WALDO PEPPERED :

The Case Against Moussaoui: Internal Doubts Evidence against the "20th hijacker" mostly circumstantial (Michael Isikoff, 7/28/02, NEWSWEEK)

Sources familiar with tens of thousands of classified FBI documents that have been assembled for the case tell NEWSWEEK there's nothing that shows Moussaoui ever had contact with any of the 9-11 hijackers. Some documents even suggest internal FBI doubts over whether Moussaoui really was supposed to be the "20th hijacker," as Justice officials have suggested. "There was a lot of skepticism about this case," said one high-level source. Moussaoui has openly admitted his allegiance to Al Qaeda, and prosecutors do have some compelling circumstantial evidence: Moussaoui received $14,000 in money orders from Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a fugitive Qaeda operative and former roommate of hijacker ringleader Mohamed Atta, in August 2001. The money arrived just weeks before Moussaoui was arrested when instructors at a Minneapolis flight school reported his suspicious interest in learning to steer large jetliners. But, backed by a team of more than 50 assistants, Moussaoui's lawyers have been crafting a circumstantial counterargument: while the other hijackers met repeatedly with each other, Moussaoui is conspicuously absent from any of their gatherings. "It's like the reverse of `Where's Waldo?' " said lawyer Ed MacMahon.

Okay, I'll bite : what's the non-conspiratorial reason that an al-Qaeda sympathizer gets paid $14k by an al-Qaeda operative with ties to Mohamed Atta to learn how to turn a jumbo jet but not land it? Did he think he was going to work for bin Laden Airlines? Posted by Orrin Judd at July 29, 2002 8:24 AM