VIDEO: Mother of USS Cole Victim Blasts Barack Obama

What the families who went and met with the President had to say:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/06/AR2009020603516.html?hpid=topnews

Lorie Van Auken, a leader of September 11th Advocates, a group headed by four New Jersey women who lost their husbands in the attacks, called the meeting “impressive,” saying Obama gave detailed answers to their questions and allayed many of their concerns. She said the president did not rule out some form of military commissions in the future and acknowledged shortcomings in dealing with terrorism suspects in regular criminal courts.

“He acknowledged this was quite a mess and it really needed to be looked at by his legal team and by him,” said Van Auken, whose husband, Kenneth Van Auken, was killed in the World Trade Center and whose group supports closing Guantanamo Bay. “I think everybody recognized, no matter which side of the issue they’re on, that this is a quagmire that will not be solved easily.”

Mindy Kleinberg, another member of the group, said Obama also made clear that “nobody is just going to get freed by the closing of Guantanamo.”

“I think the point was that you have to make sure they have a system in place that can actually work,” said Kleinberg, whose husband, Alan Kleinberg, also died in the World Trade Center. “I think even the people who came to the meeting who wanted to keep it open could understand his point of view.”

And, further:

Mindy Kleinberg, another member of the group, said Obama also made clear that “nobody is just going to get freed by the closing of Guantanamo.”

What the President himself said:

Obama told the group that he was only hitting the “pause button” when he sought the suspension of proceedings against 21 detainees, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. And he assured the group that he wants the swift prosecution of those responsible for the terrorist attacks and their facilitators.

Finally, what the commanding officer of the USS Cole said:

Kirk S. Lippold, former commanding officer of the USS Cole, which was bombed in Yemen in 2000, emerged from the White House sounding much more open to Obama’s decisions than he had earlier.

“The most important thing that came out of this for me and for many of the families there was the fact that the president agreed to have an open door,” he said outside the White House.

“There was passion and emotion, but it was enormously respectful,” Peterson said. “I was extremely satisfied and impressed with his facility with the issues and his genuine commitment to take into consideration the views of family members who want to see Guantanamo rehabilitated, not dispensed with.”

What was truly nauseating was the way Fox News exploited that poor woman’s grief. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” the interviewer said, at one point; certainly the most insincere statement I’ve heard anyone make recently. And he actually asked for her opinion on the President’s actions, in terms of how it may affect anti-terrorism effectiveness, asking a push question about the President “kowtowing” to terrorists. Knowing full well what her, emotionally-fueled, but otherwise uninformed answer would be.

– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach, CA