By Howard Fischer
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-698342.mp3
Phoenix, AZ – Legislators won't tinker with the phrases on the state's 9-11 Memorial -- at least not this year. Arizona Public Radio's Howard Fischer explains.
Rep. John Kavanagh is pushing to remove a dozen of the 54 sayings
on the memorial which he says are too controversial. One says you
don't win battles of terrorism with more battles. He said that
insults soldiers who went to Afghanistan to chase down al-Qaida
leaders. Another says foreign-born Americans afraid, which he
thinks reflects badly on Arizonans. And a third references a
congressional investigation into why the FBI and CIA did not
foresee the attack. But Sen. Albert Hale said memorials must
consider all viewpoints. Take what he said is known as the
massacre at Little Big Horn.
(It wasn't a massacre in my opinion because it was a battle that
was won by the Indian. So to me it should be a battle that was
lost by Custer and the United States.)
And Sen. Karen Johnson said she does not want a sanitized version
of history she believes is still being written.
(There's many of us that feel there's been a cover-up. And
there's a lot of statements on that 9-11 memorial that reflect a
lot of our views that we have about it. And I think all of those
need to be represented.)
In the end Kavanagh's proposal died when a majority of the
members of the Senate Appropriations Committee refused to mandate
the changes.
For Arizona Public Radio, this is Howard Fischer.