NYT: Our Porous Air Defenses on 9/11

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/opinion/13sun2.html

No topic investigated by the 9/11 commission hatched more conspiracy theories than the failure of American air defense systems to intercept any of the four planes that had been hijacked by terrorists. That makes three new reports particularly welcome. Together, they shed some light on why civil aviation authorities, the military and the highest officials of the Bush administration failed to respond quickly enough to avert catastrophe.

The reports include a new book written by the co-chairmen of the 9/11 commission, a Vanity Fair article based on tapes released by the military, and a 2005 report from the inspector general of the Defense Department that was finally released last week. They paint a picture of confusion as civilian and military authorities struggled to grasp and respond to what was happening. There was absolutely no evidence that any air defenders deliberately stood aside to let the terrorists have their way or that the military itself fired a cruise missile into the Pentagon, as conspiracy theories have suggested.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which was monitoring civilian air traffic, dropped the ball repeatedly. Its critical mistake was assuming that the transponders on hijacked planes would stay on, displaying each plane’s identity and altitude. The agency also failed miserably in its duty to alert the military. It provided nine minutes’ warning before the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center, two minutes’ warning that an unidentified aircraft was heading toward Washington and no advance notice of the other two hijacked flights. However, the F.A.A. did tell the military, erroneously, that a plane that had already hit the World Trade Center was still headed south toward Washington. As a result, the military scrambled two planes to chase a ghost that no longer existed.

The military had its own problems. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or Norad, had its radars pointing outward to detect external threats. Only four planes were armed and ready to intercept terrorists in the eastern region of the country. And when the military dispatched two of those fighters to protect Washington, they raced out to sea instead of taking a position to defend the city.

[Straight Shooter]

1. And just who was in charge of all this to make sure America is safe?

Why, it's Little Boots himself. He struts around bragging about how it's his job to "pertect Murika."

Good article, but the finger-pointing needs to be directed at bush, cheney, and rumsfeld.

[Vincardog]

2. And when the military dispatched two of those fighters to protect

Washington, they raced out to sea instead of taking a position to defend the city.
And why do you think they were ordered to do that?

The Pentagon LIED why do you think they were ordered to do that?

They changed procedures a month before the alleged attack
why do you think they were ordered to do that?

There were 4 hijacking excesses scheduled the day of 9/11/01
why do you think they were ordered to do that?

The 9/11 "commission" only "investigated" things to prove the
"official conspiracy theory"
why do you think they were ordered to do that?

Does anyone else smell a cover up?

[Sinti]

3. The cover up is the smoking gun

Your points barely scratch the surface.

[EFerrari]

7. This guy doesn't: Philip D. Zelikow

This is his posted bio at the official Commission site:

"Philip Zelikow is the executive director of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, better known as the "9/11 Commission." He is also the director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs and White Burkett Miller Professor of History at the University of Virginia. After serving in government with the Navy, the State Department, and the National Security Council, he taught at Harvard before assuming his present post in Virginia to direct the nation's largest research center on the American presidency. He was a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and served as executive director of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former Presidents Carter and Ford, as well as the executive director of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age. Zelikow's books include The Kennedy Tapes (with Ernest May), Germany Unified and Europe Transformed (with Condoleezza Rice), and the rewritten Essence of Decision (with Graham Allison). Zelikow has also been the director of the Aspen Strategy Group, a policy program of the Aspen Institute."

http://www.9-11commission.gov/about/bio_zelikow.htm

* * *

And not to be repetitive, didja notice this part:

"He was a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and served as executive director of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former Presidents Carter and Ford . . ."

I never want to be nagged about :tinfoilhat: again on the topic of election fraud. Never.

[bridge_to_nowhere]

4. Bob Bowman for Congress!

I think Air Force Col Bob Bowman says it well...

"The Bush administration was warned. They were warned by the Clinton Administration during the transition period, they were warned by the intelligence agencies of eleven other nations, they were specifically warned by one FBI agent that Moussawi was planning on flying a hijacked airliner, “into the World Trade Center.”

They ignored the warnings, more than that, we have mounting evidence that _at least_, they made it impossible for those planes to be intercepted.

If our government had merely done nothing - and I say that as an old interceptor pilot and I know the drill, I know what it takes, I know how long it takes, I know what the procedures are, I know what they were and I know what they changed them to - if our government had merely done nothing and allowed normal procedures to happen on that morning of 9/11, the twin towers would still be standing and thousands of Americans would still be alive. My sisters and brothers, that is treason!"

The truth is finally coming out!

[yurbud]

5. it's all gonna come out...the neocons failed

Their rich masters, so they will be hung out to dry.

[EFerrari]

6. Okay, everyone STOP THINKING! You might hatch something.

lol

[CJCRANE]

8. Only Rummy and *

had the authority to give the shootdown order. And where were they?