Re: Off topic - Planes crash into world trade centers -- MIDRANGE-L

Turn to TV set ... I have been looking at C-Span / Fox / CNN / MSNBC / CNBC
etc.

The USA has been attacked
Four separate US Airline Planes hijacked & crashed into important buildings.
2 from American Airlines & 2 from United
Casualities will be greater than any other Terorist attack in US History
Comparisons are being made to Pearl Harbor
Terrorists warned shortly before the attack that one was imminent as reported
in th NY Times 2 days ago

Some TV news reports conflicting with each other so there must be some
mistaken info out there

Red Cross appeal for blood donations 1-800-GIVE-LIFE
> their local chapter should be in your phone book.

TV stations running phone #s across screen to call about the people who were
on those planes, the people who were in those buildings, etc. their families

National & Reserve personnel need to report in

> Visit http://www.fema.gov/library/lib08.htm or
>  http://www.fema.gov/library/public.htm or
>  http://www.redcross.org for
>  information on how you can help.

Pres Bush spoke to the nation briefly from Barksdale Air Force Base after.
Air Force One touched down in Shreveport LA.

Trade Center Towers were hit within minutes of each other by two different
hijacked US airliners & both towers collapsed.
The World Trade Center is gone
Witnesses report what looked like a 747 flown directly into the Towers
followed by a horrible explosion.
On a normal day 50,000 people work in WTC.
First plane hit around 9 am, after presumably they all there.

Subsequent explosions at WTC are thought to be after effects of planes
hitting the building - there is no specific info about any other attacks

There's adjacent buildings hit by debris.  People trapped in those buildings.
Each tower had 21,800 windows.  All gone.

Subway station underneath.

NY Subway authority reports that all trains to stations & all passengers
evacuated, but now in the other 4 boroughs of NY, transportation is running
normally.

Adjacent buildings hit by debris & people trapped there also.

NY Mayor Giuliani thanks NY Governor for national guard to relieve the fire
fighters & police rescue - over 1,000 now on scene, perhaps 2,000 & some of
them have been injured, perhaps lost, such as those that got to the scene
before the 2nd plane hit.

The national guard is to help with the rescue.  There is no other reason.
Focus must be rescue & support for rescuers

NY Gov talks of 1500 walking wounded taken by Ferry Boats to Liberty State
Park
600 people to local hospitals
150 critical via EMS
Doctors & Nurses were receiving victims from first strike before 2nd one hit

NY Gov thanked other states & feds for rapid assistance
NY Primary Elections have been suspended - will be rescheduled

New Yorkers were commended for calm, no panic, helping each other, no
lawlessness.

NY Mayor declared state of emergency, thanked Pres Bush for closing off the
air space.  NY Gas has been turned off.  Children being kept in schools until
parents pick them up.

Richard Holbrooke, former US envoy to the UN, estimates that the dimensions
of the casualities here will be 100 times that of any prior terrorist attack,
including Ok City.
Lower Manhattan being evacuated
All NY Bridges & Tunnels closed
UN Building evacuated in NY
UN General Secretary spoke out - prayers for victims & families - condemned
terrorism

Troops have been deployed in DC, including a light infantry regiment after a
hijacked commercial jet airliner, a Boeing 757, crashed into the Pentagon,
and a car bomb went off outside State Dept, although later reports think it
might have been something else.
I not familiar with DC layout so I not know if the fire in mall is related to
State Dept, Pentagon, or a third incident.
Most DC buildings evacuated & city service suspended, such as Union Station.
DC is being evacuated.

>From 224 miles up the folks at the International Space Station can see the
plumes of disaster from both NYC & DC

US Navy has deployed aircraft carriers off NYC & DC to assist in air defense
& medical assistance.  Lot of rest of US fleet to sea.

The one in Somerset County Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh was Flight 93 = a
Boeing 767 bound for Cleveland - 20 minutes before that crash, a passenger on
that flight made a cell phone call from a locked toilet on the flight to
emergency services to report they were being hijacked.

I have seen nothing about the US Spy plane shoot down over Iraq

Both American Airlines & United have confirmed they both lost two planes
hijacked & crashed.  AA planes had total of 150 aboard, United 110

The first to hit the WTC in NYC was an American Airlines from Boston to LA
... I not yet know particulars of others - which hijacked planes hit where.

FAA is in the process of grounding all aircraft over the USA & suspending air
traffic control - all other commercial flights have been accounted for.
International flights towards USA have been diverted to Canada.  US Air Force
will intercept any suspicious flights.

US Military in USA & abroad is on a state of alert parallel to if the nation
was at war.

International Airports closed
Financial Markets have ended all trading.
Governors of US States are evacuating tall buildings all over the country.
Major US monuments are closed such as Historical places in Philadelphia.
Hoover Dam is closed.
NASA facilities shut down
Disneyworld closed all theme parks

Major League Baseball suspended all games.
Baseball Commissioner spoke of Deep Mourning & Security Concerns

Phone calls to C-Span indicate that either the callers know much more than I
have learned so far, or it is like Ok City where first assumptions were that
traditional enemies were responsible.  Arafat was being interviewed & he
claiming his people not responsible, but what else would you expect him to
say?  Islamic Jihad Hamas says they didn't do it, but they took this
opportunity to blast US Policy.

US Flags at half mast

When the dust clears, we need to be doing a search at New York Times internet
site for an article 2 days ago ... search for Taliban leadership of
Afganistan & Ben Ladin ... apparently there was a specific threat about this
that is consistent with how in the past they have done things and announced
in advance that a major attack was imminent.  The timing may be related to US
court system handing down sentences in the Tanzania terrorist bombing case.

There has been political representation from over there that this attack was
beyond the capabilities of Ben Ladin's organization.

Richard Holbrooke (former UN enyoy) said to make no mistake
We do not know yet who did it
It was a skillful coordinated declaration of war against the USA

Any nation that harbored a participant in this attack, shelter them, and help
them evade capture
cannot hide behind not knowing what they were doing
that nation must be held equally accountable for war against the USA

This exceeded expectations of the intelligence community

A unified international effort is needed, including the Russians & Middle
Wast states, to identify & locate who is responsible for this

Robert Gates, former CIA Diector, was interviewed.
He says it is premature for anyone to be blaming anyone within hours of the
event.
Apparently there have been many similar plots foiled in the past.

Former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger said the piroities need to be
1. Rescue - thousands of people in peril
2. Security - not know what else is targeted.
3. Detection - this attack was launched from multiple different points of
origin in the USA - it is inconceivable not find who responsible

We need to be careful not to leap to conclusions

MacWheel99@aol.com (Alister Wm Macintyre) (Al Mac)