Norman Mineta's testimony

[Andrew Johnson]

Now, it is one of the popular statements that is referenced in 9/11 Truth material:

Minetta said he had encountered Vice President Cheney in a bunker in Washington, DC, at 9:20 AM, on the day of the attacks [forty-three minutes earlier than Cheney said he had arrived]. Every few seconds a young man would come into the room and say, 'Sir, it's 50 miles out. Sir, it's 40 miles out. Sir, it's 30 miles out,' and so on. Finally the young man asked the Vice President, 'Sir, do the orders still stand?' Cheney replied gruffly, 'Of course, the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?'

I decided to check Mineta's biography:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/mineta-bio.html

2 paragraphs interested me:

Secretary Mineta guided the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, an agency of more than 60,000 employees charged with protecting Americans as they travel across our country. Starting from a blank sheet of paper on Nov. 19, 2001, Secretary Mineta led a team that met all 36 mandates set forth by Congress – including screening all airline passengers by the TSA's first anniversary and all baggage by Dec. 31, 2003. Because of the Secretary's leadership, the TSA quickly developed into an effective agency that has restored air travelers' confidence in aviation security following the terrorist attacks. The Transportation Security Administration was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

and

Prior to joining President Bush's administration as Secretary of Transportation, Secretary Mineta served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Clinton. He was vice president of Lockheed Martin Corporation prior to joining the Commerce Department.

Now, what is then really interesting is this:

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=12446&rsbci=0 &fti=112&ti=0&sc=400

LOCKHEED MARTIN BEGINS FABRICATION OF AIRBORNE LASER TURRET

SUNNYVALE, CA, April 10, 2000 -- Lockheed Martin Space Systems, a member of Team Airborne Laser (ABL), has begun fabrication of the revolutionary, high-energy laser weapon system's turret assembly at its Sunnyvale, Calif., facility.


It's a funny old world, ay?

[Mark Gobell]

Mineta's "testimony" has, for me, evolved into a rather unpleasant smelling rotten fish.

I have never been able to understand why his seemingly incrimininating testimony was allowed in the first place.

The fact that it was ommitted from the 9/11 Commission Report was also glaringly suspect.

He says one thing, the report says another and we're all naturally encouraged to be cynical about that little fact.

The way that the unspoken "order" has been interpreted and set in stone for me is also very dubious.

I reason that the whole episode is a red herring.

Interesting connections though AJ. Good work.

[brian]

The Overwhelming Implausibility of Directed Energy Beams to Demolish the World Trade Center Towers

(Updated 4/12/07)

Gregory S. Jenkins, Ph.D. Physics
Co-author: Matt Sullivan

http://www.journalof911studies.com/volume/200702/Implausibility-Direct ed-Energy-Beam-Demolish-WTC-by-Gregory-Jenkins.pdf

[Stefan]

If you listen to Minetta's full testimoney it is fairly clear he does not realise he is saying anything incriminating. They certainly weren't expecting him to have otherwise it wouldn't have been televised live.

He states that he assumed the order was to shoot the plane down, one of the commisioners (can't remember which) tries to seize on this and build it up looking for him to state explcitly it was a shoot down order and Minetta responds that he can't as he didn't know what the order was and that would be speculation. The commisioner goes further and actually tries to put words in minettas mouth; painting a picture of a confused and chaotic control room where the order was to shoot down and it somehow failed, Minetta again says he doesn't actually know what the order referred to was.

Poor Minetta to honest and too slow for his own good.

Any one with even an ounce of logical ability can deduce the order must have been the polar opposite of a shoot down: Andrews air force base is 8 seconds by jet to the pentagon, and minutes from the plane at the first question from the aid right through the the "are you sure the order still stands?"- the only reason these updates would be needed is if the order was not to stop it.

It is truly criminal that the commision did not investigate this: they rested on the claim the order must have been to shoot down and it failed- why then did they not seek to find out who the order was given to and just why they ignored it?

Think about it - the vice president of the united states personally gives an order to shoot a plane down SEVERAL TIMES and no one lifts a finger to do it? If this was true where is the court martial?

It is good evidence to my mind; anyone with any critical thinking ability can work out exactly what the testimoney means.