gambit
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Yeah...The US is the larget singular aid donor to the Palestinians and we got nothing. Wish the dollar is as mighty as you would like to convince people to believe.No, the only 'entertaining' aspect is your preditable attempt, yet again, to sidetrack off the point of contention. Once again, I proved the point that Mubarak is a bought man, to the tune of $2 billion/year.
I guess your overly sensitivity is getting the better of you if you consider criticizing the despotic governments in the ME as 'racism'.The racist remark has nothing to do with Muslims; try and focus on more than one thread of conversation at a time. The racist tag is in regards to your continued references to 'the ME', Arabs, Pakistanis and Somalis -- always in a derogatory manner. Instead of focussing on the event under discussion, you constantly attempt to veer off track with derogatory allegations about these groups.
Yes...That there were institutional barriers, operational flaws, and shortsightedness that hindered US military response. No 'inside job' exist.Kinda hard to 'debunk' me when you already conceded the first half of the argument to me.
Yes...Am desperate to see how Pakistan could have handle something like 9/11.The 'mighty' Pakistanis? Feeling desperate again, eh?
Yes...Let it begin...Just as how I have debunked just about all issues regarding 'stealth' and radar detection, I am going to show everyone how wrong you are about this...Let the education begin...
The next generation of air traffic control - Military & Aerospace Electronics
Back in 2001, NEADS radars were monochromatic, standalone, externally looking systems, and not as capable as their civilian counterparts. They were not designed to accept the more advanced FAA radar data being installed as part of an upgrade of the entire US airspace traffic control system. So if we go back to post 83 back on pge 6, because of the aircraft dependency feature of the new system, if any airliner turned off its transponder, not only will civilian controllers unable to see this aircraft, whatever residual data the civilian controller has will not be transferable to the NEADS air defense system if there is a desire to do so. For the civilian system, the primary radar is the back-up, this may sound counterintuitive but this is the truth. For NEADS, its radar is the equivalent of the civilian primary system, and both will pick up unwanted items like weather and terrain.The next generation of air traffic control
Sep 1, 2001
By J.R. Wilson
Researchers from the FAA, NASA, and industry are putting together the first phases of Free Flighta fundamental shift in how commercial air traffic flows over U.S. airspace and throughout the world. Much of this effort revolves around how to move as much responsibility for air control from the ground and into the aircraft themselves. Time will tell if this approach can work.
Of course you do not care. You already made up your mind that 9/11 was 'inside job'. So of course you do not care that you have no military experience, no aviation experience, no knowledge of how the US military hierarchy works...And the list goes on. Your ignorance is irrelevant to you.I don't care if they are assigned to Santa Claus...
As protector of the National Command Authority, the Secret Service does have some authority over some military assets, but generally only if those military assets are assigned as part of the protection details. No difference than how the Secret Service would have some authority over local law enforcement wherever the President or Vice President may be, then once the President leave the local area, the Secret Service would lose that limited authority over the local law enforcement detail assigned to assist them. On Sept 11, 2001, Bush was in Florida and Cheney was in DC and the Secret Service already had Cheney in a safe location. Neither man was under any immediate threat.When the country is under attack and the Secret Service has reason to believe DC may be at risk, then the military's job is to coordinate and respond.
On the morning of 9.11.2001, the time period under discussion, DC was heavily guarded -- by the most powerful military on the planet.
And the US military did respond...
Defense.gov News Article: Homeland Defense: Guard Members Safeguard U.S. Turf, Skies
The Air Sovereignty Alert Force consists of seven Air National Guard (ANG) alert sites, with 14 fighters and pilots on call 24/7: Homestead AFB, Fla; Tyndall AFB; Langley AFB, Va.; Otis Air National Guard Base, Mass.; Portland International Airport, Ore.; March ARB, Calif.; and Ellington Field, Texas. Andrews AFB was never part of NORAD's primary alert bases.WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2001 National Guard members have been performing a variety of homeland defense missions on the ground and in the air since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America.
The 1st Air Force pilots are Air Guard members, said Arnold, who also commands the Continental United States North American Aerospace Command Region -- charged with the air defense of the North American continent.
It is important for any country to be able to safeguard its land borders -- and skies -- from intrusion or attack by potential adversaries, Arnold said. In the United States, he said, air sovereignty encompasses both law enforcement and national security domains.
"Air sovereignty in the broader sense means -- in combination with the other agencies -- controlling our skies, controlling our borders," Arnold noted. First Air Force, he added, works closely with the Federal Aviation Administration.
If aircraft approaching U.S. airspace don't have proper FAA clearance, "then it becomes our responsibility to go out there and identify them," Arnold noted. If intruders are suspected of smuggling, he said, 1st Air Force would "call law enforcement officials to grab hold of these folks."
Air sovereignty, however, is a law enforcement issue and also a national defense issue, Arnold said. During the Cold War, U.S. air defenses focused on long-range Soviet Bear bombers, he noted. After the Cold War, the U.S. military prepared for the threat of terrorism from the air, Arnold noted, but not originating from within the country and certainly not involving the use of U.S. commercial airliners as flying bombs.
"Prior to Sept. 11, we were concerned about a terrorist attack from outside of the United States, possibly by a cruise missile being launched from a ship, or some kind of aircraft flying in that had hostile intent toward the United States," he remarked.
But if there is any lunacy, it is NOT with the 9/11 Commission Report, but with YOUR distorted interpretation of it. And are you certain that it took the USAF 90 min to launch?Still trying that diversion tactic about Secret Service 'orders', eh?
I just repeated plain English statements from the 9/11 commission report. The Secret Service made a request. The military took 90 minutes to respond. If that seems like lunacy to you, take it up with the 9/11 commission.
Newhouse A1
The chain of command is thus...8:43 A.M.: SEARCH
Master Sgt. Maureen Dooley started doing the math.
If Flight 11 cruised at a normal speed, maybe 350 knots, in a certain direction, it would be right -- she directed a technician to zero in on a sector northeast of New York -- there!
They saw blips, dozens of them -- the swarm of a Tuesday morning aerial rush hour. Somewhere in there was Flight 11.
8:46 A.M.: SCRAMBLE
The Battle Cab, a long, glassed-in office, overlooks the Ops Room like a low-slung balcony in a darkened theater. In a corner booth, an officer waits for the unthinkable: the coded message indicating America is at war.
Six minutes after Boston Center's call, NEADS scrambled two armed F-15s at Otis Air Base on Cape Cod.
"We had no idea where the aircraft was," recalled Maj. James Fox, who gave the order. "We just knew it was over land, so we scrambled them towards land."
8:46 A.M.: TOWER ONE
As the first plane hit the World Trade Center, the F-15s were rumbling off the runways at Otis.
"I remember somebody running into the Ops Room," Deskins said. "They said they'd just seen on CNN that an aircraft hit the World Trade Center."
A quiet tremor rolled through the room, replaced by the buzz of urgent questions into phones. What kind of aircraft hit the building? A small plane? A large plane? Could it be Flight 11?
9:03 A.M.: TOWER TWO
A second plane hit the Trade Center. The F-15s were still 71 miles away.
9:24 A.M.: FLIGHT 77
A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77 from Washington to Los Angeles, changed course and stopped responding.
Instantly, Rome scrambled fighter jets from the nearest air base, Langley in Virginia. Again, Fox dispatched the jets without targets. That would come later.
Now, NEADS was phoning Air Guard commanders across the Northeast, posing questions that hours earlier would have seemed ludicrous. Did the unit have available pilots? Mechanics? Crew chiefs? What could it get airborne in two hours? In 24 hours? In 48?
Fox directed a Combat Air Patrol, or CAP, over New York City: Jets were in place to take out a hijacked plane if necessary.
9:38 A.M.: WASHINGTON
When Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, the jets from Langley were about 100 miles away.
"Now, I just felt it was personal," Deskins recalled.
Said Fox, "At that point, I'm just reacting."
At least four other planes were behaving strangely, according to the FAA. Each might be another hijacking. Most notably, United Airlines Flight 93 had turned off its transponder in Ohio.
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The air traffic control facility that first became aware of a hijacking would alert the FAA's channels of authority, which would be from the local air traffic control facility to FAA headquarters in Washington DC.
- National Military Command Center (NMCC). If the FAA desire military assistance or to simply have the military on standby, the FAA's hijack coordinator would contact the NMCC, who would request authorization from the Secretary of Defense.
- North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Assuming military assets are authorized for release by the SecDef to assist the FAA in a hijacking, the NMCC would contact NORAD transmitting that release authorization.
- Continental NORAD Region (CONR). Once the NMCC authorized military asset release, NORAD would contact CONR.
- Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS). Now known as the Eastern Air Defense Sector. Anyway...CONR would contact NEADS who would finally issue the launch order.
Otis AFB was the nearest Air Sovereignty Alert base that could respond and as we can see by the timeline, the USAF responded and launched after WTC 1 was hit. The problem on Sept 11, 2001, was that NONE of the four hijacked airliners transmitted the 7500 code which would indicate an airliner was under duress. This inevitably would contribute to the delay of respond mechanisms outlined above. I challenge you to show how Pakistan could have handled this better back then. Ohhh...Sorry...I momentarily forgot you have no experience at such things...
Anyway...At 0837 hr, Otis had two F-15s on 'battle stations' order, which is not a launch order but to have the pilots suit up and into their fighters, ready to launch. Otis is no stranger from airline hijackings...
Context of 'February 11, 1993: Hijacking Raises Concern of Plane Being Crashed into New York Building'
The 1993 Lufthansa hijacking was also under established protocols as outlined above.A 20-year-old Ethiopian man hijacks a Lufthansa Airbus bound from Frankfurt to Addis Ababa, via Cairo. Wielding a gun (which is subsequently found to be just a starter pistol), he forces the pilot to divert the plane to New York. The 11-hour ordeal ends after the plane lands at JFK International Airport and the hijacker surrenders to the FBI.
Air Force Responds - In response to the hijacking, F-15 fighter jets are scrambled from Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, from where fighters will also be launched in response to the first hijacking on 9/11 (see 8:46 a.m. September 11, 2001). Later, F-16s are scrambled from Atlantic City, New Jersey. The fighters intercept the Lufthansa aircraft off the coast of eastern Canada, and initially trail it from a distance of about ten miles. As the plane approaches JFK Airport, the fighters move in to a distance of five miles. They do a low fly-by as the plane lands at JFK. They circle overhead for a while, until the hijacking situation is resolved, and then return to their bases.
At this time, because of the lack of the 7500 code, everyone was under the impression of an 'apparent' hijacking. Everyone was talking in terms of 'it looks like' or 'I think' or 'it sounds real'. No one was certain that AA 11 was hijacked. But of course by the grace of Allah, Pakistan air traffic controllers would have known, right? Not until Betty Ong calling from AA 11, at 0819 hr, that there was confirmation that her flight was hijacked. Otis never received the Betty Ong hijack confirmation. That was why the F-15s did not launched until 0846 hr.
Now we must head back to radar operations. For an airliner that turned off, or lost, its transponder, assuming we are now using the primary system, which is counterintuitively the 'back up' system, the radar operator must attempt to identify that aircraft from among many 'tracks' and assorted non-aircraft returns. For the FAA radar operator, he would be assisted by 'data tags' that were generated by the many aircrafts that are still transmitting their transponder codes.
This is what a 'normal' transponder assisted radar scope look like...
So for the FAA radar operator, once any aircraft turned off, or lost, its transponder, it effectively 'disappeared' from the scope.
This FAA source...
http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim/Chap4/aim0405.html
...Shows the difference between the primary (back-up) and Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS) views.
For the NEADS radar operator, he would have no such 'data tags'. All he would see are 'tracks' and assorted non-aircraft returns. He must look at a 'suspect' for about 30 seconds before he can declare that a return, even a moving one, is an aircraft. He then attach a 'tactical display number' to that track, commanding the radar system to pay extra attention to it. The system then require an additional 30 seconds to generate target information such as heading, altitude, speed, and lat/long position. Those target information are usually provided by the transponder, aka 'data tags' or the 'beacon' in ATCRBS. For the FAA radar operator, if he switch to the primary view, those 'data tags' would be transferred over and the track that does not have a 'data tag' would be a suspect aircraft worthy of extra attention. The NEADS radar operator have no such luxury. Another problem is that radar coverage is limited to no lower than 2000 ft altitude.
So when the FAA spoke to CONR's Major General Larry Arnold, the FAA had no valid target information on AA 11 to give to the military. The last NORAD response to a US bound hijacking was that Lufthansa 1993 where the hijack ended with a reasonable peaceful end. There were no reasons for the US not to hope for the same end and to respond with anything different on Sept 11, 2001. After the F-15s were airborne at 0846 hr, the USAF was still waiting for any directions on where to go with those F-15s. But I guess that with the grace of Allah, Pakistan would have done sooooo much better, right?
Am not done educating you yet...