Did Andrew Card actually say, "America is under attack"?

[Poiuyt]

If you were in that situation, what would you say to the president? "America is under attack" just seems so melodramatic, especially when you don't know what the hell's going on. And what about Bush's non-reaction? If your Chief of Staff just said that to you, wouldn't you ask him what he meant? I find it hard to believe that's what Andy Card really said.

Of course, I don't have any facts or evidence to the contrary.

[subterranean]

1. I've always wondered that too.

Of course, that's the official version of what he said, but only he and Bush know for sure.

[jgraz]

2. He actually said, "Holy Fuck, Cheney was serious about that?"

[Old and In the Way]

3. Bush wasn't good at multi-tasking, he was trying to keep up with

class on reading "My Pet Goat".

Who knows what Card said? I don't recall any mention of what Bush was doing or thinking during classtime, in the 9/11 Commission Report. I do know Bush said (paraphrase), "I saw the 1st Plane hit and I thought "That's one bad pilot."" Now, putting aside the fact that no one saw the 1st plane go in (unless, of course, he had a special CCTV hook-up to see it), that statement has to be referring to the 2nd plane hitting the WTC. And why would he think that at this point in the attack?

[FLDCVADem]

4. I obviously don't know what his words were

But those were my words to my best on the telephone as the second plane hit.

I was sitting in my office in DC (in the AF at the time) and someone came running in, talking about the first plane. I called my best friend in Florida - she was a flight attendant, and I wanted to see if she was working that day. I was streaming CNN, watched the second plane come in and hit, and told her "I've gotta go - we're under attack".

Sorry to drag on - just pointing out that it's possible he did say that.

[Old and In the Way]

5. Assuming Card said it, Bush's reaction is inexcusable.

You had to react as soon as you understood the significance....why didn't POTUS? Why drag out this photo-op for another 1/2 hour? Why stay in the school 1 second longer? He has to be considered a target at that point and everyone in the school as well. Why wasn't the SS hauling his ass out of there?

Two words: criminal incompetence. He ignored warnings of an impending attack and did nothing when he was advised. Hell, he was AWOL for the rest of that day.

[berni_mccoy]

6. He said "Operation Iraqi Freedom is Underway."

[Darkhawk32]

7. My theory on what he said...... read on.....

My guess is that Card said, "It's begun." He was only in his ear for a split-second, so it had to be something short like that.

And Bush's freezing was his last moment of conscious. He knew what was going on without further explanation.

If Bush had no clue what was going on, any rational person, even Bush, would've inquired further. But, he didn't. He knew EXACTLY what was going on.

[Old and In the Way]

9. Any rational President, a victim of a surprise attack, would be demanding a full

Congressional investigation with an unlimited budget to get the real answers as to the hows and whys. Instead, they slow walked and underfunded, and dragged their feet to find the root causes' delaying a public commission for a whole year.

But not this one....I wonder what Poppy and Dick were talking about in the WH, exactly 8 years ago from this moment?

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. Card tried to revise history

http://www.historycommons.org/essay.jsp?article=essayaninterestingday
<snip>
The many accounts of what happened to Bush on 9/11 are riddled with disinformation of false threats, omitted details, fudged timing, and more. But around September 11, 2002, the heavily publicized first anniversary of the attacks, there was an obvious attempt to further rewrite the story.

Chief of Staff Andrew Card claimed that after he told Bush about the second World Trade Center crash, “it was only a matter of seconds” before Bush “excused himself very politely to the teacher and to the students, and he left” the classroom. Card also stated that Bush “quickly excused himself to a holding room.” In a different account, Card said, “Not that many seconds later the president excused himself from the classroom.” The Booker school video shows these statements are lies—unless “a matter of seconds” means over 700 seconds!"
</snip>

They were able to prolong the myth because this was still pre-YouTube, and virtually nobody was talking about or showing the news footage from the classroom.

[wildbilln864]

10. ***k&r! nt

[Motown_Johnny]

11. I think he said... everything is proceeding as planned sir