On September 11th, 2001 four jets were hijacked. Two jets crashed into
each of the towers of the World Trade Center, causing them both to
collapse and a third building to collapse later. One jet crashed into
the Pentagon. A fourth jet crashed in Pennsylvania. It is thought that
the passengers in the fourth jet overpowered the hijackers and it
crashed in a field outside Pittsburgh, killing all aboard, but no one on
the ground.
The following time line is taken from a variety of sources.
Notes in purple indicate my own experiences.
Italics indicate subsequent entries not part of the original
material.
- June 8, 2001
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) publishes a story headlined, "Central Asia: Charges Link Russian Military to Drug Trade." According to the article, figures for 1999 published in a report by the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) revealed that 80 percent of the heroin consumed in Western Europe originated in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The UNDCP report also revealed half of the drugs in that 80 percent traveled through Central Asia. A study by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published in March 2000 said Russian soldiers headquartered in Tajikistan were suspected of helping drug traffickers by providing them with transportation facilities. This was confirmed by a Russian intelligence officer who told the Moscow News weekly, "You can come to an arrangement [with custom officials] so that the search of military transport planes remains purely formal. The same goes for train convoys carrying military cargo [to Russia from Tajikistan]." [Source: www.rferl.org/nca/features/2001/06/08062001111711.asp]5
- June 26, 2001
- The magazine indiareacts.com states that "India and
Iran will 'facilitate’ US and Russian plans for 'limited military action’ against
the Taliban." The story indicates that the fighting will be done by US and
Russian troops with the help of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. [Source:
indiareacts.com, June 26, 2001.]5
- July 4-14, 2001
- Osama bin Laden receives treatments for kidney
disease at the American hospital in Dubai and meets with a CIA official who
returns to CIA headquarters on July 15th. [Source: Le Figaro, October
31st, 2001.]5
- August 11 or 12, 2001
- US Navy Lt. Delmart "Mike" Vreeland, jailed in Toronto on U.S. fraud charges and claiming to be an officer in U.S. Naval intelligence, writes details of the pending WTC attacks and seals them in an envelope which he gives to Canadian authorities. [Source: The Toronto Star, Oct. 23, 2001; Toronto Superior Court Records]5
- September 4-5, 2001
- A freshman at Brooklyn's New Utrecht High School who had recently emigrated from Pakistan reportedly predicts the destruction of the World Trade Center a week prior to the 9-11 attacks, according to the JournalNews newspaper in White Plains, N.Y. Citing "three police sources and a city official familiar with the investigation" as well as confirmation from the FBI that the bureau had received this information, the paper reported that in the midst of a heated class discussion the student pointed to the World Trade Center from a third story window and said, "Do you see those two buildings? They won't be standing there next week." New York City Board of Education spokeswoman Catie Marshall confirmed for the JournalNews "that school officials reported the matter to police within minutes of the Sept. 11 attack" and students told the paper that "FBI agents and NYPD detectives descended on the school on Sept. 13 to interrogate the student [who made the prediction] and others in his class," which was "an English class for Arab-American students." [Source: The JournalNews, Oct. 11, 2001, http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/101101/11warumors.html]5
- September 7, 2001
- Florida Governor Jeb Bush signs a two-year emergency executive order (01-261) making new provisions for the Florida National Guard to assist law enforcement and emergency-management personnel in the event of large civil disturbances, disaster or acts of terrorism. [Source: State of Florida web site listing of Governor’s Executive Orders.]5
- September 6-7, 2001
- 4,744 put options (a speculation that the stock will go down) are purchased on United Air Lines stock as opposed to only 396 call options (speculation that the stock will go up). This is a dramatic and abnormal increase in sales of put options. Many of the UAL puts are purchased through Deutschebank/AB Brown, a firm managed until 1998 by the current Executive Director of the CIA, A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard. [Source: The Herzliyya International Policy Institute for Counterterrorism, http://www.ict.org.il/, September 21; The New York Times; The Wall Street Journal.]5
- September 10, 2001
- 4,516 put options are purchased on American
Airlines as compared to 748 call options. [Source: ICT - above]5
- The Houston Chronicle reports the FBI was notified of a fifth grader from a Dallas suburb who told his teacher, "Tomorrow, World War III will begin. It will begin in the United States, and the United States will lose." The Chronicle was unclear on specifically when Garland, Texas school district officials told the FBI about the incident, but it was some time between Sept. 13, 2001 and the story's publication date of Sept. 19, 2001. [Source: Houston Chronicle, Sept. 19, 2001 http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1055222]5
- San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown receives a call from what he described as "his security people at the airport" eight hours before the terrorist attacks "advising him that Americans should be cautious about their air travel," as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. Brown was scheduled to fly to New York from San Francisco International Airport. He told the Chronicle the call "didn't come in any alarming fashion, which is why I'm hesitant to make any alarming statement." [Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 12, 2001, http://www.sfgate.com/today/0912_chron_mnreport.shtml]5
- For reasons unknown, two of the hijackers, Abdulaziz Alomari and Mohammed Atta depart
Boston for Portland, ME and spend the night. [USA Today, p 2A, 8/29/2002]
- 5:43 p.m.
- Two of the hijackers, Abdulaziz Alomari and Mohammed Atta check in
to the Comfort Inn in Portland, ME and spend the night. [USA Today, p 2A, 8/29/2002]
- 9:22 p.m.
- For reasons unknown, two of the hijackers, Abdulaziz Alomari and Mohammed Atta, go to the local Wal-Mart. [USA Today, p 2A, 8/29/2002]
- September 6-11, 2001
- No other airlines show any similar trading patterns to those experienced by UAL and American. The put option purchases on both airlines were 600% above normal. This at a time when Reuters (September 10) issues a business report stating, "Airline stocks may be poised to take off."5
- Highly abnormal levels of put options are purchased in Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley,
AXA Re(insurance) which owns 25% of American Airlines, and Munich Re. All of these companies are directly impacted by the September 11 attacks. [Source: ICT, above; FTW, Oct. 18, 2001, Http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/oct152001.html.]5
- September 11, 2002
- The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the federal agency that runs many of the nation's spy satellites, schedules an exercise involving a plane crashing into one of the agency's buildings. "On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001," according to a website advertising a homeland security conference in Chicago run by the National Law Enforcement and Security Institute, CIA official John Fulton and his team "were running a pre-planned simulation to explore the emergency response issues that would be created if a plane were to strike a building. Little did they know that the scenario would come true in a dramatic way." Fulton is the head of the NRO's strategic gaming division. [Source: National Law Enforcement and Security Institute, http://www.nlsi.net, http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020821/ap_wo_en_ge/us_sept_11_plane_exercise_1]5
- September 11, 2002 very early.
-
- Employees of Odigo, Inc. in Israel, one of the world's largest instant messaging companies, with offices in New York, receive threat warnings of an imminent attack on the WTC less than two hours before the first plane hits the WTC. Law enforcement authorities have gone silent about any investigation of this. The Odigo Research and Development offices in Israel are located in the city of Herzliyya, a ritzy suburb of Tel Aviv which is the same location as the Institute for Counter Terrorism which breaks early details of insider trading on 9-11. [Source: CNN's Daniel Sieberg, 9/28/01; Newsbytes, Brian McWilliams, 9/27/01; Ha'aretz, 9/26/01.]. 5
- Gen Mahmud of the ISI (see above), friend of Mohammed Atta, is visiting Washington on behalf of the Taliban. He is meeting with the Chairmen of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Porter Goss (R), FL and Bob Graham (D), Fl [Sources: MS-NBC, Oct. 7, The New York Times, Feb. 17, 2002.]5
- 5:33 a.m.
- Two of the hijackers, Abdulaziz Alomari and Mohammed Atta check out
to the Comfort Inn in Portland, ME. [USA Today, p 2A, 8/29/2002]
- 5:45 a.m.
- Two of the hijackers, Abdulaziz Alomari and Mohammed Atta are video taped
going through Portland, ME airport security prior to boarding a 6:00 a.m. flight to Boston.
[USA Today, p 2A, 8/29/2002]
- 8:15 a.m.
- For 50 minutes, from 8:15 a.m. until 9:05 a.m., with it widely known within the FAA and the military that four planes have been simultaneously hijacked and taken off course, no one notifies the President of the United States. Air Force jets will not be scrambled until 9:30 a.m. [Sources: CNN, ABC, MS-NBC, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times.]5
- 8:45 a.m.
-
- American Airlines Flight 11, (a Boeing 767) which had left Boston for Los Angeles shortly before 8 a.m., hits the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. There were 92 people aboard.1
- United Air Lines flight 23, scheduled to fly from New York City to LA was delayed after four Muslim passengers began demanding that the plane take off immediately. This happened apparently after the first plane had hit the WTC. The passengers were thrown off the flight. [The Globe and Mail, June 13, 2002]5
- 9:00 a.m. (time approximate)
- I was talking to a colleague at work when her phone rang. Her son told her that a plane had crashed into one of the towers at the World Trade Center. Dianne's comment to me was "Is that possible?" I logged onto the Internet and confirmed. From that point on, Internet access was slow and difficult. Best results were obtained from London and Houston and to a lesser extent, USA Today.
- 9:03 a.m.
- United Airlines Flight 175, (a Boeing 767) which had left Boston for Los Angeles at 8:14 a.m., slams into the south tower of the World Trade Center. There were 65 people aboard.1
- 9:05 a.m.
- President Bush is informed of attack as he visits schoolchildren in Florida.1
- 9:09 a.m.
- FBI begins investigating reports of plane hijackings.4
- 9:10 a.m. (time approximate)
- A niece of mine, Layla, who works in Building #7 of the World Trade Center (the one that collapsed at 5:25 p.m.) had been evacuated to the lobby of that building. She witnessed the second jet fly into the tower and the subsequent debris and what appeared to be body parts flying to the ground. She also saw people jump, including a couple who jumped holding hands. All personnel were prohibited from leaving the building until sometime after the second jet crashed. At that point Layla was led out of Building 7 through a basement exit out to the street away from the two main towers.
- 9:17 a.m.
- The FAA directs all air traffic out of New York City area airports.6 Shortly thereafter takeoffs nationwide are halted.7
- 9:21 a.m.
- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey orders all bridges and
tunnels in the New York area closed.6
- 9:30 a.m.
- The first Air Force planes are scrambled to intercept the remaining
hijacked flights, but by then it is too late. This means that the National Command Authority waited for 75 minutes before scrambling aircraft, even though it was known that four simultaneous hijackings had occurred - an event that has never happened in history. [Sources: CNN, ABC, MS-NBC, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times.]5
- 9:31 a.m.
- President Bush issues a statement saying United States will hunt
down attackers of World Trade Center.1
- 9:40 a.m.
- The FAA halts all flight operations at US airports, the first time in US
history that air traffic nationwide has been halted.6
- 9:43 a.m.
- American Flight 77 (a Boeing 757) from Dulles Airport near Washington, bound for Los Angeles, crashes into the Pentagon. It carried 64 people.1
- 9:45 a.m.
-
- There are 3949 aircraft in the air.7
- At approximately the same time, I received a voice message from home. My son, David, called and wanted to make contact with a family member. I returned his call. We have a bad connection and he calls me right back. He informs me of a hijacked jet aimed for Camp David and another jet that was hijacked and was under Air Force escort. David also tells me that his consulting company (Business Objects) has an office in New York that they have not been able to raise. His current client, Eli Lilly, had one person in the World Trade Center who is not accounted for. David also has a friend in New York who he was later able to contact. She lives (or works) in midtown and was not directly in danger.
- The jet that subsequently crashed in Pennsylvania was near Camp David, but was apparently targeting the White House. There apparently was never a hijacked jet under Air Force escort, but later reports indicate that Air Force jets were scrambled to intercept both the New York bound and the Washington bound airliners. In all cases, the intercepters were five to ten minutes late.
- 9:48 a.m.
- The Capitol and West Wing of the White House are evacuated.1
- 9:50 a.m.
- South tower of the World Trade Center collapses.1
Layla witnesses the collapse of the tower from about seven blocks away. There is no motorized traffic permitted in lower Manhattan and all personnel walk to Brooklyn, mostly across the Williamsburg Bridge. My brother also witnesses the collapse from the Bronx, but his view is obscured by smoke and dust and he doesn't realize until it is confirmed on the radio that the tower is gone.
- 9:55 a.m.
- There are 3520 aircraft in the air.7
- 9:57 a.m.
- President Bush departs from Florida.6
- 9:58 a.m.
- Emergency dispatcher in Pennsylvania receives a call from a passenger on United Flight 93, which was heading to San Francisco from Newark. The passenger says: "We are being hijacked, we are being hijacked!"1
- 10:05 a.m.
- There are 2985 aircraft in the air.7
- 10:06 a.m.
- United Flight 93 stops moving on radar in Pennsylvania.7
- 10:08 a.m.
- Secret Service agents, armed with automatic rifles, are deployed into
Lafayette Park across from the White House.6
- 10:10 a.m.
- United Flight 93 (a Boeing 757) crashes about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. It carried 45 people. The crash site was 85 miles northwest of Camp David.1
- It is now believed that this flight was targeting the White House. It is also believed that it failed its mission because the passengers overpowered the hijackers. Presumably, with the flight crew already dead the jet nose-dived into the ground in rural Pennsylvania.
- Almost immediately, Osama bin Laden is announced as a potential suspect, being one of the few terrorists in the world with the resources and organization to effect this type of attack.
- Layla makes contact with family indicating she is safe. However transportation is non-existant.
- Federal government buildings around the country begin to evacuate, including the White House and the Capitol. The Federal Aviation Administration shuts down airports nationwide. The United Nations closes. The Securities and Exchange Commission halts trading on all U.S. financial markets for the day.3
- 10:13 a.m.
- The United Nations building evacuates, including 4700 people from
headquarters and 7000 total from UNICEF and UN development programs.6
- 10:15 a.m. (time approximate)
- The Federal Building across from Nationwide in Columbus Ohio is cordoned off by city police. Traffic is routed away from the building via orange cones and a single police car. Security is increased at Nationwide. Guards are placed at each entrance, in addition to guards at the security desks (which are further inside the building.) There are no further incidents.
- 10:22 a.m.
- In Washington, the State and Justice departments are evacuated, along
with the World Bank.6
- 10:24 a.m.
- The FAA reports that all inbound transatlantic flights to the US are being diverted to Canada.6
- 10:29 a.m.
- The north tower of the World Trade Center collapses.1
- 10:30 a.m.
- There are 1505 aircraft in the air.7
- 10:45 a.m.
-
- All federal office buildings in Washington are evacuated.6
- There are 1081 aircraft in the air.7
- 10:46 a.m.
- US Secretary of State Colin Powell cuts short his trip to Latin America
to return to the United States.6
- 10:48 a.m.
- Police confirm the crash in Pennsylvania.6
- 10:53 a.m.
- New York's primary elections, scheduled for Tuesday, are postponed.6
- 10:54 a.m.
- Israel evaculates all diplomatic missions.6
- 10:57 a.m.
- New York Governor George Pataki says all state government offices are
closed. 6
- 11:00 a.m.
- There are 923 aircraft in the air.7
- 11:02 a.m.
- New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani calls for evacuation of lower Manhattan.1
- 11:08 a.m.
- Korean Air Flight 85, a 747 with 215 passengers en route from Seoul to New York, sends a coded message indicating they have been hijacked.7
- 11:16 a.m.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing emergency response teams in a precautionary move.6
- 11:21 a.m.
- American Airlines confirms that it lost two aircraft carrying 158 people.4
- 11:30 a.m.
- United Airlines confirms that a flight from Newark, NJ to San Francisco crashed into Pittsburgh.4
- 11:40 a.m.
- President Bush arrives at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., from
Florida, delaying his return to Washington.1
- 12:00 p.m.
- There are 669 aircraft in the air.7
- 12:04 p.m.
- Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of three of the crashed airplanes, is evacuated.6
- 12:15 p.m.
- US borders with Canada and Mexico are on the highest state of alert.6
- 12:20 p.m.
- A New York police official says that a number of people killed
and injured could reach thousands.4
- 12:16 p.m.
- The FAA says US airspace is clear, except for military and emergency
aircraft.7
- 12:20 p.m.
- A New York police official says that a number of people killed
and injured could reach thousands.4
- 12:45 p.m.
- My employer (Nationwide Insurance) dismisses the last of its employees.
- 1:15 p.m.
- I leave Nationwide to visit with my daughter Vanessa who had recently moved into her apartment in advance the start of the trimester at Ohio State University.
- 1:20 p.m.
- President Bush boards Air Force One and flies to Offutt Air Force Base, home to the U.S. Strategic Air Command, in Nebraska.1
- 1:24 p.m.
- Korean Air Flight 85, Seoul to New York, sets their transponder on with
a code of 7500, indicating they have been hijacked.7
- 1:27 p.m.
- A state of emergency is declared by the City of Washington.6
- 2:30 p.m.
- The FAA announces there will be no US commercial air traffic until noon EDT Wednesday, at the earliest.6
- 2:49 p.m.
- Mayor Giuliani announces that subway and bus service are partially
restored in New York City.6
- 2:51 p.m.
- Navy deploys missile destroyers and other equipment to
New York and Washington.1
It is later learned that the aircraft carrier Eisenhower is guarding New York and the aircraft carrier George Washington is further out in the Atlantic at an undisclosed location. The border with Mexico has been closed and there Pacific fleet is patroling the west coast. The 3000 mile unguarded border between the U.S. and Canada remains open and unguarded. There is support for the U.S. in the Middle East and at least one carrier group is positioning itself for a potential strike in the Persian Gulf.2
- 2:54 p.m.
- Korean Air Flight 85, Seoul to New York, lands at Whitehorse, Yukon in
Canada. The co-pilot steps off the plane at gunpoint an is interrogated by authorities.
Officials confirm the flight had not been hijacked. No explanation why the transponder had
been transmitting the hijacked code for a full 90 minutes has ever been offered.7
- sometime after the attacks
- After the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon occur, National Public Radio's congressional correspondent David Welna reports, "I spoke with congressman Ike Skelton, a Democrat from Missouri and a member of the Armed Services Committee, who said that just recently the director of the CIA warned that there could be an attack -- an imminent attack - on the United States of this nature. So this is not entirely unexpected." [Source: http://www.thememoryhole.org/updates.htm]
5
- 3:00 p.m. (time approximate)
- My brother finds out Layla is safe.
However he is unable to help her because westbound traffic into Queens
and Brooklyn is closed except to police and firefighters.
- I call a cousin from my cell phone who lives in Maryland and works
in Washington DC with the civil service. I reach his wife, Una, who
immediately says, "We're alright." She clarifies my mistaken memory
that Martin worked in the Pentagon. "He works on 18th Street, near the
White House."
Later, I discover Martin is off-work until October. It is
unclear if this is related to the Pentagon attack.
- Una tells us that Martin's sister, Anna (also my
cousin) was evacuated from another building in the financial district.
Although Anna was one of the people covered in dust from the collapse,
they are somehow able to contact her while she is walking across the
Williamsburg Bridge. She is okay but details are still sketchy.
- A close friend, George C., departs for the World Trade Center
site. He left Indianapolis with the Urban Search and Rescue Team. He
says it is not possible to describe the scene or to understand the
minds that planned this.
- 3:55 p.m.
- Mayor Giuliani now says the number of critically injured in New York City
is up to 200 with 2100 total injuries reported.6
- 4:06 p.m.
- California Governor Gray Davis dispatches urban search and rescue teams to
New York City.6
- 4:10 p.m.
- Building #7 of the World Trade Center is reported on fire.6
- 4:25 p.m.
- The American Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange report
they will remain closed on Wednesday.6
- 4:30 p.m.
- President Bush departs Offutt Air Force Base abord Air Force One to return to
Washington.6
- 5:25 p.m.
- Another building in the World Trade Center complex collapses.1
This is the 47-story Building #7 where Layla worked.
- 5:40 p.m.
- Two explosions are heard east of Xenia and West of Dayton.
I witness two military jets at high altitude flying in a broad "S"
pattern in an otherwise clear sky. The news immediately reports a
plane crash and video showing a plume of smoke. Police cannot find
evidence of a crash and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base acknowledges
aircraft had been dispatched for unspecified reasons. They would not
confirm sonic booms, but they did say that they would "occasionally
make some noise".
This time roughly coincides with Air Force One's flight from
Nebraska to Washington DC. I speculate that the two military jets were
sweeping the area in front of and to the north of Air Force One's
flight path.
- 6:00 p.m.
- Explosions are heard in Kabul, Afghanistan, hours after the terrorist
attack. The attack is credited to the Northern Alliance.6
- 6:10 p.m.
- Mayor Giuliani urges New Yorkers to stay home Wednesday, if they can.6
- 6:40 p.m.
- US Defense Secretary Rumsfield holds a news conference in the Pentagon, noting
the building is operational. "It will be in business tomorrow."6
- 6:54 p.m.
- President Bush arrives back at the White House abord Marine One.6
- 7:02 p.m.
- The Marriott Hotel near the World Trade Center is on the verge of collapse.6
- 7:17 p.m.
- US Attorney General John Ashcroft says the FBI is setting up a web site for
tips on the attacks. www.ifccfbi.gov. 6
- 7:20 p.m.
- President Bush declares New York a major disaster in the wake of
the attacks on the World Trade Center.4
- 7:45 p.m.
- The New York Police Department says that at least 78 officers and 200 fire
fighters are missing.6
- 8:00 p.m. (time approximate)
- Layla walks in the door at home.
She had been finally able to board one of the intermitten trains
running east towards Long Island.
- 8:30 p.m.
- Bush addresses the nation, vows retaliation for 'evil
acts.'1
- Wednesday, September 13th
- At Nationwide, shuttle busses from the outlying parking lots are not running because the shuttle bus company was told Nationwide
was closed. It wasn't. In Nationwide, security is back to normal.
- China is admitted to the World Trade
Organization quickly, after years of unsuccessful attempts. [Source: The
New York Times, Sept. 30, 2001.]5
- Friday, September 14th
-
- My friend George tells his wife he is well and safe. Never-the-less, rescuers have taken to writing their name and social security number on their arms prior to each shift. The rescue teams are staged at the Convention Center. So far they're sleeping on the floor and have no shower facilities. The Red Cross said they were bringing cots and portable showers on today, but then that's what they said yesterday too.
- Authorities name Osama bin Laden as the primary suspect in the attack.
- Canadian jailers open the sealed envelope from Mike Vreeland in Toronto (see August 11, above) and see that is describes attacks against the WTC and Pentagon. The U.S. Navy subsequently states that Vreeland was discharged as a seaman in 1986 for unsatisfactory performance and has never worked in intelligence. [Source: The Toronto Star, Oct. 23, 2001;
Toronto Superior Court records]5
- Friday evening
- Cots arrive but some assembly
is required. Rescuers are too tired to assemble the cots so they sleep
on the floor again. With the abundance of volunteers, they will try to
get some of the volunteers to assemble the cots on Saturday. Sixty
firefighters are found, all dead, in a single pocket. The body count
goes up by sixty, but authorities do not release the fact that it was
firefighters that were found to the public or to the press. No one has
been pulled alive from the wreckage since Wednesday.
- Saturday, September 15th, 5 a.m.
- Boston's
Logan Airport reopens. All major airports are now open except Reagan
National in Washington DC. It is not expected to reopen anytime soon
due to its proximity to the White House and other government
buildings.2
- The New York Times reports that Mayo
Shattuck III has resigned, effective immediately, as head of the Alex (A.B)
Brown unit of Deutschebank.5
- Sunday, September 16th
- The mayor of Tehran
sends condolences to the mayor of New York.2
- Pakistan agrees to present U.S. demands to Afghanistan's ruling Taliban which
includes turning over Osama bin Laden to U.S. authorities. Apparently, U.S. demands
all but guarrantee an attack if bin Laden is not turned over, but if bin Laden is
not turned over a U.S. attack is still not ruled out.
- Pakistan agrees to virtually all of the U.S. demands in dealing with terrorists.
Specific demands are unpublished, but the U.S. will have free access to Pakistani air
space. Pakistani troops will not be directly involved.
- Monday, September 17th, 8:00 a.m.
- The Fed lowers interest rates by a half a
percent. Other signals are sent to encourage investors not to sell.2
- Monday, September 17th, 9:00 a.m.
- Wall Street opens.2
- Afghanistan shuts down its air space in preparation of a U.S. counter-attack.
- Preliminary reports indicate Afghanistan is unwilling to reliquish Osama bin Ladan
to U.S. or Pakistani authorities.
- Iran closes its border with Afghanistan.
- 5:00 p.m.
- Wall Street closes. The Dow Jones Industrials are down 680 points, closing below 9000
This is the lowest the Dow has been since October 1998.
- September 21, 2001
- The Justice Department chief immigration judge
Michale Creppy issues the so-called "Creppy Memo", whereby the Justice Department
considers all immigration hearings involving terror suspects off-limits to the
media and to the public. More than 750 people were detained in the aftermath of
September 11 on immigration charges. [Source: The Columbus Dispatch, p 1A,
27 August 2002].
- September 29, 2001
- The San Francisco Chronicle reports that $2.5
million in put options on American Airlines and United Airlines are
unclaimed. This is likely the result of the suspension in trading on the NYSE
after the attacks which gave the Securities and Exchange Commission time
to be waiting when the owners showed up to redeem their put options.5
- October 10, 2001
- The Pakistani newspaper The Frontier Post
reports that U.S. Ambassador Wendy Chamberlain has paid a call on the
Pakistani oil minister. A previously abandoned Unocal pipeline from
Turkmenistan, across Afghanistan, to the Pakistani coast, for the purpose of
selling oil and gas to China, is now back on the table "in view of recent
geopolitical developments."5
- October 11, 2001
- The Ashcroft Justice Department takes over all terrorist prosecutions from the U.S. Attorneys office in New York which has had a highly successful track record in prosecuting terrorist cases connected to Osama bin Laden. [Source: The New York Times, Oct. 11, 2001.]5
- October 29, 2001
- The Bush Administration drafts "an executive order that would usher in a new era of secrecy for presidential records and allow an incumbent president to withhold a former president's papers even if the former president wanted to make them public," wrote the Washington Post. The order also required members of the public to prove "at least a Śdemonstrated, specific need'" for a president's papers to be released. Critics contend this would overturn the 1978 Presidential Records Act, which releases documents after 12 years. The White House maintained that a Supreme Court decision in 1977 allows presidents various privileges for their records. [Source: Washington Post, Nov. 1, 2001, http://washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A20731-2001Oct31?language=printer]
5
- December 4, 2001
- Convicted drug lord and opium kingpin Ayub
Afridi is recruited by the US government to help establish control in
Afghanistan by unifying various Pashtun warlords. The former opium
smuggler who was one of the CIA's leading assets in the war against the
Russians is released from prison in order to do this. [Source: The Asia
Times Online, 12/4/01].5
- December 19, 2001
- The fires that burned beneath the World Trade Center for
the last three months are declared extinguished except for a few scattered hot spots.
[Source: Xenia Daily Gazette, p. 4A, 19 December 2002].
- August 26, 2002
- A federal appeals court rules that the news media
and public must be allowed to witness immigration hearings for suspects detained
in the September 11 investigation. This negates (albeit temporarily) the effect
of the Justice Department's "Creppy Memo", issued on September 21, 2001.
[Source: The Columbus Dispatch, p 1A, 27 August 2002].
1USA Today website.
2Fox News Network marquee.
3Associated Press.
4The Daily Oklahoman.
5The Wilderness, a conspiracy web site.
6Pages of Time, 2001, Special Edition.
7USA Today, August 13, 2002, p1A,4A.
End of Timeline
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September 11th, 2001
