Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Sorcha Date: 11 Sep 01 - 01:15 PM Casualties confirmed at State Dept. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Amos Date: 11 Sep 01 - 01:14 PM I submit that the claim of Japanese nationalist effort behind the attack could easily be a red herring, an attempt to use our national psychic scars as a smokescreen. Ain't sayin' it is, but I don't honestly give much credence to this line of persuasion. A |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Cappuccino Date: 11 Sep 01 - 01:12 PM Premier Barak of Israel has just said he thinks it's Bin Laden. - ian |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Lonesome EJ Date: 11 Sep 01 - 01:11 PM Usama Bin Laden's name is coming up repeatedly in this, and I'm sure he is at the very top of the list of suspects. He has in the past sheltered within the borders of various Islamic governments, secure from capture. Surely now there is NO safe haven on Earth for him. True, he is only a suspect in this, but he has been positively determined responsible for several other terrorist attacks. Now is the time to take all measures necessary, regardless of any other government, to arrest this man. Any government harboring him must be identified as an enemy of the United States. Any country who HAS harbored him must actively participate in the search for him, or be considered an enemy. Pearl Harbor certainly comes to mind, but with terrific differences : Japan was the acknowledged source of the attack, and our anger could be focussed on them as the perpetrators. This horrible attack so far is of unknown origin, and frustration trumps the anger. I dread to hear the numbers of victims involved. Thousands of people worked in the World Trade Center. In the wake of this, the greatest damage may accrue : The loss of freedom and peace in the name of retribution. I have no time for consideration of the reasons and sentiments behind this action. The perpetrators were motivated by unreasoning hate. They killed possible thousands of innocent people indiscriminately. Their motives deserve no examination. We should, however, act against them with reasoned but merciless retaliation. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: O'Trasno Date: 11 Sep 01 - 01:09 PM A point well made GUEST...seed.Sadly,in the emotional aftermath of this horror few people will realize that this scenario has already been played out many times in cities around the world,often at the instigation of the US govt. All our thoughts/prayers are with the citizens and friends and families,but we should also be thinking about how we got to this,and how to discourage mindless retaliation.
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Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Amos Date: 11 Sep 01 - 01:09 PM The Taliban has communicated via their ambassador to Pakistan condemning the attacks and extending sympathy and condolence to all the children of America, saying "Afghanistan feels your pain". This, in a way, makes it worse. If the Taliban, which has in the past supported bin Laden because of his help during the liberation of Afghanistan from the USSR, was behind the attacks we would at least have an enemy we could name! This is going to get diffuse, ugly, difficult and confusing. A |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: SINSULL Date: 11 Sep 01 - 01:08 PM The local news claims that a plane is being tracked from Washington DC on a path to NYC. One is flying over my neighborhood now. Hope it is military. M. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Wesley S Date: 11 Sep 01 - 01:07 PM My thoughts today are that the terrorists have won. We're scared. The country is grinding to a halt. And that's exactly what they want. Let's hope that in the aftermath that we don't throw away the constitution. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Cappuccino Date: 11 Sep 01 - 01:07 PM Two items from international news feeds- AMMAN (AFX) - An anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the spate of attacks in the US on behalf of Japan's Red Army militant group to "avenge the dead of Hiroshima". "An anonymous caller speaking Arabic like a foreigner claimed responsibility for the attacks in a call to our newsapaper," the editor of the weekly Al-Wahdeh newspaper, Fakhri Kawar, told Agence France-Presse. "He said the attacks were carried out to avenge the dead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," he said. Japan marked the 56th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima by the United States during World War II on August 6. More than 200,000 people were killed in that attack, while Nagasaki was likewise bombed on August 9, 1945. Kawar, a former deputy, said the caller gave no more details and hung up quickly. "We take this claim seriously," he said. About 20 Japanese companies have offices in New York's World Trade Center twin towers which were hit by two planes in the presumed attacks, Japan Broadcasting Corp reported. and.... (AFX-Focus) 2001-09-11 17:28 GMT: Afghan Taliban denies bin Laden role in US attacks ISLAMABAD (AFX) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia denied that Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden had played any role in a series of apparent terrorist attacks in the US. The Taliban militia's ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, condemned the attacks and said he hoped the perpetrators would be quickly brought to justice. "Osama is only a person he does not have the facilities to carry out such activities," he told a news conference. "We want to tell the American people that Afghanistan feels their pain. We hope that the terrorists are caught and brought to justice," he said. - Ian B
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Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Midchuck Date: 11 Sep 01 - 01:02 PM Guest - seed: You are scum. Peter. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Big Mick Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:59 PM Seed, I have missed you. Well said. Drop me a line sometime at mlane@accn.org and let me know how you are doing. Mick |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: SINSULL Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:59 PM I'm OK. So far all of my family is too. People are everywhere with cell phones, some crying - they have family in the Towers. I was on jury duty in Queens. We evacuated. There were some people screaming "Zionists!" Others were screaming "Arabs!" Hope the crazies can be kept under control. So many are dead. The hospitals need blood - if you can, donate. I had to remind my son that in two weeks, things will be "normal" to the extent that people will return to work, children to schools,...I wish I could cry. I would feel better. Mary |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: bet Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:58 PM Unbeliveable! Must continue to hold classes like everything is fine. Hard witha heavy heart but my young students could not possibly understand the meaning. God protect us. bet |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Cappuccino Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:57 PM In England, we've just had pictures of Yasser Arafat talking to TV interviewers - apparently there are pictures of him being told the news, and he was described as clearly thunderstruck. - Ian |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Big Mick Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:54 PM Wise observations, Kat. The point of prayers for the President is because he WILL direct the response. I don't have much faith, but I must have hope. I am afraid, as you are, that this attack will close the ears, minds, and hearts of those in power to what spawned the attack. But I do know this. We must respond and in a committed way. Amos, I agree, almost 100%, with your analysis. And it doesn't bode well. We have very few units that can deal effectively with this. The few we do have, have been fractured pretty badly over the last number of years. This was clearly a well thought out, well coordinated, and well financed attack. This is not a lone madman, or a small cell. The resources and time needed to surveil the security operations of the airports, the time needed to penetrate the airline operations and place the people who could board weapons for the commandeering........and on and on. When I factor in your scenario, with my own observations, I start to see a picture. Mick |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: GUEST,--seed Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:49 PM Horrible as it is, I feel we have brought this on ourselves: Our insensitivity to the fate of the Palestinians, our genocidal sanctions against Iraq both demonstrate to the Arab world that their lives and hopes mean nothing to us. Yes, the thousands who have died were innocents--as were the half million or so children of Iraq destroyed by the sanctions. In our shame at our failure to save millions of European Jews at the hands of the Nazis, we went overboard in our support of the state of Israel, forgetting the millions of people dispossessed by the establishment and the continued expansion of that nation. I believe that those guilty of these horrendous acts must be hunted down and punished, but to cry for the destruction of the desperate Palestinians in whose name and in sympathy for whose suffering the acts were perpetrated, even as they express joy at our suffering, is dreadfully wrong. --seed, crying in the wilderness |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Rick Fielding Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:46 PM The Toronto City Hall is being evacuated at the moment. There is a large plume of smoke coming from it's basement area. The City TV newscast is attempting to downplay this at the moment, so we don't know whether it's as serious as it appears visually, or simply a "garbage fire" (as they're speculating). All downtown offices here are closed and there's a major traffic bottleneck as people try to get to the suburbs. Most Canadian businesses have ties to the New York offices, so that's the reason for the closings. Don't think there have been security threats. Rick (from Scarborough Ontario Canada, five miles east of Toronto) Our thoughts are with the folks in New York and Washington. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Pseudolus Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:45 PM Hello All, it's been a while but with the events of the day, I kinda needed to stop in. I've been reading the threads and I must say, as much as I agree with the thought "For the sake of the children", I can't help but picture those same children dancing in the streets celebrating the deaths of our own. The people responsible for this live in a world that few if any of us will ever be able to understand. To try to reflect our morals, opinions and beliefs on them is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. They don't have value for their own lives, it is naive to think they will have respect for any human life. I'm afraid they will only understand one thing, and that is force. I am angry and sad. I'm also glad that the decision is not mine, although I know what that decision would be..... I pray for them all........ Frank |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: mousethief Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:45 PM Checking in from Seattle. Airport closed down as are they all; they have evacuated the taller buildings downtown. Just a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. So many people! There were daycares in those World Trace Center buildlings; a co-worker of my wife's knew children in one of them; still no word on their whereabouts. Prayers here for all the victims and their families. Alex |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:44 PM I really cannot understand this, people are celebrating the deaths of other human beings. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Charley Noble Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:44 PM Still shaking my head...Just heard from my brother in Brooklyn via e-mail than his daughter Katie is OK, being evacuated from her school 3 blocks from the trade centers. Thousands and thousands must have been killed. I hope the media plays down inflamatory video of anyone celebrating this terrorist attack, but I doubt it. Once again reality is far worse than our fiction. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Cappuccino Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:41 PM Yes, we in England have just seen the celebrations in one sector of Jerusalem. Sickening. - Ian |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: nutty Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:40 PM Almost speechless by the sights on the TV screen ......totally unbelievable ..... with worse to come when the smoke clears. I just hope that all East Coast Mudcatters are safe and well |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Bat Goddess Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:38 PM Just reported (WBUR Boston) that all cars will be checked at NH/Canada border, but the border is open. Bat Goddess |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Dharmabum Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:38 PM Of all the heartbreaking scenes I've witnessed this morning,the coverage of the Palestinian men,women & children,celebrating the loss of American lives,has struck me harder than the rest.
I pray I never attain such disregard for human life. I truly hope those people represent only a small portion of the Palistinian population. Ron. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: katlaughing Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:37 PM My sister, too, Animaterra. I just got an email from her, she wishes they could go home, but in the meantime she carries on, teaching the little children music. I understand, Mick, thank you. Unfortunately, I have no faith at all in the minds in our government, at the moment. I wish Clinton was still in the White House. I know it is good to face what may be reality, but I also feel we have a responsibility to try not to contribute to the negativity which is going to spread all over, much as Amos has mapped out. I am concerned for my friend, here, who is a religious refugee from Iran; he has already suffered many physical and verbal attacks just for existing. I am also concerned for my nephew-in-law who is in the Air Force. I wish the Dalai Lama would make a statement. It is his voice I'd like to hear on this. Thanks, kat |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Amergin Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:36 PM Amos, I agree with you...but also I see internment camps..... |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Amos Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:33 PM Your mantra, needed more than ever, is the right one, Anima. To bring out wisdom in young souls is the only hope for the long term future of the planet. The tragic roots of this day's work are in the allegiance to falsehood, the perpetration of authoritarian beliefs and the suppression of natural critical intelligence. These are the real crimes of our time. A. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: AllisonA(Animaterra) Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:30 PM I know what you mean, Barbara- the instinct to do something is very strong. Meanwhile I still have to teach a kindergarten class and pretend that everything is happy and fine, and then work in small groups of 4th graders on a project meant to protect, beautify, and map a lovely small park in our school neighborhood. But rather than feel despair for the futility of such things, I feel hope that we can strive to go on for the sake of the children. Really, that's my mantra for anything I need to think about: For the sake of the children... For the sake of the children... For the sake of the children... For the sake of the children... |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: sophocleese Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:29 PM Niagara Falls and Fort Erie border crossings are still open at this moment, but the Windsor Detroit Tunnel is closed. Soon probably all border crossings will be closed. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: catspaw49 Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:29 PM The debris littering the streets of NYC along with the ash..........Papers that had been on the desks of people now probably dead. Important papers, "must do" and "Urgent"...........It all pales now doesn't it? The many dead and injured, the families, the friends........all of us............ Spaw |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Cappuccino Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:28 PM Our thoughts are with you. God Bless. - Ian B |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: LR Mole Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:27 PM We must remain calm in our mourning and consoling. We are tough and loving people, and there will be need for us. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Amos Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:25 PM I believe we have a real problem on our hands, militarily. 1. This is a coordinated and sophisticated logistical attack using non-military equipment. 2. In order to stage such an attack the perpetrators must have been operating from a safe haven. You can't launch this kind of coordination from an apartment in Algiers -- well you can, but this much coordination requires a government to cover up fgor you. In other words, a host nation sympathetic to your goals, or at least responsive to your bribes, sufficient to disguise your operations until they are implemented. 3. We do not know, in the ordinary terms of "nations and states" what group could be named as the target of our anger. Afghanistan? Palestine? Who, and where, is the enemy here? LEt here be no mistake that there is an "enemy", but I believe we are up against a "distributed enemy" and, as far as public knowledge extends, no idea what or where their centers of control and supply and communication are. 4. This implies to me a drawn out, distributed operation across a matrix of mixed participants and non-participants, an operation which is essentially a war but of a kind we have never fought before, even in Vietnam. It seems to me one of the inevitable consequences of these assumptions that we will see a large number of small tragedies attributable to wrong targets, misidentified foes, strikes going to wrong places. We learned a little about this in Vietnam where it was often hard to know who was friend and who was foe. 5. If this premise is correct, it means long, drawn out small-scale operations, high reliance on intelligence (which is not our strong suite), a strong need for rapid surgical deployment of force. We won't be moving battalions around. We'll be moving squads around, and possibly a large number of rapidly deployed individual agents or small teams. We have no experience thinking under these conditions and it will be riddled with stupid mistakes and learning experiences and wrongful deaths. 6. Because of the distributed nature of engagement and the fuzzy nature of the enemy we will see the worst wave of jingoism and mistrust this country has seen since Wilson's era or the anti-Nippon sentiments of the Second World War. A great deal of distrust and suspicion will be levied against the wrong peoples, such as Islamic refugees from Afghanistan and Yugoslavia who are trying desperately to build lives in peace. innocent cab drivers will be hauled out and attacked or killed if this scenario unrolls as predicted. 7. If it is the case that this attack was engendered by bin Laden or other fanatics, we face two really inestimable elements of risk. One is that this could lead to a massive world-scale conflict between Western forces and the massive population of Allah worshippers who make up a large and wide-spread portion of the world. In other words, a World War drawn not on political but on religous grounds. A second element is that we are facing (in this speculative scenario) fanatacism rooted in the belief that the sure path to Allah's garden is to die in his service. This kind of fanatacism makes military operations extremely difficult, and we have little or no experience in addressing it with other means, such as concentrated PR campaigns, psy ops and similar. Tokyo-Rose class approaches won't wash here. I tremble at the question of whether we have minds in command who are capable of addressing this kinbd of situation effectively. Sorry for rambling on. Don't let me scare you -- remember, these are speculative efforts to analyze on insufficient data. Stay brave, stay awake, stay rational, and be true to your heart. A. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Kim C Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:23 PM Norton, what base are you at? |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: KingBrilliant Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:21 PM Just heard on Sky live feed that America has sealed all its land borders. Kris |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: bassen Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:19 PM SAS flights on their way to the US ordered to return to Scandinavia, further flights cancelled. US, Israeli and other foreign embassies/offices in Oslo put under heavy guard. Norwegian foreign minister calls the attacks "an attack on democracy, an attack on us all". A grim time ahead for us all, this will have ramifications far beyond any immediate retaliation. My rational mind wants to understand the Palestinian reaction, my heart and my gut rages Prayers to you all in this dark hour. bassen |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: GUEST,JohnB Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:16 PM I don't know what to say, just that I am here and thinking of the people involved. JohnB` |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Big Mick Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:14 PM kat..........war has already been invoked. How it will be prosecuted on our part is the only question. Pray in whatever way you do that, that it is done in the most efficient, and most directed way as possible. I find myself praying that President Bush listen to his advisors very carefully. I am so grateful at this moment that Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice are in Senior positions. I also pray that Cheney is not given much voice. Mick |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Steve in Idaho Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:11 PM Well - sort of puts the concerns about Flamers and Trolls in perspective. And I am not making light of this. I work on a military base and we are shut down tight. Having fought in one war I certainly am not looking forward to this - we are all praying for those involved and for our folks here as we will be part of the response team. I hope all of the other Catters are OK - Steve |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: catspaw49 Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:10 PM I too saw the Palestinian coverage and Mick, you phrased it well.......Pearl Harbor I feel probably has nothing on this..........I hope we can remain as "surgical" as possible, but there is no doubt that this country will demand retribution for this. Once again, I hope all the other leading nations of this world can finally unite in stopping this type of warfare.......a war on innocents......everywhere. Spaw |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Barbara Shaw Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:10 PM The last time I was this scared was the day Kennedy was shot. The world is changed forever, starting today, and I can only wonder in terror what kind of world we have made for our children. My irrational reaction has been to furiously dig into cleaning the house. Trying, I guess, to make one little enclave of neat, clean, sane existence. I cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the bedroom, started washing clothes. One thought was that maybe the power would go off all over the country, and we would at least have underwear to wear. And maybe, more than anything, the world needs people who are neat and clean and wear underwear. All those people going to work in the World Trade Center, grumbling about another day at the office, and now buried beneath the devastation. All our most respected authorities holed up somewhere secret to try to figure out what to do. The Pentagon, the CIA, the UN, all the embassies, everyone important in the scheme of world events and national security is trying to figure out these world events and national security. My son just called to say his first day of classes at college in Boston was called off. They evacuated the school and sent everyone home. I couldn't even speak for crying so hard, but I told him I loved him. My 20-year-old son who is one of the heirs of this crazy world we have somehow built. Another irrational reaction was to think about the party I had just sent out invitations to. My e-mail said that we had anniversaries, birthdays, retirements, friendships and the glorious New England Fall to celebrate. My thought now is that we have nothing to celebrate, everything to mourn. My mind keeps dredging up song titles and lyrics that fit the horror that's unfolding. I'm clutching at fragments of known pain already memorialized in music to attempt to explain the unknown pain that is happening in my world. What have they done to my song, Ma? I'm comforted by the fact that the mailman just delivered our mail, just like on a normal day. God help us. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Kim C Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:09 PM Nothing quite like this has ever happened in my lifetime. Can't think. My Army friend is in Colorado and I am not really concerned about him, but I am concerned about what this could possibly mean for our soldiers. Plus, he has family in Pennsylvania... I know his father travels in his work. Maybe if I go back to sleep and wake up again it will all go away. I just don't have anything pithy to say today. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Bat Goddess Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:08 PM How about our DC friends too? A lot of the folk community are in government buildings. Waiting prayerfully for news. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Mad Maudlin Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:08 PM Things fall apart, the center cannot hold... I'm safe here in Germany, but I'm deeply shocked. God protect you all. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: katlaughing Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:07 PM Two United flights have now crashed, just reported from Seattle. Flight 175, a 767 Boston to LA, but they do not know where it has crashed. Four airline flights involved so far. Sinsull heard, in NYC, that 8 aircraft are thought to be involved. 200 firefighters are unaccounted for at the WTCenters. Even so, please, please, let's not invoke the thought of "war" just yet. Our thoughts and words can be very powerful.
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Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: KingBrilliant Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:06 PM repost from other thread: mobile networks can close their networks & restart in a mode which allows use by specified user groups only (eg doctors, govt officials, emergency services etc). Ordinary users would be unable to use the service. This sounds like what you mean by comandeered. UK has closed airports til further notice, aircraft en route have been called back to UK, City square mile, canary wharf, Houses of Parliament etc are evacuating. Stock exchange closed early. There are rumours of the tubes being closed (unconfirmed). All is very confused and worrying for all. Very worried for everyone everywhere. There are reports of one or maybe two planes still unaccounted for - but these could be due to general confusion. Kris |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: MMario Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:05 PM Thank god about Sinsull! Hope Larry can check in soon. |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:05 PM It is good to hear that Sinsull is ok, does anyone know if our other friends in the area are ok? |
Subject: RE: AMERICAN ATTACKS--PART TWO From: Roger in Sheffield Date: 11 Sep 01 - 12:04 PM Just horrific, how many casualties? hard to believe the buildings came down like they did |
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