DOWNSIDE LEGACY AT TWO DEGREES OF PRESIDENT CLINTON
SECTION: REMEMBERING THE DEAD
SUBSECTION: TRAGEDY IN U.S.
Revised 8/15/99
OKLAHOMA CITY
WACO
RUBY RIDGE (AFTERMATH)
COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL
TWA 800
DEATHS - TRAGEDY - OKLAHOMA CITY (168+19 TOTAL)
Media Bypass 11/98 Pat Shannan ".The first expert to go public with the ANFO discrepancies was USAF Brig-adier General (ret.) Benton K. Partin. Sitting in his living room in Virginia and merely looking only at photos in Time, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report was enough to catch his discerning eye. The exposed rebar on the severed columns at the third-floor level was adequate evidence for Partin. He knew that an air blast from a truck on the street could never remove reinforced concrete and steel. Then he noticed the remaining standing columns between the truck and the one taken out in the left center of the Murrah Building. He knew this was impossible, unless there were charges planted at the collapsed column. Partin noted three such columns from the magazine photos and found a fourth by viewing expanded fire department photos on a later visit to Oklahoma City. Later study revealed the macabre evidence of a fifth charge having been detonated underneath the children s nursery on the second floor. General Partin's credentials and military record are impeccable. Most of his 31-year career in the air force was spent in demolition. He headed up the USAF's Explosive Research Laboratory. If the FBI were really looking for the truth in this case, could they find a better expert witness than Ben Partin? The theory of the ANFO bomb exploding in a truck on the street and wreaking the kind of damage seen for blocks around is akin to a pea-shooter bringing down a spaceship.. General Partin's facts in evidence served to confirm what had been only theories of many others such as this writer who barely passed high school chemistry. But even those who flunked Physics and Logic could understand the Partin report. Apparently this group did not include the some 60 congressman and senators to whom Partin hand-delivered his eight-page letter on Capitol Hill. Only one had the courtesy to respond, said "It's too deep for me," and passed it on the FBI.."
FR Exclusive KAKC am 1300 Ken Rank/Craig Roberts/Boyd- from here on, as (KR)- On the line, Tonia Yeakey, by the way lets tell them Craig, her husband Terry was the police officer of the OKC police department, was the first one into the buildi ng after the bombing. Craig Roberts- from here on, as (CR)-Yeah, and the first to die of a questionable suicide afterwards. A year later he was found dead where? In a field two and a half miles west of El Reno reformatory a mile out into this field, his car was abandoned along a dirt road and there was a lot of blood in the car but hardly any blood at the scene. It turns out we found out later he was shot through the head, no gun was found, but it was a real (ruled) suicide. He also had 13 cuts and lacerations on his body on his wrists and elbows and jugular veins and they called it suicide...They wrote it off as suicide. And was he about to release a book? or... No he had gathered a lot of information and he was taking it out of town to hide it someplace in some mini- storage west of OKC that he had. We don't know if he ever managed to hide the stuff or not because he never came home. Tonia is his ex-wife at the time, she has 2 children by him and he had gone to her and asked her to be remarried because he wanted her to be covered by his insurance and his pension because he knew something might happen to him and he was real adamant about it, but we will let her tell that part and it is an obvious case of torture, murder and it was written off within minutes as suicide and it was ridiculous, but the funny thing was the Canadian County Sheriff's Office were the first ones on the scene and there she is.....Good morning, Tonia.."Well it actually started the day of the bombing, that he made some strange statement that at first, I wasn't able to put into any kind of logical order, but later on it began to make sense why he was making these comments. I got a call about 11:30 maybe 11:15 the morning of the Bombing from Presbyterian Hospital that said Terry had been injured and I needed to come down there and get him. . the strange thing was, The first statement that came out of his mouth was `Get me out of this hospital, no matter what you have to do, get me out of here.' I said OK. He was very adamant. I didn't know at the time that, I'd been told later, that he'd been threatened at the hospital. I didn't know where the source of the threatening came, but that's what I had been told later on, about a year after his death.. As soon as they loaded him into the car, he got very upset, started to cry a little bit, and said `Tonia, it's not what they're saying it is. They're not telling the truth. They're lying about what's going on down there.' I did try to press him a little bit and ask him some questions, but he didn't seem very willing to talk about it. It was just kind of a comment. 'It's not what they're portraying it to be.'."
OKC Bombing
DEATHS - TRAGEDY - WACO (86 TOTAL)
From Freeper Boost-dependent re March for Justice
".Regarding the Waco connection to Clinton: at the 31st March, Gary Aldritch revealed a secret that orders to storm Waco came not from Reno, but directly from the Clinton White House.."
11/17/98 from the Year of the Rat:
".In Jakarta, James Riady likes to brag about where he was on the afternoon of April 19, 1993. On that day 80 members of the branch debate in religious cult or holed up in their compound outside of Waco, Texas, when it was shattered by a tank led assault. By the time the FBI and the Treasury's Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents had completed their work, 17 American children had burned to death. As might be expected, the White House was a busy place that afternoon, and the president was preoccupied. Bill Clinton was not too distracted, however, to chat with his leading contributors James Riady, John Huang, and Mark Grobmeyer in his little study off the Oval Office*. James Riady later told Indonesian diplomats that, during their chat, a television in the corner showed the Waco compound burning "over and over" as CNN repeated its coverage. Bill Clinton even took time to show his visitors the White House Situation Room, then on Full Alert **. White House logs confirm that James Riady and his companion were in the presidential offices (West Named) of the White House that day. They apparently also dropped and on Robert Rubin, now Secretary of the treasury, who was then a White House economics official***…"
The Dallas Morning News 7/28/99 Lee Hancock "...The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety said Tuesday that evidence held by the Texas Rangers since the 1993 Branch Davidian siege calls into question the federal government's claim that its agents used no incendiary devices on the day that a fire consumed the sect's compound. "There's some evidence that is at least problematic or at least questionable with regard to what happened," said James B. Francis Jr. of Dallas, chairman of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Mr. Francis declined to detail the evidence but said, "With the proper experts analyzing it, it might shed light as to whether an incendiary device was fired into the compound that day." Myron Marlin, a spokesman with the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., dismissed the allegation. "It's more nonsense. We know of no evidence to support an allegation that any incendiary device was fired into the compound on April 19, 1993," Mr. Marlin said....Mr. Francis said Tuesday that some FBI officials made statements to Texas Rangers immediately after the fire "that are contradictory" to the federal government's account of what happened. Mr. Francis told The Dallas Morning News that he only recently became aware of those statements as he began looking into complaints about the lack of public access to evidence in the Davidian investigation. Mr. Francis said he became concerned enough to contact U.S. District Judge Walter Smith of Waco, who has presided over all the cases arising from the deadly standoff. DPS recently filed a motion asking Judge Smith to take control of the evidence in the case. "I took the steps to turn it over to the court so the court could decide what to do," Mr. Francis said. "I think it's very important that whatever the evidence is and whatever it shows, that all of it come out and let the chips fall where they may." .... "I said, 'It is in effect a cover-up. It is not intended to be, but in effect it is," Mr. Francis said. "It is a complete stonewall." Mr. Francis said he doesn't think there was "some grand conspiracy to hide the evidence. I think it evolved into a situation where that was the effect of it." He said the judge asked only "how much space are we going to need," when Mr. Francis proposed turning over the evidence in the case to his federal court in Waco. After the siege, about 40 Texas Rangers were assigned to investigate and gather evidence in the case, and their investigation became the backbone of a 1994 criminal trial in which eight Branch Davidians were convicted of charges ranging from manslaughter to weapons violations..... Evidence used in the federal prosecutions was transferred to DPS headquarters in Austin for safekeeping. Although Texas Rangers had custody of the material, Justice Department officials retained authority over who could see it. They ordered DPS officials to route requests for access to Washington....Mr. Francis and others in the agency said DPS officials became increasingly frustrated as they learned that Justice Department officials routinely sent those requests back to Austin with the explanation that the evidence was in the custody of Texas officials. "It was a perfect Catch-22 to block everybody from seeing the evidence," Mr. Francis said. "There is some evidence there that the world needs to see, in my opinion. The government does not want this evidence out, and yet, that's not right." .... "
AP via Fox News Wire 7/28/99 "...Evidence stored by the Texas Rangers may contradict the U.S. government's claim that no pyrotechnic devices were fired into the Branch Davidian compound the day it burned, The Dallas Morning News reported today. Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and about 80 followers died in the 1993 inferno at the compound 10 miles east of Waco, Texas. Authorities have denied using any incendiary devices during the assault that ended when the compound was consumed by fire. Investigators concluded that sect members set the fire..."
Reuters 7/28/99 Marcus Kabel "...Dallas businessman James Francis Jr, chairman of the three-member Public Safety Commission that oversees the state police, said he wanted wider public access to the evidence collected by Texas Rangers investigating the cause of the blaze. ``Some of the evidence appears to be problematic and at least raise legitimate questions'' about how the fire started, Francis told Reuters in an telephone interview, commenting on reports in Wednesday's Dallas Morning News....."
THE WASHINGTON TIMES 7/29/99 Jerry Seper "...The civilian head of the Texas Rangers yesterday called into question FBI claims that its agents didn't ignite the windswept fire that killed 86 members of the Branch Davidian sect, including 24 children, in 1993. James B. Francis Jr., chairman of the three-member Public Safety Commission that oversees the Texas Rangers, said items found at the site were "problematic or at least questionable" in corroborating FBI claims that its agents did not fire a single shot or use any incendiary devices during the 51-day siege. "With the proper experts analyzing it, it might shed some light as to whether an incendiary device was fired into that compound that day," Mr. Francis said, adding that the evidence included shells, shell casings and other "physical things." He declined to elaborate. Seventeen of the children who perished in the fire were younger than 10 years old....The existence of the evidence was first reported by the Dallas Morning News, which said a researcher for a 1997 film documentary critical of the siege was allowed access to it last spring in preparing for a new documentary on the standoff. The researcher, Michael McNulty, told The Washington Times he found a number of questionable items in the material, including "flash-bang" devices commonly used by law enforcement to stun suspects. He said the devices -- ignited by a small pyrotechnic charge -- can start fires in enclosed spaces and were found in areas of the compound in which the fires ignited...."It's our belief that these pieces of ordnance could and probably did have an impact on the fire on April 19," he said. Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin called the conclusion "nonsense." He said the department had no evidence "that any incendiary device was fired into the compound on April 19, 1993." ...."
THE WASHINGTON TIMES 7/29/99 Jerry Seper "...The sect members died when a fire fanned by high winds swept through the compound after the FBI had forced the chemical O-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, known as CS, into the facility. The chemical, a white crystalline powder, poured into the compound for six hours before the building erupted into an inferno and burned in minutes. The White House and the FBI later acknowledged that CS had been banned for military use at the Chemical Weapons Convention in Paris in January 1993, because of its danger, but nevertheless called its deployment "appropriate." The Justice Department report said the fire that ravaged the compound was deliberately set by sect members. The CS was blown into the compound through compressed air canisters to force sect members into a smaller area of the sprawling compound..... Attorney General Janet Reno ordered the April 1993 assault because of what she said were reports that the children were being physically and sexually abused. She later acknowledged that the FBI had no evidence of abuse, telling reporters at the time she had misunderstood what FBI officials had told her two days before the raid. The reports of child abuse were central to Clinton administration justifications for the deadly raid, which was said to have been designed to rescue the children...."
Washington Times 8/4/99 Paul Craig Roberts "...In July 27, the chairman of the Texas Department of Public Safety, James B. Francis Jr., told the Dallas Morning News that evidence in possession of the Texas Rangers calls into question the federal government's account of the deadly federal assault and subsequent fire that claimed the lives of scores of men, women and children in the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993. Mr. Francis wants to turn the evidence over to federal district court Judge Walter Smith. The U.S. Department of Justice is trying to block the Texas Rangers from releasing the evidence. Mr. Francis says that the Rangers have "some evidence that the world needs to see, in my opinion. The government does not want this evidence out, and yet, that's not right." Mr. Francis added: "It is a complete stonewall."...The Texas Rangers should not trust Judge Smith with the evidence. Judge Smith presided over the trial of the Waco survivors. He has been strongly denounced by the jury foreman and jury members for misleading the jury in order to sentence the survivors. The jury foreman has repeatedly criticized Judge Smith for sentencing the survivors for offenses for which the jury did not convict. Judge Smith deceived the jury to oblige the Justice Department. By handing down long sentences that the jury did not intend, Judge Smith prevented the verdict from casting doubt on the government's explanation of what happened at Waco and prevented the survivors from being available to the media to tell their stories.....Lawyers and investigators involved in the wrongful death suits tell me that they have powerful evidence that the federal government is guilty of criminal assault, criminal negligence, and reckless endangerment...."
Washington Times 8/4/99 Paul Craig Roberts "...But some important evidence appears to have leaked from government officials sickened by the federal massacre and cover-up. There is a belief within the government itself that if the federal government gets away with its Waco cover-up, the casualty will be the rule of law. Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark is a lawyer for many of the wrongful death suits. He described to me some of the key evidence: the FLIR tape (Forward Looking Infra Red), which shows federal automatic fire into the compound on the day of the fire. Mr. Clark also has Dr. Edward F. Allard's "Thermal Imaging Report" and the "Sun Reflection Geometry Report" prepared by Maurice Cox of the National Reconnaissance Office. These reports make clear that the images on the FLIR tape are images of federal gunfire. Mr. Hardy says he has an FBI report that acknowledges federal gunshots during the fire originating from an FBI position designated as Sierra One. Mr. Hardy also has an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms memo reporting that three ATF agents went on a friendly shooting excursion with David Koresh nine days before the initial ATF assault on the compound. ...Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark says the evidence of wrongful death is overwhelming --even without the powerful evidence in his possession. "The first civil right," Mr. Clark says, "is to be free from unlawful and excessive force by your own police. That is the difference between a free society and a police state." "At Waco a police force exceeding 700 men with armored vehicles began a systematic aggressive attack in a situation rife with flammable materials and high winds. It is indisputable that this is reckless endangerment." "How could it happen that a flimsy building full of men, women and children could be assaulted by the U.S. government in that way?"This question demands an answer..."
WorldNet Daily 8/5/99 Jon Dougherty "...The mainstream press groupies are ignoring startling new evidence about the federal government's assault on the Branch Davidian community in Waco, Texas, in 1993. In case you haven't heard, the evidence I'm talking about was first chronicled in the Dallas Morning News over a week ago. It seems as though the chairman of the Texas Department of Public Safety -- the Texas Rangers -- has evidence that solidly refutes the federal government's version of events that took place against members of the Branch Davidian religious group. The evidence includes key interdepartmental federal law enforcement memos, thermal imaging reports, and an examination of video evidence by an analyst from the National Reconnaissance Office.... Specifically, the evidence: Establishes a belief among many within the government that if the Feds get away with what they did at Waco, the rule of law will suffer the most. Supports earlier claims made by independent reporters that FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) imagery examined by noted expert Dr. Edward F. Allard indeed shows federal agents firing automatic weapons at fleeing Davidians. Shows the FBI admitting in a report that federal automatic weapons fire during the final assault on the Davidian community originated from a position designated as "Sierra One." Shows the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms admitting in a memo that three ATF agents went on a friendly shooting trip with Davidian leader David Koresh just nine days before the initial ATF assault. Establishes that explosive canisters of a flammable nature were used repeatedly during the initial phases of the assault. There is also evidence that the initial federal judge in the case, district court Judge Walter Smith, has done everything in his power to accommodate the government's cover-up..... While all of this is going on -- the makings of a gargantuan scandal -- I have to ask where are the mainstream media crews? Where are the CNN cameras documenting every second of this ballooning scandal -- in the same manner they documented every second of the Waco showdown over six years ago? Why aren't Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw parked outside Judge Smith's courtroom, giving viewers a minute-by-minute live analysis of this enormous breaking story? Where's the "60 Minutes" crew or the "Nightline" documentary? Why are the major news web sites more interested in polling Americans about gun control and how they feel about the passing of JFK Jr. than reporting the obvious discrepancies in the federal government's version of events at Waco? It makes me sick to hear these people call themselves reporters. The major media players have been handed this story on a silver platter, but still they ignore it. Back when independent filmmakers and producers dug up all the evidence the Texas Rangers now claim to have, they were discounted as "kooks," "weirdos," "right-wing conspirators," and losers with an ax to grind against Clinton and Reno. That assessment was, of course, erroneous, but now it's beside the point. This time the vaunted Texas Rangers are making the same claims. How much more reputable can you get? ..."
The Dallas Morning News 8/10/99 Lee Hancock "...A federal judge in Waco told the federal government Monday to hand over every piece of evidence relating to the 1993 Branch Davidian standoff. In a sweeping order, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith told federal authorities to surrender to the federal clerk in Waco everything "in any way relevant to the events occurring at Mount Carmel," the Davidian compound besieged by federal authorities from Feb. 28 to April l9, 1993. "It is important for two reasons that the materials be maintained and safeguarded. First and foremost, the parties to civil litigation pending in this court have a right to seek access," Judge Smith wrote. "Second, the events that took place between Feb. 28 and April 19, 1993, and thereafter, have resulted in sometimes intense interest from the national media and members of the public." ..... The officials have said repeatedly in sworn testimony that FBI agents did not fire a single shot during the entire 51-day siege and used nothing capable of starting a fire. Government officials have noted that arson investigators ruled that the fire was set by sect members, and federal actions were exhaustively examined in weeks of congressional hearings, an independent U.S. Treasury Department review and an internal evaluation by the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI. Michael Caddell of Houston, one of the lead lawyers representing the Branch Davidians, praised the judge's order as a first step toward full disclosure of the government's actions. "I do think that for the American people to feel that justice has been done in this case, it's important that they feel there has been complete disclosure," he said. "That has not happened. There's been a complete stonewall by the government. "I don't think that people realize this lawsuit was filed five years ago and the government hasn't filed an answer yet. They have tied this up with procedural gimmickry. ... When you play games and obfuscate, people think you must have something to hide." ...."The Justice Department's going to have a fit," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. "This is an unfathomable amount of material." The FBI alone will have to turn over tens of thousands of documents. An agency official recently reported that more than 17,000 pages of documents had been compiled by the FBI's San Antonio office alone, where the chief agent supervised the standoff. A major portion of the evidence will come from the Texas Department of Public Safety. The state agency's lawyers precipitated the judge's action by filing a motion several weeks ago asking him to take control of the evidence it has stored since the Texas Rangers were asked to investigate the standoff. The Texas Rangers were named special deputy U.S. marshals and brought in to investigate within days after the shootout that started the standoff. Four agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms died on Feb. 28 when a gunfight erupted as they tried to serve search and arrest warrants on the Branch Davidian compound....Mr. McNulty researched and helped produce a 1997 film harshly critical of government actions in Waco, and he has worked as a private investigator for the Branch Davidians' lawyers. He is completing a second film on the incident due for September release that will include footage he obtained during his visits to DPS evidence lockers. Among the evidence that Mr. McNulty has spotlighted are two 40 mm projectiles and a 40 mm shell casing found in the compound wreckage. He said explosives experts retained by his film's producer to test chemical residues from the devices recently reported preliminary findings that they were pyrotechnic. The Rangers recently opened an inquiry to determine the nature of the 40 mm munitions and other items that Mr. McNulty found mislabeled in their evidence locker...."
AP 8/10/99 "....More than 12 tons of charred evidence from the ruined Branch Davidian compound must be turned over to the federal court clerk here to allow better access to the material, a judge has ordered. U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. said Monday the U.S. Marshals Service would store the evidence gathered by the Texas Rangers. The court clerk would become its official custodian. The Texas Department of Public Safety, of which the Rangers are a unit, had previously asked to be relieved of responsibility for the evidence..... "First and foremost, the parties to civil litigation pending in this court have a right to seek access,'' Smith said. "Second, the events that took place between Feb. 28 and April 19, 1993, and thereafter, have resulted in sometimes intense interest from the national media and members of the public.'' Last month, Smith refused to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the government by surviving Branch Davidians and relatives of those who died at the compound. One researcher says the evidence may call into question the U.S. government's claim that it did not use incendiary devices when it moved into the compound....."
WACO
DEATHS - TRAGEDY - RUBY RIDGE (3 TOTAL) - AFTERMATH
The deaths concerning the tragedy at Ruby Ridge are listed here because some Freepers believe the inappropriate handling of the incident by the Clinton Administration was a precursor to Waco which was a precursor to Oklahoma City. Waco would have been listed anyway due to decisions made by Attorney General Janet Reno, appointee of Clinton. Oklahoma City would have been listed anyway due to suspicious circumstances involving the administration.
Ruby Ridge
DEATHS – TRAGEDY - Columbine High School
Cassie Bernall, 17
Steven Curnow, 14
Corey Depooter, 17
Kelly Fleming, 16
Matthew Ketcher, 16
Daniel Mauser, 15
Daniel Rohrbough, 15
William ``Dave'' Sanders, 47 - Shot twice in chest while directing students down hallway to safety. Survived at least three hours until students were rescued.
Rachel Scott, 17
Isaiah Shoels, 18. Only black youth shot.
John Tomlin, 16
Lauren Townsend, 18
Kyle Velasquez
Dylan Klebold, 17
Eric Harris, 18
Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were caught breaking into a van in 1998 and were allowed to complete a juvenile-court diversion program to clear their records. Both completed 45 hours of community service and wrote apology letters. Their court officer was impressed. AP 4/22/99 David Foster reports "... Dylan Klebold was ``a bright young man who has a great deal of potential.'' Eric Harris was ``intelligent enough to achieve lofty goals.'' So reads a report written less than three months ago by a court officer assessing the future of the two gunmen who killed and wounded dozens of students Tuesday at Columbine High School......Last fall, Klebold and Harris made several class-project videos foreshadowing their spasm of violence, classmates say. In one video, ``they had their friends pretend to be the jocks, and they pretended to be the gunmen shooting them,'' high school junior Chris Reilly told the Denver Rocky Mountain News..... "
Times Examiner 5/12/99 Anne Huff "...The Forum entitled "From Eagle Forum to 20/20." The article told the story of Tara Becker's experience at Columbine High School with "death education." Becker explained that the subject of death was integrated into many of the courses at her high school. She said that death was made to look glamorous, that living was hard, and that reincarnation would solve their problems. Students were told they would always return in a much better life form. They would return to the "oversoul" and become like God. After one of the students at her school committed suicide, a "suicide talking day" was held and every class was to talk about death. Class assignments were for students to write their own obituaries and suicide notes. They were told to trust their own judgement in choosing whether to live or die. Becker said she began her desire to die in order to get away from "the enslavement her own body entrapped her spirit in." Death was made to look more glamorous than living, and she felt she would be doing the overpopulated planet a favor by removing herself. She said she thought for months about how to commit suicide. Becker gave the author a booklet called "Masquerade," which she had helped compile for one of her classes. The booklet was full of subliminal pictures and prose. She explained how she had been taught to use the hidden, double-meaning subliminals and how she had focused so much of her time and attention on death that she had tried to commit suicide. The article stated that reportedly, some teachers receive only three hours of training before teaching death education classes. Colorado is the home of outcome-based education guru William Spady. According to Spady, "the traditional subject based curriculum disappears" from OBE. Outcome-based education requires students to exhibit certain core values and beliefs before they are allowed to graduate from high school....."
TWA 800
Federal investigators have never found conclusive evidence as to why TWA Flight 800 fell from the sky in a ball of flames
On the last data frame of the TWA Flight 800 Flight Data Recorder record. The FDR altitude data for Flight 800 at 00:31:11 (one second before the initial event) - Flight 800 was flying at 13,772 feet. At 00:31:12, Flight 800's altitude was registered as 10,127 feet! It's obvious that Flight 800 didn't drop over 3,600 feet in less than a second. There evidently was a large change in the outside air pressure around Flight 800.
7/17/98 Commander William S. Donaldson III lists 40 issues critical of the handling of the TWA 800 investigation. Two points of curiosity: 25. That the NTSB refused to accept the testimony of Captain Mundo, the flight engineer on the flight previous to FL800, who stated that he left ZERO fuel in the center wing tank, and 26. That the tail of the aircraft failed shortly after the nose came off."
Ian Willimas Goddard 10/8/98 "In a tape-recorded debate between Reed Irvine and James Kallstrom, who headed the FBI's TWA 800 crash investigation, Kallstrom is reported to admit that three ships tracked on radar near the crash "were Navy ships on classified maneuvers."..Kallstrom was recorded by Reed Irvine of Accuracy In Media on September 14, 1998 during a debate between the two over the phone. The tape recording was first released during a special meeting of the organization Judicial Watch. It was first made known to the public on September 28, with the pub- lication of a letter from private investigator Com- mander William Donaldson to Louis Freeh, head of the FBI, wherein Commander Donaldson states: "I...have in my possession a taped conversa- tion held on 14 September 1998 between Deputy Director Kalstrom (Retired) and Mr. Reed Irvine, Chairman of Accuracy in Media. That conversation puts Deputy Director Kalstrom on record with two startling new facts. He alleges: 1. The 30- knot surface contact was a helicopter. 2. Three of the surface radar contacts were U.S. Navy vessels conducting classified operations.".."
Peter Lewis of Progressive Insurance made large donations to Democrats. A definitive agreement was announced 11/6/96 for Progressive Insurance to acquire Midland Financial. The CEO of Midland Financial -Charles H. ("Hank") Gray, III - died in the TWA Flight 800 crash about a month before the possibility of Web Hubbell working for Progressive Life Insurance was discussed between Hubbell and a White House aide.
AP 7/15/99 Glen Johnson "…Three years after TWA Flight 800 turned into a fireball in the skies off New York's Long Island, the end of the investigation is finally in sight. Investigators are certain that a fuel-air explosion in the center fuel tank brought down the Boeing 747 on July 17, 1996, killing all 230 aboard, but a final determination of the ignition source will have to wait until this fall or winter, Jim Hall, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Wednesday in an interview…."
Reuters/Business Wire 7/14/99 Michael Rivero "…At the press conference, Tom Stalcup, chairman of FIRO [Flight 800 Independent Reserachers Organization], will release a brand-new analysis of the FAA radar data which contradicts the official theory that Flight 800 climbed after initial distress. This analysis clearly shows that the airliner's movement was radically different from the movements depicted in an animation produced by the CIA, and declared to be the official version of what happened. Although FIRO's analysis has not yet determined what caused these movements, it can now be safely stated that the CIA animation blatantly conflicts with the raw radar evidence and the eyewitness evidence it claimed to portray…."
New York Times (reporting Washington Post) 5/8/99 Associated Press "...The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had concluded within six months after TWA Flight 800 crashed off the coast of Long Island that mechanical failure was to blame, but the FBI sat on the report, The Washington Post reported. The paper says in Sunday's editions that FBI officials, still convinced terrorists had downed the plane, dismissed the 24-page ATF report, prepared in January 1997, as ``unprofessional and reprehensible'' and even persuaded a Treasury Department undersecretary to help them suppress it. The Post said it was November 1997 before the FBI acknowledged publicly that a mechanical flaw had ignited the Boeing 747's central fuel tank, causing the crash...."
7/21/98 CNS Scott Hogenson "A former National Transportation Safety Board member says he can no longer support the conclusion of the NTSB that a spark in a fuel cell caused the explosion and crash of TWA Flight 800 more than two years ago. Dr. Vernon L. Grose, who also served as a regular commentator on CNN during its coverage of the incident, told CNS in an exclusive interview that new evidence about the explosion indicates that a possible missile detonation may have brought down the airliner, killing all 230 passengers and crew on board. During a presentation of information Monday on the crash, Grose said he saw previously undisclosed evidence that a near-proximity missile explosion may have brought down the jet. "It disturbed me to see photographic evidence of impinging - bent in, not bent out - skin of the aircraft forward of the center fuel tank, and that is sufficiently primary evidence that should be explained away." Unlike some missiles that must make contact with or pierce a target before exploding, a near-proximity missile need only approach a target before detonation, with the ensuing shock or 'pressure wave' being sufficient to bring down the target.."
Insight 2/8/99 Kelly Patricia O'Meara by A Whitewater Researcher ".EXCERPTS: "...Boeing Co., in an attempt to limit its liability, may defend itself in civil litigation with the theory that the airliner was downed by a U.S. missile....Boeing's legal team already has raised the missile claim as a tool to chip away at the resolve and ultimate financial demands of the victims' families, hoping to reduce settlements by half...."At this point, Boeing is seeking a 50 percent discount on each case because of its belief that a jury will conclude a missile downed Flight 800,"..."Boeing attorneys will try to plant reasonable doubt and make a jury believe that a missile downed TWA 800."...They are convinced that in the absence of proof-positive that mechanical failure was at fault, it would not take much to get a jury to consider the possibility that a missile downed the flight...."In nearly 700 million hours of air time...only twice [in plane disasters] could they not be traced to a known ignition source. The first was a 737 that blew up in the Philippines...The only other...is TWA 800."
The Village Voice 7/13/99 Robert Davey [TWA 800] "…As the investigation's third anniversary passes, the mystery is deepening. A few months ago, a retired army officer bearing impressive credentials approached the Voice as an intermediary for a missile expert with a story to tell. This expert is extremely fearful of losing his job—for more than 20 years he's been a military engineer who specializes in infrared missile technology. Assured of anonymity, he submitted to lengthy interviews by telephone and e-mail, detailing why he believes the investigation of TWA Flight 800 is a cover-up. After spending more than $40 million on the investigation, the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board have not found a definitive answer for why the center fuel tank exploded. Yet they have ruled out a missile as the cause. The NTSB believes an undetermined system flaw produced an electrical spark that ignited jet fuel vapors in the tank. Prior to the official embrace of this mechanical explanation, the missile expert was among several scientists invited by FBI agents to explore the missile theory. He was made privy to evidence suggesting that TWA 800 could have been shot down, consisting of eyewitness accounts of a "flare-like object" shooting skyward moments before the plane exploded. Later he examined the debris in the Calverton hangar. The missile expert has also been in contact with military labs where, he says, the chemists have been unable to make jet fuel vapor explode as the NTSB says it did in TWA 800's center fuel tank. "The labs told the NTSB there's a big problem—it can't happen." The NTSB wouldn't listen. He says, "They were adamant that [the labs] had to find something." The evidence adds up, the missile expert believes, to a "70 percent chance" that TWA 800 was downed by a shoulder-launched missile. Like others who have spoken to the Voice, the expert is exasperated with what he sees as a corrupted investigation. Asked why he is speaking up now, he says, "I wanted someone to look at the truth, not whitewash it away." …"
The Village Voice 7/13/99 Robert Davey [TWA 800] "…But it was the eyewitness accounts that most impressed the expert—the investigation has compiled more than 100 eyewitness interviews reporting a streak of light ending in a flash or explosion, apparently contradicting the official scenario. "When we discussed this with the FBI, they said some of these people were very credible," he recalls. "The most compelling account was from a female witness, as I remember, who reported something with a small flame rising from the ocean trailing a faint smoke trail. The flame was reported to have burned out after about six or seven seconds with a puff that was seen when it hit the aircraft at about 10 seconds. I can tell you that this testimony, if the recounting is accurate, is about as precise as you can get on what you would see from a shoulder-fired infrared SAM [surface-to-air missile]." …"The left wing root near the center fuel tank was clearly a potential impact point, since much of it was missing or badly damaged," he wrote in an e-mail. In an interview he added that together with the left-side wall of the center fuel tank and the left wing, these areas exhibited "a lot of damage which was not well explained, as far as we were concerned....The metal there looked like something very violent happened." The NTSB's reports confirm the view that the damage on the left side of the plane was of a different order from the damage on the right side….. The missile expert the Voice interviewed still insists that a forensic team should "take a real hard look" at the left side, and rule in or rule out a missile. But he also admits that the region of damage that would bear clues of the explosion of a shoulder-launched missile—which has a small warhead—would be quite small, and could easily be among the large areas of the left wing front spar and left side of the center fuel tank that are among the 5 percent of the plane that was never recovered. …."
The Village Voice 7/14/99 Robert Davey "...Voice interviews with a number of metallurgists and experts in explosives confirmed that unless investigators are able to identify the area-perhaps only a few inches across-where the explosion first impinged on the metal, it's impossible to tell what caused the structure to fail. One author of a book on explosives who has worked on government projects told the Voice, "You're looking at something bent and fractured, but to tie it to a pressure source is very difficult." Several metallurgists suggested that explosive residue on the debris would point unambiguously to a high explosion. In August '96, traces of PETN and RDX, both ingredients of the plastic explosive also found in some missile warheads, were indeed detected in recovered debris from Flight 800's passenger cabin. It seemed as if at last evidence had been found proving that a terrorist bomb or a missile had downed the aircraft. But shortly afterward it was claimed that a month before the crash the same 747 was used for a bomb-sniffing-dog exercise. Some of the explosives used, according to this account from the FBI, were apparently in poor condition and could easily have spilled...."
The American Spectator 8/99 John Roberts II "…The White House, with help from a Republican Senator, is sitting on evidence that could point to terrorism in the 1996 jet explosion. an FBI official has become a scapegoat in the cover-up. and the mystery remains unsolved…. . A recent federal appeals court ruling may shed light on some of the political mysteries surrounding TWA 800. On June 18, 1999, a three-judge panel affirmed Victoria Cummock's lawsuit against Al Gore and the Department of Transportation (see "Dissent of Flight 800," TAS, July 1997). Two years ago Victoria Cummock filed suit, claiming Gore pressured her to abandon a call for counter-terrorism measures, and refused to publish her 42- page dissent from the final report of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. She demanded access to confidential files kept from her and to a secret annex to the commission's final report. In early discovery, Cummock was given limited access to commission records. One document she found was a memo from a CIAstaffer assigned to CIADirector John Deutch, who sat next to Cummock at most commission meetings. The CIA memo, written by an officer who intelligence sources say is normally assigned to clandestine services, drew on psychological profiling of Cummock. It said Cummock could be "kept in line if she believes progress could be made" but warned Deutch that she "could become a major problem" if she thought otherwise….. As Cummock's lawsuit goes forward, she may gain access to documents which would clarify the relationship between the commission's secret meetings and Clinton-Gore campaign fundraising. Cummock says the Clinton appointees "had a ton of secret meetings" with airline industry representatives. At the same time, the Clinton-Gore campaign and Democratic Party received more than $500, 000 in political contributions from the airlines. The disturbing prospect of a quid pro quo whereby the Gore Commission withdrew its preliminary security policies in exchange for 1996 campaign contributions remains open. John Cummock's widow is nothing if not persistent. "What I want now is to see the classified report," she said, "and write a dissent, classified or not. I know it sounds old-fashioned, but it's a matter of morals, and values, and ethics." …"
The San Jose Mercury News 7/25/99 Scott Holleran "... My parents missed our connection, but I was assured by the TWA flight crew that they would board the next available flight, Flight 800..... I learned that the airport official was wrong. Mom and Dad were alive--- they had missed that flight as well---and I was elated to embrace them..... It wasn't until we boarded the flight back to the United States that I began to question the government's investigation of the crash, when members of the TWA flight crew told me that flight 800 had been shot down by a Navy missile. This was weeks before an anonymous e-mail message made similar claims, and months before journalist and former Kennedy press secretary Pierre Salinger claimed that a French intelligence source had informed him of a conspiracy by the U.S. government to cover up a military mishap. "Friendly fire," let alone a coverup, seemed preposterous to me. As a journalist, I am inclined to be skeptical of unusual claims...."
The San Jose Mercury News 7/25/99 Scott Holleran "... First, authorities issued several conflicting statements....Second, the anonymous e-mail---though it contained plenty of false information---disclosed that a Navy aircraft had been involved in exercises nearby at the time of the crash. Much later, the FBI acknowledged that fact....Third, I'd noticed that investigators wanted to have it both ways. The National Transportation Safety Board's investigation was proceeding under the direction of the FBI, which was involved on the grounds that a crime might have caused the crash---but FBI Assistant Director James Kallstrom would neither confirm nor deny the existence of criminal evidence..... The FBI seized an amateur videotape taken by retired commercial pilot Richard Russell, which he said showed radar images of TWA 800 being downed by a missile. Charges were filed against freelance writer and investigator James Sanders, who had obtained a piece of seat fabric that he said contained rocket resi- due. I wondered why the FBI had bothered with such supposedly meaningless claims---and, once they had, why they wouldn't release the video and seat fabric for independent evaluation.... "
The San Jose Mercury News 7/25/99 Scott Holleran "... hen the FBI's Kallstrom testified before Congress that his agency had tracked "all air and waterborne vessels in the area and conducted appropriate interviews. Yet the FBI did not dispute a report by Robert Davey, a Village Voice reporter, that radar in the area picked up four unidentified tracks. One of these, according to the NTSB was within three nautical miles of Flight 800 when it exploded. It's pattern was consistent with a surface vessel moving at 30 knots, the NTSB said. Perhaps most alarming was that the mysterious boat kept moving out to sea, even after the explosion. "He not only doesn't turn to render assistance, he runs," said naval Cmdr. William Donaldson, who believes a navy missile downed the plane. In early 1998, retired Adm. Thomas Moorer--- former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff--- added his name to the list of those who believe a missile destroyed the plane...Montbs later, a former member of the NTSB, Vernon Grose, also publicly cast doubt on the investigation after seeing the flight recorder analysis.....Last week, one of the investigation's own military engineers, a specialist in missile technology, told the Village Voice's Davey that he believes the plane was probably shot down by a missile and that the government is covering up the truth.... The entire investigation has seemed like an "X-Files" episode. ..."
The San Jose Mercury News 7/25/99 Scott Holleran "....At the time of the crash, 270 eyewitnesses across Long Island reported seeing a streak of light. After the FBI suspended the criminal investigation last year, Kallstrom, in an unprecidented move, asked the CIA to produce a videotaped explanation of the eyewitness accounts that specifically refutes the missile theory. At least one military pilot who saw the crash is unconvinced. National Guard helicopter pilot Frederick Meyer--- one of the closest eye-witnesses, who reported falling debris---rejects the CIA's animated recreation. Meyer described the event as "an ordnance explosion" And he ought to know what one looks like; the veteran pilot dodged missiles in Vietnam. Nearly 100 of the eyewitnesses said streak of light originated from the earth's surface..... proper scientific inquiry is not passive acceptance of ignorance; it is the relentless pursuit of truth. And the truth is what investigators---despite hightly desirable conditions for an aviation disaster inquiry---have completely failed to uncover. Instead, they have asserted repeatedly that the cause may be "unknowable," implying that TWA 800 is doomed to being an unsolved mystery. It is not. I don't claim to know what happened to the 747. But I do know that the truth matters....."
TWA 800