(1) The claim that the hijackers flew under the radar is an urban myth that was debunked by the 9/11 Commission. This passage, taken from an MSNBC hardball show broadcast on 21 July 2004, is particularly revealing:
MYERS (on camera): It's become urban legend that the 9/11 hijackers kept to themselves and shied away from other extremists. But 9/11 investigators now know that some of the hijackers met frequently with other U.S.-based Islamic extremists. In fact, the hijackers had contact with 14 people known to the FBI because of counterterror investigations prior to 9/11.
ELEANOR HILL, STAFF DIRECTOR, 9/11 COMMISSION: Rather than the hijackers being invisible to the FBI, they were, in fact, right in the middle of the FBI's counterterrorism coverage. And yet, the FBI didn't detect them.
MYERS: Case in point. Two of the hijackers were living in San Diego with an undercover informant for the FBI."
I'd just like to repeat that the 9/11 Commission's staff director said that the hijackers were "right in the middle of the FBI's counterterrorism coverage."
I'm not quite sure, but I think the figure of 14 the presenter mentions is inaccurate. As far as I can tell it includes the people Hani knew in Pheonix (8 named in the Pheonix memo + Lofti Raissi), the people Al Mihdhar and Nawaf Al Hazmi knew in LA and San Diego (like the gas station owner and manager) and Nabil Al Marabh and his associates. In addition, they also knew other people being investigated by the FBI, such as Fahad Al Quso (arrested in autumn 2000 for the Cole), Khallad, Adnan El Shukrijumah and Moussaoui (if we include Bin Al Shibh with the hijackers). In addition, Ould Slahi, Zammer, Bahaji, Darkanzali and others were being monitored by other intelligence agencies in co-operation with the CIA. Last but not least, the FBI were actually investigating Al Mihdhar himself and the NSA was listening to some of his calls. His father-in-law was a notorious Al Qaeda operative whose phone had been bugged for years. It would be reasonable to claim that the hijackers had contact with about two dozen known or suspected terrorists.
(2) It came to light during the Moussaoui trial that many more of the hijackers' documents than previously known were actually recovered after 9/11 (what a terrible sentence!).
In addition to the previously known:
(1) Al Suqami's passport;
(2), (3) and (4) ID of Moqed, Salem Al Hazmi and Nawaf Al Hazmi recovered at the Pentagon;
(5), (6) and (7) Jarrah's passport and his relative's business card and work permit; and
(8) The hijacker preparation instructions recovered in Shanksville;
They also recovered from the crash sites, as revealed in the Moussaoui trial (at least I'd never heard of it before):
(9) Ahmed Al Ghamdi's Saudi driver's licence (from the WTC rubble);
(10) An arabic ID card for Al Nami;
(11) Al Nami's Saudi youth hostelling card;
(12) Two photgraphs of Al Nami;
(13) Saeed Al Ghamdi's passport;
(14) Al Nami's Florida ID, although according to the 9/11 Commission he had a Florida driving licence, not an ID card.
Moussaoui trial transcripts thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x93176#93259That's a lot of documents.