Morning of 9/11

Me

[Nexus]

I have a few questions. Hopefully one of you can shed some light on this.

GWB has been an excellent president so far in his term, before and after 9/11, but I have a nagging problem concerning behavior the morning of 9/11. I'm not talking about him flying around avoiding DC, that was absolutley the right thing to do. It is this:

I'm sure all of you have seen the footage from the Florida elementary school of Card walking over and whispering into GW's ear, letting him know that the second tower had been struck. What confounds me is that Card did not wait around for a comment, order, or anything from GW - Card simply and abruptly turns around and walks away as soon as he's done whispering.

Now we all knew after the second tower was struck that this was indeed a terrorist attack (some of us guessed correctly after the first explosion). I have two frank and legitiment questions:

1. Why did Card not stick around for an order/reaction/comment/advice from the President of the United States? Card just left him hanging. Were there not decisions to be made?

2. Why was GW still sitting there a full twenty minutes after being notified of the second explosion w/o being whisked away or even updated?

Didn't want to scare the kiddies? "I have to go pp" would have worked just fine.

Please - the only tinfoil in my house is to wrap cold pizza. All the conspiricy theories about 9/11 I've seen are complete garbage, but this incident has me perplexed.

[sinkspur]

Not much to think about,huh?

[The KG9 Kid]

DU plant.

"Here, hold my bong while I go plant a scandal thread on FR!"

Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

[crz]

Because Card most likely told him that there was no immediate threat to him and that arraingments were being made as to where he was to go. Protocol was to take him to the most secure place. If I were Bush I would have done the same thing. The last thing you want is the POTUS jumping up and running like hell for the exit. That would have really started the panic.

[Senator Pardek]

If there was something to this, why would they have planned to react this way to look suspicious?

Iknow - It's because they used reverse psychology to fool folks like Pardek!

[don-o]

Please - the only tinfoil in my house is to wrap cold pizza. All the conspiricy theories about 9/11 I've seen are complete garbage, but this incident has me perplexed.

Then, please post your Tuesday morning quarterbacking, moron.

Tell us what Dubya SHOULD hve done.

Quickly before this stupid thread gets jerked.

[berned]

The notion that a President is a Castro-like totalitarian dictator who barks orders off-the-cuff is not accurate. After the first plane, it COULD have merely been a horrible accident. After the second plane, Bush was stunned for a few seconds, trying to puzzle out his first (and forced) series of moves.

Card is not a cabinet official. He has no actual power vis-a-vis the govt. I believe he told Bush "A second plane has hit the other tower, NSA, FBI and the Joint Chiefs are monitoring closely. They'll be ready for your orders in a few minutes time."

Bush, in an awkward situation with schoolkids, just tried to keep a poker face while his mind reeled, and the machinery of govt whirled into overdrive behind him. Stopping the event to announce something he was not TOTALLY sure the details of, would have been a mistake, IMO.

[dawn53]

The last thing you want is the POTUS jumping up and running like hell for the exit. That would have really started the panic.

LOL!!!

[Nexus]

Then, please post your Tuesday morning quarterbacking, moron.

Tell us what Dubya SHOULD hve done.

Quickly before this stupid thread gets jerked

He should have been swept up and briefed. Period.

[Gurn]

YAWN.

[Nexus]

Because Card most likely told him that there was no immediate threat to him and that arraingments were being made as to where he was to go. Protocol was to take him to the most secure place. If I were Bush I would have done the same thing. The last thing you want is the POTUS jumping up and running like hell for the exit. That would have really started the panic.

No immediate threat??? His schedule was public knowledge that morning.

[VOA]

1. Why did Card not stick around for an order/reaction/comment/advice
from the President of the United States? Card just left him hanging. Were there not
decisions to be made?

Honestly, I've only seen snippets of the tape.
But, have you seen ALL of the film, without interruption?
I suspect that maybe Dubya might have muttered something when informed of the
first crash, maybe even a codeword to set a certain contingency plan into action.

2. Why was GW still sitting there a full twenty minutes after being notified
of the second explosion w/o being whisked away or even updated?

Probably waiting for everything to be done that he'd directed...and maybe his
Secret Service detail and local police/military were doing everything in their
power to make sure that Dubya and his party weren't going to become targets the second they
left the building.

And there may have been a bit of a shock factor...this is not unknown even in very great
and revered leaders.
I can't remember which general it was (Patton, Bradley), but one of them spent
a day or so sitting in their tent and drawing lines in the dirt of the "floor" of his tent,
while his troops were bogged down, unable to penetrate the hedgerows. His subordinate officers
recall that they thought the old man was in some sort of mental trouble.
Turns out he was just figuring out that the answer to his problem was to send infantry,
THEN tanks through the hedgerows...and it worked much better.

Also, I think there are rumors that Eisenhower went into something like a 24 hour
mental "dead zone" at the outset of the Battle of The Bulge...unable to grasp the
whole situation and even to formulate and execute any sort of organized plan...but he snapped
out of it pretty well.

At those peak moment of total intense shock, it's not a suprise that even the hardiest
bend...the question is...will they break.

OK, I'll throw you one bone for having persevered with my windy exposition.
Maybe Dubya was just sitting there asking himself "What would that Will Ferrell guy
on Saturday Night Live do? He makes me look like a purty smart kinda' guy."

[don-o]

He should have been swept up and briefed. Period.

And how would that been better thsn what happened?

So POTUS gets swept up and briefed. Period

Then what happens next, in your alternate world?

[VOA]

No immediate threat??? His schedule was public knowledge that morning.

And that may be precisely why some time elapsed.
The Secret Service and local police/military were sweeping the immediate area to
make sure all was clear.
E.g., no bombs under any of the cars in the Presidential convoy, no inexplicable
air or vehicular traffic, no snipers secreted in nearby buildings, etc.

I'm no security guru, but I can imagine that in those kind of "shock" times, with a school
full of children as an added complication...twenty minutes to sweep the area
would be reasonable.

Besides, the security people were probably designing alternative plans and feints
to trick anyone perfidious party who might be near the Presidents or his party.

[Nexus]

Stopping the event to announce something he was not TOTALLY sure the details of, would have been a mistake, IMO.

No, the mistake was machinery of gov't whirling w/o the input of the President.

Listen people, this IS NOT a conspiricy thread, this is a "why wasn't the President whisked away to keep him safe" and a "why wasn't the President calling the shots" thread.

[don-o]

No immediate threat??? His schedule was public knowledge that morning.

What is your larger point, moron?

The "what did he know...." crap does not float here.

321

[VOA]

Bush, in an awkward situation with schoolkids, just tried to keep a poker face
while his mind reeled, and the machinery of govt whirled into overdrive
behind him. Stopping the event to announce something he was not TOTALLY sure the details
of, would have been a mistake, IMO.

I think you've summed up the likely state of affairs in those tense moments.

What's funny (and maddening too!) is that the best account that I read of the
first 24 hours after the WTC strikes was an article from a U.K. publication (Telegraph? Times?)
posted here.

Two things stuck with me.
1. Dubya said "Who ever did this is not going to like me being President."
Thank goodness he's been really true to his words!

2. The security detail on duty at The White House recounted that a number of them
(in panic mode) PICKED UP VP Cheney (some by grabbing beltloops) and bodily carried him to a
secure area.
One of the agents said "If Cheney didn't have a heart attack right then, he's not gonna'
have one soon!"

Of course, don't expect to see this info. in the US press.....

[don-o]

Listen people, this IS NOT a conspiricy thread, this is a "why wasn't the President whisked away to keep him safe" and a "why wasn't the President calling the shots" thread.

I am pretty sure that the security measures around POTUS are cutting edge.

What is your real question, moron?

321

[John W]

Both of your questions have been well answered by others,but in case you didn't read those---
No doubt a contingency plan of some type was in effect--a plan the President or his appointees would have had prior call-the-shot input to--the moment it was realized that this was an attack.And,the twenty minutes sitting there probably had everything to do with making Bush safe.