Al Qaeda wanted to hijack plane in London and fly it into Canary Wharf

BBC:

An official US report has confirmed al-Qaeda planned to hijack flights from Heathrow and fly planes into the airport and a Canary Wharf skyscraper.

Reports of such a plot had surfaced in the media before but have not previously been confirmed.

It is believed the plot was disrupted by security services, although arrests are not thought to have been made.

The report lists nine attempts by al-Qaeda - aside from 11 September - to attack aviation targets worldwide.

One of these is the plot to fly into Canary Wharf. Another is an attempt in the summer of 2003 to use camera flash attachments as stun guns as well as cameras to disguise bomb components.

In this plot, the airliners were to be crashed into targets in the east coast of the US, Australia, Britain and Italy.

Other plots are well known, including that of the so-called shoe-bomber Richard Reid and attempts to use portable surface to air missiles to attack planes, including in Kenya.

...

Is it possible that the NSA may have intercepted communications that made it possible to stop the attacks? Does anyone seriously think that we should not be intercepting al Qaeda's communications with its agents in this country and others? Could it be that Democrat politicians are just pandering to the paranoia of their constituents when they claim the program is illegal, but, BTW, don't stop it?

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