Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Obama Meets With 9/11 Families

President moves to reassure families over his plans for terror suspects

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 7, 2009 5:26 AM CST

(Newser) – Barack Obama met yesterday with people who lost relatives in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole in an effort to reassure them about his plans for detained al-Qaeda suspects, McClatchy Newspapers reports. The president hugged some of the 40 attendees at the highly emotional meeting and promised the White House door would always be open to them.

Obama explained his decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center and to drop military commission charges against a suspect in the Cole bombing during a half-hour Q&A session. He vowed that the terror suspects would face justice. Attendees said the meeting was passionate but never angry, leaving the families impressed, although not universally won over by his plans.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

A small boat guards the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen. President Obama met Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 with families of 9/11 victims and the 17 sailors killed in the bombing of the USS Cole. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

President Barack Obama arrives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

He made the point that he is closing Guantanamo because it is a symbol to the world of something that got tangled up in Abu Ghraib. We need our foreign allies to help us catch the terrorists.
- Valerie Lucznikowska, whose nephew died in the 9/11 attacks

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Getty Images

35 Brutally Honest Reasons Men Say No to Sex (The Stir)

Man in Mugshot Explains Why He Has Half a Head (HuffPost)

These Exes Were Spotted Making Out … and That's a Bad Thing (Bleacher Report)

Help! I'm Having an Incestuous Relationship With My Twin (Slate)

Which Celeb Dedicated Song to Her Famous Husband Despite Divorce Rumors? (NewsOne)

Partner Links

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

Showing 3 of 4 comments

Guest

Feb 7, 2009 3:24 AM CST

Forderon - I'm sorry for not being clear. Thanks for the NY Times/Middle East link. Yes the Bush 2 Iraq war has made the world a more dangerous place. In my 2 posts I was trying to use sarcasm..."8 perfect years" (vomit) and thanking Bush and Cheney for 7 1/3 good years (scare tactics/job loss/loss of military lives/foreclosures...) and the first 2/3rd's of that first (Horrific) year. When you get an oil man in the White House, he almost has to go to war for gas prices to double and triple so he can make hundreds of millions of dollars (maybe more). Every President at least since Johnson has made out far better having been the President than not. And when we get a new person taking the oath, we hope that while the new Pres in lining his pockets with the perks of the office, we also hope that he (someday she) can line ours also (at least a little bit anyway). But, Bush/Cheney took the most by far, and helped us the least by far. Though they did help the top 1% of the population when he was kicking the rest of us to the curb. And also the Bush/Cheney war was a great smoke screen, because while he was kicking us and sending our sons/daughters/fathers/mothers/sisters/brothers... to war, most of us were too patriotic to realize what they were doing. Also, if we were pushed around a little to much in childhood, a war is a great place to (unknowingly) get even with the people who hurt us. Though Bush wasn't smart enough for the smoke and mirrors of the last 8 years, Cheney was. I'll try to be more clear and less long winded next time.

Forderon

Feb 7, 2009 12:03 AM CST

That is a false sense of security to believe in......http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html

Guest

Feb 6, 2009 10:36 PM CST

On a serious note: I'd like to thank President Bush and Vice President Cheney for keeping our home land safe for the last 7 1/3 years. The first 2/3rds of that year, give yourselves a break, nobody's perfect.

What's Popular Now on Facebook

E-Cigarette Explodes in Man's Mouth

Goats Have Accents: Study

McClatchy Newspapers (Source Grid »)
CNN (Source Grid »)

Meeting 'just the beginning of a dialogue'
Washington Post

Obama promises terror suspects will face justice
New York Times

Politics

Barack Obama • Guantanamo Bay • Guantanamo prisoners • al-Qaeda • USS Cole • 9/11 attacks • Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri • Obama administration • Guantanamo tribunals • President Obama

More Newser Stories

Gitmo Judge Refuses Obama's Order to Delay Trials

Delay in USS Cole case 'does not serve the interest of justice,' Army colonel says

(NEWSER) - The lead judge in the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals has refused President Obama’s order to suspend legal proceedings against one of the terror prison’s detainees, Reuters reports. Army Col. James Pohl said tribunal rules give him sole authority to delay litigation in the case of Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, accused in the 2000 bombing that killed 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole. More»

Prez Orders Halt to Gitmo Trials

Prosecutors seeking 120-day delay while Obama sorts things out

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama ordered military prosecutors to seek a 120-day halt to legal proceedings at Guantanamo Bay—due to resume today—against five accused 9/11 conspirators, and another case against a Canadian defendant. Documents already filed said the request is made "in the interest of justice and at the direction of the president." Military judges will decide today whether to grant the request, reports the Washington Post. More»

Obama Restarts Guantanamo Trials

Administration ends 2-year military prosecution freeze

(NEWSER) - President Obama today reversed a two-year freeze on military prosecutions against Guantanamo Bay detainees, the AP reports. In an executive order, the president restarted the process of trying the high-risk detainees—the latest acknowledgment of the political difficulties of fulfilling his campaign promise to close the Cuban detention facility. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will also rescind his January 2009 ban on new prosecutions. More»

Bush AG: Court Terror Trials Too Dangerous

Challenges to security, secrecy would be 'overwhelming'

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration wants to try alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other Guantanamo detainees in federal courts—and that's a major mistake, says Michael Mukasey. Terrorism trials pose "overwhelming" security challenges, and classified information would have to be revealed, warns George Bush's relatively moderate third attorney general in a Wall Street Journal op ed. "The Justice Department claims that our courts are well suited to the task," he writes. "Based on my experience, they aren't." More»

Gitmo Detainee Files a Mess

Obama officials condemn disorder; ex-Bushies cry blame game

(NEWSER) - The case files of many Gitmo detainees are incomplete, disorganized, or strewn around the executive branch, complicating President Barack Obama’s plan to close down the detention center, reports the Washington Post. Incoming officials discovered the chaos when given access after the inauguration. One former official says he sometimes had to threaten to release prisoners to force the CIA to "cough up a sentence or two." More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Obama Meets With 9/11 Families