Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Families outraged at 9/11 commission hearing- "talk about the radios,"

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 16:15:39 -0400

Families outraged at 9/11 commission hearing
By EUNICE MOSCOSO

Cox News Service
NEW YORK -- An investigative panel's glowing praise and light
questioning of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday enraged
family members of those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, causing a
chaotic scene of screams and accusations.

At a hearing of the commission investigating the terrorist strikes,
Giuliani was loudly heckled by at least a dozen members of the audience
who expressed anger at what they said was a lack of probing questions.

Family members and others in the audience briefly stopped the
proceedings, screaming, "those are lies," "let's ask the real
questions," and "talk about the radios," referring to problems with
radio transmissions on the day of the attacks which hampered emergency
communications. At least one man was escorted outside, where angry
family members vented their frustrations to dozens of reporters.

"The ugly truth is that these firefighters didn't have a chance, they
were lambs sent to the slaughter," said a visibly shaken Sally
Regenhard, whose firefighter son Christian died in the attacks. "They
had radios that did not work. ... The public has to know that the
fire-fighters can't communicate."

Giuliani, who was lavishly praised repeatedly by commission members for
his actions on Sept. 11, 2001, said that local officials saved thousands
of lives and acted with inspiring heroism that day.

"Our anger and the blame should clearly be directed at one source, and
one source only -- the terrorists that killed our loved ones," he said
at the beginning of his testimony, before the interruptions.

The former mayor also said that new radios had been tested by
firefighters before Sept.
11 but did not prove practical to use.

Giuliani also said that he had not received information in the summer of
2001 that threatening chatter had spiked, or that an Aug. 6, 2001,
presidential memo, discussed in previous commission hearings, had
mentioned the World Trade Center as a possible target of Osama bin
Laden.

But he also said that such knowledge would not have changed the city's
actions.

Giuliani's testimony came on the second day of a two-day hearing that
also included staff reports on communication failures on the day of the
attacks, including a lack of information provided to fire chiefs inside
the South Tower of the World Trade Center and given by 9-1-1 emergency
operators to people inside the buildings.

Wednesday's staff report said that New York Fire Department officials
did not have good information about which systems were operating in the
building, something fire fighters inside should have provided. It also
faulted the Port Authority for failing to immediately communicate an
evacuation order for the South Tower given by the Fire Department. "A
vital few minutes may have been lost," the report said.

In a joint statement released after the hearing, Chairman Thomas Kean, a
Republican former governor of New Jersey, and Vice Chairman Lee
Hamilton, a former Democratic Congressman from Indiana, said that poor
communication and a lack of knowledge about evacuation procedures proved
costly on Sept. 11.

"Fire Chiefs did not know what the NYPD knew, and knew less than what TV
viewers knew," they said.
Despite the criticisms, the 10-member panel, formally known as the
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, did not
grill Giuliani, who received wide praise in the aftermath of the attacks
for his efforts to restore order and calm to the city, bring back
tourism and get locals to dine out again.

Family members of victims speculated that the kind treatment was a
reaction to harsh criticism the commission received on Tuesday for
strongly questioning New York City police and fire officials about
communication failures on Sept. 11.
The anger was represented by a New York Post headline Wednesday that
read, "Insult," with a picture of a fire fighter kneeling at Ground
Zero. "Memo to 9/11 Commission: This man is a New York Hero," it said.

Beverly Eckert, whose husband Sean Rooney perished in the World Trade
Center, said that the heroism of Sept. 11 is not in dispute, nor is
Giuliani's leadership.

"I do admire the man, he has done a lot for the families ... but that's
not what this commission is about," she said. "I am so sick of hearing
about what went right."

Terry McGovern, whose mother Ann was killed in the World Trade Center,
agreed.
"What we got today was, once again, a recitation of the bravery of the
rescue workers.  That's not at issue. Of course they were totally
brave," she said. "What is at issue is that radios didn't work. That my
mother was told not to evacuate. ... Now my mother is dead and she was
as valuable as any rescue worker."

Family members said they had many unanswered questions, including why
9-1-1 emergency operators were not equipped to handle a higher volume of
calls or to receive important information, why debris with potential
evidence from the attacks was carted out of New York, and why airport
officials in Newark didn't tell city officials that another plane was
possibly en route.
A few of the several dozen family members at the hearing, however, did
not support the angry outbursts.

"I'm very disappointed with their behavior. I don't think it's
constructive," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother was killed on the
plane that crashed into the Pentagon.

Instead of trying to blame city officials, the nation should focus on
the threat at hand, she added.
"The terrorists are not taking time to have committee meetings and
discuss things.

They are working 24/7 to kill us."

Current New York mayor Michael Bloomberg also testified before the
commission, but did not take any questions.

Bloomberg complained that New York was not getting enough federal
homeland security dollars despite being a top target.

Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge told the commission that he was
working to change the formula so that high-target urban areas get a
larger share of the money.

Eunice Moscoso is a Washington correspondent for Cox Newspapers.
© 2004 Cox Newspapers, Inc. - The Rocky Mount Telegram

http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/content/shared/news/stories/0520_septcomm.html;COXnetJSessionID=AxFk6KvCf772szFp6wRPVkcTySkUqMvv8siPAqSC3e9O9BWO0Z2I!236295294?urac=n&urvf=10853430121940.4340872611529959

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