If CNN knew in 1996, how come Bu$h & Condi didn't know in 2001?

[DoYouEverWonder]

http://www.cnn.com/US/9605/12/terror.plot/

Terrorism trial begins in New York
3 men accused of plotting to bomb U.S. planes
May 13, 1996
Web posted at: 11:35 a.m. EDT

From Correspondent Brian Jenkins

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Jury selection began in New York Monday in the federal trial of three men accused of plotting to bomb 11 planes headed for the United States on a single day in 1995.

Ramzi Yousef is charged with masterminding the plot. He also will be tried later this year, accused of planning the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. Four men are already serving life in prison for that crime.

The alleged plot was discovered in the Philippines in January 1995, when a fire broke out in a Manila apartment 200 yards from the Vatican's embassy, a week before the arrival of Pope John Paul II.

Police were shocked by what they found inside: a smoking mixture of explosives in a sink, street maps and garments like those worn by the Pope's entourage, suggesting a plot to kill the Pontiff.

more...


Google Project Bojinka for more.

[JackSwift]

1. Because they didn't want to know

While the general public might not have considered the possibilities, it was the job of the National Security Council and the Advisor (Rice) to be paying attention to exactly this sort of risk. Yet the material I have read indicates that they downgraded a number of precautions and ignored a number of warnings. This is why they have successfully blocked a failure analysis investigation: it would show them derelict in their duties and grossly incompetent.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Yesterday, during the 9-11 hearings

An al Qaeda expert talked about the importance of Project Bojinka and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. He went as far as to say the 9-11 wouldn't not have happened if we had been able to capture Khalid. That is how important Khalid was to this whole mess and it was Condi's job to know as much about him as possible. Next to bin Laden, he was the biggest threat to US national security that we knew about. Yet Condi continues to pretend that she just didn't have a clue.

This was not a matter of a lot of 'noise' or trying to find a needle in a haystack. They knew Khalid was the mastermind and all the gory details of his plans, yet they couldn't connect the dots, even when the dots were served to them on a silver plater?

[indepat]

2. Maybe they are just a little slow on the

uptake?