Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke Read Free Book Online

block building and surrounded by loudly jeering Korean troops who thrust bayonets in the windows at them. He joined the White House terrorism team in December 1999 and spent Christmas Day that year accompanying the National Security Advisor to the terrorism centers at CIA and FBI as part of the Millennium Terrorist Alert. Like Cressey, he had run marathons and he was the kind of guy that no one disliked.
    These people did not flap. They were like family to me, but suddenly I realized that I wanted them to leave for their own safety. I checked again with FAA to see if they still thought there were hijacked aircraft aloft. There were 3,900 aircraft still in the air and at least four of those were believed to be in the hands of the terrorists.
    I huddled everyone together just outside the Video Conferencing Center and asked them to leave. Lisa spoke for the group: “Right, Dick. None of us are leaving you, so let’s just go back in there.”
    â€œHold on. We will be the next target. It’s no shame to relocate. Some of you have kids too—think about them,” I said, looking at Roger, whose second child was due in a few months.
    Roger did not hesitate. He said, “If we don’t hold this thing together, no one will and we don’t have time for this.” Then he brushed by me and walked back into the Video Conferencing Center. Frank Miller grabbed a legal pad and said, “All right. If you’re staying, sign your name here.”
    â€œWhat the hell’s the point of that?” Paul Kurtz asked.
    Frank slowly scanned the group, “I’m going to e-mail the list out of the compound so the rescue teams will know how many bodies to look for.”
    Everyone signed and walked back in. We resumed the video conference. “DOD, DOD, go.” I asked the Pentagon for an update on the fighter cover.
    Dick Myers had a status report. “We have three F-16s from Langley over the Pentagon. Andrews is launching fighters from the D.C. Air National Guard. We have fighters aloft from the Michigan Air National Guard, moving east toward a potential hostile over Pennsylvania. Six fighters from Tyndall and Ellington are en route to rendezvous with Air Force One over Florida. They will escort it to Barksdale. NORAD says that it will have AWACS over New York and Washington later this morning.”
    DOD Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz had relocated to the Alternate National Military Command Center outside Washington and had now rejoined the conference. “We have to think of a message to the public. Tell them not to clog up the roads. Let them know we are in control of the airways. Tell them what is happening. Have somebody go out from the White House.”
    â€œPaul, there is nobody in the White House but us and no press on the grounds. I think the President will have something to say when he lands in Barksdale, but we have to be careful…we really don’t know what is going on, are attacks still under way…anybody?”
    Dale Watson, counterterrorism chief at FBI, was waving at the camera indicating he had an update. “Go ahead, Dale.”
    â€œDick, got a few things here. Our New York office reports that the Port Authority is closing all bridge and tunnel connections into Manhattan. We have a report of a large jet crashed in Kentucky, near the Ohio line.
    â€œWe think we ought to order all landmark buildings around the country to evacuate, like the Sears Tower, Disney World, the Liberty Bell, the TransAmerica Building in San Francisco. This thing is still going on. And Dick, call me in SIOC when you can.” SIOC—the Strategic Information and Operations Center—is FBI’s command center. Dale had something he did not want to share with everyone in the conference.
    Frank Miller took over the video conference and I stepped out and called Watson on a secure line. “We got the passenger manifests from the airlines. We recognize some names, Dick.