Newly published audio this week reveals that Vice President Dick Cheney’s infamous Sept. 11, 2001 order to shoot down rogue civilian aircraft was ignored by military officials, who instead ordered pilots to only identify suspect aircraft. [...]
Cheney’s order was given at “about 10:15” a.m., according to the former VP’s memoirs, but the 9/11 Commission Report shows United flight 93 going down at 10:06 a.m. Had the military followed Cheney’s order, civilian aircraft scrambling to get out of the sky could have been shot down, exponentially amplifying the day’s tragedy.
Can you imagine if the military had taken Cheney's orders seriously? There were jets all over the place behaving erratically as they attempted to find a place to land in the midst of unprecedented chaos. Some of them might not have made it -- and they would have been shot down for nothing.