Finished up reading, only got halfway through yesterday. Still think Card erred in not returning to Washington earlier, and really shocked the Prez didn't just overide him. Also think the Major flying the plane got a bit too big for his britches.
Also think some of the principals speaking were pretty wussed out. One guy said it was chilling to see the President walk into a concrete bunker in Offut. Really? You should be glad he's safe! Man up! And throughout, they were shocked, it was awful. They were confused. They were worried. Aren't they (press on board aside) the professionals paid to deal with this type of crisis. Soft. So soft.
I was personally shocked but only briefly. I was on vacation in Mexico at the time, and only heard about it about 30 or so minutes in. My girlfriend told me about it (someone had called her) and we turned on the TV in the condo we were staying in, and within seconds the first building fell. That was shocking. I of course knew about the 1993 attack and I said "well they got it this time". And for a few minutes I was just stunned. And then...I was over it! Just like that. I just wanted to get my hands on a terrorist - any terrorist. I was in Puerta Vallarto, one of the better places in Mexico, and didn't know how long it would take to get a flight, but hey, worse places to be stuck, right? As it turns out, 911 was on a Tuesday and my Saturday flight only got delayed a day. So on that Sunday as I was in line for the flight, a couple from New York was behind me,and I could tell they were upset. We spoke and they talked about how shocking it would be for them to land in New York and not see the towers. I had my federal passport (I work for Uncle Same) with me as I had never bothered to get personal passport,and they asked me if I thought our plane would be attacked ( I think they thought I was with federal security lol!). I replied "if they do it won't work". And that was my attitude. I would go after the sunsubitches if they tried. I didn't understand all the people - or maybe it was just the media - in the weeks after curled up into a little ball as if there was a terrorist under every rock. I cringed watching the folks on CNBC worry about their damned investments, like all that mattered was money. I cringed again when W begged people to go out and spend as if that was all that mattered. But though the attacks were bad, IMO they were a blip compared to the totality of WW II. The bloodiness of the civil war. To a lesser extent WW I, and heck just about any real war we have ever fought.
It was shocking to see it happen in our biggest city and include the Pentagon in DC, but at the end of the day it was 3000-4000 deaths and some infrastructure damage. Our country has survived far worse. It was more of a PR victory for them than anything else. And then we immediately went into Afghanistan and WHIPPED THEIR ASSES. Was proud of that. Later detour to Iraq, not so much.
But bottom line...I agree with BDV in that we have way too many soft people in this country. Resolve was stiffened in 2001 but is slacking again. But we will persevere I have no doubt.