Not The 9-11 Commission's Job

 

On Friday September 9, 2011 the Star Ledger newspaper and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center invited three former members of the 9-11 Commission, John Lehman (left), Former Chairman Tom Kean (center) and John Farmer (right corner) to speak about their work on the commission and their feelings about the approaching ten year commemoration of the attacks. Seated between former commissioners Kean and Farmer was Ms. Virginia Bauer, who lost her husband David Bauer in the 9-11 attacks.

The audience, estimated to be in the neighborhood of three hundred in attendance, applauded for the three commissioners as they occasionally hammed it up for the cameras. Each commissioner assured the audience that the U.S. government was completely unprepared for the September 11, 2001 surprise attacks. 

And then it was time for questions.

With each article in hand, I cited the stories about government whistleblowers below one by one and said to the commissioners "please stop saying that no one in the government knew about an imminent attack". Although, I'm certain that they will continue to repeat their lies at the next town they visit. After being rushed to get to my question, I asked the former 'investigators' why they did not hold anyone accountable in government for not acting on this information:

The Washington Times September 22, 2005 Page A.4

The (London) Independent Sunday June 6, 2004

The Guardian June 3, 2002

The three commissioners looked at each other, presumably to determine who would answer the question, and after pausing for a few seconds John Lehman responded:"It wasn't our job".

The room fell completely silent.

I am grateful at least that the event was streaming live over the internet because after that candid moment, commissoner Lehman proceeded to explain how the Able Danger information was vetted and that they determined that it "was of no validity"

The Boston Globe September 18, 2001 Page A. 21

I doubt I am the only one who feels that the commission's work is of no validity.

If you ever meet someone who cannot understand why people are pushing for a new investigation into the September 11, 2001 attacks, politely explain to them that three of the investigators who were given the job admitted a decade later to a room full of 300 people and who knows how many people listening and watching online that getting 'it' right wasn't their job...that's why America needs a new investigation. 

As for the Star Ledger newspaper, do you think that they informed their readers about the troubling admission from John Lehman? The answer heard 'round Jersey'...if you said yes, unfortunately you'd be wrong, not a word from the paper, and they will not release the video of Lehman's blunt remark. Ten years from now they will tell us that that candid moment did not happen. History is important...unless it's not your job.

All newspaper articles and photographs reprinted/photocopied not the property of this blog are used here in accordance with Title 17 Section 107 Fair Use for the sole purpose of educating the public. No ownership of works is claimed.

Pentagon's 9-11 Wargames Cover-up On-going



Photo copied from NJ ANG website Fair Use

The American mainstream media has collectively agreed that it's time for the nation to move on and that we should all leave the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to the history books. It seems that our entire media establishment concurs that there's nothing else to be said, this would make some people at the Pentagon and the Department of Defense very happy, because the sooner we all get on with getting on with our lives the sooner we will be too busy to bother asking vexing questions about what our military was up to on the morning of the attacks. I can only speak for myself, but I think those answers are far more important than finding out whether or not some ball player lied to congress about taking drugs, but my how wonderful it would have been to have seen the commission take action against military officials that lied to the nation about the military's response on 9-11. Too bad that it wasn't the commission's job to hold anyone accountable.

The military was playing games on September 11, 2001, perhaps if military officials were taking steroids congress and the commission would have probed deeper into their conduct during the 'games'. Eleven years on and few Americans are aware that several components of the U.S. military were distracted by annual computer scenario and live-real world wargames known as simulations in military parlance. Each year the military practices waging war and on that Tuesday our military was practicing for war in fictional attack and defense scenarios played out on computer screens (CPX/Command Post Exercise) as well as live real time events (FTX/Field Training Exercise). The wargames took place both abroad and inside the United States which meant that fewer fighter jets would be available to defend America.

From the midwest, the south to the northeastern US, American servicemen and women in the Army, the Marines, Air National Guard, the U.S. Navy, and the Air Force "played" out mock attacks against one another during the U.S. Strategic Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Vigilant Guardian-Global Guardian, Amalgam Warrior, Amalgam Virgo, Operation Northern Denial exercises and operations beginning as early as August 2001.

Vigilant Guardian Special Instructions via NARA FOIA

Global Guardian 2001-2 After Action Report Page 287

9-11 commission NORAD interview available at nara.gov/commission- search MFR's

December 5, 2003 Bergen Record Page A-20

Red and Blue teams (Blue Force Simulation Cells/Red Force Simulation Cells) attacked each other playing out previously written instructions called the Master Scenario Events List (MSEL) much like actors follow a script when filming on a movie set.

2001 Vigilant Guardian Controlled Staff Instructions (COSINS) via FOIA Request

Tasked with investigating the military and intelligence communities failures, the 9-11 Commission learned about the military's wargame/simulations very early into their investigation but what the commission learned at closed door interviews was rarely discussed during televised questioning of military officials.

For example, the 9-11 commission made a conscious decision not to publicly ask NORAD Commander in Chief (CINCNORAD) General Ed Eberhart, or STRATCOM Commander Admiral Mies, both of whom established the Exercise Control Group for NORAD's Vigilant Guardian and STRATCOM's Global Guardian, Apollo Guardian [et. al] exercises, why the Red and Blue forces continued fighting until 11:25 a.m. all the way through the attacks while Americans were dying.

STRATCOM Global Guardian 2001-2 After Action Report Page 8

9-11 Commission March 1, 2004 interview with NORAD Commander Ed Eberhart nara.gov/911commission/MFR

Despite the commission learning in 2003 that the Pentagon's National Military Command Center was monitoring "all" on going exercises in the U.S. none of the commissioners bothered to ask senior military officials from the Pentagon why no one monitoring the movements of American air assets was able to direct any of our already airborne military planes in the field to intercept any of the hijacked planes before they could reach their targets.

July 28, 2003 Commission Interview at Reagan Nat'l Airport & Andrews AFB nara.gov/911commission/MFR

9-11 Commission June 12, 2003 FAA Interview nara.gov/911commission/MFR

 Notice the reference to military traffic in the Northeast sector. On 9-11 there was a military refueling tanker in military airspace over Narragansett Rhode Island known as Whiskey 105. Again the commission did not do it's job of determining what other military aircraft were in that area, how many, when they arrived and why none of those military craft were not immediately sent to New York since they were already airborne?

September 22, 2003 Commission Interview with Dan Bueno FAA Boston Ctr nara.gov/911commission/MFR

 Yet another interview that was not televised, the highlighted section reveals that Boston Center may have issued a No Pass Through Air Defense warning advising all aircraft to avoid military airspace, possibly Whiskey 105 as part of NORAD's Vigilant Guardian exercise. This is at least an indication that military aircraft were in fact using airspace in the Northeastern United States on the morning of 9-11. Instead of losing precious minutes ordering the Otis fighters to battle stations, then later ordering them to scramble, the fighters already airborne in the NE sector could have been used to intercept or at least utilized to help identify and locate the missing hijacked planes.

None of the members of the 9-11 commission publicly asked military officials why fighters over North Carolina weren't recalled immediately as soon as it was realized that the nation was under attack.

March 4, 2004 Commission Staff interview w/NORAD personnel

Global Guardian 2001-2 After Action Report page 334- STRATCOM FOIA Request April 2011

Also unexplored by the commission was the subject of when STRATCOM stopped injecting "realistic" terrorism events called inputs, onto the radar screens of NORAD, STRATCOM and other participants involved with the Global Guardian-Vigilant Guardian exercise. According to some published reports, NORAD and STRATCOM exercises ended shortly after the second plane Flight 175 crashed into the South Trade Center Tower. It was at that point that military officials say they realized that there was an on going coordinated attack. As with everything else...the devil is in the details. Within STRATCOM's own end of  exercise report known as an After Action Report (AAR), a mandatory requirement after every exercise, page 8 of the Global Guardian AAR reveals that STRATCOM did not end their exercise right away as reported. In fact, the report shows that STRATCOM continued their exercise until 1525Z = ZULU which translates to 11:25 AM Eastern Standard Time once Daylight Savings Time is factored.

11 is the day of the month 1525 is Greenwich Mountain Time and Sep 01 = September 2001

Other than a vague reference to NORAD's Vigilant Guardian exercise on page 20 of the 2006 re-released Commission Report and the footnote 116 found on page 458 in the back of the book:

 Few of our neighbors, family, co-workers and friends have ever heard of Vigilant Guardian because there is only this indeed very vague reference given to us by the investigators and there is no mention of STRATCOM's exercise which linked with the NORAD exercise. Why? Simple. The less Americans know about it, the less questions Americans will ask. It is extremely important to note that while people were dying in World Trade Center and the Pentagon one faction of the military continued tricking and distracting the other faction by injecting realistic terrorism inputs onto the military radar technician's display screens.

NORAD personnel were instructed at the end of August 2001 to make sure that their radar screens were prepared to display simulated injects/"Sim Tracks" over their real world radar displays so that the simulated injects would be perceived to be real and would be treated as though they were real time live events unfolding. The $64,000 question never asked publicly by members of the commission was how on earth were four hijacked planes able to reach their targets with all of the extra military personnel on duty taking part in numerous military exercises on the morning of September 11, 2001? How, with military planes from New Jersey's 177th Fighter Wing already airborne in the Northeastern United States taking part in an exercise, were two hijacked planes able to get anywhere near the World Trade Towers without being intercepted? And why weren't any of the other military planes already airborne immediately recalled to stop Flight 77 and Flight 93?

Although, the commissioners had top military leaders from the Pentagon in front of them, no one inquired about the NMCC monitoring and participating in STRATCOM's Global Guardian exercise nor was there any mention of other exercises the Pentagon's NMCC might have "played" in. Commissioners also passed up a chance to find out why NORAD/ U.S. Space Command did not end their Apollo Guardian exercise immediately and focus their satellites on the Northeastern US to help locate the missing hijacked airliners that reportedly disappeared from radar.

Arguably the most important aspect, the 9-11 commissioners did not ask military officials exactly when the Vigilant Guardian power outages ended, at what phase of the attacks or time of day did the intentional power outages take place and for how long, and when the ban on using personal phones or outside lines was lifted.

NORAD 2001 Vigilant Guardian COSIN NORAD FOIA

NORAD now claims that it is a matter of National Security that you do not find out what time they ended their exercises, where their military aircraft were located on the morning of the attacks, and what US Space Command was using their satellites for before and during the attacks.

Not only does NORAD claim it is a matter of National Security that you do not find out what they were doing while the nation was being attacked, NORAD also claims that it would be an invasion of someone's personal privacy if this information were to be released to you.

Take a few seconds to let this sink in.

Releasing this information is both a threat to the security of America as well as an invasion of someone's personal privacy.

You can help to put an end to this cover up by supporting a legal fund to bring a FOIA Lawsuit against NORAD for illegally applying the B(1) and B(6) exemptions.

Talking about the cover up for another year or more will not stop it, only court action will.