Eggen,
Dan, and Vernon Loeb. "U.S. Intelligence Points to Bin Laden Network."
Washington Post, 12 Sep. 2001, A1. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]Materials arranged chronologically.
Eggen,
Dan, and Vernon Loeb. "U.S. Intelligence Points to Bin Laden Network."
Washington Post, 12 Sep. 2001, A1. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
According to senior U.S. officials, "[t]he U.S. government has strong evidence from multiple sources that the suicidal terrorists who carried out yesterday's [11 September 2001] catastrophic attacks in New York and Washington were connected to Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden, who previously was linked to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center."
Cannistraro,
Vincent. "Undetected At Home." Washington Post, 13 Sep.
2001, A31. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
"There is little doubt now that bin Laden's terrorist cadre, learning exponentially as it suffers losses, has employed the intelligence technique of deception to mislead the United States. Bin Laden no longer transfers funds electronically and no longer communicates with subordinates over telephones, relying on couriers to disseminate funds and instructions. Meanwhile, one can surmise that bin Laden is deliberately providing disinformation over open communication channels, expecting his adversaries to be listening."
Alvarez, Lizette.
"Spying on Terrorists and Thwarting Them Gains
New Urgency." New York Times, 14 Sep. 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
"Hoping to prevent future terrorist attacks, House and Senate lawmakers expressed broad support [on 13 September 2001] for funneling more money to intelligence operations, beefing up spy networks and creating one agency to handle terrorism."
Woodward,
Bob, and Vernon Loeb. "CIA's Covert War on Bin Laden." Washington
Post, 14 Sep. 2001, A1. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
Government sources have said that "[t]he CIA has been authorized since 1998 to use covert means to disrupt and preempt terrorist operations planned abroad by Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden under a [classified] directive [presidential finding] signed by President Bill Clinton and reaffirmed by President Bush this year."
Cohen,
Richard. "Anatomy Of a Failure." Washington Post, 15 Sep.
2001, A27. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]
"It is the first obligation of the [U.S.] government ... to protect the people of the United States. It is fair to say [in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington] that the government failed in that obligation.... The intelligence failures that produced Tuesday's horrific consequences were ... bipartisanly arrived at.... What's missing, key members of Congress told me, are the human assets that might have brought some warning about what was being planned."
Risen, James.
"Lawmakers See Need to Loosen Rules on C.I.A."
New York Times, 16 Sep. 2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
"The Congressional leaders who oversee the nation's intelligence system have concluded that America's spy agencies should be allowed to combat terrorism with more aggressive tactics, including the hiring of unsavory foreign agents. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have also revived discussion of reversing the United States' 25-year ban on using covert agents to assassinate foreigners."
Bruce, Ian. "Spy Base in Yorkshire Listens in on bin Laden's Phone Calls."
Electronic Herald
(London), 17 Sep. 2001. [http://www.theherald.co.uk]
"Britain is playing a key role in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in last week's ... attacks on New York and Washington, via the top-secret electronic spy base at Menwith Hill in Yorkshire. Every phone call, fax, internet and microwave transmission in or out of Afghanistan is being monitored by the site's joint UK-US Echelon surveillance system to try to locate bin Laden and his closest lieutenants."
Friedman, George. "The Intelligence War." Stratfor.com, 17 Sep. 2001. [http://www.stratfor. com]
"Summary: Attention is turning to the need for an intense, covert war in which the American intelligence community will play a leading role. At the same time, there is a crisis of confidence concerning the ability of the intelligence community to wage that war. The most important and frequently neglected part of intelligence -- analysis -- thus far has received scant attention. Without increased resources and freedom directed toward the intelligence analyst, a quantum increase in operational effectiveness will not be possible."
Chinni,
Dante. "Why It's Hard for CIA to Fight Terrorism." Christian
Science Monitor, 20 Sep. 2001. [http://www.csmonitor.com]
"[A] push is under way to 'unshackle' the CIA -- allowing it to engage in assassinations, hire 'unsavory' agents, and do whatever else it can to infiltrate Islamic extremist groups. But behind the move to revamp the nation's intelligence-gathering operations lie a host of practical problems that will make any secret war difficult to win, or even to begin."
Weiner, Tim,
and David Cay Johnston. "Roadblocks Cited in
Efforts to Trace bin Laden's Money." New York Times, 20 Sep.
2001. [http://www.nytimes.com]
According to federal officials, "[a] six-year struggle to uncover Osama bin Laden's financial network failed because American officials did not skillfully use the legal tools they had, did not realize they needed stronger weapons, and faced resistance at home and abroad."
Forward to Reportage to 30 September
2001
Return to Terrorism 2001 Table of Contents
Return to CIA 2001
Table of Contents
Return to FBI Table of
Contents
Return to Post-WWII 2001 Table of Contents