6/19/2006

WASHINGTON - Al Qaeda decided not to launch a deadly cyanide gas plot in New York's subways because it wouldn't have killed enough people, according to the author whose bombshell book revealed the frightening scheme.

"Al Qaeda's thinking is that a second-wave attack should be more destructive and more disruptive than 9/11," writer Ron Suskind said in an interview with Time magazine. "Why? Because that would create an upward arc of terror. ... That fear and terror is a central goal of the Al Qaeda strategy."

[...] When President Bush learned the cyanide plot had been nixed, according to Suskind, Bush said: "This is bad enough. What does calling this off say about what else they're planning? ... What could be the bigger operation Zawahiri didn't want to mess up?"

I believe that's the first intelligent thing I've ever heard you say, Mr. President.