5/22/2001

From a Los Angeles Times article on May 22, 2001: “Far from cracking down on the Taliban, in May [2001], [Secretary of State] Colin Powell announced that the United States was actually giving $43 million to the Taliban because of its policies against growing opium.”  – Craig Unger, House of Bush, House of Saud, Page […]

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5/18/2001

President George W. Bush on enviromentally friendly energy: “But it also means interesting new opportunities, such as biomass, and that’s why we’ve come here. I can’t think of anything better for national security than to replace barrels of oil that come into the country from nations that can’t stand America — some of them don’t — […]

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5/18/2001

President George W. Bush, while encouraging energy conservation and reform: “And I said to the folks there, I said, I would much rather have our economy powered by crops grown in Iowa than barrels of oil coming out of Iraq. (Applause.) It’s in our nation’s interest that we diversify. It’s in our nation’s interest that we […]

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5/17/2001

“On May 17 [2001], [Richard] Clarke’s Counterterrorism Strategy Group circulated an agenda for a meeting that would, as its first item of business, focus on ‘UBL [Usama bin Laden]: Operation Planned in U.S.’ It was an uncollaborated warning phoned into an American embassy the day before that bin Laden and his followers were planning a […]

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5/17/2001

President George W. Bush expressed a need for change in the “energy equation”: “The plan addresses all three key aspects of the energy equation: demand, supply, and the means to match them. First, it reduces demand by promoting innovation and technology to make us the world leader in efficiency and conservation. Second, it expands and diversifies […]

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5/16/2001

“The [Cheney Energy] task force released its final report, ‘National Energy Policy,’ in May [16] 2001. It lays out quite succinctly the priorities of the Bush administration and Big Oil [the major oil companies], paying particular attention to Middle East oil. The report found that ‘by any estimation, Middle East oil producers will remain central […]

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5/16/2001

May 16, 2001 “brought a report that a phone call to a U.S. embassy had warned that Bin Ladin supporters were planning an attack in the United States using ‘high explosives.’ ”  – 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, Pages 255-256 […]

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5/16/2001

In Attorney General John Ashcroft’s, May 16, 2001, letter to the Strategic Management Council, he listed seven goals and functions of the Council; nowhere in the letter does he mention terrorism.  – John Ashcroft, “Memorandum for the Heads of Department Components,” Justice.gov, U.S. Department of Justice, Accessed on 9/22/2016 […]

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5/15/2001

From the 9/11 Commission Report’s list of Operational Opportunities:  “May 2001: a CIA official does not notify the FBI about [future 9/11 hijacker Khalid al] Mihdhar’s U.S. visa, [fellow hijacker Nawaf al] Hamzi’s U.S. travel, or [African embassy bombing conspirator] Kallad’s having attended the Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia] meeting (identified when he reviewed all of the […]

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5/15/2001

“In May 2001, the drumbeat of reporting grew louder with reports to top officials that ‘Bin Ladin public profile may presage attack’ and ‘Bin Ladin network’s plans advancing.’ ” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]  – 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, Pages 255-256 […]

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