by Joseph Carlson
After the section on systems and counter-systems between different agencies in the 9/11 Commission Report there is a massive section about how Osama bin Laden and other members of Al Qaeda got their found and what countries they went to.
This included Sudan and many countries in the Middle East. Afghanistan and Pakistan were just a few of the places that Osama bin Laden and his organization used as a base of operations. It is interesting to note that in Sudan the government their even got tired of his exploits and kicked him out of the country.
Many people in the FBI and CIA tried to follow how he was getting his money, as it is well know that bin Laden has a family fortune, his father had a very successful construction company in Afghanistan, but as it was found out he was actually raising money through Middle East donations from various places to start Al Qaeda.
All this is fascinating because it shows that as they were building the organization they were committing acts of terrorism such as the bombing of the U.S. Cole, which would bring them more money from donors, which would help them to commit more heinous acts.
There were actually a few times in the book early in the nineties that we could have assassinated Osama bin Laden, but because different agencies disagreed with each other and they timing was off, also the fact that bin Laden was tipped off actually led to the events of 9/11 taking place.
Which again, like the beginning part of this book is sad. We didn't know what we didn't know, and the fact that these agencies. The FBI, CIA, and The State Department all seemed to have different ideas with how to handle the situation. It was a complete mess.
The 9/11 Commission Report is available in bookstores and digitally.