Ten years ago, following the 9/11 attack, I came across a story concerning one of the hijackers, which I first mentioned in the November 1, 2001, edition of my war newsletter (now on hiatus). After pursuing the tale, which I must emphasize is unconfirmed, with federal police, intelligence sources, and major media outlets, I think the trail has gone cold, so I’m recounting part of the story here for the first time. My purpose is to generate interest in the jihadist act of war on 9/11.
During a post-9/11 visit to Lake Tahoe, sources told me that the FBI was investigating one of the Islamic jihadist hijacker’s recent visits to Lake Tahoe, where he had stayed at a motel with a woman for several days prior to the September 11 attack.
The source(s), with whom I met in person and interviewed, were guarded and adamant about not going public with the information. I wanted to know more, so I investigated the report, which included information that the jihadist made several telephone calls to Saudi Arabia from the motel. I was told that the FBI had interviewed motel employees and that the woman is still at large.
Ten years later, after trying to learn more details, obtain an investigative media assignment, and cooperate with certain law enforcement contacts, I have not confirmed the account. If it is true, and I consider the source(s) reliable, I still do not know why the Islamic hijacker and the mystery woman were visiting Lake Tahoe, a large, beautiful lake nestled atop the Sierra Nevada Mountains along the California/Nevada border. As I wrote in 2001, if true, the story re-affirms that the 9/11 hijackers were everywhere from Maine to California, suggests that women may be involved, and that the magnitude of the attack’s coordination is huge and could only be accomplished by state sponsors of jihadism. Considered in the context of the attack, this account may add to what we already know: the fact that the hijackers obtained huge amounts of money, resources, plans, contacts, and logistical support.
As I wrote then, and as I suspect now, the Lake Tahoe story also suggests that there may still be unknown information about the attack and, if so, that the media is not investigating, or choosing not to report, crucial facts of the attack.
I have not seen a single report indicating any awareness or government acknowledgement of an FBI investigation. During meetings and conferences, in cities from Washington, D.C. to California, I have become convinced that there is more, possibly much more, to the story of how and why America was attacked by jihadists chiefly from Saudi Arabia.
The assertion that a 9/11 hijacker was in this region with others raises several questions: Is Lake Tahoe a target? Did hijackers visit other cities and locations? What does the government know about their movements, maneuvers and contacts? Have contacts been identified and do we know if they are complicit? Are they being sought? Were the Saudi phone numbers linked to members of the religious dictatorship and/or its Islamic government officials? Ten years after the worst act of war in U.S. history, with no military purpose, victory or end to war in sight, I still want to solve the mystery. And win the war.