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Bin Laden Was Planning 10th Anniversary 9/11 Attack
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jul 14, 2011
Modified Jul 14, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jul 14, 2011
Modified Jul 14, 2011
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File this under news that shouldn't surprise you: according to documents retrieved from his compound after his death, Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda were plotting another attack on U.S. soil to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. However the plans never moved passed the discussion phase, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.
According to the documents retrieved bin Laden and his operations chief, Attiyah Abd al-Rahman, "swapped views about the composition of the attack team, with bin Laden repeatedly rejecting names that Mr. Rahman suggested." The plans did not seem to move forward but just in case officials have sworn left and right that making sure there is not another attack on September 11th is a top priority (the documents found showed a strong preference for symbolic dates within the terrorist organization).
The anniversary attacks were reportedly one of the few concrete leads produced by the raid on bin Laden's Pakistani compound. "The treasure trove has not led to any big takedowns, because the bad guys knew we had it" and adapted, a senior U.S. official told the Journal. In one example of just how quickly al Qaeda disconnected from the materials found on bin Laden, "the two phone numbers that bin Laden had sewn into his clothing at the time he was killed didn't provide actionable leads, the official said. One connected to a public phone center in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The other turned out to be a dead end."
Tagged
9/11
al-qaeda
Osama bin Laden
terrorism
Garth Johnston
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