The attacks never materialized because they were thwarted or aborted. The proposed attempts though included an attack on Vice President Al Gore with anti-tank missiles while he visited Saudi Arabia. Another proposal was to release cyanide in the New York subway system. And finally, an attempt was made to procure nuclear weapons of mass destruction from Pakistani scientists.
Saudi officials foiled Abdel Rahim al-Nashiri in the anti-tank attack. The Saudis though did not easily pass along this vital intelligence.
Most alarming is the attempt to develop nuclear capability. In the fall of 2001 this was to be detonated in New York. In fact, Tenet charges that a nuclear detonation in a U.S. city is al-Qaida's ultimate goal.
In the fall of 2003 a more spectacular attack than 9/11 was planned in the New York subway system. In June of 2006 the New York Subway Plot was broken by Time Magazine. Chronicled by journalist Ron Suskind's book, The One Percent Doctrine, which describes al-Qaeda's apparently successful development of a portable device that can be used to disperse cyanide gas. The gas kills upon inhalation. In fact, according to Suskind a cyanide gas attack on New York City's subway system was within 45 days of occurring when al-Qaeda's deputy commander, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called off the attack. 3,000 people would most likely have died in such an attack.
The attack was called off because it was not seen as spectacular enough. However, the calling off of an attack is no solace. For if 3,000 Americans killed by chemical weapons in the New York subway system were not enough for al-Qaeda, what sort of attack is? The answer, unfortunately, may well be the detonation of a nuclear weapon of some sort.
While we will all be arguing about Tenet's role in intelligence for some time I find it revealing that the reach of terrorism is more extensive and ambitious than many are willing to believe.
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