CIA Declassifies Pre-9/11 Warnings on Hijacked Planes, Bioweapons

By Staff, Agencies

The CIA has declassified dozens of presidential intelligence briefings showing that US officials were warned years before September 11, 2001, that Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were considering attacks on US soil involving hijacked or explosives-laden aircraft, while also seeking chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

The agency released 71 President’s Daily Briefs on Friday to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Covering 1998 through the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the more than 100-page collection is the CIA’s largest release of presidential intelligence related to 9/11.

A September 1998 assessment warned that bin Laden’s “preferred option” was an attack on Washington and that his network “may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city.” Another briefing three months later warned of plans to hijack an American airliner during the holiday season.

The documents also reveal years of concern over unconventional weapons. A February 1998 assessment said bin Laden and other extremists were seeking chemical, biological, and nuclear materials. By May 1999, the CIA assessed that bin Laden was pursuing multiple options for developing such weapons. A June briefing said trainees at an Afghan camp had produced and tested toxic chemicals and biological toxins and had experimented with adding radioactive material to explosives.

The most prominent warning came on August 6, 2001, when President George W. Bush received the briefing titled “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US.” It said bin Laden had sought to attack the United States for years, cited suspicious activity consistent with hijacking preparations, and noted that the FBI was conducting about 70 investigations into suspected Al-Qaeda-linked activity.

Then-CIA Director George Tenet later recalled that by summer 2001, the intelligence system was “blinking red.”

The 9/11 Commission concluded that officials knew “something terrible was planned,” but failures in intelligence sharing, policy, and preparedness prevented the warnings from being translated into effective action.

Bin Laden rose to prominence during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, when Washington spent billions supporting anti-Soviet mujahideen through Pakistan. Although US officials deny directly funding bin Laden, the US-backed war helped establish the militant infrastructure from which Al-Qaeda emerged.