Posted on 05/28/2002 4:19:52 PM PDT by gubamyster
Atta, Several Others Took Numerous Flights Posted: 12:14 p.m. EDT May 28, 2002
WASHINGTON -- There's growing evidence the Sept. 11 hijackers were well-prepared for their deadly attacks.
Law enforcement sources say the FBI is piecing together evidence that the terrorist ringleaders might have taken a dozen test runs aboard jetliners.
Mohammed Atta and several others believed to be the ringleaders took numerous flights between late 1999 and their suicide hijackings in 2001. But the sources say FBI agents are focusing on about 12 flights last year that are believed to be test runs. In nearly all the suspected trial runs, the future hijackers used their real names to book flights.
The sources say some of the flights followed the same coast-to-coast routes as the four planes hijacked on Sept. 11. They also say agents have some testimony that Atta and his accomplices may have taken pictures of airline cockpits and looked into boarding-gate security.
More evidence of the preparations could be revealed in the fall trial of accused terror conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. One source says the evidence so far suggests the hijackers were "thorough" in their preparations -- without raising suspicions.
Not that I'm a defender of the FBI, but... didn't we see a wee change in the definition, or at least connotation, of "hijack" a few months ago?
What inquiring minds would like to know is: Which, if any, of the current threat warnings is real? What threats should we be looking into, and what threats can we safely ignore? Please tell us in advance so we can focus our limited resources there.
He indicated on O'Reilly that some of the ones on the flight he was on WERE the hijackers. It totally freaked him out.
Think. They had to recreate every move the terrorists made in order to see who their friends were.
I'll bet it was Atta.
Apparently he is memorable.
My sister recognized him as a man who accompanied another Arab who inquired about buying a house at the subdivision where she work as an agent.
This is in Lawrenceville near Briscoe Field... a small airfield where Atta is known to have flown.
She asked me if she should call the FBI, but I kind of dismissed it as mistaken identity as my sister can be forgetful and flaky (i.e. getting "old"...LOL!) and gave her no encouragement (I figured they would be busy with "real" leads)
The fact that she couldn't let it go and actually called the FBI leads me to believe that she did, indeed, meet and show Atta and his (male) companion a few houses
She gave a short deposition over the phone..
They never called her back, though.
I thought he said he and/or the crew reported the suspicious Arabs to the FAA before 9/11, and he didn't contact the FBI until after 9/11.
Here's what Woods said about the FBI...WOODS: Well, first I have to back up and tell you about the flight that I took. The flight I took was actually on August 1st. And I have not talked about this in the press until this day because there was a lot of misinformation that came out about it.
I was on a flight, without going into the details of what made me suspicious of these four men, although it would have been blatantly obvious to the most casual observer, I took it upon myself to go to the flight attendant and ask to speak to the pilot of the plane. The first officer came out. I reported to him that I felt that the four men, and I said, "Can you look over my shoulder and see who I'm talking about?" And he said, "Yeah." I said I think they're going to hijack this plane. I mean, everything they're doing, and I explained to him these details, which I've been asked to keep private, until whatever jurisdiction, you know — whatever trials may take place, their behavior was such that I felt that they were going to hijack the plane.
I also said I'm very much aware of how serious it is to say on an American aircraft in flight the word hijack.
O'REILLY: Yes.
WOODS: So I'm saying this because I really have reason to believe it's true. I found out later that not only was — did he make a report, but the flight attendant also made a report of my suspicions to the FAA.
When I got home that night, it had been a very turbulent flight, I had said to this woman I'm dating, and my girlfriend and my best friend, she said, "How was the flight?" And I said, "Well aside from the terrorists and the turbulence, it was fine," which was now in retrospect not such a very funny joke, but it was August 1 and nobody was thinking along those lines.
O'REILLY: Right.
WOODS: And when 9/11 happened, we were all stunned. And we all happened to be at my house that evening. And my friend Scott said to me, "You know, remember that flight you took in August?" I said, "Yes, I've been thinking about it all day." He said, "Well, maybe you should call the FBI." And I said, "I'm sure they're being inundated."
But I thought it over and I called the local office. And within two minutes got ahold of a very intelligent young man, a special agent there, who took the report. And I said, "I hope I'm not wasting your time." He said, "Well, we have so many reports coming in." And he said, "And by the way, even if this leads to something, we don't like to backwash information to people, because in case they have to go to a trial and be witnesses or whatever, so you won't hear from us."
I said, "Well, great." And he said, "But we appreciate your calling." Quarter to 7:00 the next morning, I get a phone call that actually wakes me up. And I say, "Hi." And they say, "Hi, this is — I won't use their name, but the special agent, who's now been my contact and his partner." And they said, "We want to talk to you about the flight that you took in August. I said, "Oh, did the manifest match of any of the flights yesterday and my flight?" He said we can't tell you that. I said, "Well, look, I'll get ready and you know, I'll come down to the federal building." He said, "That's OK, we're outside your house. We'll just wait for you here."
O'REILLY: Wow, 7:15. So this is serious.
WOODS: Quarter to seven in the morning. And said — and this is the only funny part of any of this. I said, "How did you know where I lived?" And there was a pause. He said, "We're the FBI, thank you."
O'REILLY: Right.
WOODS: So they came in. And I said, "Look, I'm dying to know, were these the guys? And he said, "Well, we've had 36,000 tips in one day. And there's two of us and we're going to be at your house all this morning. So you can do the math, but we can't tell you." You know, so since then, I have identified for sure two of them as two of the terrorists.
WOODS: By the way, one thing I must clear up...
O'REILLY: Sure.
WOODS: ...that has been sort of misreported in the press. I did not report this to the FBI before September 11.
O'REILLY: Right, just the FAA.
WOODS: And it was only done by, as I understand it, the flight crew, which I had been told later. And you know, there are people who love to take pot shots. I can't tell you...
O'REILLY: Why? Why? I mean, I think you did the right thing.
WOODS: Well no, but they'll say oh, you told the FBI and they didn't do anything. That's completely and utterly wrong.
O'REILLY: Look, don't worry about those pinheads. I mean, you did exactly the right thing.
WOODS: No, but I mean, you know, if you've worked with these people, as I have, they are incredibly dedicated people. And it's just something I want to go on the record as saying...
O'REILLY: Good.
WOODS: I've had nothing but great experience with them.
I would love to follow the audit trail of that report. I've said this before and I'll say it again. I would really like to see the "process" that it followed.
I just wished that their pantywaist, PC cowed bosses back in DC were too.
Yes, that's an excellent question.
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