Silence Over 9/11 Cannot Be Bought

I'm looking forward to the contributions of the recently launched ATS 9/11 Emergency Team research project.

Here's a reminder to people 'less affected' by the biggest government national security failure in US history, of why it should not be laid to rest until the culpable people all the way to the top are removed.

It's a personal statement from the widow of a victim, published in USA Today a week before Christmas...


'Silence cannot be bought'
By Beverly Eckert

I've chosen to go to court rather than accept a payoff from the 9/11 victims compensation fund. Instead, I want to know what went so wrong with our intelligence and security systems that a band of religious fanatics was able to turn four U.S passenger jets into an enemy force, attack our cities and kill 3,000 civilians with terrifying ease. I want to know why two 110-story skyscrapers collapsed in less than two hours and why escape and rescue options were so limited.
I am suing because unlike other investigative avenues, including congressional hearings and the 9/11 commission, my lawsuit requires all testimony be given under oath and fully uses powers to compel evidence.

The victims fund was not created in a spirit of compassion. Rather, it was a tacit acknowledgement by Congress that it tampered with our civil justice system in an unprecedented way. Lawmakers capped the liability of the airlines at the behest of lobbyists who descended on Washington while the Sept. 11 fires still smoldered.

And this liability cap protects not just the airlines, but also World Trade Center builders, safety engineers and other defendants.

The caps on liability have consequences for those who want to sue to shed light on the mistakes of 9/11. It means the playing field is tilted steeply in favor of those who need to be held accountable. With the financial consequences other than insurance proceeds removed, there is no incentive for those whose negligence contributed to the death toll to acknowledge their failings or implement reforms. They can afford to deny culpability and play a waiting game.

By suing, I've forfeited the "$1.8 million average award" for a death claim I could have collected under the fund. Nor do I have any illusions about winning money in my suit. What I do know is I owe it to my husband, whose death I believe could have been avoided, to see that all of those responsible are held accountable. If we don't get answers to what went wrong, there will be a next time. And instead of 3,000 dead, it will be 10,000. What will Congress do then?

So I say to Congress, big business and everyone who conspired to divert attention from government and private-sector failures: My husband's life was priceless, and I will not let his death be meaningless. My silence cannot be bought.

Beverly Eckert, whose husband died at the World Trade Center, is the founder of Voices of September 11th, a victims advocacy group.



[Edited on 6-1-2004 by MaskedAvatar]

I was just talking the other day about how could this happen to us, I mean we have the CIA, and the NSA. Yet a man living in caves did this to us...


Great article MA, I hope she attains some answers... but I doubt she gets anything other than prescripted BS.

The true question for masked avatar:

Would you be posting that if Al Gore was in office?

Originally posted by Seapeople
The true question for masked avatar:

Would you be posting that if Al Gore was in office?

Oh my! Is that the best you can do? ::kicks Seapeople::

This is a great post, Masked Avatar. I hope this lady receives the answers to her questions if it will bring her peace. I highly doubt that will happen because of our failed justice system.

Originally posted by Seapeople
The true question for masked avatar:

Would you be posting that if Al Gore was in office?

It wouldn't have happened if Gore was in office he would have told them no just like kennedy did to the northwoods project

Originally posted by Seapeople
The true question for masked avatar:

Would you be posting that if Al Gore was in office?

This question rings no truth for me at all.

It is not an intelligent question. I care nothing for party politics in the US, they are meaningless and holding back any notion of progress.

The failings are the responsibility of the incumbent administration of the time, especially Bush/Cheney and their direct reporting elements who broke down the intelligence system so its components would not link with each other - who called off investigations into flight schools - and who with foreknowledge advised their own not to fly anywhere the week of 9/11. The evidence speaks for itself.

How do you suggest we get rid of the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds MA?

Excellant post MA.

Beverly Eckert is a light shining from above and proof that not everyone can be bought off.

I hope she stays safe and well.

You guys should try reading War on Freedom by Jim Marrs. I've only read excerpts from it, but from what I can see, it sheds some much needed light the events of the past 3 years.

I'm sure many people from THIS sight are familiar with his other books such as Crossfire and Alien Agenda.

*patiently waits for people to turn on Marrs and call him unpatriotic, or a librul tool*

How can they keep her from getting that money that was money if I recall correctly was money that people donated? It isn't right that the government puts any restrictions on it.