9/11 FACTOIDS

Sunday, May 29, 2005

~ The WTC lease holder, Larry Silverstein, says they "pulled" the WTC 7 before it collapsed at around 5:20 pm. (PBS)

~ CIA planned an exercise to simulate a plane crash into a government building the morning of 9/11. (Boston Globe/AP)

~ Israeli spies caught cheering while filming themselves with the WTC burning in the background. (ABC)

~ Hours before the Pentagon crash, a Pentagon medic was studying a disaster plan based on the unlikely scenario of a plane crashing into the Pentagon. (Washington Post)

~ The crash at the Pentagon happened in the only section that was being renovated to bolster it against an attack, which severely limited that amount of damage and loss of life. (USA Today)

~ A gas station's and hotel's security cameras recorded the crash at the Pentagon, but the FBI arrived within minutes and confiscated the films. (National Geographic, CNN)

~ FEMA rescuer says he was deployed to NYC night before 9/11. (CBS)

~ FEMA was scheduled to participate in an attack drill in NYC day after 9/11. (9/11 Commission)

~ One year before 9/11, the PNAC recommends to increase the US military budget, but says it won't happened absent a catastrophic event such as a "new Pearl Harbor." (ABC)

~ In 1998, the PNAC call for a war in Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein who they say threatens the world's oil supply. (ABC)

~ 1998/99 Federal Report warned the Osama bin Laden might hijack an airliner and dive bomb it into the Pentagon or other government buildings. (CBS)

~ 1999, NORAD starts conducting exercises in which airplanes are hijacked and crashed into targets, which include the WTC and the Pentagon. (USA Today)

~ Five months before 9/11, NORAD requested a war games event of having a terrorist group hijack a commercial airline and fly it into the Pentagon. (Boston Globe)

~ Undisclosed 9/11 Panel report: FAA chiefs received 52 warnings 6 months before 9/11. (New York Times)

~ Jeb Bush puts the FL National Guard on alert 4 days before 9/11. (MyFlorida.com)

~ Attorney General John Ashcroft stops flying commercial aircrafts three months before 9/11. (CBS)

~ Armed pilots banned 2 months before 9/11. (WorldNetDaily)

~ Salman Rushdie given US air ban week before 9/11. (Ananova)

~ US pulls the plug on Muslim websites days before 9/11. (Guardian)

~ Two week heightened security alert at the WTC is lifted and bomb-sniffing dogs there were abruptly removed days before 9/11. (Newsday)

~ Marine Aviation group moves further away from where the explosion at the Pentagon would happen the weekend before 9/11. (Leatherneck)

~ On Sept. 10, 2001, a group of top Pentagon officials canceled their travel plans for the next morning because of security concerns. (MSNBC/Newsweek)

~ San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown receives a travel warning eight hours before the attacks. (SFGate)

~ U.S. OK’d a plan the day before 9/11 to topple the Taliban and expel Osama bin Laden. (MSNBC)

~ Former FBI translator: 'I Saw Papers That Show US Knew al-Qaida Would Attack Cities With Airplanes' (Independent/UK)

~ FAA manager mangled, cut, and destroyed 9/11 tapes (Washington Post)

~ US military drafted "Operation Northwoods" in the '60's to commit acts of terror in the US to trick the public into supported a war against Cuba. (ABC)

~ Six months before 9/11, an X-Files spin off show on FOX TV aired an episode about a gov't plot to hijack a plane and crash it into the WTC and blame it on terrorists groups. (FOX)

~ Sen. Mark Dayton says NORAD and the FAA lied about failures on 9/11. (Star Tribune)

~ NORAD takes their 9/11 response timeline off their website. (NORAD)

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