Al-Qa'ida 9/11 chief reveals US got off lightly

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9109388%255E28737,00.html

From The Sunday Times
March 29, 2004
IT makes a chilling picture. The mastermind behind the September 11 attacks has told interrogators that he and his terrorist nephew leafed through almanacs of US skyscrapers when planning the operation.

Sears Tower in Chicago and Library Tower in Los Angeles – which was "blown up" in the film Independence Day – were both potential targets, according to transcripts of interrogations of al-Qa'ida operations chief Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. "We were looking for symbols of economic might," he told his captors.

He recounted sitting looking at the books with Ramzi Yusuf, his nephew by marriage, who was the man behind the first World Trade Centre bombing in 1993. In that attack Yusuf succeeded only in ripping a crater into the foundations with a van bomb...

...When he was captured last March in the house of a microbiologist in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, the paunchy 37-year-old was unshaven and wearing a baggy vest. He looked more like a down-and-out than one of the most dangerous men in the world...

from the article...

"Afterwards we never got time to catch our breath, we were immediately on the run," Khalid said.

He said the war on terrorism and the US bombing of Afghanistan completely disrupted their communications network. Operatives could no longer use satellite phones and had to rely on couriers, although they still used internet chat rooms.

...till Iraq.

We diverted the resources that were necessary to finish the task in Afghanistan / Pakistan towards Iraq.

This was a big mistake.

Ooooo, I am soooo scared. I really put a lot of stock in alleged statements from a guy who has been tortured for the last year.

our infrastructure, as Richard Clarke pointed out, is vulnerable as hell..railways, chemical plants, etc...why? all our guard and reservists are being thrown into the black hole called Iraq. Thats why. and all our tax dollars.
Gaping hole of vulnerability here thanks to the PNAC war.

"To date, Khalid is the most senior al-Qa'ida member to have been caught. Until now there has been no word of where he is being held or what, if anything, he is saying.

Although the interrogation transcripts are prefaced with the warning that "the detainee has been known to withhold information or deliberately mislead", it is clear that he is talking – and that the September 11 conspiracy was much more extensive than has previously been revealed".


Am I missing something---who is the source of this story? Who provided transcripts?

All we have are the words of US officials. We don't know if they're putting them in his mouth. We can't even be certain they have Shaikh Mohammed in custody. He was reportedly captured and killed several times over. And the US has refused to allow other governments to have access to him, even at the cost of their anti-terror investigations. A possible explanation: evidence exists that Shaikh Mohammed is a double agent, working in the interests of the ISI/CIA.

Paul Thompson's essay: "Is there more to the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed than meets the eye?"
http://www.unansweredquestions.org/timeline/main/essayksmcapture.html

perhaps Bush's vision was inspired by Hot Shots! Part Deux.