Long, but worth the read.
9:01 A.M.) Bush later makes the following statement. "And 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 use to fly myself, and I said, 'There's one terrible pilot.' And 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." [CNN, 12/4/01]
Given that there actually was no film footage of the first attack on TV until much later (and no footage of the plane actually hitting the tower), isn't this a clear lie to make it seem he didn't know what was happening? By 8:38, NORAD knew that Flight 11 was hijacked, and by 8:43, they knew Flight 175 was hijacked. As the New York Times points out, they also probably knew Flight 77 was hijacked a few minutes after 8:48. [New York Times, 9/15/01]
He's had time to think about it - he's been briefed by his National Security Advisor on the situation. So by this time Bush certainly knew two planes were hijacked and headed towards New York City, and probably knew of a third hijacking. Yet he can only think "There's one terrible pilot"?
(9:02 - approx. 9:25 A.M.) Bush reads a story to 18 Booker Elementary School second-graders about a girl's pet goat. During this time, except for one sentence whispered to him by his Chief of Staff, he is completely cut off from outside developments. What if, during this time, there was a possibility one of the planes had to be shot down? As CNN reported in 1999, "military planes could not take aim and pull the trigger unless they received permission from the White House because only the president has the authority to order a civilian aircraft shot down." [CNN, 10/26/99]
(Note that one article claims that he left the classroom at 9:12 [Telegraph, 12/16/01], but videos of the Bush in the room last longer than that - the above time is a rough guess).
Flight 175 about to hit the WTC. 9:01 A.M. United warns all of its aircraft of the potential for cockpit intrusion and to take precautions to barricade cockpit doors. Flight 93 pilots acknowledge the message. ["just after 9 A.M.", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01] However, they're not told why, what happened at the WTC, or that another plane is missing.
Flight 175 hits the WTC South Tower at 9:03. 9:03 A.M. Flight 175, hits the south tower, 2 World Trade Center. Approximately 2662 people are killed on the ground between this crash and the crash of Flight 175. [AP, 8/19/02]
F-15 fighter jets from Otis Air National Guard Base are still 71 miles or 8 minutes away. [9:02, CNN, 9/17/01]
The Otis Air National Guard Base is 188 miles from New York City. According to NORAD's timeline, fighters left Otis 11 minutes earlier. If they were still 70 miles away, then that means they must have been traveling about 650 mph, when the top speed for an F-15 is 1875 mph!
(9:03 A.M. and After) The minute Flight 175 hits the south tower, F-15 pilot Maj. Daniel Nash says that clear visibility allows him to see smoke pour out of Manhattan, even though he is 71 miles away. However, he says he can't recall actually being told of the Flight 11 hit. And he isn't told about the danger of Flight 175 until after it too has crashed. And instead of being ordered to New York City, the two F-15's are ordered to hover in a 150-mile chunk of air space off the coast of Long Island. "Neither the civilian controller or the military controller knew what they wanted us to do." But then a few minutes later, they receive orders to head to Manhattan for combat air patrol, and they do that for the next four hours. At no point are these pilots given permission to shoot down any airliners. Nash points out that even if he had reached New York City before Flight 175, he couldn't shoot it down because only the President could make that decision and he was indisposed at a public event. [Cape Cod Times, 8/21/02]
Why are the pilots not being told of their targets? Why are they being sent out into the ocean? Why IS Bush reading a book about a goat when all this is happening?
(After 9:03 A.M.) Shortly after the second WTC crash, calls from fighter units start "pouring into NORAD and sector operations centers, asking, 'What can we do to help?' At Syracuse, New York, an ANG commander [tells Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) commander Robert] Marr, 'Give me 10 min. and I can give you hot guns. Give me 30 min. and I'll have heat-seeker [missiles]. Give me an hour and I can give you slammers [Amraams].'" Marr replies, "I want it all." [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 6/3/02]
Yet supposedly, the first fighters don't take off from Syracuse until 10:44 - over an hour and a half later. These are supposedly the first fighters scrambled from the ground aside from three at Langley, two at Otis, and two fighters that took off from Toledo at 10:16. [Toledo Blade, 12/9/01] What happened to all these volunteer fighters? Armed fighters could have been in the air from Syracuse by 9:20 or so, yet supposedly, when NORAD needed fighters to go after Flight 93 at least 20 minutes after that, the only ones they sent were two completely unarmed fighters on a training mission near Detroit! [ABC News, 8/30/02]
The only likely explanation is that these fighters were prohibited from taking off. Aircraft cannon (the "hot guns" mentioned) would have been all that was needed in such a situation, since any fighter would presumably follow procedure and intercept visually first, tip their wings from a very short distance away, fire a warning shot, and so on, before firing on the plane.
(After 9:03 A.M.) A few minutes after 9:03, the Secret Service calls Andrews Air Force Base, located 10 miles from Washington. They are notified to get F-16's armed and ready to fly. Missiles are still being loaded onto the F-16's when the Pentagon is hit over half an hour later. [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 9/9/02] The problem with this account is that prior to 9/11, The District of Columbia Air National Guard (located at Andrews) had a publicly stated mission "to provide combat units in the highest possible state of readiness." Shortly after 9/11 this mission statement on its website is changed, so it merely has a "vision" to "provide peacetime command and control and administrative mission oversight to support customers, DCANG units, and NGB in achieving the highest levels of readiness." [DCANG Home Page (before and after the change)] Either Andrews failed in its stated mission, or fighters were not ordered to scramble so early.
(9:05 A.M.) West Virginia flight control notices a new eastbound plane entering their radar with no radio contact and no transponder identification. They are not sure it is Flight 77. Supposedly they wait another 19 minutes before notifying NORAD about it. ["about 9:05", Newsday, 9/23/01]
Andrew Card tells Bush the second WTC tower has been hit. Bush goes back to the goat story for another 20 minutes or so. 9:05 A.M. Bush is still reading to 18 Booker Elementary School second-graders a story about a girl's pet goat. His chief of staff Andrew Card, whispers into his ear, "A second plane has hit the World Trade Center. America is under attack." [Telegraph, 12/16/01] He says nothing in response, but continues reading the goat story after a brief pause. Then, in an event noticeable in its absence, as one newspaper put it, "for some reason, Secret Service agents [do] not bustle him away." [Globe and Mail, 9/12/01]
At some point shortly after, reporters ask him if he is aware of the two crashes and explosions. He nods and says he will talk about the situation later. [CNN, 9/12/01] Bush continues to read about goats for the next 20 minutes or so. The reason given is that they didn't want to scare the children.
How thoughtful of him. All I want to know is, is Bush a total imbecile or a co-conspirator? Neither picture sits well with this poster.
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The proof is in the pudding.
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