Chicago, L.A. towers were next targets

Washington Times ^ | 3/30/04 | Paul Martin

[kattracks]

LONDON — 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.

[sixmil]

Thank God they weren't able to pull it off. I remember thinking, after hearing the Pentagon got hit, the Sears Tower would be next. Finally we heard some fighters overhead and knew that it was over. Except we had no idea the towers would come down.

[CyberAnt]

"The second wave ... Those plans were aborted mainly because of the decisive U.S. response to the New York and Washington attacks"

We grounded all aircraft!

I'd be very curious what the 5 west coast targets were, or 4, because one of them was supposed to be the LA Library.

[Yaelle]

Wonder what the Library Tower is. I was born in L.A. and lived here almost all my life but I have never heard of a library tower.

Mohammed was the hairy guy in the size XXXXXL T-shirt, right?

I am proud of our country. Since we mobilized so fast, we prevented thousands of other deaths. And they obviously haven't been able to do anything else here since, either.

[BunnySlippers]

The Library Tower in LA? I love the library ... and the new library is great. But it's a three story tower. What am I missing? Downtown is filled with huge towers.

[Yaelle]

one of them was supposed to be the LA Library.

The L.A. Central Library is not a tower, by any stretch.

[ladyinred]

We certainly ought to be thankful that just happenstance caused the air traffic to be shut down during the attack or we might have seen more horror. I know it was just a lucky coincidence since Bush wasn't concerned about any of this, and handled the attacks so wrong according to that wonder boy Clarke.(sarcasm)

Seriously, we are so fortunate he was the CIC, as most American's including democrats said at the time, rather than Gore. Thank God!!

[GOPrincess]

I feel kinda dumb, but as a lifelong Southern Californian I can't figure this out...a library tower? Why not the ARCO towers or something?

[G-Bob]

Isn't the old or new First Interstate building called the Library Tower?

[CyberAnt]

Well .. talk to the terrorists - I didn't choose the target!

[BunnySlippers]

I don't see movies. They say it was destroyed in the movie "Independence Day". I work on the 25th floor of a building in Brentwood ... I know I was nervous on 9-11.

[G-Bob]

North Side of 5th Street, west of Grand Avenue

The cylindrical structure on the left was completed in 1989 using plans from J.M. Pei and Partners. At 1017 feet, it is the tallest building west of Chicago and east of Hong Kong, and perhaps symbolized the final rung in Los Angeles' climb toward world city status. The 350 million dollar project was nicknamed the Library Tower because it "borrowed" the air rights of the Los Angeles Central Library in exchange for support of the Library renovation. It is a round high rise with the diameter decreasing toward the top, and it is capped by a "lighthouse".


http://www.usc.edu/dept/geography/losangeles/lawalk/new/tower.html

[PRND21]

Wonder what the Library Tower is.

It's where my wife works.

[EGPWS]

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.

What's the matter?

Eight years of Presidential complacency wind up surprising you when unabashed American resolve coupled with a business like leader took over?

[GOPrincess]

Wow, thanks! Learn something new every day. Interesting stuff. I've seen this building but didn't know its name/nickname -- so this isn't actually connected to the library other than using their air rights in return for financial support of the library?

[GOPrincess]

Thanks for the info on the library tower!

(PS My husband works on the C-17 near Long Beach Airport...not in a tower, but they all got the heck outta there on 9/11!)

[GOPrincess]

Great photo, that helps a lot!

[PRND21]

Pre 9/11 you could walk around on the roof. Security, of course. has tightened.

[piasa]

fyi

[Neanderthal]

"North Side of 5th Street, west of Grand Avenue"

Do you know the street address?

[Neanderthal]

North Side of 5th Street, west of Grand Avenue
Do you know the street address?

Is it 350 South Grand?

[My Dog Likes Me]

What are these people still doing in our country?

As I've said before here, ban all nondiplomatic Islamic humans from entering the United States.

[leadpenny]

bump

[The Raven]

ping

[The Raven]

ping

[jeffo]

This is an incredible story that needs to get legs, somehow. Should have been in the "Breaking News". Implicit in this story are the following facts that the news media will not want to talk about:

• Bush's swift, decisive (and, at the time, controversial in some quarters) actions saved thousands more lives. I can hear in my mind the stern warning that President Gore would have given the terrorists ("... now if you EVER do that again...") as more buildings crashed to the ground.
• Ramzi Yousef has well established ties with Iraq. One of his aliases was "Yousef al Iraqi", and he had extensive dealings with the Iraqi embassy in Pakistan up until the time he was arrested. So those of us looking for that Iraqi link to 9/11 that "just has to be there somewhere" may have a big piece to the puzzle here.

[CMAC51]

We certainly ought to be thankful that just happenstance caused the air traffic to be shut down during the attack or we might have seen more horror. I know it was just a lucky coincidence since Bush wasn't concerned about any of this, and handled the attacks so wrong according to that wonder boy Clarke.(sarcasm) Seriously, we are so fortunate he was the CIC, as most American's including democrats said at the time, rather than Gore. Thank God!!

Actually according to released records it was the transportation secretary Mineta who grounded all planes. Bush gets credit for appointing people capable of reacting positively in a crisis. He is a strong leader with a very capable team.

[The Truth Will Make You Free]

Agreed.

[Dialup Llama]

Thank you John Ashcroft for knowing what you duty is and fulfilling it with great intensity. Looks like we really did need the Patriot Act.

Of course Kerry, still thinks the threat of terrorist is overblown.

[txflake]

bump for America still being here

[CalKat]

I work in the Library Tower two days a week. It's the old First Interstate Building, and the First Interstate sign was taken off when they were bought by Wells Fargo. It is called Library Tower because it almost on top of the old library, now named the Richard Riordan Library. It is the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

[GOPrincess]

Thanks for that additional info. Had no idea it was the tallest building west of the Miss. until this thread -- doesn't seem like it's gotten a lot of local publicity in that regard, or I've been oblivious (grin). Definitely learned something new since last night! :) :)

[steveegg]

Before anyone gets too carried away by Rush's discovery and FR's "rediscovery" of this article, note the following line:

The transcripts are prefaced with a warning that Mohammed, the most senior al Qaeda member yet to be caught, "has been known to withhold information or deliberately mislead."

That having been said, it is likely that he had those buildings in mind.

[TeleStraightShooter]

I've always suspected that the TranAmerica Pyramid in SF was a target also.

In September 2000 I noticed new signs appeared on light poles across the 3 streets from it.
They said something to the effect that the US was responsible for 100,000+ starving Iraqis.

Anyone else notice similar BS around the other targets?
My sources inform me that it was posted around the WTC.....

[Squantos]

Even more of a question is where are the islamakazis who were "going" to hijack those flights planned for those targets ? They still in country ?

Stay safe !

[Carry_Okie]

Actually according to released records it was the transportation secretary Mineta who grounded all planes. Bush gets credit for appointing people capable of reacting positively in a crisis. He is a strong leader with a very capable team.

It's been Mineta dragging his feet over arming pilots. H may have done the right thing grounding the planes, but his appointment is not what I would call a credit to the President.

[Interloper]

We grounded all aircraft!

I got the impression KSM was suggesting the second wave would be coming days or weeks after 9/11, not later that afternoon.

[Mr.Atos]

As you mention it, I did notice very odd hand-made signs on poles around the Bank of America Tower and the Washington Mutual Tower in Seattle that year. I remember because I had just started working there at that time.

Also note, downtown Seattle was evacuated in the afternoon approximately 4 hours after the WTC strikes. That was just prior to the threshold of time an airliner can travel from the Eastern Seaboard (Boston) to the West Coast. We were asked to go home.

One might also remember that all aircraft were ordered to the ground almost immediately. Rather than being denigrated, this administration should be commended for quick and decisive action... something the Clinton Administration reserved for political enemies, religious extremists, and Cuban dissident children.

I don't know about any one else, but my sympathy for the WTC survivors was stretched thin when they became charity cockroaches, feasting on America's good will. Now, the more I see of the WTC Victim-a-tons, the less I really care about their disposition. If any member of my family becomes the casualty of terrorist attack, these Victim-a-tons will be more to blame then any one else, for obstructing this administration from decisive action by miring them with the burden of over-caution.

[NCC-1701]

Isn't that the same building used as the Nakatomi Building in the first "Die Hard" movie?

[jokar]

Just found this great resorce.

http://www.trackingthethreat.com/db/index.htm
Alphabetized list with clickable profiles of the terrorists.

"The Sentinel TMS Threat Database
In order to build and test Sentinel TMS, we have compiled a database of information about the al- Qaeda terrorist organization. At the same time, we have built web-export functionality into Sentinel TMS that allows us to generate HTML versions of entity and relationship records. The result is a comprehensive online open-source database of information related to al-Qaeda."


Sentinel TMS is the cutting edge platform for analyzing and managing threat networks.
The system incorporates knowledge discovery, entity extraction, social network analysis, a secure entity knowledgebase, threat prediction, data sharing, reporting, data import/export, and collaboration tools.

Sentinel TMS provides a customizable system for agencies and companies facing threat networks

[jokar]

See my post 40 on this thread.

[pollywog]

I too have lived in Los Angeles for 62 years and NEVER have I heard of the " Library Towers" !!

[Yaelle]

Wow, that building! I didn't know it was called the Library Tower. Shows how often I even go downtown! I have seen it from the 110, though. My oh my.

[Lunatic Fringe]

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

[PRND21]

I didn't realize it was an I.M. Pei, thanks for that info.

[Monty22]

"I got the impression KSM was suggesting the second wave would be coming days or weeks after 9/11, not later that afternoon."

Some cleric knee deep in this stuff said, at the time, that the 'storm of planes' would not stop. And he meant over a long while.

[Republicus2001]

read much?

[RetiredArmy]

It didn't happen, thus it is not news. Move on. Democommies will say Bush had nothing to do with it, only quick thinking by Richard ClarkieBoy saved Amerika from this attack. (sarcasm off)

[Eala]

I'd be very curious what the 5 west coast targets were, or 4, because one of them was supposed to be the LA Library.

Shouldn't be too hard to make some guesses...
- The TransAmerica Pyramid in SF
- The Bank of America (formerly Columbia) Tower in Seattle

(I keep thinking of the Philip Burton Federal Building in SF which houses the FBI, the 9th Circus Court, and several other federal agencies... but I don't know...)

The Skyscraper Page might provide some ideas.