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Gold9472
05-27-2009, 02:42 PM
Napolitano: 9/11 terrorists did not enter US from Canada

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Napolitano_9_11_terrorists_did_not__05272009.html

Published: Wednesday May 27, 2009

US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said Wednesday she now knows 9/11 terrorists did not enter the United States from Canada, seeking to bury controversy over a diplomatic gaffe.

"I know that 9/11 terrorists did not cross the Canadian border," Napolitano told reporters, referring to an "earlier misstatement" used to justify increased security at the United States' northern frontier.

She had made the comment in a television interview with Canadian public broadcaster CBC in April, provoking outrage in this country.

"Terrorists have come into our country or suspected or known terrorists have entered our country across ... the Canadian border," she was quoted as saying.

Her office immediately issued a correction, but not before the falsehood was spread by others, including US Senator John McCain who told Fox News: "Some of the 9/11 hijackers did come through Canada, as you know."

Most who made the same mistake, including Republican commentator Newt Gingrich and now US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have subsequently apologized to the Canadian embassy.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said Wednesday: "The secretary has made her position quite clear, she's corrected (her statements), we have accepted that and moved on."

Canadian lawmakers feared the misconception would fuel an unwarranted tightening of Canada-US border security that could strangle cross-border trade, worth more than one billion dollars per day.

Napolitano was in Ottawa to discuss border issues with Van Loan over two days.