911 Has Its 'Disappearing Witnesses', As Well

[Peter Lemkin]

One unconfirmed, but VERY suspicious and convenient one....[of many!]:hello:

http://edwardrynearson.wordpress.com/200...-jennings/

New Information on the Death of 911 Eyewitness Barry Jennings
April 16, 2009
By Jack Blood

Barry Jennings, a key 9/11 eyewitness who was an emergency coordinator for the New York Housing Authority, passed away last August 2008 at age 53 from undisclosed circumstances. Mr. Jennings was an eyewitness to the devastation of the World Trade center towers on September 11th 2001.

On the morning of 911 Barry Jennings with Michael Hess, (one of Rudy Giuliani’s highest ranking appointed officials, New York city’s corporation counsel), entered the famed Building 7.

It was just after the first attack on the North tower, but before the second plane hit the South Tower, when Barry Jennings escorted Michael Hess to the World Trade Center Tower 7. Mr. Jennings recalls a large number of police officers in the lobby of WTC 7 when they arrived. The two men went up to the 23rd floor, but could not get in, so they went back to the lobby and the police took them up in the freight elevator for a second try. When they arrived on level 23, at the Office of Emergency Management (FEMA),) they found it had been recently deserted, “coffee that was on the desk, smoke was still coming off the coffee, I saw half eaten sandwiches”.

At that point he made some phone calls, and an un-named individual told them to “leave, and leave right away”. Jennings and Hess then proceeded to the stairs, and made it to level 6, when there was an explosion, and the stairwell collapsed from under their feet, Mr. Jennings was actually hanging, and had to climb back up. They made it back up to level 8, where Barry Jennings had a view of the twin towers, both buildings were still standing. This is an important detail, as many debunkers have used Mr. Jennings statements out of context to claim the damage came to WTC 7 from the towers collapsing, not the case according, to Mr. Jennings.

When they made it to the lobby, Mr. Jennings found it destroyed and littered with dead bodies. He said it looked like, “King Kong had came through it and stepped on it, (it was) so destroyed, I didn’t know where I was. So destroyed that they had to take me out through a hole in the wall, that I believe the fire department made to get me out.” Shortly after he made it out, he was seen on several news channels telling his story.

Mr. Jennings was admittedly confused as to why Building 7 had to come down at all, and does not accept the official reason that the noises he heard were from a fuel oil tank, “I know what I heard, I heard explosions”.

Jennings testimony was recorded by Loose Change for the Final Cut version of the extremely popular documentary, but was edited out at the final stage due to Jennings misgivings about losing his job, and endangering his family.

The BBC later interviewed Jennings for a “911 debunking special” and Jennings seemed to retract the testimony given to Loose Change. Subsequently the creators of the film released the original interview to protect their own credibility.

Barry Jennings passed away shortly thereafter and coincidentally just a few days before the long awaited NIST report on Building 7 was released to the public. It is quite possible that Jennings would have exposed the cover story of NIST, and their overall excuse that the 47 story building was the first and only skyscraper felled by fire. He never got that chance.

New Information

Yesterday, April 15th 2009 I was contacted by “Loose Change” director, and narrator Dylan Avery who said that he had recently begun investigating the death of Barry Jennings, and had found some new information relating to his death.

It seems that there is a very good possibility that Jennings’ death could have been due to foul play. Though the investigations are on going, initial findings are somewhat alarming. The conclusion is still forthcoming, but I was shocked by what I heard.

It seems that Dylan had hired a private investigator to look into Jennings death which remains shrouded in mystery. His motive was simply to bring some closure to the life of Barry Jennings, and in doing so to honor the memory of this brave American. The Investigator ended up referring the case to Law enforcement before refunding his pay, and told Dylan never to contact him again. Very unusual to say the least. Dylan also paid a visit to the Jennings home. He found it vacant and for sale.

Personally, something is really beginning to stink here. Why would a highly paid PI refuse to continue his investigation? Why did he refer the matter to police? He is not talking. What is he afraid of. Was he warned to cease and desist? If so by whom?
These are some of the new questions revolving around the Jennings case.

In every major cover up from the JFK assassination to Iran Contra, we can see one common thread. The untimely death of eyewitnesses. Barry Jennings was not only an important and most credible eyewitness, but he openly refuted much of the government, and media version of events. He was a liability.

[Peter Lemkin]

Kurt Sonnenfeld : Exclusive interview
9/11 FEMA videographer at Ground Zero goes public
As official videographer for the U.S. government, Kurt Sonnenfeld was detailed to Ground
Zero on September 11, 2001, where he spent one month filming 29 tapes: "What I saw
at certain moments and in certain places ... is very disturbing!" He never handed them
over to the authorities and has been persecuted ever since. Kurt Sonnenfeld lives in exile
in Argentina, where he wrote "El Perseguido" (the persecuted). His recently-published
book tells the story of his unending nightmare and drives another nail into the coffin of
the government’s account of the 9/11 events. Below is an exclusive interview by The
Voltaire Network.
22 June 2009
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11th, 2001
Kurt Sonnenfeld and unidentified search and rescue specialist in
subterranean void beneath Ground Zero.
Introduction
Kurt Sonnenfeld graduated from the University of Colorado (USA)
with studies in International Affairs and Economics, as well as in
Literature and Philosophy. He worked for the United States
government as official videographer and served as Director of
Broadcast Operations for the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA)’s National Emergency Response Team.
Additionally, Kurt Sonnenfeld was contracted by several other
governmental agencies and programs for classified and
“sensitive” operations at military and scientific installations
throughout the United States.
On September 11, 2001, the area known as “Ground Zero” was
sealed from the public eye. Sonnenfeld, however, was given
unrestricted access enabling him to document for the
investigation (that never took place) and provide some
“sanitized” pool video to virtually every news network in the
world. The tapes that reveal some of the anomalies which he
discovered at Ground Zero are still in his possession.
Accused of a crime that did not occur in a manifest frame-up
scenario, especially in light of ensuing events [1], Kurt
Sonnenfeld has been persecuted across continents. After several
years of fear, injustice and isolation, he has decided to take a
public stand against the Government’s official story and is
prepared to submit his material to the close scrutiny of reliable
experts.
Kurt Sonnenfeld
Interview
Voltaire Network: Your autobiographical book titled "El
Perseguido" (the persecuted) was recently published in Argentina
where you live in exile since 2003. Tell us who is persecuting you.
Kurt Sonnenfeld: Although it is autobiographical, it is not my
life story. Rather it is a history of the extraordinary events that
have happened to me and my family at the hands of U.S.
authorities over the course of more than seven years, spanning
two hemispheres, after my tour of duty at Ground Zero and
becoming an inconvenient witness.
Voltaire Network: You explained that your request for refugee
status within the terms of the Geneva 1951 Convention is still
being considered by the Argentinean Senate, while in 2005 you
were granted political asylum, albeit, on a provisional basis. That
probably makes you the first U.S. citizen in that situation! And no
doubt the first U.S. Government official with direct exposure to
the events surrounding September 11, 2001 who has “blown the
whistle”. Is this what drove you into exile?
With wife Paula, testifying before Senate
Kurt Sonnenfeld: A refugee is a person who has been forced to
leave (or stay away from) his or her country for reasons of
persecution. It’s undeniable that many people have been
persecuted unfairly as a result of the quasi-fascist laws and
policies brought about by the shock of September 11, 2001, and
they deserve refugee status. But the fact is, requesting refugee
status is a risky and dangerous step to take. America is the
world’s only remaining “superpower”, and dissent has been
effectively repressed. Any person who requests refugee status on
political grounds is by nature making an extreme statement of
dissent. And if your request is denied, what do you do? Once you
make the request, there can be no going back.
Personally, I wasn’t forced to leave the United States, and I
certainly did not “flee”. At the time I was still fairly oblivious to
what was actually brewing against me. I hadn’t connected the
dots yet; so that when I left in early 2003 I had every intention
of returning. I came to Argentina for a short respite; to try to
recuperate after all that had happened to me. I travelled here
freely, with my own passport, using my own credit cards. But
because of an incredible series of events, I have since been
forced into exile, and I haven’t been back.
Voltaire Network: What type of events are you referring to?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: I’ve suffered false accusations for “crimes”
that demonstrably did not happen, abusive imprisonment and
torture as a result of those accusations, as well as outrageous
calumnies against my reputation, death threats, kidnap attempts
and several other violations of civil and human rights as
denounced by numerous international accords. My return to the
United States would not only be a continuation of those
violations, but would be aggregated by the separation - perhaps
permanent - from my wife and three-year old twin daughters,
the only thing remaining that I have to live for. And then, after
the impossibility of receiving a fair trial for a crime that did not
happen, I could be subject to the death penalty.
Voltaire Network: In 2005, the U.S. Government lodged a
request to have you extradited, which was turned down by a
Federal Judge. Then, in 2007, the Argentinean Supreme Court –
in a show of integrity and independence - turned down the U.S.
appeal, but your Government persisted. Can you shed some light
on the situation ?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: In 2008, the US government appealed again,
this time with absolutely no legal foundation, to the Supreme
Court, which will surely uphold the two already unassailable
rulings made by the Federal Judge.
In one of those rulings, it was also noted that there were too
many “sombras”, or shadows, surrounding my case. There were
many, many obvious fabrications in the extradition order sent
here by US authorities, and, thankfully, we were able prove that.
The fact that there were so many fabrications has actually served
to support my request for asylum. We were also able to show
that we had been subject to a prolonged campaign of
harassment and intimidation from US intelligence services. As a
result, since my family has been assigned round-the-clock police
protection. As one senator has noted about my case: “It is their
behavior that belies their true motivations”.
Sonnenfeld and his family are frequently harassed, followed, and
photographed, as shown in this photo.
Voltaire Network: They want you pretty badly for a “crime that
did not happen”! How do you account for such doggedness? As a
FEMA official, you must have been trusted by your government.
At what point did the situation capsize?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: In hindsight, I realize now that the situation
had capsized some time before I actually became aware that it
had capsized. Initially, the false accusation against me was
completely irrational, and I was totally destroyed by it. It is
incredibly difficult to have suffered the loss of someone you love
to suicide, but to then be accused of it is too much to bear. The
case was dismissed based on a mountain of evidence that
overwhelmingly absolved me (Nancy, my wife, had left behind a
suicide note and a journal of suicidal writings ; she had a family
history of suicide ; etc.). The prosecution was 100% sure of my
innocence before requesting the dismissal of charge.
But the sustained incarceration even AFTER it was indicated that
I was to be freed was what proved to me that something was
happening under the surface. I was held in jail for FOUR
MONTHS after my lawyers were informed that the case was to be
dismissed and was finally released in June 2002. During that
time, an amazing series of strange events began to occur. While
still being held, I had a telephone conversation with FEMA
officials in an effort to resolve the issue, but I realized that I was
considered “compromised”. I was told it had been agreed that
“the agency had to be protected”, especially in light of the
upheaval that was threatening with the implementation of the
“Patriot Act” and the expected usurpation that would come with
the new Department of Homeland Security. After all the dangers
I had risked, all hardship and difficulties I had endured for them
for almost 10 years, I felt betrayed. It left a void in my soul.
Because of their abandonment, I told them I didn’t have the
tapes, that I gave them to “some bureaucrat” in New York, and
that they would have to wait until I was released to retrieve any
other documents in my possession. Soon after that conversation,
my house was “seized”, the locks were changed, and men were
observed by neighbors entering my house, though there is no
record in the court of their entry, as would be required. When I
was finally released, I discovered that my office had been
ransacked, my computer was missing, and that my tape library
in my basement had been dug through and several were missing.
Men were constantly parked on the street near my house, my
security system was “hacked” more than once, outdoor security
lights were unscrewed, etc., to the point that I went to stay with
some friends at their condo in the mountains, which was then
ALSO broken into.
Anyone who looks for the truth recognizes that there has been
an amazing series of irregularities in this case and that an
appalling injustice is being carried out on me and my loved ones.
This intense campaign to return me to American soil is a false
pretext for other darker motives.
Voltaire Network: You have suggested that you observed
things at Ground Zero that did not tally with the official account.
Did you do or say anything to arouse suspicion in this respect?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: In that same telephone call I said that I
would “go public”, not only with my suspicions about the events
surrounding September 11, 2001, but about several contracts I
had worked on in the past.
Sonnenfeld at Ground Zero, investigating a “void” beneath fallen steel
beams.
Voltaire Network: What are your suspicions based on?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: There were many things, in hindsight, that
were disturbing at Ground Zero. It was odd to me that I was
dispatched to go to New York even before the second plane hit
the South Tower, while the media was still reporting only that a
“small plane” had collided with the North Tower — far too small
of a catastrophe at that point to involve FEMA . FEMA was
mobilized within minutes, whereas it took ten days for it to
deploy to New Orleans to respond to Hurricane Katrina, even
with abundant advance warning! It was odd to me that all
cameras were so fiercely prohibited within the secured perimeter
of Ground Zero, that the entire area was declared a crime scene
and yet the “evidence” within that crime scene was so rapidly
removed and destroyed. And then it was very odd to me when I
learned that FEMA and several other federal agencies had
already moved into position at their command center at Pier 92
on September 10th, one day before the attacks!
Rubber landing-gear tyres visible in evidence container marked “FBI
Plane Parts Only.”
We are asked to believe that all four of the “indestructible” black
boxes of the two jets that struck the twin towers were never
found because they were completely vaporized, yet I have
footage of the rubber wheels of the landing gear nearly
undamaged, as well as the seats, parts of the fuselage and a jet
turbine that were absolutely not vaporized. This being said, I do
find it rather odd that such objects could have survived fairly
intact the type of destruction that turned most of the Twin
Towers into thin dust. And I definitely harbor some doubts about
the authenticity of the “jet” turbine, far too small to have come
from one of the Boeings!
“Boeing” jet turbine at Fresh Kills island landfill.
What happened with Building 7 is incredibly suspicious. I have
video that shows how curiously small the rubble pile was, and
how the buildings to either side were untouched by Building
Seven when it collapsed. It had not been hit by an airplane; it
had suffered only minor injuries when the Twin Towers collapsed,
and there were only small fires on a couple of floors. There’s no
way that building could have imploded the way it did without
controlled demolition. Yet the collapse of Building 7 was hardly
mentioned by the mainstream media and suspiciously ignored by
the 911 Commission.
Voltaire Network: Reportedly, the underground levels of WTC7
contained sensitive and undoubtedly compromising archival
material. Did you come across any of it?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: The Secret Service, the Department of
Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal
Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission and
the Office of Emergency Management’s “Crisis Center” occupied
huge amounts of space there, spanning several floors of the
building. Other federal agencies had offices there as well. After
September 11, it was discovered that concealed within Building
Seven was the largest clandestine domestic station of the Central
Intelligence Agency outside of Washington DC, a base of
operations from which to spy on diplomats of the United Nations
and to conduct counterterrorism and counterintelligence missions.
There was no underground parking level at Seven World Trade
Center. And there was no underground vault. Instead, the
federal agencies at Building Seven stored their vehicles,
documents and evidence in the building of their associates across
the street. Beneath the plaza level of US Customs House
(Building 6) was a large underground garage, separated off from
the rest of the complex’s underground area and guarded under
tight security. This was where the various government services
parked their bomb-proofed cars and armored limousines,
counterfeit taxi cabs and telephone company trucks used for
undercover surveillance and covert operations, specialized vans
and other vehicles. Also within that secured parking area was
access to the sub-level vault of Building 6.
Approaching the entrance to the sub-level areas of Building 6
When the North Tower fell, the US Customs House (Building 6)
was crushed and totally incinerated. Much of the underground
levels beneath it were also destroyed. But there were voids. And
it was into one of those voids, recently uncovered, that I
descended with a special Task Force to investigate. It was there
we found the security antechamber to the vault, badly damaged.
At the far end of the security office was the wide steel door to
the vault, a combination code keypad in the cinderblock wall
beside it. But the wall was cracked and partially crumbled, and
the door was sprung partially open. So we checked inside with
our flashlights. Except for several rows of empty shelves, there
was nothing in the vault but dust and debris. It had been
emptied. Why was it empty? And when could it have been
emptied?
Voltaire Network: Is this what set alarm bells ringing for you?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: Yes, but not immediately. With so much
chaos, it was difficult to think. It was only after digesting
everything that the “alarm bells” went off.
Building Six was evacuated within twelve minutes after the first
airplane struck the North Tower. The streets were immediately
clogged with fire trucks, police cars and blocked traffic, and the
vault was large enough, 15 meters by 15 meters by my
estimate, to necessitate at least a big truck to carry out its
contents. And after the towers fell and destroyed most of the
parking level, a mission to recover the contents of the vault
would have been impossible. The vault had to have been emptied
before the attack.
I’ve described all of this extensively in my book, and it’s
apparent that things of importance were taken out of harm’s way
before the attacks. For example, the CIA didn’t seem too
concerned about their losses. After the existence of their
clandestine office in Building Seven was discovered, an agency
spokesman told the newspapers that a special team had been
dispatched to scour the rubble in search of secret documents and
intelligence reports, though there were millions, if not billions of
pages floating in the streets. Nevertheless, the spokesman was
confident. “There shouldn’t be too much paper around,” he said.
The bizarre hollowed-out vestiges of The US Customs House (Building
Six)
And Customs at first claimed that everything was destroyed.
That the heat was so intense that everything in the evidence safe
had been baked to ash. But some months later, they announced
that they had broken up a huge Colombian narco-trafficking and
money-laundering ring after miraculously recovering crucial
evidence from the safe, including surveillance photos and heatsensitive
cassette tapes of monitored calls. And when they
moved in to their new building at 1 Penn Plaza in Manhattan,
they proudly hung on the lobby wall their Commissioner’s
Citation Plaque and their big round US Customs Service ensign,
also miraculously recovered, in pristine condition, from their
crushed and cremated former office building at the World Trade
Center.
Voltaire Network: You weren’t alone on the Ground Zero
assignment. Did the others notice the same anomalies? Do you
know whether they have they also been harassed?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: Actually there were a few people on two
different excursions that I know about. Some of us even
discussed it afterwards. They know who they are and I hope that
they will come forward, but I’m sure they have strong
apprehensions as to what will happen to them if they do. I will
leave it to them to decide, but there is strength in numbers.
Voltaire Network: With the publication of your book, you have
become a "whistleblower" – yet another step on which there is
no going back! There must be many people with inside
knowledge about what really happened or did not happen on that
fateful day. Yet, hardly any have stepped up to the plate and
certainly no one who was directly involved in an official capacity.
This is what makes your case so compelling. Judging from your
ordeal, it is not difficult to imagine what is holding such people
back.
Kurt Sonnenfeld: Actually, there are several other very smart
and credible people blowing whistles, too. And they are being
discredited and ignored. Some are being harassed and
persecuted, as I am.
People are gripped by fear. Everybody knows that if you question
US authority you will have problems in some way or another. At
minimum you will be discredited and dehumanized. Most likely
you’ll find yourself indicted for something completely unrelated,
like tax evasion — or something even worse, as in my case. Look
at what happened to Secret Service whistle-blower Abraham
Bolden, for example, or to chess master Bobby Fischer after he
showed his disdain for the US. There are countless other
examples. In the past I asked friends and associates to speak
out for me to counter all the lies being planted in the media, and
all of them were terrified as to the ramifications to themselves
and their families.
Voltaire Network: To what degree would your discoveries at
Ground Zero expose the government’s involvement in those
events? Are you familiar with the investigations that have been
carried out by numerous scientists and qualified professionals
which not only corroborate your own findings but, in some
instances, far exceed them? Do you regard such people as
"conspiracy nuts"?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: At the highest levels in Washington, DC,
someone knew what was going to happen. They wanted a war so
badly that they at least let it happen and most likely even helped
it happen.
Sometimes it seems to me that the “nuts” are those who hold to
what they’ve been told with an almost religious fervor despite all
of the evidence to the contrary — the ones who won’t even
consider that there was a conspiracy. There are so many
anomalies to the “official” investigation that you can’t blame it on
oversight or incompetence. I am familiar with the scientists and
qualified professionals to whom you refer, and their findings are
convincing, credible, and presented according to scientific
protocol — in stark contrast to the findings of the “official”
investigation. In addition, numerous intelligence agents and
government officials have now come forward with their very
informed opinions that the 911 Commission was a farce at best
or a cover-up at worst. My experience at Ground Zero is but one
more piece of the puzzle.
Voltaire Network: Those events are nearly 8 years behind us.
Do you consider that uncovering the truth about 9/11 continues
to be an important objective? Why?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: It is of absolute importance. And it will be
equally as important in 10 years, or even 50 years if the truth
still has not been exposed. It is an important objective because,
at this point in history, many people are too credulous to
whatever “authority” tells them and too willing to follow. People
in a state of shock seek guidance. People who are afraid are
manipulable. And being able to manipulate the masses results in
unimaginable benefits to a lot of very rich and very powerful
people. War is incredibly expensive, but the money has to go
somewhere. War is very profitable for the very few. And
somehow their sons always end up in Washington DC, making
the decisions and writing the budgets, while the sons of the poor
and the poorly-connected always end up on the enemy lines,
taking their orders and fighting their battles. The enormous blackbudget
of the US Department of Defense represents an unlimited
money machine for the military-industrial complex, figuring in
the multi-trillions of dollars, and it will continue to be so until the
masses wake up, recuperate their skepticism and demand
accountability. Wars (and false pretexts for war) will not cease
until the people realize the true motive of war and stop believing
“official” explanations.
Voltaire Network: What is referred to as the 9/11 Truth
Movement, has been asking for a new, independent investigation
into those events. Do you think that the Obama Administration
holds out some hope in this respect?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: I really hope so, but I’m skeptical. Why would
the leadership of any established government willingly undertake
any action that would result in a serious compromise to their
authority? They will prefer to maintain the status quo and leave
the things the way they are. The conductor of the train has been
changed, but has the train changed its course? I doubt it. The
push has to come from the public, not only domestically, but
internationally, like your group is doing.
Voltaire Network: A number of human rights and activist
groups are supporting your plight, not least Peace Nobel Prize
winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. How have the Argentinean people
in general responded to your situation?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: With an incredible outpouring of support. The
military dictatorship is still fresh in the collective memory of most
of the people here, along with the knowledge that the
dictatorship (along with the other South American dictatorships
at the time) was backed by the CIA, directed at the time by
George Bush Senior. They remember well the torture centers,
the secret prisons, the thousands of people “disappeared” for
their opinions, the living in daily fear. They know that the United
States today will do the same thing if they consider it beneficial,
that they will invade a country to achieve their political and
economic interests and then manipulate the media with
fabricated “causus belli” to justify their conquests.
Kurt Sonnenfeld with Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize 1980
My family and I are honored to have Adolfo Pérez Esquiveland his
advisors at Servicio de Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ) among our
dearest friends. We have worked together on many causes,
including the rights of refugees, the rights of women, for children
without families and children with HIV/AIDS. We are also
honored to have the support of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo;
Madres de Plaza de Mayo, Línea Fundadora; Centro de Estudios
Legales y Sociales (CELS); Asamblea Permanente de Derechos
Humanos (APDH); Familiares de Detenidos y Desaparecidos por
Razones Políticas; Asociación de Mujeres, Migrantes y Refugiados
Argentina (AMUMRA); Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la
Honorable Cámara de Diputados de la Provincia de Buenos Aires;
Secretaría de Derechos Humanos de la Nación; and the
Programa Nacional Anti-Impunidad. On an international level,
Amicus Curiae have been presented in our favor by REPRIEVE of
Great Britain, along with the collaboration of NIZKOR of Spain
and Belgium. In addition, my wife, Paula, and I have been
received in the Congress by La Comisión de Derechos Humanos y
Garantías de la Honorable Cámara de Diputados de La Nación.
Voltaire Network: As we said, deciding to write this book and
to go public was a huge step. What pushed you to do it?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: To save my family. And to let the world know
that things are not what they seem.
Voltaire Network: Last but not least: what will you do with
your tapes?
Kurt Sonnenfeld: I am convinced that my tapes reveal many
more anomalies than I am capable of recognizing given my
limited qualifications. I will therefore cooperate in any way that I
can with serious and reliable experts in a common endeavour to
expose the truth.
Voltaire Network: Thank you very much !
Interview conducted by The Voltaire Network:
Kurt Sonnenfeld: an inconvenient 9/11 witness
Kurt Sonnenfeld’s statement at the presentation of his book El Perseguido (The
Persecuted) on May 8, 2009, at the 35th Annual Buenos Aires Book Fair in Argentina,
where he lives in exile since 2003. In it, Sonnenfeld tells the history of his persecution at
the hands of U.S. authorities over the course of more than seven years after his official
mission to Ground Zero as FEMA’s videographer ... an experience that turned him into an
inconvenient witness.
22 June 2009
From
Buenos Aires
(Argentine)
T ools
Print
Send
Countries
United States
Themes
September
11th, 2001
Buenos Aires
May 8, 2009
Statement by Kurt Sonnenfeld:
I want to convey my deepest gratitude to Adolfo Perez Esquivel,
to Rolando Graña and to my wife Paula for accompanying me
tonight, and to all the people and organizations that have helped
me and my family. And to Ignacio Iraola and Mariano Valerio of
Editorial Planeta for giving me a voice. You are all exemplars of
courage and the fight for justice.
There has never been an independent commission officially
assigned to investigate the horrible events that occurred on
September 11, 2001, although independent commissions for
tragedies of this magnitude are customary. From the beginning,
the investigation into the attacks on the World Trade Center has
been tightly controlled directly from the White House. And now
almost all of the evidence has been destroyed.
Does anyone believe the official version offered as to what
happened on September 11, 2001? There are many who say
that the wildest conspiracy theory of all is the theory offered by
the United States Government. Do you know that on the
weekend prior to the attacks on the WTC, all electricity was cut
off for approximately 36 hours, including the security cameras
and control systems in a highly irregular “maintenance
operation”? Do you know that in the weeks leading up to the
attacks there were several unusual evacuations of both towers?
Do you know that the company in charge of security at the
World Trade Center was directed by Marvin Bush, George Bush’s
younger brother, and Wirt Walker III, George Bush’s cousin? Do
you know that the same security company also lists as
government clients "the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S Air force,
and the Department of Justice," and provides security for
classified and high-risk government sites? Do you know that
hundreds of government personnel were pre-positioned in New
York City on September 10, preparing to do a large scale
simulation of a terrorist attack to be carried out on September
12? FEMA officials had already set up their command post at Pier
92 near the World Trade Center one day before the attacks.
Do you know that the 47-story Salomon Smith Barney Building,
officially known as Seven World Trade Center, imploded at 5:20
in the afternoon of September 11, 2001, some nine hours after
American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower? It took only
about 6.5 seconds for the entire structure to fall straight down
into itself, a half second more than the amount of time it would
have taken a stone to hit the ground if you had dropped it from
the roof in a vacuum. The collapse of Building Seven left a
curiously small and tidy rubble pile, and the buildings to either
side of it were relatively undamaged. It had not been hit by an
airplane and had suffered only minor injuries to its structure
when the Twin Towers collapsed.
The Secret Service, the Department of Defense, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the
Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of
Emergency Management’s “Crisis Center” occupied huge
amounts of space there, spanning several floors of the building.
Other federal agencies had offices there as well. After September
11, it was discovered that concealed within Building Seven was
the largest clandestine domestic station of the Central
Intelligence Agency outside of Washington DC, a base of
operations from which to spy on diplomats of the United Nations
and to conduct counterterrorism and counterintelligence
missions.
But the 9/11 Commission Report, supposed to investigate
thoroughly all aspects and consequences of the attacks for
devising public safety and national security recommandations,
does not even mention Building Seven, its collapse, nor the
bizarre specifics of that collapse. Nor did NIST, the government
agency assigned to investigate the collapse of the Twin Towers.
Like the 9/11 Commission, they completely ignored the
suspicious collapse of Building Seven procrastinating the
publication of their report time and again. [1]
Do you know that one of George Bush’s top Cabinet Secretaries
later said that the conquest of Iraq had been planned since he
first took the Office of President and that an invasion had been
discussed at the first meeting of the National Security Council?
But there had not yet been justification strong enough to invade.
Not until September 11, 2001. The attacks on the World Trade
Center gave them the justification they had been seeking.
But the first casualty of all war is the truth. The reasons given
for attacking Iraq were knowingly fraudulent. Intelligence
documents that had been submitted as evidence were
deliberately fabricated. There were no Weapons of Mass
Destruction and there were no links to al Qaeda. We all know
that the U.S. authorities tried to deceive us about the existence
of clandestine prisons around the world and the systemic torture
of prisoners. The U.S. government lied. International law was
violated.
Again the media was manipulated, and some willingly played the
role of accomplice. US news crews signed contracts with the
military that limited what they were allowed to report, and a few
reporters were even paid by the government to write stories
favorable to the administration. As Josef Goebbels said, “He who
controls the medium controls the message.” And thus the
aggression continued.
My book is not about conspiracy theories, but I do offer my
theory. And my theory is that there was a conspiracy and I
approach the subject from my point of view and experience. But
mostly it is about the bizarre events that have happened (and
are still happening) to me after my tour of duty at Ground Zero.
I was at the world Trade Center. I was part of the official
investigation. Previously I had been an official videographer for
the US government in critical or catastrophic situations. I’ve
done work characterized as confidential at many classified and
maximum security locations related to the storage, development
and transportation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons
or their components and participated in simulations and training
for disasters, catastrophic accidents and terrorist incidents for
many different agencies.
Immediately after the attacks on the World Trade Center, the
entire area in lower Manhattan was sealed off to the public and
to the news media. All cameras were prohibited inside the
secured perimeter and any “unauthorized” cameras were
immediately confiscated. I was given total and absolute access,
however, and was instructed to document for the investigation
and to provide some “sanitized” pool video to virtually every
news network in the world. But I never handed my tapes over to
the authorities.
Since then, over the course of the past seven years, I have been
falsely accused, imprisoned twice in two different countries,
tortured, put in solitary confinement, followed across two
continents and slandered relentlessly in a campaign to
dehumanize me so that no one will protest and to discredit me
so that when I talk, no one will listen. Four years ago, the US
embassy sent a note to Argentine officials to confiscate all of my
possessions and documents and to remit them to the United
States. To this day, my wife, my twin daughters and I live in a
closed world surrounded by threat and harassment.
I wrote this book to save my family.
Scarlett, Paula, Kurt and Natasha Sonnenfeld
I would like to read the
last few pages to you:
It’s been a few years
since President Bush
stood up on a cannon
mount atop the deck of
the USS Abraham
Lincoln and exultantly
shouted “mission
accomplished” to the
cheering troops who
stood below him.
Since then, Saddam
Hussein’s regime has
been “decapitated”.
Saddam himself was
nearly decapitated, too.
When he was hanged in
front of a mocking crowd, his vertebrae shattered and ripped a
large wound through the side of his neck. Two weeks later, when
they hanged Saddam’s half brother, Barzan Ibrahimal-Tikriti, his
head was completely torn away from his body, and both parts
dropped to the ground beneath the gallows, convulsing and
gushing torrents of blood.
But still the fighting continues. The region is more destabilized
and resentments are strong. And hundreds of thousands of
people have died in a war justified by lies and by fraud. More
deaths and more lies are sure to follow.
Recently I saw photos, posted on-line by a German magazine, of
an Iraqi boy only about three or four years old. He had been
burned so badly by a phosphorous bomb that his skin had
melted away. You could see the white bones of his ribs, and he
had no fingers, no lips, no eyelids. But he was not “al qaeda”.
Almost none, if any, of the casualties were. They were not “axis
of evil”. They were not “haters of freedom”. They were babies,
mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, sisters and
brothers, too. People who care and people who cry. Their deaths
cannot be summarily dismissed as “collateral damage”.
What is the cost of a war? Who pays and who gains? War is
expensive, but the money has to go somewhere. War is very
profitable for the very few. And somehow their sons always end
up in Washington DC, making the decisions and writing the
budgets, while the sons of the poor and the poorly connected
always end up on the enemy lines, taking their orders and
fighting their battles. Many people have the hope that this will all
end with the current administration. But it won’t. It’s been going
on for a long time, in one way or another, and it won’t stop. The
legacies live on.
If I’m lucky, and if God is willing, I will never go back to
America. It’s the best I can hope for. But that’s okay. I have
Paula. I have Scarlett and Natasha, too. And that’s all I need.
And as unlikely as it once seemed to me, I have hopes, too.
That’s more than I could ask for.
But its strange how memories keep sneaking up behind me,
tapping on my consciousness and re-introducing themselves like
some old forgotten friend. Sometimes when I walk past a
fountain or a pond, I recall my father taking me to the lake when
I was a child, throwing me high up into the air so I could splash
down into the water. And after I grew up, going fishing with him
at the same lake. And when the sky of the late afternoon is
particularly golden, I recall my mother and I driving in the
mountains, just the two of us, stopping to pick up garbage along
the highway. When the wind blows, I think of riding fast on
motorcycles with my brother. And when I listen to music,
sometimes I remember all the long talks I used to have with my
sister while she played her favorite records. And I always think
about Mark, patiently teaching me the small details of television
production or the big generalities of philosophy and religion. How
I miss the people I might never see again. Sometimes I ache for
them! And how I miss the mountains! The smell of lavender in
the summer, the smell of snow in the winter, the smell of pine
logs burning in fireplaces all year long.
I remember once shooting a segment on “cartoneros” for
Graña’s program, “Informe Central”. The producer, Miguel,
wanted a documentary portrayal of what life was like for them as
they searched the streets at night for discarded recyclables to
sell. It was almost midnight when we climbed into the back of
their big communal truck to ride along with them to their homes
in the villa, and everyone was in a good mood. As we bounced
along through the city, balanced haphazardly atop the mountain
of cartons they had collected, we interviewed a precocious
teenage boy. More accurately, we just let him talk and recorded
it all on tape. But then he began to ask about me. What was I
doing there? Why was an American working as a cameraman for
an Argentinean television show? How did that happen? They
were good questions, and I tried to answer them. But the
camera was rolling, my Vari-Lite was burning, and our story was
about his life and not mine. And so to keep it brief, Miguel told
the boy that I had once stepped into a time machine and
traveled back in time. While I was in the past, I touched
something that I shouldn’t have. And when I returned to the
present, everything was different. I thought that was a better
explanation than I could have ever offered.
Recently, we were in a café near the Plaza de Mayo. Paula was
talking on the cell phone. Scarlett was busily occupied with sugar
packets and napkins and Natasha was immersed in drawing
pictures with her finger in a little pool of water on the table. The
café was insulated from the noise on the street, and it was quiet
inside, too. I just sat there, thinking, my arms folded across my
chest, and watched through the window at the busy hustle on
the street and the people as they walked by. I looked at their
eyes and tried to imagine what was their experience of life. Here
is a businessman hurrying by. And there a doctor. And there,
perhaps a lawyer. A delivery boy, an engineer, a secretary, a
waiter. On the corner was a shoe shiner. On the curb a drunk.
Some are blessed. Some are cursed. By God, by nature, by man,
or by circumstance. What triumphs had catapulted them to their
heights? What tragedies had knocked them to their depths? And
what surprises lay in wait to change their direction completely?
No one knows if they won’t die of some terrible disease, be badly
injured in an accident, be killed by an airplane crashing into a
building, be kidnapped, be falsely accused, be chased across
continents, lose everything. We can’t know. We can never have
that solace. Fundamentally, we are all terrified. We all decay and
die, despite the illusions we create for ourselves.
I too was once hurrying by café windows on my way to work, full
of plans and hopes, getting things done. And then an
extraordinary series of events occurred, and all of that was
gone, replaced by threats and dangers from all sides. When I
first arrived here, I didn’t have much hope that I would last
another month. But then, as if by a miracle, Paula came into my
life, and I squeezed out a few more drops of grace from this
world that was at once beautiful and horrible. Now I rather like it
here. I want to stay for awhile.
What do we think about when we think of paradise? That
everything is beautiful and that there are no threats to us. What
is it that we imagine when we imagine happiness? It’s that we
no longer have to defend ourselves.(“El Perseguido”, pages 383
- 386)
I sincerely thank you for honoring us here today with your
presence. Thank you everyone! And thank you Argentina, the
land of my wife Paula, the country we have chosen for our
daughters, and also my country.
Thank you.
[URL="http://theintelhub.com/2010/09/23/video-proof-of-the-911-conspiracy-–-the-kurt-sonnenfeld-story/"]
Sonnenfeld images can be seen here[/URL]