I don’t think he’s [Powell] happy—how could he be?
In October 2002, the Pew Research Center for People and the Press took a survey and found that 66 percent of Americans said they believed Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 attacks, despite the lack of proof. With regard to weapons of mass destruction, 79 percent believed that Iraq currently possessed—or was close to possessing—nuclear weapons. Three months later, a Knight-Ridder poll found that “half of those surveyed said one or more of the September 11 terrorist hijackers were Iraqi citizens. In fact, none was.”
Thus, the Bush administration’s massive disinformation campaign, abetted by a lazy and timid press, succeeded spectacularly in driving the public to support its long-planned war. In the end, it was the power of lies, not logic, that was the deciding factor. At the same time, the fact that several of the key players most aggressively pushing the war had originally outlined it for the benefit of another country years earlier raises the most troubling conflict-of-interest questions.
Never before has the United States launched a preemptive war. And only once before, in Vietnam, have so few manipulated so many at such a great price. “We were wrong, terribly wrong,” said former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara about the Vietnam War. “We were all wrong,” said former CIA weapons hunter David Kay about the war in Iraq. “We were all wrong.”
NOTES
“Watch supervisor, I have a possible”: William B. Scott, “Exercise Jump-Starts Response to Attacks,”
Aviation Week & Space Technology
(June 3, 2002).
“Part of the exercise”: Hart Seely, “Amid Crisis Simulation, ‘We Were Suddenly No-Kidding Under Attack,’”
Newhouse News Service
(January 25, 2002).
“American eleven heavy with you passing through”; “Traffic ten o’clock”: “Transcript of Flight 11,”
The New York Times
(October 16, 2001).
3.1 million parts: Boeing 767 Fact sheet, The Boeing Company.
“When his hands were dirty”; Ogonowski’s background: Dave Weber and Ed Hayward, “Pilot’s Greatest Love Was His Family,”
The Boston Herald
(September 12, 2001).
the move was on; details of what went on during the assault: Michael Woodward, an American Airlines ground manager at Boston’s Logan Airport who was in contact with one of the flight attendants on the plane at the time. See “Calm Before the Crash,”
Primetime,
ABC News (July 18, 2002).
“Don’t do anything foolish”: Mark Clayton, “Controller’s Tale of Flight 11,”
The Christian Science Monitor
(September 13, 2001).
“We have more planes”: Peter Grier, “A Changed World,”
The Christian Science Monitor
(September 17, 2001).
“We have a hijacked aircraft and I need to get you some sort of fighters”: Transcript, “9/11,” ABC News (September 11, 2002).
“some F-16s or something”: Hart Seely, “Amid Crisis Simulation, ‘We Were Suddenly No-Kidding Under Attack,’”
Newhouse News Service
(January 25, 2002).
“American 11 heavy”: William B. Scott, “Exercise Jump-Starts Response to Attacks,”
Aviation Week & Space Technology
(June 3, 2002).
“We were going by the old-fashioned method”: Transcript, “9/11,” ABC News (September 11, 2002).
“I have FAA on the phone”: Transcript, “9/11,” ABC News (September 11, 2002).
“He says it’s going to New York”: Hart Seely, “Amid Crisis Simulation, ‘We Were Suddenly No-Kidding Under Attack,’”
Newhouse News Service
(January 25, 2002).
“Listen, and listen to me very carefully”: Transcript, “Calm Before the Crash,”
Primetime,
ABC News (July 18, 2002).
“Pray for us”: Transcript, “Calm Before the Crash,”
Primetime,
ABC News (July 18, 2002).
“Boss, I need to scramble”; “Go ahead and scramble them”: Transcript, “9/11,” ABC News (September 11, 2002).
“I see the water”: Transcript, “Calm Before the Crash,”
Primetime,
ABC News (July 18, 2002).
“Oh my God, all my people”
; Details on Steve McIntyre and the employees of the American Bureau of Shipping are derived from: John McLaughlin and Alison Bate, “Cheating Death,”
Lloyds List
(September 17, 2001).
“Oh, my God!”: Transcript, “Calm Before the Crash,”
Primetime,
ABC News (July 18, 2002).
“I just picked up an ELT on 121.5”: “Transcript of United Airlines Flight 175,”
The New York Times
(October 16, 2001).
“Anybody know what”: “Transcript of United Airlines Flight 175,”
The New York Times
(October 16, 2001).
“Oh, God. My brother works”: Hart Seely, “Amid Crisis Simulation, ‘We Were Suddenly No-Kidding Under Attack,’”
Newhouse News Service
(January 25, 2002).
“He says, ‘You’re not gonna believe’”: Transcript, “9/11,” ABC News (September 11, 2002).
“Looks like he’s heading southbound”: “Transcript of United Airlines Flight 175,”
The New York Times
(October 16, 2001).
“We heard a suspicious transmission”: “Transcript of United Airlines Flight 175,”
The New York Times
(October 16, 2001).
“Duff, you’re super”: Transcript, “9/11,” ABC News (September 11, 2002).
“We have more planes”: Peter Grier, “A Changed World,”
The Christian Science Monitor
(September 17, 2001).
“This just in”: Transcript, “CNN Breaking News,” Cable News Network (September 11, 2001).
“Oh, my God, I don’t believe it”: Joline Gutierrez Krueger, “The Eye of the Storm,”
The Albuquerque Tribune
(September 10, 2002).
“The President was surprised”: Transcript, “Terror Hits the Towers,”
World News Tonight,
ABC News (September 14, 2003).
“Mr. Director, there’s a serious problem”: Dan Balz and Bob Woodward, “America’s Chaotic Road to War,”
The Washington Post
(January 27, 2002).
“The immediate image I had”: Interview with Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, January 20, 2004.
“I thought that was a big fire for a small plane”: Interview with Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, January 20, 2004.
“Where the hell is the third fire-stair?”: John McLaughlin and Alison Bate, “Cheating Death,”
Lloyds List
(September 17, 2001).
“We’re having a smoke condition”: Transcript, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for September 11, 2001 (August 29, 2003).
“The situation on 106”: Transcript, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for September 11, 2001 (August 29, 2003).
“Listen, this is Tony Savas”: Transcript, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for September 11, 2001 (August 29, 2003).
“I’m at work”: Transcript, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for September 11, 2001 (August 29, 2003).
“It’s the other building”; this and subsequent quotes from Beverly Eckert and Sean Rooney are derived from: Michael Howerton, “Bittersweet Goodbye: Stamford Widow Finds Solace in Final Phone Call,”
Stamford Advocate
(date not available).
“The first two flights were dark”: John McLaughlin and Alison Bate, “Cheating Death,”
Lloyds List
(September 17, 2001).
“UAL175,” he said, “do you read New York?”: “Transcript of United Airlines Flight 175,”
The New York Times
(October 16, 2001).
“We may have a hijack”: “Transcript of United Airlines Flight 175,”
The New York Times
(October 16, 2001).
“Hey, John, are you watching this on TV?”: “Get These Planes on the Ground,”
20/20,
ABC News (October 24, 2001).
“Runway three zero, taxi into position”: “Transcript of American Airlines Flight 77.”
“Good Luck . . . I usually say”: “Get These Planes on the Ground,”
20/20,
ABC News (October 24, 2001).
“American 77, Indy”: “Get These Planes on the Ground,”
20/20,
ABC News (October 24, 2001).
“Wow! Look at that”; “We’ve lost an aircraft over Manhattan”; “Can you see him out the window?”: Alan Levin, Marilyn Adams, and Blake Morrison, “Amid Terror, a Drastic Decision: Clear the Skies”
USA Today
(August 12, 2002).
“It appears that there is more”:
Good Morning America,
ABC News (September 11, 2001).
“Jesus Christ”: “Rooftop Rescues: Why Weren’t There Any on September 11?”
World News Tonight,
ABC News (November 8, 2001).
“Oh my God!”: H. Darr Beiser, “Amid Terror, a Drastic Decision”; Alan Levin, Marilyn Adams and Blake Morrison, “Clear the Skies,”
USA Today
(August 12, 2002).
“Boom, boom”: “America Remembers,”
Dateline,
NBC News (September 10, 2002).
“Just letting you know”: John McLaughlin and Alison Bate, “Cheating Death,”
Lloyds List
(September 17, 2001).
“Come on, everyone”; “You can’t go down”: Dennis Cauchon, “Four Survived by Ignoring Words of Advice,”
USA Today
(December 19, 2001).
“You didn’t want NORAD”: Interview with Lt. Gen. Daniel O. Graham (December 1984).
“It has all the inputs from all the assets”: Harvard University, Center for Information Policy Research, Program on Information Resources Policy, Seminar on Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (Cambridge: Harvard University, 1980), Raymond T. Tate lecture, p. 30.
“My intention . . . was to plumb”: Interview with Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, January 20, 2004.
“I was sitting outside the classroom”: Transcript, Bush Town Hall Meeting, Florida, December 4, 2001, CNN.
“When we walked into the classroom”: Transcript, Bush Town Hall Meeting, California, January 5, 2002, White House website:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020105-3.html
.
He reportedly did not enter the class until 9:04: Dana Milbank and Mike Allen, “Bush Vows Retaliation for ‘Mass Murder,’”
The Washington Post
(September 12, 2001).
“A second plane hit the second tower”; “America is under attack”: Transcript, “The President’s Story,”
60 Minutes II,
CBS News (September 10, 2003).
“They had declared war on us”: Dan Balz and Bob Woodward, “America’s Chaotic Road to War,”
The Washington Post
(January 27, 2002).
Myers’s actions on 9/11; “It was initially pretty confusing”: Sgt. 1st Class Kathleen T. Rhem, USA, “Myers and Sept. 11: ‘We Hadn’t Thought About This,’” American Forces Press Service (October 23, 2001).
“Captain, this is impossible”: Transcript, “Rooftop Rescues: Why Weren’t There Any on September 11?”
World News Tonight,
ABC News (November 8, 2001).
“People falling out of building”: “Second-by-Second Terror Revealed in Calls to 911,”
New York Daily News
(September 30, 2001).
“There’s body parts all over the place”: Transcript, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for September 11, 2001 (August 29, 2003).
“A hundred and twenty people trapped on the 106th floor”: “Second-by-Second Terror Revealed in Calls to 911,”
New York Daily News
(September 30, 2001).
“The roof of the South Tower”: “Rooftop Rescues: Why Weren’t There Any on September 11?”
World News Tonight,
ABC News (November 8, 2001).
“You guys never”: “Transcript of Flight 77,”
The New York Times
(October 16, 2001).
“I don’t think any fighter pilot”: Jack Sullivan, “Fargo Pilots Remember Sept. 11 Duty,” Associated Press (August 19, 2002).
“Fast-moving primary target”: “Get These Planes on the Ground,”
20/20,
ABC News (October 24, 2001).
“Oh my God!”: “Get These Planes on the Ground,”
20/20,
ABC News (October 24, 2001).
“Barbara is on the phone”; this and other details concerning Ted and Barbara Olson are derived from: Ted Olson interview,
Larry King Live,
CNN (September 14, 2001).
“He’s twelve miles west”: “Get These Planes on the Ground,”
20/20,
ABC News (October 24, 2001).
“We’re moving now, sir; we’re moving”: Nancy Gibbs, “Special Report: Day of the Attack,”
Time
(September 12, 2001).
“Women, drop your heels”: Transcript, “The President’s Story,”
60 Minutes II,
CBS News (September 10, 2002).
“Six miles”; “And we waited”: “Get These Planes on the Ground,”
20/20,
ABC News (October 24, 2001).
“It’s an American Airlines plane”: Transcript, Arlington, Virginia, Police Department, September 11, 2001,
Associated Press (September 18, 2001).
“It looked like a plane coming in for a landing”: Paul Haring, “Pentagon Crash Eyewitness Comforted Victims,” Military District of Washington News Service (September 28, 2001).
“I saw it crash into the building”: Paul Haring, “Pentagon Crash Eyewitness Comforted Victims,” Military District of Washington News Service (September 28, 2001).
“Did you see that?”: “USA Under Terrorist Attack,” Associated Press (September 12, 2001).
“Dulles, hold all of our inbound”: “Get These Planes on the Ground,”
20/20,
ABC News (October 24, 2001).