Three schools of thought regarding the 9/11 NORAD wargames

1) the military/NORAD runs wargames all the time and 9/11 was no different-- it was just the novel threat that caught everyone off guard. This is the official explanation, of course. The official story also appears to be that wargames should not have called away the interceptors that were on constant alert (sort of like if the firemen at a station were involved in a training exercise, they would still leave some firemen at the station in case of a fire). The main problem with this scenario is that NORAD knew of the threat of hijacked aircraft being used as missiles, since NORAD had run drills based on this concept prior to 9/11. So they should not have been so confused and unready on 9/11-- particularly with the warnings that were available to the FAA and presumably other government agencies.

2) the multiple NORAD wargames were the main reason the 9/11 hijacked planes were not intercepted, and this was by design. This is promoted heavily by Mike Ruppert ("Crossing the Wilderness") and Mark Rabinowitz (Oil vs Empire website). The main problem with this scenario is that the wargames should not have called away the interceptors that were on constant alert. However, if the wargames also involved inserting extra blips simulating hijacked airplanes onto FAA and NORAD radar screens, then this would clearly cause a problem with the normal air defense response. Officially, supposedly, these extra blips were removed as soon as the first plane hit the WTC, but by then much of the confusion may have already set in and completely befuddled the interceptor response. For instance, three posts back, where I mention the strange air defense response on 9/11-- the fighters that were sent to intercept the phantom flight 11 were actually sent in the wrong direction intially!* One has to imagine that the wargames may have been one reason for this-- perhaps the commander saw planes coming from over the ocean that were really fake blips from the wargames. One particularly insidious way the wargames could have been used to facilitate 9/11 would have been to keep the extra blips on radar screens even after they were supposed to be removed.

3) the wargames were actually the MEANS by which the 9/11 attacks were carried out-- the wargames were the mechanism by which the rogue elements of the CIA/military programmed planes to fly into the WTC and Pentagon. The attacks were planned in secret under the cover of a live-fly hijacking drill which was run on 9/11. This idea was laid out by Webster Tarpley in "Synthetic Terror 9/11: Made in USA", and I find this idea most compelling. This scenario doesn't have any "problems" except the fact that it involves a very serious conspiracy. This scenario could be folded in with the second scenario where the wargames also distract the normal air response. A double whammy.

*Out over the Atlantic Ocean. See David Ray Griffin's "The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions And Distortions".