Condoleeza Rice and other Bush administration officials claimed no one could have imagined that terrorists would use airplanes to crash into buildings. This is a blatant lie, as a multitude of sources have contradicted such claims.
The warnings/foreknowledge line of argument may appear to point toward theories of incomptence or LIHOP (let it happen on purpose). But this doesn’t have to be the case. A deeper analysis shows that the intelligence on a supposed “al Qaeda” plot may be authentic while, at the same time, the various “arab terrorists” could be either witting or unwitting patsies or double agents.
It’s entirely possible that many of the plotters were genuine “al Qaeda” agents who thought they were participating in an Islamic jihad operation. At the same time, the operation could have been infiltrated and protected by elements of the CIA and US government. Ultimately, the success of the 9/11 attacks cannot be explained by the story of 19 Muslim hijackers with boxcutters, organized by some guy in a cave in Afghanistan.
Evidence
“on August 23, 2001, the Mossad had given the CIA a list of 19 terrorists living in the US. The Mossad had said that the terrorists appeared to be planning to carry out an attack in the near future. It is unknown if these are the same 19 names as the actual hijackers, or if the number is a coincidence. However, the four names on the list that are known are names of the 9/11 hijackers: Nawaf Alhazmi, Khalid Almihdhar, Marwan Alshehhi, and Mohamed Atta. [Die Zeit, 10/1/02, Der Spiegel, 10/1/02, BBC, 10/2/02, Ha’aretz, 10/3/02] These are also probably the four most important of the hijackers (and two of the pilots).” 1
Robert Wright, a Chicago FBI agent investigating terrorist funding, is obstructed from continuing by higher-ups. Wright is later removed from his own investigation, gagged, and fired, later to be reinstated. Wright also sues the FBI. 14
Prior to 9/11, Minneapolis FBI agents sought warrants to search Zacarias Moussaoui’s (“the 20th hijacker”) computer. Their efforts were undermined by FBI headquarters—who went so far as to edit and sabotage the warrant request. After 9/11, with FBI officials still trying to protect Moussaoui, a warrant is eventually obtained and it is clear that information on the computer could have led to the other hijackers. 8
Dave Frasca, head of the FBI’s Radical Fundamentalist Unit (RFU) appears to be the one thwarting various investigations that could have uncovered the 9/11 plot. 10
Several hijackers had fraudelent visas or filled out incomplete visa applications. Some of them were also already on watch lists. Despite such red flags, the hijackers traveled with impunity in and out of the US. 11
“In 1999, British intelligence gave a secret report to the US embassy. The report stated that al-Qaeda had plans to use “commercial aircraft” in “unconventional ways,“‘possibly as flying bombs.’” 1
“Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly stated that he ordered his intelligence agencies to alert the US in the summer of 2001 that suicide pilots were training for attacks on US targets.” 1
A high level al-Qaeda meeting in Malaysia, in January, 2000, was under surveillance by Malaysian intelligence who passed everything on to US intelligence. The meeting was attended by two 9/11 hijackers, Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi and the alleged 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. 4
Alhazmi and Almidhar were later re-admitted into the United States, where they stayed in southern California, with an FBI informant. 4
Almidhar, along with several other hijackers, has been reported as possibly alive after 9/11/01 by various media, including the BBC. 12
In 1995, Project Bojinka is uncovered. Bojinka was an al-Qaeda plot to explode more than 10 passenger planes over the Pacific Ocean and then in a second phase, crash about a dozen passenger planes into prominent US buildings. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is one of the key planners. 5
Able Danger, a data mining operation by US military intelligence, identified Mohammed Atta as an al-Qaeda operative and even had a picture of him in early 2000. 2.5 terabytes of data, about as much as one-fourth of all the printed materials in the Library of Congress, from these investigations was later destroyed. 6