PhotoDude.com

Mon. Sep 09, 2002

Al Qaeda's Admissions

Al Qaeda’s Admissions – "Two of the world’s most sought after fugitives, the alleged al-Qaida leaders Khaled al-Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin al-Shaibah, have boasted about how they planned the attacks on New York and Washington a year ago this week."

Oh, no! Whatever will some Arabs do with their nearly year old belief that 9-11 was a Mossad plot to cause a US attack on Muslims? Is there a dumpster large enough to hold that long decayed load of crap, even if they wanted to toss it? Nope, better to keep it in the big bin labelled “Denial.” Perhaps we should just look for what we can glean from their interview, as I doubt there will be much reaction from the Arab world on this story.

"The contents of that interview, published in Spain’s El Mundo newspaper yesterday, revealed not only that the target of the fourth hijacked airliner had been the Capitol in Washington – home to the US Senate and Congress – but also that al-Qaida was still functioning and operating from within Pakistan."

And so we see that Al Qaeda may have had a clue or two. Most have seemed certain that Flight 93 was headed for the White House, before that flight became the scene of the first victory of the War on Terror. But with Bush in Florida, the White House was a wholly symbolic target, not an attempt at decapitation. Granted, one could say that was also true of the Trade Towers, even the Pentagon, and that the strike was directed at American self confidence more than any strategic building. But the US Capitol could have been a huge strategic target that would have crippled us for months.

Senators who die in office can be immediately replaced by an appointment from the Governor of their state. But Representatives in the House who die in office can only be replaced via special election. If Flight 93 had avoided the obvious juicy target of the Rotunda, slammed into the House wing of the Capitol, and killed a significant number of Representatives, it would have been months before any legislation could be passed. All of the emergency measures they instituted in the first weeks, right down to funding any form of new defense efforts, would have been completely hamstrung.

Thanks to the heroes on Flight 93, we’ll never know if that’s what would have happened. But the law is the same today, and we still face the same paralyzing risk. It’s time to address that.

"It also showed that two unnamed nuclear power stations were the original targets of the September 11 plot, known to its perpetrators as the Holy Tuesday Operation, but al-Qaida feared that such an attack ‘might get out of hand’."

Hey, they had another partial clue. But think about that for a moment. They figured they could “get away” with assaulting the Trade Center, Pentagon, and Capitol, and suffer essentially the same incompetent response we’d offered them in the past. In other words, it wouldn’t “get out of hand.” They knew that if they caused a nuclear incident in the US, we would be relentless in tracking them down.

Surprise, guys. Our level of tolerance was far lower than you guessed, and our level of competence was much higher. A year later, all they can throw at us is chatter from their hidey-hole.

And finally, the interviewer notes his subject’s grammar: " ‘Khaled let his tongue run away by referring to Bin Laden in the past tense,’ wrote Fouda. ‘Something is not working well in the upper levels of al-Qaida. I used to think there was a 50% chance Bin Laden was alive, now I rather believe he is dead.’ Fouda, however, said the two men he met seemed quite capable of taking over. ‘Ramzi caused the greatest impression.He has the severe charisma, the vitality and the religious knowledge. This is our future Bin Laden.’ "