by Susan Strouss, Unknown News
April 26, 2004
There are only two questions which The 9/11 Commission needs to ask first. Only when this Administration has answered these, do we need to know why and how it happened. After we get the answers to these questions, we must put into place measures and laws that will assure us that this will never happen again.
1. After receiving the PDB of August 6, 2001 (following the briefings from the Clinton administration during the transition, and all the other briefings and warnings from our government agencies and other governments, before this date), why were there no alerts given to the Air National Guard (NORAD or any of the military air services) whose job it is to protect our skies, putting them on higher alert status?
2. Why were there no Air National Guard (or any other military) planes flying on Sept. 11? Normally there are hundreds of National Guard planes in the air, training and patrolling. Every day there are at least 16 military planes whose job it is to patrol America's skies, 24 hours/365 days of the year). Why were there not even the normal fighters up, and why were not extra planes ordered up that day to protect America's skies, the moment that there was a hint of a hijacking?
Our Intelligence services had "chatter or warnings" about planes being used against America and that a big attack was planned. The President and his Administration were informed in their briefings about these, during the nine months preceding the attacks.
On September 11, 2001, one plane (Flight #11) notified its home office at 8:21 AM that "there has been stabbings, one passenger's throat has been cut and "they" have gotten into the cockpit." The first jet hit the WTC #1 Tower at 8:46. There were three other planes which were known to be hijacked, and not one of our military planes were sent up in time, or flew above 23.9% of their top speed, to intercept any of these four planes which were known to be hijacked.
Why?
How could one, let alone three other planes, off course, with transponders off, failing to respond to radio communications, go unchallenged for over 25 minutes? A total of 1 hour and 53 minutes from the first notice of hijacking to the final plane "crashing" in Pennsylvania seems like plenty of time for defensive planes, even from the western states, to get there in time.
In the eight months before September 11, 2001, military planes intercepted planes which had "gone off course or had other suspicious problems" sixty-seven times. [LINK]
Why wasn't this routine response the response on Sept. 11?
There were thirty-three USAF Bases within range of the hijacked jets on 9/11. There were seven air stations on "full alert" covering the continental United States. Five of these seven air stations were within range of the four airliners hijacked on 9/11. There were twenty-eight other air stations in range of the four hijacked airliners on 9/11.
Here is the list of the seven Air Stations that were armed and on full alert to protect the continental United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001:
The Air National Guard exclusively performs the air sovereignty mission in the continental United States, and those units fall under the control of the 1st Air Force based at Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB) in Panama City, Florida.
The Air National Guard maintains seven alert sites with 14 fully armed fighters and pilots on call around the clock. Besides Tyndall AFB, alert birds also sit armed and ready at --
. Homestead Air Reserve Base (ARB)
. Homestead, Florida
. Langley AFB, Hampton, Virginia
. Otis Air National Guard (ANG), Falmouth, Massachusetts
. Oregon ANG, Portland, Oregon
. March ARB, Riverside, California; and
. Ellington ANG, Houston, Texas. [LINK]
On Oct. 26, 1999, golfer Payne Stewart's plane lost contact with air traffic controllers. According to CNN coverage at the time, the Air Force responded as per policy:
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An Air Force spokesman says two U.S. Air Force F-15s from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, intercepted the plane shortly after it lost contact with aircraft controllers, and followed it to Missouri ...
Over Missouri, four F-16s from an Air National Guard unit based in Fargo, North Dakota, took over the escort mission, and stayed with the plane (four hours) until it crashed.
The Air Force says additional F-16s were also scrambled from the Oklahoma Air National Guard unit in Tulsa, but were not used because the Fargo planes arrived first.
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All this for one small executive jet off course. And yet, according to the government, not one military plane was able to get into the air on September 11, 2001 and escort any or all of these errant planes, in the twenty-five minutes before the first plane slammed into the WTC tower, and the one hour and fifty-three minutes until the last plane "crashed" into the ground in Pennsylvania.
This is from the Otis Air National Guard, in Falmouth, Massachusetts 102nd Fighter Wing's mission statement of September 11, 2001: "Our aircraft and their crews are on continuous 24-hour, 365-day alert to guard our skies. The 102nd Fighter Wing's area of responsibility includes over 500,000 square miles, 90 million people, and the major industrial centers of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C."
From Otis to the World Trade Center is a 10 to 12 minute flight for these military planes.
Condoleezza Rice stated, "We had no idea that planes could be used as missiles." Then why at the G8 summit, prior to 9/11, were there counter-measures taken to thwart this type of threat? Did she not know about these? She is the National Security Advisor and she says she did not know! Did she never study history? Japanese planes were used, by diving bombing (used as missiles) into ships in WWII, a plane was flown into the White House.
Either she is lying or she does not have enough brainpower, (or imagination) to be the National Security Advisor.
These are the only questions I want answered now. After those have been answered, then it is time for this administration to answer how this happened -- and why!
To say that we did not have warnings, or that the warnings were not specific enough to take action to protect America, is a outright lie, and any thinking person knows it. If I hear on the news that there are dangerous felons who have escaped from prison and they are heading my way, I will lock my doors, get out the guns and bring the dogs into the house. I will do everything I can think of, to protect my family. Good God, these people get paid to protect America and they can't do what any reasonable person would do?!
© 2004, by the author.
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The author is a stay-at-home mother of a son and a daughter, who lives on a homestead in the Northern California mountains. She has been married to a wonderful man for 34 years.
Email Susan Strouss at takebackourrepublic@yahoo.com.
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There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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From the archives, April 19, 2004:
September 11, 2001:
Questions that'll never be asked ...
by Tess Ellis, Unknown News
From the archives, April 2, 2004:
FBI whistleblower says Rice is lying; Bush knew al-Qaida was planning attack
From the archives,
March 25-26, 2004:
Rice contradicts CIA,
Cheney, Armitage, herself
From the archives, March 22, 2004:
After 2 ½ years asleep,
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a few oddities about Sept. 11
# with comments by H&HH
From the archives, March 14, 2004:
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From the archives, March 4, 2004:
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German prosecutor calls
U.S. conduct "incomprehensible"
# with comments by
John C. and H&HH
From the archives, Feb. 10, 2004:
Daschle still says Bush & Cheney asked for no 9/11 investigation at all
From the archives, Jan 31, 2004:
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From the archives, Nov. 13, 2003:
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From the archives, Sept 17, 2003:
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From the archives, Sept 4, 2003:
While all other planes were
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White House OK'd flight home
for Bin Ladens in Sept. 11 aftermath
From the archives, Aug. 9, 2003:
White House ordered EPA to
lie about 9/11 pollution danger
From the archives, July 24, 2003:
9/11 families say: Tell us the full story
From the archives, July 1, 2003:
60 days prior to Sept. 11, 2001|
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"The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning." --CIA Intelligence Report for President Bush, July 2001
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From the archives, June 18, 2003:
"Fighting the White House" to get at the truth about Sept. 11
From the archives, March 31, 2003:
Sept. 11 victim's wife asks uncomfortable questions
From the archives, March 29, 2003:
Increased funding brings investigation's budget to $12-million
# with comments by H&HH
From the archives, Sept. 4, 2002:
Plans for Iraq attack
began on Sept. 11, 2001
From the archives, Jan. 29, 2002:
Bush and Cheney ask Daschle
to limit Sept. 11 investigation
From the archives, Dec. 19, 2001:
German firm probes last-minute
World Trade Center transactions
From the archives, Nov. 7, 2001:
Officials were told to 'back off' on Saudis before September 11
From the archives, Sept. 28, 2001:
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threat to Air Force One
From the archives, Sept. 24, 2001:
Pentagon officials canceled
travel plans on Sept. 10
due to "security concerns"
From the archives,
Sept 23-24, 2001:
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against bin Laden
From the archives, Sept. 21, 2001:
U.S. rejects Taliban's requests
for bin Laden evidence
From the archives, Sept. 12, 2001:
San Francisco Mayor says he
was warned not to fly yesterday
From the archives, Sept. 11, 2001:
German intelligence says US knew
in advance about today's attacks
From the archives, July 26, 2001:
"Threat assessment" keeps
Ashcroft off commercial air flights
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