2010 Freedom Flame Award: The Manhattan Seven

On June 22, 2010, the Center for Security Policy awarded its annual “Freedom Flame” honor to seven individuals whose collective efforts in rallying public opposition prevented President Obama from carrying out his ill-conceived decision to have 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his cohorts stand trial in New York City.

The Freedom Flame dinner, at which the Center hosted over 170 attendees at the Metropolitan Club in New York, recognized the following individuals who together made up the “Manhattan Seven”:

• Debra Burlingame, founding Board Member, Keep America Safe; sister of Charles F. “Chic” Burlingame III, Pilot of American Airlines flight 77, flown into the Pentagon by terrorists on 9-11
• Andrew C. McCarthy, former federal prosecutor; author of New York Times bestseller The Grand Jihad; Senior Fellow, National Review Institute
• Aaron Harrison, Executive Director, Keep America Safe
• Tim Brown, twenty-year veteran of the FDNY; co-founder, TheBravest.com
• Tim Sumner, co-founder, 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America
• Beth Gilinsky, founder, Jewish Action Alliance; founder, Women United
• Amanda Bowman, CEO, The Atlantic Bridge

Liz Cheney, former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, founding Board Member of Keep America Safe, and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, gave the keynote address, during which she stated:

Not long ago, the people of this city were told that they had no choice but to watch and endure a spectacle like no other with the leading plotter of 9-11 brought to trial in lower Manhattan.  It had all been decided, we were told.  And those who dared object were dismissed as lacking faith in the American system.  But then Tim and Beth and Tim and Amanda and Andy and Debra and Aaron showed the Attorney General how things are really meant to work in a free country.  Rarely has the machinery of the federal government been more quickly reversed.  And when it was all over, New Yorkers were spared from a painful and needless ordeal.

Honoree Debra Burlingame, founding Board Member, Keep America Safe and sister of Charles F. “Chic” Burlingame III, the pilot whose plane was flown into the Pentagon on 9-11, added:

I can tell you, without exception, conservative talk show hosts, reporters, politicians… they all told me ‘Debra, this is a done deal.  We don’t think you can reverse this.’  That’s pretty stunning, looking back at it now.  They felt it was not doable.  And there’s a pattern now we’ve seen with the president and his people: they want to create this sense of inevitability and momentum so people sit down.  And we know now that that is such an illusion.

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President & CEO of the Center for Security Policy, commented after the Freedom Flame awards:

Most Americans were horrified by President Obama’s decision to make a mockery of 9-11 by granting those who planned that vicious attack a civilian trial just blocks from where the World Trade Center once stood.  These honorees worked tirelessly to keep that from happening, and we are deeply grateful to them for their leadership and steadfastness in the face of a White House determined to dishonor the victims of that tragedy and place New York, and the nation, at grave risk without justification.

The Center looks forward to working with the Manhattan Seven and others in confronting the next challenge from those seeking to wage – and enable – jihad against America from within New York City: the building of a mega-mosque just yards from Ground Zero.  Just as Americans did not sit quietly while President Obama sought to provide Khalid Sheikh Mohammed with the constitutional protections and propaganda benefits of a trial in Manhattan, we will not stand idly by while the forces of jihad construct a symbol of their conquest near sacred ground where 3,000 Americans were murdered.

The Center was also pleased to bestow its Terry Elkes Sacred Honor Award to Joseph W. Donner, a founding member of the Center for Security Policy and former Foreign Service Officer who has supported numerous public policy institutions and given many projects their start.

The Center has awarded its Freedom Flame honor since 1992.  Past recipients of the Freedom Flame include Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; former Attorney General Edwin Meese III; Senator Fred Thompson; U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton; New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly; former CIA Director James Woolsey; and Dr. Herb London, President, The Hudson Institute; among many others.