In 2001, Richard Clarke was perhaps the most experienced person working in the White House.
asserted
Clarke → work → House
A member of the National Security Council, Clarke had spent 23 years in the executive branch and repeatedly warned about the risk of an attack on US soil by Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda.
asserted
Clarke → spend → Qaeda
In June of that year, Clarke sent a memo to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the subject.
asserted
Clarke → send → subject
He warned her of the very strong possibility of an imminent major terrorist attack and of serious gaps in the nation’s emergency protocols.
asserted
He → warn → protocols
In July, they met in person to discuss the threat further.
asserted
they → meet → threat
That day, he expressed his worry about the continuity of government in the wake of such an attack and presidential succession.
asserted
he → express → attack
At some point in these conversations Clarke even presciently predicted that such an attack could include an unthinkable horror: the hijacking and weaponization of passenger-filled commercial airliners.
uncertain
attack → predict → airliners
But as the investigative journalist Jeffrey Robinson describes in his revelatory “Ash and Honor: The Untold 368 Minutes of 9/11 (St. Martin’s Press), Rice expressed skepticism and “accused the CIA and Clarke of sensationalizing Osama bin Laden, just trying to scare everybody.”
asserted
Rice → describe → everybody
Little more than a month later, Rice used a secure phone to tell the president that the World Trade Center had just been hit by the first of four hijacked airliners on a kamikaze mission, the worst attack on America since Pearl Harbor.
asserted
Center → use → Harbor
In “Ash and Honor,” Robinson skillfully weaves together underreported stories of that day from around the world.
asserted
Robinson → weave → world
He reviewed scores of documents (and some reports he believes are still classified) and interviewed over 65 eyewitnesses to the day’s events.
asserted
he → review → events
Pilots, soldiers, civilians, spies — all their recollections come together to create a new portrait of the chaos and the brave souls who weathered it.
asserted
who → come → it
When the nation came under attack, the president was in Sarasota, Fla., visiting the Emma E. Booker Elementary School for what the author calls “a media stunt before sixteen second graders, designed to highlight a new education initiative.”
By the time Rice’s ominous call came through, Eddie Marinzel and Dave Wilkinson, the two men leading Bush’s Presidential Protective Division that day, had already decided to get Bush on Air Force One and off the ground.
asserted
Marinzel → come → ground
Bush demanded to be taken back to Washington, DC, eager to reassure the nation that he was in control.
asserted
he → demand → control
But returning to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. was not an option.
asserted
returning → return → .
Then things got worse: Word arrived that the plane carrying the commander in chief was itself a bull’s-eye on the terrorists’ list of targets, writes Robinson.
asserted
Robinson → get → targets
That became clear at 10:22 a.m.
asserted
That → become → ?
A phone rang in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), a concrete bunker located five stories beneath the East Wing of the White House.
asserted
phone → ring → House
Marine Corps Maj. Bob Darling answered.
asserted
Darling → answer → ?
On the other end of the line was a Secret Service agent calling from the Situation Room.
asserted
agent → call → Room
The agent “said that a reliable source had called the White House with a warning.”
“Angel is next.”
Shocked, Darling looked across the table to Rice and repeated what he just heard.
asserted
he → say → what
“Who the hell is Angel?” Rice asked.
asserted
Rice → ask → ?
“Air Force One,” Darling responded.
asserted
Darling → respond → ?
News of the threat “freaked out everyone.”
asserted
News → freak → everyone
That someone had made a threat against the president was not surprising.
asserted
made → make → president
But this one was different, because whoever made it knew about the codename Angel — “the classified code for Air Force One.”
asserted
made → make → One
The threat could be coming from someone either inside the security bubble that surrounded the president or close enough to that bubble to know how to get inside.”
uncertain
that → come → bubble
Marinzel and Wilkinson “assumed the worst”: that the threat might have come from someone aboard Angel itself.
uncertain
threat → assume → Angel
They considered whether it could be a “rogue Secret Service agent,” a steward, a guest, or a member of the press corps.
uncertain
it → consider → corps
“No one could be trusted,” writes Robinson.
uncertain
Robinson → trust → ?
Col. Mark Tillman, the pilot, decided to make Air Force One invisible.
asserted
One → decide → ?
“He called down to the FAA and ordered total radio silence.
asserted
He → call → silence
The plane still did not have fighter escorts, despite having called for them multiple times since takeoff.
asserted
plane → have → takeoff
So spooked were Marinzel and Wilkinson that they locked down the plane.
asserted
locked → lock → plane
Everyone onboard was ordered to remain in their assigned seats.
asserted
Everyone → order → seats
Agents stood at the front of every cabin, eyeing everyone for suspicious activity.
asserted
Agents → stand → activity
All cellphones were confiscated.
asserted
cellphones → confiscate → ?
No one was allowed to come forward without authorization.
asserted
one → allow → authorization
While Marinzel’s team searched the plane for bombs and drugs, the words ” ‘Angel is next’ continued to echo in everyone’s mind.”
asserted
Angel → search → mind
Locked away in a secure cabin, Bush was trying to get a hold of his family.
asserted
Bush → lock → family
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
