Bush: Downtown LA was al-Qaeda target
(BBC) President George W Bush has revealed details of a foiled al-Qaeda plot to use a hijacked airliner to strike the west coast of the US.Mr Bush said the plotters, thwarted in 2002, planned to use shoe bombs to storm the plane cockpit.
The attackers would have flown the plane into the tallest building in Los Angeles, California.
Mr Bush said al-Qaeda recruited the militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to carry out the attack.
The president said the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was behind the west coast plot.
Mr Bush said that instead of using hijackers of Arab origin, as in the attacks on New York and Washington, this plot called for "young men from South East Asia whom he believed would not arouse as much suspicion".
Planning began in October 2001, but it was derailed in early 2002 "when a South East Asian nation arrested a key al-Qaeda operative", Mr Bush said.
It was finally thwarted in the summer of 2003, when the suspected head of JI, an Indonesian known as Hambali, was arrested in Thailand.
The target was the Library Tower, which was later renamed the US Bank Tower.
The Bush administration disclosed the existence of the plot last October, saying it was among 10 disrupted al-Qaeda plots.
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 2/09/2006 08:22:00 AM
25 Comments:
Think of what a terrorist attack would be like in Downtown LA when you listen to the democratic "leaders" blather about civil liberties being taken away by the Bush administration. We wouldn't want to offend those who plan to kill tens of thousands of Americans.
Unfortunately, it's going to take a 5-10 thousand deaths on this end of the country - affecting families in every part of the city, before the blathering Neo-Libs have to stuff if for awhile and shelve their paranoia over whether GW is listening in on their telephone chats with Great-Aunt Sophie in Paris, and maybe stealing her top secret foie gras recipe.
10:06 a.m.,
Think of what it would be like if California got its fair share of Homeland Security dollars!
How this president has any credibility anymore when talking about "defense" and "terrorism", I will never understand. He has led us into a total diplomatic and security debacle. He's spitefuly underfunded security in the nation's economic centers.
And, I hate to burst your bubble about the value of 'Merican's lives, but a terrorist attack is (in military terms) a complete and total failure 100% of the time. So we're not talking about some sort of strategic attack you can plan against. It is a gruesome political tool - and it is hard to "protect" yourself from a political technique. Full body cavity searches at the airport won't stop someone who's willing to take their own lives to prove a point.
All this talk of "enemies", and the attempt to put people with conflicting political ideologies into categories like "terrorist", obscure the reality of the situation - and it makes our country look hypocritical and untrustworthy.
The truth is that L.A. has been left flapping in the breeze by this administration. This state only gets back $.70 on the dollar from the feds. I don't belive a word this administration has to say about Los Angeles' best interests - and you'd do yourself a favor by thinking twice about what they say too.
This is the only administration in the history of the republic that is dirty white trashy enough to tout routine international police work as national security competence in every election year.
Nah, Bill C. was the porn-king of dirty white trash. . . GW's a piker compared to his trailer trashing ways.
"Let burn"
-Sublime, "April 26, 1992"
Let this serve as a public service announcement to all islamniacs in L.A..
Let's get real. Not to diminish the trauma of 9-11 , but southern californians live with the sword of domicles hanging over our heads.
We are always wondering when mother earth will unleash her fury and do much more damage than any terrorist attack could ever do.
East coasties and Southerners have been conditioned by GW and his traumatizing , it is going to take more than al queada targeting the library tower and failing, to scare the bejeebies out of us.
And I have to say that a terrorist attack would just be another day in Los Angeles. With the police shooting kids in cars , kids shooting at other kids in school busses and the public schools the training ground for domestic terrorists( gangs ) who is kidding who?
It is going to take a lot more to traumatize us into drinking the kool-aid. UNfortantely I beleive we have all been desensitized to violence , considering the movie industry shoots films all over residential neighborhoods blowing up fake bombs etc. , we are so conditioned that I don't even think an explosion would even wake us up.
Ubrayj you got it right we have been dangling in the wind and GW talking about us having been at risk and still not having the homeland security dollars for the port and other places , really has me wondering what kind of dope GW is smoking
Not so fast.....
From AmericaBlog:
Growing questions about whether Bush lied today about the supposed threat to LA that he supposedly foiled
by John in DC - 2/09/2006 04:58:00 PM
1. Los Angeles Mayor knows nothing about the supposed threat:
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday he was blindsided by President Bush's announcement of new details on a purported 2002 hijacking plot aimed at a downtown skyscraper, and described communication with the White House as "nonexistent."
"I'm amazed that the president would make this (announcement) on national TV and not inform us of these details through the appropriate channels," the mayor said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't expect a call from the president — but somebody."
2. Bush's claim to have thwarted an attack on LA is disputed by former FBI official
TODAY BUSH SAID: Bush Touted Thwarting of Post 9/11 U.S. Terrorism Plot. In a speech today, Bush told members of the National Guard Association of a foiled 2002 Al Qaeda plot to fly a plane into LA's US Bank Tower, the tallest building on the West Coast. Bush said that the terrorist's plan was put into place after 9/11 but "was derailed in early 2002, when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key al Qaeda operative." Bush added, "Subsequent debriefings and other intelligence operations made clear the intended target and how al Qaeda hoped to execute" the plot, and helped other allies capture the ringleaders." - Washington Post, 2/9/06
BUT IN 2004: FBI Counterterrorism Official Said He Knew of No Thwarted Al Qaeda Attacks. After a CIA official claimed last year that the government had "probably prevented a few aviation attacks against both the East and West Coasts" since 9/11, John Pistole, the FBI's counterterrorism director, said he was "not sure what [the CIA] was referring to." - 9/11 Commission Testimony, 6/16/2004; New York Daily News, 6/17/04
Last I heard, the Constitution was written pre-9/11... Karl Rove must think that those silly Forefathers were part of that "pre-9-11" thinking.
I guess letting local law enforcement know of the risk is also "pre-9/11" thinking.
So was it the truthfullness about Iraq's WMDs, the veracity of Bush's pre-Katrina claims that his administration was prepared for natural disasters or the verisimilitude of this administration's promises to restore honesty and integrity to the White House that has 10:06 and 10:13 believing this claim without question?
As the great late 20th Century philospher Prvt. Gomer Pyle said "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
Posted on Thu, Feb. 09, 2006
Mayor, White House slash over release of info on terror plotMICHAEL R. BLOODAssociated PressLOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday he was blindsided by President Bush's announcement of new details about a purported 2002 plot to crash a plane into a city skyscraper, but the White House and state officials said the mayor's office was contacted.
"I'm amazed that the president would make this (announcement) on national TV and not inform us of these details through the appropriate channels," the mayor said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't expect a call from the president - but somebody."
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the administration "did reach out to officials in California and Los Angeles to let them know, I think it was yesterday, that the president would be talking about this."
Villaraigosa later confirmed that City Hall was called Wednesday by state officials in Sacramento. But that information was only general, city officials said, giving no hint that the announcement would contain extensive new details on the hijacking plot that would set off a new round of anxiety over terrorism in the nation's second-largest city. That message never reached the mayor.
"I would have expected a direct call from the White House," Villaraigosa said at a City Hall news conference.
In addition, the mayor said he had twice pushed for meetings with Bush on visits to Washington to discuss security risks in the city. Those requests were made "to no avail," Villaraigosa said.
A spokesman for Matt Bettenhausen, California's homeland security chief, said he personally contacted a deputy mayor Wednesday afternoon with advance notice of the president's comments.
"We were assured that that information would go to the mayor," said Chris Bertelli, spokesman for the state Office of Homeland Security.
It's "Damocles" -- "Sword of Damocles," from Greek mythology.
Yeah well I have ahrd time spelling damocles.
ANyway, thanks for the spelling lesson
Although Villaraigosa did manage to get his name in the national media today over this issue, he may wind up regretting it. He complained that the White House didn't tell him about the threat to the U.S. Bank Tower.
However, on March 31, 2004 -- repeat, 2004, two years ago -- the Los Angeles Times reported in an article by Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein that, according to two law enforcement sources, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told his interrogators that the Library Tower -- now known as the U.S. Bank Tower -- was targeted along with Chicago's Sears Tower.
The response from the mayor will sound like whining to everyone by tomorrow.
Villaraigosa should have made note of the dramatic under-funding Los Angeles gets for ensuring it's security. Better still, how can a vague term like "targeted by Al Queda" really mean anything to us? Were they just, you know, kinda thinking about doing it? Was it a pipe dream? Or did people make serious preparations to do something? Or was this just an admission beaten out of a couple of captured dudes in a 3rd world country?
The mayor, being the Spanish language rebutter to the President, should have opened up IN SPANISH FIRST about this issue.
To me, the mayor sounds like he's complaining to his staff - but to voters he just sounds like a whiner.
Was this revenge on the White House's part? What have they done to the congressman who rebutted Bush in English?
Scary that this important information about a terrorist threat never got to the Mayor. Amazing what else has been falling through the cracks. Passing the buck won't help LA. There are many cells of terrorists right here in LA and thankfully Chief Bratton has his guys on it. Can't trust the mayor doing anything to help.
Neither Hahn nor Villaragosa were ever informed about G-Dub's saving LA with his secret, invisible Mastadon repellent. In winger world,that's their fault. The whole story is ridiculous. Anyone who buys this latest transparent fear-mongering horse exhaust needs professional help.
Los Angeles was and continues to be a target for Al Queda.
The fact is the United States is at war and the enemy, Al Queda, targets and when possible, kills innocent civilians.
If you still think this is all political hype, a good reminder of what we are dealing with are the images of the people jumping out of the Twin Towers after they were attacked. Real enough?
The answer I have to crap like this:
The fact is the United States is at war and the enemy, Al Queda, targets and when possible, kills innocent civilians.
is, "So f*ing what?!"
The amount of people killed in the most dramatic scare-monger's dreams would be a blip on this nation's population radar. The fear and panic that results from a bombing is what terrorists want. It is a political weapon - not a military tactic!
The "enemy" is our own pathetic over-inflation of the military threat a terrorist act implies.
In either case, the federal government has chosen to leave New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other major cities under-funded to protect their vital infrastucture and resources. I'm more scared of this administration than I am of a whole plane-load of Saudis armed to the teeth with packing knives and box cutters. The damage this administration has done to our country is longer lasting and more profound than any dirty bomb could ever be.
Your response is heartless, irresponsible, and down right un-American. You should be ashamed of yourself; you sound like another selfish user of the hospitality this great country offers to all.
Don't you have any compassion for the 3000 people who died on 9/11? What about their families? Their children? How would you like to have your spouse vaporized when they were trying to make a buck?
What about the NYPD and NYFD personnel who paid the ultimate price for their public service? Don't their lives mean anything to you?
Obviously, you have no value for your anyone but yourself. What is a matter with you?
The sacrifices the men and women who are working 24/7 to protect the USA including self absorbed people like you is an indication of the commitment this great country has to treat its citizens. In other countries, disloyal folks like you would get the knock on the door in the middle of night...
Public safety includes even protecting as*h*les like you.
My advice is to go for you to go to Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and Afghanistan.
Make sure you mention you are an American and we'll watch your how your views are recieved on on TV.
Just remember, be cool, and don't loose your head...
As far as going to the middle east to defend you from those people.
Been there done that.
7:51 p.m.,
I am okay with being accused of being "self absorbed". I am not okay with a quixotic war being waged against a political technique.
The victims of terrorist attacks always seem to come up when someone wants to defend an untenable position. You should be ashamed. You offer not rebuttal to my argument except that I am somehow "Un-American".
Ashamed, no the correct word is appalled.
Your comments regarding being okay with your self absorbed status validates your status as a user of the system. You appear perfectly self-actualized only thinking of yourself.
Furthmore, your thoughtless statements regarding the victims provides considerable insight into the level of understanding of what we are dealing with.
If you haven't noticed, victims, especially civilian victims, are the intended net result of terrorist actions. The fact that it hasn't happened to you or anyone you know seems to provide you with the false sense this whole issue of dealing with terrorism is political fun and games.
So please share with us, how do you propose we deal with the whole terrorist issue? Use the example of Spain and be nice guys, only to have our A*s blown up anyway? Or should we wait until they attack us and deal with each instance on a case by case basis?
Get real, we need to be proactive and attack them before they do us. So what if JWB called the Library building the Liberty Tower; the key issue is those as*holes are still at it in our backyard and are serious about killing us, even self absorbed folks like you.
Doesn't that get your attention?
Villaraigosa don't take it personal, about not being notify properly by the White House, the people in El Sereno were also not notify about the connector road comming through their neighborhood and bringing thousands of cars to this small community, but they haven't given up hope that someone like yourself will helps them stop the destruction of their community.
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