On September 14, 2001, the State Department “delivered to the White House a paper titled ‘Game Plan for a Political-Military Strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan.’ The paper took it as a given that Bin Ladin would continue to act against the United States even while under Taliban control. It therefore detailed specific U.S. demands for […]
Category: quotes
9/14/2001
Following the attacks on 9/11, “A few lawmakers were demanding a full declaration of war against international terrorism.” However, many lawmakers “were reluctant to make a formal declaration of war given the uncertainty over who the enemy is. ‘This is different than attacking an enemy who has a flag and a capital, with soldiers who […]
9/14/2001
“A [September 14, 2001] Defense Department paper for the Camp David briefing book on the strategic concept for the war on terrorism specified three priority targets for internal action: al Qaeda, the Taliban and Iraq. It argued that of the three, al Qaeda and Iraq posted a strategic threat to the United States. Iraq’s long-standing […]
9/14/2001
While at a news conference with Attorney General John Ashcroft on September 14, 2001, FBI Director Robert Mueller said, regarding the hijackers: ” ‘The fact that there were a number of individuals that happened to have received training at flight schools here is news, quite obviously. If we had understood that to be the case, […]
9/14/2001
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith said, regarding retaliation for 9/11: “There was pressure on the President [Bush] to ‘go soon,’ he [Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld] told us [on September 14, 2001], but this created a danger that we might do ‘something hollow, ineffective, embarrassing.’ Because our first action would likely be ‘moderately […]
9/14/2001
“…President Bush declared, on September 14, 2001, that ‘a national emergency exists by reason of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, New York, New York, and the Pentagon, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.’ “ – Jack Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency, Page 82 […]
9/14/2001
In a strategy memo written to President Bush and the National Security Council on September 14, 2001, titled ‘War on Terrorism: Strategic Concept,’ Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Peter Rodman said: “The United States must confront ‘the entire network of states, non-state entities, and […]
9/14/2001
“Congress also recognized [on September 14, 2001] that the President has authority under the Constitution, independent of Congressional approval, ‘to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States.’ ” – Jack Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency, Page 104 […]
9/14/2001
On September 14, 2001, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Peter Rodman proposed in a strategy memo for the War on Terrorism: ” ‘The immediate priority targets for initial action’ should be al Qaida, the Taliban, and Iraq. Iraq was on this list, we noted, […]
9/14/2001
On September 14, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that “the U.S. response to the [9/11] attacks should be a ‘sustained, broad campaign’ against targets well beyond al Qaeda and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Rumsfeld’s injunction, ‘Don’t over-elevate the importance of al Qaida,’ indicated that the war on terrorism was going to be […]