188. 9/11: How to Recruit a Hijacker (Ep 2)
Summary
Hosts Gordon Carrera and David McCloskey detail the early planning of the 9/11 attacks, focusing on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s recruitment of the Hamburg cell, led by Mohamed Atta. The episode covers the operatives’ flight training in the U.S. and the critical January 2000 Kuala Lumpur meeting, where U.S. intelligence tracked Saudi hijackers Khalid al-Midar and Nawaf al-Hazmi. It also examines the controversial role of Omar al-Bayoumi, who assisted the hijackers in Los Angeles, raising questions about potential Saudi state involvement.
Topics discussed
Intro, sponsors, and the origin of the 9/11 plot
Bin Laden and KSM recruit the initial team
The Hamburg cell: Atta, radicalization, and travel to Afghanistan
Training in Afghanistan and obtaining US visas
Flight training in Florida and financial logistics
The Kuala Lumpur meeting and US intelligence surveillance
Hazmi and Midar arrive in LA and meet Omar al-Bayoumi
Hani Hanjour arrives as a replacement pilot
CIA-FBI intelligence failure and theories on withheld info
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