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Originally Posted by warch
Command during crisis starts immediately. Cheney, not Bush, was put in the immediate command role to make the call whether or not planes should be shot down. Cheney was the commander in chief. Cheney was in charge. That's not how its billed though.
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Reality is that fighter planes were never authorized to shoot down attacking airliners - at least not by Cheney. But then it gets worse. George Jr even complains how difficult it was for him to contact Cheney. Richard Clarke tells the story. It turns out that the open speaker phone used during this crisis was too loud for Mrs Cheney (what is she even doing there?) So she repeatedly goes over to that speaker phone and hangs it up - so that she can hear the sound from CNN.