Thread: Bush Says L.A. Skyscraper Was Terror Target

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Bush Says L.A. Skyscraper Was Terror Target

POSTED: 8:11 am PST February 9, 2006
UPDATED: 12:32 pm PST February 9, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President 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 purported terrorist plans to fly a commercial airplane into the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast.

"The terrorists are living under constrant 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 weakenend 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.

The president filled in details on Thursday.

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-Quaida 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 of a commercial jetliner, take control of the plane and crash it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, since renamed the US Bank Tower, Bush said.

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.

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 emails 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.

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

Bush's speech in October cited two other attacks inside the United States that were foiled, including one to use hijacked planes to attack the East Coast in mid-2003.

The third was the case of Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member who converted to Islam and allegedly plotted with top al-Qaida commanders to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a U.S. city. Padilla, whose plot never materialized, now is being held without bail in civilian custody on charges that he was part of a secret network that supported Muslim terrorists. He was arrested in May 2002 and had been held as an enemy combatant without criminal charge at a Navy brig in South Carolina until last month.

This is another of his "bait and switch" that he has been using to "get his way" since there are so many American's who fall for his "I am protecting America" speech.
Being on the ground and not in an ivory tower I see that the LAST thing he wants to do is "protect" America.
He thinks that all American's are so fearful of things happening like 911 that they will not THINK passed his words.
Well I am here to tell you I for one would rather be "hit" with a bomb than have my whole life destroyed from the inside out.

You're absolutely right!

Figures, as soon as this moron used his little scare tactic, this happens:

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060 ... -7594r.htm

GOP reaches Patriot Act deal

By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
February 10, 2006

Four Republican senators reached a deal yesterday to drop their opposition to the renewal of the USA Patriot Act, hailed by the White House as crucial in the war against terrorists.
But the agreement involving White House officials and top congressional leaders doesn't guarantee approval because most Democrats are still on the record opposing the measure.
Republican Sens. John E. Sununu of New Hampshire, Larry E. Craig of Idaho, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska had opposed the reauthorization because they said it lacked the appropriate civil liberties protections.
"America's civil liberty protections are a model to the world," the four Republicans said in a joint statement yesterday. "We should always strive to balance protection of these freedoms with the essential needs of law enforcement. The substantive, and at times, emotional debate concerning Patriot Act reauthorization reflects the importance of enabling law enforcement to investigate terrorists without sacrificing these rights."
Under the deal, civil liberties protections have been added regarding the issuance of secret national security subpoenas and federal searches of library records.
"The changes announced today by Senator Sununu strengthen civil liberties protections without hindering the core anti-terrorism safeguards in the Patriot Act," said Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican. "I expect swift adoption of these changes and the Patriot Act conference report."
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, said the modifications should clear the way for passage.
"It appears -- and I say 'appears' because nothing is ever certain in the United States Senate until the final votes are cast -- that we have come to an agreement, at least within the Senate, on modifications for the Patriot Act so that it can be renewed," he said yesterday.
Once the new provisions are added, the bill must again be approved by both chambers. The new bill is expected to get easy approval from the House, but faces stiff opposition from Senate Democrats.
In December, the four Republicans joined Democrats in filibustering reauthorization of current law, which now expires in March.
With the four Republicans on board, a filibuster would become an all-Democrat move -- a prospect that Republicans relish because polls show that voters don't trust Democrats on national security. As of yesterday, the new bill remained one vote shy of breaking the filibuster.
But the deal gained at least two key Democrat supporters yesterday in Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, both members of the Judiciary Committee.
"It is a substantial improvement," Mrs. Feinstein said of the new version. "I think it's important to get this done. And there is a four-year sunset, so we will be able to watch it closely."
Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, signaled optimism as well.
"I commend my Republican colleagues for working hard to make the Patriot Act better," he said after the agreement was announced. "Democrats strongly believe we must have all necessary tools to fight terrorism, but we want checks and balances to ensure that these expansive powers are not abused. The deal reached by my Republican colleagues appears to be a step in the right direction."
Praise from Democrats was not unanimous. Sen. Russell D. Feingold, the Wisconsin Democrat who led opposition to the bill, said the alterations are "a few small changes" and he would continue to oppose the bill.
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was disappointed, too. "A bipartisan coalition in the Senate made a valiant stand to make clear that security and liberty are not mutually exclusive values in America," he said. "We can and we should have both. But White House naysaying and partisanship have obstructed this from becoming the better bill that it should be, and that is deeply regrettable."

I didn't believe a single word he said...not one. He's cried 'wolf' so often to get his way about legislation that he wants passed...any damn fool can see that there is NO protection for Americans...only severe restrictions of our rights....

Mark well those senators that decided the Patriot Act should be renewed...it should be RePealed...in toto...we have to deal with congresspersons who are obviously against citizens.

RR

You know, if i took the story about L.A. at face value, assuming it's true....so what. You can only cry wolf so many times. American's emotions are spent.
You can't sit around for months after 9-11, doing nothing while the country quietly rages.

Bush had the chance to mobilize and crush our enemies, with the world's emotional support.

He blew it.

pa

The trouble is that there seems to be too many sheep in this country. They will beleive anything they are told. The worst part of it is that of the sheep, too many are in office. They all need to be taken out and people who can think for themselves put in.

Originally Posted by UBGold

The trouble is that there seems to be too many sheep in this country. They will beleive anything they are told. The worst part of it is that of the sheep, too many are in office. They all need to be taken out and people who can think for themselves put in.

So true. I am tired of being lied to. BTW isnt bush still trying to finsih "My Pet Goat?"


Any Senator or member of congress who falls for his tactics or accepts his word needs to be voted out of office.


Can someone tell me what is so patriotic about the Patriot Act? They say it is to help defend America against terrorists, yet at the same time, they do nothing about our wide open border. Sounds like doublespeak to me.