Two of Three
The foiled Millenium bomb plot from 1999-2000 had three known targets:
- Several sites in Jordan, including the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman.
- USS The Sullivans in port in Yemen.
- LAX, Los Angeles International Airport
The attack on the USS The Sulivans was attempted on January 3, 2000 but failed because the bomb-delivery dinghy couldn’t handle the explosives’ weight. Ten months later on October 12, 2000, the USS Cole was attacked in the same port, using the same tactic. This past August, two missiles missed a US Navy ship while in the Jordanian port of Aqaba.
On April 20, 2004, Jordanian security forces seized 20 tons of chemicals which were to said to be intended for a chemical weapons attack against Amman. Two months ago, Jordanian security forces arrested 17 suspected of plotting attacks. Yesterday three suicide bombers killed nearly 60 people at three hotels in Amman Jordan. One of the hotels was the previously targeted Raddison. One of the bombers murdered guests at a wedding.
The initial millennium attack against LAX was averted on December 14, 1999 by US Border control officers who were probably searching for drugs but instead found explosives and timers. On July 4, 2002, a Egyptian-born gunman killed two people at El Al’s ticket counter in LAX. This was finally determined to be a terrorist act in April of 2003, though he was most likely targeting Israel rather than the US. The specific LAX targets of the millennium plot are apparently unknown.
Not counting the sole gunman at LAX, two of the three known targets from the Millennium plot have now been successfully attacked.
