“Because the attack [on September 11, 2001] caught the entire intelligence community by complete surprise, the information reaching the President [Bush] on Air Force One was a jumble of disparate facts, rumors, and hypotheticals. There were only questions and no answers. The most reliable information was coming not from the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency], NSA [National Security Agency], FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation], or DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency], but from ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN. Where the intelligence community was emptying its buildings and running for cover, the news organizations in New York and Washington were pulling everyone in and jumping on the story. But the television signal aboard the presidential jet was haphazard. As a result, the President…knew less than millions on the ground.”
– James Bamford, A Pretext for War, Pages 82-83