2006年VOA标准英语-Scope of Los Angeles Terror Plot Remains M

By Gary Thomas
Washington
10 February 2006

On Thursday, President Bush revealed some new details of what he described as a terrorist plot against a target in California. But, it is still not clear how far the plotters got, and how serious the plot was.

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US Bank Tower, formerly¹ known as the Library Tower, in downtown Los Angeles was target of foiled purported² terrorist plans to fly a commercial airplane into the skyscraper³ in 2002   
  

As outlined by President Bush, al-Qaida hatched a plan to follow up the attacks of September 11th, 2001 with a similar attack on Los Angeles. He said that in 2002 officials foiled a plan by terrorists to fly a hijacked⁵ plane into what was then called the Library Tower, now known as the U.S. Bank Tower.

"We now know that in October 2001, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11th attacks, had already set in motion a plan to have terrorist operatives hijack⁴ an airplane using shoe bombs to breach⁶ the cockpit door and fly the plane into the tallest building on the West Coast," he said.
 
 
George Bush gives remarks at National Guard Memorial Building in Washington DC, Feb. 9, 2006
  
President Bush said cooperation between the United States and several Southeast Asian nations, which he did not name, broke up the plot.

The independent commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks said Khalid Sheik Mohammed had originally planned for simultaneous attacks on both the East and West coasts. Vincent Cannistraro, who was head of the CIA's counter-terrorism operations from 1988 until 1991, says al-Qaida leader Osama bin⁷ Laden⁸ wanted the plans scaled down.

"Bin Laden thought the plans were too complicated," he said. "They might be too difficult to carry out, and he wanted to simplify it. So he cut off the West Coast option. And what happened was, after the events of 9/11, Khalid Sheik Mohammed began serious planning for the West Coast option, which included a hijacked plane flying into the Library Tower building, the tallest one in Los Angeles."

But how serious was the threat? Cannistraro says it was quite serious and the plot was far along until it was compromised.

"One might say whether or not it was a viable⁹ plot," he said. "But it certainly was the intention of Khalid Sheik Mohammed to carry it out. And we know that since he's been arrested, we know that this was a serious plot. We know that they had gotten to the point of recruiting volunteers to commit suicide in carrying out the plot. So whether it would have been successful or not, we'll never know. But we do know that it was pre-empted."

But Micheal Scheuer, who was the leading al-Qaida expert in the CIA's counter-terrorism center in 2002, says he is not aware of any such serious threat against the West Coast in 2002. As the man in the CIA who knew more about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida than perhaps any other agency officer, he says it is unlikely that he would not have been kept informed on such a plot.

"It could be that it was very closely held, but I think that's unlikely," he said. "It could be just a function of my failing memory. But this doesn't sound like anything that I would recall as a major threat, or as a major success in stopping it."

Scheuer, who has periodically attacked government anti-terrorist efforts as ineffective, says the plot was in all likelihood never considered serious enough to pay any real attention to it.

"My impression of what the president said is that they - the National Security Council - have culled¹⁰ through information to look for something that resembled a serious threat in 2002," he said. "It doesn't strike me, either as someone who was there or as someone who has followed al-Qaida pretty closely, that this was really a serious sort of effort. Just on the face of this, it sounds to me like it might well have been a threat that was reported, but not one that at the time was taken all that seriously."

The 9/11 commission says Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was captured in Pakistan in 2003, told interrogators that he was too busy with the September 11th planning to plan the second wave of attacks.

However serious the plan really was, security sources say it was completely compromised in 2002 with the arrest of Zaini Zakaria, a Malaysian who had been recruited to be one of the suicide pilots. Zakaria backed out of the plan after the 9/11 attacks and, sources say, remains¹¹ in custody¹² in Malaysia for his links to Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian group in sympathy with al-Qaida.

1 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

2 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

4 hijack   

v.劫持，劫机，拦路抢劫

参考例句：

• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。
• The hijack take place just after the plane take off.劫持是飞机刚起飞后发生的。

5 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

6 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

7 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

8 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

9 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

10 culled   

v.挑选，剔除( cull的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The herd must be culled. 必须有选择地杀掉部分牧畜。 来自辞典例句
• The facts were culled from various sources. 这些事实是从各方收集到的。 来自辞典例句

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。