CIA documents reveal clear warnings to US president before 9/11

Newly declassified CIA documents have revealed that then-US President George W. Bush had been warned of the September 11, 2001 attacks, which became the pretext for the so-called “War on Terror” and subsequent Western military interventions across the region.

Formerly top-secret presidential briefings related to the 9/11 attacks were released by the CIA on its website on Friday, marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks carried out by Al Qaeda terror organization that was originally developed by the CIA itself.

In a statement, CIA Director John Ratcliffe called it “the single largest release of CIA analysis related to 9/11 ever.”

“Americans can now see for themselves the intelligence leading up to this tragic day for our Nation,” Ratcliffe said in a post on X.

The best-known of these warnings was dated August 6, 2001, about a month before the attacks, when Bush received a briefing titled “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US.”

The warning stated Bin Laden had planned to attack the US for years.

It cited activities consistent with preparations for hijackings.

The released CIA warnings about the attacks covered the period from February 1998 to Sept. 12, 2001.

The early warnings were addressed to President Bill Clinton in daily intelligence briefings that were given by the CIA and other spy agencies to Clinton and his successor, Bush.

One intelligence report to Clinton in September 1998 explicitly warned bin Laden’s supporters “may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city.”

The same memo states that “intelligence provides no conclusive information on bin Laden’s intention for future attacks.”

The document -- which was one of dozens of formerly top-secret presidential briefings released on Friday showing a steady stream of warnings about bin Laden preparing for attacks on the United States, either on US soil or at embassies and US military bases abroad -- was heavily redacted.

The documents were only further proof of what previous inquiries by Congress and accounts by officials in the US government at the time had made clear: Washington knew “something terrible was planned” by the Al Qaeda leader.

25 years after 9/11, Afghans question the legacy of two decades of US war

Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, Afghanistan continues to bear the consequences of the war that followed.

Bin Laden, a Saudi national, rose to prominence during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, when Washington poured billions of dollars into arming anti-Soviet militants through Pakistan and with the help of Saudi Arabia.

US officials claim they had no direct contact with Bin Laden, but the American-backed war helped create the militant infrastructure and environment from which Al-Qaeda later emerged.

In the global sphere, the 9/11 attack was the deadliest terrorist assault in US history, which killed 2,977 people and prompted Washington to launch its so-called “War on Terror,” invading Afghanistan within weeks and Iraq less than two years later.

On the domestic side, the PATRIOT Act passed back then gave the US government sweeping powers to carry out espionage activities on American citizens.
Already, US spy agencies had broad powers for spying on foreigners, friend or foe alike.

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