Why did Cheney--not Bush or Rumsfeld--give the order to down Flight 93?

[BurtWorm]

Why did the chain of command go through Cheney, even though Bush was "in charge?" Cheney claims he okayed the decision with Bush, but why didn't the question go straight to Bush in the first place? Or why not to Rumsfeld? Hmmmm?


http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2004/06/17/cheney_order/index.html


...

Sometime between 10:10 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., a military aide said the aircraft was 80 miles out and Cheney was asked for authority to shoot down the plane. He issued the order, the commission said. Minutes later, the military aide reported that the plane was 60 miles out and Cheney again was asked for authorization. Again, he said yes.

White House deputy chief of staff Joshua Bolten, at the conference table with Cheney, suggested that the vice president contact Bush and confirm his authorization. Cheney called the president and got the confirmation, the commission said. Cheney's group received word that a plane was down in Pennsylvania, and people in the conference room wondered if it had been shot down at Cheney's direction.

About 10:30 a.m., officials with Cheney began receiving reports of another hijacked plane, five to 10 miles out. Cheney issued yet another order to engage the aircraft but it turned out to be a Medevac helicopter.

In most cases, the commission said, the chain of command in authorizing the use of force runs from the president to the secretary of defense and from the secretary to military commanders. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was briefed by Cheney at 10:39 a.m. that he had been authorized by Bush to instruct fighters to shoot down hijacked planes.


...

[ewagner]

1. Great question

As I understand it, the chain of command leading to Rummy had been changed in June.

Why didn't Cheney know this?

If the chain of command was changed to put Rummy in charge, why did he leave his post ot "help out" at the actual crash site at the pentagon?

As always...one good question leads to another........

[VOX]

2. This is *the* question, BW...

All too easy to conclude that Cheney is the "head of the serpent."

[BurtWorm]

17. No, *the* question is why isn't Cheney in prison?

Or, When will we realize that Cheney is *the* mother of all enemy combatants?

[Wickerman]

3. What's the mystery? - Cheney is president

they were only more transparent on that day.

[Qanisqineq]

6. you took the words right oughta my mouth

musta been while you were kissing me. Kidding, that's what I thought of after I wrote the subject line. :eyes:

[Wickerman]

7. Is that from Meatloaf?

I recall that song lyric from somewhere

[Qanisqineq]

10. yes

I recently watched something on VH1 and they featured that song. It's been stuck in my head ever since.

[Cheswick2.0]

4. because they made as hard as possible to contact Bush or Rummy

The two people NORAD would have been trying to reach. When they tried and tried to get those two and could not, they called Cheney.

[laura888]

5. Rummy was unreachable cuz he was helping victims of the pentagon

This really struck me as odd, too.

From what I understand, Rummy was completely out of touch that entire morning, even after the plane struck the Pentagon.

They know he was in the Pentagon - they said he was in his office that morning, as well as the Pentagon dining area. However, he was just somehow unreachable.

And then he was unreachable because he was just too busy assisting victims of the Pentagon crash.

This scenario just rings entirely false.

[KittyWampus]

13. The Sec. Of Defense Was Freaking AWOL!

The WTC was hit by an airplane :wtf: was he doing at the freaking Pentagon? Shouldn't he have high tailed it to the Situation Room?

[BurtWorm]

18. That really does make no sense.

Were pagers and blackberries not working that morning in DC? I know cell phones in NY were way out of whack, but how is it that the Sec of Defense's--of DEFENSE's!--communications were out of whack on the one day they absolutely needed to be in perfect order?! :wtf:

(Is it because they WERE in perfect order, but the human system--the chain of command--was out of whack?)

[seabeyond]

8. gotta remember back now all......runny's testimony

he was the one that told the airfighters to stand down. do you all remember that in his 9/11 testimony. and was like 10:00 after the pentagon they finally said take planes down

but rummy said he told planes (military) to stand down

[AlCzervik]

9. I thought Bush gave the orders

Wasn't Woodward saying the Bush said it was the hardest decision of his life? Why would Cheney be given that job? Was Bush more incapacitated than usual on that day?

[AntiCoup2K4]

11. Bush was unavailable

He was flying to Nebraska like the chickenshit fucking coward he is, and always has been.

[buycitgo]

12. to be fair, according to Richard Clarke, he wanted to come back

Clarke's version of what happened at the time seems to be the most instructive. it's the first chapter of his book

didn't he say that, after some difficulty reaching AF1, Bush did give the order to shoot down, and Cheney relayed it?

Clarke mentioned several times, much to my disappointment, that dumbo comported himself fairly well during that period, and insisted he wanted to get back to DC as soon as he could, but that they said no, cause they didn't know if there would be more attacks there.

[KittyWampus]

14. Clarke Probably Just Wanted Junior Out Of The Way

Clarke was effectively President that day.

[gulliver]

15. Stunning. It was just brought up on CNN too.

How in the hell does Cheney give that order? Wouldn't that tend to cause confusion and delay? Is it even legal? What does it say about Bush?

In-friggin-credible!!

[spanone]

16. Was he acting alone or by order from the president???? Can he do that?

Seem like serious questions. I would doubt that the vice guy can shoot down anything without specific orders from the big guy.

[stavka]

19. National Command Authority

National Command Authorities (NCA)
Constitutionally, the ultimate authority and responsibility for the national defense rests with the President. Since the passage of the National Security Act of 1947, the President has u sed the Secretary of Defense as his principal assistant in all matters relating to the National Military Establishment (NME) -- later the Department of Defense. The Secretary has statutory authority, direction, and control over the Military Departments and is responsible for the effective, efficient, and economical operation of the department.

The National Command Authorities (NCA) are the President and Secretary of Defense together with their duly deputized alternates or successors. The term NCA is used to signify constitutional authority to direct the Armed Forces in their ex.ecution of military action. Both inter-theater movement of troops and execution of military action must be directed by the NCA. By law, no one else in the chain of command has the authority to take such action.

Dick Cheney is certainly an alternate and successor of the President should he be unavailable for immediate response.