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Authors: Kurt Eichenwald
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Air Force One. The first of the military jets reached the 757 just before 11:30. Air traffic control radioed the president’s pilot, Colonel Mark Tillman, to let him know.
“You’ve got two F-16s at about your—say, your ten o’clock position,” the controller said.
Tillman looked to his left and saw one of the jets. Back in the cabins, passengers gathered at the windows, watching in amazement as the F-16s appeared, flying so close off Air Force One ’s wings that they could see the pilots’ heads. Bush walked out of his private office and peered through the window. He caught the eyes of one pilot and snapped a salute.
Bush told his staff that he wanted to land so that he could make a public statement and speak with his top lieutenants in Washington. The security team chose Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport as the first stop.
At 11:45, Air Force One was seconds from touching down when a report from CBS appeared on one of the televisions in the main cabin—the number of casualties in New York was in the thousands. The reporters and White House staff members fell silent.
On the tarmac, air force personnel in full combat gear and carrying drawn M-16 rifles surrounded the plane. In the flurry of activity, one airman ran to the wrong spot, angering a nearby officer.
“Hey, hey!” the officer barked. “Get to that wingtip! Move to that wingtip now !”
Instantly, the younger man dashed under the right wing, holding a rifle across his chest.
The internal stairs on the lower portion of the plane opened, and White House staffers and reporters piled out. The sky was cloudless, the temperature roasting. A dark blue Dodge Caravan drove across the tarmac, coming to a stop beside the stairs. Seconds later, it pulled back to be inspected by dogs.
When the Dodge returned, Bush bounded off the plane, saluting an air forceofficer before climbing into the van. A small motorcade drove to the General Dougherty Conference Center; Bush got out and headed inside to call his national security team.
• • •
Shortly after 12:30, Bush strode into the Center’s main conference room, where the White House press corps waited. His eyes were red-rimmed and his face was grim as he stepped behind a podium. Sketches of sixteen Medal of Honor winners from the Eighth Air Force were on the wall behind him. The red light on a television camera blinked on.
“Freedom, itself, was attacked this morning by a faceless coward,” he said. “And freedom will be defended.”
• • •
The 443-foot-tall London Eye Ferris wheel stood motionless on the bank of the Thames, shut down out of fear that terrorists might soon strike the popular tourist attraction. Across the river, a convoy of police vehicles and black vans raced down Parliament Street. Inside a sedan, Prime Minister Tony Blair sat with one of his chief aides, Alastair Campbell; both men had just returned from Brighton, where news of the attacks on the Twin Towers had aborted Blair’s plan to deliver a speech to the Trades Union Congress.
The motorcade arrived in front of the tall black gates at the entrance to Downing Street, a barrier erected during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher to protect prime ministers from terrorists. Blair’s car stopped in front of Number 10; he and Campbell stepped out and hurried into the residence.
Some of Britain’s top intelligence officials were waiting to brief them on what they had learned about the events in America. First, the precautions in London—the Department for Transport had closed the airspace over the city, special security details had been placed around the stock exchange and Canary Wharf, and the general security alert had been raised.
As for the attacks that morning, the intelligence agencies were already certain of the culprit’s identity. “Bin Laden and his people are the only ones with the capability to do this,” said John Scarlett, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee for the
“You’ve got two F-16s at about your—say, your ten o’clock position,” the controller said.
Tillman looked to his left and saw one of the jets. Back in the cabins, passengers gathered at the windows, watching in amazement as the F-16s appeared, flying so close off Air Force One ’s wings that they could see the pilots’ heads. Bush walked out of his private office and peered through the window. He caught the eyes of one pilot and snapped a salute.
Bush told his staff that he wanted to land so that he could make a public statement and speak with his top lieutenants in Washington. The security team chose Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport as the first stop.
At 11:45, Air Force One was seconds from touching down when a report from CBS appeared on one of the televisions in the main cabin—the number of casualties in New York was in the thousands. The reporters and White House staff members fell silent.
On the tarmac, air force personnel in full combat gear and carrying drawn M-16 rifles surrounded the plane. In the flurry of activity, one airman ran to the wrong spot, angering a nearby officer.
“Hey, hey!” the officer barked. “Get to that wingtip! Move to that wingtip now !”
Instantly, the younger man dashed under the right wing, holding a rifle across his chest.
The internal stairs on the lower portion of the plane opened, and White House staffers and reporters piled out. The sky was cloudless, the temperature roasting. A dark blue Dodge Caravan drove across the tarmac, coming to a stop beside the stairs. Seconds later, it pulled back to be inspected by dogs.
When the Dodge returned, Bush bounded off the plane, saluting an air forceofficer before climbing into the van. A small motorcade drove to the General Dougherty Conference Center; Bush got out and headed inside to call his national security team.
• • •
Shortly after 12:30, Bush strode into the Center’s main conference room, where the White House press corps waited. His eyes were red-rimmed and his face was grim as he stepped behind a podium. Sketches of sixteen Medal of Honor winners from the Eighth Air Force were on the wall behind him. The red light on a television camera blinked on.
“Freedom, itself, was attacked this morning by a faceless coward,” he said. “And freedom will be defended.”
• • •
The 443-foot-tall London Eye Ferris wheel stood motionless on the bank of the Thames, shut down out of fear that terrorists might soon strike the popular tourist attraction. Across the river, a convoy of police vehicles and black vans raced down Parliament Street. Inside a sedan, Prime Minister Tony Blair sat with one of his chief aides, Alastair Campbell; both men had just returned from Brighton, where news of the attacks on the Twin Towers had aborted Blair’s plan to deliver a speech to the Trades Union Congress.
The motorcade arrived in front of the tall black gates at the entrance to Downing Street, a barrier erected during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher to protect prime ministers from terrorists. Blair’s car stopped in front of Number 10; he and Campbell stepped out and hurried into the residence.
Some of Britain’s top intelligence officials were waiting to brief them on what they had learned about the events in America. First, the precautions in London—the Department for Transport had closed the airspace over the city, special security details had been placed around the stock exchange and Canary Wharf, and the general security alert had been raised.
As for the attacks that morning, the intelligence agencies were already certain of the culprit’s identity. “Bin Laden and his people are the only ones with the capability to do this,” said John Scarlett, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee for the
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