Judicial Watch To Obtain September 11 Pentagon Video At 1PM Today
Judicial Watch to Obtain September 11 Pentagon Video at 1 p.m. Today
http://www.judicialwatch.org/5772.shtml
Department of Defense Responds to Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act Request and Related Lawsuit
(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that Department of Defense will release a videotape to Judicial Watch at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon that allegedly shows American Airlines Flight 77 striking the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The Department of Defense is releasing the videotape in response to a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act request and related lawsuit.
“This is in response to your December 14, 2004 Freedom of Information Act Request, FOIA appeal of March 27, 2005, and complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia,” wrote William Kammer, Chief of the Department of Defense, Office of Freedom of Information. “Now that the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui is over, we are able to complete your request and provide the video…”
Judicial Watch originally filed a Freedom of Information Act request on December 15, 2004, seeking all records pertaining to September 11, 2001 camera recordings of the Pentagon attack from the Sheraton National Hotel, the Nexcomm/Citgo gas station, Pentagon security cameras and the Virginia Department of Transportation. The Department of Defense admitted in a January 26, 2005 letter that it possessed a videotape responsive to Judicial Watch’s request. However, the Pentagon refused to release the videotape because it was, “part of an ongoing investigation involving Zacarias Moussaoui.” Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on February 22, 2006 arguing that there was “no legal basis” for the Defense Department’s refusal to release the tape.
“We fought hard to obtain this video because we felt that it was very important to complete the public record with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Finally, we hope that this video will put to rest the conspiracy theories involving American Airlines Flight 77. As always, our prayers remain with all those who suffered as a result of those murderous attacks.”
A copy of the video will be made available on Judicial Watch’s Internet site, www.judicialwatch.org.
Judicial Watch is a non-partisan, educational foundation organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code. Judicial Watch is dedicated to fighting government and judicial corruption and promoting a return to ethics and morality in our nation's public life.
9/11 Pentagon video goes public for first time
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/US/05/16...ntagon.dod.jpg
Watchdog group says release will end 'conspiracy theories'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Video showing a plane crashing into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, will be released publicly for the first time on Tuesday, a judicial watchdog said.
The Department of Defense will hand over tapes showing American Airlines Flight 77 striking its headquarters outside Washington to Judicial Watch, a public interest group that requested the video, the group said.
The video will be available on the group's Web site after it receives the tape at 1 p.m., according to a news release from Judicial Watch.
Still photographs of the aftermath of the attack showed the Pentagon on fire but no images of the Boeing 757 striking the building have ever been made public. (Watch fireballs engulf ruined parts of the Pentagon -- 0:55)
"We fought hard to obtain this video because we felt that it was very important to complete the public record with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
"Finally, we hope that this video will put to rest the conspiracy theories involving American Airlines Flight 77. As always, our prayers remain with all those who suffered as a result of those murderous attacks."
The Pentagon attack killed 184 people: Fifty-three passengers and six crew members on board American Airlines Flight 77, and 125 military and civilian personnel inside the building.
Some conspiracy theorists have maintained the aircraft was shot down in flight, and that the Pentagon was struck by a missile.
Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request, but the government had refused to release the video until after the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the convicted al Qaeda conspirator who was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison.
Judicial Watch is "a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law," according to its Web site.
The group filed a lawsuit this year, arguing that there was "no legal basis" for the Pentagon's refusal to release the tape.
The video requested by Judicial Watch was taken from security cameras at the Pentagon, the Sheraton National Hotel, the Nexcomm/Citgo gas station, and Virginia Department of Transportation traffic cameras.
Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch's director of media affairs, told CNN she would not know which video will be released "until we see it."
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/05/16...deo/index.html
I wonder what took so long...?
