Tuesday, October 27, 2009

WH II: 28 October 2009

Prayer:


Chapter 11 Section 1, multiple-choice Test, 30 questions.

Because of the Test today, directly after prayer, we will begin the Test.

Put your name on both the Test and the Scantron. You may write on the Test itself.

If you finish early, you may cover up your Scantron and Test and take out other materials to read or study while waiting for others to finish.

Today's lesson plan and HW is available on the blog: http://gmicksmithsocialstudies.blogspot.com/

Email: gmsmith@shanahan.org

The Shanawiki page (http://shanawiki.wikispaces.com/) has updated class information.

The online version of a portion of the Textbook is available.

LibraryThing has bibliographic resources.

I moved the "Blog Archive" to the top right on the blog page so it should be easier to find the daily lesson, HW, and other class material.

Sr. has advised students to check online teaching materials (as we have been doing since the first day of school).

Chapter 11 Section 2 Radical Revolution and Reaction

Checkpoint

What occurred after radicals took control of the Assembly?

Crises and Response

By early 1793, danger threatened France on all sides. The country was at war with much of Europe, including Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and Prussia. In the Vendée (vahn day) region of France, royalists and priests led peasants in rebellion against the government. In Paris, the sans-culottes demanded relief from food shortages and inflation. The Convention itself was bitterly divided between Jacobins and a rival group, the Girondins.

The Girondins, here identified, now that we have covered the Jacobins, are defined in The Crowd in the French Revolution by George Rude.

Cf. The Vendee: A Sociological Analysis of the Counter-Revolution of 1793
by Charles Tilly.


The Convention Creates a New Committee



This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. Description: Comite de Salut, 1794 18th century print Licensing:
This is a faithful photographic reproduction of an original two-dimensional work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
Public domain This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

To deal with the threats to France, the Convention created the Committee of Public Safety. The 12-member committee had almost absolute power as it battled to save the revolution. The Committee prepared France for all-out war, issuing a levée en masse, or mass levy (tax) that required all citizens to contribute to the war effort. In addition, the 12 members of the Committee were in charge of trials and executions.

Spurred by revolutionary fervor, French recruits marched off to defend the republic. Young officers developed effective new tactics to win battles with masses of ill-trained but patriotic forces. Soon, French armies overran the Netherlands. They later invaded Italy. At home, they crushed peasant revolts. European monarchs shuddered as the revolutionaries carried “freedom fever” into conquered lands.

Robespierre “the Incorruptible”

At home, the government battled counterrevolutionaries under the guiding hand of Maximilien Robespierre (rohbz pyehr). Robespierre, a shrewd lawyer and politician, quickly rose to the leadership of the Committee of Public Safety. Among Jacobins, his selfless dedication to the revolution earned him the nickname “the incorruptible.” The enemies of Robespierre called him a tyrant.

Robespierre had embraced Rousseau’s idea of the general will as the source of all legitimate law. He promoted religious toleration and wanted to abolish slavery. Though cold and humorless, he was popular with the sans-culottes, who hated the old regime as much as he did. He believed that France could achieve a “republic of virtue” only through the use of terror, which he coolly defined as nothing more than “prompt, severe, inflexible justice.” “Liberty cannot be secured,” Robespierre cried, “unless criminals lose their heads.”






Biography

Robespierre

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) did not have an easy childhood. His mother died when he was only 6 years old. Two years later, his father abandoned him and his three siblings. The children’s aunts and grandfather then raised them. Because of this, Robespierre assumed responsibilities at an early age. Eventually, he went to study law at the University of Paris. His performance was so noteworthy that he was chosen to deliver a speech to Louis XVI on the occasion of the king’s coronation. But young Robespierre was snubbed. After listening to the address in a pouring rainstorm, the king and queen left without acknowledging Robespierre in any way. Years later, in 1789, Robespierre was elected to the Estates-General, where his career as a revolutionary began.

How do you think Robespierre’s early life might have influenced his political ideas?

The Guillotine Defines the Reign of Terror

Robespierre was one of the chief architects of the Reign of Terror, which lasted from September 1793 to July 1794. Revolutionary courts conducted hasty trials. Spectators greeted death sentences with cries of “Hail the Republic!” or “Death to the traitors!”

In a speech given on February 5, 1794, Robespierre explained why the terror was necessary to achieve the goals of the revolution:

Primary Source

“It is necessary to stifle the domestic and foreign enemies of the Republic or perish with them. . . . The first maxim of our politics ought to be to lead the people by means of reason and the enemies of the people by terror. . . . If the basis of popular government in time of peace is virtue, the basis of popular government in time of revolution is both virtue and terror.”

—Maximilien Robespierre, quoted in Pageant of Europe (Stearns)

Suspect were those who resisted the revolution. About 300,000 were arrested during the Reign of Terror. Seventeen thousand were executed. Many were victims of mistaken identity or were falsely accused by their neighbors. Many more were packed into hideous prisons, where deaths from disease were common.

The engine of the Terror was the guillotine (gil uh teen). Its fast-falling blade extinguished life instantly. A member of the legislature, Dr. Joseph Guillotin (gee oh tan), had introduced it as a more humane method of beheading than the uncertain ax. But the guillotine quickly became a symbol of horror.

Within a year, the Terror consumed those who initiated it. Weary of bloodshed and fearing for their own lives, members of the Convention turned on the Committee of Public Safety. On the night of July 27, 1794, Robespierre was arrested. The next day he was executed. After the heads of Robespierre and other radicals fell, executions slowed dramatically.

Checkpoint

Why did Robespierre think the Terror was necessary to achieve the goals of the revolution?

Reading Check

Examining

What were the differences between the Girondins and the Mountain?


The Reign of Terror


Infographic

Go Online
For: Interactive French Revolution
Visit: PHSchool.com
Web Code: nap-1821

Thinking Critically

1. Identify Point of View

What were the goals of the Committee of Public Safety?

2. Predict Consequences

How do you think life (it should read "life") in France changed after the Terror came to an end?

Crushing Rebellion

The Republic of Virtue

Reading Check

Identifying

Whom did the Committee of Public Safety consider to be enemies of the state?

A Nation in Arms

End of the Terror

Audio

In reaction to the Terror, the revolution entered a third stage. Moving away from the excesses of the Convention, moderates produced another constitution, the third since 1789. The Constitution of 1795 set up a five-man Directory and a two-house legislature elected by male citizens of property. The middle class and professional people of the bourgeoisie were the dominant force during this stage of the French Revolution. The Directory held power from 1795 to 1799.


Weak but dictatorial, the Directory faced growing discontent. Peace was made with Prussia and Spain, but war with Austria and Great Britain continued. Corrupt leaders lined their own pockets but failed to solve pressing problems. When rising bread prices stirred hungry sans-culottes to riot, the Directory quickly suppressed them. Another threat to the Directory was the revival of royalist feeling. Many émigrés were returning to France, and devout Catholics, who resented measures that had been taken against the Church, were welcoming them. In the election of 1797, supporters of a constitutional monarchy won the majority of seats in the legislature.

As chaos threatened, politicians turned to Napoleon Bonaparte, a popular military hero who had won a series of brilliant victories against the Austrians in Italy. The politicians planned to use him to advance their own goals. To their dismay, however, before long Napoleon would outwit them all to become ruler of France.

Checkpoint

What changes occurred after the Reign of Terror came to an end?

By 1799, the 10-year-old French Revolution had dramatically changed France. It had dislodged the old social order, overthrown the monarchy, and brought the Church under state control.

New symbols such as the red “liberty caps” and the tricolor confirmed the liberty and equality of all male citizens. The new title “citizen” applied to people of all social classes. All other titles were eliminated. Before he was executed, Louis XVI was called Citizen Capet, from the name of the dynasty that had ruled France in the Middle Ages. Elaborate fashions and powdered wigs gave way to the practical clothes and simple haircuts of the sans-culottes.


This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. Description: Louis le dernier

Louis XVI of France wearing a phrygian cap, drinking a toast to the health of the sans-culottes. Etching and mezzotint, with watercolor. Scanned from a photographic slide.

Captions, in English:

"Long live the nation" (from bottle to mouth)

Below:

Louis XVI, having put on the Phrygian cap, cried 'long live the nation'. He drank to the health of the sans-culottes and affected a show of great calm. He spoke high-sounding words about how he never feared the law, that he had never feared to be in the midst of the people; finally he pretended to play a personal part in the insurrection of June 20. Well! The same Louis XVI has bravely waited until his fellow citizens return to their hearths to wage a secret war and extract his revenge.

Date: 1792 Source: Library of Congress Author: unknown Permission Public domain: This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.



This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. Summary: Cabinet des médailles de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, France Description: Attis as a child, wearing the Phrygian cap. Parian marble, 2nd century AD, probably during the reign of Emperor Hadrian.
Nationalism Spreads

Revolution and war gave the French people a strong sense of national identity. In earlier times, people had felt loyalty to local authorities. As monarchs centralized power, loyalty shifted to the king or queen. Now, the government rallied sons and daughters of the revolution to defend the nation itself. Nationalism, a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one’s country, spread throughout France. The French people attended civic festivals that celebrated the nation and the revolution. A variety of dances and songs on themes of the revolution became immensely popular.

By 1793, France was a nation in arms. From the port city of Marseilles (mahr say), troops marched to a rousing new song. It urged the “children of the fatherland” to march against the “bloody banner of tyranny.” This song, “La Marseillaise” (mahr say ez), would later become the French national anthem.

Revolutionaries Push For Social Reform

Revolutionaries pushed for social reform and religious toleration. They set up state schools to replace religious ones and organized systems to help the poor, old soldiers, and war widows. With a major slave revolt raging in the colony of St. Domingue (Haiti), the government also abolished slavery in France’s Caribbean colonies.




Reading Check

Evaluating

How did the French revolutionary army help to create modern nationalism?

The Directory

Reading Check

Describing

Describe the government that replaced the National Convention.

The Radical Revolution

HW send to gmsmith@shanahan.org.


Bibliographic References

The Sans-Culottes
by Albert Soboul.


The Vendee: A Sociological Analysis of the Counter-Revolution of 1793
by Charles Tilly.


The Crowd in the French Revolution (Galaxy Books) by George Rude

AP Economics: 28 October 2009

Prayer:

Chapter 3 Supply and Demand, multiple-choice Test, 30 questions.

Because of the Test today, directly after prayer, we will begin the Test.

Put your name on both the Test and the Scantron. You may write on the Test itself.

If you finish early, you may cover up your Scantron and Test and take out other materials to read or study while waiting for others to finish.

Today's lesson plan and HW is available on the blog: http://gmicksmithsocialstudies.blogspot.com/

Email: gmsmith@shanahan.org

The Shanawiki page (http://shanawiki.wikispaces.com/) has updated class information.

LibraryThing has bibliographic resources.

I moved the "Blog Archive" to the top right on the blog page so it should be easier to find the daily lesson, HW, and other class material.

Chapter 4 material, if we get to it, will start if everyone finishes the Test.

HW: gmsmith@shanahan.org

AP Economics: 27 October 2009

Prayer:
Current events:


The IMF appears to be re-arranging the U.S. economy. Dick Morris is a former adviser to Bill Clinton.

Today's lesson plan and HW is available on the blog: http://gmicksmithsocialstudies.blogspot.com/

Email: gmsmith@shanahan.org

The Shanawiki page (http://shanawiki.wikispaces.com/) has updated class information.

LibraryThing has bibliographic resources.

I moved the "Blog Archive" to the top right on the blog page so it should be easier to find the daily lesson, HW, and other class material.

Chapter Three, Demand and Supply

Handout 3-1 is an in-class group exercise with your small group.

Students are asked to draw graphs illustrating shifts in demand and supply
and changes in quantity demanded and supplied. Asking students to document
research about specifics in this topic (for example, changes in planted acreage).

Learning objectives: application of concepts of changes in quantity demanded
and quantity supplied versus changes in demand and supply; demonstration of mastery of graphing techniques; and reinforcement of critical thinking skills.

Web-based Exercise

What’s Been Driving Gasoline Prices?

This example can be used as an in-class group exercise.

Asking students to perform (and document) additional research allows you
to use it as a case study or group project as well. For example, students can be
asked to document gasoline sales to see if, as predicted, an increase in demand
results in both a higher price and a greater quantity sold.

Learning objectives: application of concepts of changes in quantity demanded
and quantity supplied versus changes in demand and supply; demonstration of mastery of graphing techniques; and reinforcement of critical thinking skills.

The Supply and Demand Effects of the Increased Use of Ethanol

Draw a supply and demand graph showing the market for corn in equilibrium. Label the demand curve as “DOld” and the supply curve as “S”. Then illustrate the effect of an increased demand for corn due to its being used to produce ethanol. Explain the changes in price and equilibrium quantity using the vocabulary of “changes in quantity demanded,” and “changes in quantity supplied,” as well as “change in demand” and “change in supply.”

Use a supply and demand graph to illustrate and explain the impact of a higher price of corn on any one of a wide variety of food products; be sure to include the effect on the cost of high-fructose corn syrup.

Send HW in email to gmsmith@shanahan.org for this exercise.

If you already finished Hand-out 3.1 in class; you have no HW; otherwise, finish whatever we did not get to finish in class.

Chapter 4 material, if we get to it, will not be on Wednesday's Test.

HW: gmsmith@shanahan.org

Study for Chapter 3 Supply and Demand, multiple-choice Test, 30 questions, on Wednesday.

WH II: 27 October 2009

Prayer:

Current Event:

We are near the anniversary when the U.S.S. Cole was attacked in October 2000.

Diane McDaniels lost her son James in the terrorist bombing of the U.S.S Cole. 17 American sailors died in that terrorist attack. Ms. McDaniels refused an invitation to the White House to meet with Obama.

Obama requested that the charges against terrorist suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, being held in Guantánamo as the primary attacker against the U.S.S. Cole, be dropped. Judge Susan J. Crawford followed Obama's wishes. A sounder grasp of the issues involved may result with sufficient background.


Today's lesson plan and HW is available on the blog: http://gmicksmithsocialstudies.blogspot.com/

Email: gmsmith@shanahan.org

The Shanawiki page (http://shanawiki.wikispaces.com/) has updated class information.

The online version of a portion of the Textbook is available.

LibraryThing has bibliographic resources.

I moved the "Blog Archive" to the top right on the blog page so it should be easier to find the daily lesson, HW, and other class material.

Sr. has advised students to check online teaching materials (as we have been doing since the first day of school).

Chapter 11 Section 2 Radical Revolution and Reaction



Checkpoint

What occurred after radicals took control of the Assembly?

Crises and Response

By early 1793, danger threatened France on all sides. The country was at war with much of Europe, including Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and Prussia. In the Vendée (vahn day) region of France, royalists and priests led peasants in rebellion against the government. In Paris, the sans-culottes demanded relief from food shortages and inflation. The Convention itself was bitterly divided between Jacobins and a rival group, the Girondins.

The Girondins, here identified, now that we have covered the Jacobins, are defined in The Crowd in the French Revolution by George Rude.

Cf. The Vendee: A Sociological Analysis of the Counter-Revolution of 1793
by Charles Tilly.


The Convention Creates a New Committee



This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. Description: Comite de Salut, 1794 18th century print Licensing:
This is a faithful photographic reproduction of an original two-dimensional work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
Public domain This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

To deal with the threats to France, the Convention created the Committee of Public Safety. The 12-member committee had almost absolute power as it battled to save the revolution. The Committee prepared France for all-out war, issuing a levée en masse, or mass levy (tax) that required all citizens to contribute to the war effort. In addition, the 12 members of the Committee were in charge of trials and executions.

Spurred by revolutionary fervor, French recruits marched off to defend the republic. Young officers developed effective new tactics to win battles with masses of ill-trained but patriotic forces. Soon, French armies overran the Netherlands. They later invaded Italy. At home, they crushed peasant revolts. European monarchs shuddered as the revolutionaries carried “freedom fever” into conquered lands.

Robespierre “the Incorruptible”

At home, the government battled counterrevolutionaries under the guiding hand of Maximilien Robespierre (rohbz pyehr). Robespierre, a shrewd lawyer and politician, quickly rose to the leadership of the Committee of Public Safety. Among Jacobins, his selfless dedication to the revolution earned him the nickname “the incorruptible.” The enemies of Robespierre called him a tyrant.

Robespierre had embraced Rousseau’s idea of the general will as the source of all legitimate law. He promoted religious toleration and wanted to abolish slavery. Though cold and humorless, he was popular with the sans-culottes, who hated the old regime as much as he did. He believed that France could achieve a “republic of virtue” only through the use of terror, which he coolly defined as nothing more than “prompt, severe, inflexible justice.” “Liberty cannot be secured,” Robespierre cried, “unless criminals lose their heads.”






Biography

Robespierre

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) did not have an easy childhood. His mother died when he was only 6 years old. Two years later, his father abandoned him and his three siblings. The children’s aunts and grandfather then raised them. Because of this, Robespierre assumed responsibilities at an early age. Eventually, he went to study law at the University of Paris. His performance was so noteworthy that he was chosen to deliver a speech to Louis XVI on the occasion of the king’s coronation. But young Robespierre was snubbed. After listening to the address in a pouring rainstorm, the king and queen left without acknowledging Robespierre in any way. Years later, in 1789, Robespierre was elected to the Estates-General, where his career as a revolutionary began.

How do you think Robespierre’s early life might have influenced his political ideas?

The Guillotine Defines the Reign of Terror

Robespierre was one of the chief architects of the Reign of Terror, which lasted from September 1793 to July 1794. Revolutionary courts conducted hasty trials. Spectators greeted death sentences with cries of “Hail the Republic!” or “Death to the traitors!”

In a speech given on February 5, 1794, Robespierre explained why the terror was necessary to achieve the goals of the revolution:

Primary Source

“It is necessary to stifle the domestic and foreign enemies of the Republic or perish with them. . . . The first maxim of our politics ought to be to lead the people by means of reason and the enemies of the people by terror. . . . If the basis of popular government in time of peace is virtue, the basis of popular government in time of revolution is both virtue and terror.”

—Maximilien Robespierre, quoted in Pageant of Europe (Stearns)

Suspect were those who resisted the revolution. About 300,000 were arrested during the Reign of Terror. Seventeen thousand were executed. Many were victims of mistaken identity or were falsely accused by their neighbors. Many more were packed into hideous prisons, where deaths from disease were common.

The engine of the Terror was the guillotine (gil uh teen). Its fast-falling blade extinguished life instantly. A member of the legislature, Dr. Joseph Guillotin (gee oh tan), had introduced it as a more humane method of beheading than the uncertain ax. But the guillotine quickly became a symbol of horror.

Within a year, the Terror consumed those who initiated it. Weary of bloodshed and fearing for their own lives, members of the Convention turned on the Committee of Public Safety. On the night of July 27, 1794, Robespierre was arrested. The next day he was executed. After the heads of Robespierre and other radicals fell, executions slowed dramatically.

Checkpoint

Why did Robespierre think the Terror was necessary to achieve the goals of the revolution?

Reading Check

Examining

What were the differences between the Girondins and the Mountain?


The Reign of Terror


Infographic

Go Online
For: Interactive French Revolution
Visit: PHSchool.com
Web Code: nap-1821

Thinking Critically

1. Identify Point of View

What were the goals of the Committee of Public Safety?

2. Predict Consequences

How do you think life (it should read "life") in France changed after the Terror came to an end?

Crushing Rebellion

The Republic of Virtue

Reading Check

Identifying

Whom did the Committee of Public Safety consider to be enemies of the state?

A Nation in Arms

End of the Terror

Audio

In reaction to the Terror, the revolution entered a third stage. Moving away from the excesses of the Convention, moderates produced another constitution, the third since 1789. The Constitution of 1795 set up a five-man Directory and a two-house legislature elected by male citizens of property. The middle class and professional people of the bourgeoisie were the dominant force during this stage of the French Revolution. The Directory held power from 1795 to 1799.


Weak but dictatorial, the Directory faced growing discontent. Peace was made with Prussia and Spain, but war with Austria and Great Britain continued. Corrupt leaders lined their own pockets but failed to solve pressing problems. When rising bread prices stirred hungry sans-culottes to riot, the Directory quickly suppressed them. Another threat to the Directory was the revival of royalist feeling. Many émigrés were returning to France, and devout Catholics, who resented measures that had been taken against the Church, were welcoming them. In the election of 1797, supporters of a constitutional monarchy won the majority of seats in the legislature.

As chaos threatened, politicians turned to Napoleon Bonaparte, a popular military hero who had won a series of brilliant victories against the Austrians in Italy. The politicians planned to use him to advance their own goals. To their dismay, however, before long Napoleon would outwit them all to become ruler of France.

Checkpoint

What changes occurred after the Reign of Terror came to an end?

By 1799, the 10-year-old French Revolution had dramatically changed France. It had dislodged the old social order, overthrown the monarchy, and brought the Church under state control.

New symbols such as the red “liberty caps” and the tricolor confirmed the liberty and equality of all male citizens. The new title “citizen” applied to people of all social classes. All other titles were eliminated. Before he was executed, Louis XVI was called Citizen Capet, from the name of the dynasty that had ruled France in the Middle Ages. Elaborate fashions and powdered wigs gave way to the practical clothes and simple haircuts of the sans-culottes.


This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. Description: Louis le dernier

Louis XVI of France wearing a phrygian cap, drinking a toast to the health of the sans-culottes. Etching and mezzotint, with watercolor. Scanned from a photographic slide.

Captions, in English:

"Long live the nation" (from bottle to mouth)

Below:

Louis XVI, having put on the Phrygian cap, cried 'long live the nation'. He drank to the health of the sans-culottes and affected a show of great calm. He spoke high-sounding words about how he never feared the law, that he had never feared to be in the midst of the people; finally he pretended to play a personal part in the insurrection of June 20. Well! The same Louis XVI has bravely waited until his fellow citizens return to their hearths to wage a secret war and extract his revenge.

Date: 1792 Source: Library of Congress Author: unknown Permission Public domain: This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.



This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. Summary: Cabinet des médailles de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, France Description: Attis as a child, wearing the Phrygian cap. Parian marble, 2nd century AD, probably during the reign of Emperor Hadrian.
Nationalism Spreads

Revolution and war gave the French people a strong sense of national identity. In earlier times, people had felt loyalty to local authorities. As monarchs centralized power, loyalty shifted to the king or queen. Now, the government rallied sons and daughters of the revolution to defend the nation itself. Nationalism, a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one’s country, spread throughout France. The French people attended civic festivals that celebrated the nation and the revolution. A variety of dances and songs on themes of the revolution became immensely popular.

By 1793, France was a nation in arms. From the port city of Marseilles (mahr say), troops marched to a rousing new song. It urged the “children of the fatherland” to march against the “bloody banner of tyranny.” This song, “La Marseillaise” (mahr say ez), would later become the French national anthem.

Revolutionaries Push For Social Reform

Revolutionaries pushed for social reform and religious toleration. They set up state schools to replace religious ones and organized systems to help the poor, old soldiers, and war widows. With a major slave revolt raging in the colony of St. Domingue (Haiti), the government also abolished slavery in France’s Caribbean colonies.




Reading Check

Evaluating

How did the French revolutionary army help to create modern nationalism?

The Directory

Reading Check

Describing

Describe the government that replaced the National Convention.

The Radical Revolution

HW send to gmsmith@shanahan.org.

1. Be sure to study for Chapter 11 Section 1 (only), multiple-choice Test, 30 questions, on Wednesday.

Bibliographic References

The Sans-Culottes
by Albert Soboul.


The Vendee: A Sociological Analysis of the Counter-Revolution of 1793
by Charles Tilly.


The Crowd in the French Revolution (Galaxy Books) by George Rude

Background

Obama Scraps 'Global War on Terror' for 'Overseas Contingency Operation,' as announced on 25 March 2009.
The U.S.S. Cole

Diane McDaniels lost her son James in the terrorist bombing of the U.S.S Cole in October 2000. 17 American sailors died in that terrorist attack. Ms. McDaniels refused an invitation to the White House to meet with Obama.

Obama requested that the charges against terrorist suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, being held in Guantánamo as the primary attacker against the U.S.S. Cole, be dropped. Judge Susan J. Crawford followed Obama's wishes.



The former Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Cole was interviewed about his feelings when the primary attacker of the ship was released. Retired Navy Commander Kirk Lippold, "expressed disappointment" when he first learned of the decision to drop the charges and remained skeptical, faulting Obama for not consulting the families ahead of time.



The New York Times documented "Evidence of Financial Links Between Saudi Royal Family and Al Qaeda."

Obama, center, back to camera, greets King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, center, as the G20 leaders meet at London's Buckingham Palace, Wednesday, April 1, 2009. Graphic source: AP Photo/John Stillwell/pool


The 9/11 Families were surprised to discover that Obama directed the U.S. government to support the Saudis against Americans. The Justice Department is supporting the Saudi royal family's bid to be removed from a 9/11 lawsuit.


The families of victims have accused the royal family of financially backing terror groups that carried out the 2001 attack.

Their complaint alleges that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi High Commission for Relief to Bosnia and Herzegovina (SHC), and four Saudi Princes (acting in both official and personal capacities) made donations to charitable organizations with the knowledge that those organizations were diverting funds to al Qaeda, and that a fifth Saudi prince knowingly provided banking and financial services to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.

A lawsuit, Federal Insurance Co. v. Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, was initiated in 2003 by a consortium of insurance companies seeking to recover more than $300 billion for losses incurred by the 9/11 attacks.

The Saudi princes cited in the claims were:

* Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, president of SHC, who was warned in 2000 of his organization's ties to al Qaeda;
* Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the designated successor to King Abdullah, who received warnings as early as 1994 that some Muslim charitable groups were fronts for al Qaeda;
* Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, who as Saudi Minister of the Interior monitors and controls the charities operating in Saudi Arabia;
* Prince Turki al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, who was the director of the Kingdom's Department of General Intelligence ("DGI") until August 2001; and
* Prince Mohamed al Faisal al Saud, who unlike the other princes named is not a government official but a bank manager alleged to have knowingly provided material sponsorship to international terrorism.

"I find this reprehensible," Kristen Breitweiser, a leader of the Sept. 11 families, told The New York Times.

In addition, here is a recent list of funds sent to Muslim majority countries:

17 May 2009


• West Bank and Gaza: $665 million in bilateral economic, humanitarian, and security assistance for the West Bank and Gaza

• Jordan: $250 million, $250 million above the request, including $100 million for economic and $150 million for security assistance

• Egypt: $360 million, $310 million above the request, including $50 million for economic assistance, $50 million for border security, and $260 million for security assistance

• Lebanon: $74 million

• Refugee Assistance: $343 million, $50 million above the request, including humanitarian assistance for Gaza. Funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency programs in the West Bank and Gaza is limited to $119 million (Note: Gaza = Hamas)

• Disaster Assistance: $200 million to avert famines and provide life-saving assistance during natural disasters and for internally displaced people around the world, including Somalia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, the Middle East and South Asia

• Peacekeeping: $837 million for United Nations peacekeeping operations, including an expanded mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a new mission in Chad and the Central African Republic

• Africa: $151 million, $18 million above the request, for economic and security assistance for Kenya, Somalia, Southern Sudan, and Zimbabwe

Other recipients might be viewed as allies, humanitarian, or required military aid

• Pakistan: $1.9 billion, $591 million above the request

• $3.6 billion, matching the request, to expand and improve capabilities of the Afghan security forces

• $400 million, as requested, to build the counterinsurgency capabilities of the Pakistani security forces

• Afghanistan: $1.52 billion, $86 million above the request

• Iraq: $968 million, $336 million above the request

• Oversight: $20 million, $13 million above the request, to expand oversight capacity of the State Department, USAID, and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan to review programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq

• Israel: $555 million of the $2.8 billion 2010 request for security assistance, $555 million above the supplemental request. (Note: that means Obama’s original request did not include any money for Israel in 2009)

• International Food Assistance: $500 million, $200 million above the request, for PL 480 international food assistance to alleviate suffering during the global economic crisis

• HIV/AIDS: $100 million, $100 million above the request, for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to address a funding shortfall for grants in key countries such as Haiti, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Afghanistan. (Note: That means Obama’s original request didn’t include any money for AIDs)

• Mexico: $470 million, $404 million above the request, to address growing violence along the United States-Mexico border by supporting the Government of Mexico’s war against organized crime and drug-trafficking

• Georgia: $242 million to fulfill the United States commitment to the people of Georgia

• Global Financial Crisis: $300 million, $148 million below the request, to address the global financial crisis in developing countries

• Nuclear Non-Proliferation: $55 million, $34.5 million below the request, for the National Nuclear Security Administration to safeguard nuclear material in Russia and other sites world-wide

• Department of Justice: $17 million, matching the request, for counter-terrorism activities and to provide training and assistance for the Iraqi criminal justice system