Grounding the Air Force for Its Response on 9/11

I would like to thank you for printing Sandy Goodman’s July 17 commentary, “Air Force Dodges Sept. 11 Flak,” which finds fault with the lack of response from the U.S. Air Force on Sept. 11. To this day, I am shocked and outraged by the inactivity demonstrated by the Air Force in failing to protect our nation’s capital on that tragic day.

While the two separate attacks in New York came as a big surprise, one would think our government would, at the very least, have had the common sense to have fighter jets protecting the skies over Washington, particularly since more than an hour had elapsed from the time the FAA discovered that planes had been hijacked until the Pentagon was hit.

It does not take a Rhodes scholar to realize that New York City, Washington and California, in no particular order, are the three most likely terrorist targets in this country, does it?

Of course, the public will never be given a much-deserved explanation as to what really went wrong on that day, given the Bush administration’s desire to blame others and for its policy of operating in secrecy.

Roy M. Stein

Orange