Here's some of what I've found...
As If Reality Wasn't Bad Enough
Dan Rather spread alarmist rumors on September 11
By Jim Naureckas
In a national emergency like the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the first thing required from the news media is accurate
information. Unfortunately, TV journalists too often delivered misinformation instead. One who did so repeatedly was CBS News' Dan Rather.
www.fair.org...
This site is no good:
TCM Breaking News - 2001/09/11: Car bombing outside of State ...
TCM Archives > TCM Breaking News > 2001/09/11
> Car bombing outside of State Department. ...
archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2001/09/11/story23319.asp -
25k - Cached - Similar pages
Been scrubbed, maybe?
An article from Slate.msn.com:
Bruland passes on a rumor that a car bomb has exploded at the State Department. We race over to Foggy Bottom and find utter quiet. A State Department
cop says of the bomb rumor, "That's unconfirmed, sir." We walk the perimeter of the building, and find no sign of a bomb or any other chaos. Yet
when we return to the Slate bureau at 12:05 p.m., National Public Radio is reporting that a bomb has indeed exploded near Foggy Bottom. Perhaps there
was a bomb elsewhere, or there was no bomb at all. It's impossible to know anything this morning.
slate.msn.com...
Excellent diversion, huh?
Colin Powell to Nato en route back to Washington:
"You may have gotten an earlier report that there was a car bomb outside the State Department, but that is not the case."
www.nato.int...
Nato was worried about it. No small thing.
Pentagon attacked
by Ron Fournier
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon was struck by aircraft, a car bomb exploded outside the State Department and agents patrolled outside the White House with
automatic weapons Tuesday as an apparent coordinated terrorist attack spread fear and chaos in the nation's capital.
www.savannahnow.com...
"The day didn't just end at [the Pennsylvania crash of United Airlines Flight] 93," said Army Brig. Gen. W. Montague Winfield, who was at the
Pentagon that day. "We were responding to possible hijackings. … We had a car bomb reported at the State Department."
"It ran on the crawler on the TV that a car bomb had exploded outside the State Department," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said. "I
went out and looked with diplomatic security and didn't see anything, called my colleagues around town and, on the video conference screen, told them
there was nothing to it."
abcnews.go.com...
From Poynter:
8:41 NBC cuts to correspondent Jim Miklaszewski, who reports from the Pentagon that the building just shook and he sees construction workers
scattering from the area. “It appears to be a small blast. Windows rattled. The building shook.” He promises more details as soon as he can gather
them. “Please be careful,” urges Katie Couric.
8:42 ABC’s Clair Shipman reports smoke coming from behind the Old Executive Office Building. There is video of the smoke, from a camera position near
Lafayette Park. No definitive word on what we are seeing.
NBC’s Miklaszewski is back with word that the Pentagon is being cleared. “This appears to be a highly sophisticated, coordinated attack.”
CBS reports from the Pentagon that the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine has claimed responsibility for the acts.
8:44 ABC reports a fire at the Pentagon and evacuation of personnel.
9:32 ABC reports that an American Airlines headed from Dulles to LA was hijacked, with 60 passengers and crew on board. Jennings reads an AP report of
an car bomb outside the State Department.
www.poynter.org...
There are many reports. All of a car bomb outside the State Department, not the Pentagon. At least I havn't seen any on that. So, I was wrong on
that part. Apologies.
The bottom line, though, is that if Colin Powell had to re-assure Nato that there was no bomb at State, it was taken very seriously. I do believe it
was an attempt to divert attention away from the big target: whatever it was that went into the Pentagon.
[Edited on 19-09-2003 by EastCoastKid]
