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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (186996)	9/26/2001 1:51:13 PM
From: H-Man	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Dick Cheney was asked the question. (Meet the Press) He said something to the effect, we simply are not programmed to shot down civilian airliners. It Took a while to get to that decision (We did get there), in a confused and unclear situation. No doubt, some rules of engagement will need to be developed and rehearsed. edit > and communicated to commercial and private airlines and pilots.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (186996)	9/26/2001 2:12:50 PM
From: Gordon A. Langston	Respond to of 769670

The answer is "rapid response" (airborn in 15 min) fighters are placed regionally. Even if they were in the air they had no permission to shoot down an airliner. Hijackers had not previously used planes as "cruise missiles" so the scenario was new. Even so shooting down a plane over a metropolitan area is not a pleasant option.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (186996)	9/26/2001 4:00:45 PM
From: Thomas A Watson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Schundler: Clinton Military Cutbacks Left Twin Towers Defenseless efore devastating military cutbacks were implemented under the Clinton administration, New York City had air defenses that could have prevented the second of two attacks on the World Trade Center last week, New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler charged Saturday. "Up until a few years ago we had an F-16 fighter wing here in New Jersey that would be capable of intercepting one of those planes that crashed into the World Trade Center," he told WABC Radio's John Gambling. "They decreased the number of wings that were available to do that. So the result was that the closest fighter wing that had the capability to intercept one of those planes was in Massachusetts." Two F-16s had scrambled out of Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod after World Trade Center Tower 1 was hit, but they didn't arrive in New York airspace until 15 minutes after United Airlines Flight 175 slammed into WTC Tower 2. "They couldn't get here in time," Schundler said. "And that's why the second plane flew into the World Trade Center." The unexpected collapse of Tower 2, the first to do down, was likely responsible for the majority of deaths at the scene - catching hundreds of police and fireman, as well as thousands of office workers who had been told to stay put and wait for evacuation orders, completely unaware. Schundler pinned the blame for eliminating the air defenses that could have saved Tower 2 squarely on the Clinton administration. "The federal government in the last eight years cut down the resources," he told WABC. "That's just a statement of fact." Schundler was responding to a report in Saturday's New York Times, which he said distorted his earlier comments to make it appear as if he was blaming his own state for the military cutbacks. newsmax.com tom watson tosiwmee