It is the first time that a videotape has appeared of Mohammed Atta — who flew an American Airlines plane into the north tower of the World Trade Center — at a training camp in Afghanistan. It fills in a significant gap in the timing of the build-up to the attacks on the United States.
Dates on the tape show Atta was filmed on January 18, 2000, together with Ziad Jarrah, the pilot of United Airlines flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania after the passengers apparently stormed the flight deck.
With the release of Bob Woodward’s new book “State of Denial” that is highly critical of the Bush administration’s prosecution of the Iraq war, and revelations of Mark Foley’s (R-Florida) resignation over salacious e-mail messages to a sixteen-year-old page, one has to wonder just how much press coverage these videos are going to receive. After all, with a little more than five weeks before Americans go to the polls, do the media want the electorate thinking about the war on terrorism, Iraq, or a new Congressional scandal surrounding a Republican?
For those interested, the five fascinating video clips are available here.
