“Early in September [4, 2001, counterterrorism czar Richard] Clarke unloaded his frustrations in a memo to [National Security Advisor Condoleezza] Rice. ‘Decision makers should imagine themselves on a future day when CSG [Counterterrorism Security Group] has not succeeded in stopping al Qaeda attacks and hundreds of Americans lay dead in several countries, including the U.S.,’ […]
9/1/2001
On September 1, 2001, “terrorists in northern Iraq held a ceremony to celebrate the establishment of a new organization. The group was small; the most reliable estimates place its membership at six hundred to seven hundred fighters. But it brought together a number of smaller radical Islamic groups under the auspices of a big one: […]
8/31/2001
Then-CIA Director George Tenet wrote: “By August 31 [2001], with no FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] in sight to allow access to [potential terrorist Zacarias] Moussaoui’s belongings, we began working up a scheme with the FBI that would have had Moussaoui deported to France. Our plan was to load Moussaoui’s belongings separately, then turn his […]
8/30/2001
On August 30, 2001, “Prince Turki [al Faisal] relinquished his post as head of Saudi intelligence. It was the first time in decades that a senior prince had been pushed aside, reputedly because of Crown Prince Abdullah’s impatience with Turki’s failure to get bin Laden.” – Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, Page 400 […]
8/30/2001
President Bush was stunned by the Saudi Arabian message to break off relations with the U.S. due to a perceived pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian policy. He replied on August 30, 2001, to Prince Abdullah: ” ‘I firmly believe that the Palestinian people have a right to self-determination and to live peacefully and securely in their own state […]
8/29/2001
“INS [Immigration and Naturalization Services] records showed that [9/11 hijacker Khalid al] Mihdhar entered the United States again on July 4, 2001, at New York City. CIA and FBI counterterror agents realized Mihdhar’s significance and tried to find him in August 2001, but refused to tell FBI agents in New York because of regulations enforcing […]
8/29/2001
On August 27, 2001, Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar informed President Bush that the Crown Prince Abdullah was breaking off communication with him, due to Bush’s support of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s policies. “Two days later, August 29 [2001], Bush sent the Crown Prince a two-page letter: …’I firmly believe the Palestinian people have a […]
8/28/2001
“In July [2001], when a CIA officer finally told an FBI analyst about the pair [future 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf Alhazmi], he asked her to check on them ‘in her spare time.’ She concluded that if the two men were in the U.S., they were probably in New York, so she forwarded the […]
8/27/2001
“On August 27 [2001], [Saudi ambassador Prince] Bandar met with [National Security Advisor] Condoleezza Rice in her White House office.” His visit was to deliver a message from Prince Abdullah, which read: ” ‘We believe there has been a strategic decision by the United States that its national interest in the Middle East is 100 […]
8/25/2001
“Two of the 9/11 hijackers, Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mihdhar, had been placed on the [State Department’s] TIPOFF list by the FBI in late August [2001] as the search for them intensified. But the FBI never contacted the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] to place the names on its no-fly list, so their ability […]