By now everyone has been hearing the death
toll rise and reports of the destruction from the
terrorist attacks on the U.S. 

     These were deplorable acts that we will never
 forget. But now is a time to look at the other
 side of the numbers coming out of New York,
 Washington and Pennsylvania. 

      The sad but somewhat uplifting side that the
 mainstream media has not reported yet -- the
 SURVIVAL rates and some positive news about
 the  attacks. 


 The World Trade Center: 

      The twin towers of the World Trade Center were
 places of employment for some 50,000 people.
 With the missing list of just over 5,000 people,
 that means 90% of the people targeted survived
 the attack. 


 The Pentagon: 

      Some 23,000 people were the target of a third
 plane aimed at the Pentagon. The latest count
 shows that only 123 lost their lives. That is an
 amazing 99.5% survival rate. In addition, the
 plane seems to have come in too low, too early
 to affect a large portion of  the building.

      On top of that, the section that was
 hit was the first of five sections to undergo
 renovations that would help protect the
 Pentagon from terrorist attacks. It had recently
 completed straightening and blastproofing,
 saving untold lives. This attack was sad, but a
 statistical failure. 


 The Planes: 

     American Airlines Flight 77 was a Boeing 757
 that was flown into the outside of the Pentagon
 could have carried up to 289 people, yet only 64
 were aboard. Luckily 78% of the seats were
 empty. 

     American Airlines Flight 11 was a Boeing 767
 could have had up to 351 people aboard, but
 only carried 92. Thankfully 74% of the seats
 were unfilled. 

     United Airlines Flight 175 was another
 Boeing 767 that could have sat 351 people only 
 had 65 people on board. Fortunately it was 81%
 empty. 
 
    United Airlines Flight 93 was a Boeing 757
 was one of the most uplifting stories yet. The
 smallest flight to be hijacked with only 45 people
 aboard out of a possible 289 had 84% of its
 capacity unused. Yet these people stood up to
 the attackers and thwarted a fourth attempted
 destruction of a national landmark, saving untold
 numbers of lives in the process. 


 In Summary: 
    
 Out of potentially 74,280 Americans directly
 targeted by these inept cowards, 93% survived
 or avoided the attacks. That's a higher survival
 rate than heart attacks, breast cancer, kidney
 transplants and liver transplants -- all common,
 survivable illnesses. 

     The Hijacked planes were mostly empty, the
 Pentagon was hit at it's strongest point, the
 overwhelming majority of people in the World
 Trade Center buildings escaped, and a handful
 of passengers gave the ultimate sacrifice to save
 even more lives. 

     Don't fear these terrorists. The odds are
 against them.