Posted on 06/01/2004 10:26:24 AM PDT by esryle
Hotels and apartment buildings on hit list
WASHINGTON — Jose Padilla, a detainee held in U.S. custody, was training to blow up hotels and apartment buildings in the United States in addition to a possible attack with a “dirty bomb” nuclear device, according to government documents.
The documents, released Tuesday by the Justice Department, said that Padilla and an al-Qaida accomplice were to enter the United States through Mexico or Puerto Rico.
“Padilla and the accomplice were to locate as many as three high-rise apartment buildings which had natural gas supplied to the floors,” the government summary of interrogations revealed.
“They would rent two apartments in each building, seal all the openings, turn on the gas, and set timers to detonate the buildings simultaneously at a later time,” the papers alleged.
The documents said al-Qaida officials were skeptical of Padilla’s ability to set off a dirty bomb but were very interested in the apartment operation.
Top al-Qaida officials “wanted Padilla to hit targets in New York City, although Florida and Washington, D.C. were discussed as well,” the summary said.
Padilla was to conduct an Internet search on buildings that had natural gas heating, open a bank account and obtain documents needed to rent an apartment.
The plot called for blowing up 20 buildings simultaneously, but Padilla said he could not rent multiple apartments under one identity without drawing attention.
Wow and the liberals were screaming bloody murder that this guy's "rights" were violated.
I take it you missed the press conference. It would be nice if people knew what they were talking about before shooting off their mouths.
I read the article earlier but am just reading comments.
From this article:
The documents said al-Qaida officials were skeptical of Padilla’s ability to set off a dirty bomb but were very interested in the apartment operation.
I'm pretty sure this is NOT accurate. I believe Comey said the "Al Qaeda officials" were skeptical of the ability of Padilla to set off a nuclear device and they suggested the dirty bomb as an alternative. Padilla was hellbent on detonating a bomb.
We need the transcript.
Indeed, he was also interested in the apartment operation, but protested that the simultaneous explosion of 20 complexes was beyond his ability. He said he could manage 2 or 3 at once.
You are correct. Comey explicitly stated there is additional information (and they gave a mountain of info today) that they are not free to reveal at this time.
absolutely right. we can't even reveal the location of the prison where the top AQ people are being held - much less have Padilla's ACLU lawyers depose him.
I still say - if the SCOTUS rules for Padilla, Bush should fly him to Afghanistan, and then tell the SCOTUS to figure out how to enforce their order.
According to freepers who were watching CNN, they were the first to leave the press conference to air one of Padilla's attorneys via the phone.
I saw a bit of this as Fox dumped out right when Comey started taking questions and I surfed over and saw CNN doing that. I ended up on CSPAN.
A couple of questions asked after this stunning briefing on what Padilla had been up to and who he had been consorting with:
Was he tortured during interrogation (NO).
Did you pick up Padilla too early? (Like we should have waited until he had pulled off an attack? This from those who assert Bush should have prevented 9/11)
Or maybe they realize that if they don't come up with something for a court they are going to be forced to release him.
Was he tortured!?!?!?! Pfft. Completely predictable liberal question NOW.
The documents said al-Qaida officials were skeptical of Padilla’s ability to set off a dirty bomb but were very interested in the apartment operation
From today's press conference:
Excerpt:
Padilla says Zubaida was skeptical about the idea of them building and deploying a nuclear bomb, but nonetheless told them he would send them on to see Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, also known as KSM, the operational leader of al Qaeda and the mastermind behind September 11.
We know separately that Zubaida did think the nuclear bomb idea was not feasible but he did think as well that another kind of radiological device was very feasible: uranium wrapped with explosives to create a dirty bomb. Zubaida believed this was feasible and encouraged Padilla and his accomplice to pursue it. He warned them, though, that it would not be as easy as they might think. But they seemed convinced that they could do it without getting caught.
I am sickened that the reporters either can't comprehend plain English or are deliberately distorting what was said.
I had no trouble understanding it. The skepticism was about deploying a nuclear bomb. But he thought a *dirty bomb* was VERY feasible.
And after hearing the activities Padilla was engaged in, one would hope he had been! I say tongue in cheek, but it was an unbelievable (well, believable, but you know what I mean) question.
nice touch....
This is very important, as Padilla is famous for the "dirty bomb plot". Now the media is either distorting deliberately or through incompetence, what was stated at today's press conference.
See my post #30. We must correct the disinformation campaign that is underway:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1145706/posts?page=30#30
the context for that statement comes from the preceding paragraph - note the term "nuclear improvised bomb" used there. I read that as dirty bomb.
Stoping them, as in stopping them from two WTC bombings, numerous overseas bombings and the OKC bombing? Is that the "stopping them" you meant?
This can't be good news for the gas company.
Zubaida...did think as well that another kind of radiological device was very feasible: uranium wrapped with explosives to create a dirty bomb.
~snip~
we arent talking about overseas, were talking about within our borders
ok, so cut it down to three big ones. the govt is full of bunglers and incompetents.
what is a "nuclear improvised bomb"?
I admit, they need to choose their words more carefully.
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