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Wednesday, September 12, 2001 |
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Adam Curry.
"Goodmorning from Amsterdam, I awoke remembering something is very, very wrong. Switching on the bedside TV reminded me quickly of yesterday's events and got the summary of President Bush's speech. I've got questions, many questions. Not so much about how and why this happened, but where to go from here. This is the movie we've been hearing about. We've seen the previews and trailers, now we have to deal with the full-length feature."
I hope we have the best script writers possible and like most Hollywood movies: the ending is upbeat.
11:01:19 AM 
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BBC Russian intelligence agencies work closely with US. The coordinated elimination of terrorism begins. There will be nowhere left to hide after this gets going.
9:30:50 AM
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BBC's Jeff Randall: "Opec, the organisation of leading oil producing countries, insists that it will "turn on the taps" to make sure the world economy is not thrown into chaos by fuel shortages.
Worst hit was Morgan Stanley, one of Wall Street's premier league firms, which occupied 50 of one of the tower's 110 floors. Its London spokesman was too shocked to issue a formal statement.
The suicide pilots struck not only at innocent civilians, but at the heart of what has been buoying America's struggling economy: the innate confidence of the country's people. By undermining that, the terrorists hope to destroy much more than the world's tallest buildings. They want to bring down the Western world's financial system."
8:56:36 AM
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Reuters. Excellent. Dollar rebounds. Dollar shorts unwind positions.
"Many banks in Europe refrained from interbank dealing as a mark of respect for the tragedy and there was uncertainty over whether New York banks would be open at all." What is needed now is a coordinated plan to restore confidence in the US financial system. Greenspan can't do this alone. I wish Robert Rubin was still at the Treasury. Coordinated easing of the money supply, particularly from the europeans who have resisted this so far, is needed.
8:35:38 AM
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Small scale impact in the Robb home. I am still trying to get word on the status of an old flying buddy of mine who is flying a desk at the Pentagon. I hope he is safe. Marie, my loving wife, had a special trip planned for this weekend to Maine that drew in people from Japan to Europe (they all read the same series of books and this trip visited some of the venues). Most of the europeans and the japanese decided that the US wasn't safe enough to travel to. So in our little part of the world, we felt impact.
8:26:31 AM
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The response to this attack shouldn't be seen as getting even or going to war with the group that did this (most likely bin Laden). Rather, it should be seen as a wake-up call to the world: terrorism and the states that support it are not to be tolerated anymore. The world is too small, people are too interdependent, and the ability of an individual or small group to do harm is so great that terrorism in all its forms cannot continue.
What does this mean in real terms? Create a list of known terrorist organizations, supporting states, donors, and affiliated groups (that exists). Systematically, with the world's support pressure, isolate, eliminate, and jail everyone on that list. It is a bold plan, but it is something we have to do in order to protect ourselves prior to development of technologies that could put even more people at risk (nano, bio, nuclear).
Does Bush have the vision to do this? This is bold. It would take coordination and vision. We have the support of the world right now. Let's kick out the legs of their support networks and systematically bring them to justice. This shouldn't be cruise missile justice, it should be special ops teams, police organizations, and intelligence agencies from around the world that join to capture, detain, and in some instances kill the individuals involved. It is only through this coordinated activity can the 10,000 people that put fear into the hearts of all people around the world can be brought to justice.
8:12:45 AM
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One thing I noticed in all my years in the military and as a passenger traveling around the world is that El Al didn't get hijacked for one very good reason: they took security seriously. An armed, plainclothes, ex-military (preferably special ops) guard would go a long way to making sure this didn't happen. A well thought out security screening proceedure for all airline employees as well as expanded security checkpoint for travelers entering secure areas of the airport would round out the program.
Arming passengers isn't the answer. Spending $50 more per airline ticket to get smart about security is.
8:01:17 AM
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Reuters. Investors flee to commodities.
"LONDON - Gold, oil and industrial metals leapt in Europe on Tuesday as investors scrambled for safety in solid assets after attacks on the U.S. World Trade Center and other U.S. landmarks sent equities and the dollar tumbling.
``There is panic buying of metals, gold and oil -- it is complete pandemonium,'' said Robin Bhar, metals analyst at Standard Bank London. ``Gold and oil have gone up and it is a drive toward safe haven territory.'"
12:20:05 AM
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Reuters. Dollar on the edge.
Down sharply in very lightly trading in Tokyo. Everyone is trying to figure out where to go with their funds. The Euro is my bet for the next safe haven if it changes hands. I hope the dollar doesn't break parity tomorrow with the Euro. That would be a very bad sign.
"Japanese officials were eager to make clear they were standing by to step in should any difficulties arise in the currency markets. Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said in a briefing that he was considering forex intervention.
`If the unstable conditions persist, intervention may be necessary,'' Shiokawa told a news conference. `We must prevent speculative forces from becoming too strong.'"
12:16:00 AM
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© Copyright 2004 John Robb.
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