As originally reported

Yesterday's speech by President Bush, in which he revealed details about a 2002 plot to destroy the Library Tower (as it was then known) in Los Angeles caught a lot of people off guard. Details from this most-usually tight-lipped and uncommunicative Administration is not what people are used to.

Some in fact acted like it was the first time this threat had been revealed. In fact, I thought so initially as well. But it isn't.

The event and the context in which it occurred were discussed more than a year-and-a-half ago in Richard Miniter's excellent Shadow War. Beginning on page 4:

Instead, al Qaeda envisioned a "second wave" of attacks on West Coast cities after September 11*. The targets included the Library Tower in Los Angeles (chosen partly because Mohammed had seen it "blown up" in the hit film Independence Day) and the Sears Tower in Chicago...

These plots were stopped. How?

In sum, aggresive execution of the War on Terror--everything from aerial bombardment and covert operations to relentless counter-intelligence and patient police work--has kept the terrorists at bay. And, yes, luck played a part.

*Interview with Noberto Gonzalez, National Security advisor of the Philippines, Manila, March 2004

Yesterday's "revelations" are the topic of some consternation in the blogosphere this morning.