Just the facts May 24, 2009
Also at least one major plot Bush claimed was disrupted, a plan to attack the Library Tower in Los Angeles, only came to the U.S. s attention after plotters had been picked up abroad. Cheney is seeking the release of CIA reports that purport to show information gained from the so-called enhanced interrogations. (Yahoo News -- Politics)
Cheney, Obama terrorism claims difficult to verify May 23, 2009
Among them were plans to blow up fuel tanks at a New York airport, a plot to blow up airliners bound for the East Coast and a scheme to destroy the Library Tower skyscraper in Los Angeles. Al-Qaida's efforts to produce anthrax at laboratories in Afghanistan were derailed by the U.S. invasion in 2001. (AZCentral -- News)
U.S. Blabocracy Makes Intelligence Sources Clam Up May 22, 2009
The ensuing pageant of self-flagellation obscured the memos revelation that, after waterboarding, Zubaydah ratted out KSM. Once captured and waterboarded, KSM exposed plans to smack a jet into Los Angeles 73-story Library Tower. Officials arrested this al-Qaeda conspiracy s 17-man team and stopped yet another mass-incineration of American citizens. (Human Events Online)
No excuse for torture May 20, 2009
One of the excuses used by gasbag radio and Fox News for embracing torture now is that supposedly we got important information by waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed more than 180 times, during which he confessed to a plot to fly an airplane into the Library Tower in Los Angeles ... schuro wrote on May 17, 2009 12:56 PM:" Vida is correct in stating that a plot to crash a plane into the Library Tower in LA was not broken by any confession extracted from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Google it.... (Helena Independent Record)
On Your Mind May 17, 2009
It saved the Los Angeles Library Tower and thousands of American lives. Obama authorizes Predator drones to bomb al-Qaida and Taliban strongholds in Pakistan, fully aware that non-combatant men, women and children will simultaneously be killed. (Sierra Vista Herald, AZ)
LETTERS: NCT, May 12, 2009 May 12, 2009
Forget how Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured six months after the foiling of the Library Tower plot he supposedly helped thwart. Don't ask why the CIA illegally destroyed 92 interrogation videotapes. (North County Times)
Obama failing to defend torture law May 1, 2009
2) As I have said before, as since this is a repeat yourself over and over again until it sounds like the truth blog, the liberal anger towards enhanced interrogation methods really makes it seem as though you are upset that we stopped al Qaeda from taking out the Library Tower and killing thousands more Americans. 3) If you are so confident that enhanced interrogation doesn t work, then why were the results of it blacked out on the memos you released. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
More Library Tower Nonsense Apr 28, 2009
The U.S. Bank Tower, formerly known as the Library TowerOn April 21 I posted a Chatterbox column that if the Central Intelligence Agency and former Bush speechwriter hoped to convince the world that the "enhanced interrogation techniques" (and since repudiated by President Obama) prevented terror attacks against the U.S., they would have to come up with a better example than the Library Tower plot. The CIA and Thiessen had argued that torturing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind of the 9/11... (Slate)
The Missing Witness Apr 28, 2009
Al-Qaida's plot to bomb the Library Tower was not worth torturing anyone over. Timothy Noah | April 21, 2009. (Slate)
Veto of Bill on CIA Tactics Affirms Bushs Legacy Mar 10, 2008
Mr. Bush said, as he had previously, that information from the C.I.A. s interrogations had averted terrorist attacks, including plots to attack a Marine camp in Djibouti; the American Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan; Library Tower in Los Angeles; and passenger planes from Britain. He maintained that the techniques involved the exact nature of which remained classified were safe and lawful. (New York Times)
President's Radio Address Mar 9, 2008
The program helped us stop a plot to strike a U.S. Marine camp in Djibouti, a planned attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi, a plot to hijack a passenger plane and fly it into Library Tower in Los Angeles, and a plot to crash passenger planes into Heathrow Airport or buildings in downtown London. And it has helped us understand al Qaida's structure and financing and communications and logistics. (White House News Releases)
Message to the House of Representatives Mar 9, 2008
The CIA's ability to conduct a separate and specialized interrogation program for terrorists who possess the most critical information in the War on Terror has helped the United States prevent a number of attacks, including plots to fly passenger airplanes into the Library Tower in Los Angeles and into Heathrow Airport or buildings in downtown London. While details of the current CIA program are classified, the Attorney General has reviewed it and determined that it is lawful under existing... (White House News Releases)
War On Terror: Waterboardgate? Dec 11, 2007
ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly in a 2006 interview: "In the case of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the information was very valuable, particularly names and addresses of people who were involved with al-Qaida in this country and in Europe. And in one particular plot, which would involve an airline attack on the tallest building in Los Angeles, known as the Library Tower.". Congress twice had a chance to specifically proscribe waterboarding, but it passed. (Investors Business Daily)
'Desperate Race' to Stop Next 9/11 Dec 11, 2007
For the first time gives the real story of dozens of attacks prevented, including targets such as the Sears Tower, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, the New York Stock Exchange, the Citigroup Building, the World Bank and IMF offices, the Prudential Building (Newark), Los Angeles Library Tower, the PATH train tunnels under the Hudson River, and the Panama Canal. How a low-level CIA analyst, trolling through e-mails, was able to identify and locate terrorist Abu Zubaydah, one of bin... (Newsmax)
President Bush Visits National Defense University, Discusses Global War on Terror Oct 24, 2007
This program has produced critical intelligence that has helped us stop a number of attacks -- including a plot to strike the U.S. Marine camp in Djibouti, a planned attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi, a plot to hijack a passenger plane and fly it into Library Tower in Los Angeles, California, or a plot to fly passenger planes into Heathrow Airport and buildings into downtown London. Despite the record of success, and despite the fact that our professionals use lawful techniques, the CIA... (White House News Releases)
President Bush Attends APEC Business Summit Sep 7, 2007
A senior JI leader and al Qaeda associate named Hambali also worked with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on an al Qaeda plot to hijack an airplane and fly it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, California. That plot was foiled with the help of governments in this region. (White House News Releases)
Condo growth slowing down Aug 20, 2007
Urban Housing Partners, Harmer's company, recently changed the land-use designation for its Library Tower project, once envisioned as 174 condos in a slender tower at Park Boulevard and K Street. Harmer said his company is considering a boutique hotel or condo-hotel combination at the site, which is close to a huge Marriott convention hotel proposal. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Big 12 teams flexing media guide muscle 08-19-2007 Aug 19, 2007
Move the cover in the opposite direction, and a sold-out Royal-Memorial Stadium crowd is shown with the burnt orange-lit UT library tower majestically looming in the background. It s obvious UT spent the most money on its product, and I guess it worked to catch my eyes, considering I ranked its guide numero uno. (Plainview Daily Herald, TX)
Ready, Set, Climb! Aug 18, 2007
One of Downtown's marquee events, the Stair Climb to the Top of Library Tower, has been scheduled for Oct. 5-6. Organizer the Ketchum-Downtown YMCA has begun accepting submissions for the fundraiser in which people climb the 75 stories (1,500 steps) of the Financial District skyscraper. (Los Angeles Downtown News, CA)
Fact Sheet: Combating Terrorism Worldwide Aug 7, 2007
During a hearing at Guatanamo Bay, Khalid Shaykh Mohammad stated that the intended target was the Library Tower in Los Angeles. We Remain On The Offense Against Terrorists Abroad, While We Defend Against Attacks On The Homeland, U.S. Interests Abroad, And Our Friends And Allies. (White House News Releases)
The gullible age Aug 5, 2007
On Harry Potter and the Library Tower. Poetry. (Times Online)
Problems seen in guard corps May 31, 2007
One Los Angeles-based security guard told the AP it cares him to be responsible for security at a high-rise building near the 73-story Library Tower. Now called the US Bank Tower, it was identified by President Bush a couple of years ago as the target in a potential airliner attack that was disrupted by federal authorities. (Carlisle Sentinel, PA)
Private guards weak link in security May 30, 2007
Bergendahl, the Los Angeles guard who protects the 52-story high rise near the formerly named Library Tower - now the US Bank Tower - thinks often of President Bush's disclosure last year that terrorists with shoe bombs planned to take control of a jetliner and crash it into the 73-story landmark building. Bergendahl helps protect a building occupied by 6,000 workers and a Japanese consulate. (Concord Monitor)
Private security guards: a weak link in homeland security - International Herald Tribune May 30, 2007
Bergendahl, the Los Angeles guard who protects the 52-story high rise near the formerly named Library Tower now the US Bank Tower thinks often of Bush's disclosure last year that terrorists with shoe bombs planned to take control of a jetliner and crash it into the 73-story landmark building. Bergendahl helps protect a building occupied by 6,000 workers and a Japanese consulate. (Nogales International, AZ)
Security guards assume anti-terror roles May 29, 2007
The 72-story U.S. Bank Tower, formerly known as Library Tower, seen in the background, is the tallest office building on the West Coast. Bergendahl, 55, says he often thinks, "Well, what am I doing here? These people are paying me minimum wage." The guard belongs to an industry that found itself involuntarily transformed after Sept. 11, 2001, from an army of "rent-a-cops" to protectors of the homeland. (Idaho Press-Tribune)
Homeland insecurity: guards' low pay, little training May 28, 2007
Bergendahl, the Los Angeles guard who protects the 52-story high rise near the formerly named Library Tower -- now the U.S. Bank Tower -- thinks often of President Bush's disclosure last year that terrorists with shoe bombs planned to take control of a jetliner and crash it into the 73-story landmark building. Bergendahl helps protect a building occupied by 6,000 workers and a Japanese consulate. (CNN)
Bush: Bin Laden wanted Iraq as a new base May 28, 2007
Mohammed allegedly told "a hearing in Guantanamo Bay" that the intended target was Library Tower in Los Angeles, Bush said. And in 2003, another plot was uncovered and halted, this one intended to be another East Coast aviation attack in which multiple airplanes were to have been hijacked and then crashed into targets, he said. (CNN)
Fact Sheet: Keeping America Safe From Attack May 24, 2007
During a hearing at Guantanamo Bay two months ago, KSM stated that the intended target was the Library Tower in Los Angeles. In 2003, we uncovered and stopped a plot led by another suspected senior al Qaeda operative named Abu Bakr al-Azdi. (White House News Releases)
Bush links Iraq war to terror fight, details Al Qaeda plots May 24, 2007
Arguing that Al Qaeda's threats are real and continuing, Bush noted several previously reported terrorist operations that failed -- the plot foiled by British authorities to blow up passenger airplanes en route to the United States in August; the 2002 plot by Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to fly an airplane into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, the tallest building on the West Coast; and, according to US intelligence, bin Laden's plans to blow up US water reservoirs, the New York... (Boston Globe)
9/11 Mastermind Admits To Multiple Plots' Mar 16, 2007
The government had previously disclosed that the tallest building on the West Coast, the Library Tower in Los Angeles (now known as U.S. Bank Tower) and the tallest building in North America, the Sears Tower in Chicago, were in al Qaeda's sights. Mohammed, in the statement read to the tribunal, also described an alternative plan to set off oil tankers at the Sears Tower base, and said he oversaw efforts to deploy anthrax and nuclear-laced "dirty" bombs in the U.S.. (Yahoo News -- Terrorism & 9/11)
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Hearing Transcript Now Online Mar 16, 2007
He said a second wave of attacks was planned after 9/11 targeting the Library Tower in Los Angeles, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Plaza Bank in Seattle and the Empire State Building in New York City. More Stories. (KWTX.com, TX)
September 11 suspect 'confesses' Mar 16, 2007
2002: Bali nightclub bombings2002: Bombing of a Kenya beach resort frequented by Israelis2002: missile attack on an Israeli airliner in Kenya2001: World Trade Centre and the Pentagon1993: Truck bombing of World Trade CentrePlanned attacks:- Sears Tower in Chicago- Empire State Building in New York- New York Stock Exchange- Nuclear power plants and suspension bridges in New York- US and Israeli embassies in Asia and Australia- Library Tower, Los Angeles- US naval vessels and oil tankers around... (Aljazeera.Net)
Al-Qaeda mastermind admits Pearl murder too Mar 16, 2007
He admitted to planning, financing and training the 19 hijackers who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks, saying: I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z." He also claimed responsibility for a series of other terrorist attacks and plots, including the financing and training of Richard Reid, the failed British shoebomber, the attack on the World Trade Centre in 1993 and the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002. Sheikh Mohammed, who is believed to have been at... (Times Online)
Testimony lends insight into 9/11 mastermind Mar 16, 2007
They say the alleged plot against the Library Tower in Los Angeles, for example, was one of several that never got past the drawing board. But a US counterterrorism official cautioned that at least some of the claims made by Mohammed during interrogations over the past four years had been corroborated by extensive investigation by US authorities. (Boston Globe -- Nation)
Terrorist's Testimony Questioned Mar 16, 2007
" Some Claims Corroborated A current U.S. counterterrorism official agreed Mohammed probably was using the hearing to exaggerate his role in al-Qaida's many plots and attacks. "Obviously, he saw this as a platform to continue the jihad, so there is an element of that," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss Mohammed. Some of Mohammed's claims to interrogators in recent years have been viewed with skepticism by federal authorities, who... (Tampa Bay Online, FL -- News)
Mohammed Confesses to Many Terror Plots Mar 16, 2007
-- In the United States, Mohammed said he had planned or helped plan a second wave of attacks after 9/11 on nuclear power plants, Library Tower in Los Angeles, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Plaza Bank building in Seattle, and the Empire State Building, stock exchange and other financial institutions and bridges in New York. Most of these facilities had been the subject of earlier warnings. (Herald Sun)
KS Mohammed's '31 plots' Mar 16, 2007
Alleged targets included the Library Tower in Los Angeles, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Plaza Bank building in Seattle and the Empire State Building in New York. 7. (BBC News -- Americas)
Wooten on Dems & Iraq Mar 16, 2007
I was responsible for planning, training, surveying, and financing the New (or Second) Wave attacks against the following skyscrapers after 9/11: a. Library Tower, California. b. Sears Tower, Chicago, c. Plaza Bank, Washington state. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Key 9/11 figure 'beheaded Pearl' Mar 16, 2007
KEY TARGETS Library Tower, Los Angeles Sears Tower, Chicago Plaza Bank, Washington State Empire State Building, NY Heathrow Airport, London Big Ben, London. In a statement read for him, he said he was "responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z", and also had a role in planning the 2002 Bali bombings and a deadly attack on a Kenyan hotel. (BBC News)
List of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's Confessions Mar 15, 2007
Planning new wave of attacks on the following skyscrapers following 9/11: Library Tower in Calif. Sears Tower in Chicago, Plaza Bank in Washington state and the Empire State Building in New York City. (Fox News)
Top al-Qaeda man confesses to 9/11 Mar 15, 2007
The Empire State Building in New York, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Library Tower in California and the Plaza Bank in Washington State were among the targets of the second wave. He said he planned to destroy the Sears Tower "by burning a few fuel or oil tanker trucks beneath it or around it.". (iAfrica.com)
9/11 plotter confesses Mar 15, 2007
Al-Qaida operative in U.S. custody admits to his role in 2001 attacks, saying he was 'leader' for operation. BY PETER SPIEGEL Los Angeles Times; This story was supplemented with Washington Post reports. (Newsday -- Nation)
Key 9/11 suspect confesses guilt Mar 15, 2007
KEY TARGETS Library Tower, Los Angeles Sears Tower, Chicago Plaza Bank, Washington State Empire State Building, NY Heathrow Airport, London Big Ben, London. According to the transcripts, Sheikh Mohammed admitted responsibility for a series of attacks, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York and the attempt by the so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, to down an American plane. (BBC News)
Suspect 'admits responsibility' for Sept 11 attacks Mar 15, 2007
The transcript says the targets were to have been California's Library Tower, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Plaza Bank in Washington State and New York's Empire State Building. Mohammed allegedly says he was responsible for planning, financing and following up with operations to destroy US military vessels and oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz, the Straits of Gibraltar and the port of Singapore. (ABC News Online, Australia -- World)
Al Pacino would be choice to play Welty Feb 8, 2007
Pacino shares a bottle of Fresno State's award-winning Primitivo with Gandolfini in the president's new fourth-floor office atop the library tower. "They dismiss us as bureaucrats and they preach about taking responsibility, but what do they know?" Pacino says. (Fresno Bee -- Local)
Rancheria wins big by giving to university Jan 12, 2007
Little did I anticipate that Fresno State's president would actually accept $10 million from Table Mountain Rancheria and ask California State University system trustees to name the school's not-yet-built library tower for the rancheria. John, I was being sarcastic. (Fresno Bee -- Local)
