Sick Ground Zero Firefighters, used pawns?, LC transfer Options

[THE_DECIDER]

Bush ignores sick firefighters

“Toxic chemicals and metals are being released into the environment around lower Manhattan by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers and by the fires still burning at Ground Zero,” the Daily News wrote on 26 October 2001. “With the city facing heat from cops and firefighters who say they became sick working at Ground Zero or the Fresh Kills landfill, we would do well to remember the warnings,” the same paper noted two and a half years later (25 May 2004). Indeed!

But while President George W. Bush exploits these workers for campaign purposes, the fact is that he ignores the sick and cuts funding for rescue workers and equipment.

The Daily News based their first article on the World Trade Center “Toxic Zone” on hundreds of pages of environmental tests undertaken by the federal government. The tests showed that asbestos, benzene, heavy metals, dioxins and PCBs were being released into the environment. But a spokesperson for the federal Environmental Protection Agency said there was “nothing to worry about”. Several other officials chimed in. And, as could be expected, they sent this message to the thousands of workers on the rubble pile: “Respirators, when used properly, protect workers from exposure to contaminants.”

Today, some 1,700 firefighters and police officers, who assert they became sick while working at Ground Zero or the Fresh Kills landfill*, have filed lawsuits against New York City. Several have developed cancer. While experts would normally expect many more years to pass before cancer developed, the combination of toxics these people were exposed to was probably unprecedented. Last May, a summary report of scientific studies on Ground Zero pollution was published. It begins: “The destruction of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 caused the largest acute environmental disaster that ever has befallen New York City.”

Bush inspired

Since the start of his re-election campaign, President Bush has repeatedly described how he was inspired by “the courage of the firefighters and the police” in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. In a speech, he recounted how, when standing on a pile of rubble at Ground Zero, he was told by a firefighter: “Don’t let me down”.

Yet, he does. He continues to ignore the needs of firefighters and police officers who got sick from their rescue efforts. The White House sought to hide evidence that workers had been exposed to hazardous toxins and then tried to block $90 million in funding for medical treatment. When Congress forced the Administration to accept the expenditure, they delayed releasing the money and threatened to shut down the health-screening programme.

Trading on heroism

“I’m disappointed but not surprised that the President would try to trade on the heroism of those firefighters in the September 11 attacks. The use of 9/11 images are hypocrisy at its worst,” the General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), Harold Schaitberger, said in a statement issued on 4 March 2004.

As the President unveiled new political advertisements that use images of firefighters, Schaitberger added: “Bush is calling on the biggest disaster in our country’s history, and indeed in the history of the fire service, to win sympathy for his campaign. Since the attacks, Bush has been using images of himself putting his arm around a retired firefighter on the pile of rubble at Ground Zero. But for two and a half years he has basically shortchanged firefighters and the safety of our homeland by not providing firefighters the resources needed to do the job that America deserves.”

Deep budget cuts

“The fact is Bush’s actions have resulted in fire stations closing in communities around the country,” the IAFF statement goes on to say. “Two-thirds of America’s fire departments remain under-staffed because Bush is failing to enforce a new law that would put more firefighters in our communities. The President’s budget proposes to cut Homeland Security Department funding for first responders** by $700 million for next year and cuts funding for a grant program that helps fire departments fund equipment needs by $250 million.

“We’re going to be aggressive and vocal in our efforts to ensure that the citizens of this country know about Bush’s poor record on protecting their safety and providing for the needs of the people who are supposed to respond in an emergency.”


* Fresh Kills is where two million tons of World Trade Center debris was taken.
** First responders are those who are first on an emergency scene: police, ambulance staff, firefighters…

“There is just something so uplifting to see the courage of the firefighters and the police and their loved ones, and the citizens of New York City and Connecticut and New Jersey, as they rallied to what was a horrible moment in our history. It was such an inspiring moment for those of us who saw firsthand the response.”

Remarks by George W. Bush, 20 April 2004





“On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers. It is a day that I will never forget. There were firefighters and policemen in the crowd shouting, ‘Whatever it takes’. A guy in a hard-hat looked at me and said, ‘Don’t let me down’.”

Remarks by George W. Bush, 13 May 2004




KEEP THIS IN MIND NEXT TIME YOU HEAR PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THESE FIREFIGHTERS

[ScaffoldRider]

Thanks THE_DECIDER,

Being a first hand witness to the bravery and dedication of the Firefighters at Ground Zero on 9/11 and the days that followed, we need NEVER to forget their selfless acts. I watched thousands run from those Towers as these Firefighters, without hesitation or thought, run in those buildings. It was with only one thing in mind, to save human life.

Most the world knows, "9/11 Was An Inside Job" but even if you can imagine it wasn't, Bush would still be guilty of Treason and Mass Murder by he's deliberate willful negilent to the medical and financial needs of thoses that asked so little and gave so much.

I will never again be able to look at a Firefighter without remembering their bravery, selfishness, and dedication to saving LIFE! So the next time you see a firefighter say "Hello and Thank You." I have and many have responded with their
appriecation, it's the least we can do to acknowledge their dedication to saving life! To these brave souls it's more than a job.

(IMG:http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/5514/9130650po1.jpg)

This post has been edited by ScaffoldRider: Oct 22 2006, 02:19 PM

I have nothing against firefighters or cops or marines etc....


However, keep in mind these folks are in jobs they sought, and worked to get into.

The work is very dangerous. However, most people with jobs contribute to the good of society in their own ways.

I think we overlook the medical professions, the guys who fix potholes and the mechanics who change our tires and keep our cars running .

There is too much worshipping the ground these folks walk on sometimes.
What about the highway worker who gets killed.

Who calls him a hero. Nobody.


We need to keep things in proper proportion.

[THE_DECIDER]

i understand where youre coming from, and i was not trying to glorify anyone inparticular,

i was just showing how this mr.bush, uses "the firefighters" in order to boost ramped patriotism, then in the same day, condems them all to die in obscurety..

[JerryB9105]

http://pqarchiver.nypost.com/nypost/access...27+AFTER+9%2F11
***EXTRACT***
September 24, 2006 -- Condoleezza Rice's office gave final approval to the infamous Environmental Protection Agency press releases days after 9/11 claiming the air around Ground Zero was "safe to breathe," internal documents show.
*********

This was BIG NEWS as regards this BIG SUBJECT but THE SAME seems to have slipped into the shadows -- out of sight // out of mind.

[behind]

Talking about the dust cloud and EPA etc... then this looks interesting to me:

More allegations from EPA whistleblower

As RAW STORY reported this past August, Cate Jenkins, an EPA biochemist, sent a letter to the New York congressional delegation, alleging that the inconsistent official reports about inhalant alkalinity were part of an intentional cover up by government scientists and officials.

www.rawstory.com

Jenkins' full memorandom may be read here (pdf and it is a huge document)