In 1997, “the Gore Commission, created by President [Bill] Clinton in response to the explosion of TWA Flight 800, had concluded [in a February 12, 1997 report] that ‘the threat against civil aviation is changing and growing, and…the federal government must lead the fight against it.’ The Gore Commission Report voiced the consensus of American intelligence agencies: namely, that ‘the threat of terrorism is changing in two important ways. First, it is no longer just an overseas threat from foreign terrorists. …The second change is that…it is becoming more common to find terrorists working alone or in ad hoc groups, some of whom are not afraid to die in carrying out their designs.’ The Gore Commission recommended that security measures be adopted that were commensurate with the evolving threat it had identified: ‘It is important to improve security not just against familiar threats, such as explosives in checked baggage, but also to explore means of assessing and countering emerging threats.’ Among other things, the commission recommended that, consistent with civil aviation’s becoming a national security priority, the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] work closely with the FBI, CIA, DoD [Department of Defense], State Department, and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies to ensure that its security measures evolved along with the nature of the threat.” [Editor’s note: the author incorrectly identified TWA Flight 800 as Pan Am Flight 800.]
– John Farmer, The Ground Truth, Page 100