Pentagon witness blasts Virginia school district's 'vanilla' 9/11 teacher guide

A wealthy Washington, D.C., suburb's public school district is advising teachers not to link 9/11 with radical Islam and to be sure to create "safe spaces" for Muslim students as the nation somberly marks the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.

The guardrails in a six-page instructional guide, "25th Anniversary and Commemoration of 9/11" and distributed to teachers, has prompted critics to accuse Fairfax County (Virginia) Public School's liberal leaders of coddling post-9/11 sensitivities rather than teaching history.

s"It's sort of a vanilla way to do things," retired Navy Vice Admiral Lou Crenshaw, who was stationed inside the Pentagon when al Qaeda terrorists crashed a hijacked passenger jet into the building. "Everybody can go through the deal and feel good about it. And at the end of the day, nobody complains. 

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"To me, that's not exactly what we need to do. We need to make sure that the kids have learned a lesson here. And that's not going to happen if we try to shave the facts to the point where it's hard to figure out what we're talking about."

A digital content analysis reveals that about half of the 1,740-word document is devoted to tips for creating "safe spaces for Muslim and Middle Eastern students," about 15% spells out specific 9/11 instruction and the rest of the document tip-toes around managing "emotional responses" to the lesson.

The guide by the school district, which sits only a few miles from the Pentagon and several military bases, mentions military families only three times and first responders only once, saying at one point, "Many families of military personnel and first responders experienced loss and hardship."

Meanwhile, it has 30 references to Islam, "Muslim families," "Muslim students," "anti-Muslim racism," "anti-Middle Eastern" rhetoric, "Islamophobic rhetoric" and "Middle Eastern students" and families. It includes a bulleted list of "critical considerations" to challenge anti-Muslim bias.

The curriculum guidance speaks to a wider tension about how the 9/11 attacks are described by influential figures from teachers, journalists and politicians to social media influencers as a network of powerful Muslim organizations have built educational programs over the past 25 years downplaying discussions about the extremist interpretations of Islam that motivated al Qaeda and the 19 hijackers involved in the 9/11 attacks.

On Thursday, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch called for "moral clarity" about what happened on 9/11, saying in a speech, "The men who attacked this city were terrorists. The men and women who ran into the towers to save innocent lives were heroes.

"Twenty-five years cannot be allowed to blur that distinction, and shame on those who do."

Last month, after a major public backlash, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reversed earlier guidance that instructed journalists to avoid calling 9/11 a "terrorist attack."

In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, Fairfax County Public Schools said the school community has a "deeply personal connection to September 11 because of our proximity to the Pentagon and the many military-connected families we serve.

"On the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, we remember the nearly 3,000 people who were killed, including 184 at the Pentagon. We remember the victims, their families, the survivors, and everyone whose lives were forever changed. We honor the first responders whose courage and sacrifice continue to inspire us," the school district said.

"FCPS remains committed to creating an inclusive environment in our schools where all students feel welcome and respected as we strive to provide a world-class education and workplace."

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Crenshaw saw the effects on military and civilian families impacted by the attack. On the fateful morning, Crenshaw was stationed on the Pentagon’s E Ring. He watched the TV footage of two airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center.

"I thought, 'This is not a good thing,'" Crenshaw recalled.

He then continued with a scheduled appointment, but as it began, the Pentagon was struck.

"Just about the time they sat down, and we started the interview, there was tremendous noise," Crenshaw said. "Bang! The entire building shook, and we knew right away that something bad had happened."

Crenshaw, who served in the Navy from 1974 to 2007, was on the fourth floor of the Pentagon on the same side of the building hit by the plane. His work area did not immediately collapse, although he said it was later destroyed by fire.

He looked outside and saw smoke billowing from the area where the airplane had hit. He also remembered seeing a chief petty officer crying as windows shattered and glass scattered across the floor.

The reality of the attack soon became clear to Crenshaw and the rest of the country. Al Qaeda, an extremist terrorist organization led by Usama bin Laden, had carried out a coordinated assault. The group used an extremist interpretation of Islam to justify the attack, portraying it as retaliation for the presence of U.S. forces overseas and American foreign policy. Bin Laden associate Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who took credit for planning the attack, awaits a trial in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Crenshaw said students should understand that 9/11 was not simply "a coordinated terrorist attack on the United States," as the FCPS script describes it, but a strategic act of war.

"What we saw in 9/11 was a religious extremist group, al Qaeda, who did not tolerate what the United States was doing around the world and decided to react violently," Crenshaw said.

Teachers should be prepared to discuss the Islamist extremism behind the attack without collectively blaming all Muslims, he said, noting that he agreed it is important to make sure Muslim students aren't shamed.

"They are a branch of Islam, but they certainly do not espouse any of the values that we know of Islam worldwide," said Crenshaw. "And, therefore, they really shouldn't be considered to be part of that mainstream religion."

The guide includes a section titled "Responding to Racism, Hate, and Bias against Muslims and Middle Eastern People," telling teachers that Muslim students experience "the worst anti-Muslim racism" during Sept. 11 lessons.

FCPS instructs teachers the anniversary "may intensify anti-Muslim and anti-Middle Eastern rhetoric." They are told that speaking out against anti-Muslim bias is part of their "sacred role as teachers."

The guide also says that if educators hear students or colleagues using "Islamophobic rhetoric," "it is up to you to disrupt."

Under a list of "Do" and "Don’t" instructions, FCPS explicitly tells teachers don't "associate the 9/11 attacks with Islam or Muslims" and don't "center the extremists or the acts of the extremists."

The guide says the commemoration should focus on "those whose lives were lost and those who sacrificed to help others – not those who attacked the United States."

The guide says teachers should not focus a commemorative lesson on "an examination of Islam." It argues that doing so could send the "harmful message" that "Islam, or all Muslims, are responsible for these terrorist attacks."

Crenshaw said not explaining the ideology of the hijackers and how al Qaeda interpreted Islam to justify the attacks means the guide fails to deliver "a sense of urgency or the evilness of what actually happened."