Cordoba House - A Possible Exchange

Move the location of building in exchange for new 9/11 investigation - Part 2

I have no theory about who or what is responsible for the events of 9/11. I have not formed any conclusions -- one way or the other, whether the alleged 19-20 hijackers actually had anything to do (whether peripherally, indirectly, or directly) with 9/11.

People who demand to know who committed the terrorist acts of 9/11 if not the 19 or 20 Muslims in question are getting the cart before the horse. First one needs to establish the facts, and, then, one needs to connect the dots to see where they lead with respect to the people who may be implicated by those facts.

No one in the government, academia, or the media have done any of their so-called fact-finding in a way that is capable of plausibly being able to demonstrate that the Twin Towers or Building 7 collapsed in the way alleged. No one in the government, academia, or the media have done any of their so-called fact-finding in a manner which is capable of accounting for what allegedly occurred at the Pentagon. No one in government, academia, or the media have done any of their so-called fact-finding in a way that plausibly accounts for what allegedly went on in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

None of the foregoing is about who is responsible for 9/11. It is entirely about what actually happened - and can be demonstrated - with respect to the physical facts of 9/11.

Why have I bothered to provide the foregoing overview concerning certain facets of 9/11? There are several reasons.

First, I am trying to induce you both to actually take the time to verify whether, or not, your beliefs concerning 9/11 are correct and viable. You cannot do this without going through the physical evidence alluded to before, and, to date, I am certain that you have not done this with much deliberation -- if at all.

Secondly, as long as your opinions concerning 9/11 are critically and factually uninformed, you are not really in any position to make sound judgments concerning the present situation with respect to Cordoba House aka Park51, or the so-called Ground Zero Mosque. Pressure is mounting for you and the other stakeholders of SoHo Properties to acquiesce to the demand of many Americans that you should be willing to move your project to another, less sensitive, less problematic location.

Unfortunately, almost everyone is arguing about the wrong principles with respect to the foregoing controversy. The central issue is not about First Amendment rights, nor is it about the right of Americans to have their sensitivities concerning 9/11 be given proper consideration, nor is it about the right of 9/11 families to be saved from further insult and injury … although all of these principles are, in their own context, perfectly understandable and not unreasonable.

The real principle at the heart of the 'Cordoba House' controversy is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. The elephant is named "Truth and Justice", and it is the visibly invisible ghost of 9/11. Three thousand innocents -- both Americans and foreign nationals -- were assassinated on 9/11. Then, when there was a rush to judgment by all too many people who should have known better, the tragedy of 9/11 led to the further slaughter of tens of thousands of more innocents in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with tens of thousands more who have been maimed for life - both American and non-American.

The families of 9/11 victims have been betrayed. The people of America have been betrayed. The soldiers of America have been betrayed. The people of Iraq and Afghanistan have been betrayed. Truth and justice have been betrayed.

How can you or the other stakeholders of SoHo Properties reach an equitable resolution with respect to the Cordoba House controversy when the whole brouhaha is predicated on misinformation and ignorance concerning the facts of the matter. Your present controversy cannot be properly resolved, America's 9/11 wounds cannot be adequately healed, and the tremendous injustices inflicted on Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be adequately addressed until the truth about 9/11 is established.

Mark Twain once said: "The trouble with the world is not that people know too little, it's that they know so many things that aren't so." No truer words have ever been said about people's ideas and opinions concerning 9/11.

If 9/11 families and the people of America want their concerns and sensitivities properly taken into consideration with respect to the Cordoba House project, then, they need to reciprocate and take steps to ensure that what they believe to have happened on 9/11 actually took place in the way that the official story claims. For, if things concerning 9/11 are other than they are officially framed to be, the 9/11 families and the people of America will need to adopt an entirely different set of concerns and sensitivities with respect to 9/11.

Less anyone wishes to interject at this point that the facts of 9/11 already have been established, then, they haven't been paying attention. Anyone who has not gone through The 9/11 Commission Report, the NIST reports, The Pentagon Performance Report, as well as listened carefully to the testimony of all of the people I have listed earlier (and many others could be added to that list) and who were prevented (either actively or passively) from testifying before the 9/11 Commission -- such a person really has no idea of what may, or may not, have taken place on 9/11.

The understanding of such an individual concerning the physical facts of 9/11 has been provided for them through something other than their own due diligence. Anyone who is honest about this issue will admit as much.

Feisal and Daisy, you, and others at SoHo Properties, have an unprecedented opportunity to do great service to both truth and justice, as well as to the 9/11 families, the rest of America, democracy, and the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan. Actually, there is no one else on the face of the earth at the present time who has the same chance as you now possess to ensure that the right thing is done with respect to so many principles and people.

This opportunity may never come again. You have a chance to do what no one else has been able to achieve with respect to 9/11 -- namely, seek a new investigation into 9/11 that is objective, rigorous, independent, thorough, and capable of generating results which are actually able to reflect the full set of existing data concerning 9/11. This is something which has not, yet, happened through: the government, the media, academia, or any of the organizations which officially have been linked to the supposed official investigation into 9/11.

As an act of good faith, I feel you should be willing to move your Cordoba House project to another location. However, in exchange for your act of good faith you should require a reciprocal act of good faith - an agreement to establish (through state and/or federal grand juries) an exhaustive exploration into 9/11.

In fact, since David Patterson, the governor of New York, has graciously offered to help you find a suitable but alternative location for the Cordoba House project, I propose that David Patterson also has the authority to ensure that an appropriately unbiased grand jury of New Yorkers be convened for the purposes of investigating 9/11. The Office of David Patterson would be a natural bridge through which both sides of the offered good faith might meet and reach a just an equitable resolution to the current controversy.

I have confidence in the American people. Moreover, the great work that state and federal grand juries do at least five days a week all across America in helping to protect democracy demonstrates that my faith in the American people is justified.

If a group of average Americans is permitted to investigate 9/11 via a grand jury format and follow the evidence wherever it takes them and subpoena power permits, I believe that the results of such an investigation will be fair and impartial. I believe that when they consider all the relevant evidence they will arrive at a judicious conclusion concerning 9/11.

However, this challenge must be under the full authority of the people of America, not the government. Let the people fulfill the purposes for which grand juries were originally established as the last bastion of defense against forces of tyranny and injustice that are capable of undermining democracy and freedom.

If you have the foresight to adopt and realize the proposal I am making concerning the exchange of location for a proper investigation into 9/11, the entire world will owe you a debt of gratitude. If you have the courage to adopt and realize the proposal I am making, the whole purpose of Cordoba House would have been fulfilled before it was even built.

I will end with some words from a Tracy Chapman song:

Don't be tempted by the shiny apple;
Don't you eat of the bitter fruit;
Hunger only for the taste of justice;
Hunger only for the word of truth,
For all that you have is your soul.

As a friend, I can think of no better counsel to give you.