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The 9/11 Timeline
25-Page Summary
Was 9/11 Allowed to Happen?
Summary of the 9/11 Timeline
Developed by Paul Thompson
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9/11 was one of the most pivotal events in world
history. Its impact will be felt for years to come. You owe it to
yourself to go beyond the sound bites and the simplified official story.
This is an extremely complicated story with numerous players and
motives. Not everything makes sense or fits neatly together. It's a
story full of espionage, deceit, and lies. But if there are forces out
there tricking us, they can only succeed if we, the general public,
remain ignorant and passive.
I am limiting my
sources to only those one might call "mainstream." Why? It's not because
I believe one can only trust the mainstream media. In fact, I feel the
opposite is true - much of the best reporting today is coming from
alternative media. But many people are initially very skeptical. A lot
of material I found looking around the web seemed very hard to believe
when I first saw it. My goal is to use mainstream sources to generally
open eyes to new possibilities. After seeing the severity of what’s
being hidden from us, you will very likely want to join in working
together to
create a brighter future.
America’s top military leaders reportedly
drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in US
cities to trick the public into supporting a war against Cuba in the
early 1960s. Approved in writing by the Pentagon Joint Chiefs, Operation
Northwoods even proposed blowing up a US ship and hijacking planes as a
false pretext for war. [ABC,
5/1/01]
1984:
Osama Bin Laden moves to a
Pakistani town bordering Afghanistan, and is running a front
organization for the mujaheddin known as MAK, which funnels money, arms
and fighters from the outside world into the Afghan war. [New
Yorker, 1/24/00] "MAK was nurtured by Pakistan's state security
services, the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, the CIA's
primary conduit for conducting the covert war against Moscow's
occupation." [MSNBC,
8/24/98] He becomes closely tied to the warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,
and greatly strengthens Hekmatyar's opium smuggling operations. [Le
Monde, 9/14/01] Hekmatyar had ties with the CIA and drug running,
and has also been called "an ISI stooge and creation" by the Wall
Street Journal. [Asia
Times, 11/15/01]
Mid-1980's: The ISI starts a
special cell of agents who use profits from heroin production for covert
actions "at the insistence of the CIA." "This cell promotes the
cultivation of opium and the extraction of heroin in territory under
mujaheddin control for being smuggled into the Soviet controlled areas,
in order to turn the Soviet troops into heroin addicts. After the
withdrawal of the Soviet troops, the ISI's heroin cell started smuggling
heroin to the Western countries and using the money as a supplement to
its legitimate economy. [Financial
Times, Asian edition, 8/10/01] The ISI grows so powerful on this
money, that Time magazine later states, "Even by the shadowy
standards of spy agencies, the ISI is notorious. It is commonly branded
'a state within the state,' or Pakistan's 'invisible government.'" [Time,
5/6/02]
March 1985:
The US decides to escalate the war in
Afghanistan. The CIA, British MI6 and the ISI agree to launch guerrilla
attacks from Afghanistan into then Soviet-controlled Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan. The CIA also begins supporting the ISI in recruiting radical
Muslims from around the world to come to Pakistan and fight with the
Afghan mujaheddin. The CIA gives subversive literature and Korans to the
ISI, who carry them into the Soviet Union. Eventually, around 35,000
Muslim radicals from 43 Islamic countries will fight with the Afghan
mujaheddin. [Washington
Post, 7/19/92,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/23/01,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 9/23/01,
The Hindu, 9/27/01, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and
Fundamentalism in Central Asia, Ahmed Rashid, 3/01] In the late
1980's, Pakistan's President Benazir Bhutto, feeling the mujaheddin
network has grown too strong, tells President George Bush Sr., "You are
creating a Frankenstein." [Newsweek,
10/1/01]
1993:
One of bin Laden’s men buys a
jet from the US military—and it was the Pentagon which unwittingly gave
permission for the aircraft to leave the base. This aircraft is later
used to transport missiles that kill US special forces in Somalia. Bin
Laden also has some of his followers begin training as pilots in US
flight schools. [Sunday
Herald, 9/16/01]
1993:
An expert panel commissioned by the Pentagon postulates that an airplane
could be used as a missile to bomb national landmarks. [Washington
Post, 10/2/01]
February
26, 1993: An attempt to blow up
the WTC fails. The New York Times later reports on Emad Salem, an
undercover agent who ends up being the key government witness in the
trial against the bomber. Salem testifies that the FBI knew about the
attack beforehand and told him they would thwart it by substituting a
harmless powder for the explosives. However, this plan was called off by
an FBI supervisor, and the bombing was not stopped. [New
York Times, 10/28/93] Several of the bombers were trained by the CIA
to fight in the Afghan war - the CIA later concludes in internal
documents that it was "partly culpable" for this bombing attempt. [Independent,
11/1/98]
1994:
Two attacks take place which
involve hijacking planes to crash them into buildings, including one by
an Islamic militant group. In a third attack, a lone pilot crashes a
plane at the White House. Yet after Sept. 11, over and over aviation and
security officials say they are shocked that terrorists could have
hijacked airliners and crashed them into landmark buildings. [New
York Times, 10/3/01]
1995: For
the first time, though not the last, the government of Sudan offers the
US all of its files on bin Laden and al-Qaeda. The US turns down the
offer. Sudan was surveilling him, collecting a "vast intelligence
database on Osama bin Laden and more than 200 leading members of his al-Qaeda
terrorist network... [The US was] offered thick files, with photographs
and detailed biographies of many of his principal cadres, and vital
information about al-Qaeda's financial interests in many parts of the
globe." [Guardian,
9/30/01]
January
6, 1995: One pilot who learned
to fly in US flight schools, confesses that his role was to crash a
plane into the CIA headquarters as part of this phrase of attacks. [Washington
Post, 9/23/01]
October
21, 1995: The oil company
Unocal signs a contract with Turkmenistan to export $8 billion worth of
natural gas through a $3 billion pipeline which would go from
Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan. Political considerations
and pressures allow Unocal to edge out a more experienced Argentinean
company for the contract. Henry Kissinger, a Unocal consultant, calls it
"the triumph of hope over experience." [Washington
Post, 10/5/98]
1996:
Analysts start working through
the night in a chamber, deep in the bowels of CIA headquarters, known as
the Bin Laden Room. Approximately 10-15 individuals are assigned to the
unit, part of the CIA's Counter-Terrorism Center. By September 10, 2001,
there are approximately 35-40 personnel assigned. Recognizing the danger
posed by Bin Laden, the FBI also created a unit in 1999 at FBI
headquarters to focus on him. [Newsweek,
10/1/01,
Senate Intelligence (Witness Hill), 9/18/02]
1996:
The Saudi Arabian government is
financially supporting Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda and other extremist
groups. After 9/11, the Bush Administration chooses not to confront the
Saudi leadership over its support of terror organizations and its
refusal to help in the investigation.
[New
Yorker, 10/22/01]
April
1996: In continuing
negotiations between the US and Sudan, the US again rejects Sudan's
offer to turn over voluminous files about bin Laden and al-Qaeda [Village
Voice, 10/31/01,
Washington Post, 10/3/01] Around this time Sudan also offers their
al-Qaeda intelligence to MI6, the British intelligence agency, and are
also rebuffed. [Guardian,
9/30/01]
August
13, 1996: Unocal and Delta Oil
of Saudi Arabia come to agreement with state companies in Turkmenistan
and Russia to build a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan
via Afghanistan. The agreement is finalized the next year. [Unocal
website, 8/13/96]
1997: Former
National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski publishes a book in which
he portrays the Eurasian landmass as the key to world power, and Central
Asia with its vast oil reserves as the key to domination of Eurasia. He
states that for the US to maintain its global primacy, it must prevent
any possible adversary from controlling that region. He notes that
because of popular resistance to US military expansionism, his ambitious
strategy could not be implemented "except in the circumstance of a truly
massive and widely perceived direct external threat." [The
Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives]
May 18,
1998: An Oklahoma City FBI
agent sends a memo on this day warning that "large numbers of Middle
Eastern males" are getting flight training in Oklahoma and could be
planning terrorist attacks. [CBS,
5/30/02,
AP, 9/26/01,
CNN, 9/18/01]
June 1998:
US intelligence obtains information from several sources that bin Laden
is considering attacks in the US, including Washington and New York.
This information is given to senior US officials in July 1998.
[Senate
Intelligence Committee, 9/18/02]
August
1998: A CIA intelligence report
asserts that Arab terrorists are planning to fly a bomb-laden aircraft
into the WTC. [NY
Times, 9/19/02,
Senate Intelligence Committee (Witness Hill), 9/18/02]
August
1998: Within minutes of each
other, truck bombs blow up the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya,
killing more than 220. For some of the time that bin Laden’s men were
plotting to blow up the two embassies, US intelligence was tapping their
phones. [Newsweek,
10/1/01]
September 1998: US intelligence
finds information that bin Laden’s next operation could possibly involve
crashing an aircraft loaded with explosives into a US airport. This
information is provided to senior US officials. [Senate
Intelligence Committee, 9/18/02, Washington Post, 9/19/02]
December
21, 1998: In a Time
magazine cover story entitled "The Hunt for Osama," it is reported
intelligence sources "have evidence that bin Laden may be planning his
boldest move yet - a strike on Washington or possibly New York City in
an eye-for-an-eye retaliation. [Time,
12/21/98]
Late
1998: President Clinton signs a
directive authorizing the CIA to plan an assassination of bin Laden. The
CIA draw up detailed profiles of bin Laden's daily routines, where he
sleeps, and his travel arrangements. The assassination never happens,
supposedly because of inadequate intelligence. An officer who helped
draw up the plans says, "We were ready to move" but "we were not allowed
to do it." [Philadelphia
Inquirer, 9/16/01]
Late
1998-Early 2000: The US
permanently stations two submarines in the Indian Ocean to hit al-Qaeda
with cruise missiles on short notice. Six to ten hours advance warning
is needed to have them reach their target. On at least three occasions,
spies in Afghanistan report bin Laden's location with information
suggesting he would remain there for some time. Each time, Clinton
approves the strike. Each time, CIA Director Tenet says the information
is not reliable enough and the attack cannot go forward. [Washington
Post, 12/19/01,
New York Times, 12/30/01]
1999: MI6,
the British intelligence agency, gives a secret report to liaison staff
at the US embassy in London. The reports states that al-Qaeda has plans
to use "commercial aircraft" in "unconventional ways", "possibly as
flying bombs." [Sunday
Times, 6/9/02]
September 1999: A report
prepared for US intelligence states: "Al-Qaeda could crash-land an
aircraft packed with high explosives (C-4 and Semtex) into the Pentagon,
the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or the White
House." The report is by the National Intelligence Council, which
advises the President and US intelligence on emerging threats. [AP,
4/18/02, read the
complete report] The Bush administration later claims to have never
heard of this report until May 2002, despite the fact that it had been
publicly posted on the internet since 1999, and "widely shared within
the government." [CNN,
5/18/02,
New York Times, 5/18/02]
November
3, 1999: The head of
Australia's security services admits that the Echelon global
surveillance system exists. The US still denies its existence. The BBC
describes Echelon's power as "astounding," and elaborates: "Every
international telephone call, fax, e-mail, or radio transmission can be
listened to by powerful computers capable of voice recognition. They
home in on a long list of key words, or patterns of messages. They are
looking for evidence of international crime, like terrorism." [BBC,
11/3/99]
January
2000: George Bush Sr. meets
with the bin Laden family on behalf of the Carlyle Group. He also met
with them in 1998. Bush’s chief of staff could not remember that this
meeting took place until shown a thank you note confirming the meeting.
[Wall
Street Journal, 9/27/01,
Guardian, 10/31/01]
January-June 2000: Pakistani
ISI Director General Ahmad orders an aide to wire transfer about
$100,000 to hijacker Atta. [Dawn,
10/8/01,
Times of India, 10/9/01,
Wall Street Journal, 10/10/01,
AFP, 10/10/01] The individual who makes the wire transfer at Ahmad's
direction is Saeed Sheikh, later convinced for kidnapping and murdering
reporter Daniel Pearl in February 2002. [ABC
News, 9/30/01]
July
2000: The Taliban ban poppy
growing in Afghanistan. As a result, the opium yield drops dramatically
in 2001, from 3,656 tons to 185 tons. [Guardian,
2/21/02,
Reuters, 3/3/02,
Observer, 11/25/01]
September 2000: A
neo-conservative think-tank writes a "blueprint" for the creation of a
“global Pax Americana." Written for the Bush team even before the 2000
Presidential election, the report calls itself a "blueprint for
maintaining global US preeminence, precluding the rise of a great power
rival, and shaping the international security order in line with
American principles and interests." The plan shows Bush intended to take
military control of Persian Gulf oil whether or not Saddam Hussein was
in power. The report calls for the subversion of any growth in political
power of even close allies, and advocates "regime change" in China,
North Korea, Libya, Syria, Iran and other countries. It also mentions
that "advanced forms of biological warfare that can 'target' specific
genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a
politically useful tool." [Sunday
Herald, 9/7/02, click
here to download report]
September 15-October 1, 2000:
Olympics officials later reveal that "A fully loaded, fueled airliner
crashing into the opening ceremony before a worldwide television
audience at the Sydney Olympics was one of the greatest security fears
for the Games." [Sydney
Morning Herald, 9/20/01]
October
24-26, 2000: Pentagon officials
carry out a "detailed" emergency drill based upon the crashing of a
hijacked airliner into the Pentagon. [Military
District of Washington News Service, 11/3/00,
Mirror, 5/24/02] After 9/11, a Pentagon spokesman will claim: "The
Pentagon was simply not aware that this aircraft was coming our way. I
doubt prior to Tuesday's event, anyone would have expected anything like
that here." [Newsday,
9/23/01]
2001:
Julie Sirrs, a Defense Intelligence Agency agent, travels twice to
Afghanistan. She claims DIA officials knew in advance about both trips. Sirrs
sees a terrorist training center, and meets with the Northern Alliance
leader who is later assassinated by the Taliban. On her second trip she
returns with a treasure trove of information, including evidence that
bin Laden is planning to assassinate Massoud. However, upon returning, a
security officer meets her flight and confiscates her material. The DIA
and the FBI investigate her. No higher-ups want to hear what she has
learned in Afghanistan. Ultimately, Sirrs' security clearance is
pulled. She eventually quits the DIA in frustration. [ABC,
2/18/02]
January
2001: An Arizona flight school
alerts the FAA that hijacker Hani Hanjour lacks the English and flying
skills necessary for the commercial pilot's license he has. An FAA
official actually sits next to Hanjour in class to observe his skills.
This official offers a translator to help Hanjour pass, but the flight
school points out "that went against the rules that require a pilot to
be able to write and speak English fluently before they even get their
license." [AP,
5/10/02]
Late
January 2001: The BBC later
reports, "After the elections, [US intelligence] agencies [are] told to
'back off' investigating the bin Ladens and Saudi royals." This follows
previous orders to abandon an investigation both of bin Laden relatives
and of difficulties in investigating Saudi royalty. [BBC,
11/6/01]
February-July 2001: A trial is
held in New York City for four defendants charged with involvement in
the 1998 US embassy bombings. Testimony reveals that two bin Laden
operatives had received pilot training in Texas and Oklahoma and another
had been asked to take lessons. One bin Laden aide becomes a government
witness and gives the FBI detailed information about a pilot training
scheme. This new information does not lead to any new FBI investigations
into the matter. [Washington
Post, 9/23/01]
March
2001: A Taliban envoy meets
with reporters, State Department bureaucrats and Afghanistan experts in
Washington. He discusses turning bin Laden over. But the US wants to be
handed bin Laden directly, and the Taliban want to turn him over to some
third country. About 20 meetings on giving up bin Laden take place
between 1996 and Sep 2001, all fruitless. [Washington
Post, 10/29/01]
Spring
2001: Over several months
beginning in April a series of military and governmental policy
documents are released that seek to legitimize the use of US military
force in the pursuit of oil and gas. An article in by a former staff
member of the Senate armed services committee argues for the legitimacy
of "shooting in the Persian Gulf on behalf of lower gas prices." He also
"advocate[s] the acceptability of presidential subterfuge in the
promotion of a conflict" and "explicitly urge[s] painting over the US's
actual reasons for warfare as a necessity for mobilising public support
for a conflict." In April, the commander of US forces in the Persian
Gulf/South Asia testifies to Congress that his command's key mission is
"access to energy resources." [Sydney
Morning Herald, 12/26/02]
April
2001: A report commissioned by
former US Secretary of State James Baker and the Council on Foreign
Relations argues "the US remains a prisoner of its energy dilemma." One
of the consequences of this is a "need for military intervention" to
secure its oil supply. It argues that Iraq needs to be overthrown so the
US can control its oil. [Sunday
Herald, 10/5/02,
Sydney Morning Herald, 12/26/02]
May
2001: Secretary of State Powell
gives $43 million in aid to Afghanistan's Taliban government,
purportedly to assist hungry farmers who are starving since the
destruction of their opium crop in January on orders of the Taliban. [[Los
Angeles Times, 5/22/01] This follows $113 million given by the US in
2000 for humanitarian aid. [State
Department Fact Sheet, 12/11/01]
May
2001: The US introduces the
"Visa Express" program in Saudi Arabia, which allows any Saudi Arabian
to obtain visas through their travel agent instead of appearing at a
consulate in person. An official later states, "The issuing officer has
no idea whether the person applying for the visa is actually the person
in the documents and application." [US
News and World Report, 12/12/01,
Congressional Intelligence, 9/20/02, (Witness Hill)] At the time,
warnings of an attack against the US led by the Saudi bin Laden are "off
the charts" as one Senator later puts it. [LA
Times, 5/18/02,
Senate Intelligence, 9/18/02] Five hijackers use Visa Express over
the next month to enter the US. [Congress,
9/20/02]
May-Aug
2001: A number of the 9/11
hijackers make at least six trips to Las Vegas. These "fundamentalist"
Muslims drink alcohol, frequent strip clubs, and smoke hashish. Some
even have strippers perform lap dances for them. [San
Francisco Chronicle, 10/4/01,
Newsweek, 10/15/01]
June
2001: German intelligence warns
the CIA, Britain's MI6, and Israel's Mossad that Middle Eastern
terrorists are planning to hijack commercial aircraft to use as weapons
to attack "American and Israeli symbols." [Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung, 9/11/01,
Washington Post, 9/14/01,
Fox News, 5/17/02]
June
1-2, 2001: A multi-agency
planning exercise sponsored by NORAD (the North American Aerospace
Defense Command, in charge of defending US airspace) involves the
hypothetical scenario of a cruise missile launched from a barge off the
East Coast. Bin Laden is pictured on the cover of the proposal for the
exercise. [American
Forces Press Service, 6/4/02] After 9/11, the government claims that
this type of an attack was completely unexpected, and as a result it had
only 14 fighters on standby to defend the entire US. [Newsday,
9/23/01]
June 13,
2001: Egyptian President
Mubarak claims that Egyptian intelligence discovers a "communiqué from
bin Laden saying he wanted to assassinate George W. Bush and other G8
heads of state during their summit in Italy." The communiqué
specifically mentions this would be done via "an airplane stuffed with
explosives." [New
York Times, 9/26/01]
July
4-14, 2001: Bin Laden
supposedly receives kidney treatment from Canadian-trained Dr. Callaway
at the American hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Callaway
refuses to answer any questions on this matter. [Le
Figaro, 10/31/01,
Agence France-Presse, 11/1/01,
UPI, 11/1/01,
London Times 11/1/01] During his stay, bin Laden is visited by
"several members of his family and Saudi personalities," including
Prince al Faisal, then head of Saudi intelligence, as well as two CIA
officers. [Guardian,
11/1/01]
July 10,
2001: Phoenix, Arizona FBI
agent Ken Williams sends a memorandum warning about suspicious
activities involving a group of Middle Eastern men taking flight
training lessons in Arizona. The memorandum specifically suggests that
bin Laden's followers might be trying to infiltrate the civil aviation
system and recommends a national program to track suspicious
flight-school students. The memo is sent to the counter-terrorism
division at FBI headquarters in Washington and to two field offices,
including the counter-terrorism section in New York, which has had
extensive experience in al-Qaeda investigations. The memo is ignored in
all three places, not passed on to others, and no action is taken. [New
York Times, 5/21/02,
Fortune, 5/22/02] Vice President Cheney states in May 2002 that the
memo should never be released to the media or public. [CNN,
5/20/02]
July 13,
2001: With the threat of a new
terrorist attack on the rise, the CIA has agents reexamine records in
the search for new leads. A CIA cable is rediscovered showing that
Khallad bin Atash had attended a January 2000 meeting in Malaysia. The
CIA official who finds it immediately e-mails the CIA's
Counter-Terrorism Center (CTC), saying bin Atash "is a major league
killer, who orchestrated the Cole attack and possibly the Africa
bombings." Yet bin Atash is still not put on a terrorist watch list. [Congressional
Intelligence Committee, 9/20/02]
Mid-July
2001: John O'Neill, FBI
counter-terrorism expert, privately discusses White House obstruction in
his bin Laden investigation. O'Neill says: "The main obstacles to
investigate Islamic terrorism were US oil corporate interests and the
role played by Saudi Arabia in it." [CNN,
1/8/02,
CNN, 1/9/02,
Irish Times, 11/19/01,
Bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth, (the link is an excerpt
containing Chapter 1)]
July 24,
2001: Larry Silverstein's $3.2
billion purchase of the WTC is finalized. [NY
Times, 02/16/03,
Ireizine, 7/26/01] It's the only time the WTC has ever changed
hands. [ICSC,
4/27/01] Silverstein may get $7 billion in insurance from the 9/11
destruction of the WTC towers. [Guardian,
10/24/01]
July 26,
2001: CBS News reports that
Attorney General Ashcroft has stopped flying commercial airlines due to
a threat assessment, but "neither the FBI nor the Justice Department
would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made
it." [CBS,
7/26/01] In May 2002, it’s claimed the threat assessment had nothing
to do with al-Qaeda, but Ashcroft walked out of his office rather than
answer questions about it. [AP,
5/16/02] CBS's Dan Rather later says of this warning: "Why wasn't it
shared with the public at large?" [Washington
Post, 5/27/02]
July 31, 2001: The FAA issues another warning to US airlines, citing
no specific targets, but saying "terror groups are known to be planning
and training for hijackings. The text of these warnings remain
classified. [CNN,
3/02,
Ananova, 5/17/02]
Late
July 2001: The Taliban Foreign
Minister learns that bin Laden is planning a "huge attack" on targets
inside America. The attack is imminent, and will kill thousands. He
sends an emissary to pass this information on to the US consul general,
and another US official, "possibly from the intelligence services," also
attends the meeting. The message is not taken very seriously. The
emissary then takes the message to the Kabul offices of UNSMA, the
political wing of the UN. They also fail to take the warning seriously.
[Independent,
9/7/02,
Reuters, 9/7/02]
Late
July 2001: David Schippers,
noted Chicago lawyer and the chief investigator in the Clinton
impeachment trial, claims that FBI agents contact him around this time
and tell him that a terrorist attack is going to occur in lower
Manhattan. The agents had been developing extensive information on the
planned attack for many months. However, the FBI soon pulls them off the
terrorist investigation and threatens them with prosecution under the
National Security Act if they go public with the information. Schippers
tries to pass the information on to high government officials but his
efforts are ignored. He is now representing at least ten FBI agents in a
suit against the government to have their testimony subpoenaed, which
would enable them to legally tell what they know without going to
jail. [Judicial
Watch, 11/14/01,
Alex Jones Show, 10/10/01,
World Net Daily, 10/21/01, note sources are partisan]
Late
July 2001: Just days after Atta
returns to the US from Spain, Egyptian intelligence in Cairo says it
received a report from operatives in Afghanistan that 20 al-Qaeda
members had slipped into the US and four of them had received flight
training on Cessnas. They pass on the message to the CIA, fully
expecting Washington to request information. The request never comes. [CBS,
10/9/02]
Late
summer 2001: Jordanian
intelligence makes a communications intercept deemed so important that
King Abdullah's men relay it to Washington. To make doubly sure the
message gets through it is passed through an Arab intermediary to a
German intelligence agent. The message states that a major attack is
planned inside the US and that aircraft will be used. Christian
Science Monitor calls the story "confidently authenticated" even
though Jordan has backed away from it. [International
Herald Tribune, 5/21/02,
Christian Science Monitor, 5/23/02]
August
2001: Russian President Putin
later says publicly that he ordered his intelligence agencies to alert
the US of suicide pilots training for attacks on US targets. [Fox
News, 5/17/02] The head of Russian intelligence also states, "We had
clearly warned them" on several occasions, but they "did not pay the
necessary attention." [Agence
France-Presse, 9/16/01] A Russian newspaper on September 12, 2001
claims that "Russian Intelligence agents know the organizers and
executors of these terrorist attacks. More than that, Moscow warned
Washington about preparation for these actions a couple of weeks before
they happened.” [Izvestia,
9/12/01, the story currently on the Izvestia web site has been
edited to delete a key paragraph, the link is to a translation of the
original article]
Early
August 2001: Britain gives the
US another warning about an al-Qaeda attack.The previous British warning
on July 16th was vague as to method, but this warning specifies multiple
airplane hijackings. This warning is included in Bush's briefing on
August 6. [Sunday
Herald, 5/19/02]
August
6, 2001: President Bush
receives classified intelligence briefings indicating that bin Laden
might be planning to hijack commercial airliners. The memo read to him
is titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US." The entire memo
focuses on the possibility of terrorist attacks inside the US. National
Security Advisor Rice later claims the memo was "fuzzy and thin" and
only one and a half pages long (his normal daily security briefings run
two or three pages) but other accounts state it was 11 pages long. [Newsweek,
5/27/02,
New York Times, 5/16/02,
Die Zeit, 10/1/02] The contents have never been made public.
Incredibly, the New York Times later reports that Bush "broke off
from work early and spent most of the day fishing." [New
York Times, 5/25/02] The existence of this memo is kept secret until
May 2002.
August
8-15, 2001: At some point
between these dates, Israel warns the US that an al-Qaeda attack is
imminent. [Fox
News, 5/17/02] Two high ranking agents from the Mossad come to
Washington and warn the FBI and CIA that from 50 to 200 terrorists have
slipped into the US and are planning "a major assault on the United
States." They say indications point to a "large scale target.” [Telegraph,
9/16/01,
Los Angeles Times, 9/20/01,
Ottawa Citizen, 9/17/01] The Los Angeles Times later retracts
the story after a CIA spokesman says, "There was no such warning.
Allegations that there was are complete and utter nonsense." [Los
Angeles Times, 9/21/01]
August
13-15, 2001: Zacarias Moussaoui
trains at a flight school in Minneapolis. After just one day of training
the staff is suspicious that he's a terrorist. They discuss "how much
fuel [is] on board a 747-400 and how much damage that could cause if it
hit anything." They call the FBI later that day. [New
York Times, 2/8/02,
Senate Intelligence Committee, 10/17/02] Failing to get much initial
interest from the FBI, the flight instructor tells the FBI agents, "Do
you realize how serious this is? This man wants training on a 747. A 747
fully loaded with fuel could be used as a weapon!" [New
York Times, 2/8/02]
August
15, 2001: Based on the concerns
of flight school staff, Zacarias Moussaoui is arrested and detained. [Time,
5/27/02] The FBI confiscates his possessions, including a computer
laptop, but doesn't have a search warrant to search through them. He is
supposedly in the US working as a "marketing consultant" for a computer
company, but is unable to provide any details of his employment. Nor can
he convincingly explain his $32,000 bank balance. [MSNBC,
12/11/01,
Senate Intelligence, 10/17/02] The report also notes "Moussaoui was
extremely evasive in many of his answers." [CNN,
9/28/02] But Minnesota FBI agents quickly become frustrated at the
lack of interest in the case from higher ups. [NY
Times, 2/8/02] On August 21, they e-mail FBI headquarters saying
it's "imperative" that the Secret Service be warned of the danger a plot
involving Moussaoui might pose to the President's safety. But no such
warning is ever sent. [Senate
Intelligence, 10/17/02,
New York Times, 10/18/02]
August
22, 2001: Counter-terrorism
expert John O'Neill quits the FBI. He was the government's "most
committed tracker of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network of
terrorists." [New
Yorker, 1/14/02] He says it's partly because of the recent power
play against him, but also because of repeated obstruction of his
investigations into al-Qaeda. [New
Yorker, 1/14/02]
August
23, 2001: John O'Neill begins
his new job as head of security at the WTC. [New
Yorker, 1/14/02] On September 10, he moves into his new office on
the 34th floor of the North Tower. That night, he tells colleague Jerry
Hauer, "We're due for something big. I don't like the way things are
lining up in Afghanistan." O'Neill is killed the next day in the 9/11
attack. [PBS
Frontline, 10/3/02]
August
23, 2001: According to German
newspapers, the Mossad gives the CIA a list of terrorists living in the
US, and say that they appear to be planning to carry out an attack in
the near future. Four names on the list are known and are names of the
9/11 hijackers: Nawaf Alhazmi, Khalid Almihdhar, Marwan Alshehhi, and
Mohamed Atta. [Die
Zeit, 10/1/02,
Der Spiegel, 10/1/02,
BBC, 10/2/02,
Ha’aretz, 10/3/02] Yet apparently this warning and list are not
treated as particularly urgent by the CIA and also not passed on to the
FBI. [Der
Spiegel, 10/1/02] The US has denied knowing about Atta before
9/11 [Senate
Intelligence Committee, 9/20/02]
August
23-27, 2001: In the wake of a
French intelligence report on Zacarias Moussaoui, FBI agents in
Minnesota are "absolutely convinced he [was] planning to do something
with a plane." One agent writes notes speculating Moussaoui might "fly
something into the World Trade Center." [Newsweek,
5/20/02] Minnesota FBI agents become "desperate to search the
computer laptop," especially since he acted as if he was hiding
something important there. [Time,
5/21/02,
Time, 5/27/02] They apply for a search warrant under the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). [Washington
Post, 11/4/01] However, as FBI agent Coleen Rowley later puts it,
FBI headquarters "almost inexplicably, throw[s] up roadblocks" and
undermines their efforts. Headquarters personnel bring up "almost
ridiculous questions in their apparent efforts to undermine the probable
cause." [Time,
5/21/02,
Time, 5/27/02]
August
24, 2001: Frustrated with lack
of response from FBI headquarters about Zacarias Moussaoui, the
Minnesota FBI contact an FBI agent working with the CIA's
Counter-Terrorism Center, and asks the CIA for help. [Senate
Intelligence Committee, 10/17/02] On this day, the CIA sends
messages to stations and bases overseas requesting information about
Moussaoui. The message says that the FBI is investigating Moussaoui for
possible involvement in the planning of a terrorist attack and mentions
his efforts to obtain flight training. [Senate
Intelligence Committee, 9/18/02] It calls him a "suspect 747 airline
attacker" and a "suspect airline suicide hijacker" - showing that the
form of the 9/11 attack isn't a surprise, at least to the CIA. [Senate
Intelligence Committee, 10/17/02] FBI headquarters responds by
chastising the Minnesota FBI for notifying the CIA without approval. [Time,
5/21/02]
August
27, 2001: An agent at the FBI
headquarters' Radical Fundamentalist Unit (RFU) tells the FBI Minnesota
office supervisor that he is getting people "spun up" over Moussaoui.
The supervisor replies that he is trying to get people at FBI
headquarters "spun up" because he is trying to make sure that Moussaoui
does "not take control of a plane and fly it into the World Trade
Center." He later alleges the headquarters agent replies, "We don't know
he's a terrorist. You have a guy interested in this type of aircraft -
that is it." [Senate
Intelligence (Hill #2), 10/17/02] Three weeks earlier, Dave Frasca,
the head of the RFU unit, had received Ken Williams' memo expressing
concern about terrorists training in US flight schools, but he
apparently wasn't "spun up" enough to connect the two cases. [Time,
5/27/02] Neither he nor anyone else at FBI headquarters who saw
Williams's memo informed anyone at the FBI Minnesota office about it
before 9/11. [Time,
5/21/02]
August
28, 2001: The above RFU agent
edits the Minnesota FBI's request for a search warrant to search
Moussaoui's possessions. The FBI Deputy General Counsel decides that
there isn't enough to allow an application for a search warrant through
FISA. [Senate
Intelligence, 10/17/02] According to a later memo written by
Minneapolis FBI legal officer Coleen Rowley (see memo here:
Time, 5/21/02), FBI headquarters is to blame for not getting the
warrant because of this rewrite of the request. She asks, "Why would an
FBI agent deliberately sabotage a case?" The superiors acted so
strangely that some agents in the Minneapolis office openly joked that
these higher-ups "had to be spies or moles working for bin Laden." FBI
headquarters refuses to contact the Justice Department to get a search
warrant through ordinary means. Rowley later notes that the headquarters
agents who blocked the Minnesota FBI were promoted after 9/11. [Sydney
Morning Herald, 5/28/02,
Time, 5/21/02]
August
30-September 4, 2001: According
to Egyptian President Mubarak, Egyptian intelligence warns American
officials that bin Laden's network is in the advanced stages of
executing a significant operation against an American target, probably
within the US. [AP,
12/7/01,
New York Times, 6/4/02]
Early
September 2001: An Iranian man
known as Ali S. in a German jail repeatedly phones US law enforcement to
warn of an imminent attack on the WTC in the week of September 9-15. He
calls it "an attack that will change the world." After a month of
badgering his prison guards, he is finally able to call the White House
14 times in the days before the attack. German police later confirm the
calls. Similar warnings also come from a Moroccan man being held in a
Brazilian jail. [Deutsche
Presse-Agentur, 9/13/01,
Ottawa Citizen, 9/17/01,
Ananova, 9/14/01,
Sunday Herald, 9/16/01]
September 6-10, 2001: Suspicious
trading occurs on American and United, the two airlines used in the 9/11
attacks. Between 6 and 7 September, The Chicago Board Options Exchange
saw purchases of 4,744 put option contracts [a speculation that the
stock will go down] in UAL versus 396 call options [a speculation that
stock will go up]. On September 10, more trading in Chicago saw the
purchase of 4,516 put options in American Airlines, the other airline
involved in the hijackings. This compares with a mere 748 call options
in American purchased that day. No other airlines saw such trading in
their put options. [Associated
Press, 9/18/01,
San Francisco Chronicle, 9/19/01] "To the embarrassment of
investigators, it has also emerged that the firm used to buy many of the
‘put’ options on United Airlines stock was headed until 1998 by ‘Buzzy’
Krongard, now executive director of the CIA." [Independent,
10/14/01]
September 10, 2001: In a speech
to the Department of Defense, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld announces that
the Department of Defense "cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions."
CBS later calculates that 25% of the yearly defense budget is
unaccounted for, and quotes a long-time defense budget analyst: “The
books are cooked routinely year after year." Coverage of this rather
shocking story is nearly nonexistent given the events of the next day. [DOD,
9/10/01,
CBS, 1/29/02]
September 10, 2001: Two days
after 9/11, Newsweek reports: "The state of alert had been high
during the past two weeks. A particularly urgent warning may have been
received the night before the attacks, causing some top Pentagon brass
to cancel a trip. Why that same information was not available to the 266
people who died aboard the four hijacked commercial aircraft may become
a hot topic on the Hill." [Newsweek,
9/13/01] Far from becoming a hot topic, the only additional media
mention of this story is in the next issue of Newsweek: "a group
of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next
morning, apparently because of security concerns." [Newsweek,
9/24/01]
September 10, 2001: George Bush
Sr. is with a brother of Osama bin Laden at a Carlyle business
conference. The conference is interrupted the next day by the attacks. [Washington
Post, 3/16/03]
September 10, 2001: Eight hours
prior to the attacks, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown receives a
warning from "my security people at the airport" advising him to be
cautious in traveling. [San
Francisco Chronicle, 9/12/01] He was scheduled to fly to New York
the next morning. [San
Francisco Chronicle 9/14/01,
San Francisco Chronicle, 9/12/01, US
State Department, 9/7/01]
September 11, 2001 (A): Warren
Buffett, the second richest man on Earth [BBC,
6/22/01], schedules a morning charity event inside Offutt Air Force
Base in Nebraska. A small group of business leaders attend, including at
least one who would otherwise have died in the WTC. [San
Francisco Business Times, 2/1/02] Bush flies to this same base that
day, where there is an underground command center.
[CNN, 9/12/01,
CBS, 9/11/02] The timing,
attendance, and location of the meeting is curious, to say the least.
September 11, 2001 (B): An
advertisement for a "homeland security" event in 2002 will mention the
following curious sentence: "On the morning of September 11th 2001, Mr.
[John] Fulton and his team at the CIA were running a pre-planned
simulation to explore the emergency response issues that would be
created if a plane were to strike a building. Little did they know that
the scenario would come true in a dramatic way that day." [National
Law Enforcement Security Institute, 8/02] Fulton's team is part of
the National Reconnaissance Office, which "operates many of the nation's
spy satellites. It draws its personnel from the military and the CIA."
The simulation was to start at 9:00 A.M., four miles from where one of
the real hijacked planes took off. [AP,
8/22/02]
September 11, 2001 (C): Data
recovery experts later looking at 32 hard drives salvaged from the 9/11
attacks discover a surge in credit card transactions from the WTC in the
hours before and during the attacks. Unusually large sums of money were
rushed through computers even as the disaster unfolded. Investigators
say, "There is a suspicion that some people had advance knowledge of the
approximate time of the plane crashes in order to move out amounts
exceeding $100 million. They thought that the records of their
transactions could not be traced after the main frames were destroyed."
[Reuters,
12/18/01]
September 11, 2001 (D): Four
planes are hijacked, two crash into the WTC, one into the Pentagon, and
one into the Pennsylvania countryside. At least 3,000 people are
killed. According to officials, the entire US is defended by only 14
fighters (two planes each in seven military bases). [Dallas
Morning News, 9/16/01] And "they no longer included any bases close
to two obvious terrorist targets - Washington, DC, and New York City." A
defense official says: "I don't think any of us envisioned an internal
air threat by big aircraft." [Newsday,
9/23/01]
September 11, 2001
Department of Defense (6/1/01) and FAA
(7/12/01) procedure: In the
event of a hijacking, the FAA hijack coordinator on duty at Washington
headquarters requests the military to provide escort aircraft. Normally,
NORAD escort aircraft take the required action. The FAA notifies the
National Military Command Center by the most expeditious means. [DOD/,
6/1/01,
FAA, 7/12/01,
FAA 7/12/01]
"Pilots are
supposed to hit each fix with pinpoint accuracy. If a plane deviates by
15 degrees, or two miles from that course, the flight controllers will
hit the panic button. They’ll call the plane, saying "American 11,
you’re deviating from course." It’s considered a real emergency, like a
police car screeching down a highway at 100 miles an hour. [MSNBC,
9/12/01]
If NORAD
(North American Aerospace Defense Command) hears of any difficulties in
the skies, they begin the work to scramble jet fighters [take off and
intercept aircraft that are off course]. Between Sep 2000 and June
2001 fighters were scrambled 67 times. [AP,
8/12/02] When the Lear jet of golfer Payne Stewart didn’t respond in
1999, F-16 interceptors were quickly dispatched. According to an Air
Force timeline, a series of military planes provided an emergency escort
to Payne’s stricken Lear about 20 minutes after ground controllers
lost contact with his plane.[Dallas
Morning News, 10/26/99]
(6:45
A.M.) "Approximately two hours
prior to the first attack", at least two workers in Israel at the
instant messaging company Odigo receive messages warning of the WTC
attack. This Israeli owned company has its headquarters two blocks from
the WTC. [Washington
Post, 9/28/01,
Ha'aretz, 9/26/01]
(8:20
A.M.) Boston flight control
decides that Flight 11 has probably been hijacked, but they don't notify
other air traffic control centers for another five minutes, and don't
notify NORAD for about another 20 minutes. ["about 8:20,"
Newsday, 9/23/01, "about 8:20,"
NY Times, 9/15/01] ABC News will later say, "There doesn't seem to
have been alarm bells going off, traffic controllers getting on with law
enforcement or the military. There's a gap there that will have to be
investigated." [ABC,
9/14/01]
8:40 AM:
NORAD is notified of hijacking.
[NY
Times, 10/16/01, 8:38 AM
Washington Post, 9/15/01]
8:46
A.M. Flight 11 slams into the
north tower, 1 World Trade Center. [approximately 26
minutes after controllers lost contact] [New
York Times, 9/12/01]
8:46
A.M. At the time of the first
WTC crash, three F-16's assigned to Andrews Air Force Base 10 miles from
Washington are flying an air-to-ground training mission on a range in
North Carolina, 207 miles away. Eventually they are recalled to Andrews
and land there at some point after Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.
[Aviation
Week and Space Technology, 9/9/02] F-16's can travel a maximum
speed of 1500 mph. Traveling even at 1250 mph, at least one of the
F-16's could have returned to Washington within 10 minutes and started
patrolling the skies well before 9:00 A.M. Why were they recalled so
late, and then ordered back to base (and then to take off again) instead
of being sent straight to Washington?
(8:46
A.M.) Flight 77 from Washington
goes severely off course. It heads due north for a while, then flies due
south and gets back on course. [see USA Today's
Flight 77 flight path]
(After
8:46 A.M.) "During the hour or
so that American Airlines Flight 77 was under the control of hijackers,
up to the moment it struck the west side of the Pentagon, military
officials in a command center on the east side of the [Pentagon] were
urgently talking to law enforcement and air traffic control officials
about what to do." [NY
Times, 9/15/01]
8:52 A.M. Two
F-15's take off from Otis ANG Base, six minutes after being ordered to
go after Flight 11, which has already crashed. [8:52,
NORAD, 9/18/01, 8:52,
CNN, 9/17/01, 8:53,
Washington Post, 9/12/01, 8:52,
Washington Post, 9/15/01] They go after Flight 175
instead. According to Maj. Gen. Paul Weaver, director of the Air
National Guard, "the pilots flew 'like a scalded ape,' topping 500 mph
but were unable to catch up to the airliner." [Dallas
Morning News, 9/15/01] F-15's can travel over 1875 mph. [Air
Force News, 7/30/97] Yet according to the NORAD timeline, these
planes take about 19 minutes to reach New York City - less than 600 mph.
Why so slow??
(8:56
A.M.) According to the New
York Times, by this time (if not earlier), it is clear Flight 77 has
gone missing, yet NORAD is not notified for another 28 minutes! [NY
Times, 10/16/01]
(9:01
A.M.) Bush later makes the
following statement. "I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go
in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on, and
I used to fly myself, and I said, 'There's one terrible pilot. It must
have been a horrible accident.'” [CNN,
12/4/01] He has repeated the story on other occasions: “When we
walked into the classroom, I had seen this plane fly into the first
building.” [White
House, 1/5/02,
CBS, 9/11/02] Given that there actually was no film footage of
the first attack on TV until much later (and no footage of the plane
actually hitting the tower), could this be a lie to make it seem he
didn't know what was happening? By 8:38, NORAD knew that Flight 11
was hijacked [CNN,
9/17/01,
Washington Post, 9/12/01], and by 8:43, they knew Flight 175
was hijacked [NORAD,
9/18/01,
CNN, 9/17/01] As the New York Times points out, they
also probably knew Flight 77 was hijacked a few minutes after 8:48. [NY
Times, 9/15/01]
9:03
A.M. Flight 175 crashes into
the south WTC tower. [23 minutes after NORAD notified, 43 minutes
after air traffic control lost contact with pilots] F-15
fighter jets from Otis Air National Guard Base are still 71 miles or
eight minutes away. [New
York Times, 9/12/01,
CNN, 9/12/01]
(After
9:03 A.M.) A few minutes after
9:03, the Secret Service calls Andrews Air Force Base, located 10 miles
from Washington. They are notified to get F-16's armed and ready to fly.
Missiles are still being loaded onto the F-16's when the Pentagon is hit
over half an hour later. [Aviation
Week and Space Technology, 9/9/02] The problem with this account is
that prior to 9/11, The District of Columbia Air National Guard (located
at Andrews) had a publicly stated mission "to provide combat units in
the highest possible state of readiness." Shortly after 9/11 this
mission statement on its website is changed, so it merely has a "vision"
to "provide peacetime command and control and administrative mission
oversight to support customers and DCANG units in achieving the highest
levels of readiness." [DCANG
Home Page (before and after the change)]
(After
9:03 A.M.) Minutes after the
second WTC crash at 9:03, military base commanders from all over the US
were calling NORAD and volunteering to scramble planes. For instance,
the commander at Syracuse, New York said he could get a plane in the air
armed with cannon in ten minutes. Yet none of these planes were put in
the air until after the last hijacked plane had crashed over an hour
later. [Aviation
Week and Space Technology, 6/3/02]
9:09
A.M. Supposedly, NORAD orders
F-16's at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, on battle stations alert.
Yet the order to scramble won't come till 9:27 or so, and they won't
take off until 9:30. Around this time, the FAA command center
reports 11 aircraft either not in communication with FAA facilities, or
flying unexpected routes. [Aviation
Week and Space Technology, 6/3/02]
9:10 AM:
Major General Paul Weaver
states Flight 77 came back on the (radar) scope at 9:10 in West
Virginia. [Dallas
Morning News, 9/15/01] Another report states the military was
notified of Flight 77 several minutes after 9:03. [Washington
Post, 9/15/01]
9:16
A.M. The FAA informs NORAD
that Flight 93 may have been hijacked. No fighters are scrambled in
specific response, now or later (there is the possibility some fighters
sent after Flight 77 later headed towards Flight 93). [CNN,
9/17/01,
NORAD, 9/18/01] Note that the crash of Flight 77 is still 25
minutes away. F-16 fighters from Langley Air Force Base could have
reached Washington in six minutes if they traveled at 1300 mph (maximum
speed for an F-16 is 1500 mph). Even if the fighters were traveling
slower and it took some minutes to get the plane off the ground, they
still could easily have made it to Washington in those 25 minutes and
prevented the Flight 77 crash.
9:24 A.M. The FAA notifies NORAD that Flight 77 "may" have been
hijacked and appears to be headed towards Washington. [NORAD,
9/18/01,
AP, 8/19/02] A Pentagon spokesman says, "The Pentagon was simply not
aware that this aircraft was coming our way." [Newsday,
9/23/01] Yet since at least the Flight 11 crash, "military officials
in a command center [the National Military Command Center] on the east
side of the [Pentagon] were urgently talking to law enforcement and air
traffic control officials about what to do." [NY
Times, 9/15/01]
(9:27
A.M.) Tom Burnett calls his
wife Deena and says, "I'm on United Flight 93 from Newark to San
Francisco. The plane has been hijacked. We are in the air. They've
already knifed a guy. There is a bomb on board. Call the FBI." Deena
calls 911. [The book Among the Heroes, 8/02, p. 107,
ABC, 9/12/01,
MSNBC, 7/30/02,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/28/01,
Toronto Sun, 9/16/01] This is the first of over 30 additional phone
calls by passengers inside the plane. [MSNBC,
7/30/02]
(9:27
A.M.) NORAD orders three F-16
fighters scrambled from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia to intercept
Flight 77. Langley is 129 miles from Washington. Ready aircraft at
Andrews Air Force Base, 15 miles away, are not scrambled. [Newsday,
9/23/01] [9:24,
NORAD, 9/18/01, 9:27,
CNN, 9/17/01, 9:25,
Washington Post, 9/12/01, 9:35,
CNN, 9/17/01, 9:35,
Washington Post, 9/15/01]
9:30
A.M. The F-16's scrambled
towards Flight 77 get airborne. [9:30,
NORAD, 9/18/01, 9:35,
Washington Post, 9/12/01] If the NORAD departure time is correct,
the F-16's would have to travel slightly over 700 mph to reach
Washington before Flight 77 does. The maximum speed of an F-16is 1500
mph. [AP,
6/16/00] Even at 1300 mph, these planes could have reached
Washington in six minutes - well before any claim of when Flight 77
crashed. Yet they obviously don't.
(9:30
A.M.) The hijackers make an
announcement to the passengers in Flight 77, telling them to phone their
families as they are "all going to die." They also told the passengers
that they were going to hit the White House. ["When they took over the
controls,"
Sunday Herald, 9/16/01, "around 9:30,"
Cox News, 10/21/01] Given this announcement, why are there almost
no phone calls from this flight?
(9:32
A.M.) Secret Service agents
burst into Vice President Cheney's White House office. They carry him
under his arms - nearly lifting him off the ground - and propel him down
the steps into the White House basement and through a long tunnel
towards an underground bunker. [9:32,
Washington Post, 1/27/02, shortly after Bush's speech at 9:30,
CBS, 9/11/02] Why didn't this happen to Bush? Was he meant to
remain visibly out of the loop?
9:33
A.M. According to the New
York Times, Flight 77 was lost at 8:56 when it turned off its
transponder, and stayed lost until now. Washington air traffic control
sees a fast moving blip on their radar at this time and sends a warning
to Dulles Airport in Washington. [NY
Times, 10/16/01] Is it conceivable that an airplane could be lost
inside US air space for 37 minutes? One doesn't need a transponder
signal to get a radar signal!
(9:41
A.M.) Flight 77 crashes into
the Pentagon. [42 minutes or more after contact was lost, one hour
after NORAD notification of first hijacking] The section of the
Pentagon hit consists mainly of newly renovated, unoccupied
offices. Approximately 125 determined killed or missing. Fighters are
supposedly still 105 miles or 12 minutes away. [Newsday,
9/23/01,
NORAD, 9/18/01] [9:37,
NORAD, 9/18/01, 9:37,
Washington Post, 9/12/01, 9:38,
CNN, 9/17/01, 9:38,
Guardian, 10/17/01, 9:39,
Washington Post, 1/27/02, 9:40,
AP, 8/19/02, 9:43,
CNN, 9/12/01, 9:43,
MSNBC, 9/22/01, 9:43,
MSNBC, 9/3/02, 9:43,
New York Times, 9/12/01, 9:45,
Boston Globe, 11/23/01] NORAD states the fighters took off from
Langley at 9:30, 129 miles away, yet when Flight 77 crashes they are
still 105 miles away. [NORAD,
9/18/01] That means they were flying at an average only about 205
mph!
9:59
A.M. The south tower of the
World Trade Center collapses. It was hit by Flight 175 at 9:03. [AP,
8/19/02,
New York Times, 9/12/01]
(Before
10:06 A.M.) CBS television
reports at some point before the crash that two F-16 fighters are
tailing Flight 93. [Independent,
8/13/02] Shortly after 9/11, a flight controller in New Hampshire
ignores a ban on controllers speaking to the media, and it is reported
he claims that “an F-16 fighter closely pursued Flight 93.” The F-16
made 360-degree turns to remain close to the commercial jet, the
employee said. “He must've seen the whole thing,” the employee said of
the F-16 pilot's view of Flight 93's crash. [AP,
9/13/01,
Nashua Telegraph, 9/13/01]
10:10 AM:
Flight 93 crashes in
Pennsylvania. [42 minutes after contact was lost][CNN,
9/12/02]
10:28
A.M. The World Trade Center's
north tower collapses. [CNN,
9/12/01,
NY Times, 9/12/01]
5:20 PM:
Building 7 of the World Trade
Center collapses. [CNN,
9/12/01]
September 11, 2001 (E): Did the
Air Force send up planes after the hijacked aircraft? The Air Force
won't say. It says they keep about 20 F-15 and F-16 fighters on duty
with Air National Guards along the nation's coastline, ready to inspect
unknown aircraft entering U.S. airspace. "We can scramble and be
airborne in a matter of minutes," said an Air Force spokesperson. Some
airline pilots are wondering whether the FAA did enough to try to
prevent the crashes. [Wall
Street Journal, 09/14/01]
September 11, 2001 (F): At
about 9:00 A.M., a strange incident occurs aboard United Flight 23,
scheduled to fly from New York to Los Angeles. After boarding, the crew
tells the passengers that the flight has been canceled. Three Middle
Eastern men refuse to get off the plane. They argue with a member of the
flight crew. Security is called, but before they arrive, the men escape.
[CBS,
9/14/01]
September 11, 2001 (G): It is
later revealed that only hours after the 9/11 attacks, a US "shadow
government" is formed. Executive directives on government continuity in
the face of a crisis dating back to the Reagan administration are put
into effect. Approximately 100 mid-level officials are moved to
underground bunkers and stay there 24 hours a day. When its existence is
revealed, some controversy arises because of the exclusion of any
Democrats from it - in fact, top Congressional Democrats had never even
heard of it until journalists broke the story. [Washington
Post, 3/2/02,
CBS, 3/2/02]
September 11, 2001 (H): A few
hours after the attacks, German intelligence intercepts a phone
conversation between followers of bin Laden that leads the FBI to search
frantically for two more teams of suicide hijackers, according to US and
German officials. The Germans overhear the terrorists refer to "the 30
people traveling for the operation." The FBI scours flight manifests and
any other clues for more terrorists. [New
York Times, 9/29/01] Two days later, authorities claim to have
identified teams that total as many as 50 infiltrators who supported or
carried out the strikes. [Los
Angeles Times, 9/13/01]Yet only one person, Moussaoui, has been
identified and charged as an accomplice.
September 11, 2001 (I): A
National Public Radio correspondent states: "I spoke with Congressman
Ike Skelton who said that just recently the director of the CIA warned
that there could be an imminent attack on the United States of this
nature. So this is not entirely unexpected." [NPR,
9/11/01]
September 11, 2001 (J): Senator
Orrin Hatch (R) tells the Associated Press that the US government was
monitoring bin Laden's communications electronically, and overheard two
bin Laden aides celebrating the successful terrorist attack. [AP,
9/12/01,
ABC News, 9/12/01] Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld publicly
denounces the report, not as untrue, but as an unauthorized release of
classified information. [Department
of Defense news briefing, 9/12/01] The head of the NSA says bin
Laden (living in a cave in Afghanistan) "has better technology" than the
US ($30 billion annual intelligence budget). [Sunday
Herald, 9/16/01] Why has the mainstream media not explored the
implications that the CIA and FBI could monitor the private
communications of al-Qaeda on the days up to and including 9/11?
September 11-16, 2001: Andrews
Air Force Base is 10 miles from Washington, DC. Langley Air Force Base
in 130 miles away. The official story is that there were no fighters at
Andrews, so none took off from there to intercept the hijacked planes.
It takes a few days for the media to come around to that point of view:
1) A few minutes after the Pentagon was hit, "fighter jets scrambled
from Andrews Air Force Base..." [Denver
Post, 9/11/01] 2) "Air defense around Washington is provided mainly
by fighter planes from Andrews Air Force Base. But the fighters took to
the skies over Washington only after the devastating attack on the
Pentagon." [San
Diego Union Tribune, 9/12/01] 3) "Within minutes of the attack
American forces around the world were put on one of their highest states
of alert - Defcon 3, just two notches short of all-out war - and F-16's
from Andrews Air Force Base were in the air over Washington DC." [Telegraph,
9/16/01
September 12, 2001: The
passport of hijacker Satam Al Suqami is found a few blocks from the WTC.
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