The CIA has released 71 presidential daily briefs covering February 1998 through September 12, 2001, showing that US leaders received repeated warnings about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda before the September 11 attacks. The 101 pages describe the group’s plans, financing, networks and interest in attacks inside the United States, but do not identify the eventual plot’s time, place, method or targets.
The documents include warnings about possible attacks involving aircraft, hijacking training and bin Laden’s stated preference for striking Washington. They add a detailed paper trail to intelligence findings that were already broadly known, rather than proving the government knew exactly how or when the attacks would occur.
Warnings became more specific over time
The earliest document is dated February 13, 1998, and is titled “Terrorists seeking WMD capability.” Later briefs addressed the Taliban’s refusal to surrender bin Laden, his financing and his efforts to obtain chemical, biological and radiological materials.
A September 1998 brief said bin Laden’s preferred option was to strike the United States on its own soil in Washington. It also said the group linked to the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa might fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city, while cautioning that intelligence had no conclusive information about his future intentions.
Key points
- The release contains 71 presidential daily briefs and runs to 101 pages.
- The files cover February 1998 to September 12, 2001, including the day after the attacks.
- Many pages are redacted to protect sources.
- Some documents had been disclosed previously, including the August 6, 2001 brief titled “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US.”
The records included aircraft and hijacking concerns
A December 4, 1998 brief, titled “Bin Laden Preparing To Hijack US Aircraft and Other Attacks,” described conspirators who had evaded security checks during a trial run at an unidentified New York airport. It also said some members of bin Laden’s network had received hijacking training. Read the context: Robert Shageyev killed in Sevastopol bomb attack, Russian officials say.
By June 1999, the briefs included reports that bin Laden’s operatives had experimented with explosives to increase their energy output as part of efforts linked to so-called dirty bombs. The records also tracked his movements and the support network operating inside the United States and abroad.
What the release does not establish
The documents do not show that US officials knew the attacks’ precise timing, locations, method or targets. The material instead reflects intelligence agencies receiving multiple pieces of information without assembling them into a clear picture in time. Related coverage: Colombia vows crackdown after car bomb attack in Cauca.
The release also provides no evidence that government officials were involved in the attacks or had prior knowledge of them. Some of the broader conclusions were set out by the 9/11 Commission more than two decades ago; the new disclosure provides underlying briefing documents and the briefers’ wording.
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