The 9/11 Commission hearing on June 16, 2004 featured testimony from ‘Dr. K,’ a covert CIA operative. He said: ” ‘Even after Bin Ladin and al Qaeda are defeated, the global jihadist movement will continue to exist. That movement may again produce another Bin Ladin or al Qaeda as long as there are individuals who […]
6/16/2004
On June 16, 2004, the 9/11 Commission reported on the then-current status of al Qaeda: ” ‘…the organization is far more decentralized,’ as its leadership has dispersed from Afghanistan, and individual cells have taken on far more authority. The gravest threat comes from potentially catastrophic attacks: ‘Al Qaeda remains extremely interested in conducting chemical, biological, […]
6/16/2004
In a report on the history of al Qaeda from June 16, 2004, the 9/11 Commission discussed al Qaeda’s financing: ” ‘there is no convincing evidence that any government financially supported al Qaeda before 9/11.’ However, ‘al Qaeda found fertile fundraising ground in the Kingdom [Saudi Arabia], where extreme religious views are common and charitable […]
6/16/2004
According to the staff statement, ‘Overview of the Enemy,’ delivered to the 9/11 Commission on June 16, 2004: “Bin Ladin was a ‘significant player’ among the Arabs who traveled to Afghanistan to resist Soviet occupation in the 1980s. …’following the defeat of the Soviets in the late 1980s, Bin Ladin formed an organization called *The […]
6/16/2004
According to The 9/11 Commission’s June 16, 2004, report titled ‘Overview of the Enemy:’ “A senior Iraqi intelligence officer reportedly made three visits to Sudan, finally meeting bin Ladin in 1994. Bin Ladin is said to have requested space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but Iraq apparently never responded. […]
6/16/2004
“U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who had negotiated a plea bargain with [al Qaeda double agent Ali] Mohamed, testified at some length about him to the 9/11 Commission [on June 16, 2004]: ‘Ali Mohamed…trained most of al Qaeda’s top leadership–including bin Laden and [al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-] Zawahiri–and most of al Qaeda’s top trainers. Mohamed […]
6/16/2004
“In June [16] 2004, the bipartisan 9/11 Commission–formally known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States–released its report, which concluded, unanimously, that while there had been contacts between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, it had seen no evidence of ‘a collaborative operational relationship.’ ” – Thomas E. Ricks, Fiasco, Page […]
6/15/2004
“Saddam Hussein was handed over to the Iraqi authorities in June 2004.” [The 15th of the month for date sorting purpose only] – Andrew Langley, Bush, Blair, and Iraq: Days of Decision, Page 38 […]
6/15/2004
Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wrote: “By 2004, IED attacks [in Iraq] had risen to nearly one hundred per week, becoming the most deadly weapon our troops faced. …[Central Command chief] General [John] Abizaid urged that we mount a Manhattan Project-style effort to find a solution to IEDs, and in June 2004 we created the […]
6/15/2004
“Drone strikes began [in Pakistan] in June 2004, and during the Bush administration (which ended in January 2009), a total of only forty-four were fired.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.] – Ahmed Rashid, Pakistan on the Brink, Page 54 […]