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U.S. Attack -- More Updates

I'm trying to get stuff together, and post an update: The Pentagon, which evidently has partly collapsed with a chasm 200-300 feet across, and fires on six stories, has ordered the USS JFK and George Washington into NYC. PLEASE GIVE BLOOD. Over 200 firemen are reported missing, and reports of 50,000 dead in the WTC collapse are being bandied about. Dick Cheney has assumed control of the White House, and is in the situation room there. GWB is not returning to the White House until things have calmed down -- and has gone evidently to an undisclosed location. The [CDC] in Atlanta has largely evacuated but has activated their bioterrorism units. American Airlines flight 11, the first to crash into the WTC, was going from BOS -> LAX. There are rumors of Akamai's founder being onboard on Flight 11, As well, the rumor is that the pilot of United Flight 193 flew it in into the ground, outside Pittsburgh, rather then fly into the USX building, which if true, makes him a better person then I -- but there are also rumors that it was shot down by a F-16. United Flight 175 also crashed into the WTC, according to Boston.com, and originated from Boston -- so the WTC was both Boston flights. Reports of a car bomb that was supposed to have gone off int front the State Department have been denied. In a statement, the Taliban government of Afghanistan has denied any involvement, and Yassar Arafat has denounced the attack. Remember: No one knows who did this yet, so don't make any assumptions -- remember what people first thought about the OKC attack. In other news, the US - Mexico/Canada borders are being heavily screened; all air traffic has been grounded; nationwide federal buildings are being evacuated; NATO personnel in Brussells have been sent home, Israeli embassies worldwide have been evacuated, all U.S. Disney parks shut down; major parts of European cities, Britain in particular, are being shut down; stock trading is shut down in all major European and American exchanges. There are 50 flights still in the air, with 2 international flights that have yet to respond. F16s from the US Air Force has been instructed to shoot down flights in a no fly zone over NYC & DC - an AVI of the WTC plane or mpeg here. More as we know.Update: 09/11 18:10 PM GMT by H :I've heard on NPR that all flights and planes are now accounted for -- but that a fifth crash has occurred in an undisclosed location. As well, a car bomb did go off in front of the State Department, and there was a crash near Camp David. There's a well done timeline - we also had a report from someone who lives 3 miles away from the PA crash. Evidently the plane veered several times, and then smashed into an abandoned strip mine - which was luckily not near any people or anything.

31 of 2,465 comments (clear)

  1. Bush by Fifty+Squid · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Would this be happening if Gore were our Pres?

  2. Re:Plea for peace by Diomedes01 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    I can respect your opinion, but you said it yourself - you are not a US citizen. So, really, there's no way you can possibly know how people living in the US feel right now. I doubt very much that you would have the same feelings if something like this happened in your country (wherever that may be). If you would indeed feel the same, then you're a bigger man than I. I think everybody's first reaction will indeed be to annihilate whoever was responsible. I have no problem with this whatsoever - hunt them down, root and branch, and eradicate them. Just be absolutely certain that they are, indeed, the correct people.

    --
    "To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking: Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!"
  3. Re:Cowards by TobyWong · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I can confirm the navy is mobilized as well, all 3 of our canoes are en route as I type this

    --
    - Toby
  4. Re:Plea for peace - Huh? Get Real! by BigBlockMopar · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Violence induces more violence. Retaliation will only lead to more deaths. If you are a citizen of the U.S. of America, please write your representative right now and ask him to join a plea for peace. Historically the U.S. reaction to this kind of attack is to counter strike. It's highly probably that it's already being planned or even carried on. That will solve nothing.

    Dude. This is worse than Pearl Harbor.

    Get with the real world. You're dealing, most likely, with Arab terrorists. They're born and raised to think martyrdom after destroying civilian targets is the way to Mecca.

    The only thing they understand is violence. This is the start of World War III. Make no mistake about it.

    It's time to clean up the Middle East. And I'm afraid that will mean a lot of collateral damage to their civilians, but *the fucking World Trade Center* went down.

    I don't care about a few Syrian or Afghani or whoever women and children in the face of *at least 50,000 innocent civilians* dying.

    This is war. It's not pretty.

    --
    Fire and Meat. Yummy.
  5. Re:Plea for peace by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 3, Flamebait

    You are SO wrong. Appeasement NEVER works. We tried to appease Hitler, and didn't work. Do you really think that we could have "pleaded" with Hitler for peace? Or "pleaded" with Japan when the bombed Pearl Harbor?

    On the other hand, when we bombed Khadafi in the 80s, terrorists didn't screw with us for YEARS.

    This requires a huge, huge response. The aggressors set the rules. At the very least, invasion of the country that either sponsored, or allowed to happen, this terrorism must be made.

    This "day of infamy" must not be allowed to stand.

    Go W!

    --
    Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
  6. thanks to religion by Sebastopol · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    remember, when you hear someone say "pray for xxxxx", it's prayer that started this.

    a battle over a piece of land in mythology. that is why 50000+ people died today.

    when people say 'pray to god for the vicitms', what god do they mean? the god of the muslim palenstinians, or the jewish god of the israelis, or the catholic god???

    it is all religion's fault.

    wake up sheep, your sacred texts are no different then the stories lof odin, zeus, or thoth.

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    https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
    1. Re:thanks to religion by Sebastopol · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      i understand the tragedy completely, you do not. the fact that i awoke to the terrifying notion that the lives of close friends were in jeopardy because of religious insanity enlightened me.

      but attempts by people like you to crush the true cause of the tragedy is the real shame.

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      https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
  7. Re:Plea for peace by gokubi · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Would everyone out there clamoring for retaliation please take a moment and consider why the US would be attacked in such a violent manner? Sometimes bullies get their asses kicked. Or, as the more popular saying goes, "live by the sword, die by the sword." These attacks are not unprovoked.

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    I'm much funnier now that I'm a subscriber.
  8. Re:There is no precedent for an attack this large by Hilary+Rosen · · Score: 2, Flamebait

    And how many civilians are you prepared to murder to carry out this policy?

    You are no better than bin Laden

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    Yes, the nick is flamebait
  9. the US got what they deserved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    From what i can see, while i am very sorry for the loss of innocent life. i have absolutly no pity for the US as a whole.. US has been bulling people around for most of existance, DCMA, Canadian softwood tarrif(this put me out of work),etc,etc,etc.. im personally surprised that it took so long for somone for finally whoop their ass. they are simply getting what they deserve.. a proverb i think would fit well here is a nail standing up will eventualy get hammered down.. or keep sticking you neck out you will get your head cut off.

  10. Re:Plea for peace by Jason+Earl · · Score: 2, Flamebait

    So what do we do? Wait until this same group of madmen perpetrates another atrocity. Go read your history books if you think that madmen and terrorists can be stopped by simply giving into their demands. Letting this act of aggression pass will only embolden the terrorists so that their next attack will be even worse.

    Madmen, despots, and terrorists can only be opposed. Nations and groups that shelter such people can only be considered enemies, and treated as such. This attack will like prove as costly, in terms of human life, as Pearl Harbor and the United States of America will ignore it at its own peril.

    This isn't some school yard squabble where nothing more important than pride is on the line. If we allow terrorists to go unpunished then we will never be safe again.

  11. oh, please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait


    remember the past -- near or far -- and realize that the u.s. and its cronies are/were responsible for inflicting much anguish to the rest of the planet.

    i am in no way justifying this unprecedented act of violence, but on the other hand you should be aware that there are a lot of people out there who are getting tired of your "righteous might" shoving everyone else about.

    and please: let's avoid the childish pearl harbour / fdr references. that was sixty years ago and we are all in a very different situation now.

    i wipe my ass with your stars and stripes

  12. Three Steps: ID, Locate, Retaliate by cybrpnk · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    The time for peace is over. We must identify who did this, find out where they are, go in after them, and wipe them off the face of the Earth. We will suffer more casualties doing it this way. Too bad. The death toll is going to exceed Pearl Harbor and approach if not exceed use of a tactical nuke. We are at war.

  13. Re:Plea for peace by Dstrct0 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Hey dumbass, the planes were from the states. It is YOUR crappy airport security that allowed these people through. Chances are pretty fucking good that the government of wherever the terrorists came from (if it IS terrorists) has no idea that they were planning to blow up large chunks of the U.S. I agree that this is a horrible thing that has happened, and something must be done to ensure that it doesn't happen again, but ANOTHER WAR IS NOT GOING TO FIX THIS!!!!!! Look at the arms situation. If it was a nuclear capable organization that did this, any attack from the U.S. is going to result in those nukes being used. At which point the trigger happy, arrogant, imperialistic American government, will enter the pissing contest with their nukes, at which point the world will be a smoldering piece of dust in an otherwise uncaring universe.

    Start thinking with your brain instead of that mullet haircut I assume you have.

    --
    Build boards not bombs
  14. President Bush's Comments by FFFish · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    A minor aside to the tragedy, perhaps worth considering a week from now. Bush has talked to the media twice now.

    Note that he didn't fumble and stutter.

    The man can speak well. His mumblemouth facade is an act.

    Question is, why does he act like a moron? What's his goal, his payoff?

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  15. Re:Plea for peace by Chris+Hind · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Consider if the US had a terrorist organization who frequently attacked Iraq.
    I think they're known as "the United States Air Force". You've been conducting a bombing campaign against Iraq for several years now. Are you too isolated in your own little world to know this? Well, your little world just got hit by two hijacked airliners, and is currently drifting away on the New York breeze. Time for you to find out how the outside world works, I think.
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    nal 11
  16. Re:WAR! by nagora · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Hate to tell you this, but much of Europe has out-grown Christianity and the tooth fairy. If you want to start a religious war don't drag us into it. Religion is the cause of this crime, not the solution.

    --
    "Encyclopedia" is to "Wikipedia" what "Library" is to "Some people at a bus stop"
  17. Re:Remember the past by SubtleNuance · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ...fucking hubris - dont get so fucking high and mighty.. this shit is fucked up in the highest order, save your jingoist nationalism for the fucking masses.

    Who's dick is biggest - who fucking cares, grow UP! YOUR BEING MANIPULATED - YOU ARE THE MORONIC MASSES!

  18. Re:Plea for peace by coolgeek · · Score: 4, Flamebait
    It is YOUR crappy airport security that allowed these people through.

    I disagree. It is our complacency that allowed them to breach security. Complacency should not be confused with Incompetence, in my book. I boarded a flight in the past three months where they did not even ask me the basics questions about how I handled my baggage. I knew that the ticket agent knew what she was supposed to do, and how to do it, and was probably capable of doing it well. She just didn't feel it was necessary any longer.

    And if you don't think the US is capable of infiltrating _every_ plane in the offending country and ramming them into _every_ major landmark on their soil, you are a fool. Our guys would probably even live to tell about it, too. Thing is, we have laws that prevent us from doing exactly that. Funny thing too, the laws seem to be enough deterrent for the average United States Citizen. The attack was well planned, well executed, some might even say impressive. The biggest mass murder in history. On the scale of expertise available in the world, it was rank amateur. The Palestinians can rally in the streets today, and celebrate the mass extermination of human beings. I doubt they will have any streets in a few years, whether the US retaliates or not. That kind of hatred is a spiritual disease that will eventually lead to their own destruction.

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    cat /dev/null >sig
  19. Re:Plea for peace by haplo21112 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    I wish I had not used up my mod points yesterday, so I could mod you down you stupid idiot. I am an american citizen, and I want a counterstrike, I want one now, I want whatever organization, person, country whatever, Blasted back to the GOD Damned stone age, leveled, nuked, invaded, strung up by the short and curlies. There is no peace, there is only war when, and deserved war when crap like this happens. I bet the prick(s) who did this got in the country on H1B Visa's. So lets throw all of them out of the country while we are at it.

    --
    Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
  20. Re:Plea for peace by JabberWokky · · Score: 2, Flamebait
    There are only two ways to break the cycle of violence.
    1. Kill them all. Every last one of them. And anyone who ever cared about them. No one will be left to carry out revenge. No future generations will rise up.
    OR
    2. Forgive.

    Since number two is not incumbent upon us, and we can not force another group to forgive, you seem to have hit upon the one solution that works.

    I'm not saying it's a *good* solution, but the way to defeat terrorism is to eliminate terrorists. Since the initial killing of non-military personnel is generally caused by religious or philosophical beliefs taken to an extreme, the only way to deal with them is to eliminate those beliefs - eliminate those who believe.

    --
    Evan (who just said fuck it, and is replying directly at the beginning of the thread... read there).

    --
    "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
  21. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Speech by CaptTrips · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    The original

    Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

    The modified

    "Today, Sept. 11, 2001 - a date which will live in infamy, again - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by cowardly Islamic terriorist forces of the Milertistic group lead by Osama bin Laden."

    Make no mistake. We are at war.

    --

    grep >= ! == $your
  22. Misinformation by Wonko42 · · Score: 1, Flamebait
    Hemos, CmdrTaco, my intent is not to flame, but this misinformation you are spreading disguised as news has got to stop. Slashdot is, at its core, user-reported technology news. When it comes to anything more than that, the potential damage that can be caused by misinformation spread on such a large scale is far too much.

    The Slashdot articles regarding the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are literally filled with misinformation that is represented as fact. I can't help but wonder how many people are reading Slashdot and not bothering to verify the information.

    Please, let's leave the high-risk reporting to those qualified to do it. You're doing more harm than good.

  23. Re:Remember the past by ncc74656 · · Score: 1, Flamebait
    To promise retaliation is not hubris, it's apporpriate.
    no, its childish and immature - to retaliate, to lash out wildly is idiotic.
    Get back to me when your country is attacked by a bunch of anonymous-coward terrorists. Until then, fuck off and die. )
    --
    20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
  24. Re:Airlines chosen by AxelBoldt · · Score: 2, Flamebait
    Well, I suspect the backlash from this will leave whoever did it thinking twice about pissing off America as a whole again.



    Well, whoever did this is dead. Apparently, they were more than happy to die in order to piss off America.

  25. What did he say after killing 125,000 at Hiroshima by james(honest) · · Score: 2, Flamebait
    What did he say after he killed 125,000 civilians by bombing Hiroshima?

    Did he say "its ok because these civilians supported a government that we were at war with?"

    How did he justify killing civilians, deliberately? With an atom bomb. That killed 70,000 instantly and 55,000 later from radiation poisoning?

    So the question is, are civilians of an aggressive nation accountable for the actions of its government? If so, then Hiroshima was ok, but then so was this attack.

    If not, of course, then I'm sure the US will happily bring to trial, or assasinate, its own diplomats who were fully aware of the civilian deaths in central america, africa, vietnam, indonesia, iraq...

    The guy responsible for the deaths in central america (the disappeared) is about to take his place in the senate, I believe. Start with him, why dont you.

    Dont get me wrong, I think the deaths are totally unacceptable. The question is, "How could they have been avoided?". Is there a change in US foreign policy that might reduce the suffering of the rest of the world cause by american aggression?

  26. American Imperialism (was This is where brains...) by furiousgreencloud · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I see this Attack on the US, as a reaction to American Cultural Imperialism. You don't see anyone attacking Canada like this, because Canada supports diversity of cultures. I can only hope that Ammericans will see how out of sync their virtual reality is with other cultural environments in the rest of the world and the powerless americans. I grew up in South Africa during apartheid, and the whites always felt they were morally justified. Only mounting weight of dead demostrators and freedom fighters woke up the international community and only finally the regimes of political power.

    If this is a war, it is a war of culture.

    Notice, nobody has asked why someone would give up their life for these actions? Why are they so desperate? Why do these people have no other medium for expresion? Talk about democracy these people are voting with their lives.

    The eye-witness (americans) think is this a movie, because that is the only way their culture represents these type of acts. Explosions == Movies. Violence is not real to americans, it is very real to the people who have commited to these acts of terrorfing horror.

    Rethink america freedom and democracy, it's a joke. How can a system that claims to be open to the pillars of human desire -- freedom and self expression, have evolved to the point where such extreme action is the only way to critize it.

    --
    mark c. brady; http://www.inter-mission.org/
  27. Pearl Harbor? What about Hiroshima? by james(honest) · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Just remember, its ok to kill 125,000 civilians, but only if you are already at war. Clearly these "terrorists" forgot to declare war, or even register as a country!

    As for terrorism, what must it feel like to have americans pouring napalm on your children, or to be denied AIDS medicine because the WIPO is backed by the US military, or not be able to feed your family because you cannot resow a crop of seeds because they are patented.

    Wake up.

  28. Re:There is no precedent for an attack this large by Hilary+Rosen · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    What kind of an idiot assumes that cruise missiles are the only solution for any problem?


    Republicans.

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    Yes, the nick is flamebait
  29. wake up from the american dream by diskis · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Well, the USA got what it deserved... They believed that they are above other people and that their army and missile defences can protect them. They lived in a ignorance of what really happened in the rest of the world. Little countries can be a big problem of stomped on enough. Hopefully USA understand that they are not alone on the earth. They could try some more humanitary tactics before firing tons of missiles against anything that remotely looks like a terrorist... I truly hope that Bush WILL NOT respond with violence, if he does, he is not any better than the terrorists who did this...and hopefully Americans will understand that they are not the only superpower in the world... and before the next few thousand people lose their lives.

    (Sorry for the bad language, i'm not a native english speaker)

  30. Re:Why Palestinians might be pissed... by FFFish · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    You are completely fucked up, buddy.

    Probably the same single fuckup that has tried to moderate my posts down, in the face of the dozens of up-moderations that they've received.

    Lots of people figure you're wrong. Perhaps you should listen to them.

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