Future 9/11 Hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar returned to the United States on July 4, 2001. “For the American intelligence community, it was yet another humiliating blunder. Once again, the U.S. embassy in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, issued Mihdhar a B-1/B-2 (tourist/business) visa. And once again he was able to enter the U.S. and disappear… his name had […]
7/4/2001
“American counterterrorism analysts eventually concluded that an attack might come around the Fourth of July [2001] holiday, most likely aimed at American interests overseas. …When no July attack occurred, some American officials began to believe that whatever had been in the works had somehow been disrupted or aborted.” – James Risen, “In Hindsight, C.I.A. Sees […]
7/4/2001
“A senior Bush administration official said [convicted Algerian terrorist and failed millennium bomber] Mr. [Ahmed] Ressam’s account ‘demonstrates that Afghanistan, in fact, has turned into the most threatening terrorist sanctuary in the world today.’ ” – Laura Mansnerus and Judith Miller, “Bomb Plot Insider Details Training,” The New York Times, July 4, 2001 […]
7/4/2001
“With the return of [future 9/11 hijacker Khalid] al-Midhar to the U.S. on July 4 [2001]–he obtained a visa in Saudi Arabia, whose staff was still unaware of his terrorist links–all 19 future hijackers had nestled in for the final countdown.” – John Miller, Michael Stone, and Chris Mitchell, The Cell, Pages 282-283 […]
7/4/2001
Future 9/11 hijacker Khalid al “Mihdhar left the United States in June 2000, a mistake [9/11 mastermind] KSM [Khalid Sheikh Mohammed] realized could endanger the entire plan–for to continue with the operation, Mihdhar would have to travel to the United States again. And unlike other operatives, Mihdhar was not ‘clean’: he had jihadist connections.” Still, […]
7/3/2001
The CIA released a DCI (Director of Central Intelligence) Terrorist Threat Review on July 3, 2001. It mentioned ‘ongoing operational planning’ by al-Qa’ida, and read: “Attack Threat Real -In late stages on [the Arabian] Peninsula [redacted] -Multiple attacks likely -Mass casualty bomb -Probable MO against U.S. facilities.” In summation, it read: “-Multiple attack preps in […]
7/3/2001
The CIA released a DCI (Director of Central Intelligence) Terrorist Threat Review on July 3, 2001. It read: “Attacks are planned for the Persian Gulf area. Within the Gulf area, Saudi Arabia is the most likely venue [redacted] also [redacted] operations outside of Gulf.” – CIA, “DCI Update Terrorist Threat Review,” (CIA), The Central Intelligence […]
7/3/2001
Former CIA Director George Tenet wrote: “on July 3 [2001], we learned as a result of intelligence that Bin Ladin had promised colleagues that an attack was near.” – George Tenet with Bill Harlow, At the Center of the Storm, Page 149 […]
7/2/2001
CIA Director George Tenet provided a written statement for the 9/11 Commission on March 24, 2004. He wrote: “During the week of July 2, 2001, reacting to a rash of intelligence threat reports, I contacted by phone a dozen of my foreign liaison counterparts to urge them to redouble their efforts against al-Qa’ida. The chief […]
7/2/2001
According to a Senior Executive Intelligence Brief titled ‘Terrorism: Planning for Bin Ladin Attacks Continues, Despite Delay [Excised]’ on July 2, 2001: “Attacks planned by Usama Bin Ladin’s al-Qa’ida organization may have been delayed by heightened US security [redacted] the attacks will occur soon. [Redacted] necessary to pursue jihad against Americans and that operations would […]