According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “IG [terrorist group Gama’at al-Islamiyya] leader Islambuli in late September was planning to hijack a US airliner during the ‘next couple of weeks’ to free [World Trade Center bombing conspirator Shaykh Umar] ‘Abd al-Rahman and the other [co-conspirator] prisoners… The same source late last […]
Category: quotes
12/4/1998
According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “Some members of the Bin Ladin network have received hijack training, according to various sources, but no group directly tied to Bin Ladin’s al-Qa’ida organization has ever carried out an aircraft hijacking. Bin Ladin could be weighing other types of operations against US aircraft. […]
12/4/1998
“On December 4, 1998, CIA director [George] Tenet, in a memo to his senior deputies, stated: ‘We must now enter a new phase in our efforts against bin Laden. Our work to date has been remarkable and in some instances heroic; yet each day we all acknowledge that retaliation is inevitable and that its scope […]
12/4/1998
According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “Reporting [redacted] suggests Bin Ladin and his allies are preparing for attacks in the US, including an aircraft hijacking to obtain the release of [World Trade Center bombing conspirator] Shaykh ‘Umar ‘Abd al-Rahman, [World Trade Center bomber] Ramzi Yousef, and [U.S. embassy bombing suspect] […]
12/4/1998
“On December 4, 1998, [CIA Director George] Tenet wrote a memo to his senior deputies at Langley [Virginia] headquarters. ‘We must now enter a new phase in our efforts against bin Laden,’ Tenet declared. ‘Our work to date has been remarkable and in some instances heroic; yet each day we all acknowledge that retaliation is […]
12/4/1998
A President’s Daily Briefing (PDB) for President Bill Clinton on December 4, 1998, dealt with a possible al Qaeda plan to hijack a plane. This report “brought the focus back to more traditional hostage taking; it reported Bin Ladin’s involvement in planning a hijack operation to free prisoners such as the ‘Blind Sheikh,’ Omar Abdel […]
12/4/1998
According to a declassified CIA intelligence report from December 4, 1998: “[Redacted] indicate the Bin Ladin organization or its allies are moving closer to implementing anti-US attacks at unspecified locations, but we do not know whether they are related to attacks on aircraft. A Bin Ladin associate in Sudan late last month told a colleague […]
12/4/1998
On December 4, 1998, President Bill Clinton received a PDB (President’s Daily Brief) with the subject: “Bin Ladin Preparing to Hijack US Aircraft and Other Attacks.” – 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, Page 128 […]
12/3/1998
In a memo on December 3, 1998, then-CIA Director George Tenet wrote: “I wanted no resources or people spared in the effort to go after al-Qa’ida. …While many people were focused exclusively on one man [Usama bin Ladin], al-Qa’ida had a leadership structure, with training facilities, all residing in Afghanistan. Our strategic objective was to […]
12/3/1998
“…while [CIA Director George] Tenet can be blamed for not putting money and people where his mouth was [upon issuing his ‘declaration of war’ on Osama bin Laden on December 3, 1998], the real problem is simply the nature of the post-Cold War world. …When the Soviet Union collapsed, the giant bull’s-eye disappeared and was […]