Andy Card recalls one of the first calls President Bush made from Air Force One after the 9/11 attacks

Andy Card, who served as President George W. Bush’s chief of staff, told CNBC about a lesser-known phone call made shortly after whispering to the president that the nation was attacked by terrorists on the morning of September 11 2001..

“One thing a lot of people don’t realize, he called President Putin, one of the first calls he made from Air Force One,” Card said in an interview Friday night on “The News with Shepard Smith “.

He said, ‘Don’t think we’re going to war with you, I don’t want you to do anything stupid there. We are going to be transparent, this is also a problem for you, we can “not allow terrorism to continue.”

Card told host Shepard Smith that the Bush administration was paranoid about another attack and vowed to shed light on the attacks that killed 2,977 people that day.

At 8:30 p.m. ET on September 11, Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office and uttered a phrase that changed the course of history: “We will not distinguish between the terrorists who committed these acts.” and those who shelter them.

Card recalled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s reaction to Bush’s speech: “Saddam Hussein said that I offered a reward of $ 2000 for each family of a suicide bomber.

Card added: “The president did not want to go to war in Iraq.” On the contrary, Card said, the war in Iraq was “more about” Hussein’s inability to deliver on his promises at the end of the Gulf War.

“… The UN has passed 16 resolutions calling for Saddam Hussein to do things, and many of them stem from the agreement reached at the end of the first Gulf War, and it has not kept any of those commitments, ”Card said.