The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has released classified briefing materials related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on their 25th anniversary.
The documents contain reports warning of the possibility that al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden would attack the United States.
The key question in reading the materials released this time is why the catastrophe could not be prevented despite years of warnings.
3-Line Summary
1. The CIA released 71 briefing documents related to 9/11
2. The documents contain warnings from 1998 to 2001
3. Warnings were not the same as understanding the attack plan
Briefings That Continued from 1998 to 2001
On the 11th, local time, the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the CIA approved the release of 71 presidential daily briefing documents. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the release was intended to honor the victims and CIA officers who lost their lives in the war on terrorism. The Presidential Daily Brief is a top-secret document prepared by U.S. intelligence agencies for the president.
The release covers documents delivered to then-President Bill Clinton in February 1998 through a report dated September 12, 2001, the day after the attacks. The materials include statements that bin Laden, then the leader of al-Qaeda, prioritized attacks inside the United States; the possibility of aircraft hijackings; and warnings that planes carrying explosives could be deployed against U.S. cities.
The Most Important Point Is the Difference Between ‘Warnings’ and ‘Understanding’
The mere fact that threat information existed in the documents does not mean that intelligence agencies knew all of the actual attack’s timing, methods, and targets. While The New York Times assessed that no significant new facts appeared in the materials, it also highlighted the 2004 9/11 Commission’s criticism that U.S. intelligence agencies failed to properly understand the planned attack despite receiving continued warnings about the threat from al-Qaeda.
A briefing dated August 6, 2001, stated that bin Laden had decided to attack the United States, and it was reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was conducting field investigations in approximately 70 related cases. However, the briefing at the time also reportedly contained the assessment that various threat reports appeared and disappeared. The materials show that even when information accumulated, connecting it to a single imminent attack plan was a separate problem.
The Released Documents Do Not Rewrite the Outcome of the Catastrophe
This release is not an announcement presenting new conclusions about the causes of or responsibility for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It does, however, make it possible to confirm the scope and wording of the warnings delivered to policymakers at the time.
At a 25th-anniversary memorial ceremony, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that those responsible at the time had failed to see the nature of the danger in time, and that what could be done was not enough. This document should be read alongside that reflection. More than the wording of individual warnings, the process by which the warnings failed to lead to an actual response remains the heavier question.
References
Tags #CentralIntelligenceAgency #CIA #USCIA #911TerroristAttacks #911ClassifiedMaterials #PresidentialDailyBriefing #al-Qaeda #OsamaBinLaden #JohnRatcliffe #USIntelligenceAgencies #FBI #TerrorismResponse