9/11 panel cites communication woes FAA was slow to alert military to hijackings, commission says

WASHINGTON -- Blindsided by terrorists and beset by poorcommunications, officials were so slow to react on Sept. 11 that thelast of four hijacked planes had crashed by the time Vice PresidentDick Cheney ordered hostile aircraft shot down, a bipartisancommission reported Thursday.

In an unflinching report, the panel depicted the Federal AviationAdministration as slow to alert the military to the hijackings --even failing to pass along word that one of the planes had beenseized.

In testimony before the panel, Gen. Ralph Eberhart said militarypilots would have been able to "shoot down the airplanes" if word ofthe hijackings had been immediate. The commission, though, made nosuch claim.

Some military pilots "were never briefed about the reason theywere scrambled," the panel said. The Secret Service, worried about aplane approaching the capital, went "outside the chain of command" toask for warplanes to be sent aloft.

President Bush, in Florida when the terrorists struck, was notimmune to communications woes. The commander in chief later toldinterviewers he had been frustrated that day at delays inestablishing secure phone links with officials in Washington.

"There was a real problem with communications that morning," thecommission's chairman, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, toldreporters. "There were a lot of people who should have been in theloop who were not in the loop."

The commission sketched its picture as it neared the end of anexhaustive investigation into terrorist attacks that killed nearly3,000. Terrorists seized four planes on a single day, flying two ofthem into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Thefourth, headed for Washington, D.C., crashed in the Pennsylvaniacountryside after passengers struggled with hijackers.

"The nation owes a debt to the passengers. . . . Their actionssaved the lives of countless others and may have saved either theU.S. Capitol or the White House from destruction," the commission'sreport said.

It noted that officials at NORAD -- the North American AerospaceDefense Command -- maintain they could have intercepted and shot downthe plane, United Flight 93. "We are not sure," the commission said.

Eberhart, the NORAD commander, made an even bolder claim as hetestified before the panel. He said all four planes could have beenshot from the sky if the FAA had informed the military as soon as itknew of each hijacking.

"If that is the case, yes, we could shoot down the airplanes," hesaid.

It was a claim the panel steered clear of making, and none of thecommissioners responded when he made it.

As is its custom, the commission had its staff report read aloud,a recitation spiced by snippets of taped audio conversations thatmost Americans were hearing for the first time.

"We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be O.K. We arereturning to the airport," says one voice, believed to belong toMohamed Atta, the alleged ringleader of 19 hijackers.

Those few words, heard at the FAA's Boston Center, were the firstthe government knew of any of the hijackings.

On the ground, there was skepticism bordering on disbelief.

"Is this real-world or exercise?" an unidentified NORAD officialsaid when told by the FAA there was a need to send F-16 fighterplanes aloft.

"No, this is not an exercise, not a test," came back the reply.

In a tunnel beneath the White House, Cheney talked later to thepresident. The vice president subsequently told commissioners Bushhad authorized orders for military pilots to shoot down hijackedaircraft that refused to follow orders.

Cheney issued the orders on several occasions, the report said,unaware the last of the four hijacked planes -- heading forWashington -- had already crashed.

A half hour later, Cheney erroneously told Defense SecretaryDonald Rumsfeld he believed military pilots had "already taken acouple of aircraft out."

Whatever the problems, the panel praised the actions of governmentpersonnel forced to make split-second decisions. Air trafficcontrollers brought nearly 4,500 planes safely to the ground, forexample, juggling many more aircraft than usual once the skies wereordered cleared.

The commission held its final day of public hearings as Bushchallenged its finding, announced Wednesday, that there had been no"collaborative relationship" between Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaidaterrorists responsible for the attacks.

"There was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida," Bushinsisted Thursday. "This administration never said that the 9/11attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al-Qaida."

"We did say there were numerous contacts between Saddam Husseinand al-Qaida, for example, Iraqi intelligence agents met with binLaden, the head of al-Qaida in the Sudan."

Neither Kean, nor former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, thecommission's vice chairman, showed any inclination for a public spatwith Bush on the issue.

Hamilton said, "The sharp differences that the press has drawn . .. are not that apparent to me."

AP

9/11 panel cites communication woes FAA was slow to alert military to hijackings, commission says

WASHINGTON -- Blindsided by terrorists and beset by poorcommunications, officials were so slow to react on Sept. 11 that thelast of four hijacked planes had crashed by the time Vice PresidentDick Cheney ordered hostile aircraft shot down, a bipartisancommission reported Thursday.

In an unflinching report, the panel depicted the Federal AviationAdministration as slow to alert the military to the hijackings --even failing to pass along word that one of the planes had beenseized.

In testimony before the panel, Gen. Ralph Eberhart said militarypilots would have been able to "shoot down the airplanes" if word ofthe hijackings had been immediate. The commission, though, made nosuch claim.

Some military pilots "were never briefed about the reason theywere scrambled," the panel said. The Secret Service, worried about aplane approaching the capital, went "outside the chain of command" toask for warplanes to be sent aloft.

President Bush, in Florida when the terrorists struck, was notimmune to communications woes. The commander in chief later toldinterviewers he had been frustrated that day at delays inestablishing secure phone links with officials in Washington.

"There was a real problem with communications that morning," thecommission's chairman, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, toldreporters. "There were a lot of people who should have been in theloop who were not in the loop."

The commission sketched its picture as it neared the end of anexhaustive investigation into terrorist attacks that killed nearly3,000. Terrorists seized four planes on a single day, flying two ofthem into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Thefourth, headed for Washington, D.C., crashed in the Pennsylvaniacountryside after passengers struggled with hijackers.

"The nation owes a debt to the passengers. . . . Their actionssaved the lives of countless others and may have saved either theU.S. Capitol or the White House from destruction," the commission'sreport said.

It noted that officials at NORAD -- the North American AerospaceDefense Command -- maintain they could have intercepted and shot downthe plane, United Flight 93. "We are not sure," the commission said.

Eberhart, the NORAD commander, made an even bolder claim as hetestified before the panel. He said all four planes could have beenshot from the sky if the FAA had informed the military as soon as itknew of each hijacking.

"If that is the case, yes, we could shoot down the airplanes," hesaid.

It was a claim the panel steered clear of making, and none of thecommissioners responded when he made it.

As is its custom, the commission had its staff report read aloud,a recitation spiced by snippets of taped audio conversations thatmost Americans were hearing for the first time.

"We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be O.K. We arereturning to the airport," says one voice, believed to belong toMohamed Atta, the alleged ringleader of 19 hijackers.

Those few words, heard at the FAA's Boston Center, were the firstthe government knew of any of the hijackings.

On the ground, there was skepticism bordering on disbelief.

"Is this real-world or exercise?" an unidentified NORAD officialsaid when told by the FAA there was a need to send F-16 fighterplanes aloft.

"No, this is not an exercise, not a test," came back the reply.

In a tunnel beneath the White House, Cheney talked later to thepresident. The vice president subsequently told commissioners Bushhad authorized orders for military pilots to shoot down hijackedaircraft that refused to follow orders.

Cheney issued the orders on several occasions, the report said,unaware the last of the four hijacked planes -- heading forWashington -- had already crashed.

A half hour later, Cheney erroneously told Defense SecretaryDonald Rumsfeld he believed military pilots had "already taken acouple of aircraft out."

Whatever the problems, the panel praised the actions of governmentpersonnel forced to make split-second decisions. Air trafficcontrollers brought nearly 4,500 planes safely to the ground, forexample, juggling many more aircraft than usual once the skies wereordered cleared.

The commission held its final day of public hearings as Bushchallenged its finding, announced Wednesday, that there had been no"collaborative relationship" between Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaidaterrorists responsible for the attacks.

"There was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida," Bushinsisted Thursday. "This administration never said that the 9/11attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al-Qaida."

"We did say there were numerous contacts between Saddam Husseinand al-Qaida, for example, Iraqi intelligence agents met with binLaden, the head of al-Qaida in the Sudan."

Neither Kean, nor former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, thecommission's vice chairman, showed any inclination for a public spatwith Bush on the issue.

Hamilton said, "The sharp differences that the press has drawn . .. are not that apparent to me."

AP

9/11 panel cites communication woes FAA was slow to alert military to hijackings, commission says

WASHINGTON -- Blindsided by terrorists and beset by poorcommunications, officials were so slow to react on Sept. 11 that thelast of four hijacked planes had crashed by the time Vice PresidentDick Cheney ordered hostile aircraft shot down, a bipartisancommission reported Thursday.

In an unflinching report, the panel depicted the Federal AviationAdministration as slow to alert the military to the hijackings --even failing to pass along word that one of the planes had beenseized.

In testimony before the panel, Gen. Ralph Eberhart said militarypilots would have been able to "shoot down the airplanes" if word ofthe hijackings had been immediate. The commission, though, made nosuch claim.

Some military pilots "were never briefed about the reason theywere scrambled," the panel said. The Secret Service, worried about aplane approaching the capital, went "outside the chain of command" toask for warplanes to be sent aloft.

President Bush, in Florida when the terrorists struck, was notimmune to communications woes. The commander in chief later toldinterviewers he had been frustrated that day at delays inestablishing secure phone links with officials in Washington.

"There was a real problem with communications that morning," thecommission's chairman, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, toldreporters. "There were a lot of people who should have been in theloop who were not in the loop."

The commission sketched its picture as it neared the end of anexhaustive investigation into terrorist attacks that killed nearly3,000. Terrorists seized four planes on a single day, flying two ofthem into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Thefourth, headed for Washington, D.C., crashed in the Pennsylvaniacountryside after passengers struggled with hijackers.

"The nation owes a debt to the passengers. . . . Their actionssaved the lives of countless others and may have saved either theU.S. Capitol or the White House from destruction," the commission'sreport said.

It noted that officials at NORAD -- the North American AerospaceDefense Command -- maintain they could have intercepted and shot downthe plane, United Flight 93. "We are not sure," the commission said.

Eberhart, the NORAD commander, made an even bolder claim as hetestified before the panel. He said all four planes could have beenshot from the sky if the FAA had informed the military as soon as itknew of each hijacking.

"If that is the case, yes, we could shoot down the airplanes," hesaid.

It was a claim the panel steered clear of making, and none of thecommissioners responded when he made it.

As is its custom, the commission had its staff report read aloud,a recitation spiced by snippets of taped audio conversations thatmost Americans were hearing for the first time.

"We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be O.K. We arereturning to the airport," says one voice, believed to belong toMohamed Atta, the alleged ringleader of 19 hijackers.

Those few words, heard at the FAA's Boston Center, were the firstthe government knew of any of the hijackings.

On the ground, there was skepticism bordering on disbelief.

"Is this real-world or exercise?" an unidentified NORAD officialsaid when told by the FAA there was a need to send F-16 fighterplanes aloft.

"No, this is not an exercise, not a test," came back the reply.

In a tunnel beneath the White House, Cheney talked later to thepresident. The vice president subsequently told commissioners Bushhad authorized orders for military pilots to shoot down hijackedaircraft that refused to follow orders.

Cheney issued the orders on several occasions, the report said,unaware the last of the four hijacked planes -- heading forWashington -- had already crashed.

A half hour later, Cheney erroneously told Defense SecretaryDonald Rumsfeld he believed military pilots had "already taken acouple of aircraft out."

Whatever the problems, the panel praised the actions of governmentpersonnel forced to make split-second decisions. Air trafficcontrollers brought nearly 4,500 planes safely to the ground, forexample, juggling many more aircraft than usual once the skies wereordered cleared.

The commission held its final day of public hearings as Bushchallenged its finding, announced Wednesday, that there had been no"collaborative relationship" between Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaidaterrorists responsible for the attacks.

"There was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaida," Bushinsisted Thursday. "This administration never said that the 9/11attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al-Qaida."

"We did say there were numerous contacts between Saddam Husseinand al-Qaida, for example, Iraqi intelligence agents met with binLaden, the head of al-Qaida in the Sudan."

Neither Kean, nor former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, thecommission's vice chairman, showed any inclination for a public spatwith Bush on the issue.

Hamilton said, "The sharp differences that the press has drawn . .. are not that apparent to me."

AP