Posted on 05/05/2006 7:38:43 PM PDT by AuteurEye
US President George W. Bush has said the September 11 revolt of passengers against their hijackers on board Flight 93 had struck the first blow of "World War III".
In an interview with the financial news network CNBC, Mr Bush said he had yet to see the recently released film of the uprising, a dramatic portrayal of events on the United Airlines plane before it crashed in a Pennsylvania field.
But he said he agreed with the description of David Beamer, whose son Todd died in the crash, who in a Wall Street Journal commentary last month called it "our first successful counter-attack in our homeland in this new global war, World War III".
Mr Bush said: "I believe that. I believe that it was the first counter-attack to World War III.
"It was, it was unbelievably heroic of those folks on the airplane to recognize the danger and save lives," he said.
Flight 93 crashed on the morning of September 11, 2001, killing the 33 passengers, seven crew members and four hijackers, after passengers stormed the cockpit and battled the hijackers for control of the aircraft.
The president has repeatedly praised the heroism of the passengers in fighting back and so launching the first blow of what he usually calls the "war on terror". In 2002, then-White House spokesman Ari Fleischer explicitly declined to call the hunt for Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda group and its followers "World War III".
Great statement and very true. God bless the heroes of Flight 93. They were braver than most of our leaders.
Yup!
Just saw the Flight 93 movie last night; I highly recommend it. It reminds us of the heroism of those on the flight, as well as the fear and disbelief we all felt on that day.
"leaders?" Elected officials they are, but, "leaders" they ain't. (Not aimed at YOU, but at them.)
Todd Beamer was quoted as saying, "Let's roll!"
bttt
Todd Beamer was quoted as saying, "Let's roll!"
That is a matter of conjecture, but if you find it inspiring, so be it.
That photo brings a tear to my eye. That type of courage is rarely found. We owe all of them so very much.
I know you're not thinking about Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney.
I know you're not think about John McCa....er, sorry.
Has the President used the term "World War III" before? This jumped out at me. The earliest phrase I remember him using was "a new kind of war."
The Verizon operator is quoted as saying it... she was on the phone with him, even said the Lord's Prayer with him. I believe her testimony.
http://www.flight93memorialsfb.com/Heros-Of-Flight-93/
Link to the picture of the brave souls of Flight 93.
The Verizon operator to whom he was talking and praying with for about 15 mins. has related that conversation many times .. including that Beamer said: "Are you ready? Let's roll."
I got the same feeling. God bless those brave men and women and their families.
Gosh, troll. I guess this thread has taken an unexpected turn for you, eh?
It's not conjecture; it was heard over a cell.
Conjecture is that crap you wrote a few days ago on here about those two policemen riding the debris down the WTC. Idiot. They were in a freight elevator and it crushed around them, it didn't "ride" anywhere.
It was recorded, bunghole. Go home.
I am not a troll. I just have never been convinced by one woman's testimony.
Live one, it would appear.
NO, I'm not.....at least up to McCain....LOL.
I never heard him say this before either. Though this new war I concider to be WWIV. The cold war which killed around 100 million people was WWIII.
I agree with that, if we had to call it something.
LOL, what? The operator woman in charge told Beamers wife of the entire conversation, his wife said he always said "let's roll" to get the kids moving, and even when she dated him he would use that phrase.
It wasn't supposed to be inspiring, it was just something he always said, and his wife felt comforted when hearing of it from the operator.
Just saw the movie tonight. It brought back the confusion of that day. That's something that had faded with time in my mind. Now it's all back. Very intense. Very real.
I believe it was during Bush's first SoTU speech, where Mrs. Beamer sat in the gallery, and Bush quoted Beamer. Later it was said that she was honored to be in attendance and very pleased that her husband was remembered in such a public way.
Any way around it... those on that flight will always be remembered. The "what ifs" will continue to haunt us, imagining the carnage that could have happened if the plane had reached its target.
I read every bio. Thank you for that post. Impactful...I can't think of anything else to say.
Thanks.
Agreed... AND he was a Buckeye fan. Terrorists had no chance. :)
The religion of peace knows no boundries. It is a world war.
Spain, UK, Africa, US, Indonesia, Phillipines, Iraq, SA, France, Russia, Bosnia, Holland, Turkey. And many others....
Yes, she was there, after she and the operator's accounts of Todd's conversations were told in public interviews.
Give me a real source that says GWB called this WWIII. I am so tired of horseshit media.
This is an EXCELLENT statement from the President!
We are approaching the moment where we will be blowing the crap out of Iran. And it is possible that Russia and China might try to flex some muscle in a bid to establish themselves as a dominant global power.
And what this statement from the President says to Russia and China is this:
We are fighting WWIII here, are you sure you want a piece?
It's a bold declaration of just how far we are willing to go when it comes to vital US interests and security.
God Bless President Bush!
I find this to be a step in the right direction at least. Because I don't believe the president understands we are in a war for national survival with these boarders being wide open.
It is too bad really. He is in my opinion one of the bravest presidents in history. I base that on not listening to public opinion for his actions. The problem is he doesn't believe the boarders are a threat to our security.
Someone has to convince him otherwise, i don't think that is going to happen.
He hasn't changed his fundamental view.
He lives in the real, not theoretical world. In the real world, Iraqi Muslims are fighting and dying along side of us. Zarqawi is blowing up Jordanian Muslims at a wedding party in Amman, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are targeted by al-Quaida and on and on it goes. In the real world, Muhammed Ali and Kareem Abdul Jabbar are Muslims and very, very peaceful indeed.
I don't like the religion, not even slightly. But the religion is a paradox and shows great variety even with the Koran saying what we know it says. I totally disagree that we should blow up entire towns, cities, countries, Mecca, Medina etc. and/or slaughter everyone who refuses to leave the Muslim religion. There are those, yes, on FRee Republic, who advocate such.
The President is much more publically complimentary to what he views as the mainstream of the religion than I would be, but I'm not the President who has a reason not to inflame those Muslims who are possible allies in the War on Terror.
Steve,
This was my first thought. The Cold War from 1946-1991 was World War III--it was fought on mnay battlefronys and was global in nature.
The War on Terror is, to me, WW IV.
I found this odd too... considering wwIII is supposed to be the beginning of the end of the world how can Bush(a christian) be so blase' when making that statement?
Clearly you're so...sophisticated.
Really, all I remember about that is that the world's supposed to end when the chocolate supply runs out. I don't recall any mention of WWIII.
"This was my first thought. The Cold War from 1946-1991 was World War III--it was fought on mnay battlefronys and was global in nature.
The War on Terror is, to me, WW IV."
Mine too. I also think that this WOT began when the Iranians invaded our country's territory when they stormed the embassy and took hostages in 1979. That was the first real act of terror by a group against America. Jewish FReepers might argue that it started in Munich, 1972.
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