|
1962: America’s top
military leaders 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]
1996-2001: Federal
authorities were aware for years before 9/11 that suspected
terrorists with ties to Osama bin Laden were receiving flight
training at schools in the US and abroad. One convicted
terrorist confessed that his planned role in a terror attack was
to crash a plane into CIA headquarters. [Washington
Post, 9/23/01]
Aug 1998: CIA intelligence reports that Arab terrorists
are planning to fly a bomb-laden aircraft into the WTC (World
Trade Center). [New
York Times, 9/19/02,
Senate Intelligence Committee (Witness Hill), 9/18/02]
1998-2000: On three occasions, spies in Afghanistan
report bin Laden's location. Each time, the president approves
an attack. Each time, the CIA Director says the attack can’t go
forward. [New
York Times, 12/30/01] CIA officer in charge of Al Qaeda:
White House repeatedly refused to eliminate bin Laden [Los
Angeles Times, 12/4/04]
2000–2001: The military
conducts exercises simulating hijacked airliners used as weapons
to crash into targets causing mass casualties. One target is the
WTC. Another is the Pentagon. Yet after 9/11, over and over the
White House and security officials say they’re shocked that
terrorists hijacked airliners and crashed them into landmark
buildings. [USA
Today, 4/19/04] [Military
District of Washington, 11/3/00] [New
York Times, 10/3/01]
2000-2001: 15 of the 19
hijackers fail to fill in visa documents properly in Saudi
Arabia. Only six are interviewed. All
15 should have been denied entry to the US. [Washington
Post, 10/22/02,
ABC, 10/23/02] Two top
senators say that if State Department personnel had merely
followed the law, 9/11 would not have happened. [AP,
12/18/02]
Jan 2001: After the Nov 2000
elections, US intelligence agencies are told to “back off”
investigating the bin Ladens and Saudi royals. There have always
been constraints on investigating Saudi Arabians. [BBC,
11/6/01]
Spring 2001: US government documents legitimize military
force in the pursuit of oil. One advocates presidential
subterfuge and hiding the reasons for warfare “as a necessity
for mobilizing public support.” [Sydney
Morning Herald, 12/26/02] Another advocates war with Iraq to
control its oil. [Sunday
Herald, 10/5/02]
May 2001: For the third time, US security chiefs reject
Sudan’s offer of thick files on bin Laden and al-Qaeda. A senior
CIA source calls it “the worst single intelligence failure in
the business.” [Guardian,
9/30/01]
June-Aug 2001: German intelligence warns the CIA that
Middle Eastern terrorists are training for hijackings and
targeting American interests. Russian President Vladimir Putin
alerts the US of suicide pilots training for attacks on US
targets. In late July, a Taliban emissary warns the US that bin
Laden is planning a huge attack on American soil. In August,
Israel warns of an imminent Al Qaeda attack. [Fox
News, 5/17/02] [Independent,
9/7/02]
July 4-14, 2001: Bin Laden may have received kidney
treatment from Canadian-trained Dr. Callaway at the American
Hospital in Dubai. Dr. Callaway is unavailable for comment.
During his stay, bin Laden is alleged to have been visited by
one or two CIA agents. [UPI,
11/1/01,
London Times 11/1/01,
Guardian, 11/1/01]
July 26, 2001: Attorney General Ashcroft stops flying
commercial airlines due to a threat assessment. [CBS,
7/26/01] In May 2002, Ashcroft walks out of his office
rather than answer questions about it. [AP,
5/16/02]
Aug 6, 2001: President Bush receives an intelligence
briefing warning that bin Laden might be planning to hijack
commercial airliners. Titled “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in
US,” the briefing specifically mentions the WTC. Yet Bush later
claims it “said nothing about an attack on America.” [Washington
Post, 4/11/04,
Briefing, 8/6/01]
Aug 27, 2001: An FBI supervisor says he’s trying to keep
a hijacker from “flying a plane into the WTC.” [Senate
Report (Hill #2), 10/17/02] Headquarters chastises him for
notifying the CIA. [Time,
5/21/02] The FBI Director later states, "There was nothing
the agency could have done to prevent the attacks." [Senate
(Breitweiser), 9/18/02]
Sept 10, 2001: “Newsweek has learned a group of
top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the
next morning, apparently because of security concerns." [Newsweek,
9/24/01, fifth to the last paragraph]
Sept 11, 2001: Data recovery experts extract data from 32
damaged WTC computer drives. The data reveals a surge in
financial transactions shortly before the attacks. Illegal
transfers of over $100 million may have been made through some
WTC computer systems immediately before and during the 9/11
disaster. [Reuters,
12/18/01]
Sept 11, 2001: Described as a bizarre coincidence, a US
intelligence agency was all set for an exercise on Sept 11th at
9 AM in which an aircraft would crash into one of its buildings
near Washington, DC. [AP,
8/22/02]
Sept 11, 2001: Warren Buffett, the second richest man on
Earth [BBC,
6/22/01], schedules an event at Offutt Air Force Base in
Nebraska. A group of business leaders attend, including at least
one who would otherwise have died in the WTC. [SF
Business Times, 2/1/02] President Bush flies to this same
base that day.
[CNN, 9/12/01]
Sept 11, 2001: Hours after the attacks, a "shadow
government" is formed. Key congressional leaders say they didn’t
know this government-in-waiting had been established. [CBS,
3/2/02,
Washington Post, 3/2/02]
Sept 13-19, 2001: Bin Laden's family is taken under FBI
supervision to a secret assembly point. They leave the country
by private plane when airports reopen days after the attacks. [NY
Times, 9/30/01][Boston
Globe, 9/20/01]
Sept 15-16, 2001: Several of the 9/11 hijackers,
including lead hijacker Mohamed Atta, may have had training at
secure US military installations. [Newsweek,
9/15/01,
Washington Post, 9/16/01,
New York Times, 9/15/01]
Dec 2001-Feb 2002: The US engineers the rise to power of
two former Unocal Oil employees: Hamid Karzai, the interim
president of Afghanistan, and Zalmay Khalizad, the US envoy. The
big American bases created in the Afghan war are completely
identical to the route of the projected oil pipeline. [Chicago
Tribune, 3/18/02]
Mar 13, 2002: President Bush on bin Laden: “I truly am
not that concerned about him.” [White
House, 3/13/02] Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman
Myers: "The goal has never been to get bin Laden." [DOD/CNN,
4/6/02]
May 17, 2002: Dan Rather says that he and other
journalists haven't been properly investigating since 9/11. He
graphically describes the pressures to conform that built up
after the attacks. [Guardian,
5/17/02]
May 23, 2002: President Bush says he is opposed to
establishing an independent commission to probe 9/11. [CBS,
5/23/02] Vice President Cheney earlier opposed any public
hearings on 9/11. [Newsweek,
2/4/02]
May 30, 2002: FBI Agent Wright formally accuses the FBI
of deliberately curtailing investigations that might have
prevented 9/11. He is threatened with retribution if he talks to
Congress about this. [Fox
News, 5/30/02]
Oct 5, 2002: Congressional investigators say the
FBI attempted to block their 9/11 inquiry. The Justice
Department also fought congressional requests, while the CIA has
been antagonistic. [New
York Times, 10/5/02]
Oct 27, 2002: Defense chief Rumsfeld’s board
recommends the creation of a super-intelligence body that would
launch secret operations to “stimulate reactions” among
terrorists and states owning weapons of mass destruction. It
would prod terrorists into action to force “quick-response”
attacks by the US. [LA
Times 10/27/02]
|