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By ROB KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer BANGKOK, Thailand - A German statesman, a Czech supermodel and a Swedish Olympic ski champion were among the vacationers whose search for peace and sun in tropical southern Asia was shattered by the tsunamis that spared neither rich nor poor. AP Photo   Petra Nemcova — who appeared on the cover of 2003 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue — was carried away with her boyfriend, the fashion photographer Simon Atlee, after a huge wave plowed into southern Thailand on Sunday. Nemcova's New York spokesman, Rob Shuter, said the model and her boyfriend had been vacationing...

Hundreds of Afghans marched through Kabul on Thursday, the eve of the 10-year anniversary of the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan, to condemn the United States as occupiers and demand the immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops. About 300 men and women gathered early in the morning with placards and banners accusing the United States of "massacring" civilians while denouncing President Hamid Karzai as a puppet subservient to Washington. "Occupation - atrocities - brutality," read one sign, held aloft by two women with scarves covering their head and face. "No to occupation" said another placard, as a U.S. flag was...

GW Bush at Flight 93 Memorial: "Evil Is Real, So Is Courage" The best speech W has ever given in MHO. Watch here.

On September 10, 2011 at 12:30 p.m. EST, almost ten years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Flight 93 National Memorial will be dedicated. Following a decade of healing, the promise of this sacred ground will finally be realized. The Memorial Plaza and Field of Honor will be the first features of the memorial to be completed for dedication, and will be permanently open to the public after the September 10 ceremony. Be a part of this remarkable moment. Coverage will begin at 12:30 p.m. EST – watch the dedication ceremony LIVE at History.com.

The cousin of a British-born hero of 9/11, who died in the Twin Towers, has spoken of his continuing sadness and pride at what his relative did that day. Rick Rescorla, who was head of security for banking firm Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, is credited with saving 2,700 people ten years ago by making sure they left the World Trade Centre's South Tower before it collapsed. The 62-year-old Cornishman, who became a US citizen in the 1960s and was decorated during service in the Vietnam War, foresaw the terrorist attacks, with his warnings featuring in a Channel 4 documentary in...

Upon request, I have collected links to many of the earliest threads from September 11, 2001 below. I reviewed threads from the very first FR report (http://www.freeRepublic.com/focus/fr/520255/posts)through thread number 520326. Feel free to add other significant threads, including photo archives. Bumping this thread periodically instead of the original threads will also avoid scaring people with the headlines. Bookmark this thread, and bump it from time to time when the nation and the press seems to forget why we need resolve in the face of evil. Forgive some of the early misinformation and broken photo links, and recall the horror and ...

In a new documentary, former national-security aide Richard Clarke suggests the CIA tried to recruit 9/11 hijackers—then covered it up. Philip Shenon on George Tenet’s denial. With the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks only a month away, former CIA Director George Tenet and two former top aides are fighting back hard against allegations that they engaged in a massive cover-up in 2000 and 2001 to hide intelligence from the White House and the FBI that might have prevented the attacks. The source of the explosive, unproved allegations is a man who once considered Tenet a close friend: former White...

The Ride for 9-11 is officially underway. Southern California area firefighters, both active-duty and retired, departed this morning from the LAFD Historical Society Museum located at Old Fire Station 27 in Hollywood. The 3,308 mile bicycle ride across the United States is being undertaken in order to honor and keep alive the memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice 10 years ago and those who continue to fight for our freedom and safety today. The Ride for 9-11 will cross 15 states over the next 47 days with riders slated to arrive in New York at the FDNY Firefighters...

Water pours through the north memorial pool at Ground Zero. On Sept. 12, 2011, when the public is allowed to step onto the World Trade Center site for the first time in 10 years, the approach will be more pedestrian than poignant. Visitors will pass through police screening gates and walk past barriers designed to prevent bombs from tearing through the site again. But this sobering reintroduction to the World Trade Center site is perhaps a fitting transition from the past decade—when the public's last direct experience of the site was a morning of terror—to a new era. As visitors...