Texsox Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Link Partial of article from AP By JOHN SOLOMON (AP) A heavy pulley wheel from the elevator mechanism, mangled doors from police vehicles and aircraft... Full Image WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department investigation that criticized FBI agents for taking souvenirs from the World Trade Center site also found that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and a high-ranking FBI official kept items from the Sept. 11 attack scenes. The final investigatory report said the Justice Department inspector general confirmed Rumsfeld "has a piece of the airplane that flew into the Pentagon." The Associated Press obtained a copy of the report Friday. Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said Friday night that Rumsfeld has a shard of metal from the jetliner that struck the Pentagon on a table in his office and shows it to people as a reminder of the tragedy Pentagon workers shared on Sept. 11, 2001. "He doesn't consider it his own," Di Rita said, adding the piece is on display for the Pentagon. "We are mindful of the fact that if somebody has an evidentiary requirement to have this shard of metal, we will provide it to them." The Justice Department investigation also collected testimony that Pasquale D'Amuro, FBI Director Robert Mueller's executive assistant director for terrorism until last summer, asked a supervisory agent to "obtain a half dozen items from the WTC debris so the items could be given to dignitaries." Six items - none needed as evidence - were gathered and sent to D'Amuro, the report said. D'Amuro, now the head of the FBI's New York office, told investigators that "he asked for a piece of the building as a memento" and that he was aware that agents had taken such items from other terrorist crime scenes over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Everything's a souvenir to someone.... What is sad and sick is if they could get away with it, some of the people who took stuff would try to sell it on eBay or something. Sadder still is the fact that somebody would most likely buy the stuff on eBay. Quite a world we've got, huh.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 I'm usually the last one to defend Rummy (in fact I don't think I ever have), but it sounds like the piece he has is a legitimately solemn reminder of the event. He's not hiding it or using it as spectacle (so it sounds from the article); it is openly displyed in his office and used as a physical reminder to an event that has defined a lot of what he has been involved in. FBI agents pilfering souvenirs on the otehr hand, OR thinking that it is appropriate to give dignitaries with pieces of 911 debris as souvenirs or wghatever, that's WAY out of line. The difference between that and what at least from that post it seems like Rummy has is wxactly the difference between A piece of wreckage from Shuttle Columbia being enshrined as a memorial at the space center versus the vultures who collected debris aginst the direct orders of investigators, to keep as keepsakes or try to sell on eBay, etc. Even if Rummy's piece is not on public display as an open memorial, it seems to serve the same touchstone purpose for him and those who pass through his office. Am I wrong to see it this way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted March 13, 2004 Author Share Posted March 13, 2004 Jim, I don't like seeing it as a paperweight on Rumsfeld's desk. In a museum or some other public memorial, yes. I don't see you or I dropping by Rummy's office. For thousands of people, that is their grave. We never found most of the victims. To me every bit of the building, planes, etc. is sacred. A lot of my attitude comes from a conversation I had one night with a veteran of WW2. I was participating in a "live aboard" program on the USS Lexington. He mentioned all the young men who had died on that ship and whose remains were either never found or buried at sea. Just like you wouldn't want someone spitting gum on your grave, the same holds for areas like this. It's a matter of respect. Maybe I'm old school on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighHeat45 Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 I guess he wanted to show people how good of job he did defending our nation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Jim, I don't like seeing it as a paperweight on Rumsfeld's desk. In a museum or some other public memorial, yes. I don't see you or I dropping by Rummy's office. For thousands of people, that is their grave. We never found most of the victims. To me every bit of the building, planes, etc. is sacred. A lot of my attitude comes from a conversation I had one night with a veteran of WW2. I was participating in a "live aboard" program on the USS Lexington. He mentioned all the young men who had died on that ship and whose remains were either never found or buried at sea. Just like you wouldn't want someone spitting gum on your grave, the same holds for areas like this. It's a matter of respect. Maybe I'm old school on this. I completely understand that position and I assume Rummy is treating the item with more dignity than that. And, I also think it is different because it is part of the plane that hit the Pentagon - the home turf for the Department of Defense - it wasn't part of the Ground Zero site wher ethousands of civilians were killed. The piece is a very real reminder that the Pentagon, of all places, is vulnerable to attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Most of the WTC is in a landfill or has been reused to build other buildings.. How is having a piece of the WTC in a government office a bad thing as opposed to the other "resting places" of the WTC? I would assume that there will be some pieces moved to the WTC memorial when they finish it. It is a reminder everyday to Rumsfeld how he and the rest of the higher-ups in the US government failed. And it gives them reason to not fail again every time they see the piece of the WTC sitting on the desk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonWeltall Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Another non-story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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