The 9/11 Commission Report

1 THE 9/11 COMMISSIONREPORTF inal 7/17/04 5:25 PM Page iList of Illustrations and Tables ixMember List xiStaff List xiii xivPreface xv1. WE HAVE SOME PLANES the Four Flights a Homeland Defense Crisis Management 352. THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW TERRORISM Declaration of War Ladin s Appeal in the Islamic World Rise of Bin Ladin and al Qaeda (1988 1992) an Organization, DeclaringWar on the United States (1992 1996) Qaeda s Renewal in Afghanistan (1996 1998) 633. COUNTERTERRORISM EVOLVES the Old Terrorism to the New:The First World Trade Center Bombing and Nonadaptation ..in the Law Enforcement Community .. and in the Federal Aviation Administration .. and in the Intelligence Community 86 CONTENTSvFinal 7/17/04 5:25 PM Page.

2 And in the State Department and the Defense Department .. and in the White House .. and in the Congress 1024. RESPONSES TO AL QAEDA S INITIAL ASSAULTS the Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania : August 1998 Action for Fresh Options 1345. AL QAEDA AIMS AT THE AMERICAN HOMELAND Entrepreneurs Planes Operation Hamburg Contingent Money Trail? 1696. FROM THREAT TO THREAT Millennium Crisis Reflection: Agenda for 2000 Attack on the USS and Continuity New Administration s Approach 2037. THE ATTACK LOOMS Arrivals in California 9/11 Pilots in the United States the Teams Strategies and Tactics 2418. THE SYSTEM WAS BLINKING RED Summer of Threat Leads Mihdhar, Moussaoui, and KSM 2669.

3 HEROISM AND HORROR as of September 11 11, 2001 Response at the Pentagon 315viFinal 7/17/04 5:25 PM Page vi10. WARTIME Immediate Responses at Home Planning for War Phase Two and the Question of Iraq 33411. FORESIGHT AND HINDSIGHT Imagination Policy Capabilities Management 35312. WHAT TO DO? A GLOBAL STRATEGY Reflecting on a Generational Challenge Attack Terrorists and Their Organizations Prevent the Continued Growth of Islamist Terrorism Protect against and Prepare for Terrorist Attacks 38313. HOW TO DO IT? A DIFFERENT WAY OF ORGANIZING THE GOVERNMENT Unity of Effort across the Foreign-Domestic Divide Unity of Effort in the Intelligence Community Unity of Effort in Sharing Information Unity of Effort in the Congress Organizing America s Defenses in the United States 423 Appendix A: Common Abbreviations429 Appendix B:Table of Names431 Appendix C: Commission Hearings439 Notes449viiFinal 7/17/04 5:25 PM Page viiFinal 7/17/04 5:25 PM Page viiip.

4 15 FAA Air Traffic Control Centersp. 15 Reporting structure, Northeast Air Defense Sectorp. 32 33 Flight paths and timelinesp. 49 Usama Bin Ladinp. 64 Map of Afghanistanp. 148 Khalid Sheikh Mohammedp. 238 239 The 9/11 hijackersp. 279 The World Trade Center Complex as of 9/11p. 284 The World Trade Center radio repeater systemp. 288 The World Trade Center North Tower stairwell with deviationsp. 312 The Twin Towers following the impact of American AirlinesFlight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175p. 313 The Pentagon after being struck by American Airlines Flight 77p. 313 American Airlines Flight 93 crash site, Shanksville, Pennsylvaniap. 413 Unity of effort in managing intelligenceLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSAND TABLESixFinal 7/17/04 5:25 PM Page ixFinal 7/17/04 5:25 PM Page xThomas H.

5 KeanchairRichard Ben-VenisteFred F. FieldingJamie S. GorelickSlade GortonLee H. Hamiltonvice chairBob KerreyJohn F. LehmanTimothy J. RoemerJames 7/17/04 5:25 PM Page xiFinal 7/17/04 5:25 PM Page xiiJoanne M. AccollaStaff AssistantAlexis AlbionProfessional Staff MemberScott H. Allan, A. AzzarelloCounselCaroline BarnesProfessional Staff MemberWarren BassProfessional Staff MemberAnn M. BennettInformation Control OfficerMark S. BittingerProfessional Staff MemberMadeleine BlotCounselAntwion M. BlountSystems EngineerSam BrinkleyProfessional Staff MemberGeoffrey Scott BrownResearch AssistantDaniel BymanProfessional Staff MemberDianna CampagnaManager of OperationsSamuel CaspersenCounselMelissa A. CoffeyStaff AssistantLance ColeConsultantMarquittia L.

6 ColemanStaff AssistantMarco A. CorderoProfessional Staff MemberRajesh DeCounselGeorge W. DelgrossoInvestigatorGerald L. DillinghamProfessional Staff MemberThomas E. DowlingProfessional Staff MemberSteven M. DunneDeputy General CounselThomas R. EldridgeCounselAlice FalkEditorJohn J. Farmer, Counsel & Team LeaderAlvin S. FelzenbergDeputy for CommunicationsCOMMISSIONSTAFF xiiiPhilip Zelikow,Executive DirectorChristopher A. Kojm,Deputy Executive DirectorDaniel Marcus,General CounselFinal 7/17/04 5:25 PM Page xiiiLorry M. FennerProfessional Staff MemberSusan GinsburgSenior Counsel & Team LeaderT. Graham GiustiSecurity OfficerNicole Marie GrandrimoProfessional Staff MemberDouglas N. GreenburgCounselBarbara A. GreweSenior Counsel, Special ProjectsElinore Flynn HartzFamily LiaisonLeonard R.

7 HawleyProfessional Staff MemberL. Christine HealeySenior Counsel & Team LeaderKaren HeitkotterExecutive SecretaryWalter T. Hempel IIProfessional Staff MemberC. Michael HurleySenior Counsel & Team LeaderDana J. HydeCounselJohn W. IvicicSecurity OfficerMichael N. JacobsonCounselHunter W. JamersonInternBonnie D. JenkinsCounselReginald F. JohnsonStaff JohnstoneProfessional Staff MemberStephanie L. KaplanSpecial Assistant & Managing EditorMiles L. Kara, Staff MemberJanice L. KephartCounselHyon KimCounselKatarzyna KozaczukFinancial AssistantGordon Nathaniel LedermanCounselDaniel J. LeopoldStaff AssistantSarah Webb LindenProfessional Staff MemberDouglas J. MacEachinProfessional Staff Member & Team LeaderErnest R. MaySenior AdviserJoseph McBrideInternJames MillerProfessional Staff MemberKelly MooreProfessional Staff MemberCharles M.

8 PereiraProfessional Staff MemberJohn RaidtProfessional Staff MemberJohn RothSenior Counsel & Team LeaderPeter RundletCounselLloyd D. SalvettiProfessional Staff MemberKevin J. ScheidProfessional Staff Member & Team LeaderKevin ShaefferProfessional Staff MemberTracy J. ShycoffDeputy for Administration & FinanceDietrich L. SnellSenior Counsel & Team LeaderJonathan DeWees StullCommunications AssistantLisa Marie SullivanStaff AssistantQuinn John Tamm, Staff MemberCatharine AssistantYoel TobinCounselEmily Landis WalkerProfessional Staff Member & Family LiaisonGarth WermterSenior IT ConsultantSerena YerkesPublic Affairs AssistantxivCOMMISSION STAFFxivFinal 7/17/04 5:26 PM Page xivWe present the narrativeof this Report and the recommendationsthat flow from it to the President of the United States, the United StatesCongress, and the American people for their consideration.

9 TenCommissioners five Republicans and five Democrats chosen by electedleaders from our nation s capital at a time of great partisan division havecome together to present this Report without have come together with a unity of purpose because our nationdemands it. September 11, 2001, was a day of unprecedented shock and suf-fering in the history of the United nation was unprepared. Howdid this happen, and how can we avoid such tragedy again?To answer these questions, the Congress and the President created theNational Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (PublicLaw 107-306, November 27, 2002).Our mandate was sweeping. The law directed us to investigate facts andcircumstances relating to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, includ-ing those relating to intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies, diplo-macy, immigration issues and border control, the flow of assets to terroristorganizations, commercial aviation, the role of congressional oversight andresource allocation, and other areas determined relevant by the pursuing our mandate, we have reviewed more than million pagesof documents and interviewed more than 1,200 individuals in ten included nearly every senior official from the current and previousadministrations who had responsibility for topics covered in our have sought to be independent, impartial, thorough.

10 And the outset, we have been committed to share as much of our investi-gation as we can with the American that end, we held 19 days ofhearings and took public testimony from 160 7/17/04 5:26 PM Page xvOur aim has not been to assign individual blame. Our aim has been toprovide the fullest possible account of the events surrounding 9/11 and toidentify lessons learned about an enemy who is sophisticated, patient, disciplined,and enemy rallies broad support in the Arab and Muslim worldby demanding redress of political grievances, but its hostility toward us andour values is limitless. Its purpose is to rid the world of religious and polit-ical pluralism, the plebiscite, and equal rights for women. It makes no dis-tinction between military and civilian damageis not in learned that the institutions charged with protecting our borders,civil aviation, and national security did not understand how grave this threatcould be, and did not adjust their policies, plans, and practices to deter ordefeat learned of fault lines within our government between foreignand domestic intelligence, and between and within learned ofthe pervasive problems of managing and sharing information across a largeand unwieldy government that had been built in a different era to confrontdifferent the outset of our work, we said we were looking backward in orderto look forward.