Still waiting on the answer to a question...

[King_Crimson]

that was asked not too long ago. WHO TOLD THE MILITARY TO STAND DOWN ON 9/11...AND WHY???? All those military people drug before committee hearings this past spring couldn't even provide a clue...just a lot of "I don't know" and "I can research this or that for you", but no damned straight answer! I think Senator Graham is the best choice to bring this question to the forefront, since he seems to have taken the bull by the horns on the 9/11 issue, and it sure would help if he had some backing instead of attacking this issue on his own!

[molly]

1. Gut instinct tells me Chenney

[Q]

2. The order would have had to come from the WH...

...and Bush* was too busy posing for the cameras to get involved.

- Of course it was Cheney...but you can bet that Georgie knew about it and approved.

[molly]

3. I don't think he needed the approval

in a wartime situation - we were "under attack".

[King_Crimson]

4. My gut feeling says the same...

Now Mr. Cheney...we want to know WHY? HUH... MR.CHENEY...WHY?????

[molly]

7. Why - because it was the plan

[King_Crimson]

9. Maybe Mr. Cheney needs to explain...

the entire "PLAN" to the American people! I feel that if this one question starts getting hammered enough...it will eventually open the whole can of worms!

[whoYaCallinAlib]

5. Why don't you think Rummy had something to do with it?

That bastard had the most to gain. 9-11 gave him the opening he wanted to attack Afghanistan and Iraq "in retaliation".

[King_Crimson]

6. I think that bastard Rumsfeld...

had PLENTY to do with it. The individual who gave the order...in my estimation...was Cheney! And I agree with what Mike Malloy said last evening...Rumsfeld should be put before a firing squad!

[bicentennial_baby]

8. Until I know the answer to that question

I will forever be in the LIHOP/MIHOP camp. Until someone explains convincingly why the SOP was not even remotely followed that morning, I will place blame on those in charge, namely Cheney and Von Rumsfeld.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. It is not a matter of someone giving an order

to the military to stand down. What happened is that the people who could give the orders to take action (W, Cheney and Rummie) didn't. They didn't do anything! Even when they admit to hearing about the 1st tower, none of them reacted appropriately. They all sat on their hands until it was too late to stop the chain of events that were in progress. That's the problem.

[King_Crimson]

11. If you are in a position to do something...

and do NOTHING...then it's a matter of willful ignorance, incompetence, whatever! If you get a chance to rent the video that the two Frenchmen made who were with the firefighters who were in a training session that morning, by all means do so! It is very scary indeed as you are in the north tower with these guys after it is hit and even though you and I know what's going to happen, these guys didn't! Then you hear the approach of the second plane...and find yourself screaming "Where in the hell is the Air Force"?

[Devils Advocate NZ]

12. That is NOT how it works...

The military did not need a specific order to scramble fighters on Sept 11. In fact they would need a specific order NOT to scramble fighters because the Standard Operating Procedures are what is known in the military as Standing Orders, ie orders that have been given and are always in effect unless countermanded.

That means that on the report of an aircraft off course, NORAD had to launch fighters to investigate. They didn't, which meant that even if an order to shoot down those aircraft had come in, they didn't have any fighters in a position to do so. In fact, that is the reason the aircraft are scrambled immediately as per SOP, so that if an order to shoot does come in, they can be in a position to do so.

This means that someone in the chain of command said "Wait. I don't want you to follow SOP yet. I want you to wait until I tell you to scramble those fighters."

Remember, these procedures are the same ones designed to defend against Soviet supersonic bombers, who could have popped up over the horizon and been crossing the shoreline ten minutes later. In situations such as this there is no time to wait for an order to scramble from the President (as one Bush cabal excuse tried to mislead people into believing). If Sept 11 was actually Soviet supersonic bombers, New York would have been radioactive dust before bush even finished reading his little book.

So there is no doubt whatsoever that an actual order to stand down MUST have been given, or else those fighters would have easily been able to prevent the attack.

[King_Crimson]

13. Excellent post Devils Advocate NZ...

and heres a little food for thought www.standdown.net

[skypilot]

14. Air traffic controllers

Have any of the air traffic controllers been questioned by the Independent Commission--or by anyone? The one transcript I read had them questioning different NORAD/Air Force personnel who couldn't give an answer as to when NORAD was first notified that a plane was suspected of being hijacked. Richard Myers couldn't answer the question either just a couple days after the attacks at his confirmation hearing. It seems to me that if the commission really wanted to get to the bottom of things they'd start at the beginning and question the air traffic controllers who would have been the first ones to notice a problem. Why aren't they being questioned? Or are they? Have I missed something?

[Karenina]

18. I also seem to recall

a flap about Cheney actually giving the order to shoot down the PA flight. It was another of those reports that surfaced, then *PRESTO* disappeared. And your post DOES say all. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE was NOT followed. WHY?????

[skypilot]

15. kick

:kick:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

16. Ironically, the intel was saying to do the OPPOSITE

If anything NORAD etc... should have been on heightened alert. :wtf:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

17. kick