The moment when bush learned about 9/11 at an elementary school

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image showing The moment when bush learned about 9/11 at an elementary school

NyteKeller on September 11st, 2019 at 21:57 UTC »

The interminable moment between "Oh..." and "...shit," has never been more perfectly captured.

JollyDraft on September 11st, 2019 at 22:18 UTC »

For those curious, that's Chief of Staff Andy Card whispering: “A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.”

Source

tarotbracket on September 11st, 2019 at 23:17 UTC »

To be fair, the situation was so incredulous to those of us watching, that we were initially unable to process it. When the first plane hit the tower, it was assumed to be an aviation error/tragedy and was reported as such until after the 2nd plane hit. It was beyond comprehension that this was a terror attack. When the 2nd plane hit, there was still resistance to the idea that it was an act of terrorism, even the reporters had trouble saying it was an attack. After that, everything happened so fast: flight 93, the pentagon, CNN showing people jumping out of the burning towers, the giant ball of smoke and debris chasing New Yorkers out of the downtown core. It was surreal. The world was in a state of collective shock, it’s leaders included.

If bush had not entered the classroom after the first plane, or left immediately after being informed of the 2nd plane, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome. The world was different then. Our brains on 9/10 and our brains on 9/12 are different brains. Today we would recognise it as a terror attack immediately, but back then it wasn’t within the realm of possibility.

Also, I believe that if the ‘situation room’ knew that quickly that the US was under attack, they would’ve rushed GWB out of there before the kids had a chance to say anything. As soon as they realised, they buckled him into Air Force 1 and kept him in the air as it was safer than US soil, until they knew they could land in a secured area and bunker him down.