25 years ago, America faces ‘darkest hour’ as 9/11 terror attacks unfold – SCMP archive

This article was first published on September 12, 2001.
America’s nightmare
by Greg Torode in Washington
President George W. Bush this morning (September 12, 2001) told the United States that thousands had lost their lives after two hijacked airliners destroyed New York’s World Trade Centre and another smashed into the Pentagon in the most brutal terrorist attacks in the nation’s history.
Mr Bush, in a televised address to the nation, condemned the “despicable” attacks, saying: “These acts shattered steel but they cannot dampen the steel of American resolve”.
But as his top security team put the nation on a war footing from secure crisis bunkers, officials denied the US was responsible for what initially appeared to be missile strikes on Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, early this morning.

The first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Centre early yesterday (September 11, 2001) and then millions around the world watched in horror as a second struck it just 18 minutes later. Within 30 minutes another airliner had smashed into a wall of the Pentagon, America’s defence headquarters.
A fourth airliner went down near Pittsburgh, raising fears that it was being flown towards Camp David, the presidential retreat outside the capital.
Officials declared states of emergency in both New York and Washington. They warned it could be days before the full death toll was known.
Pressure to retaliate intensified as Mr Bush flew into Washington, his helicopter flanked by three fighter jets. Vice-President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice worked from the situation room deep beneath the White House as America’s military and most sensitive agencies were placed on full alert.
Lawrence Eagleburger, secretary of state under former president George Bush Snr, demanded immediate strikes against nations that sponsored terrorism, saying the President must declare “war on terrorism”.
“We need to be prepared to act as if we are at war,” he said.
Senator John Warner, fresh from security briefings, said yesterday’s attack represented America’s “darkest hour”. He urged Americans to treat terrorism as a “common enemy” for all.

Officials said radical Muslim terrorist Osama bin Laden remained the main suspect. Senator Orrin Hatch claimed intelligence agents had already detected his followers boasting that they had hit “two targets”.
Bin Laden is thought to be in hiding in Afghanistan but Pentagon officials insisted reports of missiles hitting Kabul were probably linked to the civil war.
Both the World Trade Centre’s 110-storey towers - the workplace for about 40,000 people - collapsed in a cloud of fire and rubble that engulfed downtown Manhattan two hours after they were struck by the two airliners shortly before 9am yesterday, New York time.
Workers were seen leaping from windows before the collapse. New York’s hospitals were jammed with hundreds of burns victims and the city’s firefighting union said it feared 200 firefighters had been killed.
America’s two largest airlines - United and American - each confirmed they had lost two aircraft to hijackers. A total of 266 people were on the planes. All other commercial flights across the US had been grounded. International flights were being diverted to Canada.
In his initial response, President Bush vowed retaliation but urged calm. “Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts - freedom will be defended. Our military at home and around the world is on high-alert status and we have taken the necessary security precautions to continue the functioning of your Government”.

All sensitive military and government installations in America and overseas were on full alert, from the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory in New Mexico to the giant National Security Agency outside Washington. Extra security forces were deployed.
The White House, the Pentagon, the Supreme Court and Capitol Hill were all evacuated, except emergency bunkers, including the White House’s underground situation room.
The Federal Reserve vowed to pump more money into the banking system to keep America’s financial system working. The New York Stock Exchange was shut for two days amid fears the strikes could push the global economy into recession.
The Red Cross was calling for emergency blood donations while National Guard volunteers were being summoned in Washington and New York. Large areas of both cities were shut down and roads leading away from them were jammed with traffic. Even before investigations could begin, government sources linked the attack to bin Laden.
Some sources suggested America’s vast intelligence community may have had some idea that an attack was being planned.
Some leaders urged calm, insisting that Americans must not panic. Others described the situation as “war”. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged Americans to show calm so that their system remained “strong, secure and united”. Senator Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, declared the attacks “our generation’s Pearl Harbour”.
Sandy Berger, national security adviser to ex-president Bill Clinton, warned America would respond to what appeared to be a creative and orchestrated attack. “Their footprint is large enough - we are going to find someone who is responsible”. New York Governor George Pataki said: “This is an attack upon the whole concept of our way of life”.
Chris Yates, an aviation expert at Jane’s Transport in London, said: “This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that’s ever taken place in the world. It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved that is second to none. Only a very small handful of terror groups is on that list. I would name at the top of the list Osama bin Laden”.

Barbara Olson, a commentator for CNN, was on board an American Airlines 767 that was hijacked from Dulles airport in Washington and telephoned her husband to say all the passengers and crew had been herded to the back of the plane.
She said the hijackers were armed only with paper cutters and knives. The plane crashed into the Pentagon, killing all on board.
Governments around the world tightened security at US embassies and public buildings, and planes bound for the US were recalled. Hong Kong police stepped up security outside the US Consulate-General.
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa expressed his condolences to the families of the victims to US Consul-General Michael Klosson.
President Jiang Zemin was among many world leaders who expressed horror at the attacks and extended sympathy to “Mr Bush, the US Government and people for the disastrous attacks against the US”.

However, some Palestinians in the West Bank celebrated the news, and Iraqi television played a patriotic song that began “Down with America”.
Terrorist bombers struck the World Trade Centre in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.