| America Attacked | ||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||
| World Trade Center, Large Part of Pentagon Destroyed in Terrorist Attack | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||
Chronology: All time shown below are approximate Eastern Daylight Times. Thursday, September 27, 2001 The
Investigation (CNN) Also Today: Five years ago today, the Taliban officially took control of Afghanistan. They now control about 90 percent of the country.
2:30 pm - The Federal Bureau of Investigation released 19 photographs of individuals believed to be the hijackers of the four airliners that crashed on September 11, 2001, into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, and in Stony Creek Township, Pennsylvania. The FBI requests the public's assistance in obtaining more information about these individuals. It should be noted that attempts to confirm the true identities of these individuals are still under way. The FBI asks anyone who has ever seen or has information about these individuals to immediately contact the nearest FBI office or the toll free hotline number 1-866-483-5137 or submit information at http://www.ifccfbi.gov. The photographs can be viewed at http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/penttbom/penttbomb.htm. [Source: FBI] 2:15 pm - Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld announced that new "Defense of Freedom Medals" will be awarded to civilian Pentagon employees killed or injured in the Sept 11 terrorist attack. Military personnel will be awarded the Purple Heart. [See: Purple Hearts, Freedom Medals for Pentagon Victims (Reuters)] 11:00 am - Speaking at a rally of airline workers at Chicago's O'Hare Field, President Bush today announced new measures to be taken by the federal government to insure the safety and security of the America's airports and commercial aircraft. [See: Bush Lays Out New Airline Security Plan (About)] 10:40 am - President Bush reportedly gave two U.S. Air Force generals the power to order the shooting down of hijacked commercial aircraft without presidential approval if necessary. "It would only be done when there is the threat of loss of life or a great threat to national security," stated an unnamed Department of Defense official. According to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, the generals could only order a shootdown under extraordinary, last-second situations and only when the president could not contacted. [See: U.S. Changes Rule in Shooting Down of Airliners (Reuters)] 9:45 am - President Bush announced plans to call on the National Guard to provide additional security at U.S. airports. "The president will help ensure that every airport has a strong security presence by asking the governors of the 50 states to call up the National Guard ... to augment existing security staff at every commercial airport nationwide," the White House said in a prepared release. [See: Bush Wants National Guard to Help Patrol Airports (Reuters)] 8:00 am - Citing a need for additional intelligence on the location of Osama bin Laden, White House officials advised that a military strike on Afghanistan was "not imminent." [See: Military Strike Not Imminent, Officials Say (Wash. Post)] 6:00 am - The tenuous cease-fire in the Gaza Strip was broken as Israelis engaged Palestinian troops in a fierce firefight in the town of Rafah, near Palestine's southern border with Egypt. [See: Fighting in Gaza Mars Ceasefire Efforts (Reuters)]
©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||
