While discussing a response to the 9/11 attacks at Camp David on September 15, 2001, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Hugh Shelton mentioned military options against Afghanistan. “Before Shelton could even get to his third option, [Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul] Wolfowitz interrupted. ‘But we really need to think broader than that right now,’ he said. […]
Category: quotes
9/15/2001
“At a Camp David meeting of the Cabinet on September 15 [2001], [Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul] Wolfowitz argued that there was a 10 to 50 percent chance Saddam had been part of the 9/11 plot, and he suggested [President] Bush consider attacking Iraq right away, noting a war in Iraq might be easier than […]
9/15/2001
“In the days after 9/11 [mid-September 2001], President Bush signed a covert action finding authorizing the CIA to kill or capture and detain al Qaeda operatives around the world, but the finding was silent on the interrogation tactics to be used on those in detention.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes […]
9/15/2001
“President Bush told [journalist] Bob Woodward that the decision not to invade Iraq was made at the morning session [of the war council] on September 15 [2001]. Iraq was not even on the table during the September 15 afternoon session, which dealt solely with Afghanistan.” – 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, Page 335 […]
9/15/2001
“Congress passed a resolution just days after the September 11 [2001] attacks granting the president the authority to wage a global war on terrorism, and Bush administration lawyers later decided that the war resolution provided the legal basis they needed to support the NSA [National Security Administration] operation to eavesdrop on American citizens.” [The 15th […]
9/15/2001
“…in an exhaustive debate at Camp David [on September 15, 2001], none of the president’s [Bush’s] top advisers recommended attacking Iraq as a first step in the terrorism war–not even Vice President [Dick] Cheney, who…said, ‘If we go after Saddam Hussein, we lose our rightful place as good guy.’ ” – Bob Woodward, Plan of […]
9/15/2001
“As [Secretary of State] Colin Powell told an interviewer a week after the 9/11 attacks [mid-September 2001], ‘Iraq isn’t going anywhere. It’s in a fairly weakened state. It’s doing some things we don’t like. We will continue to contain it.’ “ [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.] – Jeffrey Record, […]
9/15/2001
Shortly after 9/11, Chairman of the Defense Board Advisory Committee Richard Perle commented that Iraq bore the responsibility for the attack. Then-CIA Director George Tenet noted: “I was stunned but said nothing. On September 11 [2001], I had scanned passenger manifests from the four hijacked airplanes that showed beyond a doubt that al-Qa’ida was behind […]
9/15/2001
In a radio address to the nation on September 15, 2001, President Bush said: ” ‘We are planning a broad and sustained campaign to secure our country and eradicate the evil of terrorism.’ ” – Jeffrey Record, Wanting War, Page 139 […]
9/14/2001
At a September 14, 2001, press briefing of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), panelist Laurie Mylroie said: ” ‘how likely is it that Osama bin Laden’s group or any other group carried out these [9/11] attacks alone, unassisted by a state? I’d like to suggest that it is extremely unlikely–in fact, next to impossible.’ Who, […]