'Plane Loaded with Explosives'... CIA Documents Reveal Warning Preceding September 11 Attacks by Three Years
71 Secret Documents Track the Evolution of Monitoring “Al-Qaeda” and Bin Laden’s Plans Between 1998 and 2001
Nearly three years before the September 11, 2001 attacks, U.S. intelligence possessed a warning regarding Osama bin Laden’s intention to strike the United States on its own soil, including the possibility of using a “plane loaded with explosives” to reach an American city, according to secret documents released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) a quarter-century after the attacks.
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The agency announced the release of 71 documents from the “President’s Daily Brief,” marking the largest single release of such documents related to the September 11 attacks. The agency stated that the move coincides with the 25th anniversary of the attacks and aligns with President Donald Trump’s initiative to enhance transparency.
The documents cover the period from February 13, 1998, to September 12, 2001, revealing the evolution of intelligence analysts’ assessments of Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, as well as the efforts made to monitor and warn against his plans.
Among the most notable documents is a memo dated September 10, 1998, titled “Bin Laden’s Location and Intentions,” prepared for senior officials in President Bill Clinton’s administration.
The memo, without specifying a date or location for a potential attack, indicated that bin Laden preferred targeting the United States on its own soil, particularly Washington, D.C. It also discussed the possibility of using a plane loaded with explosives to reach an American city.
The memo also tracked suspicious movements within U.S. diplomatic facilities, amid suspicions that some of these movements may have aimed to scout U.S. sites and assess their security measures.
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The New York Times quoted bin Laden as saying in July 1998 that his preferred option was to strike the United States on its soil in Washington. An intelligence report also pointed to the possibility of the group employing a method similar to the Africa bombings by sending a plane loaded with explosives to an American city.
The report also tracked bin Laden’s movements between areas in eastern and western Afghanistan, noting that his allies were focusing on sites where they had previously conducted reconnaissance operations, allowing their operatives to move with relative freedom due to relatively weak security measures at U.S. facilities.
It noted that bin Laden was also planning attacks in Uganda, Egypt, Yemen, and Lebanon, among other countries.
The September 1998 warning was not the only one of its kind; other documents contained repeated references to Al-Qaeda’s desire to attack the United States. In July 1998, a report submitted to Clinton concluded that the group’s ambitions to carry out an attack on U.S. soil appeared “plausible,” weeks before the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
In August 1999, a document discussed the possibility that Al-Qaeda was using the high number of targets mentioned in reports to mislead U.S. intelligence agencies. A document dated July 24, 2001, indicated the postponement of an “imminent terrorist operation sponsored by bin Laden,” while preparations for other attacks continued.
The last report released by the agency before the September 11 attacks, dated August 28, 2001, did not include any reference to an attack within the United States or the use of aircraft. It focused on possibilities of assassination, kidnapping, and attacks using missiles, mortars, and long-range weapons, as well as crude chemical or biological attacks.
The New York Times quoted a senior CIA official as saying that one of the challenges was how to deliver effective warnings, as concerns arose about “warning fatigue” with the increasing number of reports on Al-Qaeda being escalated to the President.
The agency also disclosed a document from the early hours following the attacks, a “situation report” dated at 4:00 a.m. on September 12, 2001, and addressed to President George W. Bush, containing the latest information on the attacks’ repercussions, bin Laden’s movements, and potential threats.
The report quoted an Afghan source stating that bin Laden had left Kandahar on the Sunday preceding the attacks, heading to Kabul in anticipation of a possible operation, while another source indicated that the attacks were “the fruit of two years of planning.”
In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the U.S. national security and intelligence apparatus underwent extensive reorganization, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2004, with the aim of enhancing coordination and information sharing among intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
