WHO IS THE REAL ENEMY? Justice how and when for 9/11 victims and families?
Posted on May 12, 2025 Leave a Comment
Terrorist states that hate America and Israel. Deals with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to extridite Omar al-Bayoumi? Misguided executive orders and the DOJ, gifts from financiers of terrorism equals distractions. This administration is not paying attention.
Omar al-Bayoumi is not the path to 9/11 justice. He is the newest distraction, one flying monkey delaying transparency in the case against the Kingdom, trebbling at the Southern District Court in New York. The Cold War simmers on. Nuclear escalation continues amid rising regional tensions. States with little knowledge and scruples in nuclear material management have capacity for building weapons of mass destruction. Deals? We are not safe.
I’m not a Fox News minion however, Mark Levin is on point.
https://youtu.be/ONnMgYod4nQ?si=yyXLhDhi47doPBYq
This? Happy Birthday dear David. Not 😡
I respect and understand the collective frustration. I want this human (neutral term to not be banned from FB) to be incinerated. But…
1. The US does not have an extradition agreement with Saudi Arabia. (We’re) howling into the wind for something that just is never going to happen and even if it did justice would never come from it. This push is serving no purpose. It’s not the way to needle into negotiations with the Saudi government, which does not admit Bayoumi was a government employee. An ‘extraordinary’ deal to extradite him could incite the Kingdom to say, “sure, take him, now we’re done,” compromising our MDL case that we’ve spent a decade building. If our government is going to negotiate with Saudi Arabia then they negotiate with Saudi Arabia, with a deal to admit complicity and settle with the families.
2. This will cost $Millions and take FOREVER. Justice will NEVER be rendered in US courts. Even if he’d be found “guilty”, he’d never be nor live long enough to endure a day of sentencing in Neverland. We will be doing Saudi Arabia’s and al-Qaeda’s work, further victimizing ourselves through generations. Look at GTMO. $13 million per year, per detainee – 21 years! And we have to bloodlet for every percentage point of our USVSST judgements for 20 years with warnings there could be nothing for us in any year.
Saudi Arabia should admit complicity, compensate the families and sentence their own nationals in their own country.
3. Cantor Fitzgerald did good for Families. Not new news for me however, this NYT report digs into the wound, highlighting the early disparities of compensation. My husband, a high-earning three-year IT Contractor for Marsh and McLennan, just four flights below Cantor, received miniscule company benefit, no health insurance, etc. Congress confiscated that and our privately funded life insurance policy, and pre-calculated Social Security Survivors benefits in VCF Offsets!
I don’t wish to rant about dollars. I’ve managed to survive it all. My son did not. Justice is about more than money and trapping one escape-artist goat. It’s about full accountability, time-honored restitution and finality, prioritizing the victims, and awarding the victimized peace and grace from all of the madness.
Importantly, in our case — the largest MDL (Multi-District Litigation) in history, the landmark event of our lifetime — holding the Kingdom, Sudan, et. al. accountable is about National Security.
My current reality, I really need to get to mopping floors before my house guest arrives.
Have a nice day!
© 2025 Deborah Garcia, all rights reserved
PLEASE DO NOT WISH ME ‘HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!’
Posted on May 11, 2025 Leave a Comment
This Mother’s Day is May 11th. It also happens to be David’s 64th birthday. Chat GPT says it’s a rare occurrence happening in intervals of 5, 6, and 11 years. He has missed 24 birthdays and Mother’s Days. My mother has missed 43 Mother’s Days. She never met David.
The last Mother’s Day when Dave blew out candles (36) occurred in 1997. Davin was four weeks old. His actual due date was May 11th. We were building our little world, manifestiing our dream. The next time Mother’s Day fell on May 11th was in 2003, Davin was ten, Dylan was six. We sent balloons to Daddy in heaven.
The last time that May 11th fell on Mother’s Day was 11 years ago. Davin was away at College in Wellesley, MA and Dylan was a high school junior. Fulfilling the dream, our world was re-building
This time, neither Dave nor Davin are in the world. It is the 4th year of this Hallmark betrayal. Dylan is living in Brooklyn, NY. He is a wonderful human and I am blessed to be his mother. I’m publishing this post from my Vermont home where I live with my cat – Jimi, and border collie – Stevie.
1’s litter my spiritual landscape, doubled. In numerology, if you keep encountering 1’s — whether in readings, patterns, or personal experiences—it often signifies a fresh start, personal empowerment, and the need to take initiative. Some believe that repeated ones are a sign from the universe or guardian angels urging you to stay positive and take action toward your goals. Though you may need to focus on self-reliance and confidence, your thoughts and intentions are shaping your reality.
If my thoughts and intentions do not shape a reality which seduces the nigredo, (Latin meaning blackness) then how to carry the amassed tragedies to the fated dawn? The nigredo, used by Carl Jung as a metaphor for the dark night of the soul, is a phase where an individual confronts their shadow self before transformation. Jennifer Leigh Selig, PhD states that when we’re at the bottom of a well, and start to pull our heads away from the darkness to envision a pinhole of light on the wall, we imagine that there could be a healing way out of this darkness that we’re in. It is a form of alchemy known as resilience. One that I am intrinsically wired for.
While writing this, I asked Chat GPT to draw a digital Tarot card for me. They drew a Sun card: meaning the Sun always follows darkness and that I am stepping into a brighter, more abundant chapter of my life. Alchemy.
Child loss, whether through death or estrangement is a maternal devastation which tints everything, like looking through night goggles, especially those prominent days in the calendar; birthdays, holidays, Mother’s day. And in my case, Father’s day and anniversaries as well. It is everywhere all the time. While you have conceived, birthed, and/or raised a child who is not longer in this world, you are a mother every day. However, this Sunday, the calendar tolls the nigredo. My son’s suicide punctuates the inescapable sense of maternal failure. What makes Mother’s Day, as well as other notable days, more ignoble are the platitudes, though well-intended, which deepen the well – “Happy Mother’s Day!” “Have a wonderful day.”
I do appreciate the intimacy of those who take a minute to reach out. To know you are thinking of me is the light on the wall. Yet, the ask is to not bid me to feel happy, wonderful, or joyful, because I’m struggling to turn lead into gold. The ask is to neutralize the sentiment by dropping the adjectives from the sentiment, allowing space for emotions and reverence – thinking of you today, sending kind thoughts, “Mother’s Day greetings, or simply send a flower emoji.
A warm Mother’s Day nod to all mothers, mother-figures, and fur mamas.
© Deborah Garcia 2025, all rights reserved
Photos by author: First Mother’s Day as “Mommy” with Davin – May 11, 1993 / 1991 – David’s 30th.
OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD!
Posted on May 1, 2025 1 Comment
Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda and key mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, was killed on May 1, 2011 during a U.S. military operation known as Operation Neptune Spear. The raid was carried out by Navy SEAL Team Six at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, marking a significant moment in the fight against terrorism. President Bush stated, “this momentous achievement marks a victory for America and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.”
The Headlines read: ‘OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD!’ Celebrations erupted in the streets of New York City and in cities across the world reminiscent of May 8, 1945 when Hitler was killed (April 30th), Germany surrendered, and President Truman declared “Victory in Europe,” bringing WW ll in Europe to an end. Crowds joined in jubilatory displays of patriotism, waving American flags and cheering, “USA, USA!”
My phone and email flooded with congratulatory messages from friends and family, “I’m so happy for you, now you have the closure you’ve waited ten years for.” “You and Dave finally have the justice you deserve, now he can rest in peace.” The outpouring of excitement over the latent capture of a single iconic terrorist who murdered my husband was overwhelming. Added to the media trumpets, phone calls, text messages, and emails flooded the placid space of my Vermont home. I had turned everything off for several days and when I re-opened it all, I was hit by the howling wind of messages. The feelings that swept through me were a surreal paradox, like when the wicked witch of the west was killed and Dorothy’s safety was avenged, however upon returning home she discovered that nothing could ever be what it was before the tornado. My husband is still dead.
From the East Room of the White House, President Obama declared that “justice has been done,” in his address to the American public. Yet, although May 1, 2011 lives in infamy in the shadow of the attacks bin Laden ministered in September, 2001, 9/11 victims and family members are no closer to justice fourteen years after The Star-Spangled Banner chorale has faded. It took another eleven years and a split-second decision to find bin-Laden’s co-architect and successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri to be killed in a Hellfire missile attack. It’s taking forever to bring to trial and lock away the four (five) accused al-Qaeda 9/11 planners and agents, leafing through issues of Car and Driver at the U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
From 2011 forward, on this day, Americans will open a paper or a broadcast and hear Osama bin Laden’s name. When, Mr. President, will the Military Commissions, the Department of Justice, and the confessed accused, languishing in Constitutional purgatory on America’s dollars, hear my husband’s name at a sentencing trial, and now my son’s name, with the names of the 2,976 civilians murdered by this cabal of evil?
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html
© 2025 Deborah Garcia, all rights reserved
60 MINUTES – This Sunday.
Posted on April 25, 2025 Leave a Comment
Evidence has emerged that could change our understanding of the 9/11 terrorist attacks more than two decades ago.
Update in the Case of U.S. v. KSM, et. al.
Posted on April 24, 2025 Leave a Comment
Dear Survivors & Families,
I am writing to inform you of the latest scheduling change in the case of United States v. KSM, et. al..
This morning the Military Judge issued another amended scheduling order cancelling the week of May 12-15, 2025 of the upcoming session. The April/May session has now been cancelled in its entirety. The case is next scheduled for a three-week hearing, from July 14-August 1, 2025, at the legal complex on Guantanamo Bay (GTMO). A formal docketing order has not yet been issued regarding that session. We anticipate that a docketing order will be issued closer to the session dates, and we will keep you informed when it is released.
Additionally, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet issued a decision on whether Secretary Austin validly withdrew from the pre-trial agreements on August 2, 2024. We will notify you when a decision is issued.
VWAP is committed to supporting you through this process and will ensure you remain informed and updated on any further developments in this case. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us directly at osd.pentagon.omc.list.vwap@mail.mil.
Very respectfully,
Danielle Reddan
Director, Victim Witness Assistance Program
Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Military Commissions
Update in U.S. v. KSM, et. al.
Posted on April 18, 2025 Leave a Comment
Dear Survivors & Families,
I am writing to inform you of the updates and scheduling changes in the case of United States v. KSM, et. al..
This afternoon the Military Judge issued another amended scheduling order cancelling the week of May 5-9, 2025 of the upcoming session . The case is next scheduled for a week-long hearing, from May 12-16, 2025, at the legal complex on Guantanamo Bay (GTMO). A formal docketing order has not yet been issued, however, the Military Judge indicated that this session could be utilized for taking the pleas of the three accused should the D.C. Circuit determine Secretary Austin did not validly withdraw from the pre-trial agreements on August 2, 2024 (and should the United States not seek further appeal of that decision).
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet issued a decision on whether Secretary Austin validly withdrew from the pre-trial agreements on August 2, 2024. On April 14, 2025, the D.C. Circuit requested documents that had been filed by the parties in the earlier U.S.C.M.C.R. litigation on the same issue for its review prior to issuing a decision. We will notify you when a decision is issued.
On April 11, 2025, the Military Judge issued a decision suppressing (i.e. not allowing into evidence at the trial) the statements made by the Accused Ali Abdul Aziz Ali to FBI Agents on 17, 18, 19, and 30 January 2007 at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but has deferred a decision on suppression of the Accused’s other statements to a later date. On Wednesday afternoon, the Government filed a Notice of Appeal for this decision with the United States Court of Military Commissions Review (U.S.C.M.C.R). A Notice of Appeal was required to preserve the Prosecution’s right to appeal the military judge’s decision to this higher court, but it is not an appeal itself. We will inform you if the Prosecution moves forward with a formal appeal of the suppression ruling.
VWAP is committed to supporting you through this process and will ensure you remain informed and updated on any further developments in this case. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us directly at osd.pentagon.omc.list.vwap@mail.mil.
Very respectfully,
Danielle Reddan
Director, Victim Witness Assistance Program
Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Military Commissions
WANTING: APRIL 8, 2025
Posted on April 8, 2025 2 Comments
Two weeks ago, the landscaper arrived to pick up sticks and blow winter’s detritus from the gardens. The next morning, everything was covered under a lofty blanket of snow. From a window I observed a cardinal perched regal in the platform feeder under a white frozen roof peaking 10” high, a crowned crimson caller strident in a gray-toned theater marbleized in snow-coated limbs. For me, spring’s denial is a welcome yawn to the inevitability of unfurling and birthing.
I’ve been trying real hard to work on my memoir draft, having put aside all other writing for the past four weeks. No essays, Substacks, even brushing off Threads. Only reading memoir and writing craft. A little journaling which served as the seeds for this essay. I’ve been out of my daily poetry routine too, having putting it aside for the past year to care for my nonagenarian mother-in-law and standing up for the War Against Terrorism in NYC, Washington DC, Cuba.
It’s been difficult staying focused for several weeks, with Davin’s birthday advancing in the calendar. 32. I feel laden with devastation. It’s taken Sisyphean effort to simply move through the days. The manuscript project feels so big and open-ended. I’m always hard on myself; why can’t I push it out? When will I be able to tell a person that I’ve completed a first draft, my poetry book, published a poem or essay? I’m asked, “What chapter are you on?”
So I diverge; add throw pillow covers to my Amazon cart to cheer up the couch, search another ancestry manifest to resurface ancestors, weed through paper files to reduce the chaos, light a fire. Small projects that have clear beginnings and endings offer a sense of victory that feels worthy of a slice of chocolate cake. A hug.
I went to the dump last weekend, emptied a box with his college papers and books that I had gifted him over the years. A man approached, “ooh, there’s some good things in here.” Lifting my arms overhead to clear the giant steel container, I tossed the metal shelf unit that stood beside his bed holding a pair of eye glasses, a deck of cards, and a Mets cap.
On another day, I sat on the floor in my office and separated the Social Security survivors benefit statements into ten groups of three; Davin, Dylan, Deborah, stacking them in retrograde back to October, 2001. Next, were statements for the life insurance trust I purchased in 2007, a gift to protect their “awards” and cover estate taxes if I died before they were fully fledged (before the filing threshold reached $14.6M). These diversions have rendered feelings of nostalgia and sadness. I want to close my eyes and reawaken into 2003 in the little house in Freeport, Long Island. The three of us snapping worlds together with multi-colored bricks, living our sweet and challenging life, however editing out the relationship I became entangled in that diluted it. Had I so earnestly desired a male mentor for them and cohort for myself, that I missed what was already working well enough for us?
Over the course of two days, I cleaned out the files encapsulating my professional certifications and employment records. The career abruptly paused. It’s been my intention to return, for twenty years. A passion that I fought for and worked hard at to achieve. Before losing David in the terror attacks on 9/11, we were driven to build a life while creating a solid foundation for our boys’ success and planning a comfortable future for ourselves. But as absence lengthened into years, and ordinary life became increasingly contorted by the complexities of 9/11, I could no longer fist the motivation for world building. Still quivering in the gray matter, the sensation hasn’t left me. The fury of two middle-aged lovers dove-tailing the architecture of their co-mingled futures. The exhilaration!
I miss Davin, my beautiful, willful boy who furnished the composition. The four years and five months since his leaving have stretched into five birthdays . No. To say I miss him is like saying I miss my waistline, or the opportunity to buy a new car before the tariffs take hold. It’s not as much a pathos of missing as it is of wanting. I want my son, in the world. I ache to witness his fury building the architecture of his life. Revel in his achievements. Redeem continuity. I want to update the Gift Davin note on my phone, frost his birthday cake, shop for enchilada mix, gift wrap a book.
… and this morning, under a fresh springtide blanket of snow, I yawn.
© Deborah Garcia 2002, all rights reserved.
Photos by Deborah Garcia
Relief for American Victims of International Terrorism
Posted on February 25, 2025 Leave a Comment
WHAT: The American Victims of Terrorism Compensation Act (AVTCA) – H.R. 8419 New Bill # Update: H.R. 1530
WHEN / WHERE: Re-introduced into the House of Representatives February 24, 2025. Victim Family Members meet with state representatives at the Capital House, Washington D.C. February 25 and 26, 2025.
WHY: To amend the Justice for U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act (JUSVSST) to ensure that U.S. Victims of state sponsored terrorism receive the justice they deserve through reparations from the U.S. Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund as originally intended by Congress.
HOW:
- Clarifying the Law
- Additional Funding Sources
- Transparency and Accountability
- Ensuring Immediate and Future Distributions
WHO: (among others)
- 1968 U.S.S. Pueblo Attack
- 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis
- 1983, 1984 U.S. Embassy and Embassy Annex Bombings in Beirut
- 1983 Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing
- 1985 TWA Flight 847 Hijacking
- 1996 Khobar Towers Military Housing Complex Bombing
- 1998 U.S. Embassy Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania
- 2000 U.S.S. Cole Attack
- 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
- October 7, 2023 Hamas Terrorist Attacks
