Return-Path: <sentto-279987-1965-1000747254-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Mon, 17 Sep 2001 10:22:09 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 25476 invoked by uid 510); 17 Sep 2001 17:21:10 -0000 Received: from n34.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.84) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 17 Sep 2001 17:21:10 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-1965-1000747254-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.4.54] by mk.egroups.com with NNFMP; 17 Sep 2001 17:20:54 -0000 X-Sender: fc@big.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_2_2); 17 Sep 2001 17:20:54 -0000 Received: (qmail 94081 invoked from network); 17 Sep 2001 14:10:22 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by l8.egroups.com with QMQP; 17 Sep 2001 14:10:22 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta1 with SMTP; 17 Sep 2001 14:10:22 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id HAA10410 for iwar@onelist.com; Mon, 17 Sep 2001 07:10:22 -0700 Message-Id: <200109171410.HAA10410@big.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 07:10:22 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:Who.was.running.the.country?] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Economist September 15-21, 2001 Delayed Reaction Who was running the country? WASHINGTON, DC -- The terrorists may not have succeeded in paralysing the American government, as they clearly intended. But they certainly sent it into a defensive crouch. Until dusk on Tuesday the need to protect the lives of leading politicians, particularly the president, seemed to override all other considerations, such as rallying public opinion. George Bush was told that a second aircraft had hit the World Trade Centre while he was visiting a school in Sarasota, Florida. He wanted to return to Washington. But the gigantic security apparatus that surrounds the president had different ideas. Convinced that the president was a target, they kept him airborne on Airforce One for much of the day. At one point, officials contemplated keeping him overnight in an underground bunker at the Strategic Command near Omaha, at the controls of the country's nuclear arsenal. The obsession with security was pervasive. Dennis Hastert, second in the line of presidential succession, was whisked away on helicopters to an undisclosed "secure location". So were other congressional leaders. The vice-president, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, remained in an underground bunker in an otherwise evacuated White House. With key officials either in the air or underground, the job of reassuring the country fell, for the most part, to local politicians and retired dignitaries. Rudy Giuliani was a pillar of strength. Old hands such as Lawrence Eagleburger put the horror in context. In mid-afternoon, Mr Bush's counsellor, Karen Hughes, appeared at FBI headquarters to insist that "your federal government continues to function effectively." The vacuum was filled at about 7pm when Marine One, the presidential helicopter, ferried Mr Bush to the South Lawn of the White House. Mr Bush had finally decided that this hopscotching could not continue. In an important symbolic moment, he snapped a salute to his Marine guards and strode across the lawn to the Oval Office. In the evening, a succession of cabinet ministers addressed the country; Donald Rumsfeld spoke from the shattered Pentagon. About 150 members of both houses of Congress massed on the steps of the Capitol to listen to Mr Hastert and Tom Daschle pledging that America would stand united against terrorism. They then burst into a spontaneous rendition of "God Bless America". Just after 8.30pm, Mr Bush spoke to the country from the Oval Office. He was forceful and to the point; but the important thing was the sight of the president back in place, in charge at last. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Do you need to encrypt all your online transactions? Secure corporate intranets? Authenticate your Web sites? Whatever security your site needs, you'll find the perfect solution here! http://us.click.yahoo.com/wOMkGD/Q56CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ------------------ http://all.net/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-09-29 21:08:44 PDT