Years — and days — before 9/11, security officials warned of hijacks, documents show
- On Friday, the CIA declassified 71 presidential daily briefs from years before September 11, marking the 25th anniversary. CIA Director John Ratcliffe called the release "an act of exceptional transparency."
- Declassified documents reveal U.S. intelligence officials repeatedly warned that al-Qaeda terrorists were plotting to use airplanes, documenting Bin Laden's interest in striking Washington and New York years before the 2001 hijackings.
- Briefs detail that conspirators evaded security checks during trial runs at airports, and "some members of the Bin Ladin network have received hijack training," alongside reports of Bin Laden's biological weapons experimentation.
- According to The Associated Press, the files do not indicate officials knew the specific September 11 plot beforehand; the White House simultaneously released related documents through the National Archives.
- Post-9/11 reforms created the National Counterterrorism Centre to improve interagency information sharing, a structural evolution following the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and reshaped U.S. national security.
53 Articles
53 Articles
Declassified CIA Files Reveal Years Of Detailed Bin Laden Warnings Spanning Two Presidencies
Newly declassified Central Intelligence Agency records reveal that the United States government received extensive, specific warnings regarding Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda’s global operations beginning more than three years prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The 101 pages of newly released material contain 71 intelligence memos prepared for top-level officials and the President’s Daily […] Declassified CIA Files Reveal Years Of Detailed B…
The 007 Americans had informed the White House that Osama bin Laden wanted to strike a U.S. city.
CIA Declassifies 71 Pre-9/11 Briefings Warning Bush, Clinton
The CIA released its largest-ever tranche of pre-September 11 intelligence analysis on the 25th anniversary of the attacks, including a 1998 memo to President Clinton warning that al Qaeda "may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a U.S. city." CIA Director John Ratcliffe announced the release of 71 declassified documents on Friday, calling it "an act […]
Three years before the 9/11 attacks, US President Clinton was warned for the first time that terrorist group Al Qaeda "could crash a plane loaded with explosives into an American city." This is revealed in a series of secret documents from around the turn of the century released by the CIA. The documents confirm earlier conclusions of a national commission: the intelligence agencies sensed the threat but struggled to estimate its magnitude.
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