Bush highlights foiled 2002 L.A. terror plot

WASHINGTON - Seeking to justify his tactics in the war on terrorism, President Bush on Thursday disclosed new details of an alleged al-Qaida plot to hijack a plane and fly it into the tallest high-rise on the West Coast in 2002.

The plot, aimed at a Los Angeles office building, had been known for some time, but Bush said that it “was derailed in early 2002 when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key al-Qaida operative.”

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday he was blindsided by Bush’s announcement and described communication with the White House as “nonexistent.”

“I’m amazed that the president would make this [announcement] on national TV and not inform us of these details through the appropriate channels,” the mayor told The Associated Press. “I don’t expect a call from the president — but somebody.”

The White House and the state Homeland Security Office said they informed city officials Wednesday of Bush’s upcoming remarks.

Following Bush’s disclosure, a Homeland Security official added more details, telling reporters that the leader of a four-man cell trained for the hijacking was arrested in February 2002, and that the three others were later arrested as well.

Frances Townsend, assistant to the president for homeland security, also emphasized that the president’s speech was aimed at showing the importance of international cooperation, not as an attempt to support Bush's controversial eavesdropping program run by the National Security Agency.

“It was not meant to be a speech about the NSA program,” she emphasized.

Bush has been fighting criticism of his decision to authorize the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without court warrants inside the United States on international emails and phone calls placed to and from people with suspected ties to terrorism.

West Coast tower
In a speech at the National Guard Memorial Building, Bush said the cell planned to use shoe bombs to gain entry to the cockpit door and then fly the plane into a Los Angeles high-rise. The president called it the “Liberty Tower” but the White House later corrected that to the Library Tower, since renamed the US Bank Tower.

Townsend said that the plotters did not specifically cite the Library Tower but stated that they intended to bomb the tallest high-rise on the West Coast as a continuation of the Sept. 11 attacks on the East Coast. Intelligence analysts concluded that meant the Library Tower, she added.

Bush has referred to the 2002 plot before. In an address last October, he said the United States and its allies had foiled at least 10 serious plots by the al-Qaida terror network in the last four years, including plans for Sept. 11-like attacks on both U.S. coasts.

The White House initially would not give details of the plots but later released a fact sheet with a brief, and vague, description of each.

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