Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was on the United States' radar for about a decade before the 9/11 mastermind was finally caught on March 1, 2003. In addition to the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Mohammed has been blamed for about two dozen other offenses, including assassination plans for presidents of Pakistan, the United States, and Pope John Paul II. Most of these plans fizzled before coming to fruition, but the biggest and deadliest of them, the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, succeeded. What's worse is that the attacks might have been prevented.
In their new book, The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, journalists Terry McDermott and Josh Meyer detail the United States' hunt for the man with some 50 aliases who went from a small target, connected to but not wholly responsible for any one event, to one of the biggest names on the intelligence community's hit list. The book describes how the CIA and the FBI's failure to cooperate with each other in the hunt ultimately prolonged it. McDermott and Meyer appear this week in San Francisco.
Update: Terrorism charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were refiled today, according to ABC News.
Terry McDermott and Josh Meyer discuss The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday (April 5-6) at the Booksmith, 1644 Haight (at Belvedere), S.F. Admission is free.
