Regarding the timing of the attacks, Mohammed told investigators he insisted on waiting until the 19 terrorists were trained and ready to hijack four airplanes. In the end, the plot's lead hijacker, Mohammed Atta, chose Sept. 11 because the U.S. Congress was back in session after a summer recess, the report says.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=arMYuljl3qPc&refer=us

``The 9/11 conspirators confronted operational difficulties, internal disagreements and even dissenting opinions within the leadership of al-Qaeda,'' the report says. ``In the end, the plot proved sufficiently flexible to adapt and evolve as challenges arose.''

Today's recounting is based largely on the accounts of Mohammed and another Sept. 11 planner in U.S. custody, Ramzi Binalshibh. The commission reviewed written summaries of their interrogations.

The attacks as carried out using four hijacked airliners cost $400,000 to $500,000, including $270,000 spent in the U.S. on flight training and living expenses, the report says.

The report, along with another released earlier today on al- Qaeda's roots, seek to dispel several theories and suspicions that circulated after the Sept. 11 attacks. Among them:

-- The commission found no evidence that Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague, an allegation that has been invoked to suggest a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. At today's hearing, witnesses representing the CIA and the FBI said they agreed with the commission's conclusion that there is no evidence tying al-Qaeda to Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein.

As recently as Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney said Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ``had long-established ties with al Qaeda.'' Bush, in response to a reporter's question about Cheney's remarks, said yesterday the best evidence of Iraqi ties to terrorists is the presence of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi in Iraq. U.S. military officials have said Zarqawi, a Jordanian linked to al-Qaeda, is orchestrating attacks from inside Iraq.

-- The commission ``found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior officials within the Saudi government funded al-Qaeda.''

Unresolved Issue
The commission doesn't answer one of the lingering questions of Sept. 11: What was the target of United Flight 93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back against the hijackers?
In the final weeks before Sept. 11, the plotters were still debating whether to strike the White House or the Capitol, the report says. One possibility is that the hijackers on that plane were given the option, had they reached Washington, to hit the Capitol or the harder-to-locate White House.
Nor does the report offer any theory about why the hijackers, during their trial runs as passengers aboard cross- country flights, regularly stopped in Las Vegas on their way back to the
East Coast.

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AL QAEDA TRYING TO STRIKE U.S.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=IZYUJY1IGRGJACRBAELCFFA?type=topNews&storyID=5438743&pageNumber=1
In a report entitled "Overview of the Enemy," the commission also said al Qaeda has changed drastically and become decentralized since the Sept. 11 attacks, but it still helps regional networks and will keep trying to strike the United States to inflict mass casualties.

"Al Qaeda remains extremely interested in conducting chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attacks," said the report.

The commission said al Qaeda's ability to conduct an anthrax attack is one of the most immediate threats. Al Qaeda may also try a chemical attack using industrial chemicals, or by attacking a chemical plant or shipment of hazardous materials.