2/15/1997

Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet released a written statement for the Joint Inquiry Committee on October 17, 2002. It read: “In February 1997, the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security reported that: ‘The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence sources have been warning that the threat of terrorism is changing in two important ways. First, it is no longer just an overseas threat from foreign terrorists. People and places in the United States have joined the list of targets, and Americans have joined the ranks of terrorists. The bombings of the World Trade Center in New York and the Federal Building in Oklahoma City are clear examples of the shift, as is the conviction of Ramzi Yousef for attempting to bomb twelve American airliners out of the sky over the Pacific Ocean. The second change is that in addition to well-known, established terrorist groups, 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 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]

 – CIA, “Written Statement for the Record of the DCI,” (before the Joint Inquiry Committee, CIA), The Central Intelligence Agency’s 9/11 File:, The National Security Archive, Oct. 17, 2002