Liberty's Blog

Rumsfeld Was Bypassed in 9/11 'Shoot-Down' Order

A remarkable conversation was recordedbetween Rumsfeld and Cheney. What is amazing is that it was Cheney who gave the order. I never head of a vice president with any power to give any type of order.

Here is an excerpt from the conversation between Cheney and Rumsfeld:


Cheney: "There's been at least three instances here where we've had reports of aircraft approaching Washington -- a couple were confirmed hijack. And, pursuant to the president's instructions, I gave authorization for them to be taken out. Hello?"


Rumsfeld: "Yes, I understand. Who did you give that direction to?"


Cheney: "It was passed from here through the operations center at the White House, from the (shelter)."


Rumsfeld: "OK. Let me ask the question here. Has that directive been transmitted to the aircraft?"


Cheney: "Yes, it has."


Rumsfeld: "So we've got a couple of aircraft up there that have those instructions at the present time?"


Cheney: "That is correct. And it's my understanding they've already taken a couple of the aircraft (hijacked airliners) out."


Rumsfeld: "We can't confirm that. We're told that one aircraft is down, but we do not have a pilot report that they did it."


Rumsfeld, who had earlier been outside the Pentagon helping in rescue efforts after one hijacked airliner smashed into the Pentagon, was referring to another airliner that crashed in a Pennsylvania field after the hijackers apparently lost control when passengers tried to take back control of the plane.


"He (Rumsfeld) told us he was just gaining situational awareness when he spoke with the vice president, and that his primary concern was ensuring that the pilots had a clear understanding of their rules of engagement," the report said.


But it added that the White House shoot-down order was passed too late to Air Force fighter jets scrambled by the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

posted by Liberty @ 1:27 PM