The day after Donald Rumsfeld announced that 2.3 trillion dollars of Pentagon money had been lost and unaccounted for there was an attack on the section containing financial management. Is it not ironic.

When American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, it struck the building's west side.

It's true that the area of the Pentagon that was struck did contain offices related to financial management. To clarify:

• Impact Area:
  • The plane hit the western side of the Pentagon, specifically the "E Ring," on the first floor.
  • This area housed offices of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy.
• Financial Management:
  • Within those offices, there were personnel involved in financial management and accounting. So, it is accurate to say that some of the people killed and injured worked in those types of roles.
  • Therefore, while the entire pentagon was not accounting, a portion of the area that was hit, did have accounting offices within it.

Therefore, while the target was the pentagon itself, the area that was hit did contain financial offices.

It is a point of historical note that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had spoken about significant financial mismanagement within the Pentagon the day before the 9/11 attacks. ¹ Specifically, on September 10, 2001, he discussed the Department of Defense's inability to account for trillions of dollars in transactions. ¹

1. America's Missing Money | Government Can't Account for $21 Trillion - City Journalwww.city-journal.org

Here's why this is often considered a point of Irony

• Timing:
  • The fact that this announcement came just one day before the devastating attack that struck the Pentagon created a stark juxtaposition. The focus abruptly shifted from internal financial issues to a direct, external attack on the nation.
• Shift in Focus:
  • The 9/11 attacks immediately overshadowed the discussion of financial mismanagement. The national priority became dealing with the aftermath of the attacks and the subsequent "war on terror."
• The nature of the attack:
  • As mentioned previously, the area of the pentagon that was struck, did contain offices that were involved in financial management.

Therefore, the timing of Rumsfeld's statements and the subsequent attacks created a situation that many perceive as ironic.