Temporary whittier
23-07-2004, 10:13
The United States could not protect its citizens from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because it failed to appreciate the threat posed by al-Qaida operatives, who exploited that failure to carry out the deadliest assault ever on U.S. soil, the independent commission investigating the attacks said Thursday.
The report cited Ramzi Binalshibh, the coordinator of the attacks, as saying that had bin Laden and al-Qaida planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed “learned prior to 9/11 that Moussaoui had been detained, they might have canceled the operation.” Bin Laden, however, did not learn of the arrest on Aug. 16, 2001, until after the attacks almost a month later, the report said.
The commission identified nine “specific points of vulnerability” in the Sept. 11 plot that might have led to its disruption had the government been better organized and more watchful.
The “most important failure,” the report concluded, “was one of imagination. We do not believe leaders understood the gravity of the threat.”
Among its recommendations, many of which already had become public, the commission recommended creating an intelligence center and appointing a high-level intelligence director.
The commission also said the U.S. government must do more at home to guard against future attacks, including such things as setting national standards for issuing driver’s licenses and other identification, improving “no-fly” and other terrorist watch lists and using more biometric identifiers to screen travelers at ports and borders.
The 567-page report provided new details on contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida, noting that bin Laden began exploring a possible alliance in the early 1990s. In one new disclosure, the report says an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan in July 1998 to meet with the ruling Taliban and with bin Laden.
Intelligence indicates that Iraq may have offered bin Laden safe haven
friendly contacts” between Iraq and al-Qaida and a common hatred of the United States,
Iran offered to fund the attack and provided the hijackers with passports
in late 1998 Mohammed sent an al-Qaida operative to the United States to scout potential economic and “Jewish” targets in New York.
as many as 26 hijackers
As early as 1997, al-Qaida had a military committee that was planning operations against U.S. interests and was “actively trying to obtain nuclear material,” it said.
But the report also debunks what commissioners called “myths” that have built up around the terrorist strikes that killed nearly 3,000 people. Those include these findings:
* The Saudi government did not fund the 19 hijackers.
* Relatives of bin Laden were not allowed to fly out of the country until after air traffic was allowed to move freely after it was grounded following the attacks. Moreover, those family members had no connection to the terrorist plot.
* Bush did not know about the specific threat beforehand.
In addition to the FBI and the CIA, which it blamed for failing to share information and for inaccurately analyzing intelligence, the commission faulted Congress for poor oversight of intelligence gathering.
And both Presidents Bush and Clinton share equal blame for not taking Al Qaeda seriously
MSNBC News Service
The report cited Ramzi Binalshibh, the coordinator of the attacks, as saying that had bin Laden and al-Qaida planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed “learned prior to 9/11 that Moussaoui had been detained, they might have canceled the operation.” Bin Laden, however, did not learn of the arrest on Aug. 16, 2001, until after the attacks almost a month later, the report said.
The commission identified nine “specific points of vulnerability” in the Sept. 11 plot that might have led to its disruption had the government been better organized and more watchful.
The “most important failure,” the report concluded, “was one of imagination. We do not believe leaders understood the gravity of the threat.”
Among its recommendations, many of which already had become public, the commission recommended creating an intelligence center and appointing a high-level intelligence director.
The commission also said the U.S. government must do more at home to guard against future attacks, including such things as setting national standards for issuing driver’s licenses and other identification, improving “no-fly” and other terrorist watch lists and using more biometric identifiers to screen travelers at ports and borders.
The 567-page report provided new details on contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida, noting that bin Laden began exploring a possible alliance in the early 1990s. In one new disclosure, the report says an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan in July 1998 to meet with the ruling Taliban and with bin Laden.
Intelligence indicates that Iraq may have offered bin Laden safe haven
friendly contacts” between Iraq and al-Qaida and a common hatred of the United States,
Iran offered to fund the attack and provided the hijackers with passports
in late 1998 Mohammed sent an al-Qaida operative to the United States to scout potential economic and “Jewish” targets in New York.
as many as 26 hijackers
As early as 1997, al-Qaida had a military committee that was planning operations against U.S. interests and was “actively trying to obtain nuclear material,” it said.
But the report also debunks what commissioners called “myths” that have built up around the terrorist strikes that killed nearly 3,000 people. Those include these findings:
* The Saudi government did not fund the 19 hijackers.
* Relatives of bin Laden were not allowed to fly out of the country until after air traffic was allowed to move freely after it was grounded following the attacks. Moreover, those family members had no connection to the terrorist plot.
* Bush did not know about the specific threat beforehand.
In addition to the FBI and the CIA, which it blamed for failing to share information and for inaccurately analyzing intelligence, the commission faulted Congress for poor oversight of intelligence gathering.
And both Presidents Bush and Clinton share equal blame for not taking Al Qaeda seriously
MSNBC News Service