Publicizing Moussaoui Arrest Could Have Halted September 11 Hijackers

Wash. Post / Houston Chronicle ^ | April 17, 2004 | Dan Eggen

[John W]

WASHINGTON -- The commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has concluded that the hijackers probably would have postponed their strike if the U.S. government had announced the arrest of suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui in August 2001 or had publicized fears that he intended to hijack jetliners.

A report on the case released this week noted that "publicity about the threat" posed by Moussaoui "might have disrupted the plot." Commission Chairman Thomas Kean, said the conclusion is based in part on extensive psychological profiles of the Sept. 11 hijackers, who were "very careful and very jumpy."

"Everything had to go right for them," Kean said. "Had they felt that one of them had been discovered, there is evidence it would have been delayed."

Such a delay could have given the FBI, the CIA, and British and French intelligence services more time to discover Moussaoui's ties to al-Qaida and the terrorist cell in Germany that planned the attack. The FBI also might have had more time to track down two hijackers who had entered the country but were not located before the attacks.

Full story ...

[TomGuy]

To quote Judge Judy: "Shoulda, woulda, coulda"

Hind-sight is always 20/20.

The significant point out of the 9-11 Commission is: al-Qaeda declared war on the US in 1996. We didn't declare war on them until 2001.

al-Qaeda/foreign terrorists were not considered a viable, significant threat to the homeland until 2001. We were not presumptive and we got hit badly. Saddam Hussein did get taken out presumtively, and the liberals are whining and gnashing teeth.

[tkathy]

It may have POSTPONED the attack, but there is no evidence that it would have done anything about the core problem. (Saudi oil money fueling worldwide hatred and murder).

[gortklattu]

=====had publicized fears that he intended to hijack jetliners. ===

If it had been made public that al Qaeda guys had been learning how to fly planes without learining to land them we might have one trade tower left.....maybe.

Those aircraft carry lots of passengers. But, if they were filled with passionate liberals nothing else would have happened.

[mrsmith]

They think that we should have publicized clues found or arrests made in a counterterrorism investigation.

These clowns are hopeless.

[macsmind76]

This is a total cop-out and attempt of the "bipartisan" commission to shifting the blame of 9/11 on the current administration.

Fact: Had Clinton taken Osama in 1996 that would have thwarted the attacks.

Fact: Had Jamie Gorelick not erected a "wall" information could have been shared - the lack of which was a DIRECT contributing factor.

Fact: Clinton met more with Monica than with his own FBI/CIA staff.

Fact: The Clinton Administration knew of specific plans (ways and means) as early as 1995 but did nothing except bomb an aspirin factory.

Fact: There is a cover up of the real cause of 9/11 - A President that didn't do his job, while at the same time he got a "job".

Nuff said.

-MacsMind.com

[elfman2]

"They think that we should have publicized clues found or arrests made in a counterterrorism investigation."

That policy would compromise sources. The terrorist would eventually be able to tell that everything a specific person knew or a specific communication channel transmitted was public.

They’d also be able to have confidence in which of their plans were not compromised, because they weren’t make public.

[dagnabbit]

...extensive psychological profiles of the Sept. 11 hijackers, who were "very careful and very jumpy."

I wonder why this skittishness wasn't detected during these Arab Muslim men's in-depth visa interviews at the US Embassy or Consulate in Saudi Arabia?

Oh, that's right. There were no interviews. These guys' visas were rubber-stamped via "Visa Express".

[noexcuses]

It seems to me that the ringleaders of the 19 hijackers had to have known that Moussoui was arrested at the time.

[syriacus]

Staff wrote in their report

A maximum U.S. effort to investigate Moussaoui could conceivably have unearthed his connections to the Hamburg cell, though this might have required an extensive effort, with help from foreign governments," investigators wrote in a staff report released this week. "The publicity about the threat also might have disrupted the plot. But this would have been a race against time."

Why make it all so hard?

A quick peek at Moussaoui's computer would have saved thousands of lives.

In short, the cronies of Bill Clinton, who was idolized as the "Great Compartmentalizer," done us in.

[snooker]

I wonder what publishing the Gorelick memo in 1998 would have done?

[Thom Pain]

...and if we had just listened to Chamberlain none of this would have happened. Of course, non of it would have happened in German. Or Japanese, maybe. Sigh.

[petitfour]

I believe someone who testified this week or last week debunked the claim that the terrorists only learned how to fly planes and not land them. That was a rumor.

The MOussaoouwiwowee guy actually stole/copied a computer program about flying planes when it was left unattended by one of the pilots who died while flying the now dead Minnesota senator whose name escapes me. The RATS rallied around his casket and blamed Republicans for the crash.

[syriacus]

It seems to me that the ringleaders of the 19 hijackers had to have known that Moussoui was arrested at the time.

Yes.....In the Fall of 2001, we kept hearing that the attackers carried out their plot earlier than they originally intended.

Maybe Moussaoui's capture was one of the reasons the date was moved up.

[gortklattu]

===I believe someone who testified this week or last week debunked the claim that the terrorists only learned how to fly planes and not land them. That was a rumor.====

The FBI knew... I KNOW that some agents knew. It's not a rumor.

[syriacus]

A report on the case released this week noted that "publicity about the threat" posed by Moussaoui "might have disrupted the plot."

I think that they knew about the capture of Moussaoui, and moved their attacks to an earlier date. They probably would have preferred to crash their planes at midnight on some real American holiday.

[Winfield]

Had the "Patriot Act" been in effect, that also might have prevented 9/11. As these hearing go on and on, it is appearing more and more that Ashcroft is definitely the man for the job. He has taken unmerciful beating from the left. They probably owe their lives to the man!

[syriacus]

On Free Republic , on 9/25/2001, Fred posted a very good National Review column about the US's blunders and failures that led to the success of the 911 attacks. I think the author, Ariel Cohen, makes a lot of good points. Cohen wrote this--

Finally, one of the largest failures in counterterrorism intelligence rests on the shoulders of the CIA.

In 1995 the guidelines promulgated by then-Director of Central Intelligence John Deutsch, prohibited the engagement of foreign intelligence informants who may have previously been involved in human rights violations.

Question: How much attention has been directed by the 911 Commission toward mistakes made by Deutsch?

[syriacus]

I forgot to put a link to the FR thread on the article--
Bureaucratic Failure How things went as wrong as they did. by Ariel Cohen, September 24, 2001.

[angkor]

If someone had stolen Mohammad Atta's wallet, he might not have been able to board the plane.

If Khalid al-Mihdhar had run out of gas on the ride to Dulles, he wouldn't have crashed into the Pentagon.

If if if if.

This is the best Kean can do????