Scope of Los Angeles Terror Plot Remains Murky
Gary Thomas
Voice of America
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Washington (US):
On Thursday, President Bush revealed some new details of what he described as a terrorist plot against a target in California.
But, it is still not clear how far the plotters got, and how serious the plot was.As outlined by President Bush, al-Qaida hatched a plan to follow up the attacks of September 11th, 2001 with a similar attack on Los Angeles.
He said that in 2002 officials foiled a plan by terrorists to fly a hijacked plane into what was then called the Library Tower, now known as the U.S. Bank Tower.
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See Also:
President Plays Mr. Subliminal to Sell Surveillance
Bush details plot against LA high-rise
Bush Says Spy Work Helped Stop 2002 Attack
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"We now know that in October 2001, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11th attacks, had already set in motion a plan to have terrorist operatives hijack an airplane using shoe bombs to breach the cockpit door and fly the plane into the tallest building on the West Coast," he said.
President Bush said cooperation between the United States and several Southeast Asian nations, which he did not name, broke up the plot.The independent commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks said Khalid Sheik Mohammed had originally planned for simultaneous attacks on both the East and West coasts.
Vincent Cannistraro, who was head of the CIA's counter-terrorism operations from 1988 until 1991, says al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden wanted the plans scaled down.But Micheal Scheuer, who was the leading al-Qaida expert in the CIA's counter-terrorism center in 2002, says he is not aware of any such serious threat against the West Coast in 2002.
Feb 10, 2006
Gary Thomas
Voice of America
____________
Washington (US):
On Thursday, President Bush revealed some new details of what he described as a terrorist plot against a target in California.
But, it is still not clear how far the plotters got, and how serious the plot was.As outlined by President Bush, al-Qaida hatched a plan to follow up the attacks of September 11th, 2001 with a similar attack on Los Angeles.
He said that in 2002 officials foiled a plan by terrorists to fly a hijacked plane into what was then called the Library Tower, now known as the U.S. Bank Tower.
______________________
See Also:
President Plays Mr. Subliminal to Sell Surveillance
Bush details plot against LA high-rise
Bush Says Spy Work Helped Stop 2002 Attack
______________________
"We now know that in October 2001, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11th attacks, had already set in motion a plan to have terrorist operatives hijack an airplane using shoe bombs to breach the cockpit door and fly the plane into the tallest building on the West Coast," he said.
President Bush said cooperation between the United States and several Southeast Asian nations, which he did not name, broke up the plot.The independent commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks said Khalid Sheik Mohammed had originally planned for simultaneous attacks on both the East and West coasts.
Vincent Cannistraro, who was head of the CIA's counter-terrorism operations from 1988 until 1991, says al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden wanted the plans scaled down.But Micheal Scheuer, who was the leading al-Qaida expert in the CIA's counter-terrorism center in 2002, says he is not aware of any such serious threat against the West Coast in 2002.
Feb 10, 2006
