The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: SSG Snuggle Bunny on February 09, 2011, 01:29:15 PM
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kpete (1000+ posts) Wed Feb-09-11 07:14 PM
Original message
On 9/11 - Rumsfeld Fiddled - While Cheney Ran the Country
Edited on Wed Feb-09-11 07:15 PM by kpete
On 9/11, Rumsfeld Fiddled While Cheney Ran the Country
— By James Ridgeway
| Wed Feb. 9, 2011 9:47 AM PST
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Feeling the Pentagon shake when American Airlines Flight 77 hit at 9:38, and seeing the smoke, Rumsfeld, by his own report, rushed into the Pentagon parking lot, which was in chaos amid frantic rescue efforts and treating the wounded. Then he returned to his office. He spoke briefly to Bush, who was on Air Force One flying around somewhere in the southeast, who wanted to know about the damage to the Pentagon. From there Rumsfeld went to the military command post in the basement. And there, he writes, heeding the advice of General Dick Myers, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, who was also in the room, he raised the threat level to a state of alert, and launched fighters to protect Air Force One. Rumsfeld was supposed to be removed to a secret site, but he says he was â€unwilling to be out of touch during the time it would take to relocate me to the safe site.’’
Shortly afterwards, he writes, â€the Vice President reached me by phone.’’ Cheney reportedly told Rumsfeld, “There’s been at least three instance here where we’ve had reports of aircraft approaching Washington…A couple were confirmed hijacked. And pursuant to the President’s instructions I gave authorization for them to be taken out.â€
In fact, there is considerable doubt as to when Cheney actually received “the President’s instructions,†and considerable evidence that he acted on his own volition, as even the timid 9/11 Commission report makes clear. But in any case, his orders clearly violated the military chain of command–something Rumsfeld failed to point out, according to his own account of the subsequent conversation:
“Yes, I understand,†I replied. “Who did you give that direction to?â€
“It was passed from here through the operation] center at the White House,†Cheney answered.
“Has that directive been transmitted to the aircraft?â€
“Yes, it has,†Cheney replied.
“So we’ve got a couple of aircraft up there that have those instruction at this present time?†I asked.
“That is correct,†Cheney answered. Then he added, “t’ my understanding they’ve already taken a couple of aircraft out.â€
“We can’t confirm that,†I told him. We had not received word that any US military pilots had even contemplated engaging and firing on a hijacked aircraft.
“We’re told that one aircraft is down,†I added, “but we do not have a pilot report…â€
As it turned out the only other aircraft that crashed had not been shot down. It was United Airlines Flight 93, a hijacked plane that went down in a field near Shankville, Pennsylvania.’’
This from the man directly charged under the law with putting into action the orders from the Commander-in-Chief. The Vice President is nowhere listed in the chain of command and has no authority to act. In the above passage, Rumsfeld himself describes how he essentially was a bystander that morning, with little or no input in the crisis. Our multi-billion-dollar Defense Department and its chief were unprepared, incompetent, and ignored as Cheney seized the reins and ran the country.
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http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/911-rumsfeld-fiddle...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x380325
Let's see:
Rumsfeld refused to be evacuated and went to the command post inside the still-burning Pentagon.
But he was supposedly dithering.
Communications were confused.
But this is supposed to be extraordinary to the point of criminality.
The government was incompetent and unprepared.
But this is the same crew that howls about roving wiretaps.
The president was not in communications.
But Cheney wasn't allowed to act.
Bush is supposedly a criminal for "allowing" the planes to strike unopposed.
But when the order to take down supposedly hijacked craft comes in it is criminal.
Dear DUmbasses,
Please pick your narrative and stick to it.
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Mother Jones, the hard-Left equivalent in sound thinking to Alex Jones.
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Mother Jones, the hard-Left equivalent in sound thinking to Alex Jones.
Don't you criticize MoJo!
Michael Moore got his start there!
(and was subsequently fired for being bat-shit insane vis-a-vis South American Marxist insurgencies.)
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Hey dipshit, since the Pres couldn't possibly have known the full extent of the threat, and the Vice Pres did, guess who's job it was to protect the country? Maybe if this ever happens again, God forbid, we'll just wait until the Pres has all the facts and let 'em take out a few more targets! What a ****in' no mind!
DUmmies is so easy to slap down, it's just not sporting any more!
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Don't worry DUmmies, VP Biden will not be so bold.
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Don't worry DUmmies, VP Biden will not be so bold.
He will shoot off his mouth though.
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as even the timid 9/11 Commission report makes clear
Anyone who uses that report to make their point has already failed.
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It's almost time to break out the chicken wire and cinderblocks.