Could 9/11 have been prevented?

Up until now the common sentiment was that the 9/11 attacks came as a complete shock to the U.S., which had no idea that the devastation that happened on September 11, 2001 was going to occur.

However, a trove of documents have been released concerning Osama bin Laden and terrorist attacks that paints an alarming picture that President Bush had actually been warned of an imminent attack, but had chosen to ignore the warnings.

The CIA documents are newly declassified and have been released to the National Security Archive. The documents are available to read on DocumentCloud, a document uploading site that gives users access to extensive information about organizations, people and places.

The highly damning documents provide readers with a clearer account of U.S. knowledge about the possibility of its country being attacked, which blatantly contradicts claims made by Bush officials, that the U.S. government was aggressively pursuing bin Laden and al-Qaida prior to 9/11 and that nobody could have predicted the 9/11 attacks.

From June until August 2001 a series of documents made clear reference to bin Laden, and his associates impending attack on the U.S.











U.S. Well Aware of Impending Attacks

For example, in a Senior Executive Intelligence Brief written on 25 June 2001, the document states under a sub-heading titled: “Terrorism: Bin Laden and Associates Making Near-Term Threats”, “Expect Usama Bin Laden to launch multiple attacks over the coming days.” (1)

Two days earlier a Senior Executive Intelligence Brief stated under a sub-heading, “International: Bin Laden Attacks May be Imminent”,

“Multiple reports indicate that extremists expect Bin Laden to launch attacks over the coming days, possibly against US or Israeli interests.” (2)

On June 30 2001, another document warned that Bin Laden was ‘Planning High-Profile Attacks’:

“Operative linked to Usama Bin Laden’s organization expect the near-term attacks they are planning to have dramatic consequences, such as major causalities.” (3)

Preceding documents talk of bin Ladens’ attack being delayed but not cancelled, with the last of the CIA briefs, written on August 7, 2001 warning that Bin Laden is ‘Determined to Strike in the US”, and that: