In surfing around the blogosphere and various national online publications, I've come across several asking whether the President's announcement about the 2002 plot to hijack a plane with shoe bombers and blow up a building in Los Angeles was a political move. These sites are questioning the timing of the announcent and, by implication, charging President Bush of using terror for political gain. These sites all have their followers who are more than willing to accept anything fed to them as long as they can blame Bush for something. For the rest of us (including me), we roll our eyes and think, here we go again.
Hold on though ... it turns out that this supposed "bombshell" that even the Mayor of Los Angeles first claimed to know nothing about (a fact he later regretted making public as it turned out his office had known all along) wasn't even new news. That's right, old news. How old? The following is from Everyman Chronicles, note the date of posting and the first entry in the list. Also note that the "fact sheet" he references is a link directly to the White House website (dated 6 Oct 2005): (my emphasis)
October 09, 2005
Happened to be surfing and
Happened to be surfing and noticed that Blogs of War had linked to the fact sheet pointing out the terror plots, three of which were aimed at the United States, which the President noted in his speech last week. They included:10 Plots
1. The West Coast Airliner Plot: In mid-2002 the U.S. disrupted a plot to attack targets on the West Coast of the United States using hijacked airplanes. The plotters included at least one major operational planner involved in planning the events of 9/11.
2. The East Coast Airliner Plot: In mid-2003 the U.S. and a partner disrupted a plot to attack targets on the East Coast of the United States using hijacked commercial airplanes.
3. The Jose Padilla Plot: In May 2002 the U.S. disrupted a plot that involved blowing up apartment buildings in the United States. One of the plotters, Jose Padilla, also discussed the possibility of using a "dirty bomb" in the U.S.
4. The 2004 UK Urban Targets Plot: In mid-2004 the U.S. and partners disrupted a plot that involved urban targets in the United Kingdom. These plots involved using explosives against a variety of sites.
5. The 2003 Karachi Plot: In the Spring of 2003 the U.S. and a partner disrupted a plot to attack Westerners at several targets in Karachi, Pakistan.
6. The Heathrow Airport Plot: In 2003 the U.S. and several partners disrupted a plot to attack Heathrow Airport using hijacked commercial airliners. The planning for this attack was undertaken by a major 9/11 operational figure.
7. The 2004 UK Plot: In the Spring of 2004 the U.S. and partners, using a combination of law enforcement and intelligence resources, disrupted a plot to conduct large-scale bombings in the UK.
8. The 2002 Arabian Gulf Shipping Plot: In late 2002 and 2003 the U.S. and a partner nation disrupted a plot by al-Qa'ida operatives to attack ships in the Arabian Gulf.
9. The 2002 Straits of Hormuz Plot: In 2002 the U.S. and partners disrupted a plot to attack ships transiting the Straits of Hormuz.
10. The 2003 Tourist Site Plot: In 2003 the U.S. and a partner nation disrupted a plot to attack a tourist site outside the United States.
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