling on Americans to turn away from religious divisions and join together as "one nation, under God."

It was a rare personal reference from the president, coming in a news conference that sounded more like a homily to the nation before a somber anniversary.

"As somebody who relies heavily on my Christian faith in my job, I understand the passions that religious faith can raise," Obama said. "But I'm also respectful that people of different faiths can practice their religion, even if they don't subscribe to the exact same notions that I do, and that they are still good people, and they are my neighbors and they are my friends, and they are fighting alongside us in our battles."

In his first news conference in several months, Obama talked up his plans for stimulating economic growth and complained about Republican obstruction to his proposals. He said people should remember that there is still a terrorist threat to Americans nine years after Sept. 11, even though U.S. troops overseas are successfully compromising the ability of extremists to carry out new plots.

Capturing or killing Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, is a high priority, he said, though it "doesn't solve all our problems."

But as a Florida preacher held out the possibility of a Koran-burning demonstration on Saturday, tying it to plans for the development of a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center attacks, even Obama's messages about the economy and overseas conflict were interwoven with a larger message about religious tolerance.

If there is an increase in suspicion and resentment of Islam in this country, Obama said, it arises during trying times when the country is feeling a sense of general anxiety.

He said he worries that the threat of a Koran burning could endanger American troops and cause others around the country to think it's a good way to get attention.

The proposed New York City mosque has run up against the "extraordinary sensitivities around 9/11," he said.

"But I go back to what I said earlier: We are not at war against Islam," Obama said. "We are at war against terrorist organizations that have distorted Islam or falsely used the banner of Islam to engage in their destructive acts."

Americans, he said, must cling to the shared belief in religious tolerance.

"We've got millions of Muslim Americans, our fellow citizens, in this country," he said. "They're going to school with our kids. They're our neighbors. They're our friends. They're our co-workers. And when we start acting as if their religion is somehow offensive, what are we saying to them?"

Obama devoted a substantial portion of his Friday remarks to the economy, beginning with the announcement that he is naming Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee to head his Council of Economic Advisors. Goolsbee is an economist with expertise in tax policy.

The president refused to characterize his proposal to spend money on infrastructure as a "second stimulus" plan, despite one reporter's prodding and even though he said he has "no problem with people saying the president is trying to stimulate growth and hiring."

"I would assume that's what the Republicans think we should do, to stimulate growth and jobs," Obama said.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky fired off a speedy critique, saying Americans are more interested in lower taxes and reductions in federal spending.

"The president spent a lot of time blaming others and talking about more government spending," McConnell said. "But Americans want to know that Washington is going to stop the reckless spending and debt, the burdensome red-tape and job-killing taxes."

But McConnell and others hastened to echo the president's words about who, exactly, the U.S. is targeting with its war effort.

"I agree wholeheartedly with the president that we need to do everything we can to fight Al Qaeda, while being clear who the enemy is," McConnell said.

"This war on terror goes on," McConnell said. "We are confident in the strength and goodness of our cause and our country."

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-obama-news-conference-20100911,0,4784329,print.story

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Muslims try to turn hate and fear to tolerance

A threatened Koran burning, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and plans for an Islamic center combine to provide an unusual opportunity.

Los Angeles Times

September 11, 2010

Reporting from Los Angeles and New York

As anti-Islamic sentiment has grown louder in recent weeks, American Muslims have responded in a prototypically American way. They have held news conferences, produced web videos and launched community service campaigns.

The goal has been the modern media equivalent of alchemy: To turn fear and hatred into respect and tolerance.

Now, nine years after the Sept. 11 attacks, some are wondering if moderate Muslims should have done more, long ago, to tell their story to non-Muslim Americans. And there are those who believe that the controversy over an Islamic center near the site of the destroyed World Trade Center in New York City and the firestorm ignited by a once-obscure Florida preacher could be the teachable moment that American Muslims have needed.

"This is absolutely an opportunity for civic engagement, for real education," said Abdallah Adhami, a New York-based legal consultant and imam.

The opportunity comes by the oddest of routes, beginning with the uproar over the planned construction of an Islamic cultural center in Manhattan and ending, for the time being, with the on-again, off-again plans by the Rev. Terry Jones, a fundamentalist minister in Gainesville, Fla., to burn the Koran on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the World Trade Center attack.

A Texas evangelist working with Jones said Friday that the pastor had backed down, at least for now, despite the lack of response to an ultimatum he had issued regarding the New York center.

"I can tell you 100%, Pastor Jones will not burn the Koran tomorrow," evangelist Kilari Anand Paul said outside Jones' church, the Dove World Outreach Center. "I cannot speak for the future."

Paul and Jones said they had given New York Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf two hours to call and say whether he would agree to move the center from its planned location two blocks from ground zero. But Abdul Rauf had not called by the deadline at 3:20 p.m., Paul said. Jones said he remained "very, very hopeful" that the imam would meet with him.

Abdul Rauf said through a spokesman that he was "prepared to consider meeting with anyone who is seriously committed to pursuing peace" but that there was no such meeting scheduled and plans for the community center had not changed.

"With the solemn day of September 11 upon us, I encourage everyone to take time for prayer and reflection," he added.

A number of Muslim organizations have planned observances for Saturday. The Islamic Center of Southern California scheduled an interfaith peace vigil and a community health fair in Los Angeles, with free medical screening to people of all faiths. Some non-Muslim groups also scheduled events designed to show solidarity with Muslims, including a Presbyterian church in Rolling Hills Estates that planned to read from the Koran on Saturday.

The timing was significant because Friday marked the first day after the end of Ramadan, a monthlong period of fasting and prayer for observant Muslims. The holy month coincided with the height of the controversy over the Islamic center in New York and prompted soul-searching for some American Muslims.

"I think as Muslims, we need to be a little more open, more engaged, part of this society, this American fabric," said Mohammed Faqih, an imam in Anaheim with the Islamic Institute of Orange County. Such engagement with the wider culture would lead to greater understanding and reduce hate, he said.

Among those making a similar point in recent days was Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which was founded in 1913 to stop the defamation of Jews. Although the group criticizes some Muslim organizations and opposes construction of the Islamic center near ground zero, it has strongly condemned the proposed Koran-burning and other expressions of anti-Muslim sentiment.

Like Orthodox Jews and members of some other religious groups, many Muslims "have stood apart" from mainstream society, Foxman said. "They need to make greater efforts to reach out, to dialogue."

Asked what advice he would offer Muslims, based on the ADL's history of combating anti-Semitism, Foxman said: "The blueprint is patience, time and education. That's the only answer to the disease of hatred, and it is a disease."

There are those, however, within the Muslim community and outside it, who say they resent the idea that Muslims need to do a better job of telling their story to American society.

"It shouldn't be up to Muslims to say, 'Hey, we're good people,' " Ahmed Abdel-Moniem, a 24-year-old college student, said after praying Friday at a Los Angeles mosque. "We shouldn't have to take time out of our day to teach people that they're judging a whole group of people based on the actions of a few."

Such a notion puts the onus on victims of discrimination, said John Esposito, director of a center for Muslim-Christian relations at Georgetown University. He said Americans "say things about Muslims and Islam that they couldn't get away with saying about Jews or African Americans or Italian Americans." It is up to American society to change, not Muslims, he said.

However, Esposito said he has some hope that the furor over the Islamic center and the threatened Koran-burning might prove to be a turning point.

"I think we can learn from what happened," he said, "and now is a time for leaders in our society at all levels … to reach out, and for Muslims in our society to take advantage of the situation, as it were, to reach out to the wider society."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-muslim-response-20100911-1,0,2097272,print.story

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Texas evangelist says '100 percent' that Quran-burning is off Saturday

Rev. Terry Jones wants to meet with New York imam about planned mosque near ground zero

By Stephen Hudak, Orlando Sentinel

September 10, 2010

GAINESVILLE — A Texas evangelist working with the Rev. Terry Jones on Friday gave assurances that no Qurans will be set ablaze today, even though there had been no contact with the New York City imam planning to build a mosque near the site of the 9-11 attacks.

"I can tell you 100 percent pastor Jones will not burn the Quran tomorrow [Saturday]," evangelist Kilari Anand Paul told the Orlando Sentinel outside the Dove World Outreach Center. "There will be no Quran-burning. Otherwise I would not be here." However, asked whether that meant Jones had abandoned the idea, Paul said, "I cannot speak for the future."

Late Friday, Jones was on a flight to New York, The Associated Press reported.

Paul, a new figure in the saga, and Jones, a fervently anti-Islam pastor and author of a book titled "Islam Is of the Devil," had given New York Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf two hours to call and tell them whether he will move the mosque from near ground zero. Rauf did not call by the deadline at 3:20 p.m., but Jones said he thought they would connect.

"We have not heard from the imam," Jones told reporters, "but we are still very, very hopeful that we will meet with him, and we are still very convinced through the different channels that we have that a meeting will take place …"

Jones' plan to desecrate the Islamic holy text in a bonfire on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks ignited protests around the world and rained condemnation on the obscure pastor from international political, military and religious leaders, who implored him to call it off.

The Quran, sometimes called the Koran, is considered by Muslims to be the final word of God. U.S. military officials fear that images of the burning will aid America's enemies in Afghanistan, Iraq and other Islamic nations.

Gainesville police Cpl. Tscharna Senn said security across the city will be heightened today in part because of the 9-11 anniversary and a football game between the Florida Gators and South Florida Bulls.

"Our plan hasn't changed," Senn said. "We're here for the residents and the citizens, and even if he [Jones] doesn't do something, we still have to take precautions in case people show up and protest or whatever."

Jones has said the U.S. needs to take a stand against Islam, which he calls "a false religion."

But Paul said he encouraged Jones not to go through with the Quran-burning.

"We prayed and prayed and prayed and talked and talked and talked, and I gave him three reasons why he should not burn the Quran," he said.

His reasons included the sacred regard of the Quran held by more than a billion believers around the world; a concern that the act would endanger Christian missionaries, nuns and others working in humanitarian efforts internationally; and the fear that it would needlessly imperil U.S. military forces.

The plan to burn the books sparked protests Friday in Afghanistan, where at least 11 people were injured. Police in the northern province of Badakhshan say several hundred demonstrators ran toward a NATO compound where four attackers and five police were injured in clashes. Protesters also burned an American flag at a mosque after Friday prayers. In western Farah province, police said two people were injured in another protest.

There were protests near Jones' church, too. Fifteen people gathered across the street to oppose the book-burning, including Dave Schneider, 20, a University of Florida political-science student and graduate of Timber Creek High School in Orlando. Schneider yelled into a bullhorn: "Being a Muslim is not a crime." Others held signs, including, "Drop the hate at the gate" and "Bad men, funny moustaches," with a caricature of Jones with his distinctive white moustache and of Adolf Hitler.

Former Dove World Outreach Center member John Jay Smith, 52, of St. Augustine showed up at the church to say he was hoping for a meeting with Jones. Smith said he was disgusted by his former church's activities.

"You see that?" he asked, pointing to a cross that may have been damaged by vandalism. "A broken cross. It's what this church represents to me now. I was here the day the church opened — before it opened. I knew Terry the first day he walked in the door. He wasn't this way."

Smith said if he got an audience with Jones, he would tell him, "You're only hurting yourself by burning God's word."

Paula Pope, 48, of Gainesville said she was dismayed that a national spotlight has fallen on Gainesville because of Jones.

"Gainesville is freethinking, tolerant," Pope said. "It's a community of people who can exchange ideas peacefully and intelligently — not like this."

The Rev. Larry Reimer, pastor of United Church of Gainesville, presented Jones' son Luke with petition signatures gathered through an Internet effort in opposition to the Quran burning.

"There are 8,000 signatures here from 97 countries around the world — some beautiful comments made from people who are unilaterally kind to you," Reimer said. "We keep you in our prayers."

Reading from a statement, Reimer said, "Freedom of religion is a founding principle of our Constitution, and the burning of any people's sacred texts is in direct opposition to this principle. If you proceed with your plans to burn the Quran, please understand that this act will not serve to lessen our respect for the Muslim faith but will only serve to lessen our respect for you and what you are preaching."

Confusion about what would happen continued Friday, particularly about whether there was a tit-for-tat involved in Jones' pledge Thursday to put off the Quran burning.

Paul said Jones was "clearly deceived" by Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida. Jones has said he came away from a meeting with Musri on Thursday with the understanding that the mosque would be moved if he canceled the Quran-burning. But Musri told the Orlando Sentinel on Friday that promise was never made.

Paul connected the mosque and Quran-burning proposals, saying both were wrong.

"Does the imam have a legal right to build the mosque at ground zero?" the evangelist asked. "The answer is yes. But is it the right thing to do? The answer is no. And most Americans, and most moderate Muslims, join with me in that call. Is it the right thing to burn Qurans? Legally? Can the pastor burn Quran tomorrow? People accept legally it is right. But is it the right thing to do? No."

Earlier Friday, Musri told the Orlando Sentinel that he was still working to get a commitment for Jones and himself to meet in New York with the imam there.

When told that Jones planned to fly to New York on Friday, Musri said, "And do what? Go where? We have to establish a meeting."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/os-florida-quran-burning-cancelled-20100910,0,3761795,print.story

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Obama rejects Clinton comment on Mexico

Seeking to calm a diplomatic furor, he disputes the secretary of State's assertion that Mexico's drug war has begun to look like the Colombian insurgency.

By Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times

September 10, 2010

Reporting from Washington

President Obama sought to calm a diplomatic furor, disputing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's assertion that Mexico has begun to look like Colombia at the height of its struggle against a drug-financed insurgency.

Obama's comments, in an interview published Thursday by the Los Angeles-based Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion, followed an outcry that began in Mexico after Clinton told a foreign policy group Wednesday that Mexico "is looking more and more like Colombia looked 20 years ago, where the narco-traffickers controlled certain parts of the country."

Clinton's comments were quickly challenged by aides to Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

"Mexico is a great democracy, vibrant, with a growing economy," Obama told the newspaper. "And as a result, what is happening there can't be compared with what happened in Colombia 20 years ago."

U.S. officials including Arturo Valenzuela, assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, and Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, have scrambled to minimize the damage to relations with Mexico, a key partner in the anti-drug fight.

They said that while there are similarities between Mexico and Colombia in terms of the widespread violence, the Mexican drug cartels have no political agenda — they are not seeking to overthrow the government.

However, there is widespread, though not universal, sentiment within the U.S. government that the Mexican drug cartels need to be fought with the tough methods used in the multibillion-dollar Plan Colombia, which employed both military and aid programs.

A spokesman for Clinton said her comparison was a reference to the level of violence in Mexico.

"What the secretary was reflecting is the increased brutality being shown by the criminal elements who are challenging authority in Mexico," Philip J. Crowley, the chief State Department spokesman, told a group of foreign journalists Thursday.

Obama administration officials are struggling to balance the need to show they are serious about the escalating violence in Mexico with the sensitivities of their government counterparts there. The Calderon administration has sharply escalated the anti-drug effort with a crackdown launched four years ago, and Mexico is highly sensitive to U.S. criticism about the effort.

More than 28,000 Mexicans have been killed in the drug war since late December 2006. There has been a growing outcry from officials in U.S. border states such as California, Arizona and Texas as the carnage has edged closer.

Peter Andreas, a Brown University scholar who has written extensively about the Mexican drug issue, said some federal officials were now describing the drug activity there as a "commercial insurgency," and arguing for a strategy similar to those used to counter an insurgency.

Clinton, in her comments, said the governments in the region needed to develop the "equivalents" of Plan Colombia to gain the upper hand.

Plan Colombia has drawn criticism for its heavy use of military force, the presence of hundreds of U.S military advisors, and for human rights abuses. The program involved not only military advisors, but U.S. special forces personnel and a large number of defense contractors.

Clinton acknowledged that Plan Colombia was "controversial … there were problems and there were mistakes. But it worked."

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-fg-obama-mexico-20100911,0,349660,print.story

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IRAN: Nuclear chief rejects allegations of secret enrichment site

Was there a hint of a dare in Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi's rejection Friday of allegations that Iran was working on a secret nuclear site?

Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, denied claims by an outlawed fringe group that the Islamic Republic had begun construction of a secret nuclear fuel enrichment facility northwest of Tehran. 

On Thursday the Mujahedin Khalq Organization, or MKO, a cult-like Iranian exile group with ties to neoconservative opponents of Iran's nuclear program in Washington, presented satellite photos to reporters and referred to unspecified intelligence sources that it said showed Iran was creating a secret nuclear enrichment plant in the  village of Bahjatabad, near the city of Abeyk in Qazvin province.

Salehi denied the allegation. 

If there's a nuclear facility at the site, he said, prove it.

“There are no nuclear installations, or what can be technically defined as one, in Iran that the International Atomic Energy Agency is unaware of,” he told the semi-official Mehr News Agency. “We have no such installations where we enrich uranium. If they really are aware of such installations perhaps they would like to tell us about it so that we can thank them.” 

But he also suggested that the satellite images could show the site of another type of high-tech facility. 

“Inside Iran there are many varieties [of plants],” he said, “be they of the radio-medical variety or centers for sterilizing agricultural products through radiation, none of which fits the technical definition” of a nuclear plant. 

Arms control experts and the Pentagon cast doubt on the accusation.

“I don't know if this site is one that they have discovered that our intelligence experts have not seen,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told Agence France-Presse . “I find that hard to believe, but we shall see." 

The MKO, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, divulged accurate information about Iran's undisclosed nuclear facilities in Natanz and Arak in 2002, but has also led international inspectors on wild goose chases. 

It spoke Thursday under the auspices of the Iran Policy Committee , formed in 2005 as a lobbying organization that advocates the overthrow of the government.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/09/iran-nuclear-salehi-secret-enrichment-iaea-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BabylonBeyond+%28Babylon+%26+Beyond+Blog%29

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Proposed federal rules aim to ease pilot fatigue

The FAA rules, drawn up after last year's deadly crash near Buffalo, N.Y., call for longer rest periods, shorter times on duty and limits on total hours spent flying. Costs may increase for airlines.

By Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times

September 11, 2010

Reacting to the deadly crash of a regional airliner in western New York early last year, federal regulators Friday unveiled a long-awaited proposal to combat fatigue among commercial pilots by requiring longer rest periods, shorter times on duty and limits on the number of hours they can fly.

The proposed rules, however, do not address one of the key issues raised by the February 2009 Colgan Air crash — the long and potentially tiring commutes, sometime over hundreds of miles, that many regional airline pilots make before reporting for work.

"This proposal will protect the 700 million airline passengers who fly every year," said Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood at a news conference in Washington. "The Colgan crash families were a strong advocate for the new rules. They put the wind in our sails to do something. No one has paid a greater price. We are grateful to them."

The crash of Colgan's twin-engine turbo prop killed 50 people near Buffalo, N.Y., and raised broad questions about training, long hours, and working conditions for regional airline pilots. After the disaster, the Obama administration identified fatigue in the airline industry as a top priority for federal regulators.

Officials for the Regional Airline Assn. and the Air Transport Assn. said they supported efforts to reduce fatigue and have voluntarily taken some steps to deal with the problem.

"The Air Transport Assn. has long been on record in support of pilot-rest and fatigue management rules that are science-based, effective and crafted to truly improve safety," said Victoria Day, an association spokeswoman. "We will be evaluating the FAA pilot fatigue rule against that standard."

If adopted after a review period, the proposals by the Federal Aviation Administration would require that airline pilots get a minimum of nine hours' rest starting when they arrive at their homes, hotels or apartments after work. The measures seek to ensure that the pilot has the chance to get eight hours of actual sleep during the rest period.

This would be a significant change over current rules, which have been largely unchanged since the 1940s. They require a minimum of eight hours' rest between shifts, including commute times between the airport and the hotel.

Under the new proposals, pilots who feel they are too tired to fly also can decline to take flights without fear of reprimand or discipline by employers — something pilots have complained about in the past.

The time a pilot spends on duty, which includes flying, flight checks, and waiting between flights, would be limited to 13 hours a day depending on the number of hours flown, the number of flights and a pilot's starting time, such as very early in the morning. The current limit is 16 hours.

The rules address cumulative fatigue by placing weekly and 28-day limits on the amount of time a pilot may be assigned to any type of duty. In addition, 28-day and annual limits would be placed on the hours a pilot flies. Today, a pilot can fly no more than eight hours per 24 hours.

According to the FAA, these changes would provide pilots at least 30 consecutive hours off on a weekly basis — a 25% increase over current rules.

Under the proposals, the amount of rest or time off would be determined based on the time of day, the number of scheduled flights, the time zones pilots fly through, the type of flights, and the likelihood that a pilot is able to sleep under different circumstances.

"I know firsthand that fighting fatigue is a serious issue, and it is the joint responsibility of both the airline and the pilot," said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. "After years of debate, the aviation community is moving forward to give pilots the tools they need to manage fatigue and fly safely."

Federal officials said that if the rules are adopted, airlines may face higher costs and need to hire more pilots. Some of those costs, they said, could be reduced with better scheduling of air crews and flights.

The rules will not be final until the public, airlines, pilots, safety experts and government regulators such as the National Transportation Safety Board get to comment in writing during the next 60 days. The FAA has until Aug. 1, 2011, to evaluate the comments, make changes and approve the regulations.

If approved, the new rules will represent a substantial improvement in the effort to fight fatigue in the airline industry — something the NTSB called attention to more than 20 years ago when it requested regulations.

Proposals to reduce fatigue, however, have faced opposition over the years from the airline industry, which has managed to repeatedly thwart regulatory efforts by the federal government.

Congress only recently mandated that all air carriers with the assistance of the FAA develop fatigue management plans, and the FAA has yet to determine whether to do something about the long commutes made by airline pilots.

Federal hearings related to the Buffalo-area crash revealed, for example, that scores of Colgan pilots who were based in Newark, N.J., commuted anywhere from 400 to 1,000 miles by plane before reporting for work.

"Why do these things take so long?" Babbitt said. "There are lots of people involved, lots of stakeholders, and lots of issues that need to be addressed. This has taken too long. But from the Colgan Air crash to where we are now, we have done a lot better than other administrations."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-pilot-fatigue-20100911,0,6404263,print.story

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From the New York Times

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Sept. 11, 2010: The Right Way to Remember

OPINION

Nine years after terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, a memorial and a transportation hub are taking recognizable shape and skyscrapers are finally starting to rise from the ashes of ground zero.

That physical rebirth is cause for celebration on this anniversary. It is a far more fitting way to defy the hate-filled extremists who attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, and to honor their victims, than to wallow in the intolerance and fear that have mushroomed across the nation. They are fed by the kind of bigotry exhibited by the would-be book burner in Florida, and, sadly, nurtured by people in positions of real power, including prominent members of the Republican Party.

The most important sight at ground zero now is Michael Arad's emerging memorial. The shells of two giant pools are 30 feet deep and are set almost exactly in the places where the towers once were.

The huge waterfalls around the sides, the inscribed names of victims and the plaza are promised by the 10th anniversary next year. But two 70-foot tridents that were once at the base of the twin towers were installed last week. The museum will be built around them by 2012. And the first 16 of 416 white swamp oaks were planted on the eight-acre surface.

Surrounding that memorial will be a ring of commercial towers — eventually to be filled with workers, commuters, shoppers, tourists, the full cacophony of New York City. The tallest skyscraper is now a third of the way up. The developer Larry Silverstein has one of his skyscrapers taking shape — this one by the Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. The bases of two more are finally beyond the planning stage.

The first outlines of Santiago Calatrava's elegant PATH station are visible. Giant white ribs and other structures that will support the birdlike hall are moving into place. The temporary PATH station shuttles 70,000 commuters a day through the construction site.

After years of political lassitude and financial squabbling, rebuilding at the site began in earnest two years ago. That was when Mayor Michael Bloomberg exerted his considerable muscle to make sure the memorial is finished by 2011. At about the same time, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey established more control of the site. The authority and the mayor turned out to be a good team.

That cooperation and the visible progress are such a contrast with the way some political figures have been trying to use the Sept. 11 attacks to generate antipathy toward all Muslims. For weeks, politicians — mostly but definitely not all on the right — have been fanning the public controversy over plans to build an Islamic community center two blocks away from ground zero.

Then, Terry Jones, a minor preacher in Florida, managed to create a major furor by scheduling a ritual burning of the Koran for Sept. 11. Alarmed by hyperbolic news coverage, the top general in Afghanistan, the secretary of defense, the State Department and the president warned that such a bonfire would endanger Americans and American troops around the world.

It was bad enough to see a fringe figure acting out for cable news and Web sites, but it was deeply disturbing to hear John Boehner, the Republican leader in the House, equate Mr. Jones's antics with the Muslim center.

In both cases, he told ABC News, “Just because you have a right to do something in America does not mean it is the right thing to do.” The Constitution does, indeed, protect both, but they are not morally equivalent. In New York City, a group of Muslims is trying to build something. Mr. Jones and his supporters are trying to tear down more than two centuries of religious tolerance.

It is a good time to remember what President Obama said on Friday, echoing the words of President George W. Bush after the attacks: “We're not at war with Islam. We're at war with terrorist organizations.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/opinion/11sat1.html?pagewanted=print

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Sept. 11, 2010: The Continuing Human Damage

OPINION

The 9/11 atrocity continues to scar tens of thousands of citizens who pitched in as cleanup volunteers and emergency responders in the toxin-laden clouds at ground zero, the Pentagon and rural Pennsylvania. Ordinary citizens, neighborhood residents and responders heedless of overtime worked side by side for weeks in New York City, many eventually developing grave illnesses that are disrupting lives and careers.

In July, Congress fumbled vital legislation to provide compensation for medical care and economic loss to exemplary citizens from the three sites. A second chance to enact it is expected as early as next week, and Congress must not waste it.

Election-year politics and an ill-advised House strategy requiring two-thirds approval got in the way of the July vote, which nevertheless registered bipartisan majority support. The second vote will wisely require a simple majority to approve the measure. Surely this time lawmakers will suspend narrow politicking and recognize their obligation to these 9/11 victims.

The legislation provides $3.2 billion in medical aid over the next eight years and $4.2 billion in economic compensation. It's important that the latter will cap attorneys' fees at 10 percent and bar victims who accept separate compensation through an earlier city lawsuit by cleanup workers.

The medical program of monitoring and treatment would be run through the Department of Health and Human Services. The cost would be adequately offset by closing some tax loopholes enjoyed by foreign-based companies.

An estimated 50,000 responders are currently being monitored in New York as the devastation of 9/11 continues to threaten the living. While the nation's hope is that most will not be gravely stricken, its obligation is to see that help is firmly at hand.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/opinion/11sat2.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

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A Lesson From 9/11

Nine years ago today, we saw the world stand still. We saw the innocence of a nation crumble to the ground. We saw the face of evil form in plumes of smoke and ash. It was Sept. 11, 2001.

I heard a thousand gasps of a thousand people standing stock still in the normally bustling Times Square as they watched the second plane hit the second tower on a JumboTron in Times Square.

I saw images of small figures that looked liked birds outside the towers. Only they weren't birds, they were people, forced out by the flames, forced to make an impossible choice under impossible circumstances.

We all watched the towers collapse, completely, falling from the skies above into a cloud below — horrific and awesome, breathtaking and unbelievable.

I felt myself grow numb, but I refused to be afraid. My attitude that day was the same as most Americans: the terrorists must not be allowed to win. America would not be cowed. We would rise, our greatness would shine, and our ideas of freedom would remain a beacon to the world.

That is why the debate these past few weeks over Islam in America — from the proposed Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan to talk of the burning of Korans — has been so hard to watch. Too much of the debate seems to be centered around the sensitivities of terrorists a world away who have hijacked the passions of a faith, who would see us destroyed and who want to attract more damaged souls to their cause.

I understand, in theory, the idea of not stirring the hornet's nest while our troops are still in harm's way. But I chafe at the idea that great American debates, in all their ugliness and splendor, should be tempered for terrorists and their attempts to recruit.

It is true that we seem to be experiencing a new sense of paranoia about these extremists and the threats they pose.

According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released this week , the percentage of people who say that the country is safer now from terrorism compared with before Sept. 11, 2001, has reached a new low.

But we simply cannot allow this new wave of fear to make us into something that we're not. We are a country of freedoms, a country where religious freedom and freedom of speech hold equal standing, a country in which the construction of a building and the destruction of a book are rights extended to all, even if opposed by most.

Free expressions are not always pleasant, but they must ever be protected, with no regard to the proclivities of the enemy.

This is America, and the moment we forget that, they start to win.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/opinion/11blow.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

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Muslims and Islam Were Part of Twin Towers' Life

Sometime in 1999, a construction electrician received a new work assignment from his union. The man, Sinclair Hejazi Abdus-Salaam, was told to report to 2 World Trade Center, the southern of the twin towers.

In the union locker room on the 51st floor, Mr. Abdus-Salaam went through a construction worker's version of due diligence. In the case of an emergency in the building, he asked his foreman and crew, where was he supposed to reassemble? The answer was the corner of Broadway and Vesey.

Over the next few days, noticing some fellow Muslims on the job, Mr. Abdus-Salaam voiced an equally essential question: “So where do you pray at?” And so he learned about the Muslim prayer room on the 17th floor of the south tower.

He went there regularly in the months to come, first doing the ablution known as wudu in a washroom fitted for cleansing hands, face and feet, and then facing toward Mecca to intone the salat prayer.

On any given day, Mr. Abdus-Salaam's companions in the prayer room might include financial analysts, carpenters, receptionists, secretaries and ironworkers. There were American natives, immigrants who had earned citizenship, visitors conducting international business — the whole Muslim spectrum of nationality and race.

Leaping down the stairs on Sept. 11, 2001, when he had been installing ceiling speakers for a reinsurance company on the 49th floor, Mr. Abdus-Salaam had a brief, panicked thought. He didn't see any of the Muslims he recognized from the prayer room. Where were they? Had they managed to evacuate?

He staggered out to the gathering place at Broadway and Vesey. From that corner, he watched the south tower collapse, to be followed soon by the north one. Somewhere in the smoking, burning mountain of rubble lay whatever remained of the prayer room, and also of some of the Muslims who had used it.

Given the vitriolic opposition now to the proposal to build a Muslim community center two blocks from ground zero, one might say something else has been destroyed: the realization that Muslim people and the Muslim religion were part of the life of the World Trade Center.

Opponents of the Park51 project say the presence of a Muslim center dishonors the victims of the Islamic extremists who flew two jets into the towers. Yet not only were Muslims peacefully worshiping in the twin towers long before the attacks, but even after the 1993 bombing of one tower by a Muslim radical, Ramzi Yousef, their religious observance generated no opposition

“We weren't aliens,” Mr. Abdus-Salaam, 60, said in a telephone interview from Florida, where he moved in retirement. “We had a foothold there. You'd walk into the elevator in the morning and say, ‘Salaam aleikum,' to one construction worker and five more guys in suits would answer, ‘Aleikum salaam.' ”

One of those men in suits could have been Zafar Sareshwala, a financial executive for the Parsoli Corporation, who went to the prayer room while on business trips from his London office. He was introduced to it, he recently recalled, by a Manhattan investment banker who happened to be Jewish.

“It was so freeing and so calm,” Mr. Sareshwala, 47, said in a phone conversation from Mumbai, where he is now based. “It had the feel of a real mosque. And the best part is that you are in the epicenter of capitalism — New York City, the World Trade Center — and you had this island of spiritualism. I don't think you could have that combination anywhere in the world.”

How, when and by whom the prayer room was begun remains unclear. Interviews this week with historians and building executives of the trade center came up empty. Many of the Port Authority's leasing records were destroyed in the towers' collapse. The imams of several Manhattan mosques whose members sometimes went to the prayer room knew nothing of its origins.

Yet the room's existence is etched in the memories of participants like Mr. Abdus-Salaam and Mr. Sareshwala. Prof. John L. Esposito of Georgetown University , an expert in Islamic studies, briefly mentions the prayer room in his recent book “The Future of Islam.”

Moreover, the prayer room was not the only example of Muslim religious practice in or near the trade center. About three dozen Muslim staff members of Windows on the World, the restaurant atop the north tower, used a stairwell between the 106th and 107th floors for their daily prayers.

Without enough time to walk to the closest mosque — Masjid Manhattan on Warren Street, about four blocks away — the waiters, chefs, banquet managers and others would lay a tablecloth atop the concrete landing in the stairwell and flatten cardboard boxes from food deliveries to serve as prayer mats.

During Ramadan, the Muslim employees brought their favorite foods from home, and at the end of the daylight fast shared their iftar meal in the restaurant's employee cafeteria.

“Iftar was my best memory,” said Sekou Siby, 45, a chef originally from the Ivory Coast. “It was really special.”

Such memories have been overtaken, though, by others. Mr. Siby's cousin and roommate, a chef named Abdoul-Karim Traoré, died at Windows on the World on Sept. 11, as did at least one other Muslim staff member, a banquet server named Shabir Ahmed from Bangladesh.

Fekkak Mamdouh, an immigrant from Morocco who was head waiter, attended a worship service just weeks after the attacks that honored the estimated 60 Muslims who died. Far from being viewed as objectionable, the service was conducted with formal support from city, state and federal authorities, who arranged for buses to transport imams and mourners to Warren Street.

There, within sight of the ruins, they chanted salat al-Ghaib, the funeral prayer when there is not an intact corpse.

“It is a shame, shame, shame,” Mr. Mamdouh, 49, said of the Park51 dispute. “Sometimes I wake up and think, this is not what I came to America for. I came here to build this country together. People are using this issue for their own agenda. It's designed to keep the hate going.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/nyregion/11religion.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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Among 9/11 Families, the Last Holdout on a Settlement Wants Its Day in Court

In the nine years since Sept. 11, 2001, the legal claims for people who were injured or killed in the attacks have almost entirely been resolved. Thousands of victims and families entered a special compensation fund created by Congress and were paid more than $7 billion; a much smaller group chose to file lawsuits, which have been settled over time for about $500 million.

All, that is, but one.

The holdout is the family of Mark Bavis, a passenger on United Airlines Flight 175, the second plane to strike the World Trade Center. Ever since the family filed suit in 2002, it has spurned efforts to negotiate, despite settlement attempts and a court mediation session.

They recognize that they could have obtained a quicker resolution by settling; they say the case is not about money. They say they want to prove in a public courtroom what they and their lawyers believe was a case of gross negligence by United and other defendants that allowed the hijackers to board Flight 175 and the attacks to occur.

The victim's brother, Michael, who was his identical twin, said in an interview that the family had never considered settling out of court. “Settlement has not been in our vocabulary,” he said.

The family's lawyers said they filed papers on Friday proposing that a federal judge in Manhattan schedule a trial date.

Donald A. Migliori, a lawyer with Motley Rice, the firm that represents the Bavises and was involved in more than 50 other cases, said the firm's investigation had focused on failures at airport security checkpoints, flawed cockpit doors, inadequate training and how the industry ignored confidential government warnings about terrorist threats.

“The security breaches that day,” he said, “were absolutely known to these defendants before 9/11, and should have been addressed before this could happen.”

United and other defendants, including Boeing and a firm that ran the checkpoint at Logan International Airport in Boston, where Flight 175 took off, all denied liability. At one point, United offered not to contest liability in the case and proposed a trial only on the issue of damages. But the family objected, and the judge rejected the airline's motion.

This week, a United spokeswoman said, “This was a tragic event, and we are actively working to resolve this case.” Boeing declined to comment.

The family's push for a trial has ignited a debate among legal experts about the value of litigation as a forum for disclosure.

Michael Bavis, 40, said the family believed that only through a trial could the defendants be held accountable. “The public should know,” he said. “We've got a responsibility to hold them to the fire.”

Other victims' families praised the Bavises' stance. Julie Sweeney Roth, who sued over the death of her husband, Brian D. Sweeney, 38, also on Flight 175, said she had wanted to pursue a trial but ultimately remarried and settled her suit a few years ago.

“I always hoped,” she said, “that there would be at least one — it only takes one family — to hold out and bring them to trial and get the answers that everyone deserves.”

Mark Bavis was 31 when he died. He grew up in the Roslindale section of Boston, the son of a city police officer. He played ice hockey with his brother, Michael, first in high school and later at Boston University. The brothers were strong defensive players. “Mark was a gritty and competitive leader,” recalled Michael, now an assistant coach at Boston University.

Mark Bavis eventually became an assistant coach at Brown and Harvard and was working as a scout for the Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League when he flew on Flight 175 to Los Angeles.

His brother, Michael, who said he flew 50,000 miles last year for his job, grew disenchanted with the aviation industry's approach to security, which he said was based on what is “fastest and cheapest.”

He pointed to information turned up in the investigation by the Motley Rice law firm, as well as well-known episodes like the Nigerian man who was allowed to board a flight to Detroit last Christmas with explosives sewn into his underwear.

“The airlines,” he said of the events on 9/11, “had the most narrowly focused task, to make sure that illegal weapons cannot pass through that security checkpoint — box cutters, pepper spray, knives.” He also cited the failures in cockpit security.

“Really in our hearts, it's been about how my brother was wronged,” Mr. Bavis said, citing what he called the aviation industry's knowledge of the imminence of a terrorist threat and the vulnerability of the system.

“We feel like they made a conscious choice not to do anything about it,” he said. “And that's not acceptable.”

Mr. Bavis said that while some might feel a settlement could bring closure, “For our family, receiving a settlement is not putting it behind us.”

Mr. Bavis's mother, Mary, 79, said the family never wavered in its approach. “We discussed that really from the beginning — that we wanted answers,” she said.

Mrs. Bavis and her six surviving children, among them a schoolteacher, a retired Army officer and a housewife, would meet or hold conference calls to discuss the case. “They didn't make off-the-cuff decisions,” said their lawyer, Mary F. Schiavo, a partner at Motley Rice. “Everything was very well thought out.”

At one point, the family met with the judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein of Federal District Court in Manhattan, as part of mediation efforts. The family was polite but firm about not wanting to settle, Ms. Schiavo said, and the talk turned to hockey (the judge was also a fan).

In addition to the wrongful death suits, the judge has been trying to resolve property damage suits and health claims by more than 10,000 rescue and recovery workers at ground zero.

“It's rather extraordinary,” Judge Hellerstein told lawyers in court last January, noting that they were still involved in the litigation so long after the attacks.

“But we know from reading the newspapers that the dust hasn't settled. Society still feels its wounds,” he said, and the lawsuits “continue to move along.” Some years ago, Judge Hellerstein told litigants that he believed lawsuits were “not good tools for investigation.” But last year he made clear that the plaintiffs had a choice. “I've run my course as a judge not twisting arms to settle,” he said. “If they want to have a trial, I'm going to give it to them.”

The issue now permeates the debate over the Bavis case.

Kenneth R. Feinberg , the special master who administered the government's Victim Compensation Fund, said “the idea that a lawsuit will compel disclosure I think is unrealistic.”

Mr. Feinberg said that when he talked years ago with families who chose to sue rather than seek compensation through the fund, they offered two major reasons for doing so. Some said a suit would make the airlines safer; others said a suit was the only way to find out what really happened and who was to blame, he recalled.

He said he told the families that suits were unlikely to achieve either goal. “If you want to know what really happened,” he recalled saying, “go to the Senate and House intelligence committees; go to the special commission that President Bush set up. That's where critical information is going to be analyzed and disclosed.”

Mark Dombroff, an aviation industry lawyer who was not involved in the Bavis case, concurred, saying that the litigation process was intended to resolve disputes, and in the case of wrongful death, “the only resolution the courts can give is money.”

But Michael Sandel, the Harvard political theorist and author of “Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?” said: “The primary purpose of civil courts is to settle claims and to provide damages and compensation. But courts are public institutions, and in this case it sounds as though the family cares more about having a voice than winning a settlement.

“That's a perfectly understandable human impulse: to express a public grievance, in hopes of holding an industry accountable,” he said.

Alice Hoagland of Los Gatos, Calif., who received compensation through the victims' fund, said she understood that impulse. Ms. Hoagland's son, Mark Bingham, 31, was a passenger on United Flight 93 who fought back against the hijackers before that plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa. She called the Bavises “a brave group,” and said she would attend if there were a trial. “I wouldn't miss it,” she said.

The Bavis family planned to gather Saturday at the 9/11 memorial in the Boston Public Garden and also to attend other events. This week, in discussing their lawsuit, the victim's mother, Mary, said: “I don't know if we expected it would take this long. If justice is done, and if we get some answers, it'll all be worth waiting for.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/nyregion/11family.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print

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Iowa Man to Receive First Non-Posthumous Medal of Honor Since Vietnam

WASHINGTON — In the most dangerous valley of the most rugged corner of eastern Afghanistan, a small rifle team of airborne soldiers fell into an insurgent ambush, a coordinated attack from three sides.

A young Army specialist, Salvatore A. Giunta, took a bullet to the chest, but was saved by the heavy plates of his body armor. Shaking off the punch from the round, he jumped up and pulled two wounded soldiers to safety, grabbed hand grenades and ran up the trail to where his squad mates had been patrolling.

There, he saw a chilling image: Two fighters hauling one of his American comrades into the forest. Specialist Giunta hurled his grenades and emptied the clip in his automatic rifle, forcing the enemy to drop the wounded soldier. Still taking fire, he provided cover and comfort to his mortally wounded teammate until help arrived.

“It was one of the worst days of my life, and when I revisit it, it kind of guts me a little bit more every time,” the soldier, now a staff sergeant, said Friday.

For his valor during that October 2007 mission, the White House announced Friday that the 25-year-old sergeant, of Hiawatha, Iowa, would become the first living service member to receive the Medal of Honor , the military's most prestigious award, for action during any war since Vietnam.

“ President Obama said ‘thank you' for what I did,” Sergeant Giunta said in an interview from his current post in Vicenza, Italy, after getting a call from the president. “My heart was pounding out of my chest, so much that my ears almost stopped hearing. I had my wife by my side. She was holding my hand. When she heard me say, ‘Mr. President,' she gave me a squeeze.”

The soldiers of Company B, Second Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, were part of a classic hearts-and-minds campaign to provide food, winter clothing and medical care to remote Afghan villagers — and to assure them that the American and Afghan troops were a stronger force for security than the insurgents. After months of patrols in the Korangal Valley that cost the American military dearly, the outposts there were disbanded this spring , with forces moved to provide security to larger population centers. The military's travails in the valley were described by Elizabeth Rubin in The New York Times Magazine on Feb. 24, 2008, and formed a section of a recently published book, “War,” by Sebastian Junger .

Sergeant Giunta does not discuss strategy or policy when he reflects on that night, during which two paratroopers died and most of the patrol received serious injuries.

“I entered the Army when I was 18, and I'm 25 now. I became a man in the Army,” he said. “That night I learned a lot — and after that night I learned even more. This respect that people are giving to me? This was one moment. In my battalion, I am mediocre at best. This shows how great the rest of them are.”

The official White House statement differs. “His courage and leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon's ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American paratrooper from enemy hands,” the statement said. The date for his medal ceremony has not been set. Sergeant Giunta has served two deployments to Afghanistan.

Six service members have been awarded Medals of Honor, all posthumously, for operations since September 2001, according to Pentagon statistics. The White House announced Thursday that another would be awarded on Oct. 6, again posthumously. The honoree is Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller of Army Special Forces, who, on a mission in Afghanistan on Jan. 25, 2008, sacrificed his life to save the lives of other American and Afghan troops.

According to Pentagon statistics, 464 Medals of Honor were awarded during World War II, 133 during the Korean conflict and 246 during the war in Vietnam. An analysis by Army Times last year said that there were, on average, two or three Medals of Honor awarded per 100,000 service personnel in previous wars — but that the rate for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan had averaged one per million.

That discrepancy has troubled some military personnel and members of Congress, who have asked whether officials have been reluctant to honor service personnel — especially living ones — because of instances in which well-publicized stories of combat bravery have been proved incorrect.

Pentagon officials say the decisions reflect the differences of modern warfare.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/world/asia/11medal.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

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From the Chicago Sun Times

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The Tribute in Light shines above the World Trade Center site and the lower Manhattan skyline in NYC. Today is the 9th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the twin towers.

Sept. 11 malestrom replaces memorial Quiet reflection on anniversary makes way for political squabbles over Ground Zero mosque, threat to burn Quran   September 11, 2010 ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK --- They will read the names, of course, the names of every victim who died in the Sept. 11 attacks. The bells will ring. And then that moment of unity will give way to division as activists hoist signs and march, some for and some against a planned mosque two blocks from ground zero. This 9/11 is more political and contentious than the eight before it, with grieving family members on opposite sides of the mosque battle. The debate became so heated that President Barack Obama felt the need to remind Americans: "We are not at war against Islam." It was uncertain Friday whether hushed tones would replace the harsh rhetoric that threatened to overshadow the commemoration of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pa. The son of an anti-Muslim pastor in Florida confirmed that his father would not -- at least for now -- burn copies of the Quran, a plan that inflamed much of the Muslim world and drew a stern rebuke from Obama. But Terry Jones got on a plane and was headed to New York on Friday night, said an associate, K.A. Paul. Jones has said he wants to meet with the imam behind the proposed mosque. Activists in New York insisted their intentions were peaceful. "It's a rally of remembrance for tens of thousands who lost loved ones that day," said Pamela Geller, a conservative blogger and host of the anti-mosque demonstration. "It's not a political event, it's a human rights event." The site of the proposed mosque and Islamic center is already used for services, but it was padlocked Friday, closed until Sunday. Police guarded the block, and worshippers were redirected to a different prayer room 10 blocks away. More than 2,000 supporters of the project, waving candles and American flags, held a vigil near the proposed Islamic center's site Friday evening instead of Saturday, saying they wanted to avoid entangling the mosque controversy and the Sept. 11 observance.

Organizers "believe that tomorrow is a day for mourning and remembrance," said Jennifer Carnig, a spokeswoman for the New York Civil Liberties Union, one of the vigil's sponsors.

For Jones, pastor of a 50-member Pentecostal church in Florida, it was to be a day to burn the Quran. He backed off that threat after drawing angry protests across the Muslim world, a call from the secretary of defense and impassioned pleas to call it off from religious and political leaders and his own daughter.

"There will be no Quran burning tomorrow," Jones' 29-year old son, Luke Jones, told reporters outside his father's Gainesville church Friday. He added that he could not predict what might happen in the future.

Terry Jones had previously said he would cancel his plan if the leader of the planned New York Islamic center, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, would agree to move the project to another location.

Jones claimed Thursday that an imam in Florida had told him the mosque would be moved. That imam later said Jones was mistaken, that he had only arranged a meeting with Rauf in New York on Saturday.

Rauf, however, said that wasn't true, either, that he had no plans to meet with Jones, although he added in a statement Friday that he is open to seeing anyone "seriously committed to pursuing peace."

The carefully worded text seemed to leave open the possibility of a meeting, but only if Jones proved himself to be a serious peacemaker. With that caveat, it would seem unlikely that the imam would meet with a man whose threat to desecrate the Muslim holy book stirred anger and protest and even some bloodshed in the Islamic world.

In Afghanistan, 11 people were injured Friday in scattered protests of Jones' plan. Only a few thousand people attended those rallies and no large-scale demonstrations were reported elsewhere. In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, cleric Rusli Hasbi told 1,000 worshippers at Friday prayers that whether or not Jones burns the Quran, he has already "hurt the heart of the Muslim world."

As on other 9/11 anniversaries, official ceremonies were planned at the three locations where the terrorists struck. Obama will be at the Pentagon, Vice President Joe Biden will go to New York, and first lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush will travel to Shanksville.

Obama told a White House news conference that Sept. 11 would be "an excellent time" for the country to reflect on the fact that there are millions of Muslims who are American citizens, that they also are fighting in U.S. uniforms in Afghanistan, and "we don't differentiate between 'them' and 'us.' It's just 'us.'"

Biden will attend the largest commemoration, at a park near ground zero, where 2,752 people were killed when Muslim extremists flew planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Houses of worship in the city will toll bells at 8:46 a.m., when the first plane struck the north tower, and three more times to mark the moment the second plane hit the south tower and to observe the times each tower fell.

Activists are organizing a pair of rallies -- one against the planned Islamic center, one supporting it -- to follow the official ceremony.

Sally Regenhard, who lost her firefighter son, Christian Regenhard, planned to attend the morning ceremony and the anti-mosque protest.

"The purpose is to speak out and express our feelings that this mosque, the location of it, is a grievous offense to the sensitivity of 9/11 families," Regenhard said. "There's nothing political about people who want to speak out against something they think is so wrong, so hurtful and so devastating."

But Donna Marsh O'Connor, whose pregnant daughter, Vanessa, was killed in the attacks, supports the mosque. She said she strongly opposes the anti-mosque rally and the political motivations behind it.

"It's more of the same hate-mongering and fear-mongering that's been going on for years," O'Connor said. "People have a right to free speech. But if they're talking about sensitivities to 9/11 families, why are they rallying and doing events on a day we should spend thinking about those we lost?"

John Bolton, who was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, was expected to send a videotaped message of support to the anti-mosque rally, as was conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart. Anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who advocates banning the Quran and taxing Muslim women who wear head scarves, plans to address the crowd in person, as do a handful of Republican congressional candidates who have made opposition to the mosque a centerpiece of their campaigns.

Also Saturday, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was expected to observe the anniversary in Alaska with Fox News TV host Glenn Beck.

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan spoke out Friday against Saturday's planned New York protests, saying Sept. 11 "has become a holy day in our community and our nation."

"We must never allow Sept. 11th to become a time for protest and division," he added. "Instead, this day must remain a time for promoting peace and mutual respect."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/2695884,mosqe-protest-9-11-anniversary-091110.article

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From the White House

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Weekly Address: President Obama Commemorates the Ninth Anniversary of the September 11th Attacks

WASHINGTON – In this week's address, President Obama marked the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks as a National Day of Service and Remembrance to honor those who lost their lives.  If there is a lesson to be drawn on this anniversary, it is that the United States is one nation and one people united by common ideals. By keeping our commitment to those protect the country and their families, by giving back to our communities, and by serving people in need, we reaffirm those ideals in defiance of those who would do us harm. 

The audio and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 am ET, Saturday, September 11, 2010.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
As prepared for delivery
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Washington, DC

Today, we pause to remember a day that tested our country.  On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 lives were lost in the deadliest attack on American soil in our history.  We will never forget the images of planes vanishing into buildings; of photos hung by the families of the missing.  We will never forget the anger and sadness we felt.  And while nine years have come and gone since that September morning, the passage of time will never diminish the pain and loss forever seared in the consciousness of our nation.

That is why, on this day, we pray with the families of those who died.  We mourn with husbands and wives, children and parents, friends and loved ones.  We think about the milestones that have passed over the course of nine years – births and christenings, weddings and graduations – all with an empty chair. 

On this day, we also honor those who died so that others might live: the firefighters and first responders who climbed the stairs of two burning towers; the passengers who stormed a cockpit; and the men and women who have, in the years since, borne the uniform of this country and given their lives so that our children could grow up in a safer world.  In acts of courage and decency, they defended a simple precept: I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

And on this day, we recall that at our darkest moment, we summoned a sense of unity and common purpose.  We responded to the worst kind of depravity with the best of our humanity.

So, each year at this time, we renew our resolve against those who perpetrated this barbaric act of terror and who continue to plot against us – for we will never waver in defense of this nation.  We renew our commitment to our troops and all who serve to protect this country, and to their families. But we also renew the true spirit of that day.  Not the human capacity for evil, but the human capacity for good.  Not the desire to destroy, but the impulse to save.

That is why we mark September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.  For if there is a lesson to be drawn on this anniversary, it is this: we are one nation – one people – bound not only by grief, but by a set of common ideals.  And that by giving back to our communities, by serving people in need, we reaffirm our ideals – in defiance of those who would do us grave harm.  We prove that the sense of responsibility that we felt for one another was not a fleeting passion – but a lasting virtue.

This is a time of difficulty for our country.  And it is often in such moments that some try to stoke bitterness – to divide us based on our differences, to blind us to what we have in common.  But on this day, we are reminded that at our best, we do not give in to this temptation. We stand with one another. We fight alongside one another.  We do not allow ourselves to be defined by fear, but by the hopes we have for our families, for our nation, and for a brighter future.  So let us grieve for those we've lost, honor those who have sacrificed, and do our best to live up to the values we share – on this day, and every day that follows.

Thank you.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/09/11/weekly-address-president-obama-commemorates-ninth-anniversary-september -

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A Day of Service and Remembrance

Earlier today, First Lady Michelle Obama sent this message to the White House email list about the September 11th National Day of Service. Tomorrow the First Lady will be participating in a service event with Mission Serve, a civilian-military service initiative, to help renovate a community center at a retirement community for veterans. Visit Serve.gov to get involved and find service opportunities in your area.

If you didn't get the email from the First Lady today, you can sign up for the White House email list here.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/10/a-day-service-and-remembrance

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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“Rebuilding the Foundations for America's Hometown Security”

September 10, 2010

New York, New York
NYC Emergency Operations Center

A New Framework for Security

Good morning. And thank you, Commissioner Bruno, for that introduction. It's always great to be back in New York City. And thank you NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly; FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano; FDNY Chief of Counterterrorism Joseph Pfeifer; FDNY Chief of Operations Robert Sweeney; and also NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

In addition to being born here, coming to New York at this time, on this date, and having the honor of speaking with first responders and law enforcement officials such as yourselves, has a special significance for me. And of course, this Office of Emergency Management, built after the old one was destroyed on 9/11, is a good example of the kind of resilience and determination that New Yorkers are known for.

This date and this place are also vivid reminders of why we have a Department of Homeland Security. Tomorrow, each of us in our own way will remember that day – the heroism of the first responders like you – and the thousands of lives lost when we were attacked.

I know that for some of you here this morning, these memories are all too real. You were among the policemen, firemen, and emergency personnel who ran toward the Towers as they were burning so that you could save others. Some of you stayed in the days and weeks ahead, working on the pile – memorializing those who were gone. All of you lost colleagues, friends, loved ones. Every American joins you in mourning those we lost – here in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania.

So tomorrow is also a reminder that each of us bears a unique sense of responsibility to one another, to our communities, to our states, and to our nation. Whether you are a police officer on the street, a firefighter, a doctor, a businessman, a student, or a stay-at-home parent, you – we – are the very backbone of our nation's homeland security. We are all interconnected in the effort to protect this country.

Right around this time last year, I gave a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations here in New York where I described a new framework for how we're approaching homeland security. It didn't involve a complex restructuring of DHS or big, flashy new programs. In fact, we streamlined operations, prioritized efficiency, and organized ourselves around our core missions.

Our starting point was the idea of interconnectedness and mutual responsibility. The question we kept asking was: “how can we do a smarter and better job of broadening the collective mission of protecting the homeland?” And our answer was this: we do it by seizing every opportunity to build a bigger and stronger security team and then equipping that team to succeed.

Therefore, over the past year and a half, I have made one of my very top priorities for DHS to get information, to get tools, and to get resources out of Washington, DC, and into the hands of the men and women serving on the front lines. That includes you – the first responders – but it also includes citizens, community groups, and our partners in the private sector.

This may not generate big headlines. But this hometown-centric approach has a big impact on our ability to be effective – and more important – to support you in the field.

The approach I outlined last year is bigger than just one Federal department, even a huge one like DHS. And putting into practice the notion that homeland security begins with hometown security, frankly, has implications for us all.

I said in that speech last year that we had an “urgent need to refocus our counter-terror approach to make it a shared endeavor to make it more layered, networked, and resilient – to make it smarter and more adaptive.” I said we needed to enlist a broader societal response to the evolving threats we're facing – and that requires strengthening partnerships, and focusing on values like resilience and shared responsibility. And I said that individuals, families, communities, and businesses all have important roles to play.

This represents a shift for our country. In a sense, this harkens back to when we drew on the tradition of civil defense and preparedness that predated today's concerns. In another way, however, it makes all of us responsible for being informed about the kinds of Twenty-First Century threats we face today.

Building a culture of preparedness and resilience across the country is a significant endeavor. And it is, indeed, still a work in progress. But I'm here today – a year later – to say that we have made progress. And we need to be making progress because the myriad threats against our nation have not gone away.

Indeed, they have grown even more dynamic. So, I want to share that progress with you, and let you know what I see coming down the road for us.

Supporting the Front-Lines: Law Enforcement, First Responders

As first responders, you are the critical link in our nation's security and preparedness. You are often the first to identify a potential threat or recognize a larger trend that you're seeing in your communities. In a way, you are “first preventers” as well as first responders. And we have a responsibility get you the kind of tools and training you want and need to do your job.

The old view that “if we fight the terrorists abroad, we won't have to fight them here” is just that – the old view. It is abundantly clear that we have to fight them abroad, we have to fight them at home. We have to fight them, period. And you are as squarely in that fight as I am.

Accordingly, I felt that the Department needed to do more to support you, and also to do more to engage the private sector as partners in this effort. And, indeed, I felt we needed to do more to inform and empower citizens and communities to be the enormous assets they can be before, and during, a crisis or emergency.

Fusion Centers

We are doing exactly that, starting with strengthening the networks and relationships needed to get information where it should to be, when it should be there, and in the most useful format. And we're backing it up with historic deployments of personnel, technology, and resources.

At the heart of this are fusion centers. Starting with just one in 2006, there are now 72 fusion centers nationwide, serving as focal points for information-sharing among federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners.

By the end of this year, all 72 fusion centers should be able to analyze information and spot trends in order to effectively share timely intelligence – with local law enforcement, and with DHS, so the information can also be used by others within the Intelligence Community.

To support this vision: we're prioritizing fusion centers in our FY2011 grants, and looking for ways to support them through additional technology and personnel, including the deployment of highly-trained experts in critical infrastructure; we're deploying experienced DHS analysts to every one of these centers – 64 at last count – and we won't stop until we have them in every one; and we're linking them together, and with DHS headquarters, through the classified Homeland Security Data Network.

During the last two years, we've seen numerous threat streams, and we've also seen the increased role of Westerners, including U.S. citizens, engaged in terrorist training, planning, and attempted attacks. We're seeing more – and more sophisticated – use of violent extremist messages by U.S.-born, English speakers who are operating abroad, and exploiting the Internet and social media tools. And in some of the domestic plots we've uncovered, such as the case of Najibullah Zazi, we're seeing the kind of planning – like purchasing pre-cursor chemicals from beauty supply stores for making bombs – that rely on alert citizens and local authorities to detect.

Given this kind of threat environment, we believe strongly in the importance of strong partnerships at the local level. Indeed, in the Zazi plot to bomb the New York Subway, it was a fusion center near Denver that played the key role in “fusing” information that came from the public with evidence that came in following the suspects' arrest by the FBI.

Grants

There's another important way we are pushing tools and resources out of Washington, D.C., and into local hands. Since 2003, DHS has awarded more than $31 billion in grants, including $3.8 billion for FY2010 for states, cities, law enforcement, and first responders.

This Administration is also directing almost $3 billion in Recovery Act funds to critical security efforts, including major increases in explosive detection and checkpoint screening equipment, as well as grants to rebuild fire stations, port, and other security facilities, and creating good jobs along the way.

I know this is a difficult time for a lot of communities across America. We're slowly emerging from the worst recession we've seen in decades. And our cities, states, and counties are dealing with some really tough budgets. As a former two-term Governor, I know what these hard choices look like. So to help ease that burden, we're approaching grants in a whole new way, focusing on how states and locals can stretch these dollars further.

Over the past year, I eliminated red tape by streamlining the grant process and expanded what grants can be used for, such as maintenance and sustainability, which enables local jurisdictions to continue to support previous investments rather than buying new equipment or technology each year.

We've also supported fire departments across the country by making it easier to put these security dollars to work quickly, to rehire laid-off firefighters and to retain current forces. And we waived the local match requirement, the salary cap, and retention requirements to give fire departments – like the Fire Department of New York – more flexibility to protect the jobs of veteran firefighters.

Countering Violent Extremism

To counter violent extremism right here at home, I announced a series of initiatives last month to support state and local law enforcement and community groups across the country in identifying and reducing threats from violent crime and terrorism.

These include: a new community-oriented policing curriculum for state and local law enforcement, focused on enabling frontline personnel to identify indicators of terrorism and other threats; unclassified case studies examining recent incidents involving violent crime and terrorism to educate and inform state and local law enforcement personnel and about common behaviors and indicators exhibited by suspects; and intelligence products focused on the tactics, techniques and plans of international and domestic terrorist organizations to better inform state and local law enforcement personnel about threats facing the homeland and their local communities.

I recognize that no Cabinet Secretary or Federal department has a monopoly on good ideas. That's why I based these efforts on recommendations from my Homeland Security Advisory Council, and its “Countering Violent Extremism” Working Group, comprised of chiefs of police, sheriffs, community leaders and homeland security experts.

Throughout this work, we are involving, and working closely with, religious, ethnic, and community organizations, including leaders from the Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian communities, many of whom have already been critical in thwarting violence. Members of these communities play enormously positive roles in enriching our national life. And like all Americans, they seek to protect and defend our nation, and our way of life.

Fielding a Bigger Team: Individuals, Communities, Private Sector

We're taking other steps to support individuals and families, citizens and communities. Recall that it was a New York street vendor who tipped off a policeman about the bombing attempt in Times Square. It was a group of passengers on Flight 253 who intervened to stop the bombing attempt on Christmas Day.

Making individuals and citizens better informed and empowered is crucial, and DHS has therefore launched, and is expanding, a national campaign around a slogan you probably know well: “If You See Something, Say Something.” This campaign was first implemented by New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority, with support from DHS. The MTA has achieved some real success with the campaign, and they have been very generous in working with us to bring it to a wide range of venues.

We're producing new signs, PSAs, videos, and other materials that you'll see in a number of different settings. We've expanded the campaign to additional transit systems, starting with Amtrak, and you can see posters in train stations across the country, and in trains along the Northeast Corridor. We've just launched the campaign in the National Capital Region. And I was recently in Nashville to announce its expansion to six southern states.

We're also working with professional and collegiate sports leagues, launching this effort at stadiums across the country this fall. As a matter of fact, we have “If You See Something, Say Something” posters and banners hanging at the U.S. Open. The goal of the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign is making people more aware, but also providing them with the tools they need to take action if they see something suspicious.

Through this campaign, we're raising awareness of potential terrorist tactics, and emphasizing the importance of reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement. But that's just one side of the equation. We also see it as a partnership between citizens and local police.

To that end, we're also expanding the National Suspicious Activity Reporting, or SAR, initiative into a greater resource for front-line security personnel. The National SAR initiative creates a standard process for law enforcement in over two dozen states and cities to identify and report suspicious activity so it can be shared nationally to identify broader trends. We're working with our partners in the Department of Justice, which runs SAR, and widening it to include fusion centers, transit police, and other groups.

I should say that increasing awareness among the general public is not limited to countering terrorism. We're in the middle of National Preparedness Month, and, of course, it's also Hurricane season. Our FEMA colleagues are busy educating people about all kinds of natural disasters, as well as responding to floods, hurricanes, and other crises.

So, in addition to our security efforts, we're urging all Americans to visit Ready.gov – and the Spanish-language listo.gov – to take basic steps to prepare for any kind of a crisis. We're talking with Americans using the tools that they already use in their everyday lives. Across DHS, we're sharing information via blogs, Twitter feeds, and other social media tools.

In fact, FEMA has jumped to the fore by launching a highly-touted mobile site for smartphones and other hand-held devices. Through this mobile FEMA application, you can track the latest weather forecasts in your area, and if you live in an area prone to wildfires, hurricanes, floods, or other natural disasters, you can get information on how to prepare, and what to do in a crisis. You can even apply for assistance from FEMA right from your smartphone.

All of these tools are designed to get information into the hands of individuals so they can help build stronger, more resilient communities. On this last point, businesses big and small really can be a strong partner in our nation's security.

Here's one example: I just mentioned sports, and in addition to expanding the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign to large public events, I've met with the commissioners and security directors for all the major sports leagues, and asked them to work with us to help make their arenas and stadiums more secure.

This is leading to some very promising joint efforts. For instance, DHS has a team with expertise on protection and resilience that, since May, has been visiting with owners and operators of all the big sports venues, and we're closing in on 300 sites.

Fostering Greater Resilience

We're also taking important steps to help our state and local partners strengthen the resilience of their infrastructure, computer networks, and of their communities and citizens – and strengthening the ability for our systems, our cities, our towns, and our country to bounce back quickly from an attack or a natural disaster, and to be even stronger than before.

We've been looking at a number of ways to create incentives to foster this kind of resilience. In the coming days, we'll be releasing details of a new national award that will recognize people, organizations, or communities who have exhibited an extraordinary commitment to resilience.

We have produced what we call a Community Resilience Registry where communities can input information on roughly a hundred different data points to develop a “resilience profile” of their community.

We're also prioritizing resilience in some of our key FY2011 grant programs, including inserting language into our grant guidance to encourage applicants to consider strategies for increasing resilience at the local level.

Conclusion: Strength

America is a strong nation. And we are a resilient nation. But that doesn't mean that we don't have to examine and recommit to the sources of that strength and resilience from time to time.

As I've said before, we can't guarantee there won't be another successful terrorist attack. The threats we face are evolving, and enemies like al Qaeda and its affiliates are determined. We can't seal our country under a glass dome.

But if that attack comes, our enemies will still not have succeeded, because our nation is too strong, and too resilient, to ever cower before a small group of violent extremists. We have always rebounded from hardships and challenges, and come together as a people to overcome disasters, attacks, and war. And we will do so again.

Today, on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in our nation's history, I can pledge to you this: we will do everything in our power to prevent attacks, and to prepare ourselves. At DHS, a fundamental part of that obligation is to get information, tools, and resources into the hands of people who can use them to help all of us be more secure.

To field that bigger team – to enlist individuals, local communities, businesses, law enforcement and first responders in a network of shared responsibility – to enlist the nation in its own collective security. It's the American way: because we all face the threats of today's world, as well as the opportunities it brings, we're all in this together.

With your help, DHS will keep supporting those of you on the front lines, and keep strengthening the networks that will keep us secure. We'll all build, and be part, of a bigger, smarter, stronger team. And that's how we'll keep America safe.

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/speeches/sp_1284133372649.shtm

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From the Department of Justice

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Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Opiate Abuse Conference Montpelier, Vt.

Thank you, Senator Leahy, and good morning, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. And it's a privilege to join with so many dedicated leaders, advocates, and partners as – together – we work to update our approach and increase our effectiveness in addressing one of the greatest public safety and public health epidemics of our time: opiate drug abuse. Thank you all for being part of today's discussion and for the work you do every day to strengthen communities and to save lives.

I especially want to thank Tris Coffin and his team for welcoming us here and for hosting and organizing this conference. Since becoming U.S. Attorney last year, Tris has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the growing problem of opiate drug abuse and to forge the partnerships necessary to reverse current trends. Today's participants – policymakers and police chiefs; law enforcement officers and health care providers; educators and researchers; physicians, professors, and parents – are proof of his ability to bring the right people, with the right expertise, together in common cause.

When it comes to effectively preventing, reducing, and combating drug use – and, in particular, the abuse of opiate-based prescriptions – there is no one path to engagement. And, unfortunately, there is no single or sure solution. If we are going to succeed in protecting the health and safety of our communities, if we are going to arm our neighbors – and, especially, our children – with the information they need to make good choices, we need a variety of perspectives and approaches.

Many of you have already pledged and are providing your best efforts in this work. And I'm here today to tell you that I stand with you.

For me, the issue of drug abuse, and the fight against drug-fueled crime and violence, has been a personal and professional concern for decades. As a prosecutor, as a judge, as a U.S. Attorney, and as the Deputy Attorney General, addressing the causes and consequences of drug abuse was at the forefront of my work. Today, as Attorney General and as a parent, it remains a top priority.

This morning, I want to talk with you about the Justice Department's latest efforts in this area. But, first, let me be clear that this work, and this fight, must extend beyond the Justice Department, beyond our network of U.S. Attorney's Offices, and beyond our law enforcement community. I'm counting on partners at every level of government and across a range of professional disciplines to help the Justice Department meet its obligations to combat crime and to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to improve their lives and fulfill their potential.

Meeting our responsibilities – to ourselves and to each other, to communities in need and to our neighbors in crisis, and to the alarming number of children and young people who are at risk of being caught in the grip of drug addiction – depends on the priorities we set today. It depends on the commitment we make today. And it depends on our willingness to look – clearly and thoroughly – at what we're up against.

Today, prescription drug abuse is considered the fastest-growing drug problem in the county. And opiate-based painkillers are among the most commonly abused drugs. Because these medications can be effective for the treatment of serious pain, are produced by legitimate companies, and may be lawfully prescribed, many misperceive that these drugs as “safe.” But, as you know, they can be harmful – and even fatal – when used inappropriately.

Over the last two decades, prescriptions for opiate-based drugs have risen from 40 million to 180 million. From 2004 to 2008, the number of emergency department visits involving nonmedical use of narcotic pain relievers rose from nearly 150,000 to more than 300,000 – an increase of 111 percent.

As Tris noted, from 1998 to 2008, there was a 400 percent increase in treatment admissions for people primarily abusing prescription pain killers. And, over the last decade, the number of fatal poisonings involving opiate-based drugs like oxycodone and methadone more than tripled.

The latest research shows that the number of people in this country who try prescription drugs for non-medical purposes now exceeds the number of first-time marijuana users. In the past month, more than 6 million Americans have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons. And, in the past year, one in seven teens abused prescription drugs to get high.

Behind these statistics are the stories you've seen for yourselves and you will hear about today – stories of lives shattered and of communities and campuses devastated by the consequences of drug abuse.

So how can we combat a problem so widespread? How can we protect our communities? How can we prevent future tragedies?

These questions can't be answered easily or quickly. But they can be answered- man made problems are susceptible to man made solutions. We can – and we must – begin to answer them by coming together, by sharing information more effectively, by using limited resources more wisely, and by being clear about what approaches are working and where improvements must be made.

Despite the challenges before us, there is good cause for optimism. Research has shown that targeted law enforcement efforts work. Sound regulatory policies work. Educational outreach works. Quality prevention and drug treatment programs work. In other words – with a comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy – it's within our power to help those who need us most.

We can all be encouraged that this work is a priority across the Administration. In May, President Obama released a new National Drug Control Strategy that establishes clear goals for reducing drug abuse. As the Justice Department takes steps to help implement this strategy, our efforts are focused on education, treatment, enforcement, and policy solutions – and they reflect what we've learned in the field and from leading researchers.

First and foremost, we know that we must educate doctors. Physicians and health care providers can be one of our best lines of defense – but only if they know why extra precautions may be necessary when prescribing opiate painkillers. They must also know how to recognize and address the signs of prescription drug abuse. And, where available, they need to utilize the information available from state Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs.

To date, 34 states – including Vermont – have established Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs, which have proven effective in combating “doctor-shopping.” I'm pleased that, in this Fiscal Year, the Justice Department is providing $7 million to support Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs. Of that amount, more than $5 million is being awarded to states.

Second, our outreach efforts must also help and encourage people to clean up their communities by cleaning out their medicine cabinets. Recent surveys show that more than half of those who admit to abusing prescription painkillers said they got drugs "from a friend or relative for free"– not from their own doctor. Without question, getting old, unused, or expired drugs out of medicine cabinets is critical.

That's why, on Saturday, September 25 th , the DEA is sponsoring the first nationwide drug "Take-Back" initiative. At collection sites across the country, people will be able to drop off prescription drugs to be disposed of safely – at no cost and with no questions asked. Here in Vermont, there will be some 50 collection sites – and I ask all of you to help get the word out.

Third, we must provide the tools and support necessary for law enforcement officers to investigate drug supply sources and to raise awareness about the signs and dangers of prescription drug abuse.

One promising approach to choking off the supply chain is the deployment of Tactical Diversion Squads, which the DEA created to maximize federal, state, and local law enforcement resources.   In 37 cities, and counting, these squads are investigating major drug diversion nodes. So far this year, they've been responsible for the seizure of more than $62 million in proceeds and assets and have helped to shut down “pill mill” pain clinics, prescription forgery rings, and illegal online pharmacies.

In addition to investigations and prosecutions, we're also focused on prevention – and the Department is proud to be working with the Partnership for a Drug Free America in developing programs to help law enforcement officers educate the people and communities they serve.

Fourth, we must ensure that quality drug treatment programs are available and accessible. We've all seen the role addiction often plays in crime, incarceration, and recidivism. And we must break this cycle. One place we're seeing remarkable success is in our drug courts. By collaborating with social service and public health agencies to address underlying problems like addiction and mental illness, drug courts are reducing recidivism. They're also resulting in significant cost-savings – an average of more than $1,300 per participant.

Finally, in addition to effective programming, we must support sound regulatory and policy improvements. As we saw with the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act, which went into effect early last year, well-considered federal efforts can work. This new law has had a significant impact on reducing the number of illegal Internet-based pharmacies and, in turn, the accessibility of many drugs.

We must also support policies that would allow drug consumers to safely dispose of controlled substances, by means to be specified by the DEA. Strange as it seems, current law does not provide for this. It should.

Now, I realize I've covered a lot of ground today – but there is much more that can be, and must be, done to combat prescription drug abuse and the devastating consequences of opiate addiction. That's what this conference is all about – identifying the solutions we need and determining where we must focus, and how we can strengthen, our efforts.

By your very presence here today, you have demonstrated your commitment to solving a problem that – simply put – will determine the future course of lives, families, and communities across the country. I share your commitment. And I believe that, together, we can create a safer, healthier nation.

On behalf of the Department of Justice, I look forward to working with you in the critical days ahead. I'm grateful to each of you. Our nation is counting on all of you.

Thank you.

http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2010/ag-speech-100910.html

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From the FBI

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THE THEFT OF CREATIVITY

Joining Forces to Stop It

One of our recent investigations involved the theft of confidential documents pertaining to automobile technology . Another dealt with counterfeit military and commercial airplane parts . And a third case found us working jointly with Chinese authorities to identify multinational groups selling counterfeit software .

All three cases involved the theft of intellectual property, often defined as “creations of the mind”—like designs, inventions, proprietary business information, literature, music, and movies.

It's serious business. These crimes can cause significant harm—financial and otherwise—to the rightful owners of the property, to the American consumer, and to the U.S. economy by robbing the nation of jobs and tax revenues.

The FBI plays a leading role in investigating intellectual property crime with our many partners. We're currently working over 400 such cases—many with a global nexus.

Intellectual property crime encompasses many areas , including copyright and trademark infringement, counterfeit goods, and television signal/cable theft. At the FBI, our top priorities are two-fold. First, the theft of trade secrets—which affects not only a company's bottom line, but also American competitiveness around the world. And second, product infringements that can impact the health and safety of consumers, such as counterfeit parts for aircraft, cars, electronics, and health products.

So far in fiscal year 2010, we've opened 35 counterfeit health and safety investigations and 56 theft of trade secret cases. We've had investigative successes in both areas—for example:

Theft of trade secrets:

• A New York City computer programmer was indicted for stealing proprietary computer code from his old employer and taking it to his new job. More
  
  
• In California, three individuals pled guilty to conspiring to break the encryption algorithm developed by a satellite TV provider to protect its signal. More

Health and safety infringements:

• Two Texas men were sentenced for manufacturing and selling counterfeit pipe couplings used in oil fields. More
  
  
• The owner of a repair station certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Florida was sentenced for inspecting and testing certain aircraft parts without authorization. More

We've also recently joined forces with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board on “Operation Fractured Skies,” which focuses specifically on counterfeit parts in commercial and military aircraft.

Working closely with our partners in both public and private sectors is key to our success. Some of the joint efforts we're involved in include:  

• The U.S. government's recently announced Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement , which will enhance interagency coordination and international enforcement.
  
  
• The National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Coordination Center , which brings together federal law enforcement agencies charged with investigating these violations—including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customers and Border Protection—and serves as a clearinghouse for complaints and referrals.
  
  
• The Department of Justice's Task Force on Intellectual Property Crime , created earlier this year, which strengthens efforts to combat intellectual property crime through close coordination with state and local law enforcement and our global counterparts. 

As the Internet and advances in traditional distribution methods allow American businesses, inventors, and artists to market their “products” worldwide, the threat from criminals and criminal organizations who want to profit illegally from their hard work grows. But so does the commitment of law enforcement and governments around the world to find new and effective ways to combat the threat…together.

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/september10/creativity_091010.html

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Defendant Convicted of Lying About Funds Bound for Religious Extremist Militants

Federal Jury Convicts Leader of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation of Two Felonies

PORTLAND, OR—Last night, a jury in Eugene, Oregon, convicted the former leader of the U.S. Chapter of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation of two felonies related to the organization's efforts to send nearly $150,000 to support religious extremist militants in Chechnya. Pirouz Sedaghaty, 52, was convicted of all charges, which included a charge that he filed a false tax return and conspired to file a false tax return as part of Al Haramain's efforts to hide the trail of money. Both the U.S. Chapter of Al-Haramain and its parent organization in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, have been listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organizations by the United States government. The Riyadh-based organization was disbanded in 2004 by the Saudi government.

U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan set sentencing for November 23, 2010. Sedaghaty faces a maximum prison sentence of eight years. Sedaghaty, who had been released on bail prior to and during trial, was taken into federal custody after the verdict.

The $150,000 at issue was wired by an Egyptian citizen from London, England to a bank in Ashland, Oregon, where the U.S. chapter of Al-Haramain was based. From there, the funds were converted into $130,000 in traveler's checks and a cashier's check for the balance. The funds were hand carried by fugitive co-defendant Soliman Al-Buthe back to Saudi Arabia. The traveler's checks were then cashed in for Saudi riyals at the Al Rahji Bank and disappeared, presumably to be smuggled into Chechnya. Al-Buthe deposited the remainder into his personal bank account.

“The lifeblood of terrorism is money—if we can stop the flow of money to violent extremist organizations, we'll be safer both here and abroad,” said U.S. Attorney Dwight C. Holton. “By lying to the IRS about where this money went, the defendant sought to hide the true destination of this money.” Holton continued, “The jury's verdict demonstrates once again the critical role—and effectiveness—of civilian criminal courts in the battle against terrorism.”

“The FBI‘s role in battling crime takes many forms,” said Arthur Balizan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon. “Our agents and our partners have to aggressively chase the evidence down whatever path we find… in this case, a trail of cash leading half way around the world. Once again, this case proves that partnerships between law enforcement agencies can bring solid, positive results for the American people.”

"IRS Criminal Investigation will always be there to partner with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and all other law enforcement in combating those who support violent extremism," said Marcus Williams, the IRS Special Agent in Charge of the Pacific Northwest. "Our agents will not sit idly by while those who attempt to finance terrorism violate the tax laws in order to hide their crimes."

The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles Gorder and Chris Cardani. The IRS – Criminal Investigation and the FBI investigated the case. U.S. Attorney Holton praised the joint efforts of the Department of Justice, the IRS and the FBI, as well as other agencies that helped prepare the case and obtain evidence from points around the world, including the Departments of State and Treasury.

http://portland.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/pd091010.htm

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