Hunter S. Thompson's 9/11 Essay Is Still Chillingly Accurate 16 Years Later
When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, no one knew exactly what the future would hold.
However, writer Hunter S. Thompson turned out to be amazingly prescient.
Shortly after the tragedy, the famed gonzo journalist wrote an essay for ESPN.com where he laid out his thoughts on what could happen in this new era.
Sixteen years later, his remarks are still chillingly accurate:
“Boom! Boom! Just like that. The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country.
“Make no mistake about it: We are At War now ― with somebody ― and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives. It will be a Religious War, a sort of Christian Jihad, fueled by religious hatred and led by merciless fanatics on both sides. It will be guerilla warfare on a global scale, with no front lines and no identifiable enemy.”
Thompson wrote that the United States is “going to punish somebody for this attack, but just who or what will be blown to smithereens for it is hard to say.”
He continued:
“Maybe Afghanistan, maybe Pakistan or Iraq, or possibly all three at once. Who knows? Not even the Generals in what remains of the Pentagon or the New York papers calling for WAR seem to know who did it or where to look for them.”
Thompson, who died in 2005 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, also laid out how then-President George W. Bush would react to the attack and how his decisions would affect the lives of everyday Americans.
“This is going to be a very expensive war, and Victory is not guaranteed ― for anyone, and certainly not for anyone as baffled as George W. Bush. All he knows is that his father started the war a long time ago, and that he, the goofy child-President, has been chosen by Fate and the global Oil industry to finish it Now.
“He will declare a National Security Emergency and clamp down Hard on Everybody, no matter where they live or why. If the guilty won’t hold up their hands and confess, he and the Generals will ferret them out by force. Good luck. He is in for a profoundly difficult job ― armed as he is with no credible Military Intelligence, no witnesses and only the ghost of Bin Laden to blame for the tragedy.”
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7:59 a.m.
The four airplanes that were hijacked on 9/11 began taking off at 7:59 a.m. The first to depart was American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 that left Boston's Logan International Airport for Los Angles with 92 people on board. At 8:14 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 -- a Boeing 767 with 65 passengers on board -- also left Logan for Los Angeles. American Airlines Flight 77 left Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:20 a.m. The plane, a Boeing 757 with 64 people on board, was bound for Los Angeles. Finally, at 8:42 a.m., United Airlines Flight 93 departed from Newark International Airport. The Boeing 757, which had 44 passengers that morning, was bound for San Francisco.
This file photo shows an American Airlines Boeing B-767 in Miami in 2001. The plane pictured was not used in the attack.
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Five calls described the intent of passengers and surviving crew members to revolt against the hijackers. According to one call, they voted on whether to rush the terrorists in an attempt to retake the plane. They decided, and acted.According to the 9/11 Memorial, the hijackers deliberately crashed in a field to prevent passengers from retaking the airplane. The crash site in Shanksville is approximately 20 minutes flying time from Washington, D.C.
At 9:57, the passenger assault began. Several passengers had terminated phone calls with loved ones in order to join the revolt. One of the callers ended her message as follows:"Everyone's running up to first class. I've got to go. Bye."
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Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts.
The victims were in airplanes or in their offices -- secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers. Moms and dads. Friends and neighbors.
Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror.
The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger.
These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
