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RESPONSES TO AL QAEDA'S

INITIAL ASSAULTS

4.1 BEFORETHE BOMBINGSIN KENYAAND TANZANIA

Although the 1995National Intelligence Estimate had warned of a

new type of terrorism, many officials continued to think of terrorists

as agents of states (Saudi Hezbollah acting for Iran against Khobar

Towers) or as domestic criminals (Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma

City). As we pointed out in chapter^theWhite House is not anat-

ural locus for program management. Hence, government efforts to

cope with terrorism were essentially the work of individual agencies.

President Bill Clinton's counterterrorism Presidential Decision

Directives in 1995 (no.39) and May 1998 (no.62) reiterated that ter-

rorism was a national security problem, not just a law enforcement

issue.They reinforced the authority of the National Security Council

(NSC) to coordinate domestic as well as foreign counterterrorism

efforts, through Richard Clarke and his interagency Counterterrorism

Security Group (CSG). Spotlighting new concerns about unconven-

tional attacks, these directives assigned tasks to lead agencies but did

not differentiate types of terrorist threats. Thus, while Clarke might

prod or push agenciesto act, what actually happened wasusually decided

at the State Department, the Pentagon, the CIA, or theJustice Depart-

ment. The efforts of these agencies were sometimes energetic and

sometimes effective. Terrorist plots were disrupted and individual ter-

rorists were captured. But the United States did not,before 9/11,

adopt as a clear strategic objective the eliminatio

125



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126 THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT

Early Efforts against Bin Ladin

Until 1996, hardly anyone in the U.S. government understood that

Usarna Bin Ladin was an inspirer and organizer of the new terrorism.

In 1993, the CIA noted that he had paid for the training of some

Egyptian terrorists in Sudan. The State Department detected. his

money in aid to the Yemeni terrorists who set a bomb in an attempt

to kill U.S. troops inAden in 1992. State Department sources even saw

suspicious links with Omar Abdel Rahman, the "Blind Sheikh" in the

New York area, commenting that Bin Ladin seemed "committed to

financing 'Jihads' against 'anti Islamic' regimes worldwide." After the

department designated Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993, it

put Bin Ladin on its TIPOFF watchlist, a move that might have pre-

vented his getting a visa had he tried to enter the United States. As

late as 1997, however, even the CIA's Counterterrorist Center contin-

ued to describe him as an "extremist financier."1

In 1996, the CIA set up a special unit to collect intelligence on and

plan operations against Bin Ladin. David Cohen, the head of the CIA'sClandestine Service, wanted to test the idea of having a "virtual sta-

tion"—a station based at headquarters but collecting and operating

against a subject much as stations in the field focus on a country. Tak-

ing his cue from National Security Advisor Anthony Lake, who

expressed special interest in terrorist finance, Cohen formed his vir-

tual station as a terrorist financial links unit. He had trouble getting

any Directorate of Operations officer to run it; he finally recruited a

former analystwho was then running the Islamic Extremist Branch of

the Counterterrorist Center. This officer, who was especially knowl-

edgeable about Afghanistan, had noticed a recent stream of reports

about Bin Ladin and something called al Qaeda, and suggested to

Cohen that the station focus on this one individual. Cohen agreed.

Thus was born the Bin Ladin unit.2In May 1996, Bin Ladin left Sudan for Afghanistan. A few months

later, as the Bin Ladin unit was gearing up, Jamal Ahmed al Fadl

walked into a U.S. embassy in Africa, established his bona fides as a

former senior employee of Bin Ladin, and provided a major break-

through of intelligence on the creation, character, direction, and

intentions of al Qaeda. Confirming evidence came from another

walk-in source at a different U.S. embassy. More corroboration was

supplied later that year by intelligence and other sources, including

material gathered by FBI agents and Kenyan police from an al Qaeda

cell in Nairobi.3



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RESPONSES TO AL QAEDA'S INITIAL ASSAULTS 127

\

By 1997, officers in the Bin Ladin unit recognized that Bin Ladin

was more than just a financier.They learned that al Qaeda had a mil-

itary committee that was planning operations against U.S. interests

worldwide and wasactively trying to obtain nuclear material.Analysts

assigned to the station looked at the information it had gathered and"found connections everywhere," including links to the attacks on

U.S. troops in Aden and Somalia in 1992 and 1993 and to the Manila

air plot in the Philippines in 1994-95.4

The Bin Ladin station was already working on plans for offensive

operations against Bin Ladin. These plansivere directed at both phys-"

ical and financial assets.?Liy met juino rooiotance in the CTA in H stil l ,

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attempt to attack Bin Ladin's money holdings proved a blind

In late 1995, when Buf Ladm was still in Sudan, the State Depart-

ment and the CIA-kaaTearned that Sudanese officials were discussing

with the Saudi government the possibility of expelling Bin Ladin. U.S.

Ambassador Timothy Carney encouraged the Sudanese to pursue this

course. The Saudis, however, did not want Bin Ladin, giving as their

reason the revocation of his citizenship. A Saudi official has since

explained that the ruling family feared criticism if it jailed someone

considered a hero by many Muslims. He also said that the Sudanese

wanted the Saudis to agree in advance on a pardon.6

Sudan's minister of defense, Fatih Erwa, has claimed that Sudan

offered to hand Bin Ladin over to the United States.The Commission

has found no credible evidence that this was so.Ambassador Carney

had instructions only to push the Sudanese to expel BinLadin.:

v v i e l

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-asoo ciatosTAmbassador Carney had no legal basis to ask for more from

the Sudanese since, at the time, there was no indictment outstanding.7

The chief of the Bin Ladin station, whom we will call "Mike,"saw

Bin Ladin's move to Afghanistan as a stroke of luck. Though the CIA

had virtually abandoned Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal, case

officers had reestablished old contacts while tracking down Mir Amal

Kansi, the Pakistani gunman who had murdered two CIA employees

inJanuary 1993.These contacts contributed to intelligence about Bin

Ladin's local movements, business activities, and security and living

arrangements, and helped provide evidence that he wasspending large

amounts of money to help the Taliban. The chief of the Counterter-



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rorist Center, whom we will call "Jeff," toldirectonGeorge Tenet

that the CIA's intelligence assets were "near to providing real-time

information about Bin Ladin's activities and travels in Afghanistan."

One of the contacts was a group associated with particular tribes

among Afghanistan's ethnic Pashtun community.8

By the fall of 1997, the Bin Ladin unit ha d roughed out a plan for

these Afghan tribals to capture Bin Ladin and hand him over for trial

either in the United States or in an Arab country. In early 1998, the

cabinet-level Principals Committee apparently gave the concept its

blessing.9

On their own separate track, getting information but not direction

from the CIA, the FBI's NewYork Field Office and the U.S. Attorney

for the Southern District of NewYork were preparing to ask a grand

jury to indict Bin Ladin.The Counterterrorist Center knew that this

was happening.10 Th e eventual chargejflovying war against tho.United-

Suie^wasfinally issued from the grand jury inJune 1998—as a sealed

indictment. The indictment was publicly disclosed in November of

that year.

When Bin Ladin moved to Afghanistan in May 1996, he became a

subject of interest to the State Department's South Asia bureau. At the

time, as one diplomat told us, South Asia was seen in the department

and the government generally as a low priority. In 1997, as Madeleine

Albright wasbeginning her tenure as secretary of state, an NSC pol-

icy review concluded that the United States should pay more atten-

tion not just to India but also to Pakistan and Afghanistan.11 With

regard to Afghanistan, another diplomat said, the United States at the

time had "no policy."12

In the State Department, concerns about India-Pakistan tensions

often crowded out attention to Afghanistan or Bin Ladin. Aware of

instability and growing Islamic extremism in Pakistan, State Depart-ment officials worried most about an arms race an d possible war

between Pakistan and India. After May 1998, when both countries

surprised the United States by testing nuclear weapons, these dangers

became daily first-order concerns of the State Department.13

InAfghanistan, the State Department tried to end the civil war that

had continued since the Soviets' withdrawal. The South Asia bureau

believed it might have a carrot for Afghanistan's warring factions in a

project by the Union Oil Company of California (UNOCAL) to

build a pipeline across the country. While there was probably never

much chance of the pipelined actually being built, the Afghan desk



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hoped that the prospect of shared pipeline profits might lure faction

leaders to a conference table. U.S. diplomats did not favor the Taliban

over the rival factions. Despite growing concerns, U.S. diplomats were

willing at the time, as one official said,to "give the Taliban a chance."14

Though Secretary Albright made no secret of thinking the Taliban"despicable," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Bill

Richardson, led a delegation to SouthAsia—includingAfghanistan—

in April 1998. No U.S. official of such rank had been to Kabul in

decades.Ambassador Richardson went primarily to urge negotiations

to end the civil war. In view of Bin Ladin's recent public call for all

Muslims to kill Americans, Richardson asked the Taliban to expel Bin

Ladin.They answered that they did not eoiiuol liiiHTln any case, the

Taliban said, Bin Ladin was not a threat to the United States.15

In sum, in late 1997 and the spring of 1998, the lead U.S. agencies

each pursuedVttt-own efforts against Bin Ladin. The CIA's Countert-

errorist Center was developing a plan to capture and remove him

from Afghanistan. Parts of the Justice Department were moving

toward indicting Bin Ladin, making possible a criminal trial in a New

York court. Meanwhile, the State Department was focused more on

lessening Indo-Pakistaninuclear tensions, ending the Afghan civil war,

and ameliorating the Taliban's human rights abuses than on driving

out Bin Ladin. Another key actor,Marine General Anthony Zinni, the

commander in chief of the U.S. Central Command, shared the State

Department's view.16

The CIA Develops a Capture Plan

Initially, tEel Counterterrorist Center and the CIAkBin Ladin unit

considered a plan to ambush Bin Ladin when he traveled between

Kandahar, the Taliban capital where he sometimes stayed the night,

and his primary residence at the time.Tarnak Farms. After the Afghan

tribals reported that they had tried such an ambush and failed, the

Center gave up on it, despite suspicions that the tribals' story might be

fiction. Thereafter, the capture plan focused on a nighttime raid on

Tarnak Farms.17

A compound of about 80 concrete or mud-brick buildings sur-

rounded by a 10-foot wall, Tarnak Farms was located in an isolated

desert area on the outskirts of the Kandahar airport. CIA officers

were able to map the entire site, identifying the houses that belonged

to Bin Ladin's wives and the one where Bin Ladin himself wasmost

likely to sleep. Working with the tribals, they drew up plans for the

IM



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raid. They ran two complete rehearsals in the United States during

the fall of 1997.18

By early 1998,planners at the Counterterrorist Center were ready

to come back to the White House to seek formal approval. Tenet

apparently walked National Security Advisor Sandy Berger throughthe basic plan on February 13. One group of tribals would subdue the

guards, enter Tarnak Farms stealthily, grab Bin Ladin, take him to a

desert site outside Kandahar, and turn him over to a second group.

This second group of tribals would take him to a desert landing zone

already tested in the 1997 Kansi capture. From there, a CIA plane

would take him to New York, an Arab capital, or wherever he was to

be arraigned. Briefing papers prepared by the Counterterrorist Cen-

ter acknowledged that hitches might develop. People might be killed,

and Bin Ladin's supporters might retaliate, perhaps taking U.S. citizens

in Kandahar hostage. But the briefing papers alsonoted that therewas

risk in not acting. "Sooner or later," they said, "Bin Ladin will attack

U.S. interests, perhaps usingWMD [weapons of mass destruction]."19

Clarke's Counterterrorism Security Group reviewed the capture

plan for Berger. Noting that the plan was in a "very early stage of

development," the NSC staff then told the CIA planners to go ahead

and, among other things, start drafting any legal documents that might

be required to authorize the covert action. The CSG apparently

stressed that the raid should target Bin Ladin himself, not the whole

compound.20

The CIA planners conducted their third complete rehearsal in

March, and they again briefed the CSG. Clarke wrote Berger on

March 7 that he saw the operation as"somewhat embryonic" and the

CIA as "months away from doing anything."21

"Mike" thought the capture plan was"the perfect operation." It

required minimum infrastructure.The plan had now been modifiedso

that the tribals would keep Bin Ladin in a hiding place for up to a

month before turning him over to the United States—thereby

increasing the chances of keeping the U.S. hand out of sight. "Mike"

trusted the information from the Afghan network; it had been corrob-

orated by other means, he told us. The lead CIA officer in the field,

Gary Schroen,also had confidence in the tribals. In a May 6 cable to

CIA headquarters, he pronounced their planning "almost as profes-

sional and detailed ...aswould be done by any U.S. military special

operations element." He and the other officers who had worked

through the plan with the tribals judged it "about as good as it can



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RESPONSESTO AL QAEDA'S INITIALASSAULTS 131

be." (By that, Schroen explained, he meant that the chance of captur-

ing or killing Bin Ladin was about 40 percent.) Although the tribals

thought they could pull off the raid, if the operation were approved

by headquarters and the policymakers, Schroen wrote there was going

to be a point when "we step back and keep our ringers crossed that

the [tribals] prove asgood (and as lucky) as they think they will be."22

Military officers reviewed the capture plan and, according to

"Mike,""found no showstoppers."The commander of Delta Force felt

"uncomfortable" with having the tribals hold Bin Ladin captive for so

long, and the commander ofJoint Special Operations Forces, Lieu-

tenant General Michael Canavan, was worried about the safety of the

tribals inside Tarnak Farms. General Canavan said he had actually

thought the operation too complicated for the CIA—"out of their

league"—and an effort to get results"on the cheap."But a senior Joint

Staff officer described the plan as "generally, not too much different

than we might have come up with ourselves." No one in the Penta-

gon, so far as we know, advised the CIA or the White House not to

proceed.23

InWashington, Berger expressed doubt about the dependability of

the tribals. In his meeting with Tenet, Berger focused most, however,

on the question of what was to be done with Bin Ladin if he were

actually captured. He worried that the hard evidence against Bin

Ladin was still skimpy and that there was a danger of snatching him

and bringing him to the United States only to see him acquitted.24

On May 18, CIA's managers reviewed a draft Memorandum of

Notification (MON), a legal document authorizing the capture oper-

ation. A 1986 presidential finding had authorized worldwide covert

action against terrorism and probably provided adequate authority.

But mindful of the old "rogue elephant" charge, senior CIA managers

may have wanted something on paper to show that they were not act-ing on their own.

Discussion of this memorandum brought to the surface an unease

about paramilitary covert action that had become ingrained, at least

among some CIA senior managers. James Pavitt, the assistant head of

the Directorate of Operations, expressed concern that people might

get killed; it appears he thought the operation had at least a slight fla-

vor of a plan for an assassination.Moreover, he calculated that it would

cost several million dollars. He was not prepared to take that money

"out of hide," and he did not want to go to all the necessary congres-

sional committees to get special money. Despite Pavitt's misgivings,



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\2 THE9/11 COMMISSION REPORTi

the CIA leadership cleared the draft memorandum and sent it on to

the National Security Council.25

Counterterrorist Center officers briefed Attorney General Janet

Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh, telling them that the operation

had about a 30 percent chance of success.The Center's chief, "Jeff,"

joined John O'Neill, the head of the FBI's NewYork Field Office, in

briefing Mary Jo White, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District

of NewYork,and her staff.Though "Jeff" also used the 30 percent suc-

cess figure, he warned that someone would surely be killed in the

operation. White's impression from the NewYork briefing was that

the chances of capturing Bin Ladin alive were nil.26

From May 20 to 24, the CIA ran a final, graded rehearsal of the

operation, spread over three time zones, even bringing in personnel

from the region. The FBI also participated. The rehearsal went well.

The Counterterrorist Center planned to brief cabinet-level principals

and their deputies the following week, giving June 23 as the date for

the raid, with Bin Ladin to be brought out of Afghanistan no later

than July 23.27

On May 20,DirectorTenet discussed the high risk of the operation

with Berger and his deputies, warning that people might be killed,

including Bin Ladin. Success was to be defined as the exfiltration of

Bin Ladin out of Afghanistan.28A meeting of principals was scheduled

for May 29 to decide whether the operation should go ahead.

The principals did not meet. On May 29,"Jeff" informed "Mike"

I that he had just met with Tenet, Pavitt, and the chief of the Direc-

torate's Near Eastern Division.The decision was made not to go ahead

with the operation."Mike" cabled the field that he had been directed

to "stand down on the operation for the time being." He had been told,

he wrote, that cabinet-level officials thought the risk of civilian casual-

L "M'S ties—"collateral damage"-4too high. They were concerned about thetribals' safety, and had worried that "the purpose and nature of the

operation would be subject to unavoidable misinterpretation and mis-

representation—and probably recriminations—in the event that Bin

Ladin, despite our best intentions and efforts, did not survive."29

Impressions vary as to who actually decided not to proceed with

the operation. Clarke told usthat the CSG saw the plan as flawed. He

was said to have described it to a colleague on the NSC staff as"half-

assed" and predicted that the principals would not approve it. "Jeff"

thought the decision had been made at the cabinet level. Pavitt

thought that it was Berger's doing, though perhaps onTenet's advice.



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RESPONSES TO AL QAEDA'S INITIALASSAULTS 133

Tenet told us that given the recommendation of his chief operations

officers, he alone had decided to "turn off" the operation. He had

simply informed Berger, who had not pushed back. Berger's recollec-

tion was similar. He said the plan was never presented to the White

House for a decision.30

The CIA's senior management clearly did not think the plan would

work. Tenet's E^eputy Director of Operations wrote to Berger a few

weeks later that the CIA assessed the tribals' ability to capture Bin

Ladin and deliver him to U.S. officials as low. But working-level CIA

officers were disappointed. Before it was canceled, Schroen described

it as the "best plan we are going to come up with to capture [Bin

Ladin] while he is inAfghanistan and bring him to justice."31 No cap-

ture plan before 9/11 ever again attained the same level of detail and

preparation. The tribals' reported readiness to act diminished. And Bin

Ladin's security precautions and defenses became more elaborate and

formidable.

At this time, 9/11 was more than three years away. It was the duty

bnet and the CIA leadership to balance the risks of inaction against

jeopardizing the lives of their oceratives and agents.And they had rea-

son to worry about failure:$^million/'down the drain; a shoot-out

that could be seen as an assassination; and, if there were repercussions

in Pakistan, perhaps a coup.The decisions of the U.S. government in

May 1998 were made, as Berger has put it, from the vantage point of

the driver looking through a muddy windshield moving forward, not

through a clean rearview mirror.32

Looking for Other Options

The Counterterrorist Center continued to track Bin Ladin and to

contemplate covert action. The most hopeful possibility seemed now

to lie in diplomacy—but not diplomacy managed by the Departmentof State, which focused primarily on India-Pakistan nuclear tensions

during the summer of 1998. The CIA learned in the spring of 1998

that the Saudi government had quietly disrupted Bin Ladin cells in its

country that were planning to attack U.S. forces with shoulder-fired

missiles. They had arrested scores of individuals, with no publicity.

When thanking the Saudis, Director Tenet took advantage of the

opening to ask them to help against Bin Ladin. The response was

encouraging enough that President Clinton made Tenet his informal

personal representative to work with the Saudis on terrorism, and

Tenet visited Riyadh in May and again in earlyJune.33



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Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who had taken charge from the ail-

ing King Fahd, promised Tenet an all-out secret effort to persuade the

Taliban to expel Bin Ladin so that he could be sent to the United

States or to another country for trial. The Kingdom's emissary would

be its intelligence chief, Prince Turld bin Faisal.Vice President Al Gore

added his thanks to those ofTenet, both making clear that they spoke

with President Clinton's blessing. Tenet reported that it was impera-

tive to get an indictment againstBui Ladin.The NewYork grand jury -

issued its sealed indictment a few days later, onJune 10.Tenet also rec-

ommended that no action be taken on other U.S. options, such as the

covert action plan.34

Prince Turki followed up in meetings during the summer with

Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders. Apparently employing a mix-

ture of possible incentives and threats, Turki received a commitment

that Bin Ladin would be expelled, but Mullah Omar did not make

good on this promise.35

On August 5, Clarke chaired a CSG meeting on Bin Ladin. In the

discussion of what might be done, the note taker wrote, "there was a

dearth of bright ideas around the table, despite a consensus that the

[government] ought to pursue every avenue it can to address the

problem."3^

4.2 CRISIS: AUGUST 1998

OnAugust 7,1998,National Security Advisor Berger awoke President

Clinton with a phone call at 5:35 A.M. to tell him of the almost

simultaneous bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Suspicion quickly focused on Bin Ladin.

Unusually good intelligence, chiefly from the yearlong monitoring ofal Qaeda's cell in Nairobi, soon firmly fixed responsibility on him and

his associates.37

Debate about what to do settled very soon on one option: Toma-

hawk cruise missiles. Months earlier, after cancellation of the covert

capture operation, Clarke had prodded the Pentagon to explore pos-

sibilities for military action. On June 2, General Hugh Shelton, the

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had directed General Zinni at

Central Command to develop a plan, which he had submitted during

the first week of July. Zinni's planners surely considered the two pre-

vious times the United States had used force to respond to terrorism,



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RESPONSESTO AL QAEDA'S INITIAL ASSAULTS 135

the 1986 strike on Libya and the 1993 strike against Iraq. They pro-

posed firing Tomahawks against eight terrorist camps inAfghanistan,

including BinLadin's compound atTarnak Farms.38After the embassy

attacks, the Pentagon offered this plan to the White House.

The day after the embassy bombings, Tenet brought to a principalsmeeting intelligence that terrorist leaders were expected to gather at

a camp near Khowst,Afghanistan, to plan future attacks. According to

Berger, Tenet said that several hundred would attend, including Bin

Ladin. The CIA described the area as effectively a military canton-

ment, away from civilian population centers and overwhelmingly

populated by jihadists. Clarke remembered sitting next to Tenet in a

White House meeting, asking Tenet "You thinking what I'm think-

ing?" and his nodding "yes."39 The principals quickly reached a con-

sensus on attacking the gathering. The strike's purpose was to kill Bin

Ladin and his chief lieutenants.40

Berger put in place a tightly compartmented process designed to

keep all planning secret. On August 11, General Zinni received orders

to prepare detailed plans for strikes against the sites in Afghanistan.The

Pentagon briefed President Clinton about these plans on August 12

and 14.Though the principals hoped that the missiles would hit Bin

Ladin, NSC staff recommended the strike whether or not there was

firm evidence that the commanders were at the facilities.41

Considerable debate went to the question of whether to strike tar-

gets outside ofAfghanistan, including two facilities in Sudan. One was

a tannery believed to belong to Bin Ladin. The other was al Shifa, a

Khartoum pharmaceutical plant, which intelligence reports said was

manufacturing a precursor ingredient for nerve gas with Bin Ladin's

financial support. The argument for hitting the tannery was that it

could hurt Bin Ladin fmanciajlyirhe argument for hitting al Shifa was

that it would lessen the chance of Bin Ladin's having nerve gas for a

later attack.42

Ever since March 1995, American officials had had in the backs of

their minds Aum Shinrikyo's release of sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo

subway. President Clinton himself had expressed great concern about

chemical and biological terrorism in the United States. Bin Ladin had

reportedly been heard to speak of wanting a "Hiroshima"and at least

10,000 casualties.The CIA reported that a soil sample from the vicin-

ity of the al Shifa plant had tested positive for EMPTA, a precursor

chemical forVX, a nerve gas whose lone use was for mass killing.Two

days before the embassy bombings, Clarke's staff wrote that Bin Ladin



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\6THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT

"has invested in and almost certainly has access to VX produced at a

plant in Sudan."43 Senior State Department officials believed that they

had received a similar verdict independently, though they and Clarke's

staff were probably relying on the same report. Mary McCarthy, the

NSC senior director responsible for intelligence programs, initially

cautioned Berger that the "bottom line" was that "we will need much

better intelligence on this facility before we seriously consider any

options." She added that the link between Bin Ladin and al Shifa was

"rather uncertain at this point." Berger has told us that he thought

about what might happen if the decision went against hitting al Shifa,

and nerve gas was used in a NewYork subway two weeks later.44

By the early hours of the morning ofAugust 20, President Clinton

and all his principal advisers had agreed to strike Bin Ladin camps in

Afghanistan near Khowst, as well as hitting al Shifa. The President

took the Sudanese tannery of f the target list because he sawlittle point

in killing uninvolved people without doing significant harm to Bin

Ladin. The principal with the most qualms regarding al Shifa was

Attorney General Reno. She expressed concern about attacking two

Muslim countries at the same time. Looking back, she said that she felt

"premise kept shifting."45

Later on August 20, Navy vessels in the Arabian Sea fired their

cruise missiles. Though most of them hit their intended targets, nei-

ther Bin Ladin nor any other terrorist leader was killed. Berger told us

that an after-action review by Director Tenet concluded that the

\s had killed 20-30 people in the campsbut probably missedBin

Ladin by a few hours. Since the missiles headed for Afghanistan had

had to cross Pakistan, theVice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was sent

to meet with Pakistan's army chief of staff to assure him the missiles

were not coming from India. Officials in Washington speculated that

one or another Pakistani official might have sent a warning to the Tal-

iban or Bin Ladin.46

The air strikes marked the climax of an intense 48-hour period in

which Berger notified congressional leaders, the principals called their

foreign counterparts, and President Clinton flew back from his vaca-

tion on Martha's Vineyard to address the nation from the Oval Office.

The President spoke to the congressional leadership from Air Force

One, and he called British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Pakistani Prime

Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from

the White House.47 House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senate Major-

ity LeaderTrent Lott initially supported the President. The next month,

Gingrich's office dismissed the cruise missile attacks as"pinpricks."48



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RESPONSESTO AL QAEDA'S INITIAL ASSAULTS 137

But much public commentary turned immediately to scaldingcrit-

icism that the action was too aggressive. The Sudanese denied that

al Shifa produced nerve gas, and they allowed journalists to visit what

wa s left of a seemingly harmless facility. President Clinton,Vice Pres-

ident Gore, Berger.Tenet,and Clarke insisted to us that their judgment

was right, pointing to the soil sample evidence. No independent evi-

dence has emerged to corroborate the CIA's assessment.49

Some Republicans in Congress raised questions about the timing

of the strikes. Berger was particularly rankled by an editorial in the

.t said that only the future would tell whether the U.S.

missile strikes had "created 10,000 new fanatics where there would

have been none."50

At the time, President Clinton was embroiled in the Lewinsky

scandal, which continued to consume public attention for the rest of

that year and the first months of 1999. As it happened, a popular

199yiWa8tfaeDojpfeaturel a president who takes a war to

distract public attention from a domestic scandal.

Everyone involved in the decision had, of course, been aware of t«2i

Clinton's problems. He told them to ignore them. Berger recalled the " ^

President saying to him "that they were going to get crap either way,

so they should do the right thing."51 All his aides testified to us that

they based their advice solely on national security considerations."W e

have found no reason to question their statements.

The failure of the strikes, the "wag the dog" slur, the intense parti-

sanship of the period, and the nature of the al Shifa evidence likely had

a cumulative effect on future decisions about the use of force against

Bin Ladin. Berger told us that he did not feel any sense of constraint.52

The period after the August 1998 embassy bombings was critical

in shaping U.S. policy toward Bin Ladin. Although moreAmericans

had been killed in the 1996 Khobar Towers attack, and many more inBeirut in 1983, the Gveraulloss of life rivaled the worst attacks in

memory. More ominousTperhaps, was the demonstration of an oper-

ational capability to coordinate two nearly simultaneous attacks on

U.S. embassies in different countries.

Despite the availability of information that al Qaeda was a global

network, in 1998 policymakers knew little about the organization.

The reams of new information that the CIA's Bin Ladin unit had been

developing since 1996 had not been pulled together and synthesized

for the rest of the government. Indeed, analysts in the unit felt that

they were viewed asalarmists even within the ClJLji National Intel-

ligence Estimate on terrorism in 1997 had only briefly mentioned Bin



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page


Ladin, and no subsequent national estimate would authoritatively

evaluate the terrorism danger until after 9/11. Policymakers knew

there was a dangerous individual, Usama Bin Ladin, whom they had

been trying to capture and bring to trial. Documents at the time

referred to Bin Ladin "and his associates" or Bin Ladin and his "net-

hey did not emphasize the existence of a structured worldwide

organization gearing up to train thousands of potential terrorists.53

In the critical days and weeks after the August 1998 attacks, senior

policymakers in the Clinton administration had to reevaluate the

threat posed by Bin Ladin.Was this just a new and especially ven-

omous version of the ordinary terrorist threat America had lived with

for decades, or was it radically new, posing a danger beyond any yet

experienced?

Even after the embassy attacks,Bin Ladin had been responsible for

the deaths of fewer than 50 Americans, most of them overseas. An

NSC staffer working for Richard Clarke told us the threat was seen as

one that could cause hundreds of casualties, not thousands.54 Evenofficials who acknowledge a vital threat intellectually may not be

ready to act on such beliefs at great cost or at high risk.

Therefore, the government experts who believed that Bin Ladin

and his network posed such a novel danger needed a way to win broad

support for their views, or at least spotlight the areas of dispute. The

Presidential Daily Brief and the similar, more widely circulated daily

reports for high officials—consisting mainly of brief reports of intelli-

2ence "news" without much analysis or context—did not provide

such aj)roee.m.The national intelligence estimate has often played this

role, and is sometimes controversial for this very reason.It played no

role in judging the threat posed by al Qaeda, either in 1998 or later.

In the late summer and fall of 1998, the U.S. government also was

worrying about the deployment of military power in two other ongo-ing conflicts.After years of war in the Balkans, the United States had

finally committed itself to significant military intervention in 1995-96.

Already maintaining a NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia, U.S.

officials were beginning to consider major combat operations against

Serbia to protect Muslim civilians in Kosovo from ethnic cleansing.

Air strikes were threatened in October 1998; a full-scale NATO

bombing campaign against Serbia was launched in March 1999.55

In addition, the Clinton administration was facing the possibility of

major combat operations against Iraq. Since 1996, the UN inspection.5

regime had been increasingly obstructed by Saddam Hussein.



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RESPONSESTOALQAEDA'S INITIAL ASSAULTS 139

United States was threatening to attack unless unfettered inspections

could resume. The Clinton administration eventually launched a

large-scale set of air strikes against Iraq, Operation Desert Fox, in

December 1998.These military commitments became the context in

which the Clinton administration had to consider opening anotherfront of military engagement against a new terrorist threat based in

Afghanistan.

A Follow-OnCampaign?

Clarke hoped the August 1998 missile strikes would mark the begin-

ning of a sustained campaign against Bin Ladin. Clarke was, as he later

admitted,"obsessed" with Bin Ladin, and the embassy bombings gave

him new scope for pursuing his obsession. Terrorism had moved high

up among the President's concerns,and Clarke's position hadelevated

accordingly.The CSG, unlike most standing interagency committees,

did not have to report through the Deputies Committee. Although

such a reporting relationship had been prescribed in the May 1998

presidential directive (after expressions of concern byAttorney Gen-eral Reno, among others), that directive contained an exception that

permitted the CSG to report directly to the principals if Berger so

eiet*e Inpractice, the CSG often reported not even to the full Prin-

cipals Committee but instead to the so-called Small Group formed by

Berger, consisting only of those principals cleared to know about the

most sensitive issues connected with counterterrorism activities con-

cerning Bin Ladin or the Khobar Towers investigation.56

For this inner cabinet, Clarke drew up what he called"Political-

Military Plan Delenda." The Latin _delenda, meaning that something

"must be destroyed," evoked the famous Roman vow to destroy its

rival, Carthage. The overall goal of Clarke's-pfetTwas to "immediately

eliminate an y significant threat to Americans" from the "Bin Ladin

olplomacy to deny Bin

~£s35TsanctuaTy; covert action to disrupt terrorist activities, but above

all to capture Bin Ladin and his deputies and bring them to trial;

efforts to dry up Bin Ladin's money supply; and preparation for

follow-on military action. The status of the document was and

remained uncertain. It was never formally adopted by the principals,

andparticipants in the Small Group now have little or no recollection

of it. It did, however, guide Clarke's efforts.

The military component of Clarke's plan was its most fully articu-

lated element. He envisioned an ongoing campaign of strikes against

"*• t-V

< % £



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page


Bin Ladin's bases in Afghanistan or elsewhere, whenever target infor-

mation was ripe. Acknowledging that individual targets might not

have much value, he cautioned Berger not to expect ever again to

have an assembly of terrorist leaders in his sights. But he argued that

rolling attacks might persuade the Taliban to hand over Bin Ladin and,in anycase, would show that the action in August was not a "one-off"

event. It would show that the United States was committed to a

relentless effort to take down Bin Ladin's network.58

Members of the Small Group found themselves unpersuaded of the

merits of rolling attacks. Defense SecretaryWilliam Cohen told us Bin

Ladin's training camps were primitive, built with "rope ladders"; Gen-

eral Shelton called them "jungle gym" camps. Neither thought them

worthwhile targets for very expensive missiles. President Clinton and

Berger also worried about the _EconpnM.'s point—that attacks that

missed Bin Ladin could enhance his stature and win him new recruits.

After the United States launched air attacks against Iraq at the end of

1998 and against Serbia in 1999, in each case provoking worldwide

criticism, Deputy National Security Advisor James Steinberg added

the argument that attacks in Afghanistan offered "little benefit, lots of

blowback against [a] bomb-happy U.S."59

During the last week of AugusJ/ofticials began considering possi-

ble follow-on strikes. According to Clarke, President Clinton was

inclined to launch further strikes sooner rather than later. On August

27, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Walter Slocombe advised

Secretary Cohen that the available targets were not promising. The

experience of the previous week, he wrote, "has only confirmed the

importance of defining a clearly articulated rationale for military

action" that was effective as well asjustified. But Slocombe worried

that simply striking some of these available targets did not add up to

aa effective strategy.60

Defense officials at a lower level, in the Office of the Assistant Sec-

retary for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, tried to

meet Slocombe's objections. They developed a plan that, unlike

Clarke's, called not for particular strikesbut instead for a broad change

in national, strategy and in the institutional approach of the Depart-

ment of Defense, implying a possible need for large-scale operations

across the whole spectrum of U.S. military capabilities. It urged the

department to become a lead agency in driving a national countert-

errorism strategy forward, to "champion a national effort to take up

the gauntlet that international terrorists have thrown at our feet." The

w % > -



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page


authors expressed concern that "we have not fundamentally altered

our philosophy or our approach" even though the terrorist threat had

grown.They outlined an eight-part strategy"to be more proactive and

aggressive."The future, they warned, might bring "horrific attacks," in

whictTWent "we will have no choice nor, unfortunately, will we have

a plan. The assistant secretary, Allen Holmes, took the paper to Slo-

combe's chief deputy, Jan Lodal, but it went no further. Itslead author

recalls being told by Holmes that Lodal thought it was too aggressive.

Holmes cannot recall what was said, and Lodal cannot remember the

episode or the paper at all.61

4.3 DIPLOMACY

After the August missile strikes, diplomatic options to press the Taliban

seemed no more promising than military options. The United States

had issued a formal warning to the Taliban, and also to Sudan, that

they would be held directly responsible for any attacks onAmericans,

wherever they occurred, carried out by the Bin Ladin network as long

as they continued to provide sanctuary to it.62

For a brief moment, it had seemed as if the August strikes might

have shocked the Taliban into thinking of giving up Bin Ladin. On

August 22, the reclusive Mullah Omar told a working-level State

Department official that the strikes were counterproductive but added

that he would be open to a dialogue with the United States on Bin

Ladin's presence inAfghanistan.63 Meeting in Islamabad with William

Milam, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Taliban delegates said it was

against their culture to expel someone seeking sanctuary but asked

what would happen to Bin Ladin should he be sent to SaudiArabia.64

Yet in September 1998, when the Saudi emissary, Prince Turki,

asked Mullah Omar whether he would keep his earlier promise to

expel Bin Ladin, the Taliban leader said no. Both sides shouted at each

other, with Mullah Omar denouncing the Saudi government. Riyadh

then suspended its diplomatic relations with the Taliban regim^/Saudi

Arabia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates were the only coun-

tries that recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of

Afghanistaifll Crown Prince Abdullah told President Clinton andVice

President Gore about this when he visited Washington in late Septem-

ber. His account confirmed reports that the U.S. government had

received independently.65



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page


Other efforts with the Saudi government centered on improving

intelligence sharing and permitting U.S. agents to interrogate prison-

ers in Saudi custody. The history of such cooperation in 1997 and

1998 had been strained.66 Several officials told us, in particular, that

the United States could not get direct access to an important al Qaedafinancial official, Madani al Tayyib, who had been detained by the

Saudi government in 1997.67 Though U.S. officials repeatedly raised

the issue, the Saudis provided limited information. In his September

1998 meeting with Crown Prince Abdullah, Vice President Gore,

while thanking the Saudi government for their responsiveness,

renewed the request for direct U.S. access to Tayyib.68 The United

States never obtained this access.

An NSC staff— led working group on terrorist finances asked the

CIA in November 1998 to push again for access to Tayyib and to see

"if it is possible to elaborate further on the ties between Usama bin

Ladin and prominent individuals in Saudi Arabia, including especially

the Bin Ladin family."69 One result was two NSC-led interagency

trips to Saud i Arabij/ih 1999 and 2000. During these trips the NSC,

Treasury, and intelligence representatives spoke with Saudi officials,

and later interviewed members of the Bin Ladin family, about Usama's

inheritance. The Saudis and the Bin Ladin family eventually helped in

this particular effort^and U.S. officials ultimately learned that Bin

Ladin was not financing al Qaeda out of a personal inheritance.70 But

Clarke wasfrustrated about how little the Agency knew, complaining

to Berger that four years after "we first asked CIA to track down [Bin

Ladin]'s finances" and two years after the creation of the CIA's Bin

Ladin unit, the Agency said it could only guess at how much aid Bin

Ladin gave to terrorist groups, what were the main sources of his

budget, or how he moved his money.71

The other diplomatic route to get at Bin Ladin in Afghanistan ran

through Islamabad. In the summer before the embassy bombings, the

State Department had been heavily focused on rising tensions

between India and Pakistan and did not aggressively challenge Pak-

istan on Afghanistan and Bin Ladin. But State Department countert-

errorism officials wanted a stronger position; the department's acting

counterterrorism coordinator advised Secretary Albright to designate

Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism, noting that despite high-level

Pakistani assurances,the country's military intelligence service contin-

ued "activities inGuppo^ of international terrorism" by(suppo

attacks on civilian targets in Kashmir. This recommendation was

opposed bvfStat<p)South Asia bureau, which was concerned that it



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page


would damage already sensitive relations with Pakistan in the wake

nuclear tests by both Pakistan and India. Secretary Albright rejected

the recommendation on August 5, 1998, just two days before the

embassy bombings.72 She told us that, in general, putting the Pakista-

nis on the terrorist list would eliminate any influence the United

States had over them.73 In October, an NSC counterterrorism official

noted that Pakistan's pro-Taliban military intelligence service had

been training Kashmiri jihadists in one of the camps hit by U.S. mis-

siles, leading to the death of Pakistanis.74

After flying to Nairobi andbringing home the coffins of the Amer-

ican dead, Secretary Albright increased the department's focus on

counterterrorism. According to Ambassador Milam, the bombings

were a "wake-up call," and he soon found himself spending 45 to 50

percent of his time working the Taliban-Bin Ladin portfolio75 But

Pakistan's military intelligence service, known as the USEDmiter-

Services Intelligence Directorate), was the Taliban's primary patron,

which made progress difficult.

Additional pressure on the Pakistanis—beyond demands to press

the Taliban on Bin Ladin—seemed unattractive to most officials of the

State Department. Congressional sanctions punishing Pakistan for

possessing nuclear arms prevented the administration from offering

incentives to Islamabad.76 In the words of Deputy Secretary of State

Strobe Talbott, Washington's Pakistan policy was"stick-heavy." Talbott

felt that the only remaining sticks were additional sanctions that

would have bankrupted the Pakistanis, a dangerous move that could

have brought "total chaos" to a nuclear-armed country with a signif-

icant number of Islamic radicals.77 a 4.1* 1

The Saudi government, which hadilong fetd-« close relationship

with Pakistan and provided it oil on generous terms, was already press-

ing Sharif with regard to the Taliban and Bin Ladin. A senior StateDepartment official concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah put

"a tremendous amount of heat"on the Pakistani prime minister dur-

ing the prince's October 1998 visit to Pakistan.78

The State Department urged President Clinton to engage the Pak-

istanis. Accepting this advice, President Clinton invited Sharif to

"Washington, where they talked mostly about India but also discussed

BinLadin.After Sharif went home, the President called him and raised

the Bin Ladin subject again. This effort elicited from Sharif a promise

to talk with the Taliban.79

Mullah Omar's position showed no sign of softening. One intelli-

gence report passed to Berger by the NSC staff quoted Bin Ladin as



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page,

] 144 THE9/11 COMMISSION REPORT

saying that Mullah Omar had given him a completely free hand to act

in any country, though asking that he not claim responsibility for

attacks in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. Bin Ladin was described as grab-

bing his beard and saying emotionally, "By Allah, by God, the Ameri-

cans will still be amazed. The so-called United States will suffer thesame fate as the Russians. Their state will collapse, too."80

Debate in the State Department intensified after December 1998,

when Michael Sheehan became counterterrorism coordinator. A one-

time special forces officer, he had worked with Albright when she was

ambassador to the United Nations and had served on the NSC staff

with Clarke. He shared Clarke's obsession with terrorism, and had lit-

tle hesitation about locking horns with the regional bureaus. Through

every available channel, he repeated the earlier warning to the Taliban

of the possible dire consequences—including military strikes—if Bin

Ladin remained their guest and conducted additional attacks. Within

the department, he argued for designating the Taliban regime a state

sponsor of terrorism. This was technically difficult to do, for calling it

a state would be tantamount to diplomatic recognition, which the

United States had thus farwithheld.But Sheehan urged the use of any

weapon against the Taliban. He told us that he thought he

was regarded in the department as "a one-note Johnny nutcase."81 / j

In early 1999, the State Departmenj/counterterrorism office pro- i >

posed a comprehensive diplomatic strategy for all states involved in

the Afghanistan problem, including Pakistan. It specified both carrots

! and hard-hitting sticks—among them, certifying Pakistan as uncoop-

erative on terrorism. Albright said the original carrots and sticks listed

in a decision paper for principals may not have been used as

"described on paper" but added that they were used in other ways or

in varying degrees. But the paper's author, Ambassador Sheehan,was

frustrated and complained to us that the original plan "had been

watered down to the point that nothing was then done with it."82

The cautiousness of the SouthAsia bureau was reinforced when, in

May 1999, Pakistani troops were discovered to have infiltrated into an

especially mountainous area of Kashmir. A limited war began between

India and Pakistan, euphemistically called the "Kargil crisis," as India

tried to drive the Pakistani forces out. Patience with Pakistan was

wearing thin, inside both the State Department and the NSC. Bruce

Pviedel, the NSC staff member responsible for Pakistan, wrote Berger

that Islamabad was "behaving as a rogue state in two areas—backing

Taliban/UBL terror and provoking war with India."83



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RESPONSESTO AL QAEDA'S INITIALASSAULTS 145

V

Discussion within the Clinton administration on Afghanistan then

concentrated on two main alternatives. The first, championed by

Riedel and Assistant Secretary of State Karl Inderfurth, was to under-

take a major diplomatic effort to end the Afghan civil war and install

a national unity government. The second,favored by Sheehan, Clarke,

and the CIA, called for labeling the Taliban a terrorist group and ulti-

, — mately funneling secret aid to its chief foe, the Northern Alliance. This

"dcbiiei would go back and forth throughout 1999 and ultimately

become entangled with(^ebate)about enlisting the NorthernAlliance

as an ally for covert action

Frustrated by the Taliban's resistance, two senior State Department

officials suggested asking the Saudis to offer the Taliban $250 million

fo r Bin Ladin. Clarke opposed having the United States facilitate a

"huge grant to a regime as heinous as the Taliban" and suggested that

the idea might not seem attractive to either Secretary Albright or First

Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton—both critics of the Taliban's record on

women's rights.85 The proposal seems to have quiedy died.

Within die State Department, some officials delayed Sheehan andClarke's push either to designate Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as a

state sponsor of terrorism or to designate the regime as a foreign ter-

rorist organization (diereby avoiding the issue of whether to recognize

the Taliban asAfghanistan's government).86 Sheehan and Clarke pre-

vailed inJuly 1999, when President Clinton issued an executive order

effectively declaring the Taliban regime a state sponsor of terrorism.87

In October, a UN Security Council Resolution championed by the

United States added economic and travel sanctions.88

With UN sanctions set to come into effect in November, Clarke

wrote Berger that "the Taliban appear to be up to something."89 Mul-

lah Omar had shuffled his "cabinet"and hinted at Bin Ladin spossible

departure. Clarke's staff thought his most likely destination would be

Somalia; Chechnya seemed less appealing with Russia on the offen-sive. Clarke commented that Iraq and Libya had previously discussed

hosting Bin Ladin, though he and his staff had their doubts that Bin

Ladin would trust secular Arab dictators such as Saddam Hussein or

Muammar Qadhafi. Clarke also raised the "remote possibility" of

Yemen,which offered vast uncontrolled spaces. In November, the CSG

discussed whether the sanctions had rattled the Taliban, who seemed

"to be looking for a face-saving way out of the Bin Ladin issue."90

In fact none of the outside pressure had any visible effect on Mul-

lah Omar, who was unconcerned about commerce with the outside



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page


world. Omar had virtually no diplomatic contact with the West, since

he refused to meet with non-Muslims. The United States learned that

at the end of 1999, theTaliban Council of Ministers unanimously reaf-

firmed that their regime would stick by Bin Ladin.Relations between

Bin Ladin and the Taliban leadership were sometimes tense, but thefoundation was deep and personal.91 Indeed, Mullah Omar had exe-

cuted at least one subordinatewho opposed his pro—Bin Ladin policy.92

The United States would try tougher sanctions in 2000."Working

with Russia (a country involved in an ongoing campaign against

Chechen separatists, some of whom received support from Bin

Ladin), the United States persuaded the United Nations to adopt

Security Council Resolution 1333, which included an embargo on

arms shipments to the Taliban, in December 2000.93 The aim of the

resolution was to hit the Taliban where it was most sensitive—on the

battlefield against the Northern Alliance—and criminalize giving

them arms and providing military "advisers," which Pakistan had been

doing.94 Yet the passage of the resolution had no visible effect on

Omar, nor did it halt the flow of Pakistani military assistance to theTaliban.95

U.S. authorities had continued to try to get cooperation from Pak-

istan in pressing the Taliban to stop sheltering Bin Ladin. President

Clinton contacted Sharif again in June 1999, partly to discuss the cri-

sis with India but also to urge Sharif, "in the strongest way I can," to

persuade the Taliban to expel Bin Ladin.96 The President suggested

that Pakistan use its control over oil supplies to the Taliban and over

Afghan imports through Karachi. Sharif suggested instead that Pak-

istani forces might try to capture Bin Ladin themselves. Though no

one in Washington thought this was likely to happen, President Clin-

ton gave the idea hisblessing.97 s-^

The President met with Sharif in Washington in early JimTHhough

the meeting's main purpose was to seal the Pakistani prime minister's

decision to withdraw from the Kargil confrontation in Kashmir,Pres-

ident Clinton complained about Pakistan's failure to take effective

action with respect to the Taliban and Bin Ladin. Sharif came back to

his earlier proposal and won approval for U.S. assistance in training a

Pakistani special forces team for an operation against Bin Ladin. Then,

in October 1999, Sharif was deposed by General Pervez Musharraf,

and the plan was terminated.98

At first, the Clinton administration hoped that Musharraf's coup

might create an opening for action on Bin Ladin. A career military

- 7



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page

"\STO AL QAEDA'S INITIAL ASSAULTS 147

officer, Musharraf was thought to have the political strength to con-

front andinfluence the Pakistani intelligence service, which supported

the Taliban. Berger speculated that the new government might use

Bin Ladin to buy concessions fromWashington, but neither side ever

developed such an initiative."By late 1999, more than a year after the embassy bombings, diplo- _l| *~T

macy with Pakistan, like the efforts with AfghatmtaaT had, according * \VAA. V .«

to Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering, "borne little fruit."100

4.4 COVERT ACTION

On August 20, 1998, the day of the cruise missile strikes, President

Clinton had signed a Memorandum of Notification authorizing the

CIA to let its tribal assets use force to capture Bin Ladin and his

associates. CI A officers told th e tribals that th e plan to capture Bin

Ladin, which had been "turned of f" three months earlier, was back on.

The memorandum also authorized the CIA to attack Bin Ladin inother ways, though not those proscribed by the Treasury.An executive

order did, however, freeze financial holdings that could be linked to

Bin Ladin.101

The counterterrorism staff at CIA thought it was gaining a better

understanding of Bin Ladin and his network. In preparation for brief-

ing the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on September 2,Tenet

was told that the intelligence community knew more about Bin Ladin's

network "than about any other top tier terrorist organization."102

The CIA was using this knowledge to disrupt a number of Bin

Ladin—associated cells."Working with Albanian authorities, CIA oper-

atives had raided an al Qaeda forgery operation and another terrorist

cell in Tirana. These operations may have disrupted a planned attack

on the U.S. embassy inTirana, and did lead to the rendition of a num-

ber of al Qaeda-related terrorist operatives.After the embassybomb-

ings, there were arrests in Azerbaijan, Italy, and Britain. Several

terrorists were sent to an Arab country. The CIA described working

with FBI operatives to prevent a planned attack on the U.S. embassy

in Uganda, and a number of suspects were arrested. On September 16,

Abu Hajer, one of Bin Ladin's deputies in Sudan and the head of his

computer operations and weapons procurement, was arrested in Ger-

many. He was the most important Bin Ladin lieutenant captured thus

far. Clarke commented to Berger with satisfaction that August and



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page


September had brought the "greatest number of terrorist arrests in a

short period of time that we have ever arranged/facilitated."103

Given the President's August 20 Memorandum ofNotification, the

CIA had already been working on new plans for using the Afghan

tribals to capture Bin Ladin. During September and October, the trib-als claimed to have tried at least four times to ambush Bin Ladin.

Senior CIA officials doubted whether any of these ambush attempts

had actually occurred. But the tribals did seem to have success in

reporting where Bin Ladin was.104

This information was more useful than it had been in the past;

since the August missile strikes, Bin Ladin had taken to moving his

sleeping place frequently and unpredictably and had added new body-

guards.Worst of all, al Qaeda's senior leadership had stopped using a

particular means of communication almost immediately after a leak to • I

the 'Washingtonjrimes.105 This made it much more difficult for the * M

National Security Agency to intercept his conversations. But since the

tribals seemed to know where Bin Ladin was or would be, an alterna-

tive to capturing Bin Ladin would be to mark his location and call in

another round of missile strikes.

On November 3, the Small Group met to discuss these problems,

among other topics. Preparing Director Tenet for a Small Group

meeting in mid-November, the Counterterrorist Center stressed, "At

this point we cannot predict when or if a capture operation will be

executed by our assets."106

U.S. counterterrorism officials also worried about possible domes-

tic attacks. Several intelligence reports, some of dubious sourcing,

mentioned Washington as a possible target. On October 26, Clarke's

CSG took the unusual step of holding a meeting dedicated to trying

"to evaluate the threat of a terrorist attack in the United States by the

Usama bin Ladin network."107 The CSG members were "urged to be

as creative aspossible in their thinking" about preventing a Bin Ladin

attack on U.S. territory. Participants noted that while the FBI had

been given additional resources for such efforts, both it and the CIA

were having problems exploiting leadsby tracing U.S. telephone num-

bers and translating documents obtained in cell disruptions abroad.

The Justice Department reported that the current guidelines from the

Attorney General gave sufficient legal authority for domestic investi-

gation and surveillance.108

Though intelligence gave no clear indication of what might be

afoot, some intelligence reports mentioned chemical weapons, point-



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page


ing toward work at a camp in southern Afghanistan called Derunta.

On November 4, 1998, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern

District of NewYork unsealed its indictment of Bin Ladin, charging

him with conspiracy to attack U.S. defense installations. The indict-

ment also charged that al Qaeda had allied itself with Sudan, Iran, andHezbollah. The original sealed indictment had added that al Qaeda

had "reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that

al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on partic-

ular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda

would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq."109This pas-

sage led Clarke, who for years had read intelligence reports on Iraqi-

Sudanese cooperation on chemical weapons, to speculate to Berger

that a large Iraqi presence at chemical facilities in Khartoum was

"probably a direct result of the Iraq-Al Qida agreement." Clarke

added that VX precursor traces found near al Shifa were the "exact

formula used by Iraq."110This language about al Qaeda's "understand-

ing" with Iraq had been dropped, however, when a superseding indict-

ment was filed in November 1998.m

In December 1998, Clarke's CSG also discussed evidence of

"threats to U.S. aviation" from Bin Ladin and his associates in the

Egyptian Islamic Jihad. The CIA briefed the group on information

from, a foreign liaison service "regarding a possible hijacking of a U.S.

commercial airliner at a New"York airport by operatives of the Usama

bin Ladin network."112 The group also discussed the possibility of

shoulder-fired missiles being hunched at planes taking of f or landing

at airports in the Middle East.The CSG worked with the FBI, the

Federal Aviation Administration, and the New York Police Depart-

ment. NewYork City airports went to maximum security, with addi-

tional armed police and bomb-sniffing dogs, and FAA inspectors

examined the work of the airlines' private security staff. Securitywas

also raised at other East Coast airports.113

On December 17, the day after the United States and Britain began

their Desert Fox bombing campaign against Iraq, the Small Group

convened to discuss intelligence suggesting imminent Bin Ladin

attacks on the U.S. embassies hi Qatar and Ethiopia.The next day,

Director Tenet sent a memo to the President, the cabinet, and senior

officials throughout the government describing reports that Bin Ladin

planned to attack U.S. targets very soon, possibly over the next few

days, before Ramadan celebrations began. Tenet said he was "greatly

concerned."114



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With alarms sounding, members of the Small Group considered

ideas about how to respond to or prevent such attacks. Generals Shel-

ton and Zinni came up with military options. Special Operations, f

Forces were later told that they might be ordered to attempt very high•— N

risk in-and-out raids either in Khartoum, to capture a senior Bin^Ladin operative known as Abu Hafi the Mauritanian—who appeared

to be engineering some of the plots—or in Kandahar, to capture Bin

Ladin himself. Shelton told us that such operations are not risk fee,

invoking the memory of the 1993 "Black Hawk down" fiasco in

Mogadishu.115

The CIA reported on December 18that Bin Ladin might be trav-

eling to Kandahar and could be targeted there with cruise missiles.

Vessels with Tomahawk cruise missiles were on station in the Arabian

Sea, and could fire within a few hours of receiving target data.116

On December 20, intelligence indicated Bin Ladin would be

spending the night at the Haji Habash house, part of the governor's

residence in Kandahar.The chief of the Bin Ladin unit,"Mike," told

us that he promptly briefed Tenet and his deputy, John Gordon.

From the field, the CIA's Gary Schroen advised: "Hit him tonight—

we may not get another chance." An urgent teleconference of prin-

cipals was arranged.117

The principals considered a cruise missile strike to try to kill Bin

Ladin. One issue they discussed was the potential collateral damage—

the number of innocent bystanders who would be killed or wounded.

General Zinni predicted a number well over 200 and was concerned

about damage to a nearby mosque. The senior intelligence officer on

the Joint Staff •s»e«»apparently made a different calculation, estimat-

ing half as much collateral damage and not predicting damage to the

mosque.By the end of the meeting, the principals decided against rec-

ommending to the President that he order a strike. A few weeks later,

in January 1999, Clarke wrote that the principals had thought the

intelligence only half reliable and had worried about killing or injur-

ing perhaps 300 people. Tenet said he remembered doubts about the

reliability of the source and concern about hitting the nearby

mosque. "Mike" remembered Tenet telling him that the military was

concerned that a few hours had passed since the last sighting of Bin

Ladin and that this persuaded everyone that the chance of failure was

too great.118

Some lower-level officials were angry."Mike" reported to Schroen

that he had been unable to sleep after this decision. "I'm sure we'll



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regret not acting last night," he wrote, criticizing the principals for

"worrying that some stray shrapnel might hit the Habash mosque and

'offend' Muslims." He commented that they had not shown compara-

ble sensitivity when deciding to bomb Muslims in Iraq. The princi-

pals, he said, were "obsessed" with trying to get others—Saudis,Pakistanis,Afghan tribals—to "do what we won't do." Schroen was

disappointed too. "We should have done it last night," he wrote. "We

may well come to regret the decision not to go ahead."119 The Joint

Staff's deputy director for operations agreed, even though he told us

that later intelligence appeared to show that Bin Ladin had left his

quarters before the strike would have occurred. Missing Bin Ladin, he

said, "would have caused us a hell of a problem, but it was a shot we

should have taken, and we would have had to pay the price."120

The principals began considering other, more aggressive covert

alternatives using the tribals. CIA officers suggested that the tribals

would prefer to try a raid rather than a roadside ambush because they

would have better control, it would be less dangerous, and it played

more to their skills and experience. But everyone knew that if thetribals were to conduct such a raid, guns would be blazing. The cur-

rent Memorandum of Notification instructed the CIA to capture Bin

Ladin and to use lethal force only in self-defense. Work now began on

a new memorandum, which would give the tribals more latitude. The

intention was to say that they could use lethal force if the attempted

capture seemed impossible to complete successfully.121

Early drafts of this highly sensitive document emphasized that it

authorized only a capture operation.The tribals were to be paid only

if they captured Bin Ladin, not if they killed him. Officials through-

out the government approved this draft. But on December 21, the day

after principals decided not to launch the cruise missile strike against

Kandahar,the CIA's leaders urged strengthening the language to allow,

the tribals to be paid whether Bin Ladin was captured(a^killed.Berger and Tenet then worked together to take this line of thought

evea further.122

They finally agreed, as Berger reported to President Clinton, that

an extraordinary step was necessary. The new memorandum would

allow the killing of Bin Ladin if the CIA and the tribals judged that

capture was not feasible (ajudgment it already seemed clear they had

reached). The Justice Department lawyer who worked on the draft

told us that what was envisioned was a group of tribals assaulting a

location, leading to a shoot-out. Bin Ladin and others would be cap-



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tured if possible, but probably would be killed. The administration's

lawyers agreed that under the law of armed conflict, killing a person

who posed an imminent threat to the United States would be an act

of self-defense, not an assassination. On Christmas Eve 1998, Berger

sent a final draft to President Clinton, with an explanatory memo.ThePresident approved the document.123

Because the White House considered this operation highly sensi-

tive, only a tiny number of people knew about this Memorandum of

Notification. Berger arranged for the NSCs legal adviser to inform

Albright, Cohen, Shelton, and Reno.None was allowed to keep a copy.

Congressional leaders were briefed, as required by la\^^ttorney Gen-

eral Reno had sent a letter to the President expressing her concern:

she warned of possible retaliation, including thetargeting of U.S. offi-

cials, and suggested this step might be viewed by some as eroding the

executive order banning assassinations (Executive Order 12333). She

did not say the order was violated, however, or pose any other legal

I copy of the final document, along with the carefully craftedbjectic

instructions that were to be sent to the tribals, was given to Tenet.124

A message from Tenet to CIA field agents directed them to com-

municate to the tribals the instructions authorized by the President:

the United States preferred that Bin Ladin and his lieutenants be cap-

tured, but if a successful capture operation was not feasible, the tribals

were permitted to kill them. The instructions added that the tribals

must avoid killing others unnecessarily and must not kill or abuse Bin

Ladin or his lieutenants if they surrendered. Finally, the tribals •would

not be paid if this set of requirements was not met.125

The field officer passed these instructions to the tribals word for

word.But he prefaced the directions with amessage:"From theAmer-

ican President down to the average man in the street, we want him

[Bin Ladin] stopped." If the tribals captured Bin Ladin, the officer

assured them that he would receive a fair trial under U.S. law andtreated humanely. The CIA officer reported that the tribalsT^ully

understand the contents, implications and the spirit of the message"

and that that their response was,-iu c.£&.e^"We will try our best to cap-

ture Bin Ladin alive and will have no intention of killing or harming

him on purpose."The tribals explained that they wanted to prove that

their standards of behavior were more civilized than those of Bin

Ladin and his band of terrorists. In an additional note addressed to

Schroen, the tribals noted that if they were to adopt Bin Ladin's

ethics, "we would have finished the job long before," but they had



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been limited by their abilities and "by our beliefs and kws we have

to respect."126

Schroen and "Mike" were impressed by the tribals' reaction.

Schroen cabled that the tribals werejin i?notjfor the money but as an

investment in the future of Afghanistan. "Mike" agreed that the trib-als' reluctance to kill was not a "showstopper." "From our view," he

wrote, "that seems in character and fair enough."127

Policymakers in the Clinton administration, including the Presi-

dent and his Rational Security \dvisor, told us that the President's

intent regarding covert action against Bin Ladin was clear: he wanted

him dead. This intent was never well communicated or understood

within the CIA. Tenet told the Commission that except in one spe-

cific case (discussed later), the CIA was authorized to kill Bin Ladin

only in the context of a capture operation. CIA senior managers,

operators, and lawyers confirmed this understanding. "We always

talked about how much easier it would have been to kill him," a for-

mer chief of the Bin Ladin unit said.128

In February 1999, another draft Memorandum of Notification wentto President Clinton. It asked him to allow the CIA to give exactly the

same guidance to the Northern Alliance as had just been given to the

tribals: they could kill Bin Ladin if a successful capture operation was

not feasible. On this occasion, however, President Clinton crossed out

key language he had approved in December and inserted more

ambiguous language. No one we interviewed could shed light on why

the President did this. President Clinton told the Commission that he

had no recollection of why he rewrote the language.129

Later in 1999, when legal authority was needed for enlisting still

other collaborators and for covering a wider set of contingencies, the

lawyers returned to the language used in August 1998, which author-

ized force only in the context of a capture operation. Given the

closely held character of the document approved in December 1998,

and the subsequent return to the earlier language, it is possible to

understand how the former White House officials and the CIA offi-

cials might disagree as to whether the CIA was ever authorized by the

President to kill Bin Ladin.130

The dispute turned out to be somewhat academic, as the limits of

available legal authority were not tested. Clarke commented to Berger

that"despite 'expanded' authority for CIA's sources to engage in direct

action, they have shown no inclination to do so." He added that it was

his impression that the CIA thought the tribals unlikely to act against



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Bin Ladin and hence relying on them was "unrealistic."131 Events

seemed to bear him out, since the tribals did not stage an attack on

Bin Ladin or his associates during 1999.

The tribals remained active collectors of intelligence, however, pro-

viding good but not predictive information about Bin Ladin's where-abouts.The CIA also tried to improve its intelligence reporting on Bin

Ladin by what Tenet's assistantdirector for collection, the indefatigable

Charles Allen, called an "all-out, all-agency, seven-days-a-week"

effort. 132 The effort might have had an effect. On January 12, 1999,

Clarke wrote Berger that the CIA's confidence in the tribals' reporting

had increased. It was now higher than it had been on December 20.133

In February 1999, Allen proposed flying a U-2 mission over

Afghanistan to build a baseline of intelligence outside the areas where

the tribals had coverage. Clarke was nervous about such a mission

because he continued to fear that Bin Ladin might leave forsomeplace

less accessible. He wrote Deputy National Security Advisor Donald

Kerrick that one reliable source reported Bin Ladin's having met with

Iraqi officials, who "may have offered him asylum." Other intelligencesources said that some Taliban leaders, though not Mullah Omar, had

urged Bin Ladin to go to Iraq. If Bin Ladin actually moved to Iraq,

wrote Clarke, his network would be at Saddam Hussein's service, and

it would be "virtually impossible" to find him. Better to get Bin Ladin

inAfghanistan, Clarke declared.134 Berger suggested sending one U-2

flight, but Clarke opposed even this. It would require Pakistani

approval, he wrote; and "Pakistan's] intelpigence service] is in bed

with"Bin Ladin and would warn him that the United States was get-

ting ready for a bombing campaign: "Armed with that knowledge, old

wily Usama will likely boogie to Baghdad."135 Though told also by

Bruce Riedel of the NSC staff that Saddam Hussein wanted Bin

Ladin in Baghdad, Berger conditionally authorized a single U-2 flight.

Allen meanwhile had found other ways of getting the information he

wanted. So the U-2 flight never occurred.136

4.5 SEARCHING FOR FRESH OPTIONS

"Boots on the Ground?"

Starting on the day the August 1998 strikes were launched, General

Shelton had issued a planning order to prepare follow-on strikes and

think beyond just using cruise missiles.137 The initial strikes had been



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1

RESPONSES TO A L QAEDA'S INITIAL ASSAULTS 155

called Operation Infinite Reach.The follow-on plans were given the

code name Operation Infinite Resolve.

A t the time, any actual military action in Afghanistan would have

been carried out by General Zinni's Central Command. This com-

mand was therefore the locus for most military planning. Zinni waseven less enthusiastic than Cohen and Shelton about follow-on cruise

missile strikes. He knew that the Tomahawks did not always hit their

targets.After the August 20 strikes, President Clinton had had to call

Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif to apologize for a wayward missile

that had killed several people in a Pakistani village. Sharif had been

understanding, while commenting on American "overkill."138

Zinni feared that Bin Ladin would in the future locate himself in

cities, where U.S. missiles could kill thousands of Afghans. He worried

also lest Pakistani authorities not get adequate warning, think the mis-

siles came from India, and do something that everyone would later

regret. Discussing potential repercussions in the region of his military

responsibility, Zinni said, "It was easy to take the shot from Washing-

ton and walk away from it.We had to live there."139

Zinni's distinct preference would have been to build up countert-

errorism capabilities in neighboring countries such as Uzbekistan. But

he told us that he could not drum up much interest in or money for

such a purpose from Washington, partly, he thought, because these

countries had dictatorial governments.140

After the decision—in which fear of collateral damage was an .important factor—not to use cruise missiles against Kandahar in / /

December 1998, Shelton and officers in the Pentagon rorkod \v$f~ A- vQ

plans for using an AC-130 gunship instead of cruise missile strikes.

Designed specifically for the special forces, the version of the AC-130

known as "Spooky" carTfeeffls-in fast or from high altitude, undetected

by radar; guided to its zone by extraordinarily complex electronics, it

is capable of rapidly firing precision-guided 25,40, and 105 mm pro-jectiles.Because this system could target more precisely than a salvo of

cruise missiles, it had a much lower risk of causing collateral damage.

After giving Clarke a briefing and being encouraged to proceed, Shel-

ton formally directed Zinni and General Peter Schoomaker, who

headed the Special Operations Command, to develop plans for an

AC-130 mission against Bin Ladin's headquarters and infrastructure in

Afghanistan. The Joint Staff prepared a decision paper for deployment

of the Special Operations aircraft.141

Though Berger and Clarke continued to indicate interest in this



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option, the AC-130s were never deployed. Clarke wrote at the time

that Zinni opposed their use, andJohn Maher, the Joint Staff's deputy

director of operations, agreed that this was Zinni's position. Zinni

himself does not recall blocking the option. He told us that he under-

stood the Special Operations Command had never thought the intel-ligence good enough to justify actually moving AC-130s into

position. Schoomaker says, on the contrary, that he thought the AC-

130 option feasible.^

The most likely explanation for the two generals' differing recol-

lections is that both of them thought serious preparation for any such

operations would require a long-term redeployment of Special Oper-

ations forces to the Middle East or South Asia.The AC-130s would

need bases because the aircraft's unrefueled range was only a little over

2,000 miles.They needed search-and-rescue backup, which would have

still less range.Thus anAC-130 deployment had to be embedded in a

wider political and military rnitiatavermvoiving Pakistan or other

neighboring countries to address issues relating to basing and over-

flight. No one ever put such an initiative on the table. Zinni thereforecautioned about simply ordering up AC-130 deployments for a quick

strike; Schoomaker planned for what he saw as a practical strike option;

and the underlying issues were not fully engaged.The Joint Staff deci-

sion paper was never turned into an interagency policy paper.

The same was true for the option of using ground units from the

Special Operations Command.Within the command, some officers—

such as Schoomaker—wanted the mission of "putting boots on the

ground" to get at Bin Ladin and al Qaeda.At the time, Special Oper-

ations was designated as a "supporting command," not a "supported

command": that is, it supported a theater commander and did not pre-

pare its own plans for dealing with al Qaeda. Schoomaker proposed to

Shelton and Cohen that Special Operations become a supported

command, but the proposal was not adopted. Had it been accepted, he

says, he would have taken on the al Qaeda mission instead of defer-

ring to Zinni.Lieutenant General William Boykin, the current deputy

under secretary of defense for intelligence and a founding member of

Delta Force, told us that "opportunities were missed because of an

unwillingness to take risks and a lack of vision and understanding."143

President Clinton relied on the advice of General Shelton, who

informed him that without intelligence on Bin Ladin's location, a

commando raid's chance of failure was high. Shelton told President

Clinton he would go forward with "boots on the ground" if the Pres-

ident ordered him to do so; however, he had to ensure that the Pres-



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TO AL QAEDA'S INITIAL ASSAULTS 157-'

ident was completely aware of the large logistical problems inherent

in a military operation.144

The Special Operations plans were apparently conceived as another

quick strike option—an option to insert forces after the United States

received actionable intelligence. President Clinton told the Commis-sion that "if we had had really good intelligence about . . . where

[Usama Bin Ladin] was,I would have done it." Zinni and Schoomaker

did make preparations for possible very high risk in-and-out opera-

tions to capture or kill terrorists. Cohen told the Commission that the

notion of putting military personnel on the ground without some

reasonable certitude that Bin Ladin was in a particular location would

have resulted in the mission's failure and the loss of life in a fruitless

effort.145 None of these officials was aware of the ambitious plan

developed months earlier by lower-level Defense officials.

In our interviews, some military officers repeatedly invoked the

analogy of Desert One and the failed 1980 hostage rescue mission in

Iran.145 They were dubious about a quick strike approach to using

Special Operations Forces, which they thought complicated and risky.

Such efforts would have required bases in the region, but all the

options were unappealing. Pro-Taliban elements of Pakistan's military

might warn Bin Ladin or his associates of pending operations. With

nearby basing options limited, an alternative was to fly from ships in

the Arabian Sea or from land bases in the Persian Gulf, as was done

after 9/11. Such operations would then have to be supported from

} long distances, overflying the airspace of nations that might not have

been supportive or aware of U.S. efforts.147

However, if these hurdles were addressed, and if the military could

then operate regularly in the region for a long period, perhaps clan-

destinely, it might attempt to gather intelligence and wait for an

opportunity. One Special Operations commander said his view of

actionable intelligence was that if you "give me the action, I will give

you the intelligence."148 But this course would still be risky, in light

both of the difficulties already mentioned and of the danger that U.S.

operations might fail disastrously.We have found no evidence that

such a long-term political-military approach for using Special Oper-

ations Forces in the region was proposed to or analyzed by the Small

Group, even though such capability had been honed for at least a

decade within the Defense Department.

Therefore the debate looked to some like bold proposals from

civilians meeting hypercaution from the military. Clarke saw it this

way. Of the military, he said to us,"They were very, very, very reluc-



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tant."149 But from another perspective, poorly informed proposals for

bold action were pitted against experienced professionaljudgment.

That was how Secretary of Defense Cohen viewed it. He said to us:

"I would have to place my judgment call in terms ofdo I believe that

the chairman of theJoint Chiefs, former commanderof Special Forcescommand, is in a better position to make a judgment on the feasibil-

ity of this than, perhaps,Mr. Clarke?"150

Beyond a large-scale political-military commitment to build up a

covert or clandestine capability using American personnel on the

ground, either military or CIA, there was a still larger option that

could have been considered—invading Afghanistan itself. Every offi-

cial we questioned about the possibility of an invasion of Afghanistan

said that it was almost unthinkable, absent a provocation such as 9/11,

because of poor prospects for cooperation from Pakistan and other

nations and because they believed the public would not support it.

Cruise missiles were and would remain the only military option on

the table.

The Desert Camp,February 1999

Early in 1999, the CIA received reporting that Bin Ladin was spend-

ing much of his time at one of several camps in the Afghan desert

south of Kandahar. At the beginning of February, Bin Ladin was

reportedly located in the vicinity of the Sheikh Ali camp, a desert

hunting camp being used by visitors from a Gulf state. Public sources

have stated that these visitors were from the United Arab Emirates.151

Reporting from the CIA's assets provided a detailed description of

the hunting camp, including its size, location, resources, and security,

as well as of Bin Ladin's smaller, adjacent camp.152 Because this was

not in an urban area, missiles launched against it would have less risk

of causing collateral damage. On February 8, the military began to

ready itself for a possible strike.153 The next day, national technical

intelligence confirmed the location and description of the larger camp

and showed the nearby presence of an official aircraft of the United

Arab Emirates. But the location of Bin Ladin's quarters could not be

pinned down so precisely.154 The CIA did its best to answer a host of

questions about the larger camp and its residents and about Bin

Ladin's daily schedule and routines to support military contingency

planning.According to reporting from the tribals, Bin Ladin regularly

went from his adjacent camp to the larger camp where he visited the

Emiratis; the tribals expected him to be at the hunting camp for such



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a . visit at least until midmorning on February II.155 Clarke wrote to

Berger's deputy on February 10 that the military was then doing tar-

geting work to hit the main camp with cruise missiles and should be

in position to strike the following morning.156 Speaker of the House

Dennis Hasten appears to have been briefed on the situation.157

No strike was launched. By February 12 Bin Ladin had apparently

moved on, and the immediate strike plans became moot.158 Accord-

ing to CIA and Defense officials, policymakers were concerned about

the danger that a strike would kill an Emirati prince or other senior

officials who might be with Bui Ladin or close by. Clarke told us the

strike was called off after consultations with Director Tenet because

the intelligence was dubious, and it seemed to Clarke as if the CIA

was presenting an option to attack America's best counterterrorism

ally in the Gulf. The lead CIA official in the field, Gary Schroen, felt

that the intelligence reporting in this case was very reliable; the Bin

Ladin unit chief,"Mike," agreed. Schroen believes today that this was

a lost opportunity to kill Bin Ladin before 9/11.159

Even after Bin Ladin's departure from the area, CIA officers hoped

he might return, seeing the camp as a magnet that could draw him for

as long as it was still set up. The military maintained readiness for

another strike opportunity.160 On March 7,1999,Clarke called a UAE

official to express his concerns about possible associations between

Emirati officials and Bin Ladin. Clarke later wrote in a memorandum

of this conversation that the call had been approved at an interagency

meeting and cleared with the CIA.161When the former Bui Ladin

unit chief found out about Clarke's call, he questioned CIA officials,

who denied having given such a clearance.162 Imagery confirmed that

less than a week after Clarke's phone call the camp was hurriedlydis-

mantled, and the site was deserted.163 CIA officers, including Deputy

Director for Operations Pavitt, were irate. "Mike" thought the dis-

mantling of the camp erased a possible site for targeting Bin Ladin.164

The United Arab Emirates was becoming both a valued countert-

errorism ally of the United States and a persistent counterterrorism

problem.From 1999through early 2001,the United States, and Pres-

ident Clinton personally, ftbe'pressed the UAE, one of the Taliban's

only travel and financial outlets to the outside world, to break off its

ties and enforce sanctions, especially those relating to flights to and

from Afghanistan.165 These efforts achieved little before 9/11.

In July 1999, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hamdan

bin Zayid threatened to break relations with the Taliban over Bin



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~\0 THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT

Ladin.166 The Taliban did not take him seriously, however. Bin Zayid

kter told anAmerican diplomat that the UAEvalued its relations with

the Taliban because the Afghan radicals offered a counterbalance to

"Iranian dangers" in the region, but he also noted that the UAE did

not want to upset the United States.167

Looking for New Partners

Although not all CIA officers had lost faith in the tribals' capabili-

ties—many judged them to be good reporters—few believed they

would carry out an ambush of Bin Ladin.The chief of the Countert-

errorist Center compared relying on the tribals to playing the lot-

tery.168 He and his associates, supported by Clarke, pressed for

developing a partnership with the Northern Alliance, even though

doing so might bring the United States squarely behind one side in

Afghanistan's long-running civil war.

The Northern Alliance was dominated by Tajiks and drew its

strength mainly from the northern and eastern parts ofAfghanistan. In

contrast, Taliban members came principally from Afghanistan's most

numerous ethnic group, the Pashtuns, who are concentrated in the

southern part of the country, extending into the North-West Frontier

and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan.169

Because of the Taliban's behavior and its association with Pakistan,

the Northern Alliance had been able at various times to obtain assis-

tance from Russia, Iran, and India. The alliance's leader was

r Afghanistan's most renowned military commander, Ahmed Shah Mas-

soud. Reflective and charismatic, he had been one of the true heroes

of the war against the Soviets. But his bands had been charged with

more than one massacre, and the Northern Alliance was widely

thought to finance itself in part through trade in heroin. Nor had

Massoud shown much aptitude for governing except as a ruthless war-

lord. Nevertheless, Tenet told usMassoud seemed the most interesting

possible new ally against Bin Ladin.170

In February 1999, Tenet sought President Clinton's authorization

to enlist Massoud and his forces as partners. In response to this request,

the President signed the Memorandum of Notification whose lan-

guage he personally altered. Tenet says he saw no significance in the

President's changes. So far as he was concerned, it was the language of

August 1998, expressing a preference for capture but accepting the

possibility that Bin Ladin could not be brought out alive."We were

plowing the same ground," Tenet said.171



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CIA officers described Massoud's reaction when he heard that the

United States wanted him to capture and not kill Bin Ladin. One

characterized Massoud's body language as "a wince." Schroen recalled

Massoud's response as "You guys are crazy—you haven't changed a

bit." In Schroen's opinion, the capture proviso inhibited Massoudandhis forces from going after Bin Ladin but did not completely stop

them.172 The idea, however, was a long shot. Bin Ladin's usual base of

activity was near Kandahar, far from the front lines of Taliban opera-

tions against the Northern Alliance.

Kandahar, May 1999

It was in Kandahar that perhaps the last, and most likely the best, 1 -f d /

opportunity arose for targeting Bin Ladin with cruisemissilej/In May *5*2. t>r-ft. /11

1999, CIA assets in Afghanistan reported on Bin Ladin's location in

and around Kandahar over the course of five days and nights. The

reporting was very detailed/and came from several sources. If this

intelligence was not "actionable," working-level officials said at the

time and today, it was hard for them to imagine how any intelligenceon Bin Ladin in Afghanistan would meet the standard.Communica-

\ s were good, and the cruise missiles were ready. "This was in our

strike zone," a senior military officer said."It was a fat pitch, a home

run." He expected the missiles to fly. When the decision came back

that they should stand down, not shoot, the officer said, "we all just

slumped."He told us he knew of no one at the Pentagon or the CIA

who thought it was a bad gamble. Bin Ladin "should have been a dead

man" that night, he said.173

Working-level CIA officials agreed.While there was a conflicting

intelligence report about Bin Ladin's whereabouts, the experts dis-

counted it. At the time, CIA working-level officials were told by their

managers that the strikes were not ordered because the military

doubted the intelligence andworried about collateral damage.Reply-

ing to a frustrated colleague in the field, the Bin Ladin unit chief

wrote: "having a chance to get [Bin Ladin] three times in 36 hours and

foregoing the chance each time has made me a bit angry.. . . [T]he

DCI finds himself alone at the table, with the other princip[als] basi-

cally saying 'we'll go along with your decision Mr. Director,' and

implicitly saying that the Agency will hang alone if the attack doesn't

get Bin Ladin."174 But the military officer quoted earlier recalled that

the Pentagon had been willing to act.He told us that Clarke informed

him and others thatTenet assessed the chance of the intelligence being



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accurate as50-50.This officer believed that Tenet's assessmentwas the

key to the decision.175

Tenet told us he does not remember any details about this episode,

except that the intelligence came from a single uncorroborated source

and that there was a risk of collateral damage. The story is furthercomplicated by Tenet's absence from the critical principals meeting on

this strike (he was apparently out of town); his deputy, John Gordon,

was representing the CIA. Gordon recalled having presented the intel-

ligence in a positive light, with appropriate caveats,but stating that this

intelligence was about as good as it could get.176

Berger remembered only that in all such cases, the call had been

Tenet's. Berger felt sure that Tenet was eager to get Bin Ladin. In his

view,Tenet did his ob responsibly."George would call and say,'"We just

don't have it,'"Berger said.177

The decision not to strike in May 1999 may now seem hard to

understand. In fairness, we note two points: First, in December 1998,

the principals' wariness about ordering a strike appears to have been

vindicated: Bin Ladin left his room unexpectedly, and if a strike hadbeen ordered he would not have been hit. Second, the administration,

h e C I A i n particular, was in the midst of intense scrutiny and

criticism in May 1999 because faulty intelligence had ust led the

United States to mistakenly bomb the Chinese embassy in Belgrade

during the NATO war against Serbia. This episode may have made

officials more cautious than might otherwise have been the case.178

i From May 1999 until September 2001, policymakers did not again

actively consider a missile strike against Bin Ladin.179 The principals

did give some further consideration in 1999 to more general strikes,

reviving Clarke's "Delenda"notion ofhitting camps and infrastructure

to disrupt al Qaeda's organization. In the first months of 1999, the

Joint Staff had developed broader target lists to undertake a "focused

campaign" against the infrastructure of Bin Ladin's network and to hitTaliban government sites as well. General Shelton told us that the Tal-

iban targets were "easier" to hit and more substantial.180

Part of the context for considering broader strikes in the summer

of 1999 was renewed worry about Bin Ladin's ambitions to acquire

weapons of mass destruction. In May and June, the U.S. government

received a f lurry of ominous reports, including more information

about chemical weapons training or development at the Derunta

camp and possible attempts to amass nuclear material at Herat.181

By late June, U.S. and other intelligence services had concluded



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page


that al Qaeda was in pre-attack mode, perhaps again involving Abu

Hafs the Mauritanian. On June 25, at Clarke's request, Berger con-

vened the Small Group in his office to discuss the alert, Bin Ladin's

WMD programs, and his location. "Should we pre-empt by attacking

UBL facilities?" Clarke urged Berger to ask his colleagues.182In his handwritten notes on the meeting paper, Berger jotted down

the presence of 7 to 11 families in the Tarnak Qila facility, which

could mean 60-65 casualties. Berger noted the possible "slight

impact" on Bin Ladin and added,"if he responds, we're blamed."183

The NSC staff raised the option of waiting until after a terrorist

attack, and then retaliating, including possible strikes on the Taliban.

Bu t Clarke observed that Bin Ladin would probably empty hiscamps

after an attack.184

The military route seemed to h^ve reached a dead end. In Decem-

ber 1999, Clarke urged/the principals*o ask themsetyM: "Why have

there been no real options lately for direct US military action?"185

There are no notes recording whether the question was discussed or,

if it was, how it was answered.Keports of possible attacks by Bin Ladin kept coming in through-

out 1999. They included a threat to blow up the FBI building in

Washington, D.C. In September, the CSG reviewed a possible threat

to a flight out of Los Angeles or New York.186These warnings came

amid dozens of others that flooded in.

With military and diplomatic options practically exhausted by

the summer of 1999, the U.S. government seemed to be back where

it had been in the summer of 1998—relying on the CIA to find

some other option. That picture also seemed discouraging. Several

disruptions and renditions aimed against the broader al Qaeda net-

work had succeeded.187 But covert action efforts in Afghanistan had

no t been fruitful.

In mid-1999, new leaders arrived at the Counterterrorist Centerand the Bin Ladin unit.The new director of CTC, replacing "Jeff"was

Cofer Black.The new head of the section that included the Bin Ladin

unit was "Richard." Black, "Richard," and their colleagues began

working on a new operational strategy for attacking al Qaeda; their

starting point was to get better intelligence, relying more on the CIA's

own sources and^aet on the tribals.188

In July 1999, President Clinton authorized the CIA to work with

several governments to capture Bin Ladin,and extended the scope of

efforts to Bin Ladin's principal lieutenants. The President reportedly



3/04 11:31 AM

164

\E 9/11COMMISSION REPORT

also authorizeditke CIA to interceptTaliban military auciaft hi which

•Bin Ladiii might bi Uavilmgftn this contingency,Bin Ladin could be

killed.189Attorney General Reno again expressed concerns on policy

grounds. She was worried about the danger of retaliation and the

appearance of assassination, as well aj^undermuiing internationalnorms by setting the precedent of the^Sgshooting down an aircraft

during peacetime. The CIA also developed the short-lived effort to

work with a Pakistani team that we discussed earlier, and an initia-

tive to work with Uzbekistan. The Uzbeks needed basic equipment

and training. No action could be expected before March 2000, at theearliest."0

In fall 1999, DCI Tenet unveiled the CIA's new Bin Ladin strategy.

It was called,simply,"the Plan."The Plan proposed continuing disrup-

tion and rendition operations worldwide. It announced a program for

hiring and training better officers with counterterrorism skills,

recruiting more assets, and trying to penetrate al Qaeda's ranks. The

Plan aimed to close gaps in technical intelligence collection (signal

and imagery) as well. In addition, the CIA would increase contactswith the Northern Alliance rebels fighting the Taliban.191

With a new operational strategy, the CIA evaluated its capture

options. None scored high marks.The CIA had no confidence in the

Pakistani effort. In the event that Bin Ladin traveled to the Kandahar

region in southern Afghanistan, the tribal network there was unlikely

to attack a heavily guarded Bin Ladin; the Counterterrorist Center

rated the chance of success at less than 10 percent. To the northwest,

the Uzbeks might be ready for a cross-border sortie in six months;

their chance of successwas also rated at less than 10 percent.192

In the northeast were Massoud's Northern Alliance forces—per-

haps the CIA's best option. In late October, a group of officers from

the Counterterrorist Center flew into the PanjshirValley to meet up

with Massoud, a hazardous journey in rickety helicopters that would

be repeated several times in the future. Massoud appeared committed

to helping the United States collect intelligence on Bin Ladin's activ-

ities and whereabouts and agreed to try to capture him if the oppor-

tunity arose. The Bin Ladin unit was satisfied that its reporting on Bin

Ladin would now have a second source. But it also knew that Mas-

soud would act against Bin Ladin only if his own interests and those

of the United States intersected. By early December, the CIA rated

this possibility at less than 15 percent.193

Finally, the CIA considered the possibility of putting U.S.person-



9-11 Chl_4.1pp 7/13/04 11:31 AM Page/«5


nel on the ground in Afghanistan.The CIA had been discussing this

option with Special Operations Command and found enthusiasm on

the working level but reluctance at higher levels. CIA saw a 95 per-

cent chance of Special Operations Command forces capturing Bin

Ladin if deployed—but less than a 5percent chance of such a deploy-meat.Sending CIA officers into Afghanistan was to be considered "if

the gain clearly outweighs the risk"—but at this time no such gains

presented themselves to warrant the risk.194

As mentioned earlier, such a protracted deployment ofU.S. Special

Operations Forces into Afghanistan, perhaps aspart of a team joined

to a deployment of the CIA's own officers, would have required a

major policy initiative (probably combined with efforts to secure the

support of at least one or two neighboring countries) to make a long-

term commitment, establish a durable presence on the ground, and be

prepared to accept the associated risks and costs. Such a^cfensc ' *>

^Department plan was never developed for interagency consideration

before 9/11. As 1999 came to a close, the CIA had a new strategic

plan in place for capturing Bin Ladin, but no option was rated as hav-ing more than a 15 percent chance of achieving that objective. °*

I



^13/04 11:57 AM Page

30 NOTES

administration for intelligence,never reducing it bymore than 2 or 3 percent; however,the congressional

oversight committees did reallocate the administration's requestssignificandy, sometimes increasing pro-

grams like countertenorism that they believed were being underfunded. On the intelligence budget, see

George Tenet prepared statement, Mar. 24,2004, pp. 23-26. The DCI added that frustrations with get-

ting additional funding requests arose mainly from the administration. See ibid.

106 Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, Final Report, Dec. 1993; "Contract with

America," 1994; Statement of Rep. Saxby Chambliss,Hearing on Intelligence Gaps in Counterterrorism

before the Special Oversight Panel onTerrorism of the House Armed Services Committee, Sept. 5,2002.107. Hamilton,How Congress Works , p. 106; Richard Durbin interview (Apr. 27,2004); Dianne Fein-

stein interview (June 1,2004); Peter Hoekstra interview (June 2, 2004); Chris Shays interview (June 2,

2004); Dana Priest, "Congressional Oversight of Intelligence Criticized," Washi ngt on Post , Apr. 27,2004,

p.Al. ForTenet quote, see George Tenet testimony, Mar.24,2004.

108. For neglect of airline security,see Commission analysis of the Congressional Dai ty Di gest and the

Congress i onal Record using the search term "aviation security." See also FAA briefing materials, "FAA

Hearing/BriefingActivity Prior to September 11,2001," undated. For the focus on the southwest bor-

der, see Commission analysis of the hearing records of the subcommittees on immigration of the House

and Senate Judiciary committees from 1993 through 2001. On restricting die FBI's appropriations, see

Robert Dies interview (Feb. 4,2004); Stephen Colgate interview (May 19,2004). On sanctions on Pak-

istan, see Strobe Talbott interview (Jan. 15, 2004); Karl Inderfurth interview (Feb. 18, 2004); Christina

Rocca interview (Jan. 29,2004). On the lack of time for oversight, see Hamilton, Ho w Congress Works , p.

112; see also Center for Strategic and International Studies meeting (July 23,2003);Jay Rockefeller meet-

ing (Oct. 16,2003).On the Senate Appropriations Committee, the long-serving Chair (Ted Stevens)and

Ranking Minority Member (Daniel Inouyc) of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee conduct at

least weekly oversight sessions of the Intelligence Community, always behind closed doors, the effective-

ness of which we cannot judge.

109. Although some members of the House sought the creation of a Select Committee on Terror-

ism in the beginning of2001, the Speaker asked the Intelligence Committee to set up a terrorism work-ing group instead. Under Rep. Saxby Chambliss and Rep. Jane Harman, it held several briefings before

9/11 and became a subcommittee of the Intelligence Committee immediately afterward.

110. Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut, chairman of the National Security Subcommittee of

the Government Reform Committee, held 12 wide-ranging hearings on terrorism between 1999 and

July 2001, with special attention on domestic preparedness and response to terrorist attack.

Though the panels' work was largely secret, the intelligence community's annual worldwide threat

testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence was public testimony (typically followed

by a closed session). From 1997 through 2001, the threat of terrorism rose on the priority list from third

(1997—1998) to second (1999—2000) to first in 2001. See Commission analysis of congressional hearings

on terrorism.

111. Congress created three commissions in 1998. One, chaired jointly by former senators Gary Hart

andWarren Rudman, examined national security challenges for the twenty-first century. This commis-

sion included stark warnings about possible domestic terrorist attacks and recommended a new institu-

tion devoted to identifying and defending vulnerabilitiesin homeland security. See Phase III Report of

the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century, "Road Map for National Security; Imperative

for Change," Feb. 15,2001.A second, chaired by former governor James G. Gilmore ofVirginia, studied

domestic preparednessto cope with attacks usingweapons of mass destructionandpresentedfivereports.

See, e.g., Fifth Annual Report to the President and die Congress of the Advisory Panel to Assess Domes-

tic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, "Forging America's NewNormalcy: Securing our Homeland,Preserving our Liberty,"Dec. 15,2003.The third, chaired by L. Paul

Bremer, the former State Department Counterterrorism coordinator, with vice chair Maurice Sonnen-

berg, a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, focused specifically on terrorist

threats and what could be done to prepare for them. See Report of the National Commission on Ter-

rorism, "Countering theThreat of International Terrorism," June 2000.

4 Responses to Al Qaeda's Initial Assaults1. On financing of Egyptian terrorists, see Intelligence report, Sudanese links to Egypt's Gama'at al-

Islamiya and training of Egyptians, July 14,1993; Intelligence report, funding by Bin Ladin of Gama'at

al-Islamiya by Bin Ladin and composition of its Sudanesewing,July 22,1993. On aid toYemeni terror-

ists, see DOS memo, attached to Bin Ladin "Viper" file, Aug.28,1993. CTC documents describing Bin

Ladin as an "extremist financier" include Intelligence report, Bin Ladin links to materials related to

WMD, Mar. 20,1997; Intelligence report, Bin Ladin's financial support to Egyptian,Algerian and Libyan

extremists, June 17,1997.



^7/13/04 11:57 AM Page

NOTES 31

2. Richard Clarice interview (Dec. 18.2003). Of the 200 people at the Center, the new Bin ladin

unit had about 12. MikeX>n'erview (Dec. 11, 2003). Staffing of the UBL unit had risen to 40-50

employees by Sept. 11,2001, out of about 390 CTC employees. Richard ^interview pec. 11,2003);

CIA response to Commission questions for the record,Jan. 21,2004.3. On Fadl, see, e.g., Intelligence reports on historical background of Bin Ladin's army (Nov. 26,

1996;Apr. 18,1997);on the structure of al Qaeda and leadership composition Pec. 18,1996; Dec. 19,

1996; Dec. 19,1996); on roles and responsibilities of the organizational component Pec. 19,1996); onobjectives and direction (Jan.8,1997;Jan.27,1997); on the Bnancial infrastructure and networks Pec.

30,1996;Jan. 3,1997); on connections and collaboration with other terrorist groups and supporters (Jan

8,1997;Jan. 31,1997;Jan 31,1997; Feb. 7,1997); on activities in Somalia (Apr. 30,1997); on Bin Ladin's

efforts to acquireWMD materials (Mar. 18,1997). On the other walk-in source, see CIA cable, Jan. 3,

1997. Material from the Nairobi cell was introduced into evidence during the testimony of FBI Special

Agent Daniel Coleman, Uni ted States v. Usama Bin Laden , No. S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (SD.N.Y), Feb. 21,2001

(transcript pp.1078-1088,1096-1102).

4.Mike)jf interview Pec.11,2003).5. Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, Th e Age of S a c r e d T e r r o r (Random House, 2002), pp. 269-270;

MikeJf interview pec. 11,2003); Richard Clarke interview pec. 18,2003); George Tenet interview

(Jan. 22,2004). AM. Roj>

6. On Sudanese discussions yftth Saudi officials, see Frank^f£ interview (Mar. 18, 2004); BxaaMT

interview (Mar. 18, 2004). For1/Saudi official's statement, see Prince Turki bin Faisal interview (Oct.

29-30,2003).Timothy Carney believed the Saudis told Sudan that they did not want Bin Ladin.Timo-

th y Carney interview Pec. 4,2003).

7. The CIA official who held one-on-one discussions with Erwa said that Ervra never offered to

expel Bin Ladin to the United States or render him to another country. Mark^STinterview (May 12,

2004). For Carney's instructions and the lack of a U.S. indictment, see Timothy Carney interview pec.

4,2003). On the indictment issue and the supposed Sudanese offer to give up Bin Ladin, seeSamuelBerger interview (Jan. 14,2004).

In early May 1996, the CIA received intelligence that Bin Ladin might be leaving Sudan. Though

this reporting wa s described as "very spotty," it would have been passed along to the DCI's office because

of high concern about Bin Ladin at the time.But it did not lead to plans for a U.S. operation to snatch

Bin Ladin, because there was no indictment against him. ftmrifinterview (Mar. 18, 2004); hank HI"

interview (Mar.18,2004). It appears, however, that if another country had been willing to imprison Bin

Ladin, the CIA might have tried to work out a scenario for apprehending him. CIA cable, May 8,1996.The Sudanese government did not notify the United States that Bin Ladin had left the country until

about two days after his departure. DOS cable, Nairobi 07020, "Sudan: Foreign Minister on Develop-

ments," May 21,1996.President Clinton, in a February 2002 speech to the Long Island Association, said that the United

States did not accept a Sudanese offer and take Bin Ladin because there was no indictment. President

Clinton speech to the Long Island Association, Feb. 15,2002 (videotape of speech). But the President

told us that he had "misspoken" and was, wrongly, recounting a number of press stories he had read. After

reviewing this matter in preparation for his Commission meeting, President Clinton told us that Sudan

never offered to turn Bin Ladin over to the United States. President Clinton meeting (Apr. 8, 2004).

Berger told us that he saw no chance that Sudan would have handed Bin Ladin over and also noted that

in 1996, the U.S. government still did not know of any al Qaeda attacks on U.S. citizens. Samuel Berger

interview (Jan.14,2004).Alleged Sudanese offers to cooperate on counterterrorism have been the subject of much recent

controversy.After repeatedly demanding that Sudan stop supporting terrorist groups, m=*S$3 the U.S

government designated the country a state sponsor of terrorism. Diplomatic discussions continued but

ha d little impact on Sudanese support for terrorism or on other issues, suchashuman rights, hi fall 1995,

the United States conducted a Sudan policy review and, supported by a vocal segment of Congress, the

White House sought to pressureand isolate the Sudanese. Susan Rice interview (Jan. 9,2004).

After Bin Ladin left Sudan in May 1996, some State Department officials, including Ambassador Car-

ney, criticized the NSC's hard-line policy, which he felt provided no "carrots" wTSudanese moderates to

cooperate on counterterrorism. He also faulted the NSC for not reopening the U.S. embassy in Khar-

toum (closed in early 1996) when security concerns there were reevaluated. State's Sudan desk officer

agreed, noting that the embassywas an excellent vehicle for gathering information on terrorists. Accord-

ing to one State official, NSC policymakers' views were too firmly set to engage and test the Sudanese

on counterterrorism.Timothy Carney interview Pec.4,2003); David Shinn interview (Aug. 29,2003);

Stephen Schwartz interview pec. 30,2003).But supporters of the tough line, such as the NSC's Susan Rice, argued that anyconciliatory state-

ments from Khartoum belied its unhelpful actions. For example,shenoted, though Sudan dideventually

"-{-OR-



7/13/04 11:57 AM Page

32 NOTES

expel Bin Ladin, his al Qaeda network retained a presence in the country. Susan Rice interview (fan. 9,

2004). hi addition, the CIA's Africa Division,whose operatives had engaged the Sudanese on countert-

errorism in carry 1996, would conclude that "there is no indication that Sudanese involvement with ter-

rorism has decreased in the past year." They saw the Sudanese gestures toward cooperating as "tactical

retreats" aimed at deceiving Washington in hopes of having sanctions removed. CIA memo,''fiUeiniav4Pi

to Acting DCI,"Africa Division's Recommendations Regarding Sudan," Dec. 17,1996.The CIA official

who ran the Sudanese portfolio and met with the Sudanese on numerous occasions told us the Sudanese

were not going to deliver,and the perceived moderates "were just flat-out lying."MarkXinterview (May

12, 2004).

In February 1997, the Sudanese sent letters to President Clinton and Secretary of State Albright,

extending an invitation for a U.S. counterterrorism inspection mission to visit Sudan.The Sudanese also

used private U.S. citizens to pass along offers to cooperate. Mansoor Ijaz interview (May7,2004);Janet

McEUigot interview (Oct. 20,2003). But these offers were dismissed because the NSC viewed Sudan as

all talk and little action. U.S. officials also feared that the Sudanese would exploit any positive American

responses, including trips to the region by U.S.officials, for their own political purposes. SeeJoint Inquiry

interview of David Williams, June 26,2002.Today, Sudan is still listed as a state sponsor of terrorism.

8. MikeXontcrview pec.11,2003). On local contacts, seeGary Schroen interview (Mar. 3,2004).

On "Jeffs" views, see CIA memo, "DCI Talking Points Regarding Operations Against Usama Bin Ladin,"

Aug. 25,1997.

9. SeeJoint Inquiry briefing by MikejS^ Sept. 12,2002. For briefings to the NSC, see NSC email,

Clarke to Berger,"Threat Warning: Usama bin Ladin,"Mar. 7,1998; Mary McCarthy interview pec. 8,

2003); CIA memos, summary of weekly Berger/Tenet meeting, May 1,1998.

10.CIA memos, summary of weekly Berger/Tenet meeting, May 1,1998.

11.Karl Inderrurth interview (Feb. 18,2004).

12.Peter Tomsen interview (Oct. 8,2003).

13. Karl Inderfurth interview (Feb. 18,2004).

14. See Kad Inderfurth interview (Feb. 18,2004); Robin Raphel interview pec. 8,2003).pjring the ialipan a cnance, see fviarvinWeinbaum interview (Aug. 12,20Q3,)Xrhe former UNOCAL (

'tor tne pipeline project, Marty Miller, denied working exclusively with the Taliban and told us that his

company sought to work with allAfghan factions to bring about the necessary stability to proceed with

the project. Marty Miller interview (Nov. 7,2003). UNOCAL hired, among others, Robert Oakley, the

former ambassador to Pakistan. Oakley told us that he counseled the company about the internal dynam-

ics of Afghanistan and Pakistan but never lobbied the State Department on UNOCAL's behalf. Robert

Oakley interview (Sept. 7, 2003); see also "Advisory Consulting Agreement" between UNOCAL and

Oakley, Oct. 1996.4 '•"" •

15.See MadeleineAlbright, speech at NashirBagh refugee camp in western Pakistan, Nov. 18,1997;

"f^-y f 1&iV\i Richardson interview Pec.15,2003); Karl Inderfurth interview (Feb. 18,2004).

16.Marvin Weinbaum interview (Aug. 12,2003);Strobe Talbott interview ((an. 15,2004);Anthony

Zirmi interview (Jan. 29,2004).

17. Gary Schroen interview (Mar. 3,2004). Fo r more details, see Steve Coll, Ghost Wars : Th e Secret

His tory o f th e CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden,Jrom th e Soviet Invasion to September 10,2001 (Penguin, 2004),

p. 379.

18._Coll, G h o s t W a r s , pp. 343, 391; Gary Schroen interview (Mar. 3,2004);Joint Inquiry briefing bySept. 12,2002.

19. For a description of the plan, the content of briefing papers, and the Berger-Tenet meeting, see

CIA memoJefF^B to Tenet, "Information Paper on Usama Bin Ladin," Feb. 12,1998 (with attached paperfor Tenet's meeting with Berger on Feb. 13,1998, "Next Steps Against Usama Bin Ladin"). The paper

also briefly noted other options the CIA could be pursuing against Bin Ladin: paramilitary or sabotage

attacks—possibly lethal—against Bin Ladin's facilities in Kandahar and Sudan, or even intelligence sup-

port for U.S. military strikes. On the Kansi operation, see Coll, G h o s t W a r s , p.373.

20. NSC note, Simon to Berger, update on Feb. 24 meeting, Feb.27,1998.

21.Joint Inquiry briefing by Mike^V, Sept. 12,2002; NSC email, Clarke to Berger,"Threat Warn-

ing:Usama Bin Ladin," Mar. 7,1998.

22. Mike ^interview ((an. 6, 2004); CI A email, Schroen to MikeX, "Capture Op," May 5, 1998;

CIA cable, "Comments on [Tribals'] Planning for UBL Rendition," May 6,1998. For the modification

of the plan, see CIA memo, "Tentative Timeline for the Bin Ladin Capture Operation," May 19,1998.

For details on some CIA officers' concerns, see Coll, G h o s t W a r s , pp. 393-394.

23. CIA cable, "19 May 98 Briefing for JSOC," May 27,1998; CIA cable, "Developments in the

[Tribals'] Operation at the HQs End," May 26,1998;Joint Inquiry interview of Michael Canavan, Sept.

3,2002.

* * *



11:57 AM Page

NOTES 33

24. CIA memos, summary of weekly Berger/Tenet meeting, May 1,1998.

25. CIA memo, summary of Covert Action Planning Group meeting, May 18,1998; CIA memo,

"Tentative Timeline for the Bin Ladin Capture Operation,"May 19,1998.The summary of the meeting

notes that the initiative was not an assassination, despite die inaccurate comments of some in the NSC.

26.MikeXinterviews Pec. ll,2003;Jan.6,2004);JeffJ( interview pec. 17,2003);MaryJo White

interview (May 17,2004).

27. CIA cable, "20-24 May 98 Full Mission Profile of the U.S. Side of the Bin Ladin Capture

Operation," May27,1998; CIA cable, "Developments in the [Tribals'] Operation it the HQs End,"May 26,1998.

28. CIA memo, summary of weekly Berger/Tenet meeting, May 20,1998. It is unclear if a decision

had been made at this point on where to bring Bin Ladin.

29. Mike)*interview PCC. 11,2003);CIA cable,"The [Tribals] Operations," May29,1998.

30.Richard Clarke interview Pec. 18,2003), in which he also noted that Tenet did not approve of

the plan. For Clarkes comments to the NSC, see CIA cable, "Info from State on Status of Political

Approvals for [Tribals]," May29,1998.SeeJeff^interview Pec. 17,2003);James Pavitt interview (Jan.

8,2004); GeorgeTenet interview (Jan. 22,2004),in which he also said he did not tell the Principals Com-

mittee his reasons for canceling the operation because there was no reason for the principals to hear

details of an unsound plan. See also Samuel Berger interview (Jan.14,2004).31. DDO to Berger, "Timing of the UBL Rendition Operation,"June 15,1998; forSchroen, see CIA

cable, "Comments on [Tribals'] Planning for UBL Rendition,"May 6,1998.

32. See, e.g., Samuel Berger interview (Jan.14,2004).

33. On Saudi disruptions generally, see CIA report, "Additional Background on the Saudi discovery

of an UBL Network in Saudi Arabia," undated (appears to be May 1998). On the DCI's visits to Saudi

Arabia, see Intelligence reports made available at CIA.

34. See Intelligence reports made available at the CIA.

35. Prince Turki bin Faisal interview (Oct. 29-30,2003).

36. CIA note, Pillar to Wentworth/Ramanujam, summary of Aug. 5, 1998, CSG meeting on BinLadin, Aug. 6,1998.

37. See, e.g., CIA briefing materials, "Bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam—An Update," Aug.

14,1998.

38.DOD memo, "Chronology of Planning," Dec. 14,1998.

39.Richard Clarke interview pec. 18,2003).

40.NSC email, Clarke forBerger, Aug.8,1998;Samuel Berger interview (Jan. 14,2004);CIA memo,

"Khowst and the Meeting of Islamic Extremist Leaders on 20 Aug.,"Aug. 17,1998.

41. NSC notes, checklist re military strikes, Aug.14,1998 (author appears to be Clarke). On the mil-

itary plans,see DOD memo, "Chronology of Planning," Dec. 14,1998.

42. President Clinton meeting (April 8,2004); Samuel Berger interview (Jan.14,2004).

43. NSC emails, Simon to Kerrick, Aug. 5,1998. For the report of Bin Ladin's comment, see, e.g.,

NSC email, Clarke to Berger,July 15,1998. EMPTA stands for O-ethyl methylphosphonothioic acid.

44.NSC memo, McCarthy to Berger, re Shifa,Aug. 11,1998; Samuel Berger interview (Jan. 14,2004).

45. For a timeline of the decisionmaking events, see NSC memo to Steinberg et al., Aug. 17,1999.

The list of concurrences is drawn from talking points prepared for Berger's use with the main four lead-

ers of the House and Senate; the list exph'cidy mentions dieAttorney General. NSC email, Clarke to

Berger, Aug. 19, 1998. Reno told us she did not mention her concerns to the President but discussed

them with Berger,Tenet, White House Counsel CharlesRuff, and DOJ staff.Janet Reno interview Pec.

16,2003). —r£±S*=.46. NSC email, Clarke to Kerrick, "Timeline," Aug. 19, 1998; Samuel Berger interview (Jan. 14,

2004). We did not find documentation on the after-action review mentioned by Berger. OnVice Chair-

man Joseph Ralston's mission in Pakistan, see William Cohen interview (Feb. 5, 2004). For speculation

on tipping off the Taliban, see, e.g., Richard Clarke interview Pec. 18,2003).

47. NSC email, Clarke to Kerrick, "Timeline,"Aug. 19,1998.

48. For initial support by Gingrich and Lott, see, e.g., Steven Thomma and Richard Parker, "U.S.

Strikes Afghan, Sudan Sites, Retaliating for Embassy Attacks," Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug. 21,1998, p. Al.

For a reaction to the later criticism by Gingrich's office, see NSC email, Simon to Berger, Sept. 10,1998.

49. See NSC memo, McCarthy and Clarke to Berger, Apr. 17,2000, reporting that on balance, rney

think the CIA claim was valid. See also President Clinton meeting (Apr. 8, 2004);Vice President Gore

meeting (Apr. 9,2004); Samuel Berger interview (Jan.14,2004); George Tenet interview (Jan. 22,2004);

Richard Clarke interview Pec. 19,2003).

50. Editorial, "Punish and Be Damned," Economis t ,Aug.29,1998, p. 16. For a summary of skeptical

public reaction, see Benjamin and Simon, Age of Sacred T e r r o r , pp. 354-363.



Pfi3/04 11:57 AM Page

34 NOTES

51. Samuel Berger interview (Jan. 22, 2004). President Clinton told us that he had directed his

national security team to focus exclusively on responding to the embassy bombings. President Clinton

meeting (Apr.8,2004).Seealso William Cohen testimony, Mar. 23,2004.When "wag the dog" allega-

tions were again raised during the December 1998 Desert Fox campaign over Iraq, Defense Secretary

Cohen, formerly a Republican senator, told members of Congress that he would have resigned if he

believed the President was using the military for any purpose other than national security.William Cohen

interview (Feb.5,2004).

52. Samuel Berger interview (Jan. 22,2004).

53. CIA analytic report,"Foreign Terrorist Threat in the US.: Revisiting our 1995 Estimate," Apr.

1997.

54. Daniel Benjamin interview Pec. 4,2003).

55. On the Balkan crises, seeTimJudah, Th e Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction a/Yugoslavia (Yale

Univ. Press, 2000).

56. On Clarke's obsession with terrorism and Bin Ladin, see Richard Clarke interview (Feb.3,2004);

Richard A. Clarke,Against Al l Enemies: Insiae America's W ar o n Terror (Free Press,2004),p. 234. On the CSG

and the Small Group, see Samuel Berger interview (Jan.11,2004).

57.NSC memo, "Political Military Plan DELENDA," Sept. 1998 (attached to NSC memo, Clarke

to Rice,Jan. 25,2001).

58. Ibid. See also NSC memo, Clarke to Berger, Sept.7,1998.

59. Handwritten note from Steinberg on NSC memo, Clarke to Berger, Apr.14,2000.For the views

ofSmall Group members, seeWilliam Cohen interview (Feb. 5,2004);Hugh Shelton interview (Feb.5,

2004); President Clinton meeting (Apr. 8, 2004); Samuel Berger interview flan. 14, 2004); Madeleine

Albright interview (Jan. 7,2004);James Steinberg interview pec.5,2003).

60.Richard Clarke interview (Jan.12,2004);DOD memo, Slocombe to Cohen, Aug.27, V19&~-^_ -p

61.DOD memo, "Towards a More Aggressive Counterterrorism Posture," undated, pp. l,7.Theprin-

cipal author of this paper was Thomas Kuster, a career civil servant and former Special Forces officer. He

told us that this paper was drafted in September 1998. On this episode, seeThomas Kuster interviews

Pec 9,2003; Mar.5,2004);AUen Holmes interview (Mar. 10,2004);Jan Lodal interview (Mar.5,2004). *

62. DOS cable, Islamabad06863, "Afghanistan: Demarche to Taliban on New Bin Ladin Threat,"

Sept 14,1998.See also NSCmemo, Clarke to principals, "Possible NewAttacks on US by UBL Net-work," Sept. 12,1998,which suggested language for the demarche, including a warning that future attacks

would bring "severe consequences." NSC email,Clarke to Berger, Sept. 19,1998, indicates that the State

Department used both its embassy in Islamabad and a direct call to Mullah Omar's office to deliver the

warning.

63.DOS memo, "Mullah Omar's 8/22Contact with State Department," Aug.22,1998.

64. DOS cable, Islamabad 007665 "High-Level Taliban Official Gives the Standard Line on Bin

Ladin withiCouple ofNuances," Oct. 12,1998.

65NSC memo, Sept. 24,1998; Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 414.

66.TheCIA n particular pressed theSaudis hardon intelligence sharing. DCI Tenet met wim Crown

Prince Abdullah,Ambassador Bandar, he minister of defense and aviation, and other senior officials repeat-

edly and pressed them on counterterrorism. See, e.g., CIA memo,Tenet to Berger, Tenet's meeting with

Crown PrinceAbdullah inJeddah.June 7,1998.As late asJuly 3,2001, the DCI waspressing Bandar, con-

veying the urgent need for information. CIA cable, DCI meeting with Bandar, July 3,2001.

67.See,e.g., Mika-41interview pec. ll,2003).The Saudis, however, were reluctant o provide details

of incomplete investigations and highly sensitive to any information related to Saudi nationals, particu-

larly those in the Kingdom. See CIA spot report, June 24,1997, declaring the Saudis an "uncooperativeservice" regarding Bin Ladin. A year later, an internal CIA document noted that information shared was

"minimal." See CIA memo, "Level ofSaudi CT Cooperation Since EarlyJune," June 18,1998.

68. CIA talkingpoints,Vice President's meeting with Crown Prince Abdullah, Sept.24,1998; NSC

memo, Simon to Berger, "Talking Points for Lott-Gingrich Meeting,"Sept.24,1998.

69.NSCmemo,Wechsler, summary of conclusions ofNov. 16,1998,meeting ofWorking Group on

UBIi Finances.

70. Rick Newcomb interview (Feb. 4, 2004); Treasury memo, Office of Foreign Asset Control to

DOS, "Draft Cableon Meeting with Two of UBL's Brothers," May 19,2000:005 cable. State 035243.

"January 2000 Meeting Regarding UBLFinances," Feb.27,2000; FrankeietEFmterview (Mar.2,2004).

The US. government team learned that the Bin Ladin family sold UBL's share of the inheritance and, at

the direction of the Saudi government, placed the money into a specified account then frozen by the

Saudi government in 1994.

71 NSC memo, Clarke toBerger, Roadmap, Nov.3,1998.According to Clarke,Tenet's deputy,John

Gordon, agreed that there was no senior CIA manager to answer these questions and promised to fix that.



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NOTES 35

VIfrvJ

72. DOS memo, McKune toAlbright,"State Sponsorship ofTerrorism: Pakistan," Feb. 1998. For the

rejection of the proposed designatioivseehandwritten notes on the McKune memo.

73.Madeleine Albright interview (Jan. 7,2004).

74.NSC memo, Simon to NSC officials, Oct. 6,1998.Links between Pakistan's military intelligence

service and Harakat ul Ansar trainees at Bin Ladin camps near Khowst were also discussed in DOS memo,

Inderfurth to Talbott, "Pakistani Links to Kashmiri Militants," Aug. 23,1998.

75.William Milam interview (Dec. 29,2003). <».

76. Bv fall 1999.ihe Glenn, Pressler, and Symington/6nendments prohibited most economic and

military assistance toKlam<ib.Rl. Clinton administration officials told us that these sanctions made it

impossible to offer "carrots" to Pakistan,and that before 9/11, waiving sanctions was not feasible because

of the Musharraf coup, nonproliferation concerns, and Congress^pro-India orientation. Karl Inderfurth

interview (Feb. 18,2004); Strobe Talbott interview (Feb. 8,2004).

77. Strobe Talbott interview (Feb. 8, 2004). Berger agreed with Talbott that using «other sticks, .SocW

blocking loans from international financial institutions, would have risked acollapse of the Pakistani gov-

ernment and the rise of Islamists to power in a nuclear-armed country. Samuel Berger interview (Jan. 14,

2004).

78. DOS memo, Pickering to Albright, "Berger meeting on UBL," Nov. 3,1998.

79.WhiteHouse reports made availableto the Commission. President Clinton met with Prime Min-

ister Sharif on December 2,1999, and called him on December 18,1999.

80. NSC email, Clarke to Berger, Dec. 9,1998.The event described in the intelligence report was

said to have occurred on November 17,1998. Intelligence officials now tell us that there aresome doubts

about the accuracy of the report.

81. Michael Sheehan interview (Dec. 16,2003).For Sheehan's background, see Madeleine Albright,

with Bill Woodward,Madam Secretary (Miramax, 2003), pp.369-370.For one of Sheehan's warnings, see

DOS cable, Abu Dhabi 002212,"Messages for the Taliban," Apr. 9,1999.

82.Michael Sheehan interviews (Dec. 16,2003; March 2004);Madeleine Albright interview flan. 7,

2004); NSC memo, Principals' Decision Paper, Mar. 8, 1999. In May 1999, Albright approved a State

Department diplomatic strategy calling for increased high-level pressure on the Taliban and the three ^

countries that recognized it—and for unilateral sanctions if this railed. DOS memo, Inderfurth, Indyk,

and Sheehan toAlbright, "A New Bin Ladin Strategy,"May 15,1999.

83. NSC email,Riedel to Berger and Clarke,June 8,1999.

^ JSee,e.g., DOS memo, Inderfurth toAlbright, May 16,1999.

85. NSC memo, Clarke to Berger, Roadmap, May-18,1999.

86. DOS memo, mderfurth toAlbright, May 6,1999;DOS memo, Oakley to Pickering,"Designat-

ing dieTaliban a FTO,"Apr.22,1999.

87.Executive Order 13129,July 4,1999. Since 1979, the secretary of statehas had the authority to

name "state sponsors of terrorism," subjecting such countries to significant economic sanctions. Being

designated a"foreign terrorist organization"also brings sanctions andstigmatizes aregime. WhiletheU.S

government did not use either designation against the Taliban, the sanctions under this executive order

mimicked the sanctions that would have been implemented under them.

88. UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1267, Oct.15,1999. UNSCR 1267 demanded

that theTaliban render Bin Ladin to justice within 30 days; upon noncompliance, UN member states

were called on to restrict takeoff and landing rightsTof Taliban-owned aircraft. The sanctions also

required member states to freeze Taliban fiinds and financial resources. But Taliban "charterflights"con-

tinued to fly betweenAfghanistan and the UAE. Judy Pasternak and Stephen Braun, "Emirates Looked

Other"wayWhileAlQaeda Funds Flowed," LosAngeles Timcs.Jan. 20,2002, p. Al. Enforcing the finan-cial restrictions also proved a challenge—especially in the Middle East. Anthony "W&yne interview (Jan.

14,2004);Frank QjS3% interview (Mar.2,2004); DOS report, "Usama Bin Ladin Intelligence Update,"

Nov. 19,1999.

89. NSC email, Clarke to Berger,Oct.30,1999.

90. Ibid.;NSC memo, Benjamin to CSG, Nov. 12,1999. Earlier, Clarke had worried that the expul-

sion of Bin Ladin might mean he would move to Somalia or Libya, where he might be even harder to

target NSC email, Clarke to Berger, Oct. 8,1998.

91. See Intelligence report, mlariom hctwion tl Qttda and dieTaliban, Feb. 20,2002.

92. Intelligence report, March 2000.

93.UNSCR 1333,Dec. 19,2000.

94.Edmund Hull interview (Oct. 18,2003).

95.Ambassador Milam characterized UNSCR 1267 andUNSCR 1333 as "punchless." DOS cable,

Islamabad 000656, "Options for dealing with Afghan terrorism problem," Feb. 6,2001. But Ambassador

Sheehan indicated that even if UNSCR 1333 failed to stop the arms flow from Pakistan to the Taliban,

^

SiO03)

,



11:57 AM Page

36 NOTES

it had enormous symbolic importance. He also noted that UNSCR 1333 must have stigmatized the Tal-

iban because they "went ballistic over the sanctions."Sheehan added that UNSCR 1333 made Saudi Ara-

bia and the UAE "very nervous" about their relationships with the Taliban. Michael Sheehan interview

Pec.16,2003). , -,

1EmbassyTmessage to Prime Minister Sharif, June 16, 1999;

,Mar. 24,2004.

ibassyjfmessage to Prime Minister Sharif, June 16,1999;

4); President Clinton meeting (Apr.8,2004); NSC memo, Clarke

96.White House cable

Madeleine Albright prepared

97.White House cable to

Samuel Berger interview (Jan.14,

and McCarthy to Berger, Aug.2,1999.

98. President Clinton meeting (Apr. 8,2004);DOS memo, Sheehan to Albright,"S/CT Update on

Critical Issues,"July 9,1999.

99. Samuel Berger interview flan. 14,2004); President Clinton meeting (Apr.8,2004).

lOO.Thomas Pickering interview (Dec.22,2003).

101. SeeExecutive Order 13099,Aug,20,1998.

102. CIA talking points, information on Bin Ladin for the DCI's Sept. 2,1998, briefingJo_theSen-

ate Select Committee on Intelligence, Sept.2,1998. * " cfV\A_

103. For the Tirana raid and resulting operations, see Benjamin and Simon,^ge of Sacr ed Tenor , pp.

261,264; Clarke,Against All E n e m i e s ,p. 183;CIA talking points, "CIA Operation Results in Capture of

Two Bin Ladin Operatives,"July 7,1998; CIA memo,Jeff if to Tenet, "Biweekly Developments in CT

Policy," July 15,1998. For other operations, see NSC memo, Benjamin to Berger,Oct.9,1998. For the

arrest of Abu Hajer, see CIA report,"Apprehension of Senior UBL Lieutenant in Germany/* Sept. 22,

1998; NSC memo, Benjamin to Berger, Oct.9,1998; NSC email, Clarke to Berger, Sept. 17,1998. For

an overview of the CIA's efforts to disrupt al Qaeda, see Joint Inquiry testimony of George Tenet, Oct.

17,2002. For Clarke's comment to Berger,see NSC email, Clarke to Berger, Sept.25,1998.

104. For ambush attempts, seeJoint Inquiry report (classified version), pp.312-313; CIA memo, "Sta-

tus of the Bin Ladin Capture Operation,"Sept.30,1998 (part of materials for Small Group meeting). For

CIA officials' doubts,seeJames Pavitt interview (Jan. 8,2004);JeffS. interviewPec.17,2003).On the

quality of the tribals' reporting, see Charles Allen interview (Jan.27,2004). The tribils' extensive report- *

ing on Bin Ladin's location is reflected in near daily UBL Situation Reports prepared for theDCI from

December 1998 toJanuary 2001.

105.SeeMartinSieff, "Terrorist IsDriven by Hatred for US., Israel," Washington Tim es , Aug.21,1998,

p. 1.Regarding the leak,seeMary C.interview (Oct. 25,2003);RichardTaylor interview pec. 10,2003);

Don Kerr interview (Sept.9,2003).

106. NSC memo, Clarke to Berger, Roadmap, Nov.3,1998; NSC talking points, Nov. 3,1998. The

quoted sentence is in boldface.

107. NSC memo, summary of conclusions of Oct.26,1998, CSG Meeting, Oct. 28, 1998; NSC

notes, CSG Agenda: "Bin Ladin Penetration of the United States," Oct. 26,1998. For the threat against

Washington,see NSC memo, Clarke to Berger,Weekly Report,Juh/ 3,1998;NSC email, Clarke to var-

ious NSC staff, Sept.7,1998;NSC memo, Clarke to Berger, Roadmap, Nov. 3,1998.

108. NSC memo, summary of conclusionsof Oct. 26,1998, CSG meeting, Oct. 28,1998.

109. Indictment, United States v. Us ama Bin L a d e n , No. 98 Cr. (S.D.N.Y. unsealed Nov. 4,1998), p. 3.For the reportsconcerning Derunta, see NSC memo, Clarke to Berger, Roadmap, Nov.3,1998.

110. NSC email, Clarke to Berger, Nov.4,1998. Evidence on Iraqi ties to al Qaeda is summarized

in chapter 2.

111. Patrick Fitzgerald testimony,June16,2004.

112. NSC notes, agenda for CSG video conference (SVTS) meeting, Dec. 4,1998.113. NSC memo, summary of conclusions of Dec. 4,1998, CSG meeting.

114. NSC notes, Clarke briefing notes for Berger for Small Group, Dec. 17,1998; CIA memo, "Bin

Ladin Ready to Attack,"Dec. 18,1998.

115.NSC notes,Clarke briefing notes for Bergerfor Small Group,Dec. 17,1998;NSC memo, Ben-

jamin to Berger, Dec. 18,1998;DOD memo, "UBL Campaign:Talking Points for Qandahar Attack,"Jan.

11,1999; Hugh Shelton interview (Feb.5,2004).

116. NSC memo, Benjamin to Berger, Dec. 18,1998; DOD order, Execute Order (EXORD), Dec.

18,1998.

117. NSC memo, Benjamin to Berger,Dec. 18,1998; Mike£interview (Jan.6,2004); CIA emails,

Mike^f to Schroen, "Urgent re UBL," andSchroen's response, Dec. 20,1998.

118. John Maher III interview (Apr. 4, 2004). Maher said he found General Zinni's figures to be

"shockingly high." On the principals' decision against recommending an attack,see NSC memo, Clarke

to Berger, Jan. 12,1999.Seealso GeorgeTenet interview (Jan.22,2004);Mik<p£ interview (Feb.6,2004V.

119. CIA email,MikeX to Schroen, "Your Note," Dec. 21,1998; CIA email, Schroen to Mike/If,

"Re Urgent reUBL," Dec. 20,1998.

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11:57 AM Page

NOTES 37

120.John Maher III interview (Apr.22,2004).

121 CIA report, "Further Options Available Against UBL," Nov. 18, 1998; CIA talking points,

"Options for Attacking the Usama Bin Ladin Problem," Nov. 24,1998. On the MON, see Randy Moss

interview (Feb. 6,2004);James Baker interview (Feb. 4,2004).

122. NSC note,Dec. 20,1998.There is no indication as to who wrote this note or to whom it was

directed. It was cleared with Berger, Reno, Assistant Attorney General Randy Moss, and CTC's "Jefr7'

and briefed in substance to Leon Fuerth, national security adviser to Vice President Gore, and to Deputy

DCI Gordon. See also attached CIA memo, Gordon to Berger, Dec. 21,1998; NSC memo, Berger to

President Clinton, Dec. 24,1998.

123. NSC memo, Berger to President Clinton, Dec. 24,1998;Randy Moss interview (Feb. 6,2004);

Junes Baker interview (Feb. 4,2004). Both Moss and Baker agreed that killing Bui Ladin did not vio-

late the assassinationban contained in Executive Order 12333.

124. NSC memo, Berger to President Clinton,Dec. 24,1998;Janet Reno interview pec. 16,2003).

See also Randy Moss interview (Feb. 6,2004). jtUfffUto*$*f3X??&#B

125 CIA cable, message fiom the DCI, Dec. 26,1998.

126. CIA cable, instructions passed to tribals and response, Dec.27,1998.

127 CIA cable, comments on tribals'response, Dec. 27,1998. "Mike" noted that the tribals'reaction

had "attracted a good deal of attention" back at CIA headquarters. CIA cable, comments from Schroen,

Dec. 28, 1998. Schroen commented that the tribals' response was an effort to appear statesmanlike and

take the moral high ground.

128. See President Clinton meeting (Apr. 8,2004); Samuel Berger interview (Jan. 1,2004); Richard

Clarke interview (Jan.12,2004). For a CIA senior intelligence manager, operator, and lawyer's view, sec

George Tenet interview (Jan.22,2004); Gary Schroen interview (Jan. 6,2004); DoueDowimri interview

(Nov. 17, 2003); MikeXinterview (Jan. 6, 2004). ~ ~

129.James Baker interview (Feb. 4,2004);President Clinton meeting (Apr. 8,2004).

130. NSC memo, McCarthy to CIA, Dec. 1999.131 NSC memo, Clarke to Berger.Jan. 12,1999.

132. NSC email,Ward to Clarke and others,Jan. 5,1999.

133. NSC memo, Clarke to Bergerjan. 12,1999.

134. NSC email, Clarke to Kerrick, Feb.10,1999; Charles Allen interview (Jan. 27,2004).

135 NSC email, Clarke to Berger, Feb. 11,1999.The email in fact misspells "boogie" as"boggie."

136. NSC email, Riedel to NSC front office, Feb. 16,1999. The email does not provide Riedel's

source. For Berger's authorization, see NSC notes,TNT note, Feb. 12,1999.

137 DOD memo,"Chronology of Planning," Dec. 14,1998.

138. DOS cable, Washington 157093,"Aug. 21telephone conversation between POTUS and Prime

Minister Sharif/'Aug. 26,1998. Sharif was cordial but disagreed with the U.S. decision to strike.

139. Anthony Zinni interview flan. 29,2004).

140. Ibid.

141 DOD memo, Headquarters SOC, "Planning Directive for Infinite Resolve," Dec. 23,1998. On

basing options, see DOD memo, "Summary of Conclusions:AC-130 Deployment Decision Paper," Jan.

12,1999.

142. NSC memo, Clarke to Berger and Steinberg, Roadmap for Feb.2,1999, Small Group meeting,

undated; John Maher III interview (Apr. 22, 2004); Anthony Zinni interview (Jan. 29, 2004); Peter

Schoomaker interview (Feb. 19,2004).

143. Peter Schoomaker interview (Feb.19,2004);William Boykin interview (Nov.7,2003).144. Hugh Shclton interview (Feb. 5,2004).

145 President Clinton meeting (Apr. 8,2004);William Cohen interview (Feb. 5,2004).

146. Hugh Shelton interview (Feb. 5,2004);William Boykin interview (Nov.7,2003).

147 General Zinni reminded the Commission that in addition to severing military-to-military rela-

tions with Pakistanafter the 1998 nuclear test, the United States had not shipped to Pakistan the F-16s

Pakistan had bought prior to the test. Instead,the United States kept the money Pakistan paid for the F-

16s to fund storage of the aircraft. Meanwhile, Pakistani pilots were crashing and dying."Guess how they

[felt] about the United States of America," Zinni said. Nevertheless, Zinni told the Commission that

Musharraf was someone who would actually work with the United States if he was given the chance to

do so.Anthony Zinni interview (Jan.29,2004).

148.WUUam Boykin interview (Nov. 7,2003).

149. Richard Clarke interview (Jan. 12,2004).

150.William Cohen testimony (Mar. 23,2004).

151 CIA report, "UBL Situation Report," Feb. 2,1999. Public sources include Coll, Ghost Wars , pp.

447-449; Benjamin and Simon, Th e Age oj Sored Tenor, p. 281.

152. CIA cable, "Update on Location of anActivity at SheikhAli's Camps," Feb. 7,1999.

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11:57 AM Page

38 NOTES

-

153. DOD older, MOD 001 to CJCS warning order, Feb. 8,1999.

154. CIA reports,"UBL Situation Report," Feb. 6-10,1999.

155. CIA cable, "Support for Military Contingency Planning," Feb. 10,1999.

156 NSC email, Clarke to Kerrick, Feb. 10,1999.

157. CIA talkingpoints,"CIA Operations Against UBL," Feb. 10,1999.

158. CIA reports, "UBL Situation Reports," Feb. 11-12,1999.

159 John Maher III interview (Apr. 22, 2004); Richard Clarke interview ( J a n . 12, 2004); GarySchroen interview (Mar. 3,2004);MikeJ* nterview (Jan. 6,2004).

160. Mikel briefing (Mar. 11,2004); John Maher III interview (Apr. 22,2004).

161. NSC memo, Clarke, secure teleconference between UAE Chief of Staff Muhammad bin Zayid

and Clarke, Mar. 7,1999.

162 MikeJfinterview (fan. 6,2004). Maher told us he thinks it "almost impossible" that the CIA

cleared Clarkes call.John Maher III interview (Apr.22,2004).

163. Daysbefore overhead imagery confirmed the location of the hunting camp, Clarke had returned

fiom a visit to the UAE, where he had been working on counterterrorism cooperation and following up

on aMay 1998 UAE agreement to buy F-16 aircraft fiom the United States.His visit included one-on-one

meetings with Army Chief of Staff bin Zayid, as well astalks with Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid, the ruler

of Dubai. Both agreed to try to work with the United States in their efforts against Bin Ladin. NSC memo,

Clarke to Berger,Trip Report, Feb. 8,1999;Theodore Kattouf interview (Apr. 21,2004). On February 10,

as the United States considered striking the camp, Clarke reported that during his visit bin Zayid had vehe-

mently denied rumors that high-level UAE officials were in Afghanistan. NSC email, Clarke to Kerrick,

UBL update, Feb. 10,1999. Subsequent reporting, however, suggested that high-level UAE officials had

indeed been at the desert camp. CIA memo,"Recent High Level UAEVisits toAfghanistan," Feb. 19,1999.

General Shelton also told the Commission that his UAE counterpart said he had been hunting at a desert

camp in Afghanistan at about this tune. Hugh Shelton interview (Feb.5,2004).

164. MikeYf briefing (Mar. 3,2004).Talking points for the DCI to use at a late March Small Group

meeting note that concurrendywith theUAEbeing"tipped ofF' to the CIA's knowledge of thecamp,

one of the tribal network's major subsources (within Bin Ladin's Taliban security detail) wasdispatched

to the north, further handicapping reporting efforts. CIA talking points, "Locating Bin Ladin," Mar.

29,1999.

165.Theodore Kattouf interview (Apr.21,2004).Kattouf was theU.S. ambassadorto the UAE from1999 to 2001. He indicated that high-level UAE officials would agree to restrict Afghan flights but told

him that the government had a difficult time enforcing diis.WhiteHouse letter, President Clinton to bin

Zayid, July 23,1999; DOS memo, Sheehan toAlbright, "Signs of Progress on our UBLstrategy," Sept.

12,1999.

166.DOS memo, Indyk andSheehan toAlbright, "UAE Gives Ultimatum toTaliban on Bin Laden,"

July 16, 1999, and attached transcript of conversation between Hamdan bin Zayid and Mullah

Mutawakka,"InformalTranslation ofUAE Note,"July 14,1999;DOS cable,Abu Dhabi 04644,"Taliban

Refuse to Expel Bin Ladin Despite UAEG Ultimatum: Need to Stiffen UAE Resolve to Take the Nec-

essary Next Steps,"July 19,1999.

167.DOS memo, Indyk and Sheehan to Albright, "UAE Gives Ultimatum to Taliban on Bin Laden,"

July 16,1999

168.Jeff ^interview (Dec. 17,2003). Schroen, however, told us that the tribals' reporting was50-60

percent accurate.Gary Schroen interview (Mar.3,2004).

169. Fo r discussion of the Taliban generally, see Ahmed Rashid, T a l iban : Mil i tan t hlam, Oil and Fun-

dament al i sm in Cent ral Asia (Yale Univ. Press, 2000).170. Ibid.; Benjamin and Simon, tflge of Soared Terror, pp. 338—399; George Tenet interview (Jan.

22,2004). V—fl

171. George Tenet interview (Jan.22,2004).

172 Richard^interview pec.12,2003); Gary Schroen interview (Mar.3,2004).

173.John Maher III interview (Apr. 22,2004). For an account of thereportingfrom this period writ-

ten byMike S.,see CIA memoJeffSl to Tenet,"Tracking Usama Bin Ladin, 14-20 May 1999,"May 21,

1999.Mikes account was also used to prepare the DCI for a May 25,1999, Principals Committee meet-

ing. CIA briefing materials, "Background Information: Evaluating the Quality of Intelligence on Bin

Ladin (UBL) in Qandahar, 13-20 May, 1999," undated (probably May 25,1999).

174. CIA email, Mike S. to Schroen, "Re:Your Note," May 17,1999.

175.John Maher III interview (Apr.22,2004).

176 George Tenet interview ([an. 22,2004);John Gordon interview (May 13,2004).

177. Samuel Berger interview flan. 14,2004).

178.The May 1999 intelligence on Bin Ladin's location in Kandahar came as criticism of the CIA



11:57 AM Page

NOTES 39

over the recent bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was at its peak.The DCI later testified that

this bombingwas the result of a CIA mistake. Testimony of GeorgeTenet before the House Permanent

Select Committee on Intelligence,July 22, 1999. On Bin Ladin's whereabouts during the December

1998 episode, seeJohn Maher III interview (Apr. 22,2004).

179. Cruise missiles were readied for another possible strike in early July 1999. But none of the offi-

cials we have interviewed recalled that an opportunity arose at that time justifying the consideration of

a strike. See, e.g.,John Maher III interview (Apr.22,2004).180.Hugh Shelton interview (Feb. 5,2004);DOD briefing materials, UBLJCS Focused Campaign,

undated.

181. NSC memo, Benjamin to Berger and Steinberg, Apr. 29,1999; NSC email, Clarke to Berger,

May 26,1999.

182. NSC memo, Clarke to Berger, June 24, 1999. For Clarkes request to Berger to convene the

Small Group, see NSC memo, Clarke to Berger,Analysis/Options re UBL.Jun. 13,1999. See also NSC

email, Storey to Berger and Clarke,June 24,1999.

183. Berger notes on NSC memo, Clarke to Berger, June 24,1999.

184. NSC memo, Clarke to Berger, June 24,1999.

185. NSC memo, Clarke to Berger, UB L review for Dec. 3,1999, Small Group meeting, Dec. 2,

1999.

186. NSC memo, CSG agenda, Sept. 24,1999.

187. According to CTC talking points for the CSG in June 1999, more than 40 members of al Qaeda

had been imprisoned over the past year. CIA talking points, C/CTCTPs/Backgrounder for CSG, June

7,1999. Figures cited in the DCI's letter to President Clinton in October, however, are slightly different:

CTC had helped render 32 terrorists to justice since July 1998, more than half of whom were al Qaeda.

CIAletter,Tenet to President Clinton,"CIA'sCounterterrorism Efforts," Oct. 16,1999. Anotable excep-

tion to the CIA's rendition successes was the debacle involving Abu Hafs the Mauritanian. For the best

account of this failed attempt to render a key al Qaeda operative from Sudan in mid-July, see CIA talk-ingpoints,Tenet meeting with Berger.July 20,1999.

188. See CIA cable,"Usama Bin Ladin: TheWa y Ahead," Aug. 25,1999, soliciting comments from

various stations on "possible new approaches to capturing UBL and disrupting operations." The evolu-

tion of some ofthis thinking can be seen throughout thesummer of 1999. See, e.g., CIA briefingmate-

rials, CTC UBL Update: "Must Do Some FundamentalRethinking,"July 20,1999 (Afghan assets are not

capable of mounting a UBL capture operation or ambush); CIA briefing materials, CTC UBL Update:

"Problems with Capturing UBL,"Aug. 3,1999 (tribals are good reporters but are unlikely to capture Bin

Ladin because of the risks involved, so there is a need to identify a new group to undertake a capture

operation).

189.Barton Gellman,"Broad Effort Launched After '98 Attacks," Washing ton ft»(,Dec. 19,2001, p.Al.

190. SeeJames Baker interview (Feb.4,2004);Janet Reno interview Pec. 16,2003); Randy Moss

interview flan. 22, 2004); George Tenet interview (fan. 22,2004). On the Pakistani and Uzbek capture

teams, see CIA memo,"Outline of Program to Build Pakistan Team to Seek the Capture and Rendition

of Usama Bin Ladin and his Lieutenants," July 27,1999;CIA memo, "CIA Outline of Program to Build

Uzbek andTurkmenTeams to Seek the Capture and Rendition of Usama Bin Ladin and his Lieutenants,"

July 27,1999; CIA briefing materials, talking points for the DCI for the Aug. 3 Small Group meeting,

Aug.3,1999 ("Pakistani Involvement in Efforts to Capture UBL" and "Uzbek andTurkmen Programs").

On the Uzbeks' readiness, see CIA briefing materials, "Executive Summary for UBL Conference," Sept.

16, 1999.

191. CIA briefing materials, "Executive Summary for UBL Conference," Sept.16,1999.For its pref-

ace, the Plan quoted a memo Tenet had sent to the CIA's senior management in December 1998: "We

are at war with Usama bin Ladin."

192. Ibid. See also the following briefings of the Plan: CIA briefing materials, CTC/NSC Briefing

on the Plan, Sept. 29,1999;CIAbriefing materials, Executive Summary: UBL Conference, prepared for

Berger, Nov.30,1999; CIAbriefing materials, CTC briefing for the NSC Small Group, Dec. 2/3,1999.

193.This figure increased through the fall of 1999, from less than 5 percent on September 16 to less

than 10 percent by November 30, and finally to less than 15 percent by early December. CIA briefing

materials, "Executive Summary for UBL Conference," Sept. 16,1999; CIA briefing materials, Executive

Summary: UBL Conference, prepared for Berger, Nov. 30,1999; CIA briefing materials, CTC briefing

for the NSC Small Group, Dec. 2/3,1999. On Massoud, see also CIA briefing materials,"DDCI UBL

Update," Oct. 29,1999; CIA briefing materials, "DCI UBLUpdate," Nov. 12,1999.

194. CIA briefing materials,"Executive Summary for UBL Conference," Sept. 16, 1999. For the

JSOC estimate, see CIA briefing materials, Executive Summary: UBL Conference, prepared for Berger,

Nov.30,1999.