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Among the things that are возможно in America (and that were "even more возможно") prior to 9/11:Originally Posted by Lampada
1. Domestic travel inside the US (including air travel) is quite easy and not very restricted
2. Living as a foreigner in the US (without being harassed by the police) is fairly easy -- evening living here with an expired visa was relatively easy, because of "separation of powers" between state-level police and the federal INS
3. Smuggling various items onto domestic flights -- again, fairly easy, because authorities were mainly worried about bombs and guns, and security for domestic flights was less strict than for international ones (prior to 9/11, I flew from NYC to Puerto Rico with a Swiss Army knife in my carry-on luggage... and some cocaine in my contact-lens case!)
4. Getting a visa to live temporarily in the US is relatively easy, even if you're a citizen of a nation that is on a "terrorist watch" list
For these reasons and others, I find it difficult to take seriously any claims that "a bunch of Arabs couldn't possibly have outwitted the police and government agencies of the world's most powerful country."
In fact, while the attack was in many ways "brilliantly planned," none of the details in the plan were that complicated, and no part of the plan required information that is only obtainable with a top-secret clearance. (For example, the weaknesses of airport security screening procedures were deducable by careful observation.)
