By PAUL DAVENPORT
The Associated Press
PHOENIX — The Republican candidate for governor says the state’s recently dedicated 9-11 memorial should be torn down, calling it an insult to America because of wording that he says criticizes the United States and fails to adequately honor victims and military personnel.
The monument was “supposedly put in place to remember the losses of 9-11, an evil attack on our nation that killed thousands of innocent Americans,” Len Munsil said Monday at a rally near the capitol. “Instead it reminds us of American failings and American mistakes, real and imagined before and after 9-11. This memorial is a tribute to moral relativism.”
The 54 laser-etched inscriptions on an arc that circles the structure include many from a Sept. 11, 2001, timeline, while others trace events following the terrorist attacks. Topics range from the deployment of 216 Arizona firefighters to the World Trade Center to questions of whether the federal agencies could have uncovered the plot.
The memorial includes quotations like: “You don’t win battles of terrorism with more battles” and highlights chronological events such as “Congress questions why CIA & FBI didn’t prevent attacks” and “Erroneous US air strike kills 46 Uruzgan (Afghanistan) civilians.”
Right below an inscription noting that President Bush addressed the nation the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, is one stating that an unidentified terrorist leader addressed the American people in 2004, Munsil said.
“Only in the relativistic context of left-wing protesters holding ‘Bush is a terrorist’ signs do such inscriptions make any sense,” said Munsil, the former head of a conservative Christian advocacy group who won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the Sept. 12 primary.
“It explains why despite the outpouring of public prayer and the bipartisan singing of ‘God Bless America’ on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, there is not a single mention of God in this memorial. It explains why there are inscriptions raising conspiracy theories, like questions about whether the U.S. knew of these attacks and didn’t prevent them.”
Munsil said some parts of the memorial are fine but that the structure should be torn down and replaced with a new one that includes the phrases “Let’s roll,” “United We Stand” and “God Bless America.”
The monument was sanctioned by the state but funded from private sources. It was dedicated Sept. 11, the five-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano defended the memorial as a tribute to 9-11 victims and first-responders and said some inscriptions were being taken out of context.
“I’m just sorry that they’re trying to politicize 9-11. That’s just wrong,” she said.
Among the other inscriptions: “FBI agent issued July 2001 warning in `Phoenix Memo,’” “Steve of Scottsdale wrote songs for brother, Robby” and “Violent acts leading U.S. to war, 05-07-1915, 12-07-41, 08-04-64 & 09-11-01.”
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On the Net:
Arizona 9-11 Memorial: http://www.az911memorial.com