A heavily redacted CIA intelligence report on September 22, 1998, focused on the incorporation of al-Jihad (aka Egyptian Islamic Jihad, EIJ) into al-Qa’ida. This merging was due to EIJ’s “[Redacted] shortage of funds. [EIJ leader Ayman al-] Zawahiri [redacted] rely increasingly on financial assistance from Usama (Bin Ladin), which has resulted, for practical purposes, in […]
Category: quotes
9/19/1998
A National Security Council email from counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke to National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, dated September 19, 1998, said, “The United States issued a formal warning to the Taliban, and also to Sudan, that they would be held directly responsible for any attacks on Americans, wherever they occurred, carried out by the Bin […]
9/18/1998
“The CIA managed to thwart the Al Qaeda bombing of the US embassy in Kampala, Uganda, on September 18, 1998 and twenty suspects were arrested.” – Rohan Gunaratna, Inside al Qaeda, Page 159 […]
9/16/1998
In a hearing before the House National Security Committee on September 16, 1998, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Paul Wolfowitz said it was “a mistake to leave Saddam Hussein in power in 1991 and that ‘the best opportunity to deal with Saddam Hussein was in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. victory [in Operation […]
9/15/1998
From an interview with Saudi dissident Saad al-Fagih in September 1998: “The profound impact of [Egyptian Islamic Jihad leader Ayman] al-Zawahiri on bin Laden’s thinking has become increasingly clear, and some have suggested that this little-known physician is more important to al-Qaeda than bin Laden himself.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting […]
9/15/1998
“Under immense pressure from the US to put bin Laden out of commission, Prince Turki [al Faisal] of Saudi intelligence flew to Kandahar [Afghanistan] in September 1998. …The Saudi delegation asked [Taliban leader] Mullah [Mohammad] Omar to cede bin Laden to the US because he was a terrorist. Mullah Omar was enraged by this request, […]
9/15/1998
Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet issued a top secret report on March 19, 2004. Regarding the search for Usama Bin Ladin (UBL), it read: “September 1998–Afghan tribal assets initiated a search and rendition operation in their area of influence. Efforts by this group continued until 11 Sep 2001 without significant results. On 9 Aug […]
9/15/1998
Sami ul Haq, head of a madrassa near Peshawar, Pakistan, said in a September 1998 interview: ” ‘I think America has made Osama a supernatural being. Wherever the terrorism occurs, right away they think of him. I don’t think he has such influence, or such control and resources. Osama bin Laden has become a symbol […]
9/15/1998
“Threat reports also mentioned the possibility of using an aircraft filled with explosives. The most prominent of these mentioned a possible plot to fly an explosives-laden aircraft into a U.S. city. This report, circulated in September 1998, originated from a source who had walked into an American consulate in East Asia.” [The 15th of the […]
9/15/1998
In mid-September 1998, in the aftermath of the August 7, 1998, African embassy bombings in Africa, “The bin Laden unit’s leader, an analyst known to his colleagues as Mike, argued with rising emotion that the CIA and the White House had become prisoners of their alliances with Saudi Arabia and Pakistani intelligence. America was in a […]