‘Impossible to fathom’

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT-MESA -- Local elected officials broadly condemned Tuesday’s

devastating East Coast terrorist attack and immediately compared it with

the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that drew the U.S. into

World War II.

Rep. Chris Cox (R-Newport Beach) was on the front lines as he met with

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in a private dining room of the

Pentagon.

Cox left the building moments before American Airlines Flight 77,

carrying 64 people, plowed into the headquarters of the U.S. military.

“I escaped just minutes before the building was hit,” Cox wrote in a

statement. “Most of those who remained were huddled in the National

Military Command Center in a basement bunker of the building.”

Closer to home, Assemblyman John Campbell (R-Irvine) awoke to more

than just his usual breakfast of hot oatmeal and a cup of tea.

Campbell clicked on the television and watched incredulously as one of

the most horrific days in the nation’s history began to unfold.

Shortly before 6 a.m. Pacific Time, terrorists hijacked four

commercial flights and crashed three of them into federal buildings in

New York and Washington, D.C., leaving potentially thousands of civilians

dead, wounded or missing.

It was one of those truth is stranger than fiction moments for

Campbell, who represents Newport-Mesa.

“As it continued to develop, I was incredulous,” Campbell said. “I

read a lot of books. There’s not a novel which dares to go as far as this

because nobody would believe it.”

Cox, in his statement, urged his congressional colleagues to support

President George Bush’s request to fund development of a missle-defense

system and beef up the military budget.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) was scheduled to meet with

Bush advisors Tuesday afternoon at the White House about Afghanistan.

Congress is expected to meet today to condemn the attack.

U.S. officials reportedly suspect Saudi-exile Osama bin Laden, who is

believed to be in Afghanistan, may be linked to the terror attack on

America on Tuesday.

Rohrabacher said the terrorist acts would be Bush’s first big

leadership test in the foreign-policy realm.

“We will find out if Bush is the right man for this job,” Rohrabacher

said. “We need to track down the people responsible and kill them.”

Rohrabacher also pointed fingers at the nation’s intelligence

community, blaming them for allowing the act to happen in the first

place.

“This is more than a day of infamy, this is a day of disgrace,” he

said. “Those tasked with protecting America have utterly failed in their

responsibility. We should sweep out the executive offices of the CIA.

This is the result of total incompetence.”

City and county leaders were also stunned by the wave of terror back

East.

Orange County Supervisor Jim Silva said he had a “knot in my stomach

since I saw that fire” at the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Silva’s grown son and daughter are both in the military. His son is an

F-16 fighter pilot in the Air Force, and his daughter is stationed at

McGuire Air Force base in New Jersey.

He said he had not heard from his son Tuesday but that his daughter

called to say she was OK.

State Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) blasted the “cowardly acts” in a

statement.

Newport Beach Mayor Gary Adams announced the cancellation of the City

Council meeting in a statement so city residents could focus on the

national emergency.

“It is impossible to fathom the tremendous loss America has suffered

and will continue to suffer because of today’s sequence of events,” Adams

wrote. “Our citizens should not have to follow city government issues in

the midst of this national crisis.”

The city was still waiting for direction from Bush to begin flying

flags at half-mast, while those in front of the Costa Mesa City Hall

fluttered at the midpoint of their poles.

“My heart goes out to the country but also to the families of the

victims,” Costa Mesa Mayor Libby Cowan said. “They are innocent.”

* Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

paul.clinton@latimes.comf7 .