In March 2001, “Two months into the job, [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld drafted a three-page memo called ‘Guidelines When Considering Committing US Forces.’…It was a series of questions to be addressed: ‘Is a proposed action truly necessary?’ ‘Is the proposed action achievable?’ ‘Is it worth it?’ “ [The 15th of the month used for […]
3/14/2001
“Between March 14 and May 15, 2001, the FAA’s [Federal Aviation Administration’s] Office of Civil Aviation Intelligence conducted a series of classified briefings for security officials at nineteen of the nation’s busiest airports… The briefing discussed the threat posed by terrorism generally and bin Laden and al Qaeda in particular, including the groups’ renewed interest […]
3/10/2001
“Bin Laden’s worldview apparently also helped persuade the Taliban to destroy Afghanistan’s most famous historical treasure, the centuries-old statues of Buddha in Bamian. To extreme Wahhabi believers like bin Laden, these were idols to a pagan god. To [Taliban leader] Mullah [Mohammad] Omar and his followers, they were also symbols of a pre-Islamic past they […]
3/7/2001
“On March 7, 2001, President Bush’s national security team, cautioned by C.I.A. officials and departing aides to President Bill Clinton that terrorism would be a serious problem, met for the first time to begin a broad review of the government’s approach to Al Qaeda and Afghanistan. Stephen Hadley, [National Security Advisor] Ms. [Condoleezza] Rice’s deputy, […]
3/7/2001
In a statement he made to the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 7, 2001, CIA director George Tenet said, regarding terrorist threats: ” ‘Never in my experience has American intelligence had to deal with such a dynamic set of concerns affecting such a broad range of U.S. interests. Never have we had to deal […]
3/5/2001
In early March 2001, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Bush campaign Richard Perle told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee panel: ” ‘Improved sanctions or smarter sanctions, none of them are going to end the threat from Saddam Hussein.’ Instead, Mr. Perle said, the Iraqi National Congress, one of the opposition groups, should be supported so […]
3/2/2001
“Osama also persuaded the Taliban leadership to destroy the ancient statues of the Buddha in Bamiyan [Afghanistan] in March [2] 2001. This act was in direct retaliation for the sanctions imposed on Afghanistan, a claim borne out by Arabic documents recovered by a Western journalist.” [Editor’s note: The author incorrectly identified the destruction of the […]
2/26/2001
“On February 26, 2001, Osama bin Laden attended the wedding of his son Mohammed, in the southern Afghan town of Kandahar, and read aloud a poem that appeared to refer to the bombing of the USS Cole…The bin Ladens had claimed they were completely estranged from Osama, but that was clearly not the case. The […]
2/24/2001
“…on February 24, 2001, [Secretary of State] Colin Powell…was quoted as saying that Saddam Hussein did not have ‘any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction.’ ” – Hans Blix, Disarming Iraq, Page 229 […]
2/24/2001
On February 24, 2001, Secretary of State Colin Powell remarked to Egyptian Foreign Minister Amre Houssa: “Sanctions exist–not for the purpose of hurting the Iraqi people, but for the purpose of keeping in check Saddam Hussein’s ambitions toward developing weapons of mass destruction. We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those […]