Bush explains slow reaction to September 11 attacks

By Jill Serjeant


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former President George W. Bush says his apparent lack of reaction to the first news of the September 11 2001 attacks was a conscious decision to project an aura of calm in a crisis.

In a rare interview with the National Geographic Channel, Bush reflects on what was going through his mind at the most dramatic moment of his presidency when he was informed that a second passenger jet had hit New York's World Trade Center.

Bush was visiting a Florida classroom and the incident, which was caught on TV film, and has often been used by critics to ridicule his apparently blank face.

"My first reaction was anger. Who the hell would do that to America? Then I immediately focused on the children, and the contrast between the attack and the innocence of children," Bush says in an excerpt of the interview shown to television writers on Thursday.

Bush said he could see the news media at the back of the classroom getting the news on their own cellphones "and it was like watching a silent movie."

Bush said he quickly realized that a lot of people beyond the classroom would be watching for his reaction.

"So I made the decision not to jump up immediately and leave the classroom. I didn't want to rattle the kids. I wanted to project a sense of calm," he said of his decision to remain seated and silent.

"I had been in enough crises to know that the first thing a leader has to do is to project calm," he added.

The National Geographic Channel will broadcast the hour-long interview on August 28 as part of a week of programs on the cable network called "Remembering 9/11" that mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

The interview was recorded over two days in May, without any questions being submitted in advance, the channel said.

National Geographic said Bush gives "intimate details" of his thoughts and feelings in a way never seen before. Most of the interview is about the first minutes and hours of the day that Islamic militants hijacked four planes and crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Executive producer and director Peter Schnall said Bush, who has adopted a low public profile since leaving office in January 2009, brought no notes to the interview.



link.


I wonder how much lead time NatGeo gave W.'s handlers? this is the umpteenth time they have revised the story about him sitting there looking dumbfounded .He much like his predecessors are nothing more then figureheads,I think 9/11 was the day George discovered just how powerless the Oval Office really is.

reply to post by mike dangerously


ATS Search function should be your friend as this topic has been brought to light. thanks though

since the other thread was bogged down with insanity, I'm going to steal this opportunity to put out a quick thought


if he really did know in advance, wouldn't he have put on a better performance? panicked a little, you know... thats what I would've done....

reply to post by mike dangerously

This is abut what I expected Bush would say when finally questioned and willing to talk about the initial period of reaction. Any other factors aside, it fits petty well with what I thought I saw crossing his eyes as they zoomed in to focus on his every nuance after getting the news.

In all honestly? As far as this goes in discussing anything where Bush is related to 9/11 or it's aftermath, I believe this one short period was the most Presidential thing I saw George Bush do as while in office. The self control and ability to compartmentalize this obviously required in watching his face closely sets him a world apart from the over-emotional upstart from nowhere we have in there now, IMHO.

His response would be exactly what I would expect for any President upon hearing this news. He was clearly processing the information and figuring out what to do. It looked very real and he either had nothing to do with it or he is a superb actor.

Thread here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by _BoneZ_


I like this one better

I thought it was because he was trying to read "My Pet Goat" foe-en-et-ti-cal-lee. To the the kids.

president bush classroom visit was public knowledge ..


Wouldnt remaining calm mean he knew that the classroom wasnt a target?

How about the kids lives at risk . while the president was there ... ?


Did anyone even care or think the classroom might have been a target and we should evacuate immediatly and you know......


do your job as commander and cheif of the country lol


oh bushy bushy you had quite some time to think about that answer but just won't cut it

Of course this is nothing but more LIES from the former president. Tell me, why did it take him TEN YEARS to explain what he was thinking on that day? There is no doubt in my mind that he was involved in the conspiracy against those towers and the only reason he has said anything further is so people will finally stop bugging him about his reaction.

reply to post by seedofchucky


I wonder if they ask him why the Secret Service didn't rush him out of there..."in the know"?

Originally posted by 9Nania
Of course this is nothing but more LIES from the former president. Tell me, why did it take him TEN YEARS to explain what he was thinking on that day? There is no doubt in my mind that he was involved in the conspiracy against those towers and the only reason he has said anything further is so people will finally stop bugging him about his reaction.

I'm curious if there has ever been a President you would say was ever honest or have they all been liars?

Originally posted by kro32

Originally posted by 9Nania
Of course this is nothing but more LIES from the former president. Tell me, why did it take him TEN YEARS to explain what he was thinking on that day? There is no doubt in my mind that he was involved in the conspiracy against those towers and the only reason he has said anything further is so people will finally stop bugging him about his reaction.

I'm curious if there has ever been a President you would say was ever honest or have they all been liars?

Maybe Kennedy. After some extensive research on the individuals who've held the office of the Presidency since the early 1900s I've determined that most, if not all, have been involved in the Illuminati . Kennedy included, but he went against it and decided to serve the people, which of course resulted in his demise. Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law back in 1913 launching the biggest scam against Americans in the entire history of this country and later admitted that he regretted it deeply. I have my suspicions that he was following orders, he didn't really endorse it. For shame.

Originally posted by 9Nania
Of course this is nothing but more LIES from the former president. Tell me, why did it take him TEN YEARS to explain what he was thinking on that day? There is no doubt in my mind that he was involved in the conspiracy against those towers and the only reason he has said anything further is so people will finally stop bugging him about his reaction.

Yeah, that and he's trying to help restore his (Republican) party, and maybe putting his memoirs together. That's why he is answering questions now. But who can believe a person/president that insists on, when appearing before the 911 commission, not being under oath, unseperated from his puppet master Dick Cheney, and to disallow any record of his testimony?

This won't end anything.

Welcome to ATS, glad to see you here. Beware of the trolls, I'll bet you'll be somewhat a TI here. Many will have your back tho. No worries. Much love.........

reply to post by seedofchucky

I am going to take a chance here and guess at what was happening outside the walls of that classroom but within a half mile of the school and to either side of the route back to Air Force One. I'm guessing that Bush had been asked on the second whisper to sit tight while they prepare his route. Panicing like some Presidents might do ( ) wouldn't have accomplished anything but getting him killed in a different room or hallway, had the school been targeted and I think everyone there knew it by that point.

Outside, some I've read and heard about....others it's guessing...but I believe it likely appeared similar to a military convoy route with expected enemy fire as they crash prep'ed his route back for a scramble like I've heard described, no one had ever seen Air Force 1 do before.

Point is...Bush was very Presidential and Controlled, yes. It also wasn't entirely in his control or his choice to make.

You can remain calm while still taking charge.

This is more blatant lies, and the people who still listen to this poor man are fools.

reply to post by mike dangerously


i dont think that staying was completly messacary to calm the children, could have just told a lie, like he may have for this interview

Originally posted by kro32
His response would be exactly what I would expect for any President upon hearing this news. He was clearly processing the information and figuring out what to do. It looked very real and he either had nothing to do with it or he is a superb actor.

Or he wasn't in the know. If I was his father and coordinating everything, I sure as hell wouldn't let him in on it. The guy is a dupe. His dad made sure to surround him with people that would take care of things in one way or another.

I don't know, after NatGeo tried to pull a fast one with their "Make people who question 9/11 look like nutjobs" special. You have to know that their completely biased towards the official story, propaganda at it's finest.

W's excuse about his non-reaction is total b.s. Nobody expected him to "jump" up or run out of the room screaming. but given the situation, the President would have thanked the kids and left the room to address the issue. The kids wouldn't have thought anything wrong with that. After he was told the second plane hit and he sat there. It always seemed to me that the look on his face was something like he was thinking, "it's happening" "no turning back now" etc.

Later he said that before he went into the classroom, he SAW the FIRST plane hit on TV and thought "what a bad pilot". Nobody saw the first plane hit on TV that day. He said he saw it hit before he went before the children. So he can't say he misspoke.

I haven't seen the Nat Geo interview, but I will see it just to see this liar lie. He will probably be blinking his eyes all throughout the interview. That's what liars do when they lie. They will blink uncontrollably. You'll see.