Bush Details Terrorist Plot Against US Bank Tower

LOS ANGELES-Details of the Sept. 11-like attack aimed at the US Bank Tower here have come to light. According to the AP wire service, President Bush says the attack was discovered and foiled in the days after terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center and caused major damage at the Pentagon. Bush made his comments in a speech at the National Guard Memorial Building in Washington, DC yesterday.

According to AP, Bush explained that, "the hijackers were to use shoe bombs to blow open the cockpit door of a commercial jetliner, take control of the plane and crash it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles." Library Tower is now called the US Bank Tower.

According to the report, Bush credited multinational cooperation for halting that attack and others. In previous speeches, Bush referred vaguely to other aborted terrorist attempts. He also pointed out that, instead of recruiting Arab hijackers, Southeast Asian men were chosen for the West Coast assault because they would be less likely to arouse suspicion.

The report went on to say that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, one of the brains behind the Sept. 11 attacks captured in 2003, was busy hatching his scheme for a West Coast assault as early as October 2001. "The president said the plot was derailed when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key al-Qaeda operative. Bush did not name the country or the operative," says AP.

At 1,017 ft., the US Bank Tower is considered the tallest US building west of the Mississippi. The 1.3-million-sf building was developed by Maquire Partners in 1989. Maquire purchased its partner's interest in the asset for $400 million. The building was renamed as part of a 2003 lease by US Bancorp for 165,000 sf.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.