Posted on 02/09/2006 1:31:15 PM PST by Thanatos
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.
Bush said Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks who was captured in 2003, had begun planning an attack to fly a commercial airplane into the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast, the Library Tower in Los Angeles, since renamed the US Bank Tower.
Instead of recruiting Arab hijackers, Southeast Asian men would be used, Bush said, because they were less likely to arouse suspicion. He said they would use shoe bombs to blow open the cockpit door.
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.
"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.
Maybe you should read the whole posting before you comment.
What an idiot this guy must be. He is just demonstrating why Democrats cannot be trusted with national security. If he had been paying any attention at all, he would have known about this plot and asked proper questions. The man obviously had no interest and was completely out of his depth on the subject.
How very interesting. Perhaps you should share it with Brit Hume so he can set the record straight.
Isn't it amazing that even though GWBush protects LA night and day, he's still to blame for something. Anything. Everything.
UM.
I'm filing this story away in my collection entitled "The Folder I Send to People Who Doubt the Media's Left-Wing Bias."
This is absolutely appalling.
Someone needs to tell Re-Conquista Villagorosa he wasn't mayor of L.A. in 2002 so why would he know about this?
Don't worry about it Mayor...we wre all blindsided on 9-11. So, what's your point????
obviously the mayor doesn't think L.A. is part of the United States.
Maybe they didn't think he could be trusted to keep his mouth shut until the President made the information public. Pretty safe bet.
Then you should add this from another discussion board.....
by: bush_is_a_nazi_simpleton 02/09/06 05:09 pm
HOW COULD HE MENTION ANYTHING UNTIL TODAY WHEN THEY DIDN'T MAKE IT UP UNTIL YESTERDAY? GOT TO DO SOMETHING TO GET THE CORETTA SCOTT KING HUMILIATION OFF THE FRONT PAGES.
LOL! Really.
You know, the liberals really do not grasp the concept that they too are the enemy.
He is giving a press conference on Fox right now. [My TV is on mute, however]
I guess the Libs think they have another club to bash Bush with.
Maybe they couldn't understand English?
He just wants face time on national TV, plus the opportunity to shill for more federal funds :-(
Yeah, no kidding! It's been known for years now that the original plan was for five planes on the east coast and five planes on the west coast.
If this guy doesn't realize that L.A. is a high-profile target for Islamic terrorists, he isn't fit to run Mayberry.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.