Seems to me that it would have been imprudent to set a date certain so far in advance. Instead, initial planning could have aimed at "sometime in September" and preparations proceeded on that basis.
Once all the pre-planning and preparations were in place, the final date of 9/11 could have been a function of the weather forecast. I agree that, once final preparations were set in train (e.g., on 8/28), a one or two-day delay would have been impractical.
Was there ever any confirmation of the rumors that these particular flights were heavily over-booked, presumably so as to reduce the number of passengers who would have to be controlled by the hijackers? I assume pre-planning would have focussed on a Tue-Wed-Thu timeframe, because of a.) somewhat lighter load factors and b.) high office occupancy at the WTC and Pentagon/Capitol/White House offices.
We also know that the hijackers "cased" these particular flights and routes in some detail. Presumably, they (or their accomplices) would have done the same for the WTC. And we do have the one plumber involved in the Memphis case who was known to have had a WTC pass immediately prior to the event.
I wouldn't place too much emphasis on bin Laden. I'd be very surprised if bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attack. All the evidence points to Saddam Hussein. (Bin Laden and al-Qaeda were presumably deeply involved, but that's not where the buck stops.)
We have repeated reports of sightings of Mohamed Atta (and two of the other hijackers, al-Shehhi and Jarrah) meeting with Iraqi agents in Europe on a variety of occasions. Are there any sightings of the hijackers meeting with known al-Qaeda operatives? (I'm not saying that they didn't, but the evidence is that the hijackers were more closely associated with Iraq than with al-Qaeda, since they met with Iraqi agents so often that multiple such meetings were observed.)
It is well-documented that many of the hijackers did not follow strict Islamic lives. Many of them drank alcohol. Jarrah had lived with his girlfriend, in Germany. They visited strip clubs and casinos. Their friends generally say that they were not Islamic extremists. This suggests that they were not Islamic fundamentalists, such as one would expect from members of al-Qaeda. Saddam Hussein's Iraq, on the other hand, is not a fundamentalist state; it's not exactly secular in Western terms, but it's fairly close. It's quite believable that the hijackers were agents of, or associated with, Iraq.
And why should we believe bin Laden's statements on operational matters anyway?
Seems to me that it would have been imprudent to set a date certain so far in advance. Instead, initial planning could have aimed at "sometime in September" and preparations proceeded on that basis.
Once all the pre-planning and preparations were in place, the final date of 9/11 could have been a function of the weather forecast. I agree that, once final preparations were set in train (e.g., on 8/28), a one or two-day delay would have been impractical.
That the saudi-binladin-group.com domain name was not renewed on, say, Sept. 9 or 10, suggests that, by that time, it was a done deal. That the domain name was registered on 9/11/2000 (so that it would expire on 9/11/2001) suggests that Sept. 11 was the intended date for at least a year.
Was there ever any confirmation of the rumors that these particular flights were heavily over-booked, presumably so as to reduce the number of passengers who would have to be controlled by the hijackers? I assume pre-planning would have focussed on a Tue-Wed-Thu timeframe, because of a.) somewhat lighter load factors and b.) high office occupancy at the WTC and Pentagon/Capitol/White House offices.
I remember this being stated shortly after 9/11, but I've seen no confirmation since. I don't know whether it's a fact or an unfounded rumor.
We also know that the hijackers "cased" these particular flights and routes in some detail. Presumably, they (or their accomplices) would have done the same for the WTC.
They seem to have planned the whole thing in detail.
And we do have the one plumber involved in the Memphis case who was known to have had a WTC pass immediately prior to the event.
This is new to me. What is the story?