The 9-11 Commission has uncovered a tremendous amount of information about al-Qaida's growth and development in the years before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. In light of this information, it's clear that America's major intelligence problem was a lack of communication between the FBI and CIA. The wall between these two organizations dates to the creation of the CIA in the Truman administration and J. Edgar Hoover's ego-driven law-enforcement empire. The Bush administration fought the creation of the 9-11 Commission for many months, then tried to appoint Henry Kissinger as its chairman. Thanks to pressure from the 9-11 victims' families, the commission was created (without Kissinger) and is now in the process of learning about the attacks.
October 1993
· Somalia: 18 American servicemen killed
· 2 helicopters shot down (plot of "Black Hawk Down")
January 1995
· Several al-Qaida plots discovered by the Clinton administration
· Plots were thwarted
1. A plot to blow up 12 U.S. airliners
2. A plot to crash an airplane into CIA headquarters
November 1995
· Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
· A truck bomb kills 7 at an American-run training center for the Saudi Arabian National Guard
· The oil company Unocal signs a contract for a “the perfect pipeline” through Afghanistan. Unocal edges out a more experienced Argentinean company for the contract. Henry Kissinger, a Unocal consultant, calls it "the triumph of hope over experience." Not long afterward, the Taliban alienates the US and the contract falls through.
1996
· President Clinton creates a special "issue station" devoted exclusively to Osama bin Laden, who is believed to be a terrorist financier.
· Osama bin Laden leaves Sudan for Afghanistan.
1997
· CIA issue station learns that Osama bin Laden is not just a financier, he's also an organizer of terrorist activity.
· CIA authorizes agents to gather intelligence in Afghanistan and prepare a plan to capture Osama bin Laden.
1998
· Osama bin Laden calls for any Muslim to kill any American anywhere in the world.
· U.N. representative Bill Richardson went to Afghanistan to ask the Taliban to surrender Osama bin Laden to the U.S.
· FBI office in Oklahoma City wrote a memo titled "Weapons of Mass Destruction," warning that "large numbers of Middle Eastern males" were taking flight lessons at local airports. The agent thought the enrollments may have been "related to planned
terrorist activity."
· CIA intelligence reports that Arab terrorists are planning to fly a bomb-laden aircraft into the World Trade Center
August 1998
· Kenya and Tanzania, Africa
· Simultaneous attacks
· Two American embassies are bombed simultaneously
· 301 dead
· 5,000 injured
Bin Laden assassination attempt
· President Clinton order Osama bin Laden's assassination in retaliation for the embassy bombings.
· White House aides believed that Clinton authorized actions to kill bin Laden
· CIA officers believed they were legally permitted to kill bin Laden only during an attempt to capture him.
· Afghan groups were paid to ambush Osama bin Laden if the opportunity arose.
Cruise missile strike
· Aug. 20, 1998: President Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes
1. A terrorist training camp in Afghanistan
2. A chemical weapons plant in Sudan
· Missiles hit their targets, but bin Laden survived
· Republicans claim the strikes were to divert attention from the Monica Lewinsky scandal
December 1998
· CIA Director George Tenet announced that the United States is at war with al-Qaida
· Tenet: "I want no resources or people spared."
9-11 Commission concluded that Tenet's declaration had "little overall effect."
Aborted assassination attempts
· December 1998: Cruise missile strikes are prepared against a Kandahar site, but aborted because of the presence of officials from the United Arab Emirates.
· February 1999: A strike against a desert camp is not carried out because of concerns about the quality of intelligence and possible civilian casualties.
· May 1999: Another strike in Kandahar is aborted because of concern about the quality of intelligence and possible civilian casualties.
December 1999
U.S.-Canada border
· Ahmend Ressam is detained crossing into the United States from Canada
· Ressam confirms an al-Qaida plot to blow up the Los Angeles Airport
Millennium attacks
· Clinton thwarted al-Qaida attacks at:
1. Seattle Space Needle
2. L.A. Airport
3. Lincoln Tunnel
4. Holland Tunnel
September 2000
· The think-tank Project for the New American Century (PNAC) writes a "blueprint" for the creation of a “global Pax Americana.” Written for the Bush team before the 2000 election, the report Rebuilding America’s Defenses is a "blueprint for maintaining global US preeminence and shaping the international security order in line with American principles and interests." The plan shows Bush intends to take control of Persian Gulf oil whether or not Saddam Hussein is in power. It advocates "regime change" in Iraq, China, North Korea, Libya, Syria, and Iran.
January 2001
· Terror suspects Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhazmi
· CIA learns that Midhar and Alhazmi attended a meeting in Malaysia
· FBI claims it was never told
· CIA disputes that FBI wasn't told
April-May 2001 official briefings
· "Bin Laden planning multiple operations"
· "Bin Laden public profile may presage attack"
· "Bin Laden network's plans advancing"
May 2001
· CIA counter-terrorism chief Cofer Black told Condoleeza Rice that the threat level stood at "7 on a scale of 10."
· CIA reports to President Bush that Osama bin Laden's associates have entered the United States.
· Secretary of State Powell gives $43 million to the Taliban government
May-Aug 2001
· A number of the 9-11 hijackers make at least six trips to Las Vegas. These "fundamentalist" Muslims drink alcohol, frequent strip clubs, and smoke hashish. Some even have strippers perform lap dances for them.
June 2001
· Intelligence meeting
· CIA and FBI meet to go over Malaysia meeting
· FBI officials investigating the Cole bombing are not shown picture of Khaliad
· The last of the 13 "muscle" hijackers arrives in the United States
June 7, 2001
· Richard Clarke's staff circulates a draft of a phased plan to eliminate al-Qaida over a period of three to five years.
· The policies are developed in four subsequent meetings at the deputy level.
June warnings
· Intelligence agencies warn of a high probability of a "spectacular" attack against American interests abroad by groups associated with al-Qaida.
· State Department warns Taliban that it would be held responsible for attacks carried out by Osama bin Laden.
· German intelligence warns the CIA that Middle Eastern terrorists are training for hijackings and targeting American interests. During the summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin also alerts the US of suicide pilots training for attacks on US targets.
Director of the FBI: Louis Freeh
· " ... June meeting when three but not all of the photographs were disclosed to FBI agents and the subsequent description of those events — if all of that had worked the way it cold have worked — you could have had a completely different result."
July 2001
· Top officials receive a summary of al-Qaida related threats.
· CIA Director George Tenet tells the 9-11 Commission: "."
· Rice and Clarke hold meetings with the FBI and the FAA to discuss threats.
· Mohamed Atta arrives in the United States.
· Osama bin Laden may have received kidney treatment from Canadian-trained Dr. Callaway at the American Hospital in Dubai. During his stay, bin Laden is alleged to have been visited by one or two CIA agents.
July 2001
· Genoa summit of G8 members
· Air-defense measures are taken
· A warning of al-Qaida plot to use suicide bombers to hijack planes and crash them into buildings used in the summit.
· CIA concludes that Osama bin Laden will launch a significant attack against U.S. or Israeli forces in the coming weeks.
· Attorney General Ashcroft stops flying commercial airlines due to a threat assessment.
August 2001
· Aug. 6, 2001: Presidential Daily Briefing
· President Bush is told that al-Qaida wants to hijack an American aircraft and crash it into a building
· 70 ongoing FBI investigations
· Memorandum declassified under pressure from the 9-11 Commission
Bob Kerrey
9-11 Commission member
· Former senator from Nebraska
· " ... the problem we've got with this — both and the Moussaoui facts, which were revealed on the 15th of August — all it had to do was to be put on intelink and the game's over. It ends. This conspiracy would have been rolled up."
Late August 2001
· CIA asks that Midhar and Alhazmi be added to a State Department watch list.
· FBI is unable to find the suspects.
Richard Clarke
· Former counter-terrorism advisor
· " ... had I been informed by the FBI that two senior al-Qaida operatives who had been in a planning meeting earlier in Kuala Lumpur were now in the United States — I would like to think that I would have — tried to get their names and pictures on the front page of every paper — and caused a successful nationwide manhunt for those two, two of the 19 hijackers."
Sept. 4, 2001
· President Bush calls the first Cabinet-level meeting on the al-Qaida threat.
· Principles agree on a new policy toward Afghanistan
· The plan included a covert action plan to disrupt Osama bin Laden's control of al-Qaida.
Sept. 10, 2001
· Bush's national security aides approved a three-phase strategy to eliminate al-Qaida.
· 3-5 year plan
· The plan envisioned a mission to the Taliban in Afghanistan, where al-Qaida was based.
· Diplomatic pressure, covert action
· CIA intercepts two messages that suggest imminent terrorist activity.
Sep 11, 2001
· Described as a bizarre coincidence, a U.S. intelligence agency was planning an exercise on Sept. 11 at 9 a.m. in which an aircraft would crash into one of its buildings near Washington, DC
Sep 13 to 19, 2001
· Bin Laden's family is taken under FBI supervision to a secret assembly point. They leave the country on a private charter plane when airports reopen three days after the attacks.
