 |
|
| Tuesday, September 11 Updated: September 12, 6:11 AM ET What they're saying Associated Press |
||||||||||
|
"The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires
burning, huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief,
terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger."
"Make no mistake about it, your armed forces are ready." Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
"The number of casualties will be more than most of us can bear." New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
"I believe that ... the forces of international terrorism have once again awakened a sleeping giant. I really do believe it shows once again how vulnerable we are as an open society." Colorado Gov. Bill Owens
"This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that's ever taken place in the world. It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved that is second to none. Only a very small handful of terror groups is on that list." Chris Yates, an aviation expert at Jane's Transport magazine
"We have tried our best in the past and we are willing in the future to assure the United States in any kind of way we can that Osama is not involved in these kinds of activities." Taliban foreign minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, in response to suggestions that alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is behind the attacks
"My mother is going crazy. I just hope (my brother's) all right. He's my work-out partner. He's my hangout partner. I'm just in shock now." Edwin Cruz, 34, whose brother, Richard, works in the World Trade Center
"Every single American, no matter where you live, the whole country's on edge." Linda Wilson, 42, of Denver
"I heard a 'boom.' People were jumping off the buildings everywhere. They were just jumping." Serena Mays, a construction worker on the Williamsburg Bridge, which leads into Manhattan from Brooklyn
"Everyone was screaming, crying, running, cops, people, firefighters, everyone. It's like a war zone." Mike Smith, a New York fire marshal
"It's just sick. It just shows how vulnerable we really are." Keith Meyers, 39, of Westerville, Ohio
"There are no words to describe adequately the enormity of these attacks on the United States or the depravity of these attacks on the United States or the depravity of those who are responsible for them." Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
"It looked like a ticker tape parade because there were parts of the building floating down with the dust." Matthew Low, 29, of Manhattan
"I just can't believe what's happened. God, my heart goes out to all of these people, believe me. I just hope there is justice." Martha Ridley, whose daughter died in the April 1995 Oklahoma City bombing
"The fact is that there is a level of sophistication and coordination that no counter-terrorism expert had ever previously anticipated, and we don't have a group that we can immediately identify that has this kind of capability." -- Anthony Cordesman, a terrorism expert from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies
"I just saw my two towers fall. I'm devastated beyond belief. In many respects this is significantly worse than Pearl Harbor, and we don't know who the enemy is." Lewis Eisenberg, chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the World Trade Center
"It was like nighttime during the day. There was smoke, there was debris. This is so devastating, so frustrating. What can you do? It was a feeling of helplessness." Ajay Kapoo, a software engineer who saw the World Trade explosions from his office two blocks away
"I just felt like I went into a trance and a dream. It was just unbelievable." Steve Hyatt, 55, of San Antonio, who was at Denver International Airport
"It's so scary ... it could happen to us. They could be hitting all major cities at this point. How do you know?" Christie Nitsch, 39, of Columbus, Ohio
"You can't put into words what's going down. You don't ever think about somebody that would actually attack the U.S." Tom Fickard, 29, of Shreveport, La., a passenger at Detroit Metropolitan Airport
"Whatever the lowest floors of the fire was, they were jumping from them. I guess their choice was that you burn to death or you jump." B.L. Ochman, who lives five blocks from the World Trade Center
"This is the second Pearl Harbor. I don't think that I overstate it." Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.
"All of a sudden there were people screaming. I saw people jumping out of the building. Their arms were flailing. I stopped taking pictures and started crying." Michael Walters, a freelance photo journalist in Manhattan
|
| |||||||||
