National Geographic “Inside 9/11” Part I “War On America”
National Geographic “Inside 9/11” Part II “War On America” 1080 HD
Henry Higgins
And look at us now. Hiding and running, arms flailing, “do not insult Islam!”
In an interesting inside look at unfolding events on this day fifteen years ago, Bush’s former press secretary, Ari Fleischer, released handwritten notes from 9/11.
Two items struck me. First, Bush’s declaration, “We’re at war.” And yet he never declared war or developed a strategy to combat and defeat the jihadic doctrine. Instead, he almost immediately surrendered to Islam, declaring, “it’s a religion of peace.”
And second but more importantly, that they knew almost immediately that it was OBL. They knew it was jihad — “He’s nipping at the heels of Osama bin Laden right now….”
Also AOL News:
When chief of staff Andrew Card knelt down and told George Bush “America is under attack” 15 years ago Sunday, the words he whispered in the president’s ear in a Florida classroom launched what was supposed to be a planned, orderly response to a national emergency.
But what followed instead was chaos, a breakdown in communication and protocol that risked international conflict and could have made Sept. 11, 2001, a still bigger tragedy. There were live nukes on the tarmac at U.S. airbases, a failed communications system, and a security protocol for the president and his potential successors — the “continuity of government” plan — that only one top official followed.
Based on a review of newly unclassified documents, memoirs and other published accounts, and interviews with U.S. officials, NBC News has learned that:
- Three dozen live nuclear weapons were aboard U.S. Air Force bombers at three airbases when al Qaeda struck New York and Washington.
- Because of inadequate communications equipment and procedures, top U.S. officials couldn’t talk to each other or to anyone else. Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to speak to Bush to know why the U.S. was preparing to go to DEFCON 3 — but the White House couldn’t put him through to Air Force One. Bush had no way to receive phone calls.
- After Bush left Florida, where he had been reading a book to schoolkids, his plane was low on fuel but for hours had nowhere to land.
- Most of the top 10 people in the president’s line of succession, including Vice President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, either refused to follow the protocol and go to their designated secure sites, or were out of the country, or were never contacted.
- Now-disgraced Speaker of the House Denny Hastert, third in line, observed protocol and was taken to an underground bunker in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But that left him out of touch with all other top government leaders.
- Attorney General John Ashcroft was in a government plane and tried to return to Washington, but was turned away by the FAA.
- Education Secretary Rod Paige, 16th in line to the White House, was left on the tarmac in Sarasota, Florida. He rented a car and drove back to Washington.
Bush’s former press secretary, Ari Fleischer, released handwritten notes from 9/11. NY Post, September 11, 2016:
President George W. Bush reacted immediately after the attacks on 9/11 with a mix of swagger, grim determination and worries about his family — including Scottish terrier Barney, according to a behind-the-scenes account of the fateful day.
Aboard Air Force One, Bush and his top aides watched coverage of the tragedy unfolding at the World Trade Center when a hair-removal commercial flashed on the screen at 10:37 a.m. — less than two hours after the first hijacked plane slammed into the north tower.
Modal TriggerFleischer speaks with Reuters from his home in Bedford, New York.Photo: ReutersBush pressed intelligence officials for information in an attempt to reassure Americans, but inaccurate reports swirled during the first few hours, Yahoo News reported, citing handwritten notes by press secretary Ari Fleischer.
Among the reports were a credible threat to Air Force One, a car bomb at the State Department, an airliner crashing near Camp David and a “high-speed object” headed toward the president’s Texas ranch.
To mark the 15th anniversary of the attacks, Fleischer provided his six pages of scribbled notes from Air Force One to Yahoo News and Reuters — whose reporters were with Bush in Sarasota, Fla., on Sept. 11, 2001.
On what started as a slow news day, White House chief of staff Andy Card was famously seen whispering word of the attack into Bush’s ear in an elementary school classroom.
The 9/11 Commission’s investigators reviewed the verbatim account as they compiled their report on the catastrophic attacks.
Fleischer told Yahoo that two sections are redacted — at 10:37 a.m. and 10:41 a.m. — when he wrote down the location of secure sites where Bush’s daughters, Barbara and Jenna, were taken.
The moment White House chief of staff Andy Card informs President George W. Bush of the first attack.Photo: Getty ImagesThe chronology starts when top political adviser Karl Rove tells the president about the first crash. The entry is labeled 8:45 a.m., a minute before the actual time of the first attack, and then skips to 9:45 a.m., with Bush aboard Air Force One.
“Sounds like we have a minor war going on here. I heard about the Pentagon,” Bush tells Vice President Dick Cheney.
“We’re at war,” Bush tells congressional leaders by phone a few moments later.
At 10:20 a.m., an entry notes that Bush “authorized shoot down if reason” — a reference to the president deciding that, if a hijacked plane was perilously on course to a potential target, fighter jets could open fire.
The false threat to Air Force One — “Angel is next” — then comes in from the White House at 10:32 a.m.
The 10:37 a.m. entry is also when Bush asks Card about Barney.
“He’s nipping at the heels of Osama bin Laden right now,” Card replies.
Five minutes later, the hair-removal commercial appears and Fleischer writes that Bush’s daughters are safe: “girls removed 2 safe house.”
