MARCH 12, ‘25 // attacks on the Twin Towers. The club was crowded and the air was thick and heavy, filled with a combination of cigarette smoke and human sweat. The reporters working for the smaller papers crowded around the more experienced and influential journalists, the ones with the right government connections, who usually managed to access classified information. The club served the journalists working in the American capital, and it had become a marketplace for information, similar to the stock exchange. It was common to see reporters arguing over the price of an exclusive scoop. The price, of course, was never monetary. One news report was exchanged for another with a similar value. To give the club a marketplace atmosphere, the owners had set up a huge screen in the center of the room, which was almost identical to the screens used in the New York stock exchange. Here, however, the screen was constantly transmitting worldwide news reports. Within the confines of the club, international borders ceased to exist. Deals were made between impossible partners. A stranger would be astonished to find reporters from communist countries such as China and its satellites huddled in a corner exchanging information with a reporter from the New York Times or Newsweek, considered a banner of Western capitalism. Reporters from the various news agencies were constantly walking around, trying to pick up interesting tidbits of information. The Beehive—that was the name the reporters used for their meeting place. From early morning until the late hours of the night, the Beehive was teeming with activity. “Osama bin Laden was behind the attacks,” one of the American reporters whispered, as he watched the second tower collapse on the enormous screen. “He’ll have to pay for this.” For many of the reporters in the club, however, the tower’s collapse was of minor importance. Earlier they had faced death squarely in the face—with a full view of the diving aircraft that had nearly ended all their lives. Many of them had been on the White House lawn earlier that morning, soon after they had heard about the attack on the Twin Towers. They had been waiting for a White House representative to notify them of the government’s official response and what actions would be taken. Suddenly an enormous plane appeared, flying at a low altitude directly toward the White House. The noise had been deafening. There was no doubt that the plane was about to crash into the White House and that they would become the next victims. At the last moment, the plane veered sharply upward and flew away, just missing the roof of the White House. Why had the pilot decided to change his course at the last second? Had the passengers gained control of the hijackers? What was going on? A few minutes later, secret service agents had ordered minibuses to escort the reporter back to the Beehive. As the reporters left, they could see that two F-16s had been brought in to defend the White House. On their way back to the Beehive, they tried unsuccessfully to contact their offices. All their cell phones had stopped working. There was no way for them to report about the airplane that had barely missed crashing into the White House. Inside the Beehive, dozens of FBI agents were standing there, preventing anyone from touching a telephone. Other FBI agents guarded the exits. They spent the time listening intently to every announcement that was made by the FAA, expecting to hear some mention of the plane that had almost plowed into the White House. But the news stations continued reporting on the two attacks without mentioning the incident. The broadcast stopped abruptly. In a dramatic voice, the announcer stated, “A White House spokesman will soon appear to make an official statement to the media.” The camera focused on the front lawn of the White House. The President’s personal spokesman appeared on the screen. “The President has been informed that the United States was attacked. The President is not able to respond personally, since according to emergency regulations he is presently in a secure location. The President has requested that I inform the nation that the authorities are in control of the situation, and that within the next few hours he will personally speak with the nation.” The announcer came back with a new development. “We have just been informed that a plane has crashed outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Authorities assume that the plane was on its way to crash into the White House.” “That’s a lie,” whispered several of the journalists who were avidly watching the broadcast. They knew that there had been a completely different airplane which had nearly successfully destroyed the White “Osama bin Laden was behind the attacks,” one of the American reporters whispered, as he watched the second tower collapse on the enormous screen. “He’ll have to pay for this.” 186
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