Responsibility for the September 11 attacks
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At around 9:30pm on September 11, 2001,
George Tenet George John Tenet (born January 5, 1953) is an American intelligence official and academic who served as the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) for the United States Central Intelligence Agency, as well as a Distinguished Professor in the P ...
, director of the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA) told
President George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
and U.S. senior officials that the CIA's
Counterterrorism Center The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's Mission Center for Counterterrorism (often referred to as the Counterterrorism Mission Center or CTMC, formerly the Counterterrorism Center, or simply CTC) was established in 1986, and is a division of the CI ...
had determined that
Osama Bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
and
al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
were responsible for the September 11 attacks. Two weeks after the
terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
connected the
hijackers Hijacking may refer to: Common usage Computing and technology * Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth * Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand * Browser hijacking * Clickjacking (including ''like ...
to al-Qaeda, a
militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...
Salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...
Islamist multi-national organization. In a number of video, audio, interview and printed statements, senior members of al-Qaeda have also asserted responsibility for organizing the September 11 attacks.


Identifying the hijackers

The FBI investigation into the attacks, codenamed operation PENTTBOM, was able to identify the 19 hijackers within days, as they made little effort to conceal their names on flight, credit card, and other records. By checking flight manifests and comparing them with other information, like watch lists, customs officials were able to find the names of all 19 hijackers quickly. Passengers and crew aboard the flights provided information about the hijackers while the hijacking was in progress. Two
flight attendants A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...
on
American Airlines Flight 11 American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001 as part of the September 11 attacks. Lead hijacker Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed the plane into the North Tower ...
,
Betty Ong Betty Ann Ong (; February 5, 1956 – September 11, 2001) was an American flight attendant aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first airplane hijacked during the September 11 attacks. Ong was the first person to alert authorities to the hi ...
and
Madeline Amy Sweeney Madeline Amy Sweeney (December 14, 1965 – September 11, 2001) was an American flight attendant who was killed when American Airlines Flight 11 was deliberately crashed into the World Trade Center by hijackers during the September 11 atta ...
, contacted airline personnel on the ground. Sweeney provided the seat numbers of the hijackers, and descriptions of the men, identifying
Mohamed Atta Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta ( ; ar, محمد محمد الأمير عوض السيد عطا ; September 1, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an Egyptian hijacker and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks in 2001 in which fo ...
as one of the hijackers. A flight attendant on
United Airlines Flight 175 United Airlines Flight 175 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The flight's scheduled plan was from Logan International Airport, in Boston, M ...
called a United Airlines mechanic and reported that hijackers had killed the crew. While the hijacking was in progress on
American Airlines Flight 77 American Airlines Flight 77 was a scheduled American Airlines domestic transcontinental passenger flight from Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. The Boe ...
, several passengers, including a flight attendant, Renee May, contacted and reported details of the hijacking to persons on the ground. Sales clerks identified two individuals to whom they sold tickets on Flight 77 as the hijackers
Hani Hanjour ) , birth_place = Taif, Saudi Arabia , death_date = , death_place = Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. , death_cause = Plane crash, suicide , known_for = Hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77 (a ...
and
Majed Moqed Majed Mashaan Ghanem Moqed ( ar, ماجد مشعان موقد, ; also transliterated as Moqued) (June 18, 1977 – September 11, 2001) was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77 as part of the September 11 attacks. A Saudi, Moqed ...
. During the hijacking of
United Airlines Flight 93 United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda attackers aboard the plane on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The plane eventually crashed in Som ...
,
Jeremy Glick Jeremy Logan Glick (September 3, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was an American passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked and crashed as part of the September 11 attacks. Aware of the earlier attacks at the World Trade Center, ...
identified the hijackers as Arabic-looking and carrying box-cutters.
Mohamed Atta Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta ( ; ar, محمد محمد الأمير عوض السيد عطا ; September 1, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an Egyptian hijacker and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks in 2001 in which fo ...
's luggage did not make the connection from his Portland flight to
American Airlines Flight 11 American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001 as part of the September 11 attacks. Lead hijacker Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed the plane into the North Tower ...
. In his suitcase, authorities found a handwritten letter in
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
. As well, a handwritten letter was found at the crash site of
United Airlines Flight 93 United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda attackers aboard the plane on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The plane eventually crashed in Som ...
near
Shanksville, Pennsylvania Shanksville is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It has a population of 197 as of the 2020 U.S. census. It is part of the Somerset, Pennsylvania Micropolitan Statistical Area and is located southeast of Pittsburgh and west of Philade ...
, and another in Hazmi's vehicle. When examining
Mohamed Atta Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta ( ; ar, محمد محمد الأمير عوض السيد عطا ; September 1, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an Egyptian hijacker and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks in 2001 in which fo ...
's left-behind luggage, the FBI found important clues about the hijackers and their plans. Atta's luggage contained instructional videotapes for flying large aircraft, a fuel consumption calculator, and a flight plan, along with a copy of the Quran. His luggage also contained papers that revealed the identity of all 19 hijackers, along with a copy of Atta's last will and testament. The passport of hijacker Abdulaziz Alomari was also found in
Mohamed Atta Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta ( ; ar, محمد محمد الأمير عوض السيد عطا ; September 1, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an Egyptian hijacker and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks in 2001 in which fo ...
's left-behind luggage. Various items of evidence were found in vehicles left behind at the airports, in luggage that did not make it onto the flights, and at the crash scenes. A rental car belonging to the hijackers was found at Boston's
Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...
, which contained an Arabic language flight manual and documents from
Huffman Aviation Huffman Aviation was a flight-training school in Venice, Florida at Venice Municipal Airport. Background Huffman Aviation Florida was established in 1972 as ''Venice Flying Service'', and was reorganized in 1987 and renamed as ''Huffman Aviation ...
in Florida. There, investigators were able to find
Mohamed Atta Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta ( ; ar, محمد محمد الأمير عوض السيد عطا ; September 1, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an Egyptian hijacker and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks in 2001 in which fo ...
and
Marwan al-Shehhi Marwan Yousef Mohamed Rashid Lekrab al-Shehhi ( ar, مروان يوسف محمد رشيد لكراب الشحي, , also transliterated as Alshehhi; 9 May 1978 – 11 September 2001) was an Emirati al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist who served a ...
's previous address in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
, Germany.
Nawaf al-Hazmi ) , birth_place = Mecca, Saudi Arabia , death_date = , death_place = Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. , death_cause = Plane crash , nationality = Saudi Arabian , relatives = Salem al-Hazmi (brothe ...
's 1988 blue Toyota Corolla was found on September 12 in Dulles International Airport's hourly parking lot. Inside the vehicle, authorities found a letter written by
Mohamed Atta Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta ( ; ar, محمد محمد الأمير عوض السيد عطا ; September 1, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an Egyptian hijacker and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks in 2001 in which fo ...
, maps of Washington, D.C., and New York City, a cashier's check made out to a Phoenix flight school, four drawings of a Boeing 757 cockpit, a box cutter-type knife, and a page with notes and phone numbers. In New York City, a passport belonging to
Satam al-Suqami Satam Muhammed Abdel Rahman al-Suqami ( ar, سطَّام السُّقامي, ) (June 28, 1976 – September 11, 2001) was a Saudi law student and one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11 as part of the September 11 attacks in 2001. A ...
was found by a passerby before the towers collapsed, and given to a NYPD detective. The passports of two of the hijackers of Flight 93 were also found intact at the crash site. On September 27, 2001, the FBI released photos of the 19 hijackers, along with information about the possible nationalities and aliases of many.


Assigning responsibility

For several months following the September 11 attacks, no one, nor any group, claimed responsibility for the attacks, so the primary responsibility fell solely upon the hijackers, all of whom were killed and all of whom left no message or any claim of responsibility, explaining why they had carried out the attacks. As the media covered the 9/11 attacks unfolding, many quickly speculated that bin Laden was behind the attacks. On the day of the attacks, the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
intercepted communications that pointed to bin Laden, as did German intelligence agencies. This helped rule out other immediate suspects, such as Croatian nationalists, who had planted a bomb in
Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
on September 10, 1976.Katz, Samuel M. "Relentless Pursuit: The DSS and the manhunt for the al-Qaeda terrorists", 2002 Authorities in the United States and Britain also obtained electronic intercepts, including telephone conversations and electronic bank transfers, which indicate that
Mohammed Atef Mohammed Atef ( ar, محمد عاطف, ; born Sobhi Mohammed Abu Sitta Al-Gohary, also known as Abu Hafs al-Masri) was the military chief of al-Qaeda, and was considered one of Osama bin Laden's two deputies, the other being Ayman Al Zawahiri, ...
, a bin Laden deputy, was a key figure in the planning of the 9/11 attacks. Intercepts were also obtained that revealed conversations that took place days before September 11 between bin Laden and an associate in
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. In those conversations, the two referred to "an incident that would take place in America on, or around, September 11" and they discussed potential repercussions. In another conversation with an associate in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, bin Laden discussed the "scale and effects of a forthcoming operation." These conversations did not specifically mention the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
or
Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...
, or other specifics. The investigators were quickly able to link the 19 men to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, also by accessing material in their intelligence agency files. The ''New York Times'' reported on September 12 that: "Authorities said they had also identified accomplices in several cities who had helped plan and execute Tuesday's attacks. Officials said they knew who these people were and important biographical details about many of them. They prepared biographies of each identified member of the hijack teams, and began tracing the recent movements of the men." FBI agents in Florida investigating the hijackers quickly "descended on flight schools, neighborhoods and restaurants in pursuit of leads." At one flight school, "students said investigators were there within hours of Tuesday's attacks." The ''Washington Post'' later reported that "In the hours after Tuesday's bombings, investigators searched their files on
atam In software engineering, architecture tradeoff analysis method (ATAM) is a risk-mitigation process used early in the software development life cycle. ATAM was developed by the Software Engineering Institute at the Carnegie Mellon University. Its pu ...
al-Suqami and hmedal-Ghamdi, noted the pair's ties to
abil Abil ( ar, آبل, also spelled Abel or Aabel) is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located 10 kilometers south of Homs. Nearby localities include al-Nuqayrah and Kafr Aya to the north, Maskanah to the nor ...
al-Marabh and launched a hunt for him."NucNews, Sep 21, 2001
.
Based on the evidence, authorities in the United States quickly asserted that Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization were solely responsible for the attacks, and other suspects were ruled out. The
Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal coat of arms of t ...
reached the same conclusion. Although he denied involvement in the attacks at first, Osama bin Laden claimed full responsibility in a 2004 video. Author Laurie Mylroie, writing in the conservative political magazine ''
The American Spectator ''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor-i ...
'' in 2006, argued that
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaikh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born March 1, 1964 or April 14, 1965) is a Pakistani Islamist militant held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-re ...
and his family are the primary architects of 9/11 and similar attacks, that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's association with Osama bin Laden is secondary, and that Al-Qaeda's claim of responsibility for the attack is after the fact and opportunistic. In an opposing point of view, former
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
officer
Robert Baer Robert Booker Baer (born July 11, 1952) is an American author and a former CIA case officer who was primarily assigned to the Middle East.Robert Bae"Don't Assume Ahmadinejad Really Lost" ''Time'' website, June 16, 2009 He is ''Times intellig ...
, writing in ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine in 2007, asserted that
George W. Bush Administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic ...
's publicizing of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claims of responsibility for 9/11 and numerous other acts was a mendacious attempt to claim that all of the significant actors in 9/11 had been caught.


Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden

Intelligence experts speak of a "short list" of prime suspects—groups that possess both the means and the motive to carry out the crime. Two of the passengers had been identified as al-Qaeda members and were on the FBI's terrorist-alert list prior to 9/11: Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi

https://web.archive.org/web/20040202120731/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2002/senatecommittee092602.html]. It appears certain that all hijackers had Arab origins, and none were Afghan; moreover, both in their immense scale, careful planning and refraining from claiming responsibility, the attacks are reminiscent of al-Qaeda's previous attacks such as the
1998 US embassy bombings The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 200 people were killed in nearly simultaneous truck bomb explosions in two East African cities, one at the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam ...
that killed over 200 people.


1993 World Trade Center bombing

In the
World Trade Center bombing The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, U.S., carried out on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the complex. The urea nitrate–hydrogen gas en ...
(February 26, 1993) a
car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...
was detonated by
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
Islamist terrorists in the underground
parking garage A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...
below Tower One of the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
in New York City. The
urea Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important r ...
nitrate-fuel oil device killed six and injured over a thousand people. It was intended to devastate the foundation of the North Tower, causing it to collapse onto its twin. The attack was planned by a group of conspirators including
Ramzi Yousef Ramzi Ahmed Yousef ( ur, , translit=''Ramzī Ahmad Yūsuf''; born 20 May 1967 or 27 April 1968) is a Pakistani convicted terrorist who was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the bombing of Philippine Airlines ...
,
Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman ( ar, عمر عبد الرحمن), (ʾUmar ʾAbd ar-Raḥmān; 3 May 1938 – 18 February 2017), commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", was a blind Egyptian Islamist militant who served a life sent ...
,
El Sayyid Nosair El Sayyid Nosair (born 16 November 1955) is an Egyptian-born American citizen, convicted of involvement in the 1993 New York City landmark bomb plot. He had earlier been tried for, but acquitted of, the 1990 New York City assassination of Meir Kah ...
,
Mahmud Abouhalima Mahmud Abouhalima ( ar, محمود أبو حليمة) (born December 14, 1958) is a convicted perpetrator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Life Born to a mill foreman in Kafr Dawar, Egypt, Abouhalima spent his adolescence with the Al-Ga ...
, Mohammad Salameh,
Nidal Ayyad Nidal A. Ayyad (Arabic: نضال عياد; born 1968) is a convicted perpetrator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He is currently serving an 86-year sentence at USP Coleman for his role in the bombing. Early life and education Ayyad w ...
,
Ahmad Ajaj Ahmed Mohammad Ajaj (also transliterated Ahmad; born 1966) is a Palestinian citizen who is convicted of participating in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He is currently serving an 84-year sentence at USP Coleman for taking part in the bom ...
, and
Abdul Rahman Yasin Abdul Rahman Yasin ( ar, عبد الرحمن يس ; born April 10, 1960) is an Iraqi-American terrorist and fugitive who took part in the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing terrorist attack. Yasin is presumed to have helped make the bombs and explo ...
. They received financing from al-Qaeda member Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Yousef's uncle, who would later allegedly admit to planning the September 11 attacks.


Statements of motives prior to attacks

Starting in 1996, Osama bin Laden stated in public proclamations (''
fatwas A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...
'') and in interviews with journalists his common list of grievances which he cited as the reason for his declaration of war against the United States. In 1998, bin Laden and
Ayman al-Zawahiri Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (June 19, 1951 – July 31, 2022) was an Egyptian-born terrorist and physician who served as the second emir of al-Qaeda from June 16, 2011, until his death. Al-Zawahiri graduated from Cairo University with ...
(a leader of
Egyptian Islamic Jihad The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ, ar, الجهاد الإسلامي المصري), formerly called simply Islamic Jihad ( ar, الجهاد الإسلامي, links=no) and the Liberation Army for Holy Sites, originally referred to as al-Jihad, and ...
) co-signed a ''
fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...
'' (binding religious edict) in the name of the
World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...
, declaring: In an interview with journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai published in ''
TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
'' on January 11, 1999, Osama bin Laden was quoted as saying:


Planning the attacks

According to interviews by Al-Jazeera as well as United States interrogations of al-Qaeda members
Ramzi bin al-Shibh Ramzi Mohammed Abdullah bin al-Shibh ( ar, رمزي محمد عبدالله بن الشيبة; also transliterated as bin al-Shaibah; born 1 May 1972Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaikh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born March 1, 1964 or April 14, 1965) is a Pakistani Islamist militant held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-re ...
(captured in 2002 and 2003 respectively), Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the instigator and prime organizer of the attacks. Bin al-Shibh may have been picked as a hijacker but he failed to get into the United States. Khalid Mohammed had provided funding to his nephew
Ramzi Yousef Ramzi Ahmed Yousef ( ur, , translit=''Ramzī Ahmad Yūsuf''; born 20 May 1967 or 27 April 1968) is a Pakistani convicted terrorist who was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the bombing of Philippine Airlines ...
for the
World Trade Center bombing The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, U.S., carried out on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the complex. The urea nitrate–hydrogen gas en ...
in 1993. In addition, he collaborated on '' Oplan Bojinka'' which called for ten or more airliners to be bombed in mid-air or hijacked for use as missiles. Planning for Oplan Bojinka began in 1994, and was funded in part by Osama bin Laden, but was thwarted by an accidental fire in 1995. In mid-1996, Khalid Mohammed presented a new plan to the leadership of al-Qaeda that called for several airplanes on both
east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and
west coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...
s to be hijacked and flown into targets. According to the bin al-Shibh and Khalid Mohammed, six of the hijackers played active parts in the planning, including the four who became the pilots. The other two were
Khalid al-Mihdhar Khalid al-Mihdar ( ar, خالد المحضار, translit=Khālid al-Miḥḍār was a Saudi terrorist hijacker. He was one of the five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 77, which was flown into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attac ...
and
Nawaf al-Hazmi ) , birth_place = Mecca, Saudi Arabia , death_date = , death_place = Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. , death_cause = Plane crash , nationality = Saudi Arabian , relatives = Salem al-Hazmi (brothe ...
. CIA operatives reportedly monitored the movements of these two known militants when they visited the US but did not notify the FBI or gain an inkling of what the hijackers were planning. However, during a 2006 Moussaoui trial cross-examination, FBI agents stated that the bureau was aware, years before the attacks in 2001, that al-Qaeda planned to use planes to destroy important buildings. Philippine Chief Superintendent Avelino Razon had noted such plans during the 1995 investigation of Oplan Bojinka, of which Razon said The targets ultimately chosen were the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the United States Capitol. Flight 93 was apparently meant to crash into the Capitol. The White House was considered as a target; initially dismissed as being too difficult to locate from the air, it was later included in the plans. In the communications that developed as the scheme took form, the Pentagon's code name was the ''Faculty of Arts'', Capitol Hill was the ''Faculty of Law'', and the World Trade Center was coded as the ''Faculty of Town Planning''.


Al-Qaeda statements after attacks

Al-Qaeda's spokesman, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, said in a video sent to
al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
and broadcast in October 2001 the following:


Osama bin Laden statements after attacks

Prior to his death on May 2, 2011, the FBI listed bin Laden as one of the " 10 Most Wanted" in connection with several incidents including the
USS Cole bombing The USS ''Cole'' bombing was a suicide attack by the terrorist group al-Qaeda against , a guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy, on 12 October 2000, while she was being refueled in Yemen's Aden harbor. Seventeen U.S. Navy sailo ...
and the
1998 United States embassy bombings The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 200 people were killed in nearly simultaneous truck bomb explosions in two East African cities, one at the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam, ...
in East Africa. The FBI's "
FBI Most Wanted Terrorists The FBI Most Wanted Terrorists is a list created and first released on October 10, 2001, with the authority of United States President George W. Bush, following the September 11 attacks on the United States. Initially, the list contained 22 of t ...
" poster does not specifically hang responsibility for 9/11 on bin Laden, instead it only states "Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world." FBI spokesman Rex Tomb said, however: "There's no mystery here. They could add 9/11 on there, but they have not because they don't need to at this point. ... There is a logic to it", namely, the long-standing practice of only putting criminal charges on the notice. Bin Laden was charged with the 1998 embassy bombings, not 9/11. David N. Kelley, the former U.S. attorney in New York who dealt with terrorism-related cases at the time of bin Laden's indictment for the 1998 bombings, explained that, "It might seem a little strange from the outside, but it makes sense from a legal point of view. If I were in government, I'd be troubled if I were asked to put up a wanted picture where no formal charges had been filed, no matter who it was." Immediately after September 11, 2001, bin Laden praised the attacks, but denied responsibility for them. On September 16, 2001, an
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
news presenter read a message purportedly signed by Osama bin Laden, in which the following words were stated: "I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation." In an interview with bin Laden, published in the Pakistani newspaper ''Ummat Karachi'' on September 28, 2001, he stated: "I have already said that I am not involved in the September 11 attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other humans as an appreciable act." There was reportedly no way to prove the e-mail published in Pakistan came from bin Laden. The Taliban denied he had access to any communications. In late October 2001,
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
journalist
Tayseer Allouni Tayseer Allouni ( ar, تيسير علوني; also: Taysir, Tayseer, Alluni, Aluni, Alony) is a journalist from the Al Jazeera news channel. He was born in Deir ez-Zor in Syria in 1955 then in 1983 he moved to Spain, where he studied Economics, an ...
conducted an interview with Osama bin Laden which was videotaped. Al-Jazeera refused to broadcast it and terminated its affiliation agreement with CNN due to CNN's broadcasting of the interview on January 31, 2002. In the interview, bin Laden addressed the September 11 attacks, saying: In November 2001, US forces recovered a
videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...
from a bombed house in
Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...
, Afghanistan which showed a man purported to be Osama bin Laden talking to Khaled al-Harbi. In the tape, bin Laden talks of planning the attacks. Translations from the tape include the following lines:
... we calculated in advance the number of casualties from the enemy, who would be killed based on the position of the tower. We calculated that the floors that would be hit would be three or four floors. I was the most optimistic of them all ... We had notification since the previous Thursday that the event would take place that day. We had finished our work that day and had the radio on ... Muhammad
tta TTA may refer to *Tan Tan Airport, Morocco, IATA code *Teacher Training Agency, former name of the Training and Development Agency for Schools, England * Technical Theatre Awards, UK *Terran Trade Authority, the setting for a series of science-fict ...
from the Egyptian family 'meaning the al-Qaeda Egyptian group'' was in charge of the group ... The brothers, who conducted the operation, all they knew was that they have a martyrdom operation and we asked each of them to go to America but they didn't know anything about the operation, not even one letter. But they were trained and we did not reveal the operation to them until they are there and just before they boarded the planes.
In May 2002, FBI Director Robert Mueller noted that his organization had not uncovered a single piece of paper, "either here in the U.S. or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere", that mentioned any aspect of the September 11 plot. In late November 2002, a letter attributed to bin Laden and translated by British Islamists surfaced, often called bin Laden's "letter to America". It states the motive behind the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
as being: "because you attacked us and continue to attack us" and justifies the selection of a civilian target. Itemizing a list of perceived Western wrongdoings, the letter concludes that "the oppressed have a right to return the aggression" and hinted at further attacks. Also included are a list of demands, advice, and a statement of grievances against the American government and its people. On February 11, 2003,
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
broadcast an audio tape purportedly from bin Laden. Shortly before the US presidential election in 2004, in a taped statement, bin Laden publicly acknowledged al-Qaeda's involvement in the attacks on the US, and claimed a direct link to the attacks. He said that the attacks were carried out because "we are a free people who do not accept injustice, and we want to regain the freedom of our nation." In an audio message that surfaced on the Internet in May 2006, the speaker, who is alleged to be Osama bin Laden, defends
Zacarias Moussaoui Zacarias Moussaoui (Arabic: زكريا موسوي, '; born May 30, 1968) is a French member of al-Qaeda who pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to conspiring to kill citizens of the United States as part of the September 11 attacks. He is serv ...
, who was undergoing a trial for his participation in the September 11 attacks. The voice in the audio message says


Additional al-Qaeda suspects

, several people—including Mohammed, bin al-Shibh, and
Mohammed al Qahtani Mohammed Mani Ahmad al-Qahtani ( ar, محمد ماني احمد القحطاني) (sometimes transliteration, transliterated as al-Kahtani) (born November 19, 1975) is a Saudi Arabia, Saudi citizen who was detained as an al-Qaeda operative for 2 ...
, the 20th hijacker—were being held by the US as
illegal combatant An unlawful combatant, illegal combatant or unprivileged combatant/belligerent is a person who directly engages in armed conflict in violation of the laws of war and therefore is claimed not to be protected by the Geneva Conventions. The Internati ...
s; however, the United States had no one on trial for the attacks. In Germany,
Mounir El Motassadeq Mounir el-Motassadeq (Arabic: منير المتصدق; born April 3, 1974) was convicted by a German court of being a member of al-Qaeda and of assisting some of the hijackers in the September 11 attacks. He was initially convicted of involvement ...
was convicted of over 3000 counts of accessory to murder for helping finance the hijackers but the verdict was put aside and a new trial scheduled. Abdelghani Mzoudi was acquitted in Germany on the same charges. Imam
Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ar, أنور العولقي, Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone stri ...
has been linked to Al-Qaeda and persons involved in the attacks, though he denied any connections. In 1998 and 1999, he served as vice president for the
Charitable Society for Social Welfare The Charitable Society for Social Welfare (CSSW) is a Yemen-based Non-governmental organization known for offering charitable and humanitarian services to the masses. The CSSW is accredited by the United Nations World Food Program and is also ...
(CSSW) in San Diego, founded by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani of Yemen, who has since been placed on many terrorism lists. During a terrorism trial,
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI) agent Brian Murphy testified that CSSW was a "front organization to funnel money to terrorists," and US federal prosecutors have described it as being used to support Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. The FBI investigated al-Awlaki beginning in June 1999 through March 2000 for possible fundraising for
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
, links to al-Qaeda, and a visit in early 2000 by a close associate of "the blind sheik"
Omar Abdel Rahman Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman ( ar, عمر عبد الرحمن), (ʾUmar ʾAbd ar-Raḥmān; 3 May 1938 – 18 February 2017), commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", was a blind Egyptian Islamist militant who served a life sent ...
(who was in prison for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center attack until his death in 2017). The FBI's interest was also triggered by the fact that he had been contacted by a possible "procurement agent" for bin Laden, Ziyad Khaleel, who helped purchase a satellite phone to call his Yemen communications hub that was used in planning the attacks. But the FBI was unable to unearth sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.Helms, Harry, ''40 Lingering Questions About The 9/11 Attacks''
p. 55, . Retrieved November 11, 2009.
While al-Awlaki was an imam in San Diego, witnesses told the FBI he had a close relationship with two of the
hijackers in the September 11 attacks The hijackers in the September 11 attacks, who were often referred to as the 9/11 hijackers, were 19 men affiliated with the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda. They hailed from four countries; 15 of them were citizens of Saudi Arabia, two were fro ...
(
Nawaf Al-Hazmi ) , birth_place = Mecca, Saudi Arabia , death_date = , death_place = Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. , death_cause = Plane crash , nationality = Saudi Arabian , relatives = Salem al-Hazmi (brothe ...
and Khalid Almihdhar) in 2000, and served as their spiritual advisor.Schmidt, Susan
Imam From Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided Al-Qaeda
; ''The Washington Post'', February 27, 2008. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
The
9/11 Commission Report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'' (officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States)'' is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prepa ...
indicated that the hijackers also "reportedly respected imas a religious figure." Authorities say the two hijackers regularly attended the mosque he led in San Diego, and al-Awlaki had many closed-door meetings with them, which led investigators to believe al-Awlaki knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance. He left San Diego in mid-2000, traveling to "various countries". In January 2001, he headed east and served as Imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in the metropolitan Washington, DC, area.
Esam Omeish Esam S. Omeish (born December 19, 1967) is a Libyan-born American physician and chief of the Division of General Surgery at Inova Alexandria Hospital since 2006. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque and fo ...
hired al-Awlaki to be the mosque's imam. Fluent in English, known for giving eloquent talks on Islam, and with a mandate to attract young non-Arabic speakers, al-Awlaki "was the magic bullet", according to mosque spokesman Johari Abdul-Malik; "he had everything all in a box." "He had an allure. He was charming." Shortly after this, his sermons were attended by two of the 9/11 hijackers (Al-Hazmi again, and
Hani Hanjour ) , birth_place = Taif, Saudi Arabia , death_date = , death_place = Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. , death_cause = Plane crash, suicide , known_for = Hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77 (a ...
; which the 9/11 Commission Report concluded "may not have been coincidental"), and by Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. Furthermore, when police raided the Hamburg, Germany, apartment of
Ramzi bin al-Shibh Ramzi Mohammed Abdullah bin al-Shibh ( ar, رمزي محمد عبدالله بن الشيبة; also transliterated as bin al-Shaibah; born 1 May 1972Al-Haj, Ahmed, and Abu-Nasr, Donna, "US imam who communicated with Fort Hood suspect wanted in Yemen on terror suspicions,"
''
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
'', November 11, 2009. Retrieved November 12, 2009
"In my view, he is more than a coincidental figure," said
House Intelligence Committee The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committ ...
member Representative
Anna Eshoo Anna A. Eshoo ( ; née Georges; born December 13, 1942) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from . She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 14th district from 1993 to 2013, is based in Silico ...
(D-CA). Writing on the '' IslamOnline.net'' website six days after the 9/11 attacks, he suggested that Israeli intelligence agents might have been responsible for the attacks, and that the FBI "went into the roster of the airplanes and whoever has a Muslim or Arab name became the hijacker by default." On August 31, 2006, al-Awlaki was arrested with a group of five Yemenis by Yemeni authorities. He claims it was with regard to a "secret police investigation" over "tribal issues", but it has been reported to relate to charges of kidnapping a Shiite teenager for ransom, and involvement in an al-Qaeda plot to kidnap a U.S. military attaché. Al-Awlaki blames the U.S. for pressuring the Yemeni authorities to arrest him, and says that in approximately September 2007 he was interviewed by FBI agents with regard to the 9/11 attacks and other subjects. Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen expert, noted that his name was on a list of 100 prisoners whose release was sought by al-Qaida-linked militants in Yemen. Although al-Awlaki was covered as relatively minor figure in the 9/11 attacks, his involvement was noted again in 2009 after the Fort Hood shooting where the suspect had been found to be communicating by e-mail to Awlaki in Yemen, he was later linked to several terror plots and attacks in the US, Canada and UK, including the
Northwest Airlines Flight 253 The attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 occurred on December 25, 2009, aboard an Airbus A330 as it prepared to land at Detroit Metropolitan Airport following a transatlantic flight from Amsterdam. Attributed to the terrori ...
attack by his former student
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab ( ar, عمر فاروق عبد المطلب ; also known as Umar Abdul Mutallab and Omar Farooq al-Nigeri; born December 22, 1986) popularly referred to as the "Underwear Bomber" or "Christmas Bomber", is a Nigerian-bor ...
.


Taliban

On October 4, 2001, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
released information compiled by Western intelligence agencies connecting Osama bin Laden to the
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
's
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
leadership as well as being the leader of the al-Qaeda organization. The Taliban government gave safe haven to Osama bin Laden in the years leading up to the attack, and his al-Qaeda network may have had a close relationship with the Taliban army and police. On the day of 9/11, the Taliban foreign minister told the Arab television network Al Jazeera: "We denounce this terrorist attack, whoever is behind it." The United States requested the Taliban to shut down all al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan, open them to inspection and turn over Osama bin Laden. The Taliban refused all these requests. Instead they offered to extradite Osama bin Laden to an Islamic country, for trial under Islamic law, if the United States presented evidence of his guilt. The Taliban had previously refused to extradite bin Laden to the United States, or prosecute him, after he was indicted by the US federal courts for involvement in the
1998 United States embassy bombings The 1998 United States embassy bombings were attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998. More than 200 people were killed in nearly simultaneous truck bomb explosions in two East African cities, one at the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam, ...
in Kenya and
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
. The Taliban deemed eyewitness testimony and satellite phone call recordings entered in the public record in February 2001 during a trial as insufficient grounds to extradite bin Laden for his involvement in the bombings. Invoking the
Bush Doctrine The Bush Doctrine refers to multiple interrelated foreign policy principles of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. These principles include unilateralism, preemptive war, and regime change. Charles Krauthammer first used ...
, which stated "We will make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor them", the United States and Britain invaded and overthrew the Taliban regime in 2001, using air power, special forces and the
Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
as a land army. On November 29, 2007, a videotape was released that The Central Intelligence Agency says is likely to be from bin Laden. In it the speaker claims sole responsibility for the attacks and specifically denies any prior knowledge of them by The Taliban or the Afghan people.


Financing the attacks

According to the
9/11 Commission Report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'' (officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States)'' is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prepa ...
, the 9/11 plotters spent between $400,000 and $500,000 to plan and conduct the attack:
al-Qaeda funded the plotters. KSM halid Sheikh Mohammadprovided his operatives with nearly all the money they needed to travel to the United States, train, and live ... The US government has not been able to determine the origin of the money used for the 9/11 attacks. Ultimately the question is of little practical significance.
The
9/11 Commission Report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'' (officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States)'' is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prepa ...
concludes: "we have seen no evidence that any foreign government – or foreign government official – supplied any funding." The difficulty in tracking the funding is due to the traditional means of
zakat Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ne ...
, a Muslim form of charitable giving essential to proper following of the faith and
hawala Hawala or hewala ( ar, حِوالة , meaning ''transfer'' or sometimes ''trust''), also known as in Persian, and or in Somali, is a popular and informal value transfer system based on the performance and honour of a huge network of money b ...
, another ancient system of transferring funds based on trust and connections, including family, clan, and regional affiliations.


Pakistan

CNN and other news outlets reported in September and October 2001 that $100,000 was wired from the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
to lead hijacker
Mohamed Atta Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta ( ; ar, محمد محمد الأمير عوض السيد عطا ; September 1, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an Egyptian hijacker and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks in 2001 in which fo ...
prior to the attacks, by Ahmed Omar Saeed (Syed) Sheikh, a long time Pakistani
Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...
asset.Sept. 11's Smoking Gun: The Many Faces of Saeed Sheikh
The report, which was later confirmed by CNN, stated that "Atta then distributed the funds to conspirators in Florida ... In addition, sources have said Atta sent thousands of dollars – believed to be excess funds from the operation – back to Syed in the United Arab Emirates in the days before September 11. Syed also is described as a key figure in the funding operation of al-Qaeda" The day after this report was published, the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, was fired from his position. Indian news outlets reported the FBI was investigating the possibility that Gen. Mahmood Ahmed ordered Saeed Sheikh to send the $100,000 to Atta, while most
Western media outlets Western media is the mass media of the Western world. During the Cold War, Western media contrasted with Soviet media. Western media has gradually expanded into developing countries (often, non-Western countries) around the world. History ...
only reported his connections to the
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
as the reason for his departure. ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' was one of the few Western news organizations to follow up on the story, citing the ''
Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...
'': "US authorities sought en. Mahmood Ahmed'sremoval after confirming the fact that $100,000 aswired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the insistence of General Mahmood."


Saudi Arabia

There have been suggestions that
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
has some responsibility, having helped finance al-Qaeda, and allowing the organization to flourish. There have been claims that pre-9/11 investigations into al-Qaeda were deliberately blocked via high-level interference from Washington, and that this extends to other groups outside al-Qaeda, in particular individuals from Saudi Arabia. In June 2001, a "high-placed member of a US intelligence agency" told
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
reporter Greg Palast that "after the
000 Triple zero, Triple Zero, Zero Zero Zero, Triple 0, Triple-0, 000, or 0-0-0 may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * "Triple Zero", a song by AFI (band), AFI from ''Shut Your Mouth and Open Your ...
elections, the agencies were told to 'back off' investigating the bin Ladens and Saudi royals." In May 2002, former FBI Agent Robert Wright, Jr. delivered a tearful press conference apologizing to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11. He described how his superiors intentionally obstructed his investigation into
al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
financing. Agent Wright would later tell
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
's Brian Ross that "September 11th is a direct result of the incompetence of the FBI's International Terrorism Unit," specifically referring to the Bureau's hindering of his investigation into
Yasin al-Qadi Yassin Abdullah Kadi (also transliterated from Arabic as Yasin Abdullah Ezzedine al-Qadi or Yasin A. Kahdi) (born 23 February 1955) is a Saudi Arabian businessman.Gerth, Jeff and Judith Miller, New York Times, 13 October 2001 A multi-millionaire ...
, who Ross described as a powerful Saudi Arabian businessman with extensive financial ties in Chicago. One month after the attacks, the US government officially identified al-Qadi as one of
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
's primary financiers, through his Muwafaq Foundation, and they declared him to be a global terrorist. A former FBI Counter Terrorism Agent commented that for someone like al-Qadi to be involved in 9/11 is "of grave concern." In June 2009 lawyers for 9/11 victims' families provided documents to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. The families of the victims formed an organization called Families United to Bankrupt TerrorismHuffington Post, March 5, 2012, "New Vernon Woman Optimistic of Lawsuit After 9/11 Revelations," http://newjerseyhills.com/observer-tribune/news/new-vernon-woman-optimistic-of-lawsuit-after-revelations/article_eaa660ce-66ff-11e1-a3a9-001871e3ce6c.html and filed a civil suit in U.S. federal court that sought to hold The
Saudi Royal family The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), an ...
responsible for supporting
Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...
. On June 29, 2009 the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
refused to hear an appeal of a lower court decision that held that the Royal Family are immune from suits in U.S. courts due to a 1976 law. According to The Times "The documents provide no smoking gun connecting the royal family to the events of Sept. 11, 2001. And the broader links rely at times on a circumstantial, connect-the-dots approach to tie together Saudi princes, Middle Eastern charities, suspicious transactions and terrorist groups". According to the Royal families lawyer "In looking at all the evidence the families brought together, I have not seen one iota of evidence that Saudi Arabia had anything to do with the 9/11 attacks". In February 2012, former U.S. senators Bob Graham and
Bob Kerrey Joseph Robert Kerrey (born August 27, 1943) is an American politician who served as the 35th Governor of Nebraska from 1983 to 1987 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1989 to 2001. Before entering politics, he served in the Vietna ...
made sworn statements filed in federal court as part of this litigation commenced by the 9/11 victims' families in which the former senators stated that the government of Saudi Arabia might have played a direct role in the 9/11 attacks.New York Times, February 29, 2012, "Saudi Arabia May Be Tied to 9/11, 2 Ex-Senators Say," https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/us/graham-and-kerrey-see-possible-saudi-9-11-link.html?_r=1 The two senators had reviewed top secret information concerning the 9/11 attacks when they were in the Senate. "I am convinced that there was a direct line between at least some of the terrorists who carried out the September 11th attacks and the government of Saudi Arabia," stated former senator Graham in his sworn court document. According to Graham's sworn statement, unanswered questions remain regarding Saudi-sponsored financial links to Al Qaeda and the role of Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi citizen living in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
with ties to two of the 9/11 hijackers and to officials of the government of Saudi Arabia. There remains substantial unreleased documentation related to these issues. On February 4, 2015, former al-Qaeda operative Zacarias Mousaoui who is imprisoned for life for his role in 9/11 attacks, told lawyers that members of the
Saudi royal family The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), an ...
, including former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal Al Saud, supported al-Qaeda to carry out its attacks. According to a May 2017 Foreign Agents Registration Act document, the Royal Embassy of
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
hired
Qorvis Qorvis Communications is an international Washington, D.C.-based public relations, advertising, media relations and crisis communications firm. It was acquired by the Publicis Groupe in January 2014, and became Qorvis/MSLGroup. Qorvis provides ...
MSLGROUP for monitoring and campaigning against the news media coverage on JASTA or
Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) () is a law enacted by the United States Congress that narrows the scope of the legal doctrine of foreign sovereign immunity. It amends the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and the Anti-Ter ...
and the alleged role of the government of Saudi Arabia in the September 11 attacks. Qorvis MSLGROUP filed a Foreign Agents Registration Act document of the contract, stating activities it conducted on behalf of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. The services included, coordinating with veterans visits to Capitol Hill concerning JASTA, managing grassroots campaign against JASTA and its reporting in news media like
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
,
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
, The Hill, etc.


Allegations of supporting Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda


Bin Laden family

Although the wealthy
bin Laden family The Binladin family ( ar, عائلة بن لادن, ) is an Arab family intimately connected with the innermost circles of the House of Saud, Saudi royal family. It is the namesake and controlling shareholder of Saudi Binladin Group, a multinati ...
disowned Osama in 1994 after his alleged involvement in terrorism like the
1993 World Trade Center bombings The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, U.S., carried out on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the complex. The urea nitrate–hydrogen gas en ...
, the events of 9/11 brought to attention connections between the bin Laden family and the
Bush family The Bush family is an American dynastic family that is prominent in the fields of American politics, news, sports, entertainment, and business. They were the first family of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and again from 2001 to 2009, and w ...
.bin Laden, Osama.
''The History Channel website''. Retrieved April 8, 2007.
It has been alleged that Osama was never disowned and that his family were aware of his activities in the years preceding 9/11. The connections between the bin Laden family and Bush family have led to
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...
that President George Bush was also aware of Osama's activities and deliberately allowed 9/11 to take place. The movie ''
Fahrenheit 9/11 ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed, written by, and starring filmmaker, director, political commentator and activist Michael Moore. The film takes a liberal, critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the w ...
'' shows some business connections between the Bush family and the bin Laden family. It relates how
Salem bin Laden Salem bin Mohammed bin 'Awad bin Laden ( ar, سالم بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن) (4 January 1946 – 29 May 1988) was a Saudi Arabian investor and businessman. Life Considered the eldest son of Mohammed bin Laden, he was the found ...
invested heavily in
Arbusto Energy Arbusto Energy was an oil and gas exploration firm started in 1977 by former U.S. president George W. Bush. In 1984, the company merged with Spectrum 7 Energy Corp. Company history Arbusto Energy was organized in 1977, but did not begin operation ...
, a company run by
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, through his friend James R. Bath. Several members of the Bush family are investors in the
Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...
, a
defense contractor The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and serv ...
and
investment fund An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages inc ...
with numerous interests in the
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
and the Middle East and connections to the
Saudi Binladen Group Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) is a Saudi construction company headquartered in Jeddah, Hejaz. It is the largest construction company of the Middle East. The company is owned primarily by the Bin Laden family. Founded by Muhammad Binladin in 1931 ...
, run by former Reagan administration Secretary of Defense
Frank Carlucci Frank Charles Carlucci III ( ; October 18, 1930 – June 3, 2018) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 to 1989 in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. He was the fi ...
. On September 10, 2001, former President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
and several members of his cabinet had been present at a Carlyle Group business conference with Shafig bin Laden, a half-brother of Osama bin Laden, at the
Ritz-Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...
hotel located several miles from the Pentagon. The conference was continuing with the remaining cabinet members and bin Laden's brother at the time of the Pentagon attack. George H. W. Bush remained an advisor to the Carlyle Group for two years after the attacks. ''The New York Times'' reported that members of the bin Laden family were driven or flown under
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI) supervision to a secret assembly point in Texas and then to Washington from where they left the country on a private charter plane when airports reopened three days after the attacks. The 9/11 commission later concluded that "the FBI conducted a satisfactory screening of Saudi nationals who left the United States on charter flights" and that the exodus was approved by special advisor Richard Clarke after a request by Saudi Arabia who feared for the safety of their nationals. On June 20, 2007, the public interest group
Judicial Watch Judicial Watch (JW) is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. Founded in 1994, JW has primarily targeted Democrats, in particula ...
released
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
documents that it says suggested that Osama bin Laden himself may have chartered one of the flights. Judicial Watch President
Tom Fitton Thomas J. Fitton is an American conservative activist and the president of Judicial Watch. Fitton is known for pro-Trump commentary. Fitton is prominent for criticizing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian interf ...
accused the FBI of conducting a "slapdash" investigation of the flights. Author
Steve Coll Steve Coll (born October 8, 1958) is an Americans, American journalist, academic and executive. He is currently the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he is also the Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism. A staf ...
in his 2008 book ''The bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century'' writes that most members of the family barely know Osama. Richard Clarke in a column about the book notes that because it was custom at that time for successful Muslim men to have multiple wives this claim rings true. Clarke also theorizes that the FBI did not question the bin Ladens before they were flown out of the US and have not questioned them since because they already had extensive knowledge about them.


Iraq

Immediately after the attacks, rumors began that Iraq could have played a role. The state-run Iraqi media praised the attacks but denied that Iraq was responsible. In September 2003, President Bush told the press, "we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th." On June 29, 2005
Robin Hayes Robert Cannon "Robin" Hayes (born August 14, 1945) is an American politician and businessman from North Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, he represented North Carolina's 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1 ...
, a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Congressman from
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
and vice chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism at that time, stated "evidence is clear" that "Saddam Hussein and people like him were very much involved in 9/11". Senator
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
reacting to the Congressman's statement said "I haven't seen compelling evidence of that." The
9/11 Commission Report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'' (officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States)'' is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prepa ...
stated that there is "no credible evidence" that Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq collaborated with the al-Qaeda terrorist network on any attacks on the United States. In September 2006, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concluded that "there is no evidence that Saddam Hussein had prewar ties to al-Qaeda and one of the terror organization's most notorious members, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi" and that there was no evidence of any Iraqi support of al-Qaeda or foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks. Despite this, a number of 9/11 opinion polls have shown that a significant minority of the American public believe that Saddam was "personally involved". The theory extended from the one advanced by investigative journalist Jayna Davis in her book ''The Third Terrorist'' linking Hussein to the Oklahoma City Bombing. It was discussed in a 2002 op-ed piece in the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''.


Iran

The U.S. indictment of bin Laden filed in 1998 stated that al-Qaeda "forged alliances ... with the government of Iran and its associated terrorist group
Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...
for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies."Zagorin, Adam, and
Joe Klein Joe Klein (born September 7, 1946) is an American political commentator and author. He is best known for his work as a columnist for ''Time'' magazine and his novel ''Primary Colors'', an anonymously written roman à clef portraying Bill Clinton' ...

9/11 Commission Finds Ties Between al-Qaeda and Iran
, ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', July 16, 2004.
On May 31, 2001,
Steven Emerson Steven Emerson (born June 6, 1954) is an American journalist, author, and pundit on national security, terrorism, and Islamic extremism. Some have called Emerson an Islamophobe, who has recently been accused of spying on two different American ...
and
Daniel Pipes Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American historian, writer, and commentator. He is the president of the Middle East Forum, and publisher of its ''Middle East Quarterly'' journal. His writing focuses on American foreign policy and the ...
wrote in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' that "Officials of the Iranian government helped arrange advanced weapons and explosives training for Al-Qaeda personnel in
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
where they learned, for example, how to destroy large buildings." The 9/11 Commission Report stated that 8 to 10 of the hijackers previously passed through Iran and their travel was facilitated by Iranian border guards.Th
9/11 Commission Report.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 240–41.
The report also found "circumstantial evidence that senior Hezbollah operatives were closely tracking the travel of some of these future muscle hijackers into Iran in November 2000." Judge George B. Daniels ruled in a federal district court in Manhattan that Iran bears legal responsibility for providing "material support" to the 9/11 plotters and hijackers in ''Havlish, et al. v. Osama bin Laden, Iran, et al.''U.S. District Court Rules Iran Behind 9/11 Attacks
, PRNewswire, December 23, 2011.
Included in Judge Daniels' findings were claims that Iran "used front companies to obtain a Boeing 757-767-777 flight simulator for training the terrorists",
Ramzi bin al-Shibh Ramzi Mohammed Abdullah bin al-Shibh ( ar, رمزي محمد عبدالله بن الشيبة; also transliterated as bin al-Shaibah; born 1 May 1972 Defectors from Iran's intelligence service testified that Iranian officials had "foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks."Weisner, Benjamin, and Scott Shane
Court Filings Assert Iran Had Link to 9/11 Attacks
, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', May 19, 2011.
By contrast, the 9/11 Commission "found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack. At the time of their travel through Iran, the al Qaeda operatives themselves were probably not aware of the specific details of their future operation." In addition, both bin al-Shibh and
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaikh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born March 1, 1964 or April 14, 1965) is a Pakistani Islamist militant held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-re ...
denied "any relationship between the hijackers and Hezbollah" and "any other reason for the hijackers' travel to Iran" besides "taking advantage of the Iranian practice of not stamping Saudi passports."


United States advance knowledge

The
9/11 Commission Report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'' (officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States)'' is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prepa ...
concluded that both presidents
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
and George W. Bush were "not well served" by the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
and
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
prior to 9/11. It also explained that the military response protocols were unsuited for the nature of the attack, and identified operational failures in the emergency response. Immediately following the attacks, the Bush Administration stated that "nobody in our government at least, and I don't think the prior government, could envisage flying air planes into buildings" (George Bush) and that no-one "could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile" (Condoleezza Rice). An Air Force general called the attack "something we had never seen before, something we had never even thought of." FBI Director Robert Mueller announced "there were no warning signs that I'm aware of." The 9/11 Commission Report stated that "the 9/11 attacks were a shock, but they should not have come as a surprise. Islamic extremists had given plenty of warnings that they meant to kill Americans indiscriminately and in large numbers." During the spring and summer of 2001, US intelligence agencies received a stream of warnings about an imminent al-Qaeda attack; according to George Tenet, Director of Central Intelligence, "the system was blinking red." The warnings varied in their level of detail and specificity, and included warnings from both domestic intelligence operations and warnings from foreign governments and intelligence agencies. In her testimony to the 9/11 Commission, Condoleezza Rice stated that "the threat reporting that we received in the spring and summer of 2001 was not specific as to time nor place nor manner of attack. Almost all the reports focused on al-Qaeda activities outside the United States." On August 6, 2001, the
President's Daily Brief The President's Daily Brief (PDB), sometimes referred to as the President's Daily Briefing or the President's Daily Bulletin, is a top-secret document produced and given each morning to the president of the United States; it is also distributed ...
was titled '' Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US''. It warned that bin Laden was planning to exploit his operatives' access to the US to mount a terrorist strike: "FBI information ... indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country, consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attack." The 9/11 Commission Report outlined the following "opportunities that were not or could not be exploited by the organizations and systems of the time": *not watchlisting future hijackers Hazmi and Mihdhar, not trailing them after they traveled to Bangkok, and not informing the FBI about one future hijacker's US visa or his companion's travel to the United States; *not sharing information linking individuals in the ''Cole'' attack to Mihdhar; *not taking adequate steps in time to find Mihdhar or Hazmi in the United States; *not linking the arrest of Zacarias Moussaoui, described as interested in flight training for the purpose of using an airplane in a terrorist attack, to the heightened indications of an attack; *not discovering false statements on visa applications; *not recognizing passports manipulated in a fraudulent manner; *not expanding no-fly lists to include names from terrorist watchlists; *not searching airline passengers identified by the computer-based CAPPS screening system; and *not hardening aircraft cockpit doors or taking other measures to prepare for the possibility of suicide hijackings. With regard to the failures of the US air defense system on the morning of the attacks, the Report explains that:
Existing protocols on 9/11 were unsuited in every respect for an attack in which hijacked planes were used as weapons. What ensued was a hurried attempt to improvise a defense by civilians who had never handled a hijacked aircraft that attempted to disappear, and by a military unprepared for the transformation of commercial aircraft into weapons of mass destruction.
The Report explains that the emergency response was also "necessarily improvised": there were "weaknesses in preparations for disaster, failure to achieve unified incident command, and inadequate communications among responding agencies ... At the Pentagon,
here were Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a TV ...
problems of command and control."9/11 Commission Report Executive Summary, p8


See also

*
9/11 conspiracy theories 9/11 conspiracy theory, conspiracy theories attribute the preparation and execution of the September 11 attacks against the United States to parties other than, or in addition to, al-Qaeda. These include the theory that high-level government ...
*
9/11 Commission The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks", includin ...
*
9/11 Commission Report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'' (officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States)'' is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prepa ...


References


''Stranger than Fiction'' investigation by Dr Albert Pastore


Further reading

* * * * *''1000 YEARS FOR REVENGE: International Terrorism and the FBI'' by Peter Lance (2003). Covers the plotting, motives, and unsuccessful investigations of al-Qaeda in the US leading up to 9/11.


External links


Has someone been sitting on the FBI? – ''BBC Newsnight''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Responsibility For The September 11 Attacks September 11 attacks Anwar al-Awlaki