I've fired this one around a bit, so apologies if I've already posted this somewhere:

An article in the San Jose Mercury News flagged this for me.

Apparently, a newer version of a 9/11 commission report ("Staff Monograph on the Four Flights and Civil Aviation Security") has come out, with a few things that were blacked out before, not blacked out now.

Both versions can be found here.

I suggest at least printing pages 53 through 59 of both versions, and compare them. Particularly the first blacked out section, which before was blacked out, and now reads:

In 1998 and 1999, the FAA intelligence unit produced reports about the hijacking threat posed by Bin Ladin and al Qaeda, including the possibility that the terrorist group might try to hijack a commercial jet and slam it into a U.S. landmark. It viewed this possibility as "unlikely" and a "last resort." FAA perceived as far more llkely that al Qaeda would hijack a flight overseas, where the terrorists had access to safe havens. They believe that from these safe havens, Bin Ladin could use passengers to bargain for the release of Islamic extremists imprisoned in the United States.

Interesting, in light of all the loads of grief Bush has gotten for not turning airline security upside down after the famous August 8th memo. I leave to your imagination what hell would be raised if an FAA report like this had crossed Bush's desk without a major response. Admittedly, the report calls this "unlikely," and refers us to the M.O. of hijacking for hostages. However, this was also mentioned as the most likely scenario in the August 8 memo, yet that didn't seem to make a difference.