Bush details al-Qaeda hijack plot

[deminks]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4697896.stm

US President George 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 to carry out the attack.

The president said the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was behind the west coast plot.

[shaniqua6392]

1. He is full of crap.

Terror. Terror. Terror. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[KansDem]

64. It's becoming really quite pathetic...

Like catching a six-year old doing something he knows he's not suppose to do. Catching the kid red-handed. Then listening to a string of denials then "excuses" for having done so.

"Johnny, why did you trip Joey on the playground?"
"I DIDN'T!"
"Johnny...?"
"I DIDN'T DO IT!"
"But Johnny, I saw you do it!"
"WELL, HE STARTED IT...HE...I...HE...JIMMY CALLED ME 'FATSO' AND THEN THIS OTHER BOY WOULDN'T LET ME PLAY KICKBALL...AND...AND THEN...AND...WHAAAAAAA!!"

This man is embarrassing to Americans.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. Does he think we're STUPID? How can it be OK to talk about

some plans and NOT ok (national security) on others. Bull...

[NoSheep]

102. He doesn't think you and I are stupid, but he KNOWS at least 1/3 of the

country is. The rest he has leaves to Diebold.

[wtmusic]

3. Here we go

We've already heard about this plot--but it was time to drag it out of closet and dust it off.

So predictable.

[rodeodance]

31. yeah, and fox and msnbc were duped by WH aides who said Jr would

make the link between domestic spying and this 'foiled" plot.

[Critters2]

72. I think Keith will have fun with this, though.

Dontcha think?

[cdb]

4. I'm sure wiretaps stopped the plot cold.

Fearmongering scumbag.

[Ignacio Upton]

5. And he's brining this up now because?

Granted that Al Qaeda is STILL trying to do shit to us in the way of harm, but why is Bush brining up something that we stopped in 2002? Is there any relevence between this foiled plot and something happening with Al Qaeda in 2006? Also, we caught Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is being being mentioned almost THREE years after we caught him?

[atreides1]

23. Al Qaeda is still trying

Just not in the same way as they did on 9/11. By dropping a video or audio tape every so often the harm they are doing is mind f**king the rabbits who want to hide in their warrens. BushCo knows this and takes full advantage of it every chance they get.

[marmar]

6. Whatever, dude...

In case you haven't noticed, Mr. President, you've got a credibility problem! :think: Save it for your sheep. :nopity:

[johnfunk]

7. Obvious question: WHY WEREN'T WE THE PEOPLE TOLD SOONER?

Bush is such a transparent liar. But don't look for the corrupt media to criticize Dear Leader for not taking credit earlier for this "achievement" -- one which could've been used effectively in political campaigns.

[hedda_foil]

8. How the hell could they use shoe bombs to storm the cockpit?

That makes no sense whatsoever.

[megatherium]

11. presumably to breach the cockpit doors,

which have been hardened to protect the pilots against would-be hijackers.

[leveymg]

26. Which would likely crash the airplane before it reached its target.

Enough explosive to open the door -- particularly at 35K feet -- would also punch a big enough hole in the fuselage to likely crash the plane.

This makes no sense, at all. Complete BS - the more I hear this sort of thing, the more convinced I am that KSM has been acting as a double-agent all along. So, he's supposed to have cooked this one up after 9/11? As if we didn't know a thing about it until the plot was "thwarted".:eyes:

[megatherium]

118. I read in the NYTimes this morning that breaching the doors was exactly

what they were allegedly planning to do. Of course, I have no idea if this is all bullshit by the Bush people or not.

[HereSince1628]

14. Coercion...open up or we blow up the plane... which makes no more

sense because every pilot in the world assumes that the result of a highjacking headed toward the US would end in their death anyway.

Sorry but I say this is just bullshit.

Telling Americans anything is inconsistent with *'s practice.

Misleading and Lying to Americans is consistent with *'s practice.

[oneighty]

80. Give me the controls pilot

or i'll blow my effing feet off.

Makes sense to me by golly.

180

[NoSheep]

103. That one cracked me up too. Here's what I heard in my head:

"hehehe..yeah. shoe-bombs...that'll scare 'em...he..heh..heh..wasn't there a story about a guy with a shoe- bomb?...heh...yeah...I'll use that one..."

[HereSince1628]

9. If there was ANY way we could take Bush as a credible source

then we might believe a fraction of what he said.

Unfortunately, the megalomaniac masters of mendacity that make up this misadministration can't be trusted.

[IndianaGreen]

10. A fictional "Emmanuel Goldstein" plot from a deluded dictator

This "Emmanuel Goldstein" plot is part of Karl Rove's offensive to justify FISA law breaking by Bush and his thugs.

[shoelace414]

24. I had to look that refereence up

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Goldstein

[xultar]

12. AHHH--- BULL SHIEEEEEEEIT!!!

[NoSheep]

104. I've been away for a while. I'm happy to see you still have your fabulous

avatar!:D

[Rose Siding]

13. By 02, passengers wouldn't have let anyone near a cockpit

regardless of the veracity of bush's claim. Richard Reid and shoe bombs were highly publicized by Dec 01, so that threat had also been mitigated.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/28/inv.reid/

[Orrex]

15. If this were true,he'd have rolled it out before November '04 (nt)

[mom cat]

19. Exactly! n/t

[ronnykmarshall]

68. Yeah ... and he could have won California !!

NOT!

[calimary]

93. My ASS he would have won California.

But the point is well-taken. Why didn't he mention this during campaign 2004? Hmmm? Don't anybody try to tell me he forgot, either.

He made this up.

No flame meant at you, ronnyk... :hi:

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

90. Good Point...this is Bush is a great leader BS

[LynnTheDem]

16. So Osama is no longer the 911 "mastermind".

If there weren't so many dead & dying this rising pile of shit would be too hilarious for words.

[Ezlivin]

17. Who'd they have to torture to find that out?

I'm sure that after a few hours of waterboarding and other exciting DIA/CIA techniques, all sorts of terrorist plots were uncovered.

[leveymg]

35. KSM. He ran around loose for 18 months until

he was captured in Pakistan a couple weeks before the invasion of Iraq. He was the guy sending money to Moh. Atta and his roommate in Hamburg, Ramzi bin al-Shehb, who was denied a visa four times, who was also brought in from the cold on the one-year anniversary of 9/11.

Of course, they were tortured. They probably can't remember their own names, at this point.

[mom cat]

18. So, where are the arrested suspects? Was anyone arrested?

2002. That is 4 years ago and he just now decided to brag! That dog can't hunt. It can't even scratch fleas!

[Inland]

Probably was info from some weak overseas source, so no arrests.

My guess is that some phillipino cops found a laptop in an abandoned hideyhole and that's as close the plot ever came to LA.

[Inland]

20. This proves that Bush SHOULD be above the law. Get the crown out.

What does any of this have to do with warrantless wiretapping? Or does doing his job competently to catch somebody one time mean that we have to make him king out of gratitude.

[Catchawave]

21. His timing is "fishy"

Even if it's true, it's 4 years old, where there any other "thwartings" since?

[rodeodance]

85. even cnn acknowledged that Bush was trying to convince people of

his domestic spying program.

[BR_Parkway]

22. Jemaah Islamiyah?!? Say that out loud, then laugh - between

Sheikh Mohammed and a guy named ISLAM I YAH - what do we think the freepers heard?

OMG, brown people were gonna kill us (then rape our daughters as part of their 72 virgin contingent). Thank GAWD for Glorious Leader for saving us, all hail King George, the Wiretapper.


C'mon folks - King George was in a very tight re-election campaign, stumping for at least a year on the central theme of TERROR, FEAR and 'elect a Democrat and get blown up'. If they were going to pull something out about a foiled plot - then they would have been on every wingnut radio program, all the pundit shows and in every freaking speech!

[malmapus]

29. Hrmm any relation to Jennah Bushiyah?

lol

[catnhatnh]

25. So they were going to fly the planes...

...with their bloody stumps on the rudder pedals-these ARE scary guys!

[rodeodance]

27. msnbc and Fox are disappointed that these 'details' did not materialize

in Jr speech--like aides said they would. just heard msnbc on this.

[rodeodance]

28. let it to 'inference' says msnbc--about link between spying and foiled

plot

[rodeodance]

30. WH aides were quick to say jr mis-spoke--NOT Liberty Tower. msnbe

just said this.

......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.

[ronnykmarshall]

66. Thar tryin to eye-tack LIBERTY!!

Dumb fuck.



This is the LIBRARY tower ... better known as the US Bank building. Formerly the Sanwa Bank building.

[xxqqqzme]

87. I worked in the bulding just 2 the

right of US Bank.

[twaddler01]

32. I give Bush

NO CREDIT....if this is even true :eyes:

[malmapus]

33. Sooooo "al-Qaeda tried to attack us again in 2002"

Yet we still focused all our of energy and resouces on a man that had nothing at all to do with any attacks on American soil.



I call mother bushing bullshit.

[Massachusetts]

34. "saying it was among 10 disrupted al-Qaeda plots."

O.K. and the point is?

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
-B. Franklin

[5X]

36. Stupidest thing I have ever heard...

and the bloody stumps on the rudders was my first thought, too.

[OneBlueSky]

37. my bullshit detector just burned out . . . complete overload . . . n/t

.

[ronnykmarshall]

38. "Liberty Tower"

>>Last October, the Bush administration had disclosed a plot to attack targets on the West Coast using hijacked planes, saying this was among 10 disrupted al Qaeda plots, but Bush provided more details on Thursday.

Bush referred to the plot as targeting the Liberty Tower in Los Angeles, but White House aides afterward said Bush had meant to say the intended target was the city's Library Tower<<<

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20060209/ts_nm/bush_plot_dc_2


Dumb ass didn't even know the name of the fucking building.

It's the "Library Tower".

[kurth]

39. President Bush saved America!!!!

LIE. LIE. LIE.

[acmavm]

40. This clown is just so predictable that he's not even good

comedy anymore.

What as asshat.

[daleo]

41. I missed the trial for this

You would have thought thwarting a plot like this would have resulted in a trial and some convictions.

[RaleighNCDUer]

54. A trial would be contrary to the position that this is a war.

In a war, you don't try the enemy combatants except for exceptional crimes.

Only if this is a criminal group, could they be put on trial.

STUPID!

If this was a war, when peace was declared everybody would just pack up and go home, the way they do after all wars. True terrorists will not just pack up and go home - they must be hunted down, tried and convicted as the criminals they are.

The only way to win the war on terrorism is to not call it a war but a criminal conspiracy, and treat it as such. Did Italy declare war on the Red Brigades in the 60s and 70s? It went after the group as a criminal conspiracy and now they are all dead or in prison.

The best tools, the only tools that are effective, are law enforcement tools.

[november3rd]

42. Prove it

When you're screwing around with all the data in the country behind closed doors, plus, on top of that you're approval rating is below 40%, why should anyone believe you until they see the evidence?

[Journeyman]

43. Why L.A.? The TransAm building in San Francisco is more recognizable. . .

Man, if you're going to tell tales, hire a screenwriter to give it some punch. . .

[rodeodance]

56. its the tallest building West of the Mississippi (so says msnbc)

[tll]

44. Bush Admin's Greatest Hits

Now available from K-Tel!!

I can hear it now "and throw in 'shoe bombers;' that's really good!"

Fer chrissakes. Talk about laying it on thick. Yeah, who's stupid?

Unfortunately I can also practically see the true believers nodding their heads and I can also hear them say "see? see? we told you that we haven't been attacked since!!"

Only this admin. would think it remotely plausible that the crafty Evil Doers had been sitting around, plotting their next moves (affect cartoon moron voice): "duh-huh, duh-huh, it worked so well the first time!"

This is like the kid who finds the perfect excuse to get out of trouble the first time around then decides to trot it out again. Fool me twice, fool you once... whatever.

[Bigmack]

45. Shame! You guys are so cynical....

... the Bushies and the Intell apparatus could have stopped such a plot.

After all, even a blind squirrel eventually finds some nuts.

[BadGimp]

74. indeed

[ScreamingMeemie]

46. "And then there were pigs...Great big green flying pigs...carrying

Anthrax...and, and Noocular weaponry...and I have saveth you." :puke:

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

47. Bush details Qaeda hijack plot to use shoe bombs

By Tabassum Zakaria
10 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday disclosed new details of a thwarted al Qaeda plot to use shoe bombs to hijack a plane and fly it into a Los Angeles building, as he sought to justify his tactics in Washington's war on terrorism.

With critics questioning the legality of his authorization of a domestic spying program, Bush used newly declassified details of a previously disclosed plot to show that the threat of terrorism has not abated.

Bush said that in early 2002 the United States and its allies thwarted a plot to use bombs hidden in shoes to breach the cockpit door of an airplane and fly it into the tallest building in Los Angeles.

But he named the wrong building. "We believe the intended target was Liberty Tower in Los Angeles, California," Bush said. White House aides later said he meant Library Tower.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20060209/ts_nm/bush_plot_dc_3

[nodehopper]

48. is this about the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who died before he

was captured, a year later?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

51. Yes...

Bush said on Thursday that in October 2001, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the operational mastermind of the September 11 attacks that year, had set in motion a plot for another attack inside the United States using shoe bombs to hijack an airplane and fly it into the tallest building on the U.S. West Coast.

"Rather than use Arab hijackers as he had on September 11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed sought out young men from Southeast Asia whom he believed would not arouse as much suspicion," Bush said.

[MrModerate]

49. Maybe he meant "Liberry" Tower n/t

[jean]

50. Either way - mispronounce Library (Liberry) OR name the wrong building

It's pure bush.

[CottonBear]

52. Yawn. Idiot boy can't even lie right. Liberty, Library...n/t

[rodeodance]

53. AP--Bush Says Cooperation Thwarted 2002 Attack

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060209/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush&printer=1;_ylt=ApX5d2la7_xF.vFpKdM1tGoGw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-
Bush Says Cooperation Thwarted 2002 Attack

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer 56 minutes ago

.........

Bush has referred to the 2002 plot before. In an address last October, he said the United States and its allies had foiled at least 10 serious plots by the al-Qaida terror network in the last four years, including plans for Sept. 11-like attacks on both U.S. coasts. The White House initially would not give details of the plots but later released a fact sheet with a brief, and vague, description of each.

The president filled in details on Thursday.

........

Bush has been on a campaign to defend his controversial domestic monitoring program. But the White House would not say whether the 2002 plot was thwarted as a result of the National Security Agency program to eavesdrop on the international e-mails and phone calls of people inside the United States with suspected ties to terrorists.

Bush said only that "subsequent debriefings and other intelligence operations" after the arrest of the unnamed operative led to information about the plot, and to the capture of other ringleaders and operatives involved in it. Hambali, for instance, was captured in Thailand in 2003 and handed over to the United States.

[951-Riverside]

57. Its not the Liberty Tower & its no longer the Library Tower...

...I think he's full of shit yet again you'd think he'd know the REAL name of this huge ass tower.

If he's being partially truthful he's probably referring to the "Ahmed Ressam" arrest back in 1999.

[wishlist]

83. Using shoe bombs to open cockpit door and fly plane into building?

This scenario doesn't make any sense.

[rodeodance]

86. puff--oops-blew up the plane before they got into cockpit.

[gatorboy]

55. Umm Yeaaahhh....

So if this really happened, why didn't he gsh about it during the last election?

[rodeodance]

58. its a secret.

[gatorboy]

62. Heh! Which brings me to my second question!

Wasn't he just bitching about individuals releasing information on how we are fighting the war on terra? Now all the terrerists know we found out about the great Bomb Shoe Squad. Why do you hate America, George????

[Az_lefty]

59. Total Bullshit...

if this were true, they would have been bragging about this leading up to the last election.

[Nye Bevan]

60. Yeah sure.

You fucking liar.

[cboy4]

61. Sherrrrr. He also stopped a huge asteroid from crashing

into the "American people" as well (in that dumb-ass voice of his)....is that what I'm supposed to believe :puke:

[Critters2]

70. !!

:spray:

[KansDem]

79. That was described in the PDB he *did* read...

"Rouge asteroid determined to strike inside of U.S."

The exciting-sounding title grabbed his attention: "I think I seen a movie about that!"

[Catfight]

92. LOL...yes indeed...superdubya! nt

[burythehatchet]

63. Oh thank God for our president

While we complained about the wiretaps, I'm certain they were the reason dear leader was able to foil this dasterdly plot. We really ought to let this wiretap issue go and allow our father to prect us.

[genie_weenie]

65. Standard Operating Procedure

* is just following the standard playbook (seriously, I got a peek, when I was working in the US Embassy in Kabul)

Whenever, you get in trouble domestically, doctor up some foiled attacks, because this serves several porpoises:
1) Giant Nazi Gas Bags (aka Lush Bimbaugh) can spew invective about how Dumb-o-crats are wimps, sometimes in a 180degree turnaround from the slimed person's record, and point to this as if it were evidence.

2) * can continue his "sky is falling" rhetoric

3) Incredulous people post on blogs/sites but, no one pays attention because of the information overload or plain-old apathy.

4) Robotic Ann Coulter's begin to ride dinosaurs( in spite of what Pat Robertson says), spreading destruction over the land

5) Darth Laden, threatens to use to destroy America but George W. Skywalker, who is an avid jogger uses the farce to fling pretzels at Darth Laden, with Dick Cheney as the Emperor...

6) Until the world is finally destroyed by an army of cartoonists, who having trained at the foot of Terry Gilliam, produce some silly images which cause the whole world to laugh it's self to death, (belgium)

These momentous revelations of *'s single-handed defense of America are so bad. Can people really be this blind, this ignorant, this duped, this controlled?

Help me, Obama Ken-Obi! You're my only hope!

[Critters2]

78. It's exactly what Leo Strauss told 'em to do

yet, somehow things aren't working out the way he said they would...

[rodeodance]

67. Bush details Qaeda plot to hit LA (Reuters)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/bush_plot_dc;_ylt=AiLleaN_Y879yX9zKaHcqmas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--



By Tabassum Zakaria 35 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
President George W. Bush on Thursday disclosed new details of a thwarted al Qaeda plot to use shoe bombs to hijack a plane and fly it into a Los Angeles building, as he sought to justify his tactics in Washington's war on terrorism.


With critics questioning the legality of his authorization of a domestic spying program, Bush used newly declassified details of a previously disclosed plot to show that the threat of terrorism has not abated.

Bush said that in early 2002 the United States and its allies thwarted a plot to use bombs hidden in shoes to breach the cockpit door of an airplane and fly it into the tallest building in Los Angeles.
.........

Library Tower is now known as US Bank Tower, but locally it is still mostly called by the former name because of its proximity to the city's central library. At 1,017 feet (310 metres) tall, it is the tallest building in the United States west of the Mississippi River.

[rodeodance]

69. I think this is an odd response from Sen. Fienstein:

Bush has been fighting criticism of his decision to authorize the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without court warrants inside the United States on international emails and phone calls placed to and from people with suspected ties to terrorism.
.........

"There's a law which says with respect to electronic surveillance within America, it has to be with warrants. It cannot be warrantless," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), the California Democrat, told reporters before entering a closed Senate intelligence committee hearing to discuss Bush's NSA program.

Asked if she was concerned about the selective release of classified information by the White House, Feinstein said:

"The president is entitled to release whatever he wants to release. He owns the intelligence. The president is the owner of intelligence and then he makes the decision of what to share."

[rodeodance]

84. Townsend adds her comments in this story

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060209/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush;_ylt=AuQVvDiwnB6IkQ0YA_r5uTKs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

.......Under the plot, the hijackers were to use shoe bombs to blow open the cockpit door, take control of the plane and crash it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, since renamed the US Bank Tower, Bush said. In his remarks, Bush inadvertently referred to the site as "Liberty Tower," and immediately afterward, the White House corrected him.

The president said the plot was derailed when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key al-Qaida operative. Bush did not name the country or the operative.

Frances Fragos Townsend, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, said Mohammed, working with Hambali in Asia, recruited four members of the terrorist cell. She told reporters in a conference call that all four went to
Afghanistan where they met and swore their loyalty to bin Laden.

Townsend said all four members of the cell have been apprehended, but said she could not release their names or where they were caught. She would not identify the two South Asia and two Southeast Asian nations that helped foil the attack.

[Lindacooks]

71. Lying to save your ass is SO 2002.

Like we believe anything YOU say chimpy, you piece of shit.

[coalition_unwilling]

73. Well, isn't that con-veeenient! * had to say something

to try to block out awareness of the latest Plame-gate revelation, i.e., that Cheney authorized Libby to violate U.S. statutes. (You can read about this on numerous DU threads right now.)

Even if the plot was revealed by Mohammed, one must consider the possibility that Mohammed was tortured and the whole plot was "given up" just to bring the torture to a stop.

Hasn't everyone here realized by now that, *'s fascist nature notwithstanding, he presides over the 'gang that couldn't shoot straight'? IMHO, after we invaded Iraq, al Quaida didn't have to do a thing, because we were doing all their recruiting for them.

In a way, this is very old news also, as there were numerous stories months ago that a "second wave" of attacks had been planned but plans scuttled b/c of the huge success of first wave and need to plan outside the air travel industry for future attacks.

[SIU_Blue]

75. So let me see if I get this.....

At a cruising altitude of somewhere between 25 and 45,000 feet, terrorists are going to use a shoe bomb to blow up a door which is supposed to withstand a direct hit by a hand grenade. Meanwhile, the federal air marshall(s) on board, remain calmly in their seats, and the 200 or so passengers all of whom know about 9/11 also remain calm.

After all this goes down, the terrorists who have just blown down the door, and most likely caused a sudden depressurization (they have less than 30 seconds to live without supp. oxygen), begin to fly the aircraft (I hope it's not the guy who just blew himself up with the shoe bomb) which probably has no hydraulic control after the bomb (meaning they can't steer) and try to hit a building on the west coast.

I see absolutely no flaws in that plan.

I KNOW that these "terrorist organizations" are smarter than this.

Lies. Lies. Lies.

[Virginian]

114. How did the shoe bomb get on board?

This is a plot like Saddam had hopes for a program to eventually maybe be able to produce a Nooookuuuular bomb so we blew up his country.

It sounds like a bunch of drunks talking about how they would do it if they were terrorists. Doesn't sound like the plans were any more concrete than just bluff. Sounds like the plans were half baked, not well thought out.

[Virginian]

115. Dupe - self delete

[Swamp Rat]

76. Horse puckey!

[Critters2]

77. I truly hate this man

but he is good for a laugh every now and again

:rofl:

[u4ic]

81. Considering there had already been a shoe bomber

the year before, wouldn't airport security have been more on the lookout for that sort of thing? :shrug: Perhaps THEY would have been the ones who really foiled the attack, if it ever tried to take place.

Bush should really stop taking diction lessons from his edsucatid, libertyarian wife who couldn't pronounce Katrina herself...:eyes:

[0rganism]

82. Still no indication that non-FISA warrantless wiretapping helped at all

"In briefings after the speech officials would not say whether these domestic US phone taps contributed to information gained about the Los Angeles plot, our correspondent says - but they left open at least the possibility that they did."

Wow, editorial staff, way to push the bush case.

[HuffleClaw]

88. complete, total, and utter codswallop, every damned word

geeze, SHOE BOMBS ???? at least they could TRY to make their lies sound a bit plausible. here's what REALLY happened.

1. bush gets his head handed to him at that funeral
2. terror scare in DC
3. bush lies about more terror

[Emillereid]

89. He just makes it up as he goes along -- this smells.

[Rex]

91. Wow, what an incredible load of horseshit.

nt

[superconnected]

94. Bush: Us survellience helped stop attack

WASHINGTON - Under fire for eavesdropping on Americans, President Bush said Thursday that spy work stretching from the U.S. to Asia helped thwart terrorists plotting to use shoe bombs to hijack an airliner and crash it into the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast.

"It took the combined efforts of several countries to break up this plot," Bush said. "By working together we stopped a catastrophic attack on our homeland."

Some information about the foiled attack was disclosed last year, but Bush offered more details to highlight international cooperation in fighting terrorists. He did not say whether information about the West Coast plot was collected by his administration's program to monitor — without court warrants — some calls and e-mails between people overseas and in the U.S. when links to terrorism are suspected.

The White House said that issue was not the point of the speech, but the president and his advisers have been vigorously defending the legality of the program, which has been questioned by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060210/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_33;_ylt=AhxEE2sxYQIegVIvMgFKGeNqP0AC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

:puke:

[LynnTheDem]

95. OMG I NEVER EVER woulda guessed he'd say this!

How come the mayor of LA never heard about;

1. Any attempted/planned/foiled terra plot on his city

and

2. "Liberty Tower".

[The_Casual_Observer]

96. Some information about the foiled attack was disclosed last year

Does anybody have any information about this?

[Penndems]

101. Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post alluded to it today in his column

Here's a link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100879.html

[soup]

111. Is this what you're looking for?

Chicago, L.A. towers were next targets
March 30, 2004

By Paul Martin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


LONDON — Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al Qaeda's purported operations chief, has told U.S. interrogators that the group had been planning attacks on the Library Tower in Los Angeles and the Sears Tower in Chicago on the heels of the September 11, 2001, terror strikes.
Those plans were aborted mainly because of the decisive U.S. response to the New York and Washington attacks, which disrupted the terrorist organization's plans so thoroughly that it could not proceed, according to transcripts of his conversations with interrogators.
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040330-120655-9785r.htm

Is this one of those known knowns, known unknowns, unknown knowns or unknown unknowns?

[wtmusic]

97. This shoe/skyscraper tale is too funny

At least it wasn't "they were going to take cyanide capsules then crash the plane into a skyscraper..." :silly:

[NanceGreggs]

99. I'm waiting for ...

... the story about the 'foiled suicider' who put a gun to his own head on an airline and shouted at the laughing passengers: "What's so funny? YOU'RE NEXT!"

[mrcheerful]

98. To sum it up simply

B*LL SH*T

[meisje]

106. It does not matter to Bush if it's true, it gives cable news something

else to talk about

[superconnected]

100. I think the real problem here is they have so little credibility

that we don't even consider it could be true now.

I mean, how could it.

all this says to me is wow, he keeps breaking records in how far he'll lie.

Even republicans can't be THIS stupid. I know ... I know.... we thought that in nov 04.

[Pachamama]

105. L*I*A*R!!!!!!!

What a load of crap....they are even too stupid to come up with credible sounding lies....

:spank:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

107. Hunh?

:boring:

[Eurobabe]

108. He's telling us this now?

What a total fuckwad idiot.

[superconnected]

109. When Bin Laden did it, he strategically picked the world trade

center. It sure looked like he meant to attack trade policy.

And he also picked the Pentagon - another strategic target, against the United States.

[superconnected]

110. Taking the US bank tower down would be anti-bin laden family as they have

ties there.

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/linkscopy/bLandUSbanks.html

The above was taken from the wall street journal.


"
The president said the alleged mastermind of the 11 September 2001 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, Sheikh Mohammed recruited "young men from South East Asia whom he believed would not arouse as much suspicion".

Sure... east asians.

[Virginian]

112. Open this door or I'll blow my foot off. ..and he huffed and he puffed...

Crying Wolf?
Why do I get the impression that the President is saying he scared the wolf away two years ago. They probably cried wolf back then and they are now saying there really was one and they scared him away. Hmmm, a 2fer. They got milage out of that one twice. Was it true? Maybe, maybe not.

If this was true, why didn't they tell us earlier?

[redacted]

113. Didn't we catch a shoe guy because passengers were alert?

Is he claiming this was before/after or same time frame?

[Zorro]

116. Anybody ever fly through LAX?

It's the only airport I know of where TSA doesn't demand you take off your shoes before going through security. One would think their policy would have changed if there had been a real shoe bomber threat to LA.

So I call bullshit.

[regnaD kciN]

117. Let's all sing along with Stephanie Miller...!

You're a lying sack of crap,
You're a lying sack of crap,
You're a lying, steaming, stinking, nasty
Sack of liquid crap.