How NYT would have covered 9/11 capture

A look at the wayback machine, circa 2001, if the U.S. government under George W. Bush had captured the 9/11 plotters. This would have been run on page 37 of the New York Times.

TERROR PLOT FAR FROM REALITY
NEW YORK, September 1, 2001 — Yesterday's widely hailed arrest of a dozen alleged terror plotters was overblown for political reasons, some experts are suggesting.

The experts, including unnamed national security veterans (Joe Wilson, Richard Clarke) and law enforcement sources (Patrick Leahy), say the terror plotters were nowhere near pulling off their grandiose plans to fly airplanes into U.S. landmarks. They lacked money and their plan, including the use of small box cutters, probably had no chance of ultimate success, according to the experts.

Public officials led by U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton are saying that the well-publicized press conference announcing the arrests was an attempt by the George W. Bush administration to build a mandate he lacks following the tainted 2000 election that put Bush into office.

And Arab-American groups like the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the U.S. was irresponsible for trying to link the Muslim men arrested to terror organizations.

Joining in the chorus were organizations like MoveOn.org, which quickly launched an internet ad saying that "Our president is trying to gain legitimacy by scaring us." Cable pundits like Keith Olbermann devoted hours of broadcasting to the issue.

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