U.S. Knew Of Plot 'For Days'

(CBS/AP)  The CIA, the Homeland Security Department, and several top lawmakers knew "for days" of the terror plot President Bush says shows the U.S. is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those who love freedom.

Many hours after British police announced they had foiled a plot to simultaneously blow up planes over the Atlantic on their way from London to the U.S., White House spokesman Tony Snow said President Bush was briefed in advance and Wednesday, at his ranch in Texas, approved raising the alert to red on flights from England.

Snow also said that Mr. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair held a lengthy teleconference on the matter on Sunday and spoke again Wednesday, on the phone.

Since the president was already aware of the situation, said Snow, he was not awakened in the middle of the night when British police decided to go public with their information and raise the U.K.'s national threat level to "crisis."

The President himself said nothing publicly until nearly noon, when he arrived in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for a previously scheduled visit to a factory to highlight economic issues and a GOP fundraiser later in the day.

"This nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation," said President Bush.

Senior lawmakers also received advance word. Several said they were briefed by Homeland Security or CIA officials as early as Monday.

"This was a well-advanced plan... in some respects suggestive of an al Qaeda plot," said U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who was ready with a detailed news release at 3 a.m. Thursday, just 90 minutes after word of the foiled plot was made public in England and before the revelation of its details or the fact that 21 people were under arrest.

Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson said his agency had known for several days of the unfolding plot but waited for a signal from the British to announce it.

Early Thursday, dramatic new security measures went into effect at British and U.S. airports and flights to and within the United States were put under an "orange" alert, one step below red, but an escalation from the "yellow" status that had been in effect.

Administration officials sought to reassure the traveling public at the same time they imposed heightened security restrictions.

"Today, air traffic is safe, and air traffic will remain safe precisely because of the measures we are adopting," said Chertoff.

It is not known how long the new airline security rules will remain in effect. One lawmaker, Michigan GOP Rep. Pete Hoekstra, said the situation "eliminates the days of carry-on baggage." Hoekstra is chairman of the Intelligence Committee in the House of Representatives.

Officials speaking anonymously say the suspects had planned, within the next two days, to do a test run of the plot to see whether they could smuggle the equipment they needed aboard the targeted flights. The actual attack would have occurred within days.

Chertoff, interviewed on CNN, did not challenge the account.

"It's not uncommon that these kinds of plots almost always have a dry run or a casing element before the actual plot is carried out," he said.

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, "had dry runs as well," he said.

A congressman briefed by intelligence officials, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said U.S. intelligence had intercepted terrorist chatter and British intelligence helped thwart the plot through undercover work.

Two other U.S. officials said British, U.S. and Pakistani investigators are trying to retrace the footsteps of the suspects in Pakistan and are seeking to determine whether a couple of the suspects attended terrorist training camps there.

Minnesota Republican Rep. John Kline – a former Marine who was a military aide to Presidents Carter and Reagan, assigned to carrying the "football" with the codes for nuclear attack - was the only lawmaker to attend a closed-door briefing in the Capitol.

"This was a very close call," said Kline, a member of the House Armed Services Committee who has visited Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo.

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[fartnocker2]

NY Times not find out ahead of time and blow the hole case down the drain for England .Have you noticed the several times it has been mentioned that the US was brought in late and few told due to worries of leaks . Doesn't say much for this country that others can't trust us because of news groups willing to screw our safty just to sell more papers .

[wmyers4u]

Why..after 5 years are we not able to have secure air travel?

Why are cockpits still accessible to hijackers?

Why were safety measures not implemented much sooner than this?

[williampoiri]

The investigation had been going on for 9 months
and Bush and company only knew about it for the
last few days!and they didn`t do anything about it!
So goes our security, just like Katrina one mess after another.the British didn`t tell us because they figured it would be used by ROVE and company for election purposes instead of security...and after all 300 billion dollars lost so far in Iraq and nothing(yes nothing)to show for it,makes me sick...and what about 2600 dead,and 50000 wounded
and with lost body parts? now i feel like vomiting.this President and ALL need to go...to hell...the dumb people who were led to believe he was a good man really need to exam their own conscious...what good man starts a war,with only fabricated info,what good man seeks to prevent himself form being tried for war crime acts by asking for laws for this when the constitution says pass no X-post facto laws...what man claims to be a Christian but shuns JESUS CHRIST and his teachings..about the poor and humble...and sides with the rich so the can buy bigger homes and ride their own jets and not have to go thru any airport shake downs...and the list goes on....and no sun is seen thru the clouds....depressing isn`t it.....are the clouds going to leave? maybe in NOVEMBER

[sardon2k5]

I'm personally glad they hid the details of the upcoming plot. Why tip them off that we're on to them? They didn't put us at an unnecessary risk...they handled the situation with care and forethought, and it worked.

For those of you who think this was a plot hatched by the U.S. Government to bolster support of the current administration, show some proof...back that stuff up!

[kalatur]

Islamists require the world to conform to their world view. "Diversity" to them equates with tolerance of infidels. Of course they feel threatened. The world has passed them by as they are frozen in their unevolving past. So they lash out like an injured animal.

[bmanther]

Just how stupid does the Bush Administration think the American people are? Opps he was voted in by the people. Let's undue that mistake SOON!!

Impeach Bush and Chaney

[sixpack6t9]

When I first read about this, the article didn't mention the fact that US spying allegedly provided the "tip" to get the investigation going. I had to ask myself---Who would gain the most politically, by the unveiling of this incident? Oh yeah, the US has had a bad time proving to us that we are still being threatened by terrorists, and we must cater to the government spying on us in our own country in order to be "safe".

Sounds to me like the thing was set up, to me. Quite handy for the Bush administration at their all-time ratings low.

In politics, there are no accidents.
(sorry if this double-posted, it didn't confirm the first time.)

[sixpack6t9]

When I first read about this, the article didn't mention the fact that US spying allegedly provided the "tip" to get the investigation going. I had to ask myself---Who would gain the most politically, by the unveiling of this incident? Oh yeah, the US has had a bad time proving to us that we are still being threatened by terrorists, and we must cater to the government spying on us in our own country in order to be "safe".

Sounds to me like the thing was set up, to me. Quite handy for the Bush administration at their all-time ratings low.

In politics, there are no accidents.

[missie11]

At least this is one time the Media didn't foul things up by giving out any details. Hurray

[vicfixit-2009]

If the Administration and Elected Officials knew about this plot for days (Sunday)then why were the new security measures delayed until Thursday? Once again the government left the public at risk while they calculated what mileage then could get from public panic and outrage. Most of the security measures are once again illogical(no toothpaste), unnecessary(because other liquids are allowed; apple juice sure looks like gasoline to me), and overkill(lipstick). The overall benefits are nill. All we get is more inconvenience and diminished personal hygiene. Where are our elected officials with common sense?