President Bush disclosed new details on Thursday of a thwarted Al-Qaeda plot to use shoe bombs to hijack a plane and fly it into a Los Angeles building, as he sought to justify his tactics in fighting terrorism.
With critics questioning the legality of his authorisation of a domestic spying programme, Bush used newly declassified details of a previously revealed plot to show that the threat of terrorism has not abated.
"America remains at risk, so we must remain vigilant," Bush said.
He said that in early 2002 the United States and its allies disrupted a plot to use bombs hidden in shoes to breach the cockpit door of an airplane and fly it into the tallest building in Los Angeles.
But he got the name of the building wrong, saying the "intended target was Liberty Tower." He meant Library Tower, now the US Bank Tower, that at 1,017 feet high is the tallest building in the United States west of the Mississippi River.
The Bush administration last October had cited the plan to attack West Coast targets using hijacked planes as among 10 disrupted Al-Qaeda plots.
{{/usCountry}}The Bush administration last October had cited the plan to attack West Coast targets using hijacked planes as among 10 disrupted Al-Qaeda plots.
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