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American Morning
Pentagon Goes to War
Aired September 05, 2002 - 08:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: A few minutes ago, we told you about "The New York Daily News" and its investigation into just how easy it seems to be to sneak contraband items on airplanes. Ever since 09-11, air security has focused not only on what gets onto the plane, but also what the military can do in the air. There are still some major questions about how effective military air patrols can be, and Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, who has spent this week looking at the Pentagon since 09-11 today focuses on safety in the skies.
We're so glad to have you in town for a change.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
And of course on September 11th, the military quickly launched planes into the air, trying to catch the hijackers, and of course, tragically, they failed to do that.
But ever since then, air patrols have continued over America. And those patrols are now a permanent feature as the Pentagon goes to war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): At 8:50, United Airline flights 175 is hijacked just after taking off from Boston Logan International Airport. F-15s are scrambled to try to catch the plane, but just 12 minutes after the hijacking, flight 75 hits the World Trade Center. The F-15s are still eight minutes and 75 miles away. The U.S. military never came close to intercepting any of the four hijacked planes.
For months, fighters on combat air patrols over U.S. cities have been the main focus of military efforts to keep skies safe. It hasn't worked. Planes can't be everywhere. So it's hard to even catch small private planes that inadvertently wander into the 50-mile restricted airspace around Washington. There is a more unsettling problem. The shooting down of a commercial airliner, and who decides if the plane is a threat. It seems unthinkable even today, but is it.
On 9-11, Vice President Cheney told the Pentagon, they had permission to shoot down a plane if it threatened Washington.
Days later, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused to discuss the rules for shooting down a civilian plane, but then, when pressed on the matter, there was this.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: Americans can have a high degree of certainty, it seems to me. The president, the secretary of defense and the combatant commanders are never more than a minute or two away from a secure phone.
STARR: But a shoot-down would be a disaster by any calculation. Not only would innocent Americans on the plane be killed by an air-to- air missile, but flaming debris could kill countless others on the ground. The military is looking at a number of options. One controversial idea, further restricting airspace over sensitive areas like Washington D.C., into keeping small private planes further away from the White House, Capitol or Pentagon, areas they are already banned from flying over directly.
PHIL BOYER, PRESIDENT, AIRCRAFT OWNERS: I think no matter what you do with airspace, you're really not solving the problem you want to solve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America prepares to face attack on its cities and industrial centers under a combined civilian defense program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Another idea, placing antiaircraft radars and missiles in American cities, like the military did during the Cold War.
An Army exercise earlier this summer practiced using military radars to track commercial planes so they could more rapidly respond if a plane turned into a threat. But this doesn't solve the problem of civilian casualties if a military patrol aircraft fired its missiles, and there is better and faster communication between the FAA and NORAD.
But for now, the military will continue random air patrols and accept the risk of imperfect protection.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And since September 11th, the military has conducted 20,000 missions over the United States, and responded, Paula, some 500 times to potential incidents.
ZAHN: Really?
STARR: Most of them have been inconsequential, but 500 times, they have been called on to respond.
ZAHN: And tomorrow, you will be taking us back to ground zero at the Pentagon?
STARR: Right, we'll have a personal look. We'll go back to ground zero, the area that's been rebuilt, and we'll take a moment to remember the dead at the Pentagon.
ZAHN: All right, we'll we appreciate your being in town and look forward to the rest of your series. Thanks, Barbara
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