by Joseph Carlson
As September 11, 2001 approached all the hijackers and pilots that were going to board the planes had completed their training. Most of them had come from other countries and arrived and stayed at the airports near their targets. Some of them, against the wishes of Al Qaeda, even called families and friends to say goodbye.
Back on Afghanistan there was a schism growing between Osama bin Laden and Taliban leaders. Many high-ups in the Taliban believed that targeting the U.S. would only bring unwanted pressure to there goals of taking over the government in Afghanistan and trying to take out their old enemy The Northern Alliance. After the 9/11 attacks were confirmed, some of them still had trouble and tried to voice their concerns.
In the States many agencies like the FBI and CIA were receiving more and more reports that an attack was immanent. The only problem was the Intel they were getting was telling them that it was going to happen abroad and possible with a truck filled with explosives. This was what we believed to be their preferred method of bombings.
When this section of the review of the 9/11 report ended its important to note that it started to mention the bureaucracy of reporting and how it was brought to different governmental agencies. This was probably one of the things that held us back in getting reports and communication between the different departments that could actually make a difference. Time will tell in the end though. Although it is too late to do anything about 9/11, in the coming reviews we will see if we can make lasting change to stop something like this before it happens.
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
The 9/11 Commission Report is available in bookstores and digitally.