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the 9/11 commission report

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the 9/11 commission report final report of the national commission on terrorist attacks upon the united states official government edition for sale by the superintendent of documents u.s government printing office internet bookstore.gpo.gov phone toll free 866 512-1800 dc area 202 512-1800 fax 202 512-2250 mail stop ssop washington dc 20402-0001 isbn 0-16-072304-3

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contents list of illustrations and tables ix member list xi staff list xiii­xiv preface xv 1 we have some planes 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 inside the four flights 1 improvising a homeland defense 14 national crisis management 35 2 the foundation of the new terrorism 47 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 a declaration of war 47 bin ladin s appeal in the islamic world 48 the rise of bin ladin and al qaeda 1988­1992 55 building an organization declaring war on the united states 1992­1996 59 al qaeda s renewal in afghanistan 1996­1998 63 3 counterterrorism evolves 71 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 from the old terrorism to the new the first world trade center bombing 71 adaptation and nonadaptation in the law enforcement community 73 and in the federal aviation administration 82 and in the intelligence community 86 v

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3.5 3.6 3.7 and in the state department and the defense department 93 and in the white house 98 and in the congress 102 4 responses to al qaeda s initial assaults 108 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 before the bombings in kenya and tanzania 108 crisis august 1998 115 diplomacy 121 covert action 126 searching for fresh options 134 5 al qaeda aims at the american homeland 145 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 terrorist entrepreneurs 145 the planes operation 153 the hamburg contingent 160 a money trail 169 6 from threat to threat 174 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 the millennium crisis 174 post-crisis reflection agenda for 2000 182 the attack on the uss cole 190 change and continuity 198 the new administration s approach 203 7 the attack looms 215 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 first arrivals in california 215 the 9/11 pilots in the united states 223 assembling the teams 231 final strategies and tactics 241 8 the system was blinking red 254 8.1 8.2 the summer of threat 254 late leads mihdhar moussaoui and ksm 266 9 heroism and horror 278 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 preparedness as of september 11 278 september 11 2001 285 emergency response at the pentagon 311 analysis 315 vi

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10 wartime 325 10.1 immediate responses at home 326 10.2 planning for war 330 10.3 phase two and the question of iraq 334 11 foresight and hindsight 339 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 imagination 339 policy 348 capabilities 350 management 353 12 what to do a global strategy 361 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 reflecting on a generational challenge 361 attack terrorists and their organizations 365 prevent the continued growth of islamist terrorism 374 protect against and prepare for terrorist attacks 383 13 how to do it a different way of organizing the government 399 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 unity of effort across the foreign-domestic divide 400 unity of effort in the intelligence community 407 unity of effort in sharing information 416 unity of effort in the congress 419 organizing america s defenses in the united states 423 appendix a common abbreviations 429 appendix b:table of names 431 appendix c commission hearings 439 notes 449 vii

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list of illustrations and tables p 15 p 15 p 32­33 p 49 p 64 p 148 p 238­239 p 279 p 284 p 288 p 312 p 313 p 313 p 413 faa air traffic control centers reporting structure northeast air defense sector flight paths and timelines usama bin ladin map of afghanistan khalid sheikh mohammed the 9/11 hijackers the world trade center complex as of 9/11 the world trade center radio repeater system the world trade center north tower stairwell with deviations the twin towers following the impact of american airlines flight 11 and united airlines flight 175 the pentagon after being struck by american airlines flight 77 american airlines flight 93 crash site shanksville pennsylvania unity of effort in managing intelligence ix

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commission members thomas h kean chair lee h hamilton vice chair richard ben-veniste bob kerrey fred f fielding john f lehman jamie s gorelick timothy j roemer slade gorton james r.thompson

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commission staff philip zelikow executive director christopher a kojm deputy executive director daniel marcus general counsel joanne m accolla staff assistant samuel m.w caspersen counsel alexis albion professional staff member melissa a coffey staff assistant scott h allan jr counsel lance cole consultant john a azzarello counsel marquittia l coleman staff assistant caroline barnes professional staff member marco a cordero professional staff member warren bass professional staff member rajesh de counsel ann m bennett information control officer george w delgrosso investigator mark s bittinger professional staff member gerald l dillingham professional staff member madeleine blot counsel thomas e dowling professional staff member antwion m blount systems engineer steven m dunne deputy general counsel sam brinkley professional staff member thomas r eldridge counsel geoffrey scott brown research assistant alice falk editor daniel byman professional staff member john j farmer jr senior counsel team leader dianna campagna manager of operations alvin s felzenberg deputy for communications xiii

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xiv lorry m fenner professional staff member commission staff daniel j leopold staff assistant susan ginsburg senior counsel team leader sarah webb linden professional staff member t graham giusti security officer douglas j maceachin professional staff member team leader nicole marie grandrimo professional staff member ernest r may senior adviser douglas n greenburg counsel joseph mcbride intern barbara a grewe senior counsel special projects james miller professional staff member elinore flynn hartz family liaison kelly moore professional staff member leonard r hawley professional staff member charles m pereira professional staff member l christine healey senior counsel team leader john raidt professional staff member karen heitkotter executive secretary john roth senior counsel team leader walter t hempel ii professional staff member peter rundlet counsel c michael hurley senior counsel team leader lloyd d salvetti professional staff member dana j hyde counsel kevin j scheid professional staff member team leader john w ivicic security officer kevin shaeffer professional staff member michael n jacobson counsel tracy j shycoff deputy for administration finance hunter w jamerson intern dietrich l snell senior counsel team leader bonnie d jenkins counsel jonathan dewees stull communications assistant reginald f johnson staff assistant lisa marie sullivan staff assistant r.william johnstone professional staff member quinn john tamm jr professional staff member stephanie l kaplan special assistant managing editor catharine s.taylor staff assistant miles l kara sr professional staff member yoel tobin counsel janice l kephart counsel emily landis walker professional staff member family liaison hyon kim counsel garth wermter senior it consultant katarzyna kozaczuk financial assistant serena b.wille counsel gordon nathaniel lederman counsel peter yerkes public affairs assistant xiv

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preface we pre se nt the narrative of this report and the recommendations that flow from it to the president of the united states the united states congress and the american people for their consideration ten commissioners five republicans and five democrats chosen by elected leaders from our nation s capital at a time of great partisan division have come together to present this report without dissent we have come together with a unity of purpose because our nation demands it september 11 2001 was a day of unprecedented shock and suffering in the history of the united states.the nation was unprepared how did this happen and how can we avoid such tragedy again to answer these questions the congress and the president created the national commission on terrorist attacks upon the united states public law 107-306 november 27 2002 our mandate was sweeping.the law directed us to investigate facts and circumstances relating to the terrorist attacks of september 11 2001 including those relating to intelligence agencies law enforcement agencies diplomacy immigration issues and border control the flow of assets to terrorist organizations commercial aviation the role of congressional oversight and resource allocation and other areas determined relevant by the commission in pursuing our mandate we have reviewed more than 2.5 million pages of documents and interviewed more than 1,200 individuals in ten countries this included nearly every senior official from the current and previous administrations who had responsibility for topics covered in our mandate we have sought to be independent impartial thorough and nonpartisan from the outset we have been committed to share as much of our investigation as we can with the american people.to that end we held 19 days of hearings and took public testimony from 160 witnesses xv

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