9/11 Pentagon video goes public for first time.....

9/11 Pentagon video goes public for first time.....

about time!

Watchdog group says release will end 'conspiracy theories'

Tuesday, May 16, 2006; Posted: 1:33 p.m. EDT (17:33 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Video showing a plane crashing into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, will be released publicly for the first time on Tuesday, a judicial watchdog said.

The Department of Defense will hand over tapes showing American Airlines Flight 77 striking its headquarters outside Washington to Judicial Watch, a public interest group that requested the video, the group said.

The video will be available on the group's Web site after it receives the tape at 1 p.m., according to a news release from Judicial Watch.

Still photographs of the aftermath of the attack showed the Pentagon on fire but no images of the Boeing 757 striking the building have ever been made public. (Watch fireballs engulf ruined parts of the Pentagon -- 0:55)

"We fought hard to obtain this video because we felt that it was very important to complete the public record with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

"Finally, we hope that this video will put to rest the conspiracy theories involving American Airlines Flight 77. As always, our prayers remain with all those who suffered as a result of those murderous attacks."

The Pentagon attack killed 184 people: Fifty-three passengers and six crew members on board American Airlines Flight 77, and 125 military and civilian personnel inside the building.

Some conspiracy theorists have maintained the aircraft was shot down in flight, and that the Pentagon was struck by a missile.

Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request, but the government had refused to release the video until after the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the convicted al Qaeda conspirator who was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison.

Judicial Watch is "a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law," according to its Web site.

The group filed a lawsuit this year, arguing that there was "no legal basis" for the Pentagon's refusal to release the tape.

The video requested by Judicial Watch was taken from security cameras at the Pentagon, the Sheraton National Hotel, the Nexcomm/Citgo gas station, and Virginia Department of Transportation traffic cameras.

Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch's director of media affairs, told CNN she would not know which video will be released "until we see it."