"Why did your son murder mine?" (WaPo)

[AZBlue]

9/11 mother struggles to understand son’s killer
Marilynn Rosenthal’s obsession: hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi
By Tamara Jones
The Washington Post

"Marilynn Rosenthal felt the tug of gravity as the jet nosed into the empty summer sky. This journey from her leafy Michigan campus to the blazing deserts of Abu Dhabi was the culmination of years of research for the distinguished professor, and already her mind was racing. No sociologist had ever attempted to deconstruct an act of terrorism like this before.

(snip)

Her particular obsession was Marwan al-Shehhi, the 23-year-old Muslim hijacker who had plowed a United Airlines jetliner into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. She had studied him down to the condiments he put on the hamburgers he ate after flying lessons in Florida. Yet details about his childhood and family life still eluded her. Visiting the United Arab Emirates was Marilynn's chance to complete her exhausting work. She had just turned 75. She was supposed to be retired.

Settling in for the overnight flight, she remembers running down the list of questions she hoped to ask the terrorist's mother once she made her way to the family compound in Ras al-Khaimah. She imagined herself gently prodding a stranger sad and veiled.

What stories did you tell Marwan as a boy? How often did he pray? What was your son's favorite holiday, his favorite food, his favorite color, his most-cherished toy?

And then there was the question at the heart of this, the one she knew no mother could ever answer.

Why did your son murder mine?"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14777112/

WOW!

[DURHAM D]

1. My goodness - thanks for posting.

Brings it down from the political to the personal. A great reminder.

Thanks again.

[Tatiana]

2. Powerful.

Marilynn is an amazing woman. God Bless her.

[don954]

3. And the most important quote, i think

"She categorized 144 unique threat warnings between 1999 and 2001, tallying 29 that specified crashing hijacked planes into buildings or landmarks. She put together a PowerPoint presentation on what the White House knew before Sept. 11. "Information," she concludes, "was there." "

[Pachamama]

4. I believe this woman stood up and spoke in Koppel's Town Hall Mtg on the

Discovery Channel Sunday night....the name sounds familiar....

:shrug:

[malaise]

7. She spoke about the corruption of language

Not one of Bushcos morons attempted to address her points. She was excellent.

[BanzaiBonnie]

5. Awsome article

I'll look forward to the book. What that mother did was what I would do. Including planting a Redbud tree, which is something I actually do a number of years ago in commemoration of those who died that day.

[AZBlue]

8. Yes, that's a book I'll get the day it comes out.

That's a wonderful memorial - thank you for doing that! I live in a apt. complex so I can't do anything like that, but love the idea!

[nicknameless]

6. My favorite part too.

Longer excerpt:


She hired a graduate student to help track threats against the United States by bin Laden, and to compare intelligence briefings the Bush administration had before Sept. 11 to disclaimers senior officials publicly made afterward.

She categorized 144 unique threat warnings between 1999 and 2001, tallying 29 that specified crashing hijacked planes into buildings or landmarks. She put together a PowerPoint presentation on what the White House knew before Sept. 11. "Information," she concludes, "was there."

She slapped an anti-Bush bumper sticker on her car.