Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The document makes clear that the intelligence community regarded bin Laden as a significant threat to the United States. It states that bin Laden “since 1997 has wanted to conduct terrorist attacks in the US.” Reference is made to the first attack on the World Trade Center in New York in 1993 and bin Laden's desire to follow the example of the perpetrator of that bombing. Reference is also made to other al Qaeda activities, including the so-called Millennium Plot. This was a planned attack on four sites in the nation of Jordan, all chosen with the purpose of killing American and Israeli tourists; on the U.S.S. The Sullivans in Yemen; and on the Los Angeles International Airport—the last under the direction of Ahmed Ressam. Additionally, a group linked to al Qaeda hijacked an Indian Airlines plane to Afghanistan to secure the release of militants being held in India. The Millennium Plot, scheduled to be carried out on or around January 1, 2000, largely failed for a variety of reasons, but its very existence was indicative of bin Laden's goal of carrying out terrorist activity against the West and his belief that civilians were legitimate targets. The intelligence briefing emphasizes that bin Laden was not to be deterred by setbacks and that al Qaeda operatives are nothing if not patient.

One of the key purposes of the briefing was to inform the president that al Qaeda sleeper cells were already in the United States—and that some of the members of these cells were U.S. citizens. Examples include two al Qaeda members, both U.S. citizens, who had been part of the conspiracies to bomb the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Clandestine sources indicated that al Qaeda was actively recruiting Muslim youth in and around New York City, and intelligence authorities knew that terrorists had conducted surveillance of federal buildings in New York. Additionally, there had been “patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks.” Again, it seems that the intelligence community knew about the nature of the events that would occur on September 11, though the phrase “or other types of attacks” shows that knowledge about bin Laden's plans was limited. The document ends by stating that the FBI was conducting seventy field operations—again suggesting that federal authorities were aware of the threat and attempting to thwart it.