the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing inspired KSM to become involved in planning attacks against the United States. By his own account, KSM’s animus toward the United States stemmed not from his experiences there as a student, but rather from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel. (Source: The 9/11 Commission Report, New York: W.W. Norton, 2004, p. 147. Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center plot, as well as others, including the initial planning of the “Planes Operation”—who had earlier failed in an attempt to bomb the Israeli embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, and whose initial New York targets were not the World Trade Center but targeting Jewish neighborhoods in Crown Heights and Williamsburg—had this to say as a final statement following his conviction for that crime: We are, the fifth battalion in the Liberation Army, declare our responsibility for the explosion on the mentioned building. This action was done in response for the American political, economical and military support to Israel the state of terrorism and to the rest of the dictator countries in the region. Our demands: Stop all military, economical, and political aids [sic] to Israel. All diplomatic relations with Israel must stop. Not to interfere with any of the Middle East countries [sic] interior affairs. . . . The terrorism that Israel practices (which is supported by America) must be faced with a similar one. The dictatorship and terrorism (also supported by America) that some countries are practicing against their own people must also be faced with terrorism. The American people must know, that their civilians who got killed are not better than those who are getting killed by the American weapons and support.
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