Timing is everything.

Bush details foiled 2002 al Qaeda attack on L.A. : "Shortly after 9/11, al Qaeda began planning to use shoe bombers to hijack a commercial airplane and fly it into the tallest building in Los Angeles, President Bush said Thursday...The details were the first from the administration about the West Coast airliner plot, which was thwarted in 2002 and initially disclosed by the White House last year, Bush said."

I find it interesting that these details are being released now, when Bush is on the hotseat for using domestic wiretapping in the fight against terrorism. The article doesn't mention wiretapping per se, but it doesn't have to, does it? News of a thwarted attack not only deflects attention from the issues of domestic spying, it also serves to reinforce the opinions of those who believe that "anything goes" when it comes to national security.