Casualties And Counterattacks
- Rumsfeld: Estimates Of 800 Hurt Or Killed May Be Too High
- U.S. Response Will Be 'Sustained And Broadly Based'
- Military Nerve Center Is Partially Reopened
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2001
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Fire burning at the Pentagon.
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(CBS) Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Wednesday that earlier estimates of the number of people killed when a hijacked airliner crashed into the Pentagon may be far too high.
At a news conference from the Pentagon, Rumsfeld said an estimate from the Arlington County Fire Department, which led the fire-fighting effort, that as many as 800 people may have perished in the attack was "considerably high."
Rumsfeld declined to provide an estimate, although reports from the military services indicated the toll might be closer to 150.
"We currently believe and are hopeful that the number of casualties being reported in the press is high," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon news conference, adding officials did not have precise numbers.
About 100 military personnel and an undetermined number of civilian employees were missing. The secretary said it was not known how many civilian contractors might have been in the building.
President Bush visited the Pentagon to inspect the damage Wednesday and said he was "overwhelmed by the devastation.
"Coming here makes me sad on the one hand. It also makes me angry," said the president, standing in front of the building's blackened, gashed facade.
Four special "Urban Search and Rescue Teams" of about 60 members each began moving into parts of the damaged area of the Pentagon Wednesday afternoon to shore up unstable wreckage and allow for a thorough search for possible survivors.
The Defense Department said in a statement that the area where the aircraft struck and burned sustained such catastrophic damage that "anyone who might have survived the initial impact and collapse could not have survived the fire that followed."
Without saying whether or when the U.S. would retaliate, Rumsfeld said an American response must be "sustained and broadly based." Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he said, was "the definition of a new battlefield."
"It is a different kind of conflict," Rumsfeld said. He spoke to reporters in a grave tone at a news conference in a Pentagon briefing room that still reeked of acrid smoke from the smoldering fires.
In a videotaped message to U.S. troops and Defense Department employees worldwide, Rumsfeld seemed to be preparing soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines for the likelihood of combat soon.
Referring to the terrorist attacks, Rumsfeld said: "We face powerful and terrible enemies. Enemies we intend to vanquish. So that moments of horror like yesterday will be stopped. The task of vanquishing these terrible enemies ... will fall to you, the men and women in the Department of Defense.
 Parts of the Pentagon are open, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin, although heavily guarded — as are all U.S. military bases. Not knowing for sure if the attacks are over, the Pentagon has ordered fighters to patrol both the East and West Coasts and has sent warships to both New York and Washington.
A Navy aircraft carrier sailed into the waters off New York's Long Island on Wednesday and other warships stood guard off the East Coast as the U.S. military remained on high alert against further terrorist attacks.
In addition to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington standing watch off Long Island and the carrier USS John F. Kennedy at an undisclosed location further off the East Coast, the Navy was moving several cruisers and destroyers out of port in Norfolk, Va., headquarters for the Atlantic Fleet.
The USS Carl Vinson and its battle group were patrolling the Persian Gulf, and the USS Enterprise - which the Vinson had just relieved after six months at sea - was ordered to remain in the area instead of heading home, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The carrier battle groups normally include cruisers and submarines, which could be the launch pads for long-range cruise missile strikes should a retaliatory attack be ordered. Also deployed were amphibious ships, guided missile cruisers and guided missile destroyers that are capable of responding to threats from the air and sea. The amphibious ships were carrying Marines and sailors to provide security, surgical teams and limited hospital bed capacity.
Meantime, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Wednesday there is "real and credible evidence" that the plane that crashed into the Pentagon was intended to hit the White House.
The Pentagon also said Wednesday that no more survivors are expected to be pulled from the tons of rubble. Teams of a dozen rescuers are equipped with dogs that can differentiate between bodies and live victims; acoustic listening devices that can pick up the faintest sound; and sophisticated cameras.
But U.S. officials held out the hope that some people might be found in adjacent areas after a wrecking ball is used to clear unstable rubble.
By midmorning, firefighters were using water cannons perched on five-floor ladders to douse the charred building from either side of the impact area. A little more than half of the Pentagon's work space was closed off Wednesday as firefighters attacked stubborn blazes.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. George Rynedance said the fires, stoked by jet fuel from the crashed plane, had finally been brought under control by about 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday.
Shortly before noon, about 20 FBI agents lined up several hundred yards away from the Pentagon and stretched their arms to form a human chain. They began moving in step across the roadways and grassy areas, carrying brown grocery bags, looking for evidence.
They had done a similar evidence sweep earlier Wednesday, closer to the Pentagon. Both areas were in the line of flight of the plane as it headed for the building.
FBI evidence teams found parts of the fuselage from the Boeing 757. No large pieces apparently survived. Agents also were looking for the plane's flight-data and cockpit voice recorders.
Washington-area hospitals reported at least 94 people had been taken to hospitals from the Pentagon, with a minimum of 10 in critical condition.
©MMI, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press and Reuters Limited contributed to this report.
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