Failure to Predict the September 11 Attacks

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Just before 8:00 in the morning on September 11, 2001, passengers boarded American Airlines Flight 11 and United
Airlines Flight 175 at Logan International Airport in Boston. Minutes after the planes took off, American Airlines Flight
77 departed from Washington Dulles International Airport outside the nation's capital. All three flights were bound for
Los Angeles, California. Because of a 40-minute delay, United Airlines Flight 93, headed for San Francisco, California,
did not take off from Newark International Airport in New Jersey until 8:42. Hijackers took control of all four planes soon
after takeoff. Containing nearly 24,000 gallons (91,000 liters) of jet fuel, each aircraft became a flying bomb.

At 8:46 A.M., American Airlines Flight 11 crashed between floors 94 and 98 in the north tower of the World Trade
Center, traveling around 490 miles per hour. The impact sent a massive shockwave down to the ground and up again.
Within seconds, the plane burst into flames. Sixteen and a half minutes later, media crews and passersby on the ground
watched in shock as United Airlines Flight 175 flew into the south tower, between floors 78 and 84. Any thoughts that the
first crash was an accident quickly evaporated. These acts could only mean one thing—terrorism.

The people trapped above the floors of impact were in a desperate situation. The smoke and scalding heat from the fire
were unbearable. About 200 people were forced to make the deadly leap from the burning towers, falling hundreds of feet
to the streets and rooftops below. Some workers made their way to the towers' rooftops in hopes of being rescued by
helicopters. The thick smoke and intense heat, though, prevented any helicopters from landing.

Meanwhile, people around the world stood mesmerized in front of television sets. Reports that the planes had been
hijacked spilled out on television and radio programs. Then, another horror was revealed. American Airlines Flight 77 had
spiraled into the western side of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., igniting into a violent fire. The country was under
attack. Federal authorities quickly shut down all U.S. airspace, banning all takeoffs and ordering all planes in flight to
land at the nearest airport. A little more than an hour after the first jet plunged into the World Trade Center, the south
tower collapsed. On the ground, people ran for cover as glass, concrete, and metal rained down on them. A vast TV
audience watched in astonishment as the building crumbled in a billowing cloud of dust.

Only minutes later, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Later, sources
revealed that passengers talking on cell phones had learned about the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. Upon
hearing this news, some passengers decided to resist the hijackers. This act of bravery caused the plane to crash before it
reached its intended target. Twenty minutes later, the north tower of the World Trade Center fell from the top down, as if it
were being peeled apart. Many surrounding buildings collapsed or were severely damaged as well. In less than two hours,
nearly 3,000 people had died. It was one of the most appalling and destructive attacks in history.

After spending most of the day aloft in Air Force One (he had been at a school in Florida that morning and was quickly
evacuated), President George W. Bush addressed the nation that evening from Washington, D.C. He vowed that the
United States would hunt down and punish those responsible for these "cowardly acts." Terrorist attacks are considered
cowardly because the people who carry them out hide their faces and often plan to commit suicide in the attack. "Terrorist
attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America," Bush said.
"These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve." At home and around the world, the U.S.
military was put on high alert, and leaders promised to do whatever was necessary to protect the United States.

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What Happened?
The 19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. Other people involved in the
plot were from France, Germany, Kuwait, and Yemen. Of course, al Qaeda members are found all around the world. Al
Qaeda operations have been linked to people from Somalia, Eritrea, Kenya, Pakistan, Bosnia, Algeria, Croatia, the United
States, the Philippines, and many other countries. Still, with FBI intelligence and a strong military defense system, many
Americans believed that the United States should have been able to derail this plot. As the smoke and dust cleared, many
people stood wide-eyed and shocked, wondering, "What just happened?"

Unveiling a terrorist is no small task. From 1996 to 2000, al Qaeda trained up to 20,000 terrorists in Afghan camps. Not
only were they dedicated to their cause, they had been expertly trained on how to act. Most of the hijackers did not have
terrorist records, which helped them escape the attention of U.S. authorities. The al Qaeda manual instructed them to stay
clean-shaven and abandon traditional Muslim clothing. Their objective was to blend in with other Americans. They were
schooled in Western culture and even shopped at Wal-Mart and ate at Pizza Hut. According to Osama bin Laden, even
though the hijackers knew they would be part of a suicide mission, they did not know the details or targets until the
operation was well under way. Other than participating in diabolical acts, modern terrorists appear to have otherwise
normal lives. All of these factors made the plot difficult for intelligence to expose.

Al Qaeda attacks take years to plan. The plot for the 9/11 mission began to take shape in the mid-1990s. The ability of
these terrorists to envision the event, plan such an intricate operation, and successfully seize four aircraft and guide three
of them into their intended targets proved that a whole new level of terrorist capability was on the rise. Still, in 2000 and
2001, there were a variety of leads and warnings. Just a month before the attack, FBI agents arrested an al Qaeda member
who was later suspected of having connections to the attack. But the U.S. homeland security system failed to detect plans
for a massive terrorist strike. The country's failure stemmed from an array of problems, including unorganized
government strategies, inadequate resources, poor technology, and an FBI whose mindset was stuck on investigating
terrorists instead of preventing terrorist attacks. Another roadblock was the communication and cooperation barriers
between intelligence and criminal agents. For example, when an FBI agent in New York asked for help from intelligence
agents to track down two al Qaeda members—who later participated in the 9/11 attacks—he was turned away because of
the "wall" between prosecution and intelligence.

After the fact, it did little good to stand around pointing fingers of blame. One fact, however, was certain: Drastic changes
needed to be made to protect the United States. What followed was the most dramatic reorganization of the federal
government in more than 50 years.

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