Bomb-sniffing dogs were present until the day before the attack. I would think the presence of heightened security would make it more difficult to sabotage the buildings, yes?

I would imagine Silverstein wanted terrorism coverage and the right to rebuild the towers because they were a well-known landmark and, oh by the way, they had been attacked by terrorists in the past.

The towers were such a white elephant that Silverstein paid more than twice what had been estimated three years earlier. Silverstein was a successful enough man that he could come up with a hundred million dollar down payment and promise to pay three billion dollars over 99 years (and he wasn’t the only bidder on the project willing and able to do so – were they all in on the scheme?), all for what 4plexowner assures us was a money-loser. They must have started losing money in a hurry – they had over 90% occupancy as recently as mid-98. Was there a recession in Manhattan in the late 90’s that I didn’t hear about?

I’m sure there were lots of files in the towers. They were very large buildings. Despite whatever Enron-related losses occurred, last I heard several high-ranking Enron officials have been convicted.

A B-25 has a maximum takeoff weight of 41000 lbs, and top speed of 275 mph. A Boeing 767 is nine times as heavy and has a cruising speed of 540mph.

As for the neo-con reign of terror, I can’t help but notice no one on this thread has been locked up – but I blame that more on Reagan’s emptying the mental institutions in the early 80s. Pity. Just because someone calls you a conspiracy nut doesn’t mean you’re NOT crazy.