“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” -- Mahatma Gandhi

1. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) had almost an hour and a half to scramble F-16 jets from Langley Air Force Base (AFB) to protect Washington D.C. and the Pentagon. How could they incredibly fail to do so? For this most impossible error, the United States government and military only give the lame excuse, we didn't have enough time to respond.

Let me start by saying that it is NORAD's job to know every inch of the skies over North America, so they must have known by 8:10 to 8:15 that American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked. NORAD knew by around 8:33 that a second plane, United Airlines Flight 175 had also been hijacked. So around 8:33 there were 2 planes hijacked and one of them, American Airlines Flight 11 was headed directly for New York City.

I guess NORAD didn't get the message at 8:45 when American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center (WTC). Again, NORAD incredibly still doesn't get the message that there was a major problem at 9:03 when United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the south tower of the WTC?

Are we really to believe that somehow NORAD still waited and waited until they are finally told by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that a third plane had also been hijacked, American Airlines Flight 77? And then finally at 9:24 NORAD tells Langley to scramble 3 F-16's to protect Washington D.C.? By the way, American Airlines Flight 77 left Dulles and went all the way out to northeastern Kentucky, made a 180 degree turn and by 8:58 was heading back directly to Washington D.C.

American Airlines Flight 77 hits the Pentagon around 9:40. Did this plane go through restricted air space over Washington D.C. for a while? If it did, on any normal day the automatic turret style anti-defense weaponry and a battery of ground-to-air Stinger missiles on top of the White House should have brought down this known to have been hijacked airplane. This is one of the main purposes the arsenal was put up there, to shoot down hostile aircraft. Why is it on top of the White House to help protect Washington D.C. and yet not deployed? American Airlines Flight 77 then does a 270 degree bank to turn around and flies toward the Pentagon. Andrews AFB is only around 10 miles away, which is well within the range of a sidewinder missile. All that is required to take down AA 77 is to get a jet fighter or an attack helicopter up in the air, lock and fire. Why didn't Andrews AFB scramble to do this even if they weren't on alert?

Within minutes of the attack American forces around the world were put on one of their highest states of alert, Defcon 3, which is just two notches short of all-out war. It was then the F-16's from Andrews AFB were in the air over Washington DC. So, Andrews AFB two fighter wings somehow inconceivably waited till after all of the attacks were over to protect our nations capital, Washington D.C., and I have a bridge to sell you that connects Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Let us get back to the NORAD press release which tells Langley AFB at 9:24 to scramble their 3 F-16's to protect Washington D.C. from AA 77. F-16's at full speed can travel *1500 MPH, with takeoff acceleration factored in, it would have taken under 7 minutes to reach Washington D.C. from Langley AFB which is 120 miles to the south of the Pentagon.

If these 3 F-16's were airborne at 9:30 and were flying at top speed they should have been there just before 9:37. The Pentagon claims that AA 77 hit them at 9:37. Most of the other timetables for AA 77 crashing into the Pentagon have it at 9:40 to 9:41, some media have even published 9:45. The important information here is that the F-16's should have and could have been at the Pentagon before 9:37. Yet NORAD's own press release of September 18 is telling you these 3 F-16's were still 12 minutes and 105 miles away.

What is going on here, these fighter jets should have been there in under 7 minutes at top speed, yet NORAD is stating they are still 12 minutes away? To try to cover for this, General Haugen says that at first the 3 F-16's were directed toward New York at top speed, and then they were vectored toward the west and given a new flight targe, Reagan National Airport. Why were all of these 3 F-16's flying to New York City when AA 77 is heading dead on for Washington D.C.?

Why didn't NORAD scramble Langley AFB much, much sooner, say at 8:15 or 8:33 or 8:45 or 9:03? Why wasn't there any air protection for Washington D.C. for almost 90 minutes? By the way, why isn't the closer Andrews AFB always on alert to protect Washington D.C and the Pentagon? And lastly, why didn't the Air Force at the very least scramble a recon aircraft to monitor any of these 4 flights like they did for the late great golfer Payne Stewart when his Lear jet went off course? This is not Oshkosh, Wisconsin we are talking about protecting here, it is the Capital of the United States, Washington D.C., and its air defenses were left total unguarded for almost an hour and a half by the same country who have the greatest air superiority by far ever known. What type of a preposterous wag the NORAD tale is this?

* http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/f-16.htm

2. NORAD had at least half an hour to scramble F-15 jets from Otis Air Station to protect New York City and the WTC. Why did they unbelievably fail to do so? NORAD knew by 8:10 to 8:15 that American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked. They knew by around 8:33 that a second plane, United Airlines Flight 175 had also been hijacked. So, around 8:33 there were 2 planes hijacked and one of them, AA 11, was headed directly to New York City.

NORAD should have notified Otis at 8:10 to 8:15 when they knew they had one problem, or at the very least at 8:33 when they knew there were 2 huge problems and one of them, AA 11, was already heading dead on for New York City for almost 20 minutes. Why didn't NORAD notify Otis Air Station anytime sooner?

F-15's at full speed can travel *1875+ MPH, with takeoff acceleration factored in, it would have taken under 7 minutes to reach New York City from Otis, which is 153 miles to the east of the WTC.

Once again, if these 2 F-15's took-off at 8:52 and were flying at top speed they should have been there at around 8:59. This would have been 4 minutes before the south tower of the WTC gets hit at 9:03. Yet NORAD is telling you these F-15's were still 8 minutes and 71 miles away at 9:03. Why didn't NORAD scramble Otis sooner?

Why wasn't there any air protection for New York City for the 30 to 35 minutes between the hijacking of AA 11 and it hitting the WTC at 8:45?

Still much worse, why wasn't there air protection for New York City for 18 more minutes before UA 175 hit the WTC at 9:03? Why isn't McGuire AFB, the closest to New York City at only 70 miles away, always on alert to protect New York City?

* http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/f-15.htm

3. The NORAD press release of late Tuesday September 18 (In Wednesday September 19 papers as Fighters 8 minutes away from WTC) states that it purportedly gets information from the FAA at 8:40 and 8:43 that 2 planes have been hijacked and are heading directly for NYC. (as mentioned earlier, the FAA doesn't have to tell NORAD anything, because it is NORAD's job to know every inch of the skies over North America, so in reality NORAD knew about the American Airlines Flight 11 that was hijacked somewhere around 8:10 to 8:15 and the United Flight 175 around 8:33 ) But back to the NORAD press release:

The FAA tells NORAD at 8:40 and 8:43 that 2 planes have been hijacked and are heading directly for NYC. Why, knowing this, does NORAD proceed to sit on this most vital information for a full 6 minutes? NORAD even waited until one minute after the American Airlines Flight 11 smashes into the north tower of the WTC before finally telling Otis Air Station to scramble their 2 F-15's at 8:46. We know this because it takes almost six minutes to scramble and be airborne and the 2 F-15's from Otis were airborne at 8:52. So, it took NORAD 12 minutes from the time the FAA first tells them a plane had been hijacked until the 2 F-15's were airborne.

Why did NORAD sit on this most vital information for a full 6 minutes? To further prove this point about the 6 minutes, the FAA purportedly informs NORAD at 9:24 about American Airlines Flight 77 being hijacked and heading for Washington D.C. This time NORAD didn't hold on to this most vital information for a full 6 minutes, matter of fact they immediately must have told Langley AFB to scramble. This is known because once again, it takes almost six minutes to scramble and be airborne and the 3 F-16's from Langley AFB were airborne at 9:30.

So then, why did NORAD hold on to this most vital information, waiting for a 6 full minutes before telling Otis to scramble its 2 F-15's to protect New York City and the WTC? They actually waited until one minute after AA 11 went into the north tower of the WTC before they told Otis to scramble. How could that possibly be?

4. Once the 2 F-15's from Otis at 8:52 and the 3 F-16's from Langley at 9:30 were finally airborne you would think that they would have flown as fast as they could to try to intercept these hijacked airplanes before they struck again. Why then, were all of these very expensive and ultra-sophisticated fighter jets averaging flight speeds less than 1/3 of their top speed?

Let us do just a little math. Otis is 153 miles from the WTC. The F-15's can fly at 1875+ MPH. Calculate in 2 minutes to account for acceleration, and it should take under 7 minutes to get from Otis to New York City / WTC. These 2 F-15's should have intercepted United Airlines Flight 175 before it got to hit the south tower at 9:03. Yet NORAD is telling you these 2 F-15's were still 8 minutes and 71 miles away. What were these 2 F-15 pilots doing? Were they out for a joy ride while terrorists were attacking the United States for the first time since the War of 1812?

Let us do a little more math. Langley AFB is 120 miles from the Pentagon. The F-16's can fly at 1500 MPH. Calculate in 2 minutes to account for acceleration, and again you get under 7 minutes, this time to get from Langley AFB to the Pentagon. These 3 F-16's should have intercepted American Airlines Flight 77 before it hit the Pentagon at round 9:40. Yet NORAD is telling you these F-16's were still 12 minutes and 105 miles away.

Why were all of these ultra-sophisticated fighter jets averaging flight speeds less than 1/3 of their top speed when sent to intercept hostile aircraft and protect New York City and our nation's Capital, Washington D.C.? What exactly is the purpose of these fighter jets being able to go 1875+ MPH and 1500 MPH, yet when the United States is being attacked and needs them the most they are only somehow capable of doing less than 1/3 of their top speed? By the way, you are not allowed to contact any one of these 5 fighter pilots. NORAD mustn't be held accountable, national security you know.

5. American Airlines Flight 11 followed the Hudson River down for at least the last 80 or so miles till it hit the north side of the north tower of the WTC at 8:45. On its way down the Hudson River, it didn't fly close by or next to, it literally flew directly over the number one terrorist target in the United States. Indian Point has 3 nuclear power plants (1 is offline and the other 2 have been online since 1973 and 1976), which are only 24 miles north of New York City. If AA 11 hits Indian Point correctly in any of three different ways you could have up to 20 million people prematurely die from radiation poisoning and the whole northeast corridor would become a wasteland forever.

One, by hitting the section where cumulatively 65 years' of worth of highly radioactive waste is stored from these nuclear power plants. Two, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has come out and said that a large airliner or airliners full of fuel hitting a nuclear power plant would possibly cause a meltdown by causing out of control cascading problems (I believe this to be the most likely scenario). Three, and of course there is the way most people probably visualize it, a plane literally crashing through the containment building and going right through to the core. Well, containment walls are at least four feet thick and the domes are at least three feet thick. They are constructed of reinforced concrete laced with steel rods and tendons and lined with 1/4-inch thick steel sheets.

A large airliner could possibly break through the weakest point, the 3-foot thick containment dome and cause a meltdown. If one plane didn't break through the Indian Point containment dome and cause a meltdown, two planes most definitely would have done the job. By the way, United Airlines Flight 175 flew very close to Indian Point, it was literally within a couple of minutes flying time.

So, are we dealing with benevolent terrorists on AA 11 who lengthen their mission by 38 miles and 8 minutes flying time by flying directly over their enemies' number one target? Are we dealing with benevolent terrorists on UA 175 who lengthen their mission by almost 150 miles and 30 minutes flying time by flying very close to their enemies' number one target? Why fly over Indian Point where you could possibly cause 20 million premature deaths? Why expose your mission for 8 or 30 more minutes to try to take down 1 or 2 of the towers of the WTC, where they ended up "only" killing less than 3,000 people? The mastermind behind these "terrorists" hijackers would have soon figured out their best shot against the strongest military foe in the world would have been to hit them first and hit them as hard as you can. Why didn't they hit Indian Point? By the way, if the terrorists were targeting the WTC, don't you think they would have waited until around 11:00 when these buildings were full with 50,000 plus people? And of course, to cause the most deaths and destruction isn't it elementary to strike these buildings as low as possible, which would have been around the 25th to 30th floors?

So, why did this well planned "terrorist" attack kill only 3,000 people when they could have easily killed ten times that many? This reasoning also goes along with the Pentagon attack. Why was the Pentagon hit on the so-called "peaceful" side, which was mostly under construction as opposed to the command center side of the Pentagon?

Could these planes have possibly been remotely controlled by the new technology known as Global Hawk? This technology was used earlier this year to fly the first remotely controlled unmanned airplane across the Pacific and is now also being used in Afghanistan. Which leads one to think, why then did Bush make the misleading statement after September 11 that this Global Hawk technology was not ready yet, when of course it was.

Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.

Groucho Marx

Deliberate Delays in Scrambling Aircraft

Questioning September 11th
By Mark Elsis
Part II

10 January 2002

Part III and IV at “Independence” Menu in Item 6, “Questioning September 11th”

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