“…in early 2009 an American citizen of Afghan descent named Najibullah Zazi traveled to Pakistan intending to join the Afghan Taliban and fight the NATO forces. The Taliban recognized his value and instead persuaded him to work for al Qaeda. He was then trained in bomb-making by Rashid Rauf, the British citizen who had been the key link between al Qaeda and the August 2006 plot to blow up multiple airliners over the Atlantic on the fifth anniversary of 9/11. …Another Afghan American and a Bosnian American joined the plot. The three planned to blow themselves up on New York City subway trains on the first Monday after the 9/11 anniversary in [September 14] 2009. They were to strike at 9 a.m., the peak of rush hour, and attack the trains as they moved through Times Square, Grand Central, and the Port Authority stations. The FBI arrested them before they could execute their plan, and Zazi has since pleaded guilty.”
– Bruce Riedel, Deadly Embrace, Page 99