bush-and-911

World Trade Center

The World Trade Center was built by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The buildings were dedicated in April 1973. For a brief period, the twin towers were the tallest buildings in the world, soon surpassed by the Sears Tower in Chicago.
Background

Main article: Design and construction of the World Trade Center

Austin J. Tobin and the World Trade Center

In 1942, Austin J. Tobin became the Executive Director of the Port Authority and would be its chief executive through 1972. In the post-World War II period, the Port Authority expanded its operations to include airports, and marine terminals, with projects including Newark Liberty International Airport, Port Newark, and Port Elizabeth. During this period, the United States thrived economically, with increasing international trade, and the concept of establishing a "world trade center" was conceived. At the time, economic growth was concentrated in Midtown Manhattan, with Lower Manhattan left out. One exception was the construction of Chase Manhattan Bank Tower in the Financial District, by David Rockefeller who led urban renewal efforts in Lower Manhattan.[1]

In initial plans made public in 1961, the World Trade Center was slated to be built on a site along the East River. Objections to the plan came from New Jersey Governor Robert B. Meyner, who resented that New York would be getting this $335 million project.[1] Meanwhile, New Jersey's Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M) was facing bankruptcy. Port Authority executive director, Austin J. Tobin agreed to take over control of the H&M Railroad, in exchange for support from New Jersey for the World Trade Center project. As part of this acquisition, the Port Authority would rehabilitate the Downtown and Uptown Hudson Tubes. The Port Authority would also obtain the Hudson Terminal, and decrepit buildings located above the terminal in Lower Manhattan. The Port Authority decided to demolish these buildings, and use this site along the Hudson River for the World Trade Center.

Even once the agreement between the states of New Jersey, New York, and the Port Authority was finalized, the World Trade Center plan faced continued controversy. New York City mayor Robert Wagner raised concerns about the limited extent that the Port Authority involved the city in the negotiations and deliberations. The site was the location of Radio Row electronics businesses, and the World Trade Center plans involved evicting hundreds of commercial and industrial tenants, property owners, small businesses, and approximately 100 residents, some of whom fiercely protested the forced relocation.

In 1964, Minoru Yamasaki was hired by the Port Authority as architect, who came up with the idea of twin towers. To meet the Port Authority's requirement to build 10 million square feet of office space, the towers would each be 110-stories tall. The size of the project raised ire from the owner of the Empire State Building, which would lose its title of tallest building in the world. Other critics objected to the idea of this much "subsidized" office space going on the open market, competing with the private sector. Others questioned the cost of the project, which in 1966 had risen to $575 million. Final negotiations between The City of New York and the Port Authority centered on tax issues. A final agreement was made that the Port Authority would make annual payments in lieu of taxes, for the 40 percent of the World Trade Center leased to private tenants. The remaining space was to be occupied by state and federal government agencies. In 1962, the Port Authority had signed up the United States Customs Service as a tenant, and in 1964 they inked a deal with the State of New York to locate government offices at the World Trade Center.
Structural design

The tube-frame was a major innovation in skyscraper design, allowing open floor plans and more rentable space. The perimeter columns supported virtually all lateral loads (such as wind loads), and shared the gravity loads (50%) with the core columns. The perimeter structure was constructed with extensive use of prefabricated modular pieces, which consisted of three columns, three stories tall, connected together by spandrel plates. Above the seventh floor there were 59 perimeter columns along each face of the building. The perimeter columns had a square cross section, 14 inches on a side (36 cm), and were constructed of welded steel plate.[2] The thickness of the plates and grade of steel were varied over the height of the tower, ranging from 36 ksi to 100 ksi, with the steel strength and plate thickness decreasing with height.[2] The perimeter columns supported virtually all lateral loads such as wind loads and shared the gravity loads with the core columns. The perimeter structure was constructed with extensive use of prefabricated modular pieces, which consisted of three columns, three stories tall, connected together by spandrel plates. The spandrel plates were welded to the columns at the fabrication shop. The modular pieces were typically 52 inches (1.3 m) deep, and extended for two full floors and half of two more floors.[2] Adjacent modules were bolted together, with the splices occurring at mid-span of the columns and spandrels. The spandrel plates were located at each floor, and served to transmit shear flow between columns, thus allowing them to work together in resisting lateral loads. The joints between modules were staggered vertically, so the column splices between adjacent modules were not at the same floor. Read more

DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources report that US president-elect Barack Obama, European and Russian heads of state in Washington for the G20 conference over the weekend were briefed about a probable early al Qaeda attack.

Obama and his team have been advised that a new al Qaeda strike is highly probable in the United States or against a key US target in Europe, North Africa or the Middle East.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly 372 of Nov. 14 disclosed that al Qaeda's Yemen base, a reliable barometer for Osama bin Laden's schemes, issued a Directive to All Fighters in Arabia on Nov. 9 presaging a major operation in the United States that will "change the political and economic world" and be "far bigger than 9/11."

The notice said "the operation is very near" and "precise instructions were in the hands of the fighters, who are already on their way to America" armed with bin Laden's orders. The pretext offered for the attack is the rejection by the US and Europe of al Qaeda's four-year old truce offer whose original pre-condition was the withdrawal of their armies from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The day after the new president's election, al Qaeda issued a little-noticed statement declaring Barack Obama a murtad, i.e. an apostate whose betrayal of Islam is judged the most heinous. Believers have the duty to execute a murtad unlike other non-believers whose death sentence is optional.

Thursday night, Nov. 14, Central Intelligence Director Gen. Michael Hayden said:"Al Qaeda, operating from its safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas, remains the most clear and present danger to the United States." He was addressing a Washington think-tank.

"Today, virtually every major terrorist threat that my agency is aware of has threads back to the tribal areas. Whether it is command and control, training, direction, money, capabilities, there is a connection to the FATA (Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.)"

Hayden also mentioned Yemen and Somalia as important al Qaeda theaters of operation.

In private, most heads of the intelligence agencies fighting al Qaeda admit that an attack on the United States or major American interest outside is only a matter of time.