Ten years that shook the world

Ten years ago the most terrible act of terror in the human history was committed. Three digits – 9/11 – are familiar to any man on a planet today. The wealthiest, mightiest and most invulnerable country was attacked by a bunch of lunatics, whom no one treated seriously before. On the 9^th of September, 2911 the world changed beyond recognition. The last ten years have passed under the sign of this event that changed the global geopolitical configuration and caused two wars. Little-known terrorist organization declared a war civilized world, having launched the processes that are under way even today. Still, no one has managed to guess all the consequences of these events.

Two words can describe state of America after the 11^th of September – shock and awe. Perhaps, that’s exactly the reason why some Pentagon top brass subconsciously chose these words to define the operation of American troops in Iraq, which started on the 20^th of March, 2003 and goes on until today. For the first time in its history America was attacked at its own territory. Whatever you say, but Pearl Harbor is at Hawaii, which weren’t even the part of the USA in 1941 and even today it takes more than 7 hours to fly from New-York to Honolulu. When the smoke and ashes from the collapsed twin towers dispelled and Americans understood that they befell victims of a barbarian attack, the first feeling that seized the nation was the feeling of vulnerability. America has always fought at the enemy territory and even the most terrible Second World War has bypassed it. Yes, American troops died in Normandy in 1944, in Vietnam in 1965-1975 and in Korea in 1950-1953 but their homes and families have always been safe. The 11^th of September, 2001 equalized Americans in the most important of all rights – the right to live. Even the President himself was merely a target for terrorists.

Few people know what was happening in the White House this tragic day, actually not at the world-famous residence of the U.S. Presidents (where President was absent from), but what George Bush was occupied with when the terrorist attack came and what was his first reaction to the attack at America. Journalist Bob Woodward, who interviewed the closes aides of Bush and gathered their stories in his book “War Within”, told the entire world about it. Story of Andrew Card, who headed the President’s Office at the time, is of peculiar interest to us.

 Andrew Card

No rendering express the atmosphere half as good as the evidence of an eyewitness does. So let’s pass the tribune to Andrew Card:

“The day started casually, last evening we landed in Florida. In the morning President went jogging. Having run for a quarter mile he returned exhausted and sweating, but in a good mood. CIA briefing was scheduled. We’ve been receiving some vague information about the hijacked planes. Bush went to meet children in the Sarasota primary school. When we’ve been entering the school building, I heard the conversation of two men, speaking of a plane that hit the World Trade Center. One of these men was Karl Rove, White House Council Apparatus Chief. Before we went to the kids, we’ve been approached by a National Security Council employee, who said: ‘Mister President, it seems that some small double-engine plane has hit the World Trade Center tower’. President started reading a fairy-tale to children, while cameras were recording him. I’ve stayed outside. In few minutes, NSC employee came again and said that it was a regular flight jumbo jet and in a couple of minutes he said that the second plane hit the second tower. I’ve decided that the President was to be informed, so I opened the class, approached George Bush and whispered him: ‘The second plane hit the second tower. It’s an attack at America’. President behaved adequately to the situation, kept on reading the fairy-tale and did everything not to scare the kids. He was calm, showed no fear and remained in line. I’ve ordered to prepare the Air Force One and warned the Secret Service agents for immediately taking the President from Sarasota. It was difficult to gather everyone we needed, as long as the White House employees were running about the building, trying to figure out what was going on in New-York. Everyone thought of the same thing: ‘Will the White House be the next target?” President stopped reading the fairy-tale and left the class. First thing he did he called the National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, then with Dick Cheney and then with the FBI chief Robert Muller, who has held the post for merely ten days. He had these conversations on the way to airport. We were unable to reach Donald Rumsfeld as long as Pentagon was attacked too and he left his cabinet. Then he called Vladimir Putin to assure him that the situation is under control and there’s no need in dramatizing it, although what he really meant was: “Don’t push the button, we’ve left ours alone”.

Unfortunately Bob Woodward’s book is not available in the Internet so we can’t give a link our readers to it, so they would be able to read the most curious revelations of man, who sided Bush in the most tragic moments of September, 2001. It was published in small number of printed copies and, as far as I know, has never been reprinted. That’s why we will have plenty of quotes from it. We have to keep in mind that Card was one of the closest aides of the U.S. President and subsequently held a post of a Transport Minister and headed the Presidential Task Force for Iraq. Therefore, we may hardly expect him to criticize his former boss. Yet, even trying to champion George W. Bush, he involuntarily leaks the details that do not benefit the 43^rd President of the United States.

“We flew to the Air Force base in Louisiana. Previously the exercises, imitating the nuclear attack were held there and the base was entirely safe. President was willing to fly to Washington show the world an example of a dutiful President. I’ve counseled him against it, because the Secret Service stated that the situation in the capital is not entirely clear. From Louisiana we flew to the Offutt Air Force in Nebraska, where we hid in a bunker. From there we’ve watched the planes that currently in the U.S. airspace. One of the planes wasn’t responding to our radio-signals and we assumed that this is the next plane, which was to attack New-York. It turned out to be a false alarm. From the Nebraska bunker we’ve held a video-conference with the National Security Council, Vice-President, Condi Rice, Secretary of Defense and the Director of CIA”.

Thus, Andrew Card indirectly confirmed the version about the fourth plane, seized by terrorists and possible taken down by American Air Force. Boeing 757 (flight 93) belonged to the United Airlines and left New Ark for San-Francisco at 8:01. 38 passengers, 2 pilots and 5 crew members were aboard. Not far from Cleveland (Ohio) the plane suddenly turned and headed towards Pennsylvania. Terrorists allowed the passengers to call their dear ones. Airliner fell to the ground at the edge of forest at 10:10, not far from the place called Shanksville 125 kilometers to south-east from Pittsburgh. Having arrived, emergency services discovered no survivors. At once several versions about the reasons of the plane crash and terrorists’ goals emerged. According to one of them, a fight between the crew and the aggressors started, according to another one — the plane was brought down by the U.S. Air Force, in order to avoid the tragic consequences. There’s a chance that the plane headed towards one of important strategic objects like White House, nuclear power plant or the countryside residence of George Bush. In his book Card also wrote about George Bush, who was awakened in the middle of the night because of a false alarm in the White House. An image of Bush in pajama, holding his dog and his wife in a night shift, hiding in the bomb shelter should have added human features to the portrait of the President, albeit it rather draws smiles.

His explanation of the reasons for invading Iraq is of much greater interest, though.

“During the first 48 hours after the act of terror the President asked all the states in the world to estimate this event and support the United States in order to figure out who was on our side and who wasn’t. Saddam never claimed he was at our side”.

G. Bush makes a summary of J. Stalin’s work

I would’ve never thought that George Bush Jr. read the immortal work of Joseph Vissarionovich   Stalin “The Contemporary moment and the unifying convention of the labor party” (vol.1, page 251 of the Complete Collected Works) published in 1906 in Tiflis in Georgian. Mind that this is the source of the quote. Thus, Stalin’s cause lives and triumphs. As for reproaches of Bush’s poor education, it seems that we all would have to beg our pardon.

The fact that an actual mastermind, standing behind the 9/11 act of terror, Osama bin Laden, was the CIA brainchild, has been described in details in the USA, in Europe and in Russia. Having broken out of control of his supervisors, deadly offended by at attempt of his physical elimination, he revenged in the most sinister way. His assassination was planned in such way that the Villain #1 would’ve never faced the trial, which he could’ve told plenty of interesting things. Off with him, though, and let he rot in hell, if the latter really exists. The situation with consequences of Iraqi and Afghani occupations is much more complicated. To a considerable degree, these countries themselves, sunk deep in the darkness of fratricide and civil wars, have detonated other events that shock our planet: radicalization of Islam, Arab revolutionary spring, destabilization of the entire Middle East, huge growth of drug production in Afghanistan etc. Today there’s not a single global problem that is not connected to the 9/11 and the subsequent actions of the USA with its allies somehow. Even the world economic crisis is a consequence of the U.S. budget deficit. To a great degree, the latter one emerged because of the hyper-spending of American government for the war on terrorism. The USSR has undermined its economy during the Cold War arms race against the USA. Now, our counter-partners have seemingly triggered the same old Soviet-style backlash. The only difference was that Americans were rejoiced at the collapse of the Soviet economics, while American crisis brings not joy to us at all. Meet the globalization! Everyone is to suffer. The significance of the 11^th of September for our civilization is yet to be estimated by political scientists, economists and historians in their many-volumed works. Perhaps, quite a time has to pass so the scientists would be able to see all the mutual connections and warn our descendants (if not ourselves) about the responsibility for the decisions that state leaders make.

Today though, we have to remember all the innocent victims of the act of terror itself and its consequences. This memory will help us bring more safety and responsibility into the world.