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September 11, 2001
2001-09-11 19:51:23
--------------------------UPDATED INFORMATION--------------------
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
(9/11)....911?
As Americans hold their collective breath waiting to hear how many people died in terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon in Washington, missiles were seen and explosions were heard in the capital city of Afghanistan.
Huge flames shot into the air and could be seen in the night sky up to five to eight miles away in Kabul early Wednesday morning.
Afghanistan is believed to be the home of Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind Tuesday's attacks that toppled the landmark twin towers of the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon.
"In no way is the United States government connected to those explosions," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld late Tuesday afternoon.
Asked if bin Laden was a suspect, he said, "It's not the time for discussions like that."
Other officials suggested the missile attacks were probably a continuation of the civil war in Afghanistan and perhaps were a response to the fatal attack on opposition leader Ahmad Shah Masood.
There is little doubt in Washington about who was behind the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. U.S. intelligence officials told CNN, "There are good indications that persons linked to Osama bin Laden may be responsible for these attacks."
The editor of a Pakistani newspaper with ties to bin Laden said bin Laden made a written statement that denied involvement.
"I am not involved in [these] actions in New York and Washington, but I support these actions. I see them as a reaction against the oppressor," the statement said.
It continued: "When the innocent people were killed in Palestine, why were the people of America silent?"
U.S. officials said that while the focus is on bin Laden, they had not ruled out other suspects.
They also said they believe more threats exist. Pentagon sources told CNN that all U.S. military sites around the world have gone to ThreatCon Delta, which means that a terrorist attack has occurred or an attack at a specific location is likely.
"We will expend every effort and devote all the necesary resources to bring the people responsible for these acts -- these crimes -- to justice," Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday evening.
President Bush will address the nation Tuesday evening at 8:30 EDT about the attacks he called "a national tragedy."
"Make no mistake: The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts," Bush said after during a stop earlier in the day at Barksdale AFB near Shreveport, Louisiana.
American Airlines Flight 11, carrying 81 passengers and 11 crew members en route from Boston to Los Angeles, slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan shortly before 9 a.m. The hijackers were armed with knives, Ashcroft said.
About 15 minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175, also en route from Boston to Los Angeles, with 56 passengers and nine crew members aboard, crashed into the south tower.
It is not yet known how many of the estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people who may have been in the World Trade Twin Towers were killed when the two planes exploded and eventually turned both 110-story structures into piles of rubble.
Asked how many people he believed were killed, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said, "I don't think we want to speculate about that -- more than any of us can bear."
Hours later, fire caused another building, 7 World Trade Center, to collapse. It had been burning since shortly after the planes stuck the Twin Towers. Other nearby buildings are ablaze in the area.
There is no word on fatalities at the Pentagon, where part of the complex collapsed after a Boeing 757 jet plowed into it at 9:45 a.m. Witnesses said the plane hit what is known as the "Army Corridor."
FBI sources said the aircraft was an American Airlines flight that had been hijacked after taking off from Washington Dulles International Airport bound for Los Angeles.
At least 53 people were injured, some severely, in the attack on the Pentagon, where about 24,000 people work. All secretaries and military chiefs of the service branches are alive and have been accounted for, authorities said.
A fourth aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93 from Newark, New Jersey, headed for San Francisco, crashed in a wooded area near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Police said there were no survivors. There were 38 passengers, five flight attendants and two pilots.
"The plane is thoroughly disintegrated," Jim Marker of Somerset County's 911 Emergency Management Center told CNN. "There are no remains, no survivors.
Senior FBI sources said, "There is no doubt the planes [all four] were hijacked."
Intelligence sources told CNN there were indications of attempts to divert the United flight from Newark to crash at Camp David, Maryland, the presidential retreat. It is unclear how that plan may have been thwarted.
U.S. military officials said none of the planes were shot down by U.S. aircraft.
Federal Aviation officials said they were aware at the time the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center that a plane had been hijacked.
They did not know that specific plane was involved. Callers from two of the other hijack planes called on cell phones to say their planes had been hijacked.
James Kallstrom, the retired FBI agent who led the investigation into the explosive crash of TWA 800 in July 1996 that killed 230 people, said he believed the hijackers must have flown the planes into the buildings themselves.
"I can't imagine any American pilot crashing an airplane into one of these buildings, even with a gun to the head. They wouldn't do that," said Kallstrom.
"You've got people that not only are willing to give up their lives for a horrendously, in my view, stupid, cowardly act, but they are sophisticated enough to fly a modern jet plane."
The U.S. military went on full alert. Two aircraft carriers left the Naval base in Norfolk, Virginia, in response to the attacks to provide upgraded air defense for New York and Washington.
Officials in Washington said a "Continuation of Government" plan had been activated. The activation involves a fortified facility at Mount Weather, Virginia. There was no word whether any of the U.S. leadership or ranking military officers had been taken to the facility.
The city of Washington declared a state of emergency.
"The Pentagon is functioning. It will be in business tomorrow," Rumsfeld said.
Members of Congress were quick to blame bin Laden, the Saudi millionaire blamed for bombings at two U.S. embassies in Africa. He is believed to be based in Afghanistan.
"This looks like the signature of Osama bin Laden," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who said he had been briefed by officials at the highest levels of government.
Hatch added. "We're going to find out who did this and we're going after the bastards."
"This is obviously an act of war that has been committed on the United States," said Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.
In Kabul, Afghanistan Foreign Minister Wakeel Ahmed Mutawakkel said, "We in Afghanistan do not allow Osama bin Laden to use Afghan territory to launch any attack on any government around the world."
He said the Afghan government had taken away bin Laden's communication devices, "and he has not been in touch with anyone outside Afghanistan."
Mutawakkel said the Taliban will conduct its own investigation. "We will determine what really happened. We denounce this terrorist attack, whoever is behind it."
The attacks set off security alarms across the nation. Federal government buildings in Washington, including the White House, were evacuated.
Airports in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the destinations of the planes involved in the incidents, were evacuated. The city of San Francisco declared a state of emergency. California government offices also closed.
The U.S. House of Representatives planned to convene Wednesday in a symbolic gesture to show the government is not shutting down.
For the first time in U.S. history, the Federal Aviation Administration closed airports nationwide, halting the 36,000 to 40,000 takeoffs that occur daily. It diverted a number of trans-Atlantic flights to Canada.
By midafternoon all domestic flights that had been in the air when the closings were order had landed, said FAA spokesman Less Dorr.
"The earliest the national groundstop will be lifted is noon tomorrow [Wednesday]. And that's at the very earliest," said Dorr.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service went on highest alert along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico.
~CNN
All I have are more questions. WHO THE @!#$ IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THIS!?!?!?!?!
I will continue updating this information for everyone as it develops.
~Carlos -
September 11, 2001
2001-09-11 19:50:21
To Everyone within the AMV Community:
Before I begin this post I would like to apologize for any inconvience I have cause everyone as of late with my New Perfect Blue video. I have spoken with ErMac and everythign has been taken care of. It was my fault for not saying earlier that the video was a tribute as well as inspiration by his Closer to God video. I hope all of you are not angry with me nor with the rest of us at MindWarp Entertainment. Please stop with the hate mail towards my video and stop emailing ErMac about the video, he is aware of the situation and all has been resolved peacefully.
NOW, I KNOW THAT THIS IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the AMV Community,
As of September 11, 2001; Here is our Current Situation:
In an apparently coordinated terrorist attack against the United States, four commercial passenger jets crashed on Tuesday, three of them into significant landmarks.
• U.S. intelligence officials tell CNN "there are good indications that persons linked to Osama bin Laden may be responsible for these attacks." The sources say they based the statement on specific information that had been gathered Tuesday. Bin Laden is the Saudi millionaire who has been blamed for terror attacks against U.S. interests and is believed to be in Afghanistan.
• American Airlines Flight 11, carrying 81 passengers and 11 crew members, slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan shortly before 9 a.m. About 15 minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles, with 56 passengers and nine crew members on board, crashed into the south tower.
Photos of the Plane hitting the Second Tower : Provided by Phade's information
LIVE VIDEO FEED FROM SECOND PLANE CRASH!!!
• Both towers eventually collapsed in a shower of debris and plume of thick dust.
• A half-hour after the second crash, American Flight 77 took off from Washington, D.C.'s Dulles Airport en route to Los Angeles, California, carrying 58 passengers and six crew members -- but crashed into the Pentagon instead. Less than an hour after the third crash, United Flight 93 en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, with 38 passengers and seven crew aboard.
• Huge chunks of debris falling from remains of World Trade Center towers more than six hours after the crashes. Firefighters could get no closer than 2 blocks from the burning hulk.
• The FBI said it believes all four planes, carrying a total of 266 people, were hijacked.
• The Pentagon, the White House, the State Department, the Justice Department, the Capitol, the CIA and all other government buildings in Washington are evacuated.
• Federal Emergency Response Plan is implemented immediately after first attack, according to White House. All U.S. embassies and U.S. forces around the world are put on high alert. The highest alert is THREATCON DELTA.
• All federal agencies implement continuity plans to make sure U.S. government continues to function effectively.
• President Bush calls the crashes "a national tragedy." Later in the day, Bush issues a statement from Barksdale AFB near Shreveport, Louisiana. "Make no mistake: The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."
• Secret Service secures President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and key members of Bush's Cabinet and national security team. Air Force One lands in Omaha, Nebraska, and spokeswoman Karen Hughes says Bush is in a secure location.
• Mullah Omar, the Taliban spiritual leader, condemns the attacks and denies that Osama bin Laden, was responsible.
• Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, says in reaction to the terror attacks that "we want to tell the American children that Afghanistan feels your pain and we hope that the courts find justice."
• In the first-ever national ground stop of aircraft, all flights nationwide are stopped at their departure airports.
• International flights are initially diverted to Canada; FAA says later, however, that 22 U.S.-bound international flights will be allowed to land.
• Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta tells FAA to suspend operation of all flights until at least noon Wednesday. He also issued orders controlling the movements of all vessels in U.S. waters.
• In New York, more than 10,000 rescue personnel rush to the scene. Evacuation of lower Manhattan begins.
• Israel evacuates all of its missions around the world.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is evacuated. CDC prepares emergency response teams in case they become necessary.
• Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, Republican leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, Sen. Don Nickles, R-Oklahoma, House Democratic leader Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Missouri, and House Speaker Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, were taken by helicopter to an undisclosed location.
• Philadelphia landmarks are evacuated.
• In Chicago, the Sears Tower is evacuated; United Nations in New York is evacuated.
• Two aircraft carriers and five other ships are deployed along the East Coast of the United States, and two aircraft carriers go to New York area, all from Norfolk, Virginia.
• The New York Port Authority closes all bridges and tunnels into the city.
• U.S. stock markets close after the New York attacks and will remain closed Wednesday.
• NATO sends home all non-essential personnel from its Brussels, Belgium, headquarters.
• The Immigration and Naturalization Service puts the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada on highest state of alert.
• Los Angeles International Airport is evacuated.
• Disney closes its parks in Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
• FEMA implements plan established for such events: FBI leads investigation and Justice Department heads crisis management. White House spokeswoman Karen Hughes says FEMA activates eight urban search and rescue teams in New York and four teams are at work at Pentagon.
• Three Palestinian groups -- Hamas, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad -- deny responsibility for the attacks, but blame U.S. policies in the Mideast.
• Washington, D.C., and San Francisco declare states of emergency.
• A Delta flight makes emergency landing in Cleveland and all passengers are safely evacuated. Federal officials search the plane for a possible bomb.
This is all the news in which has been shown to the public as of late. I will keep updating this Post later on with more information.
Many of us will never forget the Horror which was endured today.
"a date which will live in infamy"
~FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
JOURNAL: Machine (Carlos Corral)
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