9/11 widows - astounding article

[stevedeshazer]

http://www.nyobserver.com/pages/frontpage3.asp

<snip>
"Once Lorie began surfing the Web, she couldn’t stop. She found a video of President Bush’s reaction on the
morning of Sept. 11. According to the official timeline provided by his press secretary, the President arrived
at an elementary school in Sarasota, Fla., at 9 a.m. and was told in the hallway of the school that a plane had
crashed into the World Trade Center. This was 14 minutes after the first attack. The President went into a
private room and spoke by phone with his National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, and glanced at a TV
in the room. "That’s some bad pilot," the President said. Bush then proceeded to a classroom, where he drew
up a little stool to listen to second graders read. At 9:04 a.m., his chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered in his
ear that a second plane had struck the towers. "We are under attack," Mr. Card informed the President.

"Bush’s sunny countenance went grim," said the White House account. "After Card’s whisper, Bush looked
distracted and somber but continued to listen to the second graders read and soon was smiling again. He
joked that they read so well, they must be sixth graders."

<snip>
"I couldn’t stop watching the President sitting there, listening to second graders, while my husband was
burning in a building," she said.

Mindy pieced together the actions of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He had been in his Washington
office engaged in his "usual intelligence briefing." After being informed of the two attacks on the World
Trade Center, he proceeded with his briefing until the third hijacked plane struck the Pentagon. Mindy
relayed the information to Kristen:

"Can you believe this? Two planes hitting the Twin Towers in New York City did not rise to the level of
Rumsfeld’s leaving his office and going to the war room to check out just what the hell went wrong." Mindy
sounded scared. "This is my President. This is my Secretary of Defense. You mean to tell me Rumsfeld had
to get up from his desk and look out his window at the burning Pentagon before he knew anything was
wrong? How can that be?"

This story should be the mantra of the left.

[soothsayer]

1. Rummy didn't have to get up and look

He already KNEW---they all knew the plan. Bastards and murderous thugs all.

[oneighty]

2. Total shock

These elite totally protected very special people

were in total shock as they realized "Their kind"

was under attack and that others hated them so much.

Had it been a knitting factory down in North Carolina

the elites would not have cared at all.

IMHO

180

[liberalhistorian]

3. Don't you think that's a little unfair?

As far as the Bushistas are concerned, I'm becoming more and more convinced that LIHOP is not just some paranoid nutball fringe conspiracy theory of people who hate Shrub, but it is, indeed, the truth. Nothing else can explain their reactions, or lack thereof, and the fact that 9/11 is a perfect excuse for all of the bullshit they've been pulling and the perfect event to pull Shrub's presidency out of the doldrums it was sinking into.

[ant]

5. I don't know

What, exactly, is the "proper" reaction to news that your country is under attack, especially when you're in a room of children? "Holy shit, kids, run for your lives!!" Kind of reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where George runs out of the birthday party when he sees the fire break out.

Anyway, I DO think a good leader could've calmly excused herself from the situation and gotten back to work when the country needed her most, but all this story tells me is that W is not a good leader. I suspect that, like most people, he was shitting his pants and had no clue what do to, so he sat there and waited for Condi, Dick, and Rummy to handle it.

I completely agree the situation was handled poorly, but I consider that evidence of incompetence and poor leadership rather than conspiracy.

[bpilgrim]

8. have you ever heard of S.O.P. - Standard Operating Procedures?

they DICTATE what you do in the event of some circumstance.

and we had a set of SOP for dealing with a hijacking that were never carried out not to mention that even if the chimp was clueless the SS have their own SOP that weren't carried out that day, remember Cheney's toes weren't even touching the ground as the SS whisked him away to his secure location.

so it is not just bush it is a colossal failure across many agencies in gov on that day.

no one has answered why, yet.

the evidence, historical and present paint a very damning picture of LIHOP and even MIHOP.

peace

[ComerPerro]

10. Ordered to stand down

Has always been my guess.

Somewhere in between LIHOP and, "Wait, lets see where they are going with this".

They knew a tragedy would take them to war. And they had a war plan drafted against the Taliban already.

[sandnsea]

22. I never thought of that

You're right, it's the SS job to protect the President no matter what. They should have went in that classroom and whisked him out of there. That is another weirdness.

To play conspirist (sp?) for a moment, my best guess would be they found out it was going to happen. They put the military on that extra alert thinking for certain everybody would be on their toes, jets would be scrambled and they would come out afterwards and say that's why they'd ordered the alert and be praised for saving the day. That's the reason George looked so dumb-founded. He wasn't supposed to be hearing planes had actually crashed into buildings. They would be heroes and have justification for their wars. And it had all gone horribly wrong.

All done playing now.

[DealsGapRider]

11. I agree

I think Bush and Co. acted poorly that day (particularly the hopscotching around the country and then falsely claiming that Air Force One was targeted). But I must say, the LIHOP conspiracy theory is totally laughable. Any conspiracy of that magnitude would involve dozens and perhaps hundreds of people. There's no way you could keep them all silent. Or that a president would have confidence enough that they wouldn't squeal to go through with such a plan. Sorry, this was a matter of incompetence, not malevolence.

[mbee]

13. It is entirely possible that Puppet Georgie was told by his boss

Cheney that something was coming and they were handling it and he was to just go on reading like a good little boy. I read somewhere that Pappa Bush, Jim Baker and John Major were in the basement of the White House on 9/11. They knew something and that is why a real investigation is needed to find out what they knew and when they knew it!

[paulthompson]

20. Rumsfeld fun facts

People ask what would be an appropriate response, and what was Rumsfeld doing that day. Here's a combo answer.

8:44 a.m. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is talking about terrorism in the Pentagon. "Let me tell ya," he says, "I've been around the block a few times. There will be another event." He then repeats it for emphasis, "There will be another event." (AP, 9/16/01, Rep. Cox Statement, 9/11/01) Note that supposedly he doesn't know of the hijackings in progress, and says this two minutes before the first WTC crash.

(9:38 a.m.) Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is in the Pentagon meeting with Representative Cox (R), and is apparently completely oblivious of the approaching Flight 77. As he watches TV coverage of the WTC, he says, "Believe me, this isn't over yet. There's going to be another attack, and it could be us." Supposedly, "moments later, the plane hit." (Telegraph, 12/16/01) Rumsfeld's office is on the fourth floor of the Pentagon, relatively near the impact. He later says that just after the explosion, "I went downstairs and went outside. And around the corner and of course, there it was." He claims he immediately began helping the wounded: "There was a, a young woman bleeding, sitting on the ground, and I think she said to me, she didn't know who I was, she said, she could see people holding, drips going into people, IV of some kind, and she said, something to the effect, if people would, if someone could bring that person over, I could hold it." (ABC News, 9/11/02) He helps load the wounded into ambulances until 10:30 (see 10:30 a.m.). (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 9/12/01)

10:30 a.m. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld finally enters the Pentagon's National Military Command Center (NMCC), where the military's response to the 9/11 attacks is being coordinated. (CNN, 9/4/02) Brigadier General Montague Winfield later says, "For 30 minutes we couldn't find him. And just as we began to worry, he walked into the door of the National Military Command Center." (ABC News, 9/11/02) Shouldn't Rumsfeld have reported to the NMCC long before? For nearly an hour (not 30 minutes), apparently no one knew if he was killed in the Pentagon explosion or not.

---

Okay, those are the reported facts of what Rumsfeld was doing that day (taken from my 9/11 Timeline). Think of how wildly inappropriate Rumsfeld's behavior is. Not to mention, strangely psychic! After the first two WTC crashes, apparently our Secretary of Defense can't be bothered by the emergency, and continues to have an ordinary pre-scheduled meeting with a random Congressman. Then, supposedly he helped the wounded for the next hour, which is noble except he's the friggin' Secretary of Defense and has slightly more important things to do that only some can do! Not only that, but there are literally thousands of pictures from the area after the crash and not one of them is of Rumsfeld helping anybody (though there are a couple where he appears to be walking around outside with a few aides in tow).

The epicenter of the military response is in the same building as him, but he doesn't get there until long after the last hijacked plane has crashed. Is that wierd or what? Then you look at other key figures like Cheney and Bush and what they did that day, and nothing adds up either. It's as if they knew what was coming down, and tried their best to remain out of the loop so blame couldn't be pinned on them.

[stevedeshazer]

21. He must be a psychic, all right

Or psychotic. I'll go with the latter.

Thanks for your timeline snip, you should link it for those who haven't seen it.

[IkeWarnedUs]

23. Exactly, they had to know the plans - MIHOP not LIHOP

I thought about this after I watched the episode of the West Wing where they have intelligence saying some military installation is going to be attacked (on tape).

Intelligence doesn't come with itineraries like summer vacations. If the DC Axis of Evil (Cheney / Rumsfeld / Tenent - Bush is just window dressing) only Let It Happen On Purpose, they wouldn't know for sure where it would be safe. These cowardly MF'ers would have scurried to their bunkers if they thought they were in danger.

They had to be in on the planning to sit on their hands like that. They had to know for sure what was going to happen where.

I am convinced that they at least had an idea something would happen. The details tell me they had to have Made It Happen On Purpose.

[stevedeshazer]

24. I am with you

Most everyone else on this board seems to want to debate whether they'd vote for Lieberman if he's the nominee, or to go after Schwarzenegger for sticking a carrot in a woman's butt.

Hello!?

A conspiracy is not a theory when it is actually HAPPENING.

[oneighty]

12. Unfair?

No, I do not think so. Also I do not see where you are disagreeing with me.

I do not believe in LIHOP. I do believe the terrorists would have attacked the WTC

no matter which country it was located in. I also believe the fourth plane was headed for

important buildings in DC, any one of which would have been OK as a terrorist target.

Since the present administration is doing everything possible to destroy work place safety,

unionism and social structure I do not think they would have much remorse in losing

an insignifigant little place like a knitting factory in NC, or anyplace else.

(AS compared to a financial institute such as the pompous World Trade Center)

As for my own feelings: A long time Navy friend was visiting that week.

We had a major Navy Reunion in Buffalo that evening. I thought I was going to

have a heart attack as I watched the events unfold on TV.

That evening at the reunion over five hundred of us (Navy Vets) were a somber group.

It was certainly a terrible happening. I am very sad about it.

180

[sham]

4. "That's some bad pilot."

Did Bunnypants really say that? I haven't seen that before. If he did say it, does anyone have a link to other sources?

[stevedeshazer]

6. I can't find that exact quote

I know I've seen it before. It was made after 9/11 when Bush was asked to recount his memory on that day. Here is the best article I've read about the actual events and the whereabouts of Bush on 9/11:

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/essayaninterestingday.html

[ComerPerro]

7. Thats his favorite 9/11 joke

Aside from the one about hitting the trifecta, of course.

[KYDEM]

18. Comment about One bad pilot

can be found here : http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.html
You have to read down a good bit look for a question from Jordon and Bush's answer.

[stevedeshazer]

19. Thanks! I looked all over for it.

Sometimes, it's so obvious that one doesn't even think to look right at the source.

The relevant quote (context is Orlando appearance on 12/04/01) is as follows:

Q: One thing, Mr. President, is that you have no idea how much you've done for this country. And another thing is that, how did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack? (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Jordan. Well, Jordan, you're not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack. I was in Florida. And my Chief of Staff, Andy Card -- actually, I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works. I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on. And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said, it must have been a horrible accident. But I was whisked off there, I didn't have much time to think about it. And I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my Chief of Staff, who is sitting over here, walked in and said, "A second plane has hit the tower, America is under attack." And, Jordan, I wasn't sure what to think at first. You know, I grew up in a period of time where the idea of America being under attack never entered my mind -- just like your Daddy's and Mother's mind probably. And I started thinking hard in that very brief period of time about what it meant to be under attack. I knew that when I got all of the facts that we were under attack, there would be hell to pay for attacking America.(Applause.) I tried to get as many facts as I could, Jordan, to make sure I knew as I was making decisions that I knew exactly what I was basing my decisions on. I've got a fabulous team. A President can't possibly be President without a good team. It starts with having a great wife, by the way. (Applause.)

<snip>
How could he possibly have seen the first plane hit the north WTC tower om television? And even if he did, why did he not react?

[Lisa]

25. "how could he have seen the north tower ..."

There was a thread on this a few months back, but I can't get the Search function to work just now ... so I'll try to summarize some of the main bits from memory.


Bush actually repeated his story, that he'd watched the first impact live (or soon after it happened ... anyway, before he left that school in Florida).

A couple of theories on this. First, that the black ops people had a live feed for him to watch, because they knew it was going to happen.

Second (and to me, rather more likely) -- is that Bush is someone who is fairly impressionable, and his view of "reality" is more malleable than others ... but once he has talked to others about something, it becomes cemented into his mind. "That's my story and I'm sticking with it", as a friend of mine likes to say. Footage of the first plane wasn't shown on TV until hours after ... it was just by chance that a camera crew was working in the street that day, and they got video, but right after were so busy filming other things that it didn't get to the station until some time later.

But once that footage was there, it was shown again and again. I remember coming home late that night, and all the channels were showing BOTH towers being hit.

What was interesting was that a fair number of people THOUGHT they remembered seeing that north tower footage quite early in the day ... but the high level of stress and uncertainty, plus the multiple rebroadcasts of the event, means that it got "conflated" into a different story. (This is quite normal, and people interviewing witnesses at a crime scene run into it all the time ... it's not a sign of malice or conspiracy, just that human perception is largely a matter of the brain telling the eyes what they are seeing.)

When Bush told his story at the Florida event, I thought that it was because he has a poor grasp of English grammar, and had muddled up "I saw a plane crash" and "I saw that a plane HAD crashed and left a hole". (If he were speaking, say, an English dialect like "Ebonics" which does distinguish between completed and continuing actions, that would have forced him to think things through ...)

However, he's repeated the same story almost word for word, at least once since then. Either he just doesn't understand the nuances of our language; or he thought it was best not to contradict himself in case his critics jumped on it ("Bush can't remember what he was doing"); or he really does believe that he was sitting in that school watching events unfold.

*** oh, for the record ... when I turned on the TV that morning after receiving a call from a very upset co-worker, and saw the hole left by the first plane ... my first thought was "I hope nobody was hurt!". I don't know ANYBODY who made a wiseass comment like Bush did. Either he is remarkably callous (with a hole that size in the building, it had to be a fairly sizeable plane, with some fatalities) -- or he wanted everyone to think he was witty and in-charge enough to crack a joke (like Reagan's "I forgot to duck").

Being Bush, he misunderestimated how tasteless "there's one terrible pilot" sounded.

[stevedeshazer]

27. Well said

Your second scenario is what I believe happened. I pretty much agree with this POV.

Thanks, Lisa!

[bpilgrim]

29. and let's not forget his infamous 'TRIFECT' joke...

these folks are rubbing it in our faces is what i think :argh:

(on edit: D'oh! didn't see i had already posted to this thread... better get some sleep ;-) )

peace

[catzies]

30. Um, has it been scrubbed? Those darn revisionist historians again?

I ran a control-F at the top of the page on both "Jordon," and the text string "one bad pilot" and it found nothing. :shrug:

I'll bet it was indeed there once; gotta screen grab on these folks all the time because when you go back for something it's gone. Was it a link you've checked recently? :tinfoilhat:
*************
ON EDIT: found it with "Jordan," and "I said." And the lie becomes more blatant with "But I was whisked off there," because we all know he sat there for at least another 7 or 8 minutes, so still not removing the :tinfoilhat:

[bpilgrim]

9. lucky me i hit the trifecta - gwb

"He had always listed, throughout his campaign and since, the reasons why the nation might depart from this policy, reasons he had given as acceptable for running fiscal deficits: for war, recession, or emergency. As he said to me in mid-September, "Lucky me. I hit the trifecta."
(October 16, 2001)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/pubpress/daniels_conference_board_speech10-16-01.html

http://globalfreepress.com/mp3/trifecta.mp3

peace

[Kbowe]

14. Just a bump for the latecomers. This needs to be spread...

I'm heading over to the so-called "Freeper" boards to post it. Join me!

[Hailtothechimp]

15. Kick ass story...

Anyone who thinks they know what happened on September 11 should read this.

The truth has to be told before November of 2004. Or else it never will be.

[stevedeshazer]

16. I really wish everyone would read this

:kick:

[burr]

17. The perils of one party control...

In a two party system this would be considered a scandal, a national security failure that urgently needs to be investigated and reported to Congress and the people. In our system of government, it is just another radical conspiracy theory to be ignored or mocked.


"The hopes of the four moms that the current 9/11 Commission could broaden the inquiry beyond the intelligence agencies are beginning to fade. As they see it, the administration is using a streamlined version of the tactics they successfully employed to stall and suppress much of the startling information in the JICI report. The gaping hole of 28 pages concerning the Saudi royal family’s financial support for the terrorists of 9/11 was only the tip of the 900-page iceberg.

The four moms are demanding that the independent commission hold a completely transparent investigation, with open hearings and cross-examination. What it looks like they’ll get is an incomplete and sanitized report, if it’s released in time for the commission’s deadline next May. Or perhaps another fight over declassification of the most potent revelations, which will serve to hold up the report until after the 2004 Presidential election. Some believe that this is the administration’s end game.

Kristen sees the handwriting on the wall: 'If we have an executive branch that holds sole discretion over what information is released to the public and what is hidden, the public will never get the full story of why there was an utter failure to protect them that day, and who should be held accountable"...


Thanks for the article.

[BeFree]

26. The Public

As a friend of mine told me today, the people do not want to hear that the government failed in it's duty that day. They can only trust that what the government does is never at odds with protecting the people it serves. They much prefer what Faux news tells them. "Are they", I asked, (using a play on the word 'intoxicated') "In-FOX-icated?"


If you want to read about 9/11 and learn more facts, go to the 9/11 forum and search the archives. Just ignore the naysayers and read what many DU'ers put out as plausible scenarios. It's a real eye-opener and some of the links you will find are tear-jerkers.

Peace

[stevedeshazer]

28. Infoxicated

Nice, I like that term.

[OLY-M4gery]

31. Ok

I don't think Rumsfeld knew anything, then or now.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/view/

Former FBI Agent Oneill the FBI Agent that investigated the truck bomb attack of the WTC, and the attack on the USS Cole, the FBI's most knowledgeable Al-Qaeda expert, forced out by President Clinton's appointed FBI Director Louis Freeh. Predicted OBL had been too quiet, and would launch another attack against the US soon. That was reportedly 9-10-01. He died at work the next day, as security director at the WTC.

FYI FBI Director Louis Freeh also decimated the FBI's ability to move data. By the time he left the FBI, the FBI had computers that were so obsolete they wouldn't be accepted as contributions to charities.

What should Pres. Bush done when the 1st plane hit a WTC tower?

47,000 people a year die in car crashes. Should the President go to all of those too?

What should he have done? What realistic impact could he have had immed. after the first attack? I'm thinking in he was put in a command center somewhere, he would amuse himself by fiddling with knobs and buttons.............

[stevedeshazer]

34. You must be joking

What does the link you posted have to do with the story?

Let's start here by taking Mr. Bush at his word.

1. The President of the United States learns that a plane has crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center via television. No one else in the world has seen such footage on television because it didn't exist.

2. He proceeds to enter the school and is greeted by the staff and goes into the second-grade class in order to read to the students.

3. Minutes later, he is informed by his staffer Andrew Card that a second plane has crashed into the south tower of the WTC. He continues to read to the students.

This man is your Commander-in-Chief. Let's pretend for a scary moment that YOU are POTUS. You're not going to act?

The fact that 47,000 people die in car crashes is a straw man. I can debate you on this issue if you like, but diverting attention to this is BS.

The fact is, your chicken hawk president did nothing. Go worship him on a site that agrees with you. Better yet, wake up. You guys are losing. Get real.

BTW, can you explain your defense of Rumsfeld? You said nothing to defend this position.

[Oracle]

38. Back-up thought...You must be kidding, OLY!

[OLY-M4gery]

39. Ummmmmmmmmm,

How was I defending Rumsfeld, I said he didn't know anything then or now (ie he is a dolt).

I also pointed out that others, former FBI Agent Oneill felt that Al-Qaeda, OBL, hadn't been heard from in a while, and that was troubling. Are you saying anyone who expected something else from them was somehow "in on it". Preposterous.

When the attacks were happening, I opined publicly that I thought the same group that had set the truck bomb in the WTC in 91(?) was behind 9/11. Are you saying that I was in on it too?

I also asked what could Pres GB-II done during the attacks. I also indicated if he was put in a command center he would entertain himself by fiddling with the equipment.

Seems to me I am hardly supporting them. I'm not throwing a hysterical fit, based on my contempt for them. I guess that is what is expected here.

I still didn't get anything resembling an answer to my query, "What could/should he have done"?

If you are interpreting my post as supporting them because I (CORRECTLY) pointed out that FBI Director Louis Freeh, who was a Pres. Clinton appointee, did serious damage to the FBI, and forced out one of the most effective terrorism experts that the FBI has ever had, and probably made 9/11 much more likely to suceed in his absence, TOUGH.

A lot of people say the FBI/CIA dropped the ball on 9/11, excuse me for pointing out the root cause of that fumble.

I've got to add, there was footage of the first tower on fire after being struck that was being shown live. There were multiple TV crews filming it, that is why we have all seen footage of the second plane going in.

[Pastiche423]

40. If you are referring toJohn P. O'Neill

please tell me where you got: "...former FBI Agent Oneill felt that Al-Qaeda, OBL, hadn't been heard from in a while."

lol!

Sorry, that's just....so..... incredible.

O'Neill was ordered to back off OBL and Al Qaeda by the * adminstration. In fact, he quit the FBI for that very reason.

[catzies]

32. "Infoxicated." I love it. Consider it stolen.

;)

[never cry wolf]

33. Thanks for the post

more required reading.

[Oracle]

35. We need to scream for more press...

they want it to fade away and go un-noticed...we know better...

[stevedeshazer]

36. This is me:

Screaming
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:BkA0J3FM01AC:

[Oracle]

37. Exactlly the scream we are all looking for!

WOW!

Who caught that anger...cuz it looks just like mine!

Because this is no bullshit...as real as you want it to be (and more...)