Al Qaeda's other targets
Washington Times:
"Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al Qaeda's purported operations chief, has told U.S. interrogators that the group had been planning attacks on the Library Tower in Los Angeles and the Sears Tower in Chicago on the heels of the September 11, 2001, terror strikes.
"Those plans were aborted mainly because of the decisive U.S. response to the New York and Washington attacks, which disrupted the terrorist organization's plans so thoroughly that it could not proceed, according to transcripts of his conversations with interrogators.
"Mohammed told interrogators that he and Ramzi Yousuf, his nephew who was behind an earlier attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, had leafed through almanacs of American skyscrapers when planning the first operation.
" 'We were looking for symbols of economic might,' he told his captors.
"He specifically mentioned as potential targets the Library Tower in Los Angeles, which was 'blown up' in the film 'Independence Day,' and the Sears Tower in Chicago.
...
"According to the transcript, Mohammed has maintained that Zacarias Moussaoui, the French-Moroccan facing trial in the United States as the '20th hijacker,' had been sent to a flight school in Minnesota to train for a West Coast attack.
...
" 'Osama had said the second wave should focus on the West Coast,' he reportedly said.
"But the terrorists seem to have been surprised by the strength of the American reaction to the September 11 attacks.
" 'Afterwards, we never got time to catch our breath, we were immediately on the run,' Mohammed is quoted as saying.
"Al Qaeda's communications network was severely disrupted, he said. Operatives could no longer use satellite phones and had to rely on couriers, although they continued to use Internet chat rooms.
" 'Before September 11, we could dispatch operatives with the expectation of follow-up contact, but after October 7 [when U.S. bombing started in Afghanistan], that changed 180 degrees. There was no longer a war room ... and operatives had more autonomy.' "
Washington Times:
"Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al Qaeda's purported operations chief, has told U.S. interrogators that the group had been planning attacks on the Library Tower in Los Angeles and the Sears Tower in Chicago on the heels of the September 11, 2001, terror strikes.
"Those plans were aborted mainly because of the decisive U.S. response to the New York and Washington attacks, which disrupted the terrorist organization's plans so thoroughly that it could not proceed, according to transcripts of his conversations with interrogators.
"Mohammed told interrogators that he and Ramzi Yousuf, his nephew who was behind an earlier attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, had leafed through almanacs of American skyscrapers when planning the first operation.
" 'We were looking for symbols of economic might,' he told his captors.
"He specifically mentioned as potential targets the Library Tower in Los Angeles, which was 'blown up' in the film 'Independence Day,' and the Sears Tower in Chicago.
...
"According to the transcript, Mohammed has maintained that Zacarias Moussaoui, the French-Moroccan facing trial in the United States as the '20th hijacker,' had been sent to a flight school in Minnesota to train for a West Coast attack.
...
" 'Osama had said the second wave should focus on the West Coast,' he reportedly said.
"But the terrorists seem to have been surprised by the strength of the American reaction to the September 11 attacks.
" 'Afterwards, we never got time to catch our breath, we were immediately on the run,' Mohammed is quoted as saying.
"Al Qaeda's communications network was severely disrupted, he said. Operatives could no longer use satellite phones and had to rely on couriers, although they continued to use Internet chat rooms.
" 'Before September 11, we could dispatch operatives with the expectation of follow-up contact, but after October 7 [when U.S. bombing started in Afghanistan], that changed 180 degrees. There was no longer a war room ... and operatives had more autonomy.' "
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