FAA had al-Qaida air warning in 1998

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration was warned as early as 1998 al-Qaida could use an aircraft to attack a U.S. landmark, a formerly secret report says.

The claim was made in the final report of the Sept. 11 commission that investigated the terror attacks of 2001, but only made public Tuesday, The New York Times.

The FAA was warned al-Qaida could "seek to hijack a commercial jet and slam it into a U.S. landmark," and was also warned in 2001 that airport screeners' ability to detect possible weapons had "declined significantly" in recent years.

Members of the disbanded commission have been battling with the White House to make public more of the report, much of which was blacked out before its August 2004 release. Tuesday, the administration prepared a new public version of the report, which was posted on the National Archives Web site.

A footnote that was originally redacted from the report showed that a quarter of the security screeners used in 2001 for security for United Airlines flights at Dulles Airport had not completed required criminal background checks.

The US Government knew about al Qaeda planning to hijack a large number of airliners and crash them into buildings much sooner than that. 1995. Discovered from tracking the movement and contacts of 1993 WTC attacker Ramsi Yousef

Operation "Bojinka"....1995

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

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

Yousef independently boasted of the plot to U.S. Secret Service agent Brian Parr and FBI agent Charles Stern on an extradition flight from Pakistan to the United States in February 1995. The agents later testified to that fact in court.

Philippine investigators say the plan targeted not only the CIA but other U.S. government buildings in Washington, including the Pentagon.

The Philippine police said that the World Trade Center and Sears Tower were specific targets in the plan. Another named target was the CIA headquarters in Langley.

Might want to look at the Clinton decision that arose from discovering "Bojinka"...to form an Airline Security Commission that was chaired by Vice Pres Al Gore...and what the Gore Commission found and recommended...and what Al Gore did to scuttle recommendations such as reinforcing cockpit doors ... and Gore's memos to the airlines about hsi agreement to delay or stall on forcing them to adopt recommendations for security upgardes....just days before Gore's presidential campaign received VERY large campaign contributions from the airlines.....and the role of Tom Daschle's wife Linda, who was both in the FAA and also served as an airline corporate lobbyist...and how her activities delayed or objuscated upgrading airline security, such as by requiring that contracts for upgraded passenger/baggage screening equipment be steered to her specific client companies......

I was always amazed that the implications of this lack of implementation of airline security by the Gore Commission ...against a known terrorist plot.... were NOT examined by the 9/11 commission or the PRESS.

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