Posted on 09/11/2001 11:00:32 PM PDT by Utah Girl
President Bush crisscrossed the country under tight security and near total secrecy on Tuesday as the White House scrambled to protect him after the attacks that destroyed the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center and left the Pentagon in flames.
Flying at times with a fighter at each wingtip, Bush's Air Force One aircraft took him from Florida to Air Force bases in Louisiana and Nebraska and on to Washington as the government tried to keep him safe using combat troops, an armored vehicle, an underground bunker and, above all, the element of surprise.
Bush learned of the first aircraft to slam into the World Trade Center in a telephone call at Sarasota's Emma Booker Elementary School and, minutes later, of the second plane to smash into the landmark when an aide whispered into his ear as he sat with a group of second graders. His face turned grim.
Within minutes, the president appeared before television cameras describing the events as ``an apparent terrorist'' attack, vowing to punish the perpetrators and saying he was cutting short his return to Washington.
Bush immediately headed to his Air Force One aircraft but it soon became clear to reporters on board that the plane was not flying up the Eastern seaboard to Washington, as roughly 20 minutes into the flight the Boeing 747 veered to the west.
White House aides, Air Force staff and U.S. Secret Service agents at the back of the plane said they did not know where it was headed. Many crowded around a television screen showing the latest images of the World Trade Center, including the collapse of its two towers, and of the Pentagon with a dark gash in one side and a ridge of flames licking its structure.
About an hour and a half into the flight, a White House official, insisting that his remarks could not be reported to the public, said the destination was Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport, Louisiana.
Determined to keep Bush's whereabouts secret, the aide barred reporters from calling their news organizations and even from turning on their mobile phones to prevent anyone from tracing their signals and pinpointing Bush's location.
While en route, the plane appeared to make one diversionary move -- climbing steeply above its normal cruising altitude for about 10 minutes. As it neared the base, it was flanked by a fighter escort that peeled off just as the plane landed.
WEAPONS DRAWN
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer later said Bush had hop-scotched from one airport to another ``for obvious security reasons,'' saying the Secret Service was constantly assessing data, including the crash of a fourth plane in Pennsylvania in the rough vicinity of the Camp David presidential retreat.
Even on the tarmac at Barksdale -- home to the U.S. Eighth Air Force and a fleet of B-52 bombers -- the White House took no chances, with soldiers in full battle gear with automatic weapons drawn surrounding the plane as it came to a stop.
``Move to that wingtip, now!,'' an officer shouted brusquely to one soldier, who ran to the other side of the aircraft.
After huddling with his aides, Bush went to a windowless base conference room where airmen scurried to set up a podium and two American flags so he could give a second statement on the attacks that shattered the peace of the nation.
``Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts,'' he vowed. Fleischer told reporters Bush then climbed into an armored, camouflage-painted Humvee vehicle to drive back to Air Force One, which took off to a destination which the White House again refused to disclose.
An hour and a half later, he surfaced at Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base, headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Air Command that controls the nation's long-range nuclear arsenal, where Bush descended into an underground bunker for a teleconference with his national security team that lasted just over an hour.
By late afternoon, the U.S. government decided that it was safe for Bush to return to the White House, where he arrived in the early evening and immediately began work on the prime-time address in which he promised to hunt down those responsible for the attacks in which he said thousands had died.
Hopefully, today the President will suggest a recalcitrant Senate get off its duff and approve the Budget, particularly those items dealing with defense, then get on to the important things.
Guiliani did yeoman duty yesterday, and Pataki conducted himself with grace and dignity. They always seemed in control, calm and two men with a plan. I was proud of both of them. Tony Blair's speech was magnificent.
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