....Vice President Dick Cheney confirmed that the order came after World Trade Center and Pentagon had been hit, and a fourth plane appeared to be on course for the capital.
"I wholeheartedly concurred in the decision he made, that if the plane would not divert, if they wouldn't pay any attention to instructions to move away from the city, as a last resort our pilots were authorised to take them out," said Mr Cheney.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1547863.stm
>From: "Jordan Hayes" <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com>
>Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
>Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Re: "That's a big question," Kean said....
>Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 19:17:06 -0800
>
> >> Those questions and others loom at the heart of an
> >> even larger mystery: How could America's elaborate air
> >> defense system of satellites, radar, and supersonic fighters
> >> be caught so off-guard on Sept. 11?
>
>Snooze-fest! C'mon, there's more important/interesting questions than
>what happened to NORAD's Air Defense posture since the end of the Cold
>War and why no one thought an instant scramble against an airliner
>already in the US (as opposed to a bomber coming from the USSR, hours
>away) was an appropriate threat to train/be-alert for ...
>
>Anyway, I keep wondering what would have happened if, somehow by chance,
>NORAD had armed alert fighters up that day plus a chain of command that
>included an ability to engage suicidal hijacked airliners, and instead
>of crashing into the WTC, the 2nd plane was shot down over upper
>Manhattan, raining flaming debris and passengers over dozens of blocks
>... what would we all be thinking/saying then?
>
>Sheesh.
>
>/jordan
>
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