My God, sweetheart, I am absolutely stunned by what is going on in this country today. My mind is boggling? I just do NOT understand?
We?ve been attacked by an as yet unnamed terrorist organization. This was well thought out and planned. The first thing I heard was that two planes hit the World Trade Center?a kamikazee attack that killed the pilots. I since heard that the towers came down, they?re gone?the place where we had the DS Fest?gone. I heard that a helicopter crashed on the lawn of the White House; that the Pentagon was bombed; that the State Department and Capitol were bombed?NYC is virtually closed down?all the airports, bridges, and tunnels are closed. Federal agencies are being evacuated. Most of the people in our building left, but we are trying to carry on ?business as usual?.
This is the latest from AOL, the only place where I could get anything to come up:
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon was struck by aircraft, a car bomb exploded outside the State Department and agents patrolled outside the White House with automatic weapons Tuesday as an apparent coordinated terrorist attack spread fear and chaos in the nation's capital.
The enduring symbols of American power were evacuated, the Capitol, White House and more shut down, and the nation's air traffic system ordered shut down. Billows of smoke drifted from the Pentagon over the Potomac River toward the capital.
``Terrorism against our nation will not stand,'' vowed President Bush. He spoke moments after two planes had flown directly into the twin World Trade Center towers in New York.
``This shows what an uncontrollable world we live in. This is crazy, wild and crazy,'' said Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., as the disruptions hit Washington within an hour after two planes flew directly into the World Trade Center towers in New York.
Bush, in Florida when the attacks hit, termed the disaster in New York ``an apparent terrorist attack on our country.'' He said he would return immediately to Washington.
In Washington, a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FBI suspects the events in New York and Washington were part of an organized terrorist campaign.
Each moment seemed to bring fresh evidence of that:
A car bomb exploded outside the State Department, senior law enforcement officials said.
A loud explosion was reported in the vicinity of the Capitol.
The departments of Justice, State, Treasury and Defense were among those ordered evacuated, as were the Capitol and the White House. In a remarkable scene, security guards brandishing automatic weapons could be seen outside the White House.
The FAA ordered the entire nationwide air traffic system shut down.
A senior U.S. intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, ``We don't know who's doing it. Clearly, it's terrorism related, a carefully coordinated attack. It's not the work of an unsophisticated enemy. It's too soon to say who.''
Paul Begala, a Democratic consultant, said he witnessed an explosion near the Pentagon.
``It was a huge fireball, a huge, orange fireball,'' Begala said in an interview on his cell phone.
He said another witness told him a helicopter exploded.
AP reporter Dave Winslow also saw the crash. He said, ``I saw the tail of a large airliner. ... It plowed right into the Pentagon.''
Gen. Richard Myers, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that prior to the crash into the Pentagon, military officials had been notified that another hijacked plane had been heading from the New York area to Washington. He said he assumed that hijacked plane was the one that hit the Pentagon, though he couldn't be sure.
Meanwhile, one of two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center was hijacked after takeoff from Boston, a U.S. official said, citing a transmission from the plane.
The second plane may have flown out of Newark, N.J., the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Asked if there was any possibility the crashes were anything other than deliberate, the official said it appeared not to be an accident, the official said.
Nancy K wrote me and said that her mom is in Washington DC sightseeing. She said that she is looking out on Times Square and that the city is in chaos. I cannot believe that the Trade Center is gone! This is what she wrote to me:
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 10:46:33 EDT
Subject: Re: What's going on today
NYC is in total chaos. The Both Trade Towers are gone. They collapsed.
(The place where the DSFestival was held). They have evacuated all
federal buildings. I'm sitting here in the middle of Time Square looking
at the Empire State Building . . .
My mother and aunt are visiting Washington D.C. today doing the tourist
things . . .
Unbelievable.
And then I heard from Nancy S in PA:
For those who are without news capability right now-
-Both trade center towers are gone, and they were talking about people
jumping
out the windows before the towers fell
-they think the plane that hit the first tower was a commercial plane
out of
Boston, passengers unknown
-someone said they thought that a US military helicopter hit the second
tower,
but I have not heard that confirmed - it definitely looked like a
helicopter
though...
-part of the Pentagon has collapsed
-car bomb went off at the state department
-fire on the Mall in DC
-they are monitoring another threatening plane, possibly another
commercial
plane
-all the major federal buildings were evacuated in DC
-just found out a large plane crashed about 80 miles south of
Pittsburgh (which
is where I am) but they don't know if it's related...
just beyond words...
Nancy
And whoever this is also hit Camp David, Rich. I hear also that maybe ten thousand people have been killed. Why did this happen? Is it an outside terrorist group or one of those Timothy McVeigh crazies? I?m trying to think of the significance of this date, too, because when McVeigh bombed Oklahoma City, it was because it was the anniversary of the fire in Waco, Texas?at the ranch of that wacked out Branch-Davidian.
This is just nuts?Rich, are you seeing any of this? I feel sick to my stomach at the destruction and the loss of life?more later?.