In the defense of the nation, there is no "just another day at the office," in particular when the threat from hijacked airliners was well-known, discussed, and analyzed.

Furthermore, it is the duty of NORAD and the USAF to intercept commercial aircraft which are off course and/or which have gone off transponders, since, at the very least, such aircraft are a hazard to navigation, and, at the very worst, they can be deadly weapons when commandeered by ne'er do wells, as we have seen.

While I appreciate your willingness to engage in debate on this issue, I find it just a little disingenuous for you to suggest that the military might provide aircraft if it can, when intercept is first and foremost among the duties listed for the military in the document you provided, and intercept was the very task which NORAD and the USAF failed to execute, in violation of established procedures and regulations.

I will conclude by noting that whatever actions the commander-in-chief might have been expected to take after being informed that the nation was under attack, continuing to listen to pet goat stories in a vulnerable location would certainly not be included among them. Nor would climbing a building to swat at planes, although I will be the first to admit that both of these actions - one real, one suggested - are equally ludicrous.

No, when the nation is under attack, the duty of the commander-in-chief is to rally the defense, and get his butt out of harm's way.

On Black Tuesday, September 11, 2001, President George Herbert Walker Bush did neither.

Curious minds would like to know why.

YoursTruly