Take September 11th off work. Go hiking.

“Sept. 6, 2002 | NEW YORK (AP) --

While some news organizations have tried to sneak material through airport screeners, ABC News thought bigger: the network smuggled depleted uranium into New York.

ABC conducted its operation to test how authorities are guarding against the possibility of a nuclear "dirty bomb" attack. Correspondent Brian Ross' investigation will air as part of ABC's Sept. 11 anniversary coverage next week.

Federal authorities are angry that they've had to spend time on ABC's experiment.

"The U.S. Customs Service is engaged in a deadly serious business," said its spokesman, Dean Boyd. "The American public wants us to focus on real threats, not fake ones."

The story comes amidst controversy over stories in the New York Daily News and on CBS this week about how journalists tried to test airport security by trying to pass items that should have set off alarms.

ABC said it borrowed 15 pounds of depleted uranium from an environmental group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, to send on its journey. The network said it consulted with experts to make sure it was safe; the Customs Service said such material has less radiation than a typical chest X-ray.

Ross carried it by train from Austria to Istanbul, Turkey. The contents clearly marked, it was packed in a container with wooden horse carts and terra cotta vases and shipped overseas to New York. Through it all, the uranium went undetected.

"Seven countries, 25 days and 15 pounds of uranium," Ross said, "and not a single question."

The network was careful to obey all laws, federal and international, he said. The route and manner of transport followed a path outlined in court documents by an Osama bin Laden associate, who was investigated for his role in a plot to smuggle nuclear material, he said.

"One of our big concerns going into this was that we didn't want to teach terrorists something they didn't already know," he said.

ABC sent the container from Istanbul, a known smuggler's hotbed, to an address that had never received overseas shipping before because, in both cases, that should have made authorities suspicious, he said.

ABC and Customs differ on how authorities responded to a potential threat.

Of 1,139 containers on the vessel, the ABC package was one of fewer than a dozen identified for closer inspection before the ship even reached port, Boyd said. It was inspected by X-ray equipment and a separate device that tests for radiation and was found to pose no threat, he said.

Ross said, however, that the suitcase of depleted uranium would emit about the same radiation as live uranium would if it had been shielded in a lead-lined case. The container should have been opened and checked, he said.

"They missed it," he said. "They could say that it was no danger, which is true because we made sure there was no danger. But I think that misses the point."

Boyd insisted inspectors have ways to determine without opening the container whether the uranium was live or not.

"It was a fake threat that we were forced to divert resources and manpower to address," he said.

Responded Paul Friedman, executive vice president of ABC News: "When did they divert any resources? They didn't catch a thing."

Friedman said the press plays an important role in testing how well government is protecting its citizens.”

“Sirpete and I will be on out last day on a 4 day AT trip through the Smoky Mountains on the 11th.

This time last year we were backpacking the AT through the White Mountains in New Hampshire.”

“I sat in a movie theater watching "Schindler's List," asked myself, "Why didn't the Jews fight back?"

Now I know why.

I sat in a movie theater, watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why weren't we prepared?"

Now I know why.

Civilized people cannot fathom, much less predict, the actions of evil people.

On September 11, dozens of capable airplane passengers allowed themselves to be overpowered by a handful of poorly armed terrorists because they did not comprehend the depth of hatred that motivated their captors.

On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too many Americans naively reject the reality that some nations are dedicated to the dominance of others. Many political pundits, pacifists and media personnel want us to forget the carnage. They say we must focus on the bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers. They implore us to understand the motivation of the perpetrators. Major television stations have announced they will assist the healing process by not replaying devastating footage of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers.

I will not be manipulated.

I will not pretend to understand.

I will not forget.

I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to kick our country when it was vulnerable and hurting.

I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel about him, he is still our president."

I will not forget that ABC TV anchor Peter Jennings questioned President Bush's motives for not returning immediately to Washington, DC and commented, "We're all pretty skeptical and cynical about Washington."

And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters weren't informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't
"likely -- nor should they be expected -- to show deference."

I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by pretending an attack on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on the United States of America.

I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists and their supporters with the world's most sophisticated
telecommunications equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's ability to trace terrorist radio, cell phone, land lines, faxes and modem communications.

I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like those perfected by the previous administration.

I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do nothing" regulations like the silly "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport.

I will not be influenced by so called,"antiwar demonstrators" who exploit the right of expression to chant anti-American obscenities.

I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by American war protesters who reviled and spat upon the returning
soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines.

I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose reassurance over reality.

I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told Labor Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it?

There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must!"

I will force myself to:

-hear the weeping
-feel the helplessness
-imagine the terror
-sense the panic
-smell the burning flesh
- experience the loss
- remember the hatred.

I sat in a movie theater, watching "Private Ryan" and asked myself, "Where did they find the courage?"

Now I know.

We have no choice. Living without liberty is not living.

-- Ed Evans, MGySgt., USMC (Ret.)
Not as lean, Not as mean, But still a Marine.”

“John Wayne was never a Marine.......he was a phony......

Discuss:”

“On the 11th I am going to plant a tree in my front yard.

And I am also going to go clean up the trail at the Nature Preserve by my house and take a hike all at the smae time.

8)”

“I'm going to avoid the television.

I'll have a good thought for the good souls of this world.”

“I would really like to email my old boss and tell him what an ass he was for giving me a hard time about taking the day off last year.

But WhOaH-IS-ME, I should let bygones be bygones. NYET?”

“Also, it is 2:30 in the a.m. and that makes me look kind of psycho. No?”

“I'm goin fishin...don't wanna see any t.v. at all.”

“and I hope you..... you fill in the blank”

“LMAOBT”

“biz, i took the next day off because i was told not to go to work by the gov. then i went down to ground zero and worked all night just to go to work on thursday morn. my company sent a memo around saying that the people that came to work on the 12th would get 3 extra days off because they came to work. i felt like my company slaped me in my face. it still sucks. I was working ground zero at night and still made it to work the next day”