| >>> At 9:03
AM on 11 September 2001, the second airplane hit the South Tower of the
World Trade Center. President Bush was in Florida, at the Emma T. Booker
Elementary School, listening to children read. Chief of Staff Andrew Card
came over and whispered in Bush's ear, "A second plane hit the second
tower. America is under attack."
What did the Commander in Chief do?
Nothing. He sat there. He sat for well over 5 minutes, doing nothing while
3,000 people were dying and the attacks were still in progress.
Not only did the leader of the free
world sit as his country was attacked, the Secret Service also did
nothing. Bush was appearing in public at a previously announced photo-op.
He was a sitting duck. The attacks were ongoing at that point (planes had
yet to hit the Pentagon or the field in Pennsylvania), and nobody knew how
much more destruction was going to happen. Were there two, three, four,
eight more planes hijacked and on their way to crash into prominent
buildings? Was one headed for the school, where anyone who checked the
President's public itinerary would know he was located? Were other
terrorists planning to detonate dirty nukes? Were they going to release
anthrax or smallpox or sarin? Was an assassination squad going to burst
into the school and get Bush? Was a suicide bomber going to ram a truck
full of explosives into that classroom?
During the midst of the attacks, any
of these things could've happened. Yet there sits Bush, seemingly
unconcerned. His Chief of Staff likewise doesn't think that America in
flames warrants the President's immediate attention. And the Secret
Service utterly fails to do its job by grabbing the President of the
United States and getting him to safety. It's truly inexplicable.
And it's something the
administration isn't too eager to trumpet. They haven't released footage
of the President's (non)actions during this historic moment of American
history. Until now, the only available footage had been a little film put
together by Booker Elementary. [See
it here.] The problem
is, there's a jump edit in the footage: From the time Card whispers to
Bush until the end of the scene in the classroom, only 2 minutes and 10
seconds elapse.
But this new, fuller footage shows
Bush sitting for a full five minutes after he'd been told that "America is
under attack."
He declined to take action even
longer than this, but unfortunately this footage ends before he leaves the
classroom. Thanks to an amazing article by Allan Wood and Paul Thompson,
we know what happened after the footage suddenly cuts off:
The only source to describe
what happened next is Fighting Back by Bill Sammon. Publishers
Weekly described Sammon's book as an "inside account of the Bush
administration's reaction to 9-11 [and] a breathless, highly
complimentary portrait of the president [showing] the great merit and
unwavering moral vision of his inner circle." [Publisher's Weekly,
10/15/02] Sammon's conservative perspective makes his account of Bush's
behavior at the end of the photo-op all the more surprising. Bush is
described as smiling and chatting with the children "as if he didn't
have a care in the world" and "in the most relaxed manner imaginable."
White House aide Gordon Johndroe, then came in as he usually does at the
end of press conferences, and said, "Thank you, press. If you could step
out the door we came in, please." A reporter then asked, "Mr. President,
are you aware of the reports of the plane crash in New York? Is there
anything...", But Bush interrupted, and no doubt recalling his order,
"DON'T SAY ANYTHING YET," Bush responded, "I'll talk about it later."
But still the president did not leave. "He stepped forward and shook
hands with [classroom teacher] Daniels, slipping his left hand behind
her in another photo-op pose. He was taking his good old time. ... Bush
lingered until the press was gone." [Fighting Back: The War on
Terrorism - From Inside the Bush White House, by Bill Sammon, 10/02,
p. 90]
For a detailed portrait of what Bush
did and didn't do on 9/11, you can do no better than to read this article
here. It is based completely
on reports from mainstream media and statements from government officials.
Apologists claim that Bush didn't
leave simply because he didn't want to interrupt and upset the children,
but this falls apart for several reasons:
1) America is being attacked,
thousands are dying, and Bush doesn't know if we're facing nuclear,
biological, or chemical attacks, as well. Couldn't he just say, "Excuse
me, kids, I need to take care of something. It's part of being
President, y'understand. I'll be back as soon as I can."
2) At the moment Card told Bush
about the second plane, the children weren't reading to Bush.
They had finished reading words from an easel and were reaching under
their chairs for a book when Card whispered to Bush. Another 30 seconds
would elapse before they started reading again. This pause was a
perfect time for Bush to politely excuse himself.
3) By staying, he not only
endangered his own life, but the lives of all of those children.
Wouldn't it be better to risk upsetting them than to risk letting them
die in a terror attack?
4) Even if Bush was afraid of
hurting the kiddies' feelings, what about the Secret Service? Have they
been trained not to attempt to save the President's life if it might
bother some schoolchildren?
5) What about Chief of Staff Andrew Card,
White House Spokesperson Ari Fleischer, and other officials who were in
that classroom? Didn't they feel that a 21st-century Pearl Harbor and a
potential attack on the President himself were worth some sort of
action?
6) Finally, and most damningly,
this excuse doesn't explain why Bush continued to mill around the
classroom for several minutes after the children had finished
reading.
source |
At
9:03 AM on 11 September 2001, the second airplane hit the South Tower of the
World Trade Center.
