I was in Washington, DC when the terrorists struck. Here are my experiences and thoughts.
For my thoughts about Air Safety, even before these latest attacks, click here.
Click here for reports from Tuesday, September 25 and before
Click here to go to the report for September 11, 2001I went out to the Pentagon City mall on Saturday afternoon and it seemed rather busy. The restaurants I dined at Friday and Saturday night were fairly busy. My Sunday dinner restaurant was as packed as I've ever seen it. So, as far as I can tell, "the economy" is coping with the terrorist threat fairly well.
Also on Saturday I walked over to the Pentagon. You can walk fairly close now, right up to Washington Boulevard, so you're only 500 feet away. They had a lot of heavy equipment there, actually tearing down damaged portions of the Pentagon.
The congressional office buildings will be closed on Monday due to continued "environmental testing" for anthrax. There's a good chance they'll open on Tuesday. Thinking of sending a letter to your congressman? Try email!
I still think the anthrax "scare" is way overblown by the media. Yes, it's real, but so are many things that affect our lives, like cancer, drunk drivers, and hurricanes. It's new and novel, but it needs to be put in perspective.
Monday I'll be attending a panel discussion at the American Enterprise Institute here in Washington entitled "What if Congress were Obliterated?". Two congressmen will be on the panel. It should be very interesting.
I've been here in Washington since Sunday afternoon.
The media "frenzy" over the anthrax "scare" is rather amazing. I walked through the Senate Hart office building yesterday and there was no sense of frenzy. Today I went to a hearing in the House Cannon office building and there was no frenzy there. Walking around the grounds of the Capital, the guards were telling people to move back from the area where a Senate press conference was going on and part of the Capital reflecting pool area was closed, but other than that, there was no frenzy. A number of congressional employees are being tested, but mostly as a precaution. The worst part is that there are some conflicting stories and the media is reporting stories without double checking. The Speaker of the House said that the Senate would be closed, but the leaders of the Senate denied that. Yes, the situation is evolving, but the media is painting more of a frenzy than actually exists.
Mostly a normal day here in NYC. But it was Columbus Day, which is a "partial" holiday. On my mid-day walk through Central Park I walked back along part of the parade route.
Then, around 2:00 p.m., while walking down 3rd Avenue at 47th Street I ran into a bomb scare. The police had a small section of sidewalk (less than a quarter of the block) taped off and were making people cross the street. But they weren't detouring traffic and were not keeping the entire block clear. I hung out on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 46th Street just to see what procedures they would follow. It was a while before the bomb squad showed up. And longer before they closed the whole sidewalk. And then, FINALLY, they started diverting traffic onto 46th Street. Imagine, four lanes of mid-day traffic all turning onto a narrow side street. There was a guy in the big, bulky bomb-squad suit and there were some "discussions" on the sidewalk. A woman who worked in the building called a co-worker who was still in the building and she said there was an unclaimed bag and they were just waiting for the police to do something about it. Not very exciting. There were maybe a few dozen people watching and trying to figure out what was going on. Nobody getting very excited. Just typical New Yorker nosiness. After about 45 minutes I got bored and continued on. I don't even think this made the news. This is the third bomb scare I've run across in NYC. One was last year on 2nd Avenue, also between 46th and 47th Streets (hmmm... coincidence??). The other was back in 1994 on 2nd Avenue between 43rd and 44th Street, just a few blocks from my apartment (and the Un and the Israeli Consulate). When I lived in Paris for a year, I ran across three bomb scares plus I was there when they covered over all the trash receptacles and had a nail bomb in the subway. This is just life in the city.
My Monday evening dinner restaurant had more business than I remember back in the Spring. In other words, not only is business better since 9/11, but it's better than before. This place is in the heart of "Silicon Alley" where so many "dot-coms" ran into trouble. But now things are picking up again.
A major cause of anxiety is the inability of the administration to adequately clue us in on the "itinerary" for our "trip" to "cure" terrorism. They simply are not clear as to whether the high-intensity activities in Afghanistan are going to last a few months or a few years. I saw one news report that suggested months while Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said "years". I suspect there are extreme conflicts within the administration as to how the "war" should be prosecuted. Obviously they can't predict the precise path of the conflict and should not disclose any details that would "aid the enemy", but they should at least have a sanitized "game plan" to share with the world. Yes, it will take "as long as it takes", but people need to have their expectations set as to whether this will be months or years. I don't think anyone supports a new "Cold War" with extended conflicts such as Korea and Viet Nam. It is precisely this failure to set expectations in a believable manner that is causing market action like we saw today. Everybody is "on their own" to "forecast" how long they think the high-intensity military operations will last. My bet is that the high-intensity conflict will last no more than a few months to be followed by medium-intensity "mopping up" and support for "nation building" to be followed by long term peace-keeping with occasional surgical strikes to deal with any resurgence. The other huge liability for the administration is a failure to communicate effectively their plan or even intent for dealing with Iraq and its existing and developing weapons of mass destruction. We do need to give the administration a lot of leeway in dealing with these issues, but they need to give us (both citizens and businesses) enough information to help us cope as well. It's a tough balancing act and the situation is evolving on a daily basis, but right now the balance just isn't there. Right now the administration has a blank check. If we are not beginning to see tangible "results" in a few months, Congress (and the American people) will start squirming. And in one year there's a very important election. The administration must also keep in mind that even the best coalition will only hold up under intense pressure for a very limited amount of time. But, I'm still hopeful that the administration (with a little "gentle prodding" from Congress) will eventually evolve a solution to these issues.
I went on my usual walk around lower Manhattan on Saturday. They were letting people get a little closer to the World Trade Center Site. You can walk around Battery Park and part of the promenade near the Holocaust Memorial. Both were closed off two weeks ago.
They were letting people walk up West Street to about four blocks south of the South Tower site. But eventually a National Guard guy came over to a group of a few dozen and told us we had to leave the area. The are was relatively clear since there had been a heavy rain in the morning. But it still smelled of concrete and plaster dust. We were close enough that clumps of caked concrete/plaster/ash were everywhere and lots of pieces of paper. They were washing the sides and windows of the apartment buildings in Battery City.
It's interesting that parts of the exteriors of both towers are still standing. And there is still smoke coming up from the "pile".
I went past the pier on the East River where they load the heavy steel onto barges. It's still so amazing to see these very stout steel beams twisted and burst so extensively.
I went on my usual walk around Central Park and the Upper West Side on Sunday. Completely uneventful. People just doing their normal Sunday affairs. As if nothing was wrong in the world. Of course, most of there people are die-hard New Yorkers or thrill-seeking tourists.
I knew at 1:00 p.m. that "something" had happened, but not exactly what. Some woman had mentioned that there had been a "bombing", but I decided to wait until the evening to get all the details all at once on the Internet. Other than that, everyone seemed so calm and normal.
My Sunday dinner restaurant was actually very busy. In fact, they said that was the busiest they've been since before 9/11.
Thursday and Friday were just normal days for me here in the city.
My apartment is still rather quiet since the streets around the UN are blocked off with big Winter sanding trucks (fully loaded). The street checkpoint on 42nd Street and 2nd Avenue was manned with three police cruisers from... Nassau County. That seemed strange. The checkpoint is for vehicles that need to get through. They don't bother with pedestrians or cyclists.
Not much new to report. I'm back in NYC for a while.
Before I left DC, I went to a hearing of the House International Relations Committee on Al Qaeda. They had three "experts" on terrorism who discussed various aspects of the situation. They had a short video on various extremist activists who have been operating in the U.S., attempting to stir up passion for attacking American targets. There was some discussion of the fact that the FBI can't do very much (other than minimal surveillance) until there is a "criminal predicate" -- in other words, the FBI has to wait for someone to actually DO something illegal. I'm not a fan of giving the FBI unrestricted powers, but this is a ridiculous restriction.
A few days ago they put up a wooden snow fence outside the concrete barriers around the Washington Monument. Now, they've moved the fence all the way up to the flags that circle the monument and you can now walk past the concrete barriers and up the the flags. But you still can't walk on the plaza immediately around the base of the monument. There are benches just outside the flags, but they detoured the fence to enclose the benches! I'm not sure what kind of terrorist threat the benches provide. I'm sure there's some reason for this silliness. Or maybe not. Maybe just a bunch of people who need to stay busy, at taxpayer's expense.
I had dinner on the rooftop terrace of the Hotel Washington which is just a block and a half from the White House and across the street from the main Treasury building. It was so strange being able to look down at the White House. The air was fairly clear. The monuments are all visible from the terrace. Don't ask me why this terrace is not a security risk for the White House! The food was reasonably cheap for such a great view ($7.50 for a burger). There were a moderate number of people up there.
The restaurant I went to dinner at last night was actually very busy, especially compared to two weeks ago. People are gradually getting back to "normal".
On my Sunday walk I did walk by the "peace" rally. It was very tame. Only a few hundred people. I did spot a small group of the "radicals" (bandanas covering their faces) and there were plenty of police on hand. After the initial rally they were supposed to march "through the neighborhood" (not near downtown or the White House). But I was too busy to hang around.
Security around the White House was much more relaxed by Sunday evening. Although as I was walking along the east walkway they were locking the gates (and had to unlock them to let me out!).
I'll probably be going to New York City either this coming weekend or next. It turns out that I was mistaken and Amtrak had not raised their fares: I inadvertently chose a "peak" time (Friday afternoon) to travel. I won't make that mistake again.
My Sunday dinner restaurant was significantly busier than two weeks ago, but still not as busy as usual. Still, that's a positive trend.
Security around the White House was somewhat tighter due to a "big" anti-war protest going on down at the Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue. I walked by the plaza around 12:30 p.m. and it was about half densely packed and the rest with somewhat dense milling around. There were a variety of speakers attempting to incite the participants who had a wide variety of signs. The basic theme was "Stop War & End Racism". The rally was organized as the "International A.N.S.W.E.R." (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism), see www.internationalANSWER.org. There were a lot of different sub-groups involved. If the events of 9/11 had not occurred, there was going to be a big IMF (International Monetary Fund) meeting here this weekend and the anti-globalism "forces" were going to have lots of protest activities. But, the IMF meeting was cancelled, so all the "groups" participated in this instead. Each group was handing out their flyers and manifestos. I have one here that rants about U.S. "imperialists" -- it's from the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade. There were a number of officers walking across the surrounding streets taking telephoto pictures of people and the speakers. Kind of eerie. But it was all rather calm, most people having a good time. There was a separate march from Union Station to the IMF and then later down to the Freedom Plaza and on to the Capital that had some clashes with the police and counter-protesters, but I missed that. There is supposed to be another march on Sunday up near Meridien Park which is straight up 16th Street from where I live. I usually walk past there on my Sunday morning walk; how convenient.
On my Saturday afternoon walk over to the Pentagon City shopping mall in Virginia, there seemed to be a healthy amount of shopping going on. Maybe it was just something pleasant to do after walking to the gas station across the highway where you had a birds-eye view of the damaged wall of the Pentagon. The parking lot at Costco was packed. At Circuit City I even ran into a recently layed-off airline employee looking to buy a notebook computer. Consumers really are hanging in there.
On my way over I walked past National Airport. Talk about a ghost town. Even all the planes are gone. Soon grass will be growing on the runway. The White House is supposed to announce their "position" on re-opening the airport. Somehow, it will re-open. It's a major embarrassment that it hasn't re-opened yet; the President telling people it's safe to fly, but just not near him. Even Congress is demanding the re-opening and they're more at risk (a bigger, easier target).
I've started thinking about maybe flying down to Disney World sometime in October. I have been boycotting the airlines for four years, but maybe now that business is slowed it might be a good time to travel.
In case you've run across this "unreal", supposed "tourist" snapshot of the plane approaching the World Trade Center (www.netlaughter.com/wtc.htm) taken from a camera that survived and was found in the "ashes"... Yes, it is UNREAL... But that's because it's a fake picture!! The WTC site is to the west of 5th Avenue (straight down 6th Avenue/Avenue of the Americas) and the angle of this picture is clearly from the east of 5th Avenue (looking slightly west towards the Empire State Building), and there wouldn't be so many buildings on the west side of the background. Besides, the camera would not have survived the fire. And, the tourist observation deck was atop the SOUTH tower but the plane flying south struck the NORTH tower.
Here's a legitimate picture from the WTC (http://rick.germs.org/images/manhattan.html) . Notice the angle of 5th Ave (which passes to the east side of the Empire State Building) and notice how few buildings are on the left part of the background. The background of the fake is clearly a telephoto view (distances are shortened). Notice the distinctive building in the lower left of the fake and then see where that building is in the real photo.
Here are some pictures from the WTC taken just a week before the attack: http://www.13pt.com/worldtrade/prologue.html.
Here are some pictures taken the same day I was visiting NYC http://www.13pt.com/worldtrade/12.html. I was on the ground, but the scene was the same. Actually, I was a little closer. In fact, I was at Broadway and Vesey just as one of the pictures shows.
Not much to report from Thursday. Fairly quiet day.
I've gotten so used to the CAP (Combat Air Patrol) flying overhead all the time that I don't even bother mentioning it. I frequently try to spot the planes, but it rather difficult. Thursday I did spot three of them because they were at just the right angle to the sun. They usually fly in pairs.
Something worse than terrorists: One of the beavers is back. While walking around the Tidal Basin Thursday evening I noticed one of them swimming around. Last time this happened, back in 1999, the Park Service got upset just because the beavers starting gnawing at the cherry trees. They "relocated" the beavers. It will be interesting to see what happens this time. Most of the newer trees have plastic around them to prevent beaver attacks, but I noticed that there are a number of even newer, smaller trees that are not protected. I did alert the Park Service because I know they move slower than the beavers. I do have to confess that I'm rooting for the beavers. I hope that doesn't sound too unpatriotic.
As far as the "New War", it's already beginning to seem a lot less than originally made out to be. Yesterday they were talking about a "go slow" approach. Get used to the idea that not much will happen for extended periods of time and occasionally there will be a moderately big "flare up". In any case, it's all quite literally up in the air. So get used to it and move on. As far as the chance of additional attacks or a possible chem/bio attack, same advice. Eventually, there will be additional terrorist attacks. And eventually somebody is going to try a chemical or biological attack. Accept it and move on. Or move to Tahiti.
Washington really does seem to be getting a lot more settled-in.
The restaurant where I had dinner last night was much busier than I expected, especially compared to a week ago.
Security around the White House has not changed much since last week.
The administration "plan" for the "war" continues to evolve. Secretary of State Powell sounds a lot more confident that Osama bin Laden is the mastermind and the clear target. Still, t's still not totally clear whether the administration will shoot for a short-term change of regime in Afghanistan or if that's a longer-term plan after an initially high-intensity campaign to deal with bin Laden.
There is a credible argument to be made that even if bin Laden is the "mastermind", Iraq is the real puppet-master behind the scenes. If so, dealing with bin Laden will not stop the ongoing terrorist campaign which is really an extension of the 1990 Gulf War.
Back in DC early Tuesday evening. Seems to be plenty of traffic on the streets. I missed the big tornado yesterday.
I'll be going to a talk on Iraq this morning. The focus is on the extent to which Iraq has been behind terrorist attacks against the U.S.
The Pentagon is "warning" people not to expect "a D-Day-style invasion". The administration is still doing a lousy job of communicating exactly WHAT we should be expecting to see. Not the details or the secret deals, but they need to set expectations or they will lose the support of the public if a couple months go by and we don't see "results" that we expect to see. But, this whole thing is still a "work in progress", so a fair amount of confusion is to be expected.
Click here for reports from Tuesday, September 25 and before
Click here to go to the report for September 11, 2001
Please contact us with any questions or comments.
Updated: January 30, 2006 08:37:36 PM -0500
Copyright © 2001 John W. Krupansky d/b/a Base Technology