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World Trade Towers and Pentagon Attacked
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Tue Sep 11, 2001 08:12 AM
from the you-can't-make-this-stuff-up dept.
from the you-can't-make-this-stuff-up dept.
The World Trade Towers in new york were crashed into by 2 planes, one on each tower, 18 minutes apart. Nobody really knows who did it, but the planes were big ones. Normally I wouldn't consider posting this on Slashdot, but I'm making an exception this time because I can't get news through any of the conventional websites, and I assume I'm not alone. Update We're having server problems. Sorry. Updated info, both towers havecollapsed, pentagon hit by 3rd plane. Part of it has collapsed.
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World Trade Towers and Pentagon Attacked
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Having trouble here... (Score:3, Interesting)
We had it coming... (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, a couple things.. this is bad, this is really bad..
Apparently it was Palestinian terrorists that
did it (so TV is reporting)..
If it really was Palestinians, as much as I hate to say this.. I sort of understand..
before I start, I am a normal American white guy, am open minded, and think every race in the world has a right to their own safety and piece (including Americans).. I have absolutely nothing to do with the Arab israeli conflict (I am not arab, or Jewish, or anything like that), nor do I know any of either side closely at all..
But I was in Isreal once on business, and I saw what the Israelies do to the Palestinians, and what I saw made me sick to be an American because of how our government supports what the Israelis do to those people..
Basically, the isrealis take palestinian land bit by bit to make settlements for Israelis only, and shoot/run over/kill Palestinians with the guns, helicopters and bullets that we, America give the Israelis.
We dont report these travesties on American news (though you can get it on the BBC, CBC and other foreign outlets, and watch Israelis shoot with machine guns, 12 year old arab kids throwing rocks).
It is worse than south Africa, and I go as far to say, that the Israelis have put the Palestinians in concentration camp like conditions for the last 20 years or so, bulldozing their houses for their land, shooting their kids, controlling their land, their economy and choking them off one by one..
And when other countries like the Africans try to tell the truth (yes, the Israelis are racists..absolutely, they have dual licence plates for Palestine cars, dont let them drive on the same roads as Israelis, and occupy their country).
And we, the United states government, give more money, bombs, guns and weapons to Israel than to any other country in the world in foreign aid.., knowing (and allowing0 the Israelis to shoot, maim and rob more palestians of there property, lives and freedom.
And we have been doing that for 20 years now at least..
What else should we have expected really?
This terrorism really sucks,
also look at what we have been doing too the last 20 years.. and why a people felt so driven to do this to us..
Re:We had it coming... (Score:4, Flamebait)
What goes around comes around.
Also, who are you going to bomb ? Non-state entities are very difficult to attack. It almost certainly wasn't Arafat.
Finally, do you realise what you're advocating is very similar to what whoever has done this has just done. You condemn attacks against US civilians and come very close to advocating attacks against foreign civilians.
Do we become terrorist, ourselves? (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh, great! This sort of revenge attitude is precisely the kind of thing that which whe terrorists want, and the kind of thing that leads to more of these terrorist attacks.
-
We get attacked, and innocent people die, so
- we go out and 'punnish' innocent people who are vaguely associated with the cause of the killers.
- switch sides and go to step one.
Hatred and random violence are not the appropriate responses to violence. Hatred comes from fear. Generating fear in random people on the other side is only going to create an opening for those who wish to generate more hatred against us.Most notably: attacks against innocents only vaguely associated with the terrorist only helps the cause of the terrorists. It makes more people desperate and angry -- feeding the machinery of the terrorists. This is the last thing we want.
Re:We had it coming... (Score:4, Insightful)
With regard to your words about atrocities, both sides are equally guilty of brutality. Don't lay all the blame on Israel. The main reason why we side with the Israel, aside from the Holocaust, is the fact that SEVERAL leaders of Middle eastern nations have vowed to ELIMINATE the Jews. Not "get our land back," or "defend ourselves and our way of life," but ERADICATE the jewish people. All Jews everywhere. By aiding Israel we are not participating in a mass extinction, we are trying to prevent one from happening.
Zeus_tfc
Re:We had it coming... (Score:4, Insightful)
If Palestinins did this, they have killed any chance for poeace in this generation - and the real killing is probably just beginning.
As a side note, if our airline security is so good these days, how come they were abler to use 3 (or is it 4 - just heard Camp David got hit, don't know if this is true or not) airplanes as weapons?
Re:We had it coming... (Score:4, Insightful)
That won't solve anything. I have family in Ireland, and we well know the result of that kind of an attitude. The right way forward is much harder than just bombing the crap out of a random Islamic country. It's down to GWB to do the right thing.
Regarding airline security: this is the result of the US having had it so EASY for the last 40 years. As a friend said, none of us (Euros) would have been surprised for something like this to have happened at any time, virtually, since the 1982 massacres in Beirut at least. Not to mention the many, many, many other countries around the war that the US has picked on to protect their trade interests, or to prop up some dictatorship.
Re:FUCK YOU!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
I think I heard that one before.
Did it work then ?
cnn report (Score:5, Informative)
NEW YORK (CNN) -- What appeared to be two passenger planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan on Tuesday, leaving both towers in flames.
About 18 minutes after the first plane hit the northern tower, a second plane slammed into the southern tower, erupting into a huge fireball. The harrowing images were caught in live video.
Live pictures showed a gaping hole on the side of the northern building, several stories down from the top. Black smoke was billowing from at least two sides.
The second crash hit the second tower several stories lower than the first in a huge burst of flame.
Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, was in an office near the World Trade Center towers at the time of the first crash. He witnessed the crash.
"It was a jet, looked like a two-engine jet," Murtagh said. "It looked like maybe a 737."
Murtagh said he saw the plane "teetering back and forth, wingtip to wingtip" before the plane smashed into the side of the building.
Jeanne Yurman witnessed the explosion that followed the crash.
"At first it was like leaflets," she said, describing the debris that fell to the ground. "There was tons of debris and it continues to fall out."
Yurman said she did not see the plane.
News so far (Score:5, Informative)
8:55 one Plane or missile hits tower
9:05 secone 727 Passanger plane hits tower
Eye witnessess are pretty sure the first one was a plane, but some believe they saw a missile.
2nd crash caught on tape because news crews came to cover 1st crash.
Not sure if it is navigational error or deliberate attacks.
All I know, and could be erronous - everything is the first hour into an event like this
photo (Score:4, Informative)
MIRROR (Score:5, Informative)
Planes Crash Into World Trade Center
NEW YORK - An aircraft crashed into the upper floors of one of the World Trade Center towers Tuesday morning, and black smoke poured out of two gaping holes, witnesses said. Shortly afterward a second explosion rocked the other tower.
There was no immediate word on injuries or fatalities in the disaster, which happened shortly before 9 a.m.
The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle," said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
Large holes were visible in two sides of the 110-story building, one of landmark twin towers.
There was no immediate word on injuries or fatalities in the twin disasters, which happened shortly before 9 a.m. and then right around 9 a.m.
The towers were struck by bombers in February 1993.
"The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle," said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
Large holes were visible in sides of the 110-story buildings, landmark twin towers.
The tops of the twin towers were obscured by the smoke.
Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three miles from the tower, one witness said.
The center bombingon Feb. 26, 1993, killing six people and injured more than 1,000 others.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.
alternative link (Score:5, Interesting)
This is the stopry on sky news
Unconfirmed report... (Score:3, Interesting)
-Henry
Re:Unconfirmed report... (Score:4, Insightful)
Today Show (Score:3, Informative)
BBC Coverage (Score:4, Informative)
I hope you all enjoy. The BBC ususaly is better at reporting anyway.
I saw it... (Score:4, Informative)
When I got to work in DUMBO, I saw that the other tower was on fire.
This is insanity.
url (Score:4, Informative)
PHOTOS AT BBC ONLINE!!! (Score:3, Informative)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/n
Re:An interesting test (Score:5, Insightful)
God help them (Score:3, Redundant)
oh man (Score:3, Insightful)
that said, i hope everyone is ok. the two towers make a great target for anyone. i didn't work that high up, but i can't imagine walking the stairs. they're plain concrete stairs without windows or anything. in a time of panic like this, it would be easy to get hurt simply trying to evacuate.
i really hope everyone is ok.
Latest from ABC News: (Score:4, Informative)
The second plane was shown crashing in. From the outline of the plane in the video, it was a Boeing 737 or 727. Midsized twin-engine jet, full of fuel.
Reports are confirmed of one hijacking; they are also sure that they were both planes.
I'm thanking God that my father didn't have any business in NY today. I'm also praying that none of my family were around there.
Accident...? (Score:4, Insightful)
I really don't see how this could be an accident. The rule is that any airplane accident is a combination of at least three different errors/factors.
However. Any urban area, especially one with such a dense traffic, is at all times under radar surveillance and Air Traffic Control. Unless a number of people simultaneously had their braincells commit mass suicide, this could (or should) not have happened.
I fear that this is the result of terrorism. And if the news say different, I'll be very skeptical. After all, if it were terrorism, what does this show to the US public? That they're vulnerable at any time. Not exactly a sentiment the Powers That Be would like to instill to their voters...
And one last thing. Whatever this turns out to be, and as much as people all over the world are glued to their PCs or TV sets for news, there's one thing to remember here. It's not 'exciting', it's not 'fun'. It's tragic. These were real, live people...and the news channels are having a field day.
One of the planes... (Score:3, Interesting)
My guess (at 9:33am EDT) is that both planes were hijacked.
sarcasm, folks (Score:5, Insightful)
Here we all are -- on Slashdot. I'm at home, and I bet that I won't go to work until late this afternoon. Most of the country is in similar shape. No missle defense shield could help this. In fact, I'm not sure that *anything* could help this. If half a dozen guys decide to hijack airplanes and crash them into major buildings, no defense shield or anything else will help.
NSA and CIA SIGINT ? (Score:5, Interesting)
How many slashdotters will rethink their views on the necessity of CIA and NSA covert SIGINT after today's tragedy?
-jerdenn
FL Today Story #1 (Score:3, Informative)
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Two planes crashed into the upper floors of both World
Trade Center towers minutes apart Tuesday in what the President Bush said
was an apparent terrorist attack, blasting fiery, gaping holes in the 110-story
buildings. There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries.
Within the hour, an aircraft crashed on a helicopter landing pad near the
Pentagon, and the West Wing of the White House was evacuated amid threats
of terrorism.
The president ordered a full-scale investigation to "hunt down the folks who
committed this act."
One of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center had been hijacked
after takeoff from Boston, a U.S. official said, citing a transmission from the
plane.
All planes were grounded across the country by the Federal Aviation
Administration. All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were closed down.
The twin disaster at the World Trade Center happened shortly before 9 a.m.
and then right around 9 a.m.
Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above the gaping holes in the side of
the 110-story twin towers, one of New York City's most famous landmarks, and
debris rained down upon the street, one of the city's busiest work areas. When
the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge
hole in the glass and steel tower.
People ran down the stairs in panic and fled the building. Thousands of pieces
of what appeared to be office paper came drifting over Brooklyn, about three
miles away.
"Today we've had a national tragedy," Bush said in Sarasota, Fla. "Two
airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist
attack on our country." He said he would be returning immediately to
Washington.
Ira Furber, former National Transportation Safety Board spokesman,
discounted the likelihood of accident.
"I don't think this is an accident," he said on CNN. "You've got incredibly good
visibility. No pilot is going to be relying on navigational equipment."
"It's just not possible in the daytime," he added. "A second occurrence is just
beyond belief."
Terrorist bombers struck the World Trade Center in February 1993, killing six
people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
Several subway lines were immediately shut down Tuesday. Trading on Wall
Street was suspended.
"The plane was coming in low and
Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported.
"I was watching TV and heard a sonic boom," Jeanne Yurman told CNN. "The
side of the World Trade Center exploded. Debris is falling like leaflets. I hear
ambulances. The northern tower seems to be on fire."
A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
agency is pursuing reports that one or both of the planes were hijacked and
that the crashes may have been the result of a suicide mission.
"It certainly doesn't look like an accident," said a second government official,
also speaking on condition of anonymity.
In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed into the 79th
floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog.
In Florida, Bush was reading to children in a classroom at 9:05 a.m. when his
chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered into his ear. The president briefly turned
somber before he resumed reading. He addressed the tragedy about a
half-hour later.
Do not seek revenge against the wrong people (Score:4, Insightful)
Watch for the attack on your rights! (Score:4, Insightful)
Congress typically feels the need to respond after some high profile incident like this. There is no way at this time to know what accually happened, or how to prevent this. (Much less how to prevent this without trampeling your rights). Still congress wants to do something, so they appear to have the ebst attentions. Odds are this will be used to trample on your rights.
Century 6, Quatrain 97 (Score:3, Interesting)
Fire approaches the great new city [New York]
Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up
When they want to have verification from the Normans [French].
A HIJACKED PLANE STILL IN AIR (Score:3, Interesting)
The biggest casualty (Score:5, Insightful)
Constitution. Whenever a tragedy likes this occurs, the government always announces a get tough on terrorists policy that will have no effect on the psychopaths who do this, but will severely limit our rights.
The huge loss of life is bad enough. The subsequent loss of what truly represents what this country stands for will be intolerable.
summary news report KFWB (AM, Los Angeles) (Score:3, Informative)
http://kfwb.com/news/nat/n091101.html
Car bomb explodes near State Department building
Unconfirmed report: part of Pentagon building collapses after explosion
Large plane crashes in western Pennsylvania, unconfirmed report
Unconfirmed reports: Another hijacked plane in the air in the East Coast
New York: both World Trade Center towers collapsed after attacks
All emergency operation centers activated in California
All international flights headed to Washington and New York have been diverted to Canada
All federal buildings in Washington D.C. are closed down -- Capitol Hill, Justice Department, State Department, White House, and other buildings
Military planes patrolling airspace above Manhattan -- told to shoot down any planes that don't leave area, unconfirmed report
Nationally, all takeoffs have been suspended
LAPD on tactical alert
Explosion at Old Executive Office Building next to White House
George W. Bush: "An apparent terrorist attack."
One of the planes was American Airlines Flight 11, 767 jetliner headed from Boston to Los Angeles, unconfirmed reports
(KFWB) 9.11.01, 7:44a -- In what the federal government is considering a terrorist attack, a number of apparent terrorist attacks took place in Washington, D.C. and in New York.
Two planes crashed into the upper floors of both World Trade Center towers in New York this morning at 6am Pacific time. Black smoke is pouring out of gaping holes which were blown into the two towers from the impact and subsequent explosions.
One of the two towers at the World Trade Center collapsed about an hour after the attack. There were eyewitness reports of people jumping and falling out of the upper floors of the towers.
Meantime in Washington D.C., the White House and the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and all other federal buildings have been evacuated and closed down. There are reports that an aircraft crashed on a helicopter landing pad near the Pentagon within an hour after the first attack in New York. There is also a fire at the State Department building.
The Federal Aviation Administration has shut down all aircraft takeoffs nationwide amid reports that at least one plane was hijacked for the attack.
Military planes are patrolling a no-fly zone above Manhattan, where there are orders to divert or shoot down any plane above downtown New York.
President George W. Bush said that the crashes were "an apparent terrorist attack on our country." The president has cleared his day's schedule and is heading back to Washington D.C. to meet with advisors. Bush says there will be a "full scale investigation to hunt down and find those folks who have committed this act."
In New York, two planes crashed about 18 minutes apart -- one crashed around the 80th floor of one tower, the other crashed at around the 60th floor of another tower.
The planes are described as jet airliners.
CNN and the AP are reporting that one of the planes may have been a hijacked American Airlines flight, a Boeing 767 jetliner, from Boston.
A large amount of dark smoke is billowing out of the remaining tower. Debris is falling out of the upper floors of the tower and onto the streets below.
There are major evacuations in the area. KFWB's Erin Kotecki reports that a friend in one of the towers told her by phone that the World Trade Center is being evacuated, and described the scene as "chaos."
"Flood of folks escaping downtown Manhattan," an eyewitness reports. Emergency crews are having trouble reaching the disaster area.
The New York stock exchange was evacuated and trading is not expected to take place. A number of financial businesses are located in the towers.
"The plane was coming in low and
More to come on this breaking story.
I am looking at the Pentagon (Score:4, Informative)
windows. We heard a second large explosion around 10:30. Don't know what it was yet.
One guy here was outside when the plane hit
the Pentagon, he heard the plane's engine, saw
the fireball. We had debris coming down in the
courtyard here from the explosion. Have a couple
people from the company over at the Pentagon, but
everyone's accounted for now.
Latest from Sky news (Score:5, Informative)
Both the 1,360-ft towers have now collapsed. More than 50,000 people work in the complex.
There are also reports of an explosion at Capitol Hill and of a fourth hijacked aircraft heading towards Washington.
A separate fire forced the evacuation of the White House.
Reports are coming in that another large plane has crashed south of Pittsburgh.
Hijack
It is reported two United Airlines passenger planes were hijacked shortly before the first plane struck the Trade Centre in Manhattan.
One was thought to be a 737 capable of carrying more than 100 passengers. The other was confirmed as an American flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles. A Boeing 767 can carry up to 269 people.
A third plane has slammed into the Pentagon just outside Washington DC parts of the complex collapsed after fire engulfed the building. Much of the complex is in flames.
Gaping hole
The first plane smashed into the top stories of one of the Trade Centre's towers, leaving two gaping holes in the side.
Minutes later another aircraft approached, turned in the air and crashed into the lower storeys of the second tower - the footage was seen live on TV stations around the world.
The second explosion engulfed several floors.
A person who answered the phone on the trading floor at interdealer-broker Cantor Fitzgerald, located near the top of the World Trade Center, said: "We're f***ing dying," then hung up. There was screaming and yelling in the background. A follow up call was not answered.
"This has got to be one of the most horrendous terrorist attacks perhaps ever perpetrated," terrorism expert Chris Yates told Sky News.
Flights grounded
At least 1,000 people have been reported injured. The 110-storey towers are in lower Manhattan.
All flights to the US have been diverted to Canada. All flights in the US have been grounded. Telephone lines to New York are all down.
President Bush was in Florida at the time of the attacks but is now returning to Washington.
More follows .
Last Modified: 15:44 UK, Tuesday September 11, 2001
DONATE BLOOD (Score:5, Insightful)
here is a link that is working right now (Score:4, Informative)
More reports (Score:5, Informative)
Both Trade Center buildings have totally collapsed. A plan has hit the pentagon building.
The FAA is reporting that SEVERAL planes are unaccounted for. No word on how many of those might be hijacked or their destination, although one Trans-atlantic flight is reportedly headed for Washington,DC. As a result, fighter jets are currently flying cover over the city as everyone evacuates.
No other word so far.
More planes must land (Score:5, Informative)
Trackable here, with maps, direction, and air speed:
http://www.flightexplorer.com/FastTrack.asp
Track a random flight, or select one of particular interest.
Reports just gathered on random flights:
Continental express #4804 from GWB Intercon to Jackson Inter ETA 14:42 UTC
** American #14 from Brussels to JFK, ETA 18:28 UTC
American Airlines #2401 Dallas to Phoenix ETA 14:40 UTC
** United #26 Schiphol to Newark ETA 18:22 UTC
Delta #368 Seattle to Seattle ETA 14:34 UTC, turned back
** Air France #378 De Gaulle to Philadelphia ETA 16:17 UTC
** American #936 Simon Bolivar to Miami ETA 15:38 UTC
Northwest #1019 George Bush to Memphis ETA 14:54 UTC
Southwest airlines Kansas city to Will Rogers ETA 14:18 UTC
Southwest airlines Indianapolis to Albuquerque ETA 14:44 UTC
** Telford Aviation #106 Heathrow to General Edward Lawrence ETA 17:42 UTC
** Continental #37 Dusseldorf to Newark ETA 18:08 UTC
= Chataqua #4758 Gatwick to Orlando, has turned back
** Northwest Airlines #12 Tokyo Intl to Detroit ETA 19:14 UTC
Northwest Airlines #1843 Buffalo to Minneapolis ETA 15:13 UTC
** American #83 Frankfurt to Chicago ETA 18:33
= Delta #127 Barajas to JFK at 16:32 , has turned north
** Virgin Atlantic #27 Gatwick to Orlando ETA 18:32
= Delta #11 Gatwick to Atlanta ETA 19:33 UTC, now turned west
Flight International Jacksonville, Jacksonville circling.
** Delta #1852 Schiphol to GWBush ETA 18:14 UTC
** American Eagle #622 Frankfurt to Dallas ETA 19:53 UTC
Air Canada #993 from Toronto, turned back to Toronto
= Delta #1581 Heathrow to ? now turned north to Toronto ETA 14:17 UTC
= Unknown #LU Gatwick to BWI at 19:33 UTC, now turned back Northeast
= US Air #2296 Luis Munoz to Philadelphia ETA 16:06 UTC, now turned back south
Note that some flights may not have sufficient fuel to turn back or divert -- perhaps those from the Far East, Africa, or the Middle East are the most likely to need to land in the US.
Other options:
http://www.trip.com/trs/trip/flighttracker/flight
GS http://www.unblinking.com/
FT - Suspicion centres on Mideast terror groups (Score:3, Informative)
US President George W. Bush said on Tuesday that the full resources of the US would be used to "hunt down" the perpetrators of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
The immediate assumption was that a Middle Eastern group must be responsible for an attack of this magitude and complexity. Palestinian militants made an immediate claim of responsibility. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestinian, a militant splinter group, issued a statement of responsibility to a TV station in Abu Dhabai.
Analysts said the claim should be treated with caution. The DFLP has no history of terrorist attacks outside Israel and the occupied territories. The group was founded in 1969 when it split from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and opposes the Middle East peace process.
The group conducted numerous small bombings and minor assaults, and some more spectacular operations in Israel during the 1970s, concentrating on Israeli targets. Since 1988 it has been limited to border raids around Israel.
Phil Butterworth-Hayes, the civil aviation editor with the Janes information group, said that aircraft attacks such as those on the WTC were very difficult to stop.
"The whole civil aviation system works on trust. In America,security systems are the responsibility of the Federal Aviation Administration. The first thing the FAA are going to have to do is completely rethink some of the security systems they have in place at the moment," Mr Butterworth-Hayes said.
"Terrorists are always one step ahead of the institutions that really need protection. Once you defeat one aspect of terrorism, you have to battle against something else," he said.
© Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2001.
marketwatch.com still nice and fast (Score:3)
marketwatch.com [marketwatch.com]
Repressive Reaction from US Government planned (Score:3, Interesting)
"We have liberties in the US that we cherish, but there may need to be some trade-offs of those for greater security. And those trade-offs will be on the table."
Look for those in government who always seek an opportunity to restrict civil liberties to attempt to use this as a pretext for that.
We have to be ready to counter that immediately!
This is a sad sad day for palestine (Score:4, Insightful)
But now, this attack will rate up their with the loss of the Battleship Maine and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Who ever has done this has doomed themselves, and they have destroyed Palestine as well.
If you are religious this would be a good time to pray that no nukes are used in retaliation. There will be retatliation. Even God can't stop that.
Stonewolf
Update from Pittsburgh (Score:3, Informative)
United's site just has a press release, but I think they said flight 93 was from Newark to San Fransisco.
I know the area where it crashed, and it's just where the allegheny mountains begin, _nothing but trees_, so obviously they didn't acheive what they were aiming for.
There are still planes unaccounted for by airlines.
What a mess.
Airplanes that hit the towers (Score:4, Informative)
I saw it happen. (Score:4, Insightful)
Please, if anyone wants to help, go see your local red cross, and donate a few pints of blood. We are going to need it.
A few sites that I can get into: (Score:3, Informative)
NewsMax [newsmax.com]
World Net Daily [worldnetdaily.com]
Chicago Sun Times [suntimes.com]
Druge Report [drudgereport.com]
I don't feel like making any comments... None are necessary. Here are the last few news sites I can find that aren't flooded offline.
summary (Score:3, Informative)
Around 8:00 AM, two planes smashed into one each of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, not more than twenty minutes apart. One of the airplanes was confirmed to be an American Airlines flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles, which was hijacked and diverted. The other was also a hijacked American Airlines flight, this has not been confirmed.
Around 9:00 AM, the south tower of the WTC collapsed. People were seen jumping out of the 101-story building's topmost floors. At about 9:30, the second tower also collapsed. Both towers of the World Trade Center have been utterly destroyed.
At about the same time, a plane also crashed into the Pentagon building in Washington DC. That plane was also a hijacked passenger airliner. Another passenger airliner (United Airlines flight 93, enroute to San Francisco) has crashed in Pennsylvania, which may also have been hijacked. Car bombs have been reported at the US Capitol and the State Department.
The White House, State Department, Treasury, and Pentagon have all been evacuated. Manhattan island has been quarantined and Wall Street has suspended trading. Canary Wharf in London, The Sears Tower, Chicago Board of Trade, and John Hancock Center in Chicago, the John Hancock and Prudential Towers in Boston, and CNN Center in Atlanta have all been evacuated/locked down. Major downtown centers in cities across the United States are also being evacuated. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has grounded *all* flights in the USA.
thank you slashdot! (Score:3)
You know, through all of this, I have been unable to find any solid news source besides Slashdot.
Thanks to all of you out there posting links and getting the news through to those of us without televisions or radios!
Don't take it out on your Arabic neighbours (Score:5, Insightful)
CNN.com (Score:3, Informative)
It's absolutely amazing that these attacks managed to get pulled off, and it really redefines the word "terrorism".
Donate Blood (Score:4, Informative)
If you cannot do that please just go and donate blood. It is desperately needed.
MIRROR site with PICS and VIDEO (Score:3, Insightful)
here is a mirror with pics that seem to have been taken from a digital camera.
As well as video of a plane hitting a tower and one of the towers collapsing.
I wish my server luck...
ender-
Osama's threats and Palestinians celebrating(links (Score:3, Informative)
IS reporting that [haaretzdaily.com] " The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine initially took responsibility, but later an official from the organization denied any involvement. Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat condemned the attacks.
A U.S. official said there had been no advance warning of an attack. "It's clear that this is terrorist-related, we're not sure who is responsible," the official said.
Israel evacuated all its missions around the world. Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer hinted that the attack was carried out by Islamic terrorists, saying that "the threat of radical Islam is the central threat to the free world because its goal is to destroy everything connected to the values of western democracies."
Ben-Eliezer, who cancelled a scheduled trip to the U.S. which was to begin Wednesday, confirmed that an Israeli rescue team was being sent to the U.S. to help with the rescue operation.
Three weeks ago, arch-terrorist Osama Ben Laden warned that he would carry out an unprecedented attack on American interests because of their support for Israel. "
and that palestinians on the west bank are celebrating our tragedy: palestinians celebrate [haaretzdaily.com]
Palestinians in West Bank celebrate attacks on U.S.
By Amos Harel, Ha'aretz Correspondent and Agencies
Palestinians across the West Bank on Tuesday celebrated the series of aircraft attacks on New York and Washington. There were scenes of celebration in the West Bank cities of Nablus, Tul Karm, Bethlehem and the Balata refugee camp.
While Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat condemned the attacks which levelled the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and struck the Pentagon in Washington, hundreds of Palestinians distributed sweets in Nablus.
"I feel I am in a dream. I never believed that one day the United States would come to pay a price for its support to Israel," said Mustafa, a 24-year-old Palestinian gunman.
Several dozen Palestinian youths gathered in East Jerusalem to celebrate as well, honking out wedding tunes on their car horns. "We are so happy that America was hit. America is against us in supporting Israel," Suleiman, one of the demonstrators, said.
In Nablus, motorists honked their horns and gunmen fired into the air from assault rifles to cheer on the attacks which unfolded in the space of a few hours.
Plea for peace (Score:3, Insightful)
FWIW, I'm not a citizen of the U.S. nor do I live there.
Violence induces more violence. Retaliation will only lead to more deaths. If you are a citizen of the U.S. of America, please write your representative right now and ask him to join a plea for peace. Historically the U.S. reaction to this kind of attack is to counter strike. It's highly probably that it's already being planned or even carried on. That will solve nothing. You might get even, but that achieves nothing. The death will not come back and the attack has been already recorded on the books of history. At this point in time, counter attacking is irrational and puts not only the lives of U.S. citizens at risk, but those of lots of people all arround the world, too.
Witnessed the collapse (Score:3, Informative)
I live in Fort Greene, Brooklyn; just a few blocks from both the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. The lower Manhattan skyline is visible from the end of my block and most of the route to Manhattan.
This morning a little after 9 am I heard a bang. I later learned that this was the second plane hitting the South tower.
I got a call from my mother in Chicago who wanted to warn me that 'the World Trade Center is under attack by planes.' I turned on the radio as President Bush acknowledged an 'apparent terrorist attack.' Immediately, I got off the line, grabbed my camera and my girlfriend's Walkman, and hopped on my bicycle.
The plume of smoke, an immense black ribbon stretching toward Manhattan, was visible the entire route down Flatbush Avenue, which terminates at the Manhattan Bridge. This same roadway then becomes Canal Street after reaching Manhattan.
I tried to take the pedestrian walkway over the Manhattan Bridge, but it seemed at the time that the police weren't going to allow me to pass. So I went to the next best vantage point.
So I rode into DUMBO; Down Underneath the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, to the park in between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. Buildings obstructed the World Trade Center itself until I reached that point.
Link to map of my vantage point (my spot between the bridges marked with a red +):7 3.9943&size=m&s=25 [topozone.com]
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=40.7042&lon=-
As I came out from under the Manhattan Bridge, I was moved to revulsion at the sight of the gutted twin behemoths. Several floors of the buildings seemed to have been reduced to black girders, consumed by flame as gouts of black smoke spouted from their interiors. Still too large to fall, or so I thought.
There were fewer than 50 people watching with me, similarly aghast. They opened their car doors and played their radios as loud as they could.
I watched and shot video from this vantage point as the reports came in: Another plane hit the Pentagon. A plane was missing in Pennsylvania. Another DC Police plane was unaccounted for. I watched reviling at the horror as objects fell from the cracked and fuming edifice.
The city seemed uncharacteristically quiet. Sirens could be heard over the East River in Manhattan, and occasionally an escorted emergency vehicle or two would cross the Bridges toward Manhattan.
And then the South tower collapsed.
It started at the break about 3/4 of the way up the building, the black smoke overcome by white, milky dust. I thought merely the top of the building would fall off, but the entire length of the building splintered open, shattering and unfolding like an explosion at a crystal chandelier factory.
A solid, white pea-soup fog enveloped downtown. I could only see the very tip of the North Tower's antenna.
Incredulously, I tried to imagine New York with only one World Trade Tower. Skylines would have to be revised. The remaining tower would be an icon of American resolve and determination over adversity. Musing this kept me from considering the real losses.
And then the North tower vaporized, unfolding in a shattering parasol of black, then white dust.
I felt growing dread about my proximity to a remaining landmark, the Brooklyn Bridge, so I unlocked my bike and started home. Nothing more to see.
It was then I noticed the refugees- throngs of people pouring over the walkways of the bridges above me. Streams of pedestrians walking FDR Drive, the highway running along Manhattan's East side. I even spot a few police trucks headed North on FDR, trailing eddies of debris and dust behind them.
F-16 fighter jets prowl the sky on high, while Police helicopters and boats trawl the lower strata. All powerless; unable to change the condition of the city; only manage the aftermath.
I deftly ride my bicycle home, streets gridlocked in car traffic. The police on the streets in Brooklyn are evidently reserves; I spot several uniformed *school* policewomen standing on corners, directing traffic.
The city is closed south of Canal street. The bridges and tunnels are closed. The subways are closed. Every payphone I can see is in use. Storefronts are shuttering. Now I am safe at home, but I fear for my girlfriend.
She works in Times Square in a relatively high-profile building. I had several messages from her on my return. Amazingly, I am able to get through to her in the office and she informs me that her office has closed. She is walking to a coworker's apartment 29 blocks away. I don't know when we can... er, UPDATE: She's made it to her coworker's apartment without incident. No word yet on when she can cross over the East River to our home in Brooklyn, but she's safe for now. So friends and family- we're OK!
I still don't know what to make of all this- it seems like a movie.
Re:Wrong place to post (Score:4, Interesting)
London Times article (Score:3, Informative)