International President’s Message on Terrorism

Dear Fellow Members and Friends:

The past several days have been unbelievable, similar to a hellish nightmare; however, as I sit here this afternoon in my office and reflect on the past six days, I have run an entire gambit of emotions. On 11 September 2001, after concluding some business, I was on my way to the outer office when I paused for a moment in front of the television in the reception area and saw a view of the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. It was on fire. Then suddenly I saw a plane strike the south tower at approximately 9:03 a.m., which took me from my initial thoughts of concern to shock and the reality that the second incident at the south tower was not an accidental occurrence. It was an intentional act and most certainly the first occurrence, involving the north tower, must have been a deliberate act. We were under attack, what was next?

Immediately, I went from a feeling of shock to horror, realizing that thousands of victims were in the twin towers. My horror intensified ten fold when the buildings began to collapse and I stood there helplessly with thoughts of the thousands of innocent lives lost, along with scores of heroic public safety personnel, both fire and police, that had undoubtedly just sacrificed their lives in an effort to save the lives of others.

The unspeakable horror that unfolded before our eyes, via the media, is something that no free nation, or any nation should be caused to experience. However, thinking back and visualizing forward, it has happened in the past, but not here, to such magnitude. Unfortunately, unless we become better prepared to prevent acts such as this, it may happen again in the future.

Approximately forty-eight hours into this unwarranted, cowardly and murderous attack, I encountered a feeling of rage and the desire for unconditional retaliation against those responsible for this despicable act. The rage has subsided to a determined anger, while the desire for unconditional retaliation still remains and will until those responsible and their supporters are neutralized.

I know that many of us, in a moment, would take up arms and march in whatever direction is warranted; however, an older and wiser head tells me that this is best left to younger troops. Nevertheless, all of us are capable of making a difference, and it will result from a united cooperative effort by all of us. First, we must take care of our victims. Second, we need to identify the threat, those responsible and eliminate them, to send a message that acts such as this will not be tolerated. Third, we need to prepare ourselves so that nothing of this magnitude can ever occur again.

I have spent the last several days communicating with various sources, including our friends in New York City, and in our nation’s capital, members of your board, past presidents, staff and members of our organization. We have relayed to local, state and federal authorities, that our organization stands ready to answer the call. We have in excess of seven thousand active members and twenty thousand inactive members from which to draw, they have only to tell us what they need and we will do.

We have established a memorial fund for the fallen public safety heroes and their families. A full 100% (every penny) of contributions collected by "The International Association of Arson Investigators" will be forwarded to funds already established for the fire and police victims of this tragedy. I realize that, whether or not your charitable actions are tax deductible is not an issue. However, the fund organized by your association qualifies as a tax-deductible contribution.

Please look into your hearts and remember the families of our fallen heroes when you decide to make your contribution. Your contributions can be sent to IAAI Educational Foundation/Memorial Fund, 12772 Boenker Road, Bridgeton, Missouri 63044. We accept Visa, Master Card, American Express, and personal checks; however, we ask that you do not send cash. You may call our International office at 314-739-4222 or e-mail at IAAIHQ@aol.com. Regardless of how much you are able to send, please remember that there are literally hundreds of families that have sustained a tragedy beyond words, while their loved ones were doing what they were trained to do, "serve their fellowman". This is a small attempt to repay the families of those that gave all and our pledge to care for them.

Next, I urge you to contact your senators, representatives and public officials to express your outrage at this cowardly act. Send a message to them that you support the identification of those responsible and the ones that support, conceal and provide assistance to these murderers of innocent civilians; moreover, that no one should rest until they are all eliminated.

I have directed our Training and Educational Committee to mobilize their members and acquire, or prepare and distribute a "First Responder Terrorist Awareness Program" across the nation. We are currently in the hopes of presenting a one-day educational program across the country, utilizing our "Certified Fire Investigators". It is conceivable that we could have one hundred simultaneous programs at different locations across our nation.

All the programs delivered will be on a cost basis. I have instructed Training and Educational Chair Bill Buxton to immediately utilize his resources to determine the cost of presenting these programs and include only set costs, or to put it simply, out of pocket expense. These programs will be presented to our membership at our actual cost. We do this in hopes that we may, in some small way, be instrumental in preventing possible future injury or death and if we can prevent one serious injury or death, I feel we will have accomplished our mission.

As a country, now it is time for us to act; we have mourned, and now it is time for all of us to make a difference. This is not the time to point fingers, but it is a time to concentrate on the things that bring us together, rather than the things that tear us apart. . . Our fallen brethren and America deserve nothing less.

I.J. Kranats, CFI
President
International Association of Arson Investigators