Weell, that's what I'd like to know, Acqui.
This link contains details of the 9/11 Independent Commission's hearings on the matter. For starters, while Condi Rice, and Norm Mineta, and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey all say, in some form, "No one could've predicted that terrorists would use airplanes as weapons," well, they're either stupid or they're lying.
Airplanes were used as bombs in WWII (Kamikazes). In 1994 a lone pilot crashed a small plane on the White House grounds, just missing the President's bedroom. And there are many more examples, including foreknowledge in 1995 that terrorists would strike
exactly as they did:
Quote:According to a US intelligence analysis shortly after the plot was uncovered, "The World Trade Center, the White House, the Pentagon, the Transamerican Tower, and the Sears Tower were among the prominent structures that had been identified in the plans that we had decoded."
(from the link above)
Here is another link, the policy directive from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, detailing procedures to be followed in the event of aircraft piracy.
It certainly isn't obtuse.
Why wasn't it followed on the morning of 9/11/01?