Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 6, 2024
On Wednesday, September 11, for the 23rd consecutive year the names of the 2,977 innocent souls, murdered by 19 Islamic extremist terrorists who skyjacked four American airplanes with the express purpose of inflicting as much damage as possible against people, property, and the body politic, will be read.
The reading of those names will only be interrupted by the peal of bells serving as a reminder of the exact time the deeds of unconscionable evil were perpetrated. But most of us need no reminder - we bore witness to these homicidal tragedies, lost friends and/or loved ones. Undoubtedly there isn’t a person who was alive on that fateful September 11, 2001 who hasn’t a connection to that day and who doesn’t carry the scars of history with them.
For the 23rd year we will, and we must, pay homage and respect to the fallen who were murdered by Islamic extremist terrorists on that clear, crisp, Tuesday morning when the screaming airplanes permeated the sunshine, penetrated their steel and glass targets, plunging the world into darkness and chaos.
But are we too far removed from that calamitous and fateful day?
On August 23, 2023 DailyMail.com reported that the “architect of 9/11 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and fellow co-conspirators may be spared the death penalty under a new plea deal being considered by the federal government.” They would plead guilty - actually admit their guilt in exchange for having their lives spared.
Just a couple weeks shy of a year later, this plea deal, which still had not yet been resolved, ended up on the cutting room floor, thanks to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. On Friday, August 2 of this year, Austin “issued a terse memo canceling the agreement prosecutors had concluded was the best - and perhaps only - way to resolve a case marred by allegations that the U.S. tortured the defendants. The deal would have kept the defendants in prison for life, taking the death penalty off the table in exchange for guilty pleas,” according to The Wall Street Journal (08/05/24) Is it more important to get an admission of guilt and keep these miserable excuses for human flesh alive? And on the backs of the American taxpayers? In revoking the agreement, Austin stated the three would, in fact, face the death penalty - as they should, especially after 23 years of life beyond that which their victims have been denied.
Yet, also according to The Wall Street Journal, “the defendants have at times claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks.” (08/05/24)
These criminal terrorists have been given more rights than they gave their victims. This legal minutiae and a game of legal Twister© has contorted and even mocked the judicial system in the face of protecting the so-called rights of admitted terrorists; of admitted murderers. This alleged treatment of the admitted terrorists is what initially prompted the plea deal. If they have already admitted to their heinous acts under alleged questionable circumstances, what makes this deal acceptable simply because they admit guilt before a military tribunal? Guilty is guilty. If the terrorists have admitted guilt on more than one occasion, a plea deal should never have been entertained in the first place.
How, after 23 years, are any of these stains on humanity still breathing air? Walid Bin Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawasawi, and of course Mohammed should have been executed two decades ago. Instead, we the people, the American taxpayers, have spent millions and millions of dollars keeping these G-dless bastards alive, fed, and reasonably comfortable. All while the families of the 2,977 victims continue to mourn and grieve their loved ones as this gaping wound remains open, still fresh, and astoundingly painful.
“When we tell the world that America is not prepared to bring justice against terrorists, we’re going to get more terror,” said former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Fox News Live, August 3. “Just like when we trade terrorists for hostages, we’re going to get more American hostages. These things are all deeply connected. The bad guys can see weakness, and they smell it today - and we’re in a dangerous place the next few months with President Biden,” said Pompeo, who served during the Trump administration.
A brief timeline of the harrowing and disturbing events of September 11, 2001:
Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights depart Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and Newark airports, headed for Los Angeles except the Newark flight, headed to San Francisco.
8:46 AM: American Airlines flight #11 is flown into #1 World Trade Center - the North Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the 11 crew, 76 passengers and hundreds inside the tower instantly.
9:03 AM: United Airlines flight #175 is flown into #2 World Trade Center - the South Tower - by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the nine crew, 51 passengers, and hundreds inside the tower instantly.
9:05 AM: President George W. Bush is alerted to what is now believed to be terrorist attacks. “Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” said Bush.
9:37 AM: American Airlines flight #77 is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA by five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the six crew, 53 passengers, as well as 125 military and civilian personnel on the ground.
9:59 AM: The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning for 56 minutes. More than 800 civilians and first responders are murdered.
10:03 AM: United Airlines flight #93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, PA when passengers and crew storm the cockpit. There are no survivors of the seven crew and 33 passengers due to the murderous plot by the four Muslim extremist hijackers. Flight #93 was 20 minutes from Washington, DC where the White House or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets.
10:15 AM: The damaged section of the Pentagon E-Ring collapses.
10:28 AM: The North Tower collapses after burning for 102 minutes. More than 1,600 civilians and first responders are murdered.
8:30 PM: President George W. Bush addresses the nation.
Tunnel to Towers (www.t2t.org) is a most worthy charity which to contribute. Frank Siller is the founder and Chairman/CEO of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Frank’s youngest brother, Stephen, served as a firefighter who, having just come off the previous night’s shift, heard about the towers being struck and he did what any loyal firefighter would do - headed right back to work. Upon reaching the closed to traffic Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Stephen Siller strapped on his gear and ran the remaining three kilometers through that tunnel. He successfully made one trip in and out of the South Tower. Unfortunately, his second trip into the South Tower was less successful. Stephen Siller, 34, was one of more than 330 firefighters to lose their lives on and since September 11, 2001.
I do not work for the charity. I do not benefit in any way from this charity other than to know that as a contributor, my donation and yours, should you make one, is used at a rate of 95.1 percent for the programs, such as paying the mortgages of disabled first responders and veterans, along with those of the widows and widowers of first responders and veterans. Don’t take my word for it - visit www.charitynavigator.org.
May the memories of the 2,977 murdered on September 11, 2001 always be for a Blessing. This must never be forgotten.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey in the shadow of the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, he was writing for a newspaper in northern Virginia, 10 minutes from the Pentagon. His annual 9/11 column is dedicated to the memory of the 2,977 murdered that day and the hundreds who have died since due to its unhealthy aftermath.
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