reply to post by impressme
Some more info. About the events on 9/11.
From:
govinfo.library.unt.edu...
(notes in parenthesis are mine.)
At 10:03, the conference received reports of more missing aircraft,"2 possibly 3 aloft," and learned of a combat air patrol over Washington. There
was discussion of the need for rules of engagement. Clarke reported that they were asking the President for authority to shoot down aircraft.
Confirmation of that authority came at 10:25, but the commands were already being conveyed in more direct contacts with the Pentagon.
Inside the National Military Command Center, (NMCC) the deputy director for operations immediately thought the second strike was a terrorist attack.
The job of the NMCC in such an emergency is to gather the relevant parties and establish the chain of command between the National Command
Authority-the president and the secretary of defense- and those who need to carry out their orders.
Inside the NMCC, the deputy director for operations called for an all-purpose "significant event" conference. It began at 9:29, with a brief recap:
two aircraft had struck the World Trade Center, there was a confirmed hijacking of American 11, and Otis fighters had been scrambled. The FAA was
asked to provide an update, but the line was silent because the FAA had not been added to the call. A minute later, the deputy director stated that it
had just been confirmed that American 11 was still airborne and heading toward D.C. He directed the transition to an air threat conference call. NORAD
confirmed that American 11 was airborne and heading toward Washington, relaying the erroneous FAA information already mentioned.
(NOTE.- Could this have been AA77?)
At 9:39, the NMCC's deputy director for operations, a military officer, opened the call from the Pentagon, which had just been hit. He began: "An
air attack against North America may be in progress. NORAD, what's the situation?" NORAD said it had conflicting reports.
(NOTE.- At this time you will remember, three of the four hijacked aircraft had already crashed, and still NORAD had conflicting reports. After all
the events is easy to cry.- “Why weren´t any of the hijacked airliners intercepted? But you have to try and see things as they were being seen on
that morning. A lot of confusion, wrong information, gossip, and what not...)
At 9:48, a representative from the White House shelter asked if there were any indications of another hijacked aircraft. The deputy director for
operations mentioned the Delta flight and concluded that "that would be the fourth possible hijack." At 9:49, the commander of NORAD directed all
air sovereignty aircraft to battle stations, fully armed.
(NOTE.- That was Delta 1989. Fortunately that airplane was not shutdown.)
At 9:59, an Air Force lieutenant colonel working in the White House Military Office joined the conference and stated he had just talked to Deputy
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. The White House requested (1) the implementation of continuity of government measures, (2) fighter escorts
for Air Force One, and (3) a fighter combat air patrol over Washington,
(NOTE.- This is about 4 minutes before UA93 crashed.)
By 10:03, when United 93 crashed in Pennsylvania, there had been no mention of its hijacking and the FAA had not yet been added to the
tele-conference.
On the morning of 9/11, the President and Vice President stayed in contact not by an open line of communication but through a series of calls.
The Vice President stated that he called the President to discuss the rules of engagement for the CAP. He recalled feeling that it did no good to
establish the CAP unless the pilots had instructions on whether they were authorized to shoot if the plane would not divert. He said the President
signed off on that concept. The President said he remembered such a conversation, and that it reminded him of when he had been an interceptor pilot.
The President emphasized to us that he had authorized the shootdown of hijacked aircraft.
Repeatedly between 10:14 and 10:19, a lieutenant colonel at the White House relayed to the NMCC that the Vice President had confirmed fighters were
cleared to engage inbound aircraft if they could verify that the aircraft was hijacked.
The commander of NORAD, General Ralph Eberhart, was en route to the NORAD operations center in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, when the shootdown order
was communicated on the air threat conference call. He told us that by the time he arrived, the order had already been passed down NORAD's chain of
command.
So. In the other points:
Was an order given to shoot down hijacked aircraft?..............YES.
Was this order given by President Bush?...............................YES.
Was there EVER a “stand down” order given?.........................NO.
