Al Qaeda Originally Envisioned Plot With 10 Jets(9/11 Panel Finds No Collaboration Between Iraq..)

Washington Post ^ | Wednesday, June 16, 2004; 11:15 AM | By Dan Eggen

[fight_truth_decay]

Al Qaeda Originally Envisioned Plot With 10 Jets 9/11 Panel Finds No Collaboration Between Iraq, Al Qaeda

The terrorist attacks carried out on Sept. 11, 2001, were originally envisioned as an even more spectacular assault involving 10 jetliners on the east and west coasts, but the plan was scaled back and was nearly derailed on several occasions by setbacks and squabbling among senior al Qaeda officials, according to a new report released this morning.

The date for the attacks was uncertain until weeks before they were carried out, and there is evidence as late as Sept. 9, 2001, that ringleader Mohamed Atta had not decided whether the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania would target the U.S. Capitol or the White House, according to the report, which was issued by the independent commission probing the Sept. 11 attacks. One of the hijacking pilots apparently came close to abandoning the plot altogether, the panel found.

In an overview of al Qaeda released in a separate report earlier this morning, the commission also found "no credible evidence" that al Qaeda collaborated with Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq on the Sept. 11 strikes or any other attacks on the United States. That finding comes in the wake of statements Monday by Vice President Cheney that Iraq had "long-established ties" with al Qaeda, and comments by President Bush yesterday backing up that assertion.

[Badeye]

The 9/11 Commission will be scoffed at by historians for what it is, a partisan witch hunt featuring a woman (Gorelick) that played a huge roll in limiting the exchange of information between the various intelligence / law enforcement agencies.

I never thought I would live to see the day when a "Commission" performed at a level lower than the Warren Commission.

Sadly, I was wrong about that......

Having Gorelick on this commission was like the Warren Commission having David Fairey on the Warren Commission.

[mict42]

This panel is a farce. God save the country. Political pride riding before the fall.

[Gator113]

For me, reading anything that comes from this silly, worthless and devoid of all credibility "911 Commission", is like reading from the walls of a men's restroom. Come to think it, those perverts who make their etchings on such walls, likely have more personal credibility, and albeit their tripe is perverted, rank and disgusting, their intentions might actually be from a higher moral ground.

There..that's about as nice as I can be regarding the 911 Commission. LOL

[sheikdetailfeather]

Thanks for posting all those links Peach. Very good to have them all in one spot for everyone to see.

[Peach]

Now if the president would just use them!!!

[drypowder]

the commission also found "no credible evidence" that al Qaeda collaborated with Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq on the Sept. 11 strikes

The Warren commission's single bullet theory in the JFK assassination was presented to the public and that was their findings, "period". Since most of America is not as STUPID as those in high places think we are, that finding blew the credibility of the Warren commission. I recently read the political history of the members on this 9/11 commission and it spoke volumes of their credibility. They have none. This whole government commission crap is just a big CYA for the crooked, unethical, immoral pieces of s#$t that run this country. I apologize for the sugar coating.

[alnick]

, the commission also found "no credible evidence" that al Qaeda collaborated with Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq on the Sept. 11 strikes or any other attacks on the United States. That finding comes in the wake of statements Monday by Vice President Cheney that Iraq had "long-established ties" with al Qaeda, and comments by President Bush yesterday backing up that assertion.

Of course, the Bush and Cheney assertion is NOT refuted by the commission's findings, such as they are, of no credible evidence that Saddam had a direct hand in plotting 9/11. Bush and Cheney acknowledged a connection between AQ and SH, not necessarily SH and 9/11.

[ssaftler]

Let's kill two birds with one stone. Drop the nuke on Mecca during the hajj! Hope there would be enough virginians (er, virgins) waiting for the pilgrims!

[fight_truth_decay]

The New Yorker
THE GREAT TERROR
by JEFFREY GOLDBERG
In northern Iraq, there is new evidence of Saddam Hussein's genocidal war on the Kurds—and of his possible ties to Al Qaeda.
Issue of 2002-03-25
Posted 2002-03-25
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?020325fa_FACT1

Excerpt;
A year later, there was a new development: Othman told Jawad to smuggle several dozen refrigerator motors into Afghanistan for the Iraqi Mukhabarat; a cannister filled with liquid was attached to each motor. Jawad said that he asked Othman for more information. "I said, 'Othman, what does this contain?' He said, 'My life and your life.' He said they"—the Iraqi agents—"were going to kill us if we didn't do this. That's all I'll say.

"I was given a book of dollars," Jawad went on, meaning ten thousand dollars—a hundred American hundred-dollar bills. "I was told to arrange to smuggle the motors. Othman told me to kill any of the smugglers who helped us once we got there." Vehicles belonging to the Taliban were waiting at the border, and Jawad said that he turned over the liquid-filled refrigerator motors to the Taliban, and then killed the smugglers who had helped him.

Jawad said that he had no idea what liquid was inside the motors, but he assumed that it was some type of chemical or biological weapon. I asked the Kurdish officials who remained in the room if they believed that, as late as 2000, the Mukhabarat was transferring chemical or biological weapons to Al Qaeda. They spoke carefully. "We have no idea what was in the cannisters," the senior official said. "This is something that is worth an American investigation."

When I asked Jawad to tell me why he worked for Al Qaeda, he replied, "Money." He would not say how much money he had been paid, but he suggested that it was quite a bit. I had one more question: How many years has Al Qaeda maintained a relationship with Saddam Hussein's regime? "There's been a relationship between the Mukhabarat and the people of Al Qaeda since 1992," he replied.

Carole O'Leary, a Middle Eastern expert at American University, in Washington, and a specialist on the Kurds, said it is likely that Saddam would seek an alliance with Islamic terrorists to serve his own interests. "I know that there are Mukhabarat agents throughout Kurdistan," O'Leary said, and went on, "One way the Mukhabarat could destabilize the Kurdish experiment in democracy is to link up with Islamic radical groups. Their interests dovetail completely. They both have much to fear from the democratic, secular experiment of the Kurds in the safe haven, and they both obviously share a hatred for America."

[DustyMoment]

. . . 9/11 Panel Finds No Collaboration Between Iraq, Al Qaeda . . .

Hmph! I could have sworn that the members of the Warren Commission were all dead but, here they all are, assembled once again to write another piece of government sponsored fiction.

Hmph!

[Peach]

Thanks for that link.

I'm adding it to my list which is on my "links" bookmarked page under "Saddam at least knew 9/11 was coming and colluded with AQ for a decade".

[marty60]

Iheard one of the guys talking about how the terrorists were scouting buildings to release poisonious gas, killing thousands. Now my question is....Where were they getting the poisonious gas(chemicals). Is Saddamn's WMD's already in Al Qaeda hands?

[Shermy]

""[1] In an overview of al Qaeda released in a separate report earlier this morning, the commission also found "no credible evidence" that al Qaeda collaborated with Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq on the Sept. 11 strikes or any other attacks on the United States. [2] That finding comes in the wake of statements Monday by Vice President Cheney that Iraq had "long-established ties" with al Qaeda, and comments by President Bush yesterday backing up that assertion.""

Rhetorical disinfo. Both 1 & 2 could be true. 1. is limited to attacks "on" the "United States". IE, "Saddam" could have collaborated with AQ elsewhere.

[Max Combined]

Sounds good!

[cyncooper]

Good highlight.

Here's another:

Bin Laden strongly favored targeting the White House, and Binalshibh urged Atta to agree. But Atta was concerned that the presidential mansion was too difficult to hit, and backed the U.S. Capitol instead. The matter appears to have been unresolved as late as two days before the attack.

I read another article on this matter this morning quoting Keene as saying they are asking why President Bush was reading to children, and also why he went "hop-scotching" around the country after the attacks.

I just heard a reporter for MSNBC report the same about the "hop-scotching", using that dismissive and mocking phrase.

It is completely inappropriate for that language to be used. I well remember the relief I felt on 9/11 when I heard the president was NOT returning immediately to Wasshington, D.C. when events were just breaking. Also, President Bush and VP Cheney have met with this commission. I would think those "questions" have been asked and, I am positive, more than adequately answered.

This commission is beyond a disgrace.

Oh, the other tack I've heard on reporting this morning is that we didn't move quickly enough to shoot down the airplanes. You can bet your bottom dollar had that response occurred before, say, the Pentagon was hit, this commission and the dems already would have tried (and perhaps succeeded) in impeaching President Bush for murdering our own citizens. They would have pointed to the attacks being "confined" to New York, I'd bet, and that there "wasn't enough proof" that simply because the plane was hijacked (I would surmise, in this hypothetical, that evidence of Barbara Olson's call and so on would exist so we'd know it was hijacked), didn't mean it was going to be used as a missile.

We can see that objective facts and reasoning mean nothing to these people, and it's how circumstances can be twisted to paint the administration in the worst light is the aim. Why Keene and some other "Republicans" are playing along is a mystery to me, but there it is. There is no denying that he is following the course of irrational thinking.

[Republican Red]

In Atlanta, I remember reading about a Delta plane that was grounded on 9/11. They found box cutters in the seat cushions. Never heard much more about it but I always believed that grounding all flights stopped another hijacking.

[plain talk]

bump for later read. Thanks again.

[BluH2o]

In Atlanta, I remember reading about a Delta plane that was grounded on 9/11. They found box cutters in the seat cushions.

Similar incident occurred at Reagan National in Washington, DC. A plane that had left the gate and was being delayed by flights ahead of it taxiing for take off when word came that the all aircraft were to return to the terminal. A group of middle eastern looking individuals appeared to be agitated by this turn of events and began arguing among themselves in Arabic. When the aircraft reached the gate they pushed themselves to the front and exited quickly. They disappeared into the airport crowd and weren't seen again ... another 9-11 hijack group thwarted?

[stevem99]

Interesting you speak of Salman Pak, we haven't heard hardly anything about it since the invasion. So where are the goods?