Believe it or not

Zacharias Moussaoui testifies that he knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance. But he also said

that he and would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid were supposed to hijack a fifth airplane and fly it into the White House as part of the attack that unfolded Sept. 11, 2001.

Does that sound a litte odd? If Reid was going to fly a plane into the White House, why was he trying to blow the flight he was on out of the sky? How come the other teams consisted of 4 men, and this was goind to take only two?

This will probably guarantee him the death penalty, which is what he apparently wants, so he can claim martyrdom, but he probably hasn't told the real story yet.

Moussaoui's testimony on his own behalf stunned the courtroom. His account was in stark contrast to his previous statements in which he said the White House attack was to come later if the United States refused to release a radical Egyptian sheik imprisoned on earlier terrorist convictions.

On Dec. 22, 2001, Reid was subdued by passengers when he attempted to detonate a bomb in his shoe aboard American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. There were 197 people on board. The plane was diverted to Boston, where it landed safely.

Moussaoui told the court he knew the World Trade Center attack was coming and that he lied to investigators when arrested in August 2001 because he wanted it to happen.

''You lied because you wanted to conceal that you were a member of al-Qaida?'' prosecutor Rob Spencer asked.