9/11 panel's report critical of FAA-discounted idea of suicide strikes

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4062733/

Months before the Sept. 11 attacks the Federal Aviation Administration played down the possibility of suicide hijackings, saying the greater threat was from explosives smuggled aboard planes, according to a federal panel investigating the attacks.

The preliminary report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States said that in a presentation to airline and airport officials in early 2001, the FAA discounted the threat of a suicide hijacking because there was “no indication that any group is currently thinking in that direction.”

In July 2001, the FAA issued a warning to air carriers but did not mention suicide hijackings. Instead, it focused on the possibility that some terrorist groups might conceal explosive devices inside luggage.

Bush administration officials have maintained that before the attacks there was no indication terrorists were considering suicide hijackings. But the report said the FAA’s Office of Civil Aviation Security officially considered the possibility of suicide hijackings as early as March 1998.

[lostnfound]

1. This is part of spreading the blame, IMHO.

I don't think the FAA is the main agency responsible for assessing terrorist threats. Weren't there plenty of indications that a group was "thinking in that direction"? The president wants to pass the buck.

If Clinton were still in office, this same congress would have impeached him and done everything possible to place all blame on the president. Instead, they are allowing Bush(Cheney) to play smoke and mirrors, all to distract public attention from more important questions like "what did he know,and when did he know it?"

[Mike Niendorff]

2. re: "no indication that any group is currently thinking in that direction"

That statement is a blatant lie.

Bush and his cronies were specifically aware of a specific threat of exactly this type of terrorist attack during the G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy. This summit took place during July 20-22, 2001 -- less than 7 weeks before the September 11 attacks. The source of this threat? Osama bin Laden. The target? George W. Bush.

Make no mistake about this, people: the Bush regime was demonstrably aware that OBL was considering using hijacked airliners as terror weapons. This is not a matter of opinion or conjecture -- it is a provable, established fact.


References :

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Italy: Bush Targeted at G8
Newsday, 9/19/01
http://www.newsday.com/ny-woital192372601sep19.story

A possible assassination attempt on President {sic} George W. Bush - using a commercial plane - was uncovered by Italy's secret services at July's Group of Eight summit, Deputy Prime Minister Ginafranco Fini said yesterday.

Fini, interviewed for a television program, said Italian forces shut down airspace above Genoa and positioned surface-to-air missiles at the airport.

(more)

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Genoa braces for G8 summit
CNN, 7/18/01
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/07/17/genoa.security/

...

The Italian authorities' security measures also include the positioning of surface-to-air missiles at Genoa's Christopher Columbus airport. Dubbed the SPADA, the land-based system consists of missiles capable of a range of 15 kilometres (9.3 miles).

The ministry said the decision to install the missiles is not excessive.

...

The official G8 Summit Web site said it was not so much violence by the demonstrators that they feared most, but "the possibility of a terrorist attack".

The head of Russia's Federal Bodyguard Service has warned of a plot by terrorist Osama bin Laden to assassinate George W. Bush at the summit and the U.S. President {sic} may be staying at U.S. Camp Darby military base in Livorno or offshore on the American aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise to avoid any terrorist risk.

(more)

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Plot to assassinate Bush -- reports
CNN, 7/9/01
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/06/20/russia.binladen/index.html


Osama bin Laden has threatened to assassinate U.S. President George W. Bush at a G8 meeting in Italy, the head of Russia's Federal Bodyguard Service has said, according to reports.

The Associated Press said Yevgeny Murov was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying: "Bin Laden is threatening the American president, but we know what international terrorism is today and therefore all the bodyguard units concerned are preparing for this."

"We view the threats as totally serious, but hope that with joint efforts we can solve all the problems."

The Group of Eight summit is meeting between July 20-22 in Genoa, Italy. Leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States are expected to attend the summit.

Murov -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's chief bodyguard -- did not elaborate on the threats. He said agents from Russia's Federal Bodyguard Service have travelled to Genoa to coordinate with their counterparts from the other nations taking part in the summit to investigate the threats.

(more)

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MDN

[aquart]

5. Bush is only concerned with protecting his imperial ass.

Us peasants are expendable.

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. Not surprised

Since apparently nobody in the White House thought about passing intelligence information on the subject to the FAA.

[CaptainClark23]

4. Bojinka!

Bojinka! Bojinka! Bojinka!

Oh, these bastards piss me off.

[Cooley Hurd]

8. CIA, FBI Knew Since 1995 About Possible Hijack Scheme

http://www.americanfreepress.net/Mideast/CIAKnew.htm

<snip>
PROJECT BOJINKA

The airline terror plan, code named "Project Bojinka" was first discovered in January 1995 during a police search of a Manila apartment in which a suspicious fire had occurred near the route Pope John Paul II was to take just days before his visit to the Philippines.

A Philippine police investigation revealed that a three-man terrorist cell had occupied the apartment in the center of Manila and made preparations to assassinate the Pope.
<snip>
Federal investigative sources have confirmed that Murad detailed an entire plot to dive bomb aircraft in the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, VA. The plot was contained on the laptop computer he had tried to recover.

On Murad’s computer the police discovered "Project Bojinka" with its detailed plan to terrorize the United States by sabotaging eleven westbound civilian aircraft simultaneously with bombs, exploding them in mid-air as they approached the West Coast.

Furthermore, "Project Bojinka" included plans to hijack and crash several commercial airplanes into civilian and government buildings simultaneously, precisely as it occurred on September 11.
<snip>

[UpInArms]

6. huh?

http://www.nlsi.net/hs-alc-info.htm

John Fulton - Intelligence Networking & Analysis
On the morning of September 11th 2001, Mr. Fulton and his team at the CIA were running a pre-planned simulation to explore the emergency response issues that would be created if a plane were to strike a building. Little did they know that the scenario would come true in a dramatic way that day. Information is the most powerful tool available in the homeland security effort. At the core of every initiative currently underway to protect our country and its citizens is the challenge of getting the right information to the right people at the right time. How can so much information from around the world be captured and processed in meaningful and timely ways? Mr. Fulton shares his insights into the intelligence community, and shares a vision of how today's information systems will be developed into even better counter-terrorism tools of tomorrow.

John Fulton’s 25 years in the intelligence community has contributed to his recognition as an expert in risk & threat response analysis, scenario gaming, and strategic planning. He is on staff for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), currently serving as Chief of the Strategic War Gaming Division of the National Reconnaissance Office, and as a member of U.S. Joint Forces Command's Project Alpha - a prestigious "think tank" for advanced concepts related to such issues as homeland security. He formerly served as the mission director for our nation's satellite imagery program as well as replacing Army Astronaut Same Gemar as the Director of the National Security Space Master Plan for the U.S. Department of Defense and Intelligence Space Communities under the auspices of the Deputy UnderSecretary of Defense (Space).

His counter-terrorism and homeland security responsibilities include advising the Director Central Intelligence Staff for Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshall's Office, and collaboration with the National Security Council.

In the private sector Fulton has developed a number of patents related to positioning, "smart GPS " applications, communications, and audio/video technology. He oversees the development of public & personal safety applications of these capabilities through SafeSTAR projects, and contributes to the strategic planning and conceptual design of the SafeSTAR Homeland Security Command Center.

and

http://www.mdw.army.mil/news/Contingency_Planning.html

Washington, D.C., Nov. 3, 2000 — The fire and smoke from the downed passenger aircraft billows from the Pentagon courtyard. Defense Protective Services Police seal the crash sight. Army medics, nurses and doctors scramble to organize aid. An Arlington Fire Department chief dispatches his equipment to the affected areas.

Don Abbott, of Command Emergency Response Training, walks over to the Pentagon and extinguishes the flames. The Pentagon was a model and the "plane crash" was a simulated one.

The Pentagon Mass Casualty Exercise, as the crash was called, was just one of several scenarios that emergency response teams were exposed to Oct. 24-26 in the Office of the Secretaries of Defense conference room.


A plane crash is simulated inside the cardboard courtyard of a surprisingly realistic-looking model Pentagon. This "tabletop" exercise was designed to help emergency relief personnel better prepare for disasters when they occur.

[worldgonekrazy]

7. The FAA as a patsy? I don't *&$#ing believe it!

This is obviously some whitewash bullshit report they are working on. Instead of blaming the FAA, WHY NOT ASK WHY THE FUCK JETS WEREN'T SCRAMBLED TO INTERCEPT THOSE PLANES? WHY NOT ASK WHY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION IGNORED REPEATED WARNINGS FROM FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS? WHY NOT ASK WHY BUSH HIMSELF, THROUGH EXECUTIVE ORDER, HAD THE FBI STOP LOOKING INTO THE BIN LADEN FAMILY SHORTLY BEFORE 9/11???

And so on and so forth. They must think we are really fucking stupid to try and shove this shit down our throats. The sad part is I think they are right in that they will get away with it. Goddamn retarded American public.