A Tale of Two Terror Attacks

I found two stories that are just incredible. They show the audacity that this Bush administration has in defending their "Great War on Terror." Here is the first story, titled Bush Details 2002 al-Qaida Plot on L.A., from Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON - President Bush gave new details on Thursday about a purported 2002 terrorist plan to use shoe bombs to blow open the cockpit door of a commercial jetliner, take control of the plane and crash it into a building in Los Angeles.

Bush said the U.S.-led global war on terror has "weakened and fractured" al-Qaida and allied groups, outlining as proof new details about the multinational cooperation that foiled the purported terrorist plans.

"The terrorists are living under constant pressure and this adds to our security," Bush said. "When terrorists spend their days working to avoid death or capture, it's harder for them to plan and execute new attacks on our country. By striking the terrorists where they live, we're protecting the American homeland."

But the president said the anti-terror battle is far from over.

"The terrorists are weakened and fractured, yet they're still lethal," the president said in a speech at the National Guard Memorial Building. "We cannot let the fact that America hasn't been attacked in 41/2 years since September the 11th lull us into the illusion that the threats to our nation have disappeared. They have not."

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.

President Bush makes remarks,Thursday, Feb. 9, 2006, on the Global War on Terror at the National Guard Memorial Building in Washington. Bush gave new details about the multinational cooperation that foiled purported terrorist plans to fly a commercial airplane into the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Pretty exciting isn't it? Of course, the administration refused to provide any details on this purported 2002 plot, nor any of the other 10 serious plots for the past four years. It is only after the administration is under pressure to provide a comprehensive explanation for their domestic spying activities, and the resulting calls for congressional investigations into these spying activities, that the Bush White House is finally starting to release the details of these "foiled" plots.

So here's the details of the 2002 plot:

He said that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks who was captured in 2003, had already begun planning the West Coast operation in October, just after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. One of Mohammed's key planners was Hambali, the alleged operations chief of the al-Qaida related terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. Instead of recruiting Arab hijackers, Hambali found Southeast Asian men who would be less likely to arouse suspicion and who were sent to meet with
Osama bin Laden, Bush said.

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.

So I guess we're lucky that the Bush White House was able to stop this terror attack, before it could happen--right?

Well....Now consider this little story in Yahoo News, titled L.A. Mayor Blindsided by Bush Announcement:

LOS ANGELES - 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 told The Associated Press. "I don't expect a call from the president — but somebody."

Bush has referred to the 2002 plot before but he publicly filled in the details Thursday.

"I go to work every day knowing that we are a target," Villaraigosa said.

The mayor said homeland security needs better funding, including for the protection of high-risk targets in Los Angeles. He said some funding could be redirected from the war in Iraq, but he did not advocate an immediate withdrawal of troops.

So wait a minute, we have this supposed terror attack about to be unleashed on Los Angeles, and the White House, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Pentagon, or any other federal agency, failed to mention this purported attack down--or even a warning of an al Qaida attack--to the LA police or any officials? Was this information so classified and secret, that the feds couldn't warn the local law enforcement that they could be targeted for a similar attack by hijacked aircraft? Or is it that the Los Angeles officials could reveal this information to the terrorists, thus the local officials would be aiding and abetting the terrorists?

Talk about Keystone Kops here!