Bush on 9-11: Out of the loop?
October 17, 2003
As
9-11, “the Pearl Harbor of the 21st century,” unfolded in
“It
was clear that we were under attack. Why didn’t the Secret Service whisk [Bush]
out of that school?” Kristen Breitweiser, a relative of a 9-11 victim asked on
the Phil Donahue television show. “[Bush] is the commander-in-chief of the
In an
article, “An Interesting Day: President Bush’s Movements and Actions on 9-11,”
published in May 2003 on the website of the Center for Cooperative Research (CCR),
Allan Wood and Paul Thompson ask: “Why, at 9:03 a.m. - fifteen minutes after it
was clear the United States was under terrorist attack - did President Bush sit
down with a classroom of second-graders and begin a 20-minute pre-planned photo
op?”
In an
effort to “document the historical record” CCR provides well-documented 9-11
timelines on-line, including that of the president, at:
www.cooperativeresearch.net. The following timeline is based on documented
sources, primarily major newspaper and television reports.
At
6:30 a.m., Bush, a reporter friend and his Secret Service crew took a four-mile
jog in the half-light of dawn, according to the Washington Post.
At
8:00 a.m. Bush sat for his daily intelligence briefing. “The President’s
briefing appears to have included some reference to the heightened terrorist
risk reported throughout the summer,” the Telegraph (
At
8:20, as the briefing ended,
At
8:35 a.m. Bush’s motorcade left the
“Whatever these plans were, they don’t seem to involve scrambling aircraft at
this time,” Thompson wrote on the “Bush on 9-11” timeline published by CCR.
A few
minutes after the 8:46 crash, CIA Director Tenet was told of the crash as he ate
breakfast in a
By
8:48 a.m. the first news reports appeared on TV and radio that a plane had
crashed into the WTC. At 8:55 a.m. Bush’s motorcade arrived at
However, in a later recollection, Bush said it was chief of staff Andrew Card
who first informed him saying: “Here’s what you’re going to be doing; you’re
going to meet so-and-so, such-and-such.’ And Andy Card says, ‘By the way, an
aircraft flew into the
Others reported that just after Bush arrived at Booker he was whisked into a
room and updated on the situation via telephone by National Security Advisor
Rice.
School principal Gwen Tose-Rigell was reportedly summoned to talk with the
President: “He said a commercial plane has hit the World Trade Center, and we’re
going to go ahead and go on, we’re going on to do the reading thing anyway.”
Bush
later made the following statement: “And I was sitting outside the classroom
waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower - the TV was obviously on,
and I used to fly myself, and I said, ‘There’s one terrible pilot.’ And I said,
‘It must have been a horrible accident.’ But I was whisked off there - I didn’t
have much time to think about it.”
A
Boston Herald article later asked: “Think about that. Bush’s remark implies
he saw the first plane hit the tower. But we all know that video of the first
plane hitting did not surface until the next day. Could Bush have meant he saw
the second plane hit - which many Americans witnessed? No, because he said that
he was in the classroom when Card whispered in his ear that a second plane hit.”
The
article pointed out that Bush had told the story more than once, and asked, “How
could the commander-in-chief have seen the plane fly into the first building -
as it happened?”
At
9:03 a.m. Flight 175 hit the south tower of the
Bush
later claimed that while he was doing this lesson, he thought about what he
would say about the WTC crash: “I was concentrating on the program at this
point, thinking about what I was going to say. Obviously, I felt it was an
accident. I was concerned about it, but there were no alarm bells.”
At
9:06, as the children got their books from under their seats to read a story
together, Chief of Staff Andrew Card told Bush of the second WTC crash. Card
reportedly entered the room and whispered into his ear, “A second plane hit the
other tower;
According to the Tampa Tribune, Bush picked up the book and read with the
children “for eight or nine minutes.” In unison, the children read out loud,
“The - Pet - Goat. A - girl - got - a - pet - goat. But - the - goat - did -
some - things - that - made - the - girl’s - dad - mad.” Bush listened and
asked the children a few questions. “Really good readers, whew!” the president
said, “These must be sixth-graders!”
“DON’T SAY ANYTHING YET”
In
the back of the room, Fleischer held up a pad of paper with instructions for the
president: “DON’T SAY ANYTHING YET.” Meanwhile in
According to the Sarasota Sheriff Bill Balkwill, after Bush entered the
classroom a Marine carrying Bush’s phone approached Balkwill and asked, “Can you
get me to a television? We’re not sure what’s going on, but we need to see a
television.”
Three
Secret Service agents, a SWAT member, the Marine, and Balkwill turned on the
television in a nearby front office just as Flight 175 crashes into the WTC.
“We’re out of here,” the Marine tells Balkwill. “Can you get everyone ready?”
At
9:16 a.m., Bush left the classroom where he has been since about 9:03. On
leaving Bush advised the children to stay in school and be good citizens. He
also told the children, “Thank you all so very much for showing me your reading
skills.”
Bush
spoke with the school principal Gwen Tose-Rigell and went to an empty classroom
to meet with his staff.
Between 9:16 and 9:29 a.m. Bush reportedly worked with his staff to prepare a
speech. He watched some television coverage and spoke with Rice, Cheney, and New
York Governor George Pataki.
At
9:29 a.m. Bush gave a brief speech to about 200 Booker students, teachers and
reporters. He said, “Today we’ve had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have
crashed into the
Thompson notes that Bush stayed at the school until 9:34 although “some of
Bush’s security wanted him to leave the school immediately.” Bush remained at
As he
left the classroom a reporter asked, “Mr. President, are you aware of the
reports of the plane crash in
At
9:34 a.m. Bush’s motorcade left
A
year later, Chief of Staff Andrew Card said, “As we were heading to Air Force
One, we did hear about the Pentagon attack, and we also learned, what turned out
to be a mistake, but we learned that the Air Force One package could in fact be
a target.”
At
9:43 a.m. Bush’s motorcade arrived at
In
the air on Air Force One, Bush spoke with Cheney on the phone. Cheney reportedly
recommended that Bush authorize the military to shoot down any plane under
control of the hijackers. “You bet,” Bush later recalled saying.
“If
this decision was so easy to make, why wasn’t it given earlier?” Thompson asks.
At
this point Bush began his sojourn around the country on Air Force One. At the
end of the day, Bush returned to
At
11:30 p.m. before going to sleep, the Washington Post reported that Bush
wrote in his diary, “The Pearl Harbor of the 21st century took place today. ...
We think it’s Osama Bin Laden.”