The South Tower on 9/11: Breitweiser’s Husband Should Have Survived

[nostamj]

The South Tower on 9/11: Breitweiser’s Husband Should Have Survived

There are so many stories, so many facets to the 9/11 story. Most of them are worthy of discussion. Most of them will still be discussed long after I’m gone.

There were a very precious few opportunities for the Bush Administration to react in a way that would have saved live.

And that, is the South Tower.

Whatever the intelligence failures, the Bush Administration had a chance to save hundreds of lives in the South Tower of the WTC.

After the initial strike on the North Tower at appx. 8:45am EST that beautiful Tuesday morning, there was time to evacuate the South Tower.

There was reason to evacuate the South Tower.

The Bush Administration knew that the WTC was a target.

But, workers in the South Tower were told to return to their offices. And died there.

The South Tower is the Bush Administration’s most FATAL error.

THAT, if nothing else, WAS preventible.

GUILTY.

period.

[anarchy1999]

1. Thanks, and well said.

Very succient (sp?).

[Beetwasher]

2. There Should Never Have Been a Single Second Of Doubt

from any gov't official as soon as the plane hit that it was a TERRORIST ATTACK. That much is abundantly clear. So much of the fuck-ups come back to that first plane and the confusion about an accident. They fucking knew something was coming, so their should have not been a shred or incling of doubt in any officials mind exactly what it was IMMEDIATELY.

Yup, it's now abundantly clear that they are guilty of at the very least, criminal negligence and manslaughter by NOT warning the proper officials of the threat who would have IMMEDIATELY w/out question evacuated both towers...

[htuttle]

4. As long as 45 minutes before the first plane hit,

...they knew there had been a hijacking. Then still before the first plane hit, they knew there had been *multiple* hijackings.

This came out recently when they released the tape of some flight attendants talking to ground control after the planes were taken over.

Given the warnings, there should have been no doubt at that point that the hijackers planned on flying the planes into buildings, probably in New York and/or Washington.

Yes, they knew.

[Nashyra]

20. They also new that there were more planes hijacked

There is a way to keep the "mike open" after communications have been cut off and the pilot on flt 11 did this whenever possible at the begining of the hijacking, the tower was able to hear the middle eastern men talking about multiple aircraft being hijacked. Gail Sheey who has worked with Jersey Girls 9-11 widows said that on Harball yesterday just before she said that the widows saw footage of what the * was doing when the the 2nd tower was struck. Tweety cut her off and changed the subject, betting she was about to talk about the goat story. My husband is a pilot for American I know for a fact that the open mike is a fact. It has been noted on sometime lines.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. Umm...

So the Bush administration was directing operations at the WTC? Do you have proof of that? It was NYC emergency services / crisis management, wasn't it?

[GregW]

5. Agreed

BFEE responsible for the South Tower? THEY ordered everyone back in?

I don't think so.

[nostamj]

8. Greg, NOT the BFEE

but, they (South Tower workers) WERE told to go back to their offices in the South Tower following the hit on the North Tower.

the bushies KNEW about the WTC as a target.

the bushies KNEW about hijacked planes.

the buchies COULD have told NYC officials:

EVACUATE NOW! NOW!!!

but, they were told to go 'back to their desks'

and, they DIED

[Fridays Child]

9. BFEE could have instantly communicated to New York emergency ops...

...that the North Tower hit was an act of terrorism and advised them to evacuate all surrounding buildings.

They knew planes might be used as missiles at the summit in Italy. They knew the WTC had been attacked in '93. The August 6, 2001 PDB gave them even more information. Tenet had been going crazy over the matter all that summer. John Ashcroft had stopped flying commercial. John O'Neill knew. Richard Clarke knew. And, at the moment that first plane hit, they cannot say they didn't know.

Fault for the failure to evacuate the South Tower may rest on other heads, too, but so does it rest on the White House. And, if nothing else, it stands as the most monumental act of criminal negligence in the history of our country.

[nostamj]

10. thanks for that MP

greatest respect for your posts...

wherever the 'fault' lies... deaths in the South Tower WERE preventable based on available intelligence.

period.

[dpibel]

6. Well, then! Absolution!

Here's the thing: It's the job of a properly functioning executive to take action when things like this are going down. Who should have better access to the information that there are three other hijacked airplanes flying around, one of which is on course for NYC? Would that be the executive, with command access to all such information, or would it be the NYC emergency services/crisis management.

Do ya spoze if somebody had ordered everyone to battle stations instead of going ahead with a photo op even after he got word of the first crash that the info might have filtered down to NYC emergency services that returning to desks was not a recommended course of action for people in the south tower?

This might come as something of a surprise, but there actually are ways of communicating information from DC (where the brains were) or even Florida (where the brainless was). What do you suppose would have happened if someone had dialed up NYC and said, "Oh. By the way. Thought you might be interested in knowing that another hijacked plane's headin' your way."

Hell, the Boosh people didn't have the job of taking command of the situation in NYC. They had the job of taking command of the whole damned country. The best you can say is that they dithered while the towers burned.

[DrWeird]

7. Actually, he should have stopped the first one too.

Al Gore would have.

[Must_B_Free]

11. As soon as the first tower was hit it was a federal disaster

All buildings in the complex and vicinity should have been evacuated immediately for safety, in case a building fell and also for the sake of an investigation - to preserve any evidence; for example, the radio they found in a hotel nearby.

Telling the people "go back to work" was inexcusable.

[mike1963]

12. Well, try a little thought experiment. If YOU had been the "prez" on 9/11

and knew that the North Tower had been hit, would you have sat in a classroom reading to children about a pet goat, or would you have ordered (okay maybe you wouldn't actuallly have the direct authority to do so), but at least strongly urged that just maybe it might be a good idea to evacuate the South Tower? It sounds like a no-brainer to me.

Oh, shit, I forgot...

[nostamj]

13. Oh, shit, I forgot...

the 'president' that day was a "no-brainer"

they are GUILTY.

period.

on edit: just a consonant....

[PA Democrat]

29. The bush administration had critical INFORMATION

about other hijacked planes that they chose not to share with NY authorities. Of that abject failure, YES they are responsible.

[nostamj]

30. they also KNEW

that the WTC was a designated TARGET

that, imho, is the greater failure....

[MnFats]

14. goddamn. that should have occurred to me, but it did not.

somebody, SOMEBODY, should have phoned new york from washington and said 'get them out of the south tower as fast as you can."
oh, jesus.
more evil, stare-at-the-ceiling stuff.
thanks.
no, really, thanks.
there will be an accounting for all of this.

[NewHampster]

15. I can only speak with pictures

My sorrow is so great.
That the event we
Could not fathom
Was preventable
by those I choose to Hate

[nostamj]

17. well, my point is that SOME

SOME of it was preventable.

period.

[RC]

16. drip, drip, drip

Slowly it is becoming obvious that bu$hco is guilty of MIHOP!

The bu$h administration knew 9/11 was going to happen. How otherwise could there be a complete stand down? Almost nothing twitched till AFTER the last event; The Pentagon.

How much time elapse between when it was known the first plane had been hi-jacked and whatever it was that hit the Pentagon?

The mightiest military in the world did what? A couple of military planes turtle raced from one hundred ten miles away, when there was a base just 10 miles away with two wings sitting on the ground doing nothing.

bu$hco just did not know the exact date. But they had everything in place, they knew before hand what was going to happen and what they were to do when it did happen.

If this administration is not guilty, then why the lying, foot dragging and non-cooperative behavior toward finding out what really happened on 9/11/2001?

[BabsSong]

18. Agree with you and with another poster here

Besides the fact of the known run a way airplanes and thus message to NYC City Hall to call for evacuation, the second tower and those surrounding should have been evacuated even if they thought it was an accident. How did they know whether other things might blow up or fall down or ignite other buildings or hazardous materials in the air, etc. That was one big fuck up. If you had an office building in any downtown area in "anytown" USA start on fire (no airplane hit) surrounding buildings would be evacuated and the fact that they had this mother of all mother buildings that god couldn't reach with hooks and ladders etc, because of it's height, there should have been an immediate: Get the hell out. Not only did Bush fuck up so did Rudy. And today they are both national heroes---that about sums up our country, doesn't it???

[nostamj]

19. Rudy *could* have been 'out of the loop'

but, the failure to alert NYC officials IMMEDIATELY and URGENTLY about the *potential* nature of the attacks cost TOO many lives.

whatever the other 'intelligence failures'... i repeat...

the South Tower carnage was preventable.

period.

[BabsSong]

22. I'm not talking about Rudy in a "loop", I'm talking Rudy as in the

mayor of New York. Once the first one was hit, even if he thought it was just an accident, he should have been on the line with Police and Fire Dept. and Emergency personnel and said "get people in the close buildings out of there". He made stupid decisions.

[nostamj]

24. that's NOT that B/W re: rudi

absent the knowledge of the specific terrorist threat against the WTC...

there WAS legitimate concern that with the falling bodies and airplane parts, etc. from the first strike, that people in the South Tower were 'safer' not trying to evacuate.

however, the bushies KNEW exactly what was going on (inc. the additional hijacked planes)

it was THEIR responsibility to say: EVACUATE NOW.

they didn't.

period.

[Stephanie]

33. That's right. People were being killed by being hit by crashing debris

out on the plaza. That's how Father Michael Judd died. It was logical to keep people inside until the event was under control Only BECAUSE they had no idea another plane was coming.

[Skittles]

21. NO SH**

WHY WEREN'T THE SECOND TOWER AND PENTAGON EVACUATED ???? CAN YOU SAY DERELICTION OF DUTY ?????? THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ASKED FROM THE BEGINNING.

[nostamj]

23. that's my whole point Skittles

don't "kick my ass"

[Skittles]

25. oh no, I was just agreeing

sorry, had a few drinks. It just INFURIATES ME!!!!

[nostamj]

26. ME TOO!

the Kinks:

Have another drink
it'll make you feel better
have another drink
and you'll feel just fine
if you're feeling down
or your under the weather
have another drink
and you'll feel just fine...

[Skittles]

27. IT'S TRUE!

I DO feel FINE! :thumbsup:

[nostamj]

28. LOL n/t

<teeter, crash!>

[calimary]

37. Skittles and friends, MAKE YOUR FURY WORK FOR YOU/US!

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[latebloomer]

31. My kid's friend's dad worked in the South Tower

on the 88th floor. They were told they were safe and to remain at their desks.

He said, "Fuck that", rode the elevator down, and a cab uptown.

Almost everyone in his company died.

[Generator]

32. Ugh and they have the temerity

or Balls as Jon Stewart said, to question the sincerity of Richard Clarke's apology. The only government employee to ever applogize. When your citizens die on your watch, you have something to be sorry for!! Good lord. It's like a parent that had warnings that their children were going to be murdered and then the murderer shows up, they do nothing while he's killing one kid and don't warn the next and FEEL no responsiblity for the life they could have saved. Maybe that's not it exactly, but it conveys my rage.

[newyawker99]

35. Hi Generator!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[MisterP]

36. worse still, they seem PROUD of it,

trotting it out at every opportunity, selling photos of Dubya in AF1, etc., etc. They sure got their "new Pearl Harbor"

[nostamj]

34. i have to wonder if John O'Neill heard those announcements

and knew how wrong it was... I can't remember if he died in the North or South Tower.

[lumpy]

38. Excellent post !

The excuse probably would be "we didn't want to cause a panic".

[nostamj]

39. well, that would fit considering

that the insipid chimp didn't want to scare the children by leaving the classroom and DOING HIS FUCKING JOB!

[mulethree]

40. Disaster Plans

The President would have no business interfering with the WTC disaster plans that were used on 9/11 and had been carefully designed and reviewed by experts. If you were in the towers would you rather have your disaster managed by :

1) An oil executive 1,500 miles away?
2) A Fire Department Commander trained in High Rise Fires and emergencies?
3) A Fire Department Commander following an emergency action plan put together and reviewed by experts and scrutinized closely after the 1993 WTC Bombing?

You can thank (3) that the death toll was so low. Yes it's common sense to keep people in South tower so the burning North tower can be more effectively evacuated. The design of the place is for a 2-hour long rush hour via trains and (awesome) Elevators. When you need to evacuate 45,000 people from a building quickly, and get emergency services in, you don't want another 50,000 people thronging through the same overcrowded exit routes.

I like to think that if Bush had called and said "OMG EVACUATE!!" they would have told him "STFU and let the experts deal with this - um SIR - click, dial tone"

Same goes with the other events of the day. When the expert in charge, follows the plans and procedures, and runs into a section that says "escalate decision" then the call might end up at the Situation Room or some other "Red Phone".

[nostamj]

41. sorry. but, complete and UTTER bull****

you are right assuming the authorities were dealing with an ACCIDENT--which they were NOT.

federal authorities KNEW it was an attack.
federal authorities KNEW other hijacked planes were in the air and heading towards NYC
federal authorities COULD have told them the truth and saved many

there was no need to get 'emergency services' into the South Tower ONLY to get as many as possible OUT

sad, really.

[KoKo]

42. At that point, though the South Tower folks should have been told to

evacuate under guidlines of a "Fire Drill." I have to assume these buildings had regular drills and that way the panic wouldn't have been pouring 50,000 on the streets of folks who were "fleeing" but would have been an orderly evacuation.

I don't think there's any excuse for the time delay.