Fear of Clowns

Two months before 9-11, Phoenix FBI agent Kenneth Williams wrote a memo to FBI HQ, reading in part,

• "The purpose of this communication, is to advise the bureau and New York of the possibility of a coordinated effort by Osama bin Laden to send students to the United States to attend civil aviation universities and colleges ...

  "Phoenix believes that the FBI should accumulate a listing of civil aviation universities/colleges around the country. FBI field offices with these types of schools in their area should establish appropriate liaison. FBIHQ should discuss this matter with other elements of the U.S. intelligence community and task the community for any information that supports Phoenix’s suspicions. FBIHQ should consider seeking the necessary authority to obtain visa information from the USDOS on individuals obtaining visas to attend these types of schools and notify the appropriate FBI field office when these individuals are scheduled to arrive in their area of responsibility."

In the version of William's memo made public, most all names are blacked out: if any of the 19 hijacker's names were mentioned in this memo, it means that the FBI HQ knew the identities of terrorists who two months later would hijack four airplanes within the United States - and had been warned of the possibility of specific individuals who were feared to be at some point in the development of a plot to hijack airplanes.

On August 15, 2001, Minneapolis FBI agents took Zaccharias Moussaoui into custody . Here is Colleen Rowley's May 21, 2002 memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller concerning Moussaui: Rowley writes,

• "As the Minneapolis agents' reasonable suspicions quickly ripened into probable cause, which, at the latest, occurred within days of Moussaoui's arrest when the French Intelligence Service confirmed his affiliations with radical fundamentalist Islamic groups and activities connected to Osama Bin Laden, they became desperate to search the computer lap top that had been taken from Moussaoui as well as conduct a more thorough search of his personal effects. The agents in particular believed that Moussaoui signaled he had something to hide in the way he refused to allow them to search his computer."

Between these two events, President Bush received the now famous August 6 Presidential Daily Briefing which stated,

• "Nevertheless, FBI information since that time [1998] indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York."

Rather than point out absurdities such as Bush claiming that the memo "said nothing about an attack on America," I'll present the nutshell timeline:

• July 10, 2001: FBI agent in Phoenix warns of suspected terrorists taking flight training in the US with the intention of hijacking airplanes. It's possible the memo mentions 9-11 hijackers by name, we don't know.
• August 6, 2001: President Bush receives a memo warning of a long history of a desire by terrorists to hijack US flights and commit other acts of terrorism within the United States. It concludes by summarizing that there are ongoing activities "in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks."
• August 15, 2001: Accused 9-11 conspirator Zaccharias Moussaoui in custody, FBI field agents request for a search warrant on Moussaoui is denied.
• September 11, 2001: Four domestic flights hijacked by terrorists trained in US flight schools.

The significance of the August 6 memo reaches beyond the loose warnings it describes by establishing the intelligence failures reached all the way up to the Oval Office - the President was made aware that an al Qaeda plot to hijack airplanes may be in the works. Shortly before the President received the August 6 memo, an FBI agent had alerted FBI Headquarters of suspected terrorists taking flying lessons at US schools. Shortly after the President had definitively been made aware of al Qaeda's active desire to attack within the US, the FBI obtained definitive and specific information about Zaccharias Moussaoui - and indeed had him in custody. It's now the JD's contention that Moussaoui was the 20th hijacker, which is a reasonable assumption.

The August 6 brief means much more when looked at along side Kenneth Williams' memo and the arrest of Zaccharias Moussaoui. A presidential directive to vigorously pursue leads on suspected al Qaeda operatives within the US - particularly those suspected of planning a hijacking - could have turned over some rocks and shook some trees that were known of, but left unexamined until it was too late.

// posted by Erik @ 4/11/2004 09:21:00 PM
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