September 10 2016 - 1:40PM
'Somebody is going to pay': Handwritten notes from Air Force One speak of 9/11 drama
Washington: The notes are handwritten on a legal pad and provide a verbatim account of the shock aboard Air Force One on September 11, 2001.
They were scribbled by Ari Fleischer, press secretary for US President George W. Bush, and he is releasing them to mark the 15th anniversary on Sunday of the worst attack on American soil since Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbour.
There are six pages in all, the only original verbatim text of what Mr Bush said on the presidential plane as he and his senior aides absorbed the news.
"We're at war," Bush told Vice President Dick Cheney. Hanging up and turning to his aides, he added: "When we find out who did this, they're not going to like me as president. Somebody's going to pay."
Mr Fleischer adopted the role of presidential note taker as Air Force One lifted off from Florida after the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon were attacked by hijacked passenger jets.
"I always took notes. It's how you do your job," Mr Fleischer said. "But on September 11 it was instantly clear how much more important it was to have a record of what the president did and said. I basically glued myself to his side almost the entire day and remained in his cabin on Air Force One to listen and take notes."
Much of the material has been part of the public record. Mr Fleischer has used them for annual tweets about September 11 and in speeches and made them available to the commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks. But he has not previously released them in full to the public.
The story that unfolds in Mr Fleischer's penmanship begins with the raw emotions Bush and his aides experienced, the president already itching to retaliate.
The attack on the World Trade Center, New York, on September 11, 2001. Photo: Getty Images
"I can't wait to find out who did it," Mr Bush said. "It's going to take a while and we're not going to have a little slap on the wrist crap."
There is a dramatic period in which Bush tries to overcome opposition from the Secret Service to letting him return to Washington. The plane first took him to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, then Offutt air base in Nebraska. He got back to Washington that night.
A visitor reaches out to touch a name engraved on the September 11 memorial in New York. Photo: AP
"I want to get home as soon as possible," Bush said. "I don't want whoever this is holding me outside Washington."
An aide responded: "Our people are saying it's too unsteady still."
Carrying Barney, then US President George W. Bush steps down from Air Force One in 2003. Photo: AP
Mr Bush said that was the message he was hearing from Mr Cheney as well.
Bush chief of staff Andy Card said: "The right thing is to let the dust settle".
Mr Fleischer's notes include an eerie reference to a communication heard on the plane from the ground that "Angel is next". Because Air Force One's codename at the time was "angel", there was worry onboard that the plane was a target.
He said an armed guard was stationed outside the door leading to the Air Force One cockpit, just in case someone was a threat on the plane itself.
A month later, Mr Bush and his team were told the reference to "angel" was a miscommunication from the ground. One offshoot of the 9/11 attacks was a major renovation of Air Force One's communications abilities.
The president, who had only been in office for eight months, had another priority in mind as well: making sure his family was safe. Mr Bush's wife, Laura, and their two daughters were whisked to secure locations.
"Barney?" Mr Bush said, inquiring about his beloved Scottish terrier.
"He's nipping at the heels of Osama bin Laden now," Mr Card joked.
On Friday, the US Congress approved a bill to allow families of those killed in the attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for any role in the terrorist plot.
The measure was never debated on the House or Senate floors. It reflects a growing desire to re-examine Washington's alliance with the kingdom, which for decades has been a cornerstone of US foreign policy in the Middle East.
Other measures, like a bipartisan one that would seek to block the sale of some tanks to the kingdom, are also on the horizon.
American politicians were under intense pressure from families of the victims, who wanted the legislation passed before the anniversary. That may account for the bill jumping from a committee room to an expedited vote on the House floor.
But President Barack Obama said he was strongly opposed to the measure and the White House has signalled that he would veto it.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/somebod...e-one-speak-of-911-drama-20160910-grdbnv.html
