Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

White House was al-Qaeda target
The Scotsman ^ | 5/7/03 | Tom Kelly

Posted on 05/07/2003 6:30:22 AM PDT by truthandlife

FBI agents interrogating captured al-Qaeda operatives now suspect there was a plan to hijack a fifth jet on 11 September to attack the White House.

Debriefings with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the terror plot, and its suspected chief financier, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, have led to the new theory.

"Many, many people are saying many interesting things," a senior FBI official was reported as saying.

The interviews are being conducted as part of the probe into alleged 20th hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui.

Court papers from defence lawyers and a United States district judge show that prosecutors in the case are investigating evidence that the French Moroccan was part of a plot to hijack a fifth plane targeting the White House.

But the FBI official said it was hard to verify the details. "You have contradictory information coming from people you think would know, so you start to think that somebody’s shading it," one said.

Some of the details come from briefings with Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, an al-Qaeda suspect who allegedly sent money to Moussaoui and some of the 19 suicide hijackers.

Moussaoui has said that Bin al-Shibh confessed to the fifth jet theory under pressure from the CIA, according to court papers made public last week.

Moussaoui was taking flying lessons in Minnesota when he was arrested on immigration charges three weeks before the 11 September strikes. He is the only person charged in the US in connection with the terror attacks and faces the death penalty if convicted.

The 34-year-old, who formerly lived in Brixton, south London, has admitted being a member of al-Qaeda but always denied any involvement in the attacks.

He has said that Bin al-Shibh, who was captured last September in Pakistan, can verify his story.

The case may be moved to a military tribunal after a deadlock between the defence and prosecution over whether Moussaoui should be allowed to see classified US government documents.

At the time of his arrest FBI agents found flight manuals for the Boeing 747-400, a flight-simulator computer program, binoculars, two knives, fighting shields and a laptop computer.

They later learned that French intelligence officials suspected Moussaoui of involvement with Islamic extremists.

The FBI team applied to Washington for a special warrant to go into Moussaoui’s computer but were turned down. A disc later turned out to contain information about spraying pesticide from a plane.

Moussaoui and the 11 September hijacker Mohammed Atta both researched using crop dusters for what might have been a biochemical attack.


TOPICS: Front Page News; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alhawsawi; alqaeda; alshibhpesticide; atta; attack; binalshibh; biochemical; cropdusters; fifthjet; hijack; khalidshaikhmohammed; mohammedatta; moussaoui; secondwaveplot; september11; twincitiescell; whitehouse

1 posted on 05/07/2003 6:30:22 AM PDT by truthandlife
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: truthandlife
Re #2

Just as many of us have suspected. It is a good thing for Muslim extremists that it failed. More hostile Mid-East regimes would have disppeared by now.

2 posted on 05/07/2003 6:36:32 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: truthandlife
Then, if they missed the mark (the White House), they will try and try again. Now their focus is private planes full of explosives.
3 posted on 05/07/2003 6:42:51 AM PDT by sarasota
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: truthandlife
Was it ever decided where the plane that crashed in Penn. was planning to hit?
4 posted on 05/07/2003 6:47:52 AM PDT by Ditter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: truthandlife
It is probably lucky for the terrorists that they hit the Pentagon rather than the Capital dome or the White House. If they had hit one of the latter - especially the Capital - Americans would be much less likely to forget and our resolve would be that much stronger. People identify with the Capital dome and the White House in a way that they do not identify with the Pentagon.
5 posted on 05/07/2003 7:24:19 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Steve_Seattle
I like to think we'd be even more likely to have responded with nuclear weapons on 9/11.. It's a tragic mistake that we did not anyway..


I doubt things would've been that much different really. The leftwing would still protest.
6 posted on 05/07/2003 7:34:40 AM PDT by Monty22
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Monty22
Dead horse and all, but exactly who or what would you ave targeted on Sept. 11th?
7 posted on 05/07/2003 7:39:16 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Ditter
"Was it ever decided where the plane that crashed in Penn. was planning to hit?"

General concensus seems to be that the Capitol was that plane's target. The one that hit the Pentagon actually overflew the White House, but - from the air - the White House is hard to see. The canopy of trees and foliage and the height of surrounding buildings makes it tricky to pick out.

IMO, it would now be virtually impossible for a small prop-driven aircraft to hit the WH - it would be brought down by a number of means before it got there.

Michael

8 posted on 05/07/2003 7:39:43 AM PDT by Wright is right! (Have a profitable day!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: 1rudeboy
Oh, easy..

Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria to start with.
9 posted on 05/07/2003 7:41:11 AM PDT by Monty22
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Wright is right!
"IMO, it would now be virtually impossible for a small prop-driven aircraft to hit the WH - it would be brought down by a number of means before it got there."

When they finally decide to do it, and have like 40 small planes going in at once, we'll see.. That'll be the final nail in the coffin of aviation.
10 posted on 05/07/2003 7:42:30 AM PDT by Monty22
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Monty22
Riiiiiiight.
11 posted on 05/07/2003 7:43:44 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: 1rudeboy
Why not?

It's insane not to attack the home countries and supporters of this stuff.
12 posted on 05/07/2003 7:44:34 AM PDT by Monty22
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: truthandlife
bump
13 posted on 05/07/2003 7:49:58 AM PDT by VOA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TigerLikesRooster
It is a good thing for Muslim extremists that it failed. More hostile Mid-East regimes would
have disppeared by now.


I did get a bit of dark humor hearing about how Al-Quida operatives had considered
striking nuclear plants/facilities in the USA as part of their 9-11 festivities.

But they decided not to do that because (and I think this was the actual quote)
"things might get out of hand".
14 posted on 05/07/2003 7:52:54 AM PDT by VOA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: VOA
Re #14

For once, they were right.:)

15 posted on 05/07/2003 7:56:33 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Monty22
It's insane not to attack the home countries and supporters of this stuff.

and exavtly who is not attacking the countries that support this stuff? From my point of view we have removed a government in Afghanistan that defeated the Soviet Union, and we have removed the most openly belligerent Arab leader.

Most importantly, we have removed the democrat party from contention.

16 posted on 05/07/2003 7:58:24 AM PDT by js1138
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: js1138
Saudi Arabia is the source of Al-Quaeda's:

Personnel
Leadership
Funding
Ideology
Escape Routes
Schooling
Recruiting

Saudi Arabia is exactly who we are not attacking that supports "this stuff." Which, as a friendly reminder, is the unprovoked murder of our neighbors.
17 posted on 05/07/2003 8:12:58 AM PDT by Uncle Miltie (Wheat is Murder! (Tilling slaughters worms.....))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Brad Cloven
I won't disagree, but I think SA is coming to the end of its free lunch. These folks are like brain tumors. You have to remove them without killing the patient.

And who has made more progress in this operation: Bush, or all the presidents before him?

18 posted on 05/07/2003 8:23:50 AM PDT by js1138
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: js1138
Bush Doctrine Country Checklist

EACH COUNTRY HAS ITS OWN TIMETABLE!

19 posted on 05/07/2003 11:10:07 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Free Republic, where leftist liars are exposed 24/7!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson