George W. Bush and World Trade Centers on 9/11

Bush Saw First Plane Hit WTC Tower on TV Before Entering Classroom

Sep 17, 2009

Events on September 11, 2001 have impacted the world, and been used as reason to send US troops and National Guard to wars in countries including Iraq and Afghanistan.

American media, specifically television, showed two airliners striking and destroying the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Subsequently, American media reports pinned the attacks on terrorists. Yet, almost immediately, the reports were questioned, leading to theories of a conspiracy.

Satirists have created images to support this notion. Brian Gerard Vernon's "Jet Fuel? That's a good one," is a widely referenced example.

Bush Actions on Morning of September 11, 2001.

“An Interesting Day: George Bush Jr. on 9/11,” is a widely quoted article written by Alan Wood and Paul Thompson. Here is the timeline of the morning of September 11, 2001

Before 8:46 AM Bush watches a television and sees a plane "fly" into a building.

8:46 AM: American Media report that Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

(Film footage of the first attack was not broadcast on American media until September 12th.)

8:48 AM: American media broadcast images of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in flames.

9:03 AM American media report that Flight 175 hits the South Tower of the World Trade Center

9:03 AM: American media broadcast images of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in flames. Some of these images are broadcast live.

9:05 or 9:07 AM: Andrew Card, Chief of Staff “whispers” to Bush that another plane hit the World Trade Towers.

After some silence, Bush begins to read The Pet Goat to the second grade children.

Bush Says Twice that He Watched a Live Televised Image of the First Plane Hitting the Building.

After 9/11, during two specific meetings with American citizens and a town-hall, question and answer format, recorded in transcripts, and in videotape, Mr. Bush insists that after he went into the school, and before he went into the elementary classroom, he watched a television set and saw the first plane hit the tower.

In their detailed timeline, Wood and Thompson include White House websites and recordings of Bush stating that as he was waiting to enter the a children’s classroom at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School, Sarasota, Florida, he saw a television in the school, and he watched the first plane hit the tower.

“December 4, 2001 "The TV was Obviously On,” said Bush.

On December 4, 2001, Bush stated, "I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower - the TV was obviously on …and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said, it must have been a horrible accident. But I was whisked off there" This account was posted on the White House website, 12/4/01.

January 5, 2002 "When We Walked into the Classroom, I Had Seen This Plane Fly..."

Bush again said that he saw the plane “fly” into the first tower. This account was also posted on the White House website on January 5, 2002.. "Well, I was sitting in a schoolhouse in Florida ... and my Chief of Staff – well, first of all, when we walked into the classroom, I had seen this plane fly into the first building. There was a TV set on. And you know, I thought it was pilot error..."

Conclusions

Questions remain about what Bush means when he says that on Sept. 11, 2001, he was watching a television in the elementary school and saw a plane “fly” into the building before he went into the second grade classroom. As noted, there were no American media images broadcast of a strike against the north WTC bulding until late Sept. 11, 2001 or Sept. 12, 2001. If the attack was a surprise, then why would Bush be able to watch the first attack on television, before he went into the children's classroom, and before he learned of the second attack.

Wood, Alan, and Paul Thompson. “An Interesting Day: George Bush Jr. on 9/11. May 9, 2003.

The copyright of the article George W. Bush and World Trade Centers on 9/11 in American Affairs is owned by Teresa Knudsen. Permission to republish George W. Bush and World Trade Centers on 9/11 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.