by Donn de Grand Pré
(Editor's Note: This article was reproduced from the What
Really
Happened.com archive.
It was probably first posted in 2003. Reproduced here with the permission of Col Donn de Grand Pre.)
A dedicated group of experienced civilian and military pilots, including
combat fighter pilots and commercial airline captains, just finished
a marathon 72 hours of non-stop briefings and debate over the current
crisis evolving from the use of commercial aircraft as cruise missiles
against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September.
The so-called terrorist attack was in fact a superbly
executed military operation against the United States, requiring the
utmost professional military skill in command, communications and
control. It was flawless in timing, in the choice of selected aircraft
to be used as guided missiles, and in the coordinated delivery of
those missiles to their pre-selected targets.
As a tactical military exercise against two significant
targets (world financial center and the citadel of world strategic
military planning), the attack, from a psychological impact on the
American public, equaled the Japanese "surprise" attack
on Pearl Harbor 7 Dec 1941.
The over-riding question: If we are at war, who is
the enemy?
The group determined that the enemy is within the
gates, that he has infiltrated into the highest policy-making positions
at the Federal level, and has absolute control, not only of the purse
strings, but of the troop build-up and deployment of our military
forces, including active, reserve and National Guard units.
PRELUDE TO PANIC
The 9-11 activity and horrific destruction of US
property and lives was intentionally meant to trigger a psychological
and patriotic reaction on the part of the US citizens, which is paving
the way for "combined UN activity" (using the fig leaf of
NATO) for striking key targets in both the Middle East/ South Asia
and the Balkans. The goal continues to be ultimate destruction of
all national sovereignty and establishment of a global government.
The trigger for the 9-11 activity was the imminent
and unstoppable world-wide financial collapse, which can only be prevented
(temporarily) by a major war, perhaps to become known as WW 111. To
bring it off (one more time), martial law will probably be imposed
in the United States.
In each of the major wars of the 20th century, the
financial manipulators (located in the City of London and New York
City) had placed the US (and much of the Western world) in a monetary
expansion mode, followed by an ever-tightening vice of a gigantic
credit squeeze. We now have two ongoing and tightly controlled simultaneous
events (emanating from the two symbolic targets of 911:
1) Alan Greenspan, Fed chairman, promising to flood
the market with up to $200 billion in FRNs and to further lower interest
rates, thus bringing about hyperinflation and dollar devaluation.
Much of these multi billions in largesse will be dumped into the coffers
of Wall Street, Defense, bankrupt airlines, insurance companies and
into the willing arms of debt-ridden third-world countries in the
form of debt repudiation (forgiveness). Call it bribery, in order
to get these often reluctant nations to join our coalition of "freedom
fighters" in "the war against terrorism".
2) Paul Wolfowitz, deputy Defense secretary, promised
that the US will launch "sustained military strikes against those
behind the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington". He
said that the "military retaliation would continue until the
roots of terrorism are destroyed."
This bit of saber rattling was seconded by select
NATO allies (especially Britain), and by our chief ally in the Middle
East, the Butcher of Beirut, Ariel Sharon, while Secretary of Defense
Don Rumsfeld, with the blessings of Pres. Bush 11, is activating thousands
of national guard and reservists, not only to guard the vulnerable
airports, but to do fly-overs of our Nation's capital in F16s from
the North Dakota Air Guard. Other National Guard units are being jockeyed
into potential combat "hot spots" throughout the Middle
East/South Asia and the Balkans.
WHO IS THE ENEMY?
Following is a summary of the near-unanimous views
of the assembled military and civilian pilots concerning certain critical
factors relating to the WTC/Pentagon hit of 9-11:
Troubling questions arose about the alleged pilot-hijackers
of the four aircraft, who were supposedly trained on Cessna aircraft
over the past year at fields in Florida and Oklahoma. One General
officer remarked, "I seriously question whether these novices
could have located a target dead-on 200 miles removed from takeoff
point...—
much less controlled the flight and mastered the intricacies of 11FR
(instrument flight rules) —
and all accomplished in 45 minutes."
The extremely skillful maneuvering of the three aircraft
at near mach speeds, each unerringly hitting their targets, was superb.
As one Air Force officer —
a veteran of over 100 sorties over North Vietnam —
explained, "Those birds (commercial airliners) either had a crack
fighter pilot in the left seat, or they were being maneuvered by remote
control."
Another pilot warned that "we had better consider
whether electro-magnetic pulse or radio frequency weapons were used
from a command and control platform hovering over the Eastern Seaboard...
I'm talkin' AWACS."
Another comment: "If there was an AWACS on station
over the targeted area, did it have a Global Hawk capability? I mean,
could it convert the commercial jets to robotic flying missiles?
A hotly debated question: Who would be in command
of such an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)? Were they
Chinese —
Russians —
Saudis —
Israelis —
NATO? All of these countries possess AWACS-type aircraft. All (except
the Saudis) have the capability to utilize electro-magnetic pulsing
(EMP) to knock out on-board flight controls and communications of
targeted aircraft, and then, to fly them by remote control.
One of the Air Force officers explained that we had
already flown a robot plane the size of a Boeing 737 across the Pacific
to Australia -- unmanned -- from Edwards AF13 in California to a successful
landing on an Aussie base in South Australia. It flies along a pre-programmed
flight path, but is "monitored" (controlled remotely) by
a pilot from an outside station.
He explained that the London Economist (20 Sep 2001)
published comments from the former CEO of British Airways, Robert
Ayling, who stated that an aircraft could be commandeered from the
ground or air and controlled remotely in the event of a hijack.
COMMERCIAL JETS AS GUIDED MISSILES
An AP story, dateline Brussels - 7 Oct 01 —
"At Washington's request, NATO will soon deploy surveillance
aircraft for anti-terrorist operations in the United States in response
to the attacks on New York and Washington, NATO officials said Sunday,
an unprecedented use of foreign military forces to defend the U.S.
homeland."
The assembled group of pilots debated why we would
ask for foreign forces to fly AWACS over our sovereign territory when
we have a fleet of 33 of them, of which 28 are stationed in Oklahoma.
The debate also centered on whether such NATO surveillance aircraft
were already here prior to 11 September.
Could one of them have commandeered the four airliners?
There seems to be wide discrepancies between what
the Federal government is proclaiming —
and their media moguls reporting —
as opposed to the calm and reasoned and rational views of those men
who fly the planes and defend the nation against all enemies, foreign
and domestic.
This writer has been a general aviation pilot since
1946. 1 have flown a variety of single engine prop aircraft since,
and installed an FAA-approved airstrip here on my farm in 1980. Two
local pilots periodically joined me for short hops; one, a Madison
County lawyer, a graduate of the Air Force Academy, who flew for the
Air Force before coming home to practice law.
The other, Kent Hill, who lives with his wife, Carol,
on a farm close to mine, is an American Airlines captain assigned
to the European route. He was a lifelong friend of "Chic"
Burlingame, They were graduates of the Naval Academy and flew F-4
Phantoms in Vietnam. Both left the Navy 28 years ago and joined American
Airlines. Both planned to retire in 2002. Chic was the captain of
AA flight 77, a Boeing 757, which departed Washington Dulles for Los
Angeles at 8: 10 am on I I September, with 58 passengers and a crew
of 6. Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:41 am.
"We were totally trained on the old type of
hijack," Capt Hill said, "where you treat the hijacker cordially,
punch a 4-digit code into your transponder to alert ground control
you're being hijacked, and then get him where he wants to go, set
the plane safely on the ground and let them deal with it on the ground.
However, this is a totally new situation... Not one of the planes
alerted ground control that they were being hijacked." How come?
"The fact is, all the transponders were turned
off on the doomed flights virtually at the same time." Look at
their departure times -- two from Logan (Boston), one from Newark,
another from Dulles (Washington DC) -- all between 8 am and 8:15.
"Shortly after climb-out to flight level, their
transponders are de-activated.. (they are no longer a blip on the
radar screens). This is something that really needs to be looked into.
The only reason we turn them off is so they don't interfere with ground
systems when we land."
(Note: Transponders identify a particular aircraft
in flight on the radar screens of FAA flight controllers located throughout
the country. Various codes are punched into the transponder, one displaying,
"I am being hijacked.")
Although there is much talk among the various flight
crews, Hill says they are not privy to any of the investigations into
the events of 11 September. "We're in the dark —
very much so ... They're playing it pretty tight to the vest."
He is convinced none of the pilots had control of
their aircraft when they were flown into the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon. The question then becomes, who was really in control?
"Even if I had a gun at my head, I'd never fly
a plane into a building. I'd try to put it in anywhere —
a field or a river —
and I'd be searing the hell out of them (the hijackers) by flying
upside down first," Hill said.
In fact, the pilot has the best weapon in his hand
when threatened with imminent death by a hijacker, namely, the airplane.
Another airline pilot stated. "On hearing a
major scuffle in the cabin, the pilot should have inverted the aircraft
and the hijackers end up with broken necks."
That none of the four pilots executed such a maneuver
points toward the fact that none of them had control of their aircraft,
but had been overridden by an outside force, which was flying them
by remote control.
As an old and not so bold pilot, I became more convinced
that the four commercial jets were choreographed by a "conductor"
from a central source, namely an airborne warning and control system
(AWACS). They have the electronic capability to engage several aircraft
simultaneously, knock out their on-board flight controls by EMP (electro-magnetic
pulsing) and assume command and remote control of these targeted aircraft.
As we consider all the options —
and enemies —
who performed this act of war, whether from China, Russia, Israel,
an Islamic country, or from NATO, we must also consider that the enemy
may be within the gates.
If so, then we are dealing with high treason.
IS THERE A CHINA - ISRAEL CONNECTION?
Under a heading "High-powered Microwave weapons' (Regnery Pub
1999) reported: ', the authors of Red Dragon Rising,
High-powered microwave weapons (sometimes known as radio frequency
weapons) which the PLA calls the 'superstars' of warfare, represent
the new armaments that may define twenty-first century warfare. These
very dangerous weapons can jam electronic equipment by emitting an
extremely powerful pulse of electromagnetic energy over a wide area,
or their energy can be focused in a narrow beam for use against American
satellites I or commercial airliners - Ed 1.
In that startling and factual work, the authors highlight the exceptional
efforts on the part of the PLA to acquire the latest hi-tech data
from the United States, especially for the "superstars of radio
frequency and electro-magnetic pulse weaponry." In their chapter
on "Targeting America", the authors refer to a bipartisan
Cox-Dicks Committee given the task to investigate "U.S. National
Security and Military/Commercial concerns with the Peoples Republic
of China".
They point out that the Clinton administration changed the export
control regulations (Jan 1996) and that by the end of 1998 the PRC
had 600 American super computers.
In 1997-98 the Congressional Joint Economic Committee held hearings
on "Radio Frequency Weapons and Proliferation: Potential Impact
on the Economy". Several experts appearing before the Committee
warned that these weapons pose a distinct threat to the United States.
It was revealed during the hearings that China (PLA) has had a high-powered
microwave weapon program for 25 years under the direction of one of
many Chinese students educated at Berkeley over the years.
The key statement was that the PLA has access to American research
—
"through espionage".
Let's fast-forward to 1999 and to a New York Times Op Ed piece by
A. M. Rosenthal (22 Oct 1999), in which he described the long-secret
arms deals between Israel and Red China He was the managing editor
of the New York Times for 15 years prior to that article appearing
and a dedicated supporter of Israel. However, as a result of that
article, he was fired.
The title of his Op Ed was "The Deadly Cargo", and the
lead sets the theme:
More often now, the special cargo arrives in China from Israel --
riles from Israeli military computers, crates with the makings of
missiles and other weapons, and the men in the lab coats, the engineers
and scientists who know how to put it all together...
And now I see the Chinese minister of defense, who is one of the
ranking Tiananmen killers, visits Israel. I read obsequious Israeli
speeches praising him and his government...
The two countries talk openly about bigger arms deals in the making.
I learn that the Chinese have knit together Russian and Israeli specialties...
The Russians are converting Ilyushin planes into the framework of
U.S.-type flying command posts (AWACS) and will ship them to Israel...
In an astounding interview by Tom Valentine (24 Oct 1999) on Radio
Free America with Andrew St. George the two developed the emerging
scandal of Israel's secret arms deal with Red China. They referred
to the Cox Committee hearings and stated that "unfortunately
, the official Cox 'investigation' into China's capture of American
technology covered up Israel's involvement."
Valentine stressed that the Reagan administration allowed the trade
to escalate in the 1980s, with the help and encouragement of such
officials as Richard Perle, Stephen Bryen, Fred Ickle and Paul Wolfowitz
..."They were the kingpins of the Defense Department in the Reagan
years."
In case you missed it, they are now back as key advisers to President
Bush II; in fact, the leading war hawk pressing for our armed forces
to go to war against the Muslim World is the Deputy Secretary of Defense,
Paul Wolfowitz.
We are being deluged by the current crop of Israel Firsters, all
shouting "It's time to declare war". and "First war
of 21st Century" ( Alan Dershowitz on CNN - William Kristol,
Washington Times - Leonard Piekoff, Washington Post)), and former
Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, appearing before the U.S.
Congress,
QUO VADIS? (Whither Goest?)
To better grasp where we are heading (other than to the Khyber Pass),
we can dip back to recent history (Vietnam, Korea, Desert Storm, Kosovo)
to get a better focus of the direction we are going, even though our
commander-in-chief has yet to define the specific enemy.
"Terrorism is like sin; everybody is agin'it."
To those of us who have actually engaged an enemy (often contrived)
on the battlefield, and/or who have an-n-chaired other wars from a
vantage point, say, the E-Ring of the Pentagon, the pomposity and
solemnity and the speechifying of our fearless politicians, as well
as their favorite talking heads on the idiot box, is eerily familiar.
It is in fact d~ja vous all over again.
Once again, we will rely on "perpetual war for perpetual peace"
to bring us out of the abyss of a major financial collapse. We either
turn out the Barbarians Inside the Gates, or we prepare for the long
dark night of no return. There is no longer a third option.
It's curtain call at the Little Theater off Times Square... Be There!
For more detailed view of air routes see: www.usatoday.com/graphics/news/gra/gflightpath2/flash.htm
________________________________________________________
Donn de Grand M, a retired Army colonel, is author
of A Window on America, Confessions of an Arms Peddler and his latest,
Barbarians Inside the Gates.
_________________________________________________________
See also: Flight
77 Hijacker Hani Hanjour: 9/11 Pilot Extraordinaire
What
Really Happened
at
the Battle of Cowpens, S. Carolina, 1781