Toronto Star: "This is about mass murder," she said. "I want to know who was responsible. "No one has been fired. No one has been demoted. The same people who are guarding us today on an elevated security alert are the same people who were working that day."
Reveal the Truth about 9/11, Show Up for Democracy in
2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1223-02.htm
Published on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 by the Toronto
Star
Families Sue U.S., Reject 9/11 'Bribe'
Ignore Deadline for Compensation
by Tim Harper
WASHINGTON—For some, it's blood money, a repugnant
payoff they feel they have no choice but to accept.
For a handful of others, the process of claiming
compensation is too painful: they find themselves
paralyzed by grief and unable to reopen emotional
wounds barely healed from the deaths of their loved
ones in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
But as many as 73 families see the process of U.S.
government compensation as an attempt to protect those
who should be held accountable for what they believe
was mass murder.
They ignored a midnight deadline last night, their
last chance to apply for government cash.
It's almost like it's a payoff to save the airlines
and not hold any of those people responsible for what
happened.
Irene Golinski, 53, whose husband died in the Pentagon
attack
And today, they begin a new stage in an arduous
odyssey and will sue their government, airlines and
state and local authorities.
"This may be uncharted waters, but I was thrown in a
pool on Sept. 11, 2001 and had to learn to swim," said
Monica Gabrielle, who lost her husband Richard in the
World Trade Center attack.
"I am doing this for my husband. He was a gentle man,
and he was alive, trying to get out of that building
that day. The dead. The dying. The smoke. The terror.
No one should have suffered like that. I want
accountability. I need answers."
The compensation fund has been controversial since
President George W. Bush signed it into law 13 days
after the attacks. For those who lost family members,
it was always about protecting airlines, federal,
state and local authorities from billions of dollars
of lawsuits.
To receive the federal money, recipients must sign a
waiver giving up their right to sue anyone involved in
the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history.
A late surge of claims on deadline yesterday meant
close to 95 per cent of the 2,976 families who lost
loved ones in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania
were expected to finally take the money.
To get there, they had to accept a monetary value on
the lives of those closest to them, after making a
case based on birth and marriage licences, diplomas
and degrees, even videos. They will, on average,
receive $1.8 million (all figures U.S.) each.
Families of 24 Canadian victims are eligible for
compensation and most have applied.
Brian Alexander, a New York lawyer representing a
portion of the victims who have launched the lawsuit,
said he knew of no Canadians involved.
He said those who have chosen to sue have put no
dollar figure on awards and each claim will be
individually tailored.
"A widow who is 80 years old is not in the same
category as a widow who lost her husband at age 30 and
has four kids at home," he said.
Some $1.5 billion had been paid from the government
fund by the weekend. Compensation for individual
deaths has ranged from $250,000 to $6.9 million. Those
physically injured as a result of the attacks have
received compensation ranging from $500 to $7.9
million.
"Only in America could there be a program like this,"
fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg told CNN
yesterday.
"You wouldn't find a program paying an average $1.8
million tax-free to eligible families. This is an
unprecedented, unique program and exhibits I think the
best in the American people."
Yet Gabrielle says it is a bribe by the government so
victims can be coerced into washing their hands of the
affair.
She is also resentful that the government is
determining the worth of loved ones.
"This is about mass murder," she said. "I want to know
who was responsible. "No one has been fired. No one
has been demoted. The same people who are guarding us
today on an elevated security alert are the same
people who were working that day."
Gabrielle said she is looking at a special 9/11
commission headed by former New Jersey governor Thomas
Kean to answer the question of responsibility.
Kean has battled the White House, New York and
aviation authorities for access to documents. He has a
May deadline.
"There are people that, if I was doing the job, would
certainly not be in the position they were in at that
time because they failed. They simply failed," Kean
told CBS last week.
He said later he was talking of lower level officials,
but Gabrielle and others want to know more about the
safety of the buildings and airport security.
Even those who have accepted the money see it only as
the lesser of two evils.
Irene Golinski, 53, whose husband died in the Pentagon
attack, was still grappling with the decision to put
9/11 behind her or continue with a lawsuit.
"It's almost like it's a payoff to save the airlines
and not hold any of those people responsible for what
happened," she said.
Feinberg's office detailed some awards. The
beneficiary of a 36-year-old project manager earning
$231,000 and with one dependent was paid $3.48
million, while the beneficiary of a 26-year-old
military officer with no dependents and a $44,000
salary got $1.84 million.
Copyright Toronto Star Newspapers Limited
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