Flight 93
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From: Seattle, WA
CNN reported this morning that the President and VP authorized the use of force to shoot down any other airliners that did not respond to communication. Fighters in DC were scrambled but no statement has been made regarding the mission of the fighters.
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From today's New York Times. Read in its' entirety.
Bush Ordered Downing of Planes That Ignored Warnings, Cheney Says
By CHRISTOPHER S. WREN
(NBC)
Vice President Cheney was among the administration officials appearing on television this morning to discuss what steps the government is taking in response to Tuesday's attacks.
fter hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last Tuesday, President Bush told American military pilots to shoot down any commercial aircraft that ignored warnings to stay away from Washington, Vice President Dick Cheney reported today.
In an interview on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Mr. Cheney said he had recommended the president's decision that "if the plane would not divert, if they wouldn't pay any attention to instructions to move away from the city, as a last resort our pilots were authorized to take them out."
"Now people say, you know, that's a horrendous decision to make," the vice president said. "Well, it is."
"As it turned out, we did not have to execute that decision," he said.
If combat air patrols had been over New York City to shoot down the planes attacking the World Trade Center, Mr. Cheney said, "would we have been justified in doing that? I think absolutely we would have."
Two hijacked airliners slammed into the World Trade Center and a third into the Pentagon, leaving more than 5,000 people dead or missing. A fourth hijacked airliner crashed in Pennsylvania after some passengers tried to stop the hijackers, according to cell phone messages from the doomed aircraft.
Mr. Cheney speculated that "some real heroism by Americans" aboard the hijacked plane had prevented the hijackers from crash the plane into the Capitol in Washington.
"What they did was to foil the attack on Washington," the vice president said of the passengers. He surmised that "the target was the Capitol," and not the White House, which is less conspicuous from the air.
In the interview, near the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., where Mr. Bush is meeting this weekend with his national security team, the vice president also expressed his conviction that Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born millionaire hiding out in Afghanistan, was behind the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.
"I have no doubt that he and his organization played a significant role in this," Mr. Cheney said in the interview. The administration was "quite confident," he said, that Mr. bin Laden "is in fact the prime suspect."
President Bush and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell had previously described Mr. bin Laden as prime suspect, but Mr. Cheney went further in attributing the "significant role" to the fugitive and his organization.
Mr. bin Laden, who is living under the protection of the Taliban in Afghanistan, was also linked to previous bombings of the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, prompting the Washington to retaliate with a missile attack on his suspected headquarters and terrorist training bases inside Afghanistan.
But Mr. Cheney stressed today that the attacks in New York and Washington last week were a "qualitatively different set of circumstances."
President Bush has called for a war on terrorism, with Mr. bin Laden and his network a primary target. But the vice president said today that "it's also important to understand that this is a long term-proposition."
"It's not like, well, even Desert Storm, where we had a buildup for a few months, four days of combat, and it was over with," said Mr. Cheney, who was secretary of defense during the operation that expelled Iraqi forces from Iraq in 1991.
"This is going to be the kind of work that will probably take years, because the focus has to be not just on any one individual," the vice president said. "The problem here is terrorism."
Bush Ordered Downing of Planes That Ignored Warnings, Cheney Says
By CHRISTOPHER S. WREN
(NBC)
Vice President Cheney was among the administration officials appearing on television this morning to discuss what steps the government is taking in response to Tuesday's attacks.
fter hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last Tuesday, President Bush told American military pilots to shoot down any commercial aircraft that ignored warnings to stay away from Washington, Vice President Dick Cheney reported today.
In an interview on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Mr. Cheney said he had recommended the president's decision that "if the plane would not divert, if they wouldn't pay any attention to instructions to move away from the city, as a last resort our pilots were authorized to take them out."
"Now people say, you know, that's a horrendous decision to make," the vice president said. "Well, it is."
"As it turned out, we did not have to execute that decision," he said.
If combat air patrols had been over New York City to shoot down the planes attacking the World Trade Center, Mr. Cheney said, "would we have been justified in doing that? I think absolutely we would have."
Two hijacked airliners slammed into the World Trade Center and a third into the Pentagon, leaving more than 5,000 people dead or missing. A fourth hijacked airliner crashed in Pennsylvania after some passengers tried to stop the hijackers, according to cell phone messages from the doomed aircraft.
Mr. Cheney speculated that "some real heroism by Americans" aboard the hijacked plane had prevented the hijackers from crash the plane into the Capitol in Washington.
"What they did was to foil the attack on Washington," the vice president said of the passengers. He surmised that "the target was the Capitol," and not the White House, which is less conspicuous from the air.
In the interview, near the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., where Mr. Bush is meeting this weekend with his national security team, the vice president also expressed his conviction that Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born millionaire hiding out in Afghanistan, was behind the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.
"I have no doubt that he and his organization played a significant role in this," Mr. Cheney said in the interview. The administration was "quite confident," he said, that Mr. bin Laden "is in fact the prime suspect."
President Bush and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell had previously described Mr. bin Laden as prime suspect, but Mr. Cheney went further in attributing the "significant role" to the fugitive and his organization.
Mr. bin Laden, who is living under the protection of the Taliban in Afghanistan, was also linked to previous bombings of the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, prompting the Washington to retaliate with a missile attack on his suspected headquarters and terrorist training bases inside Afghanistan.
But Mr. Cheney stressed today that the attacks in New York and Washington last week were a "qualitatively different set of circumstances."
President Bush has called for a war on terrorism, with Mr. bin Laden and his network a primary target. But the vice president said today that "it's also important to understand that this is a long term-proposition."
"It's not like, well, even Desert Storm, where we had a buildup for a few months, four days of combat, and it was over with," said Mr. Cheney, who was secretary of defense during the operation that expelled Iraqi forces from Iraq in 1991.
"This is going to be the kind of work that will probably take years, because the focus has to be not just on any one individual," the vice president said. "The problem here is terrorism."
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Joined: Sep 2001
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From: Mansfield, TX
Look guys, I can't let this go on any longer without injecting .
By my user name you can tell I might know what I'm talking about. I'm active duty Navy, a pilot for over 22 years, qualified in the DC-9 and the 737 and additionally trained as an aircraft accident investigator (Aviation Safety Officer).
Planes that are shot down come apart in flight and spread out all over the ground. Planes that lose control or are forced into a dive leave a small, deep, hole with a few of the lighter items splashed out normally in a circle that has an increased range on one side due to the angle of impact.
Nobody shot this plane down. The FAA and NTSB will investigate the site, examine the evidence and prove the angles of impact, condition of the engines, (running or off) position of the flight controls and even the speed of the impact, all without the aid of the "black boxes".
Please stop and think, we were attacked by Terrorists. Those men who took control of the doomed airliner were acting out the very thing that is best in America. All those passengers who, when faced with the choice to make the ultimate sacrifice in order that others may live, ought to be commended and they too should receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. What they did in the face of certain death was no less of an act of valor than the GI who throws himself on a grenade to save his buddies.
I for one am proud to know we have such citizens in this country.
By my user name you can tell I might know what I'm talking about. I'm active duty Navy, a pilot for over 22 years, qualified in the DC-9 and the 737 and additionally trained as an aircraft accident investigator (Aviation Safety Officer).
Planes that are shot down come apart in flight and spread out all over the ground. Planes that lose control or are forced into a dive leave a small, deep, hole with a few of the lighter items splashed out normally in a circle that has an increased range on one side due to the angle of impact.
Nobody shot this plane down. The FAA and NTSB will investigate the site, examine the evidence and prove the angles of impact, condition of the engines, (running or off) position of the flight controls and even the speed of the impact, all without the aid of the "black boxes".
Please stop and think, we were attacked by Terrorists. Those men who took control of the doomed airliner were acting out the very thing that is best in America. All those passengers who, when faced with the choice to make the ultimate sacrifice in order that others may live, ought to be commended and they too should receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. What they did in the face of certain death was no less of an act of valor than the GI who throws himself on a grenade to save his buddies.
I for one am proud to know we have such citizens in this country.
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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 7,337
Likes: 3
From: Los Angeles, Miami
Nice to see all the conspiracy theorists come out for this one... Geez. The plane was NOT shot down. No way.
If you look at the are where Flight 93 crashed, it's a big crater with two lines extending out from the main crater section. The main crater is obviously the main fuelsage and the two extending lines, the wings. If the plane was shot down, by one of our own, the debris would have been scattered for miles not in one concentrated area. Whatever happened on that plane caused it to lose control and go into an unrecoverable spiral dive. All the evidence points this way.
Personally I believe that there was a struggle onboard and those heros sacrificed themselves and saved the lives for countless of others in the DC area. May they all rest in peace.
If you look at the are where Flight 93 crashed, it's a big crater with two lines extending out from the main crater section. The main crater is obviously the main fuelsage and the two extending lines, the wings. If the plane was shot down, by one of our own, the debris would have been scattered for miles not in one concentrated area. Whatever happened on that plane caused it to lose control and go into an unrecoverable spiral dive. All the evidence points this way.
Personally I believe that there was a struggle onboard and those heros sacrificed themselves and saved the lives for countless of others in the DC area. May they all rest in peace.
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