Anthony Summers - The Eleventh Day

93 second development/New information/Wilshire reconsidered/​“Something bad”:CR, 266–,FBI IG. In the 9/11 Commission Report, and in a 2004 review of the FBI’s handling of pre-9/11 intelligence information issued by the Justice Department’s inspector general, relevant CIA and FBI personnel are referred to by pseudonyms. True names of many of the individuals were revealed in evidence prepared in 2006 for Moussaoui’s trial. Others have been asserted by independent writers, notably Lawrence Wright and Kevin Fenton, and the authors have used these identifications in the text. The CIA officer named here as Tom Wilshire is “John” in the official reports. The FBI analyst Margarette Gillespie is “Mary” in reports, while the FBI analyst Dina Corsi appears to be identical with “Jane” in the Commission Report and with “Donna” in the inspector general’s review. Steve Bongardt is “Steve B.” in the Commission Report and “Scott” in the review. Robert Fuller is “Robert F.” in the Commission Report and “Richard” in the review (CR 267–, & 537n63 et seq., FBI IG, McNulty to Troccoli 3/1/06, U.S. v Zacarias Moussaoui , Exhibit 952.B, Wright, 311, 340–, 352–, 425n, Kevin Fenton, “Aliases of 9/11 Figures Revealed,” 7/15/08, http://hcgroups.wordpress.com).

94 Wilshire suggested to Gillespie:Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower reads as if it was not Wilshire but CIA supervisor Clark Shannon who assigned Gillespie to this task. Wright’s New Yorker articles, however, also in 2006, say Wilshire assigned the work. So do other relevant sources (Wright, 340–. CR, 269–, New Yorker , 7/10/06, Substitution for the Testimony of “Mary,” U.S. v. Zacarias Moussaoui , Exhibit 940);

95 “It all clicked”/“watchlist”:CR, 266–, FBI IG;

96 not in U.S./FAA not informed:Report, JI, 15, Staff Report, “9/11 & Terrorist Travel,” CO, 42, Staff Statement 2, CO;

97 Corsi sent email/red tape/misinterpretation:FBI IG;

98 “Disneyland”:Wright, 353–;

99 “Someday”/Fuller:FBI IG;

100 “assigned no”:CR, 538n77.

101 Tenet fishing:Breitweiser, 193;

102 Tenet directed:Tenet, 159;

103 Tenet briefed/Aug. 23:ibid., CR, 275;

104 seriously/“If this guy”:Tenet, 202–;

105 “brow furrowed”/“no one ever”:Ben-Veniste, 301;

106 “I didn’t see”/lied:Testimony of George Tenet, 4/14/04, CO, Shenon, 361–.

107 Harlow re Aug. 17 & 31: Salt Lake Tribune, WP , 4/15/04. Probably because of an informal exchange Bush had with reporters the following day, it has been suggested that Tenet also met with the President on August 24. The wording of one of his answers could be taken to indicate to the press that there had been a Tenet visit on the 24th. The sense Bush intended, however, is not entirely clear and could equally refer to the visit of August 17 (exchange: Public Papers of the Presidents, George W. Bush, 2001 , www.gpoaccess.gov, 1037; suggested: e.g. Robert Schopmeyer, Prior Knowledge of 9/11 , Palo Alto, CA: Palo Alto Publishing, 2007, 512, corr. Robert Schopmeyer, 2011).

108 “to make sure”:Tenet, 159;

109 “not recall”:CR, 262.

110 “The question”: Newsweek , 5/25/02;

111 “I do not believe”:Testimony of Condoleezza Rice, 4/8/04, CO;

112 “an appalling”: Vanity Fair , 2/09;

113 “There was no”:Ben-Veniste, 307– & see 265.

CHAPTER 28

1

Hello Jenny:

With a few minor changes to ensure verbatim translation from the German, the “Dear Jenny” message is as reported by Al Jazeera reporter Yosri Fouda, drawing on his encounter with Binalshibh in Karachi in 2002 (see pp. 243–45). Binalshibh dated the message as having been sent on or about August 21, 2001. According to Fouda, Binalshibh produced the message “on a floppy disk” and showed it to him “on screen.” The 9/11 Commission Report does not reproduce the “Dear Jenny” message, but refers to coded August “communications” between Atta and Binalshibh that were recovered when KSM was captured. These messages included a discussion of targets dated as having occurred on August 3. In a related note, the Commission quotes Binalshibh as claiming that the words “law” and “politics” were both used to refer only to the Capitol—though the reference was surely in fact to two separate targets (Fouda & Fielding, 138–,

The Australian

, 9/9/02,

Sunday Times

[London], 9/802, CR 248–, 531n 165/166).

2

August 29 call/Atta riddle:

Reporter Fouda, who learned of the puzzle in 2002 from Binalshibh, rendered it as reproduced in the text. The Commission Report referred to it as “two branches, a slash, and a lollipop.” A factor in choosing the date September 11, according to a note found on KSM’s computer following his capture, was that the U.S. Congress would be in session in the Capitol by that time (Fouda & Fielding, 140, CR, 249, Staff Statement 16, CO).

3

Binalshibh passed on:

The Commission Report, drawing on reports of the interrogations of KSM and Binalshibh, states that KSM was informed of the date by Zacaria Essabar, an associate Binalshibh used to carry the message from Germany to KSM in Pakistan. KSM said Essabar brought him the date in a letter, while Binalshibh has said he entrusted Essabar only with a verbal message. Binalshibh has also claimed that he called KSM on the subject. The fact that information was extracted from the prisoners under torture may account for the seeming contradictions. As of this writing, Essabar’s whereabouts are unknown (CR249, 531n173, KSM SUBST, Wanted Notice, Bundeskriminalamt Wiesbaden, 2008).

4

inspector doubts/Kahtani/“He started”:

MFR 04016447, 11/12/03, CF, CR, 12, 248, 564n33;

5

“round out”:

KSM SUBST;

6

“like a soldier”:

MFR 04016447, 11/12/02, CF.

7

340

five rather than four:

Kahtani, who was captured in Afghanistan after 9/11, was one of the prisoners “tortured”—in the words of the retired judge appointed to decide on prosecutions at Guantánamo. The record indicates that he strongly resisted interrogation. He remains a Guantánamo detainee as of this writing. Commission staff identified nine other recruits who were at some point considered for assignment to the 9/11 operation (captured/“tortured”:

WP

, 1/14/09; resisted: Interrogation Log, Detainee 063,

www.ccrjustice.org

, “The Guantánamo Docket,”

NYT

website, as of 1/12/11; nine other: Staff Statement 16, CO, CR, 235).

8

Atta at airport:

Staff Statement 16, CO, Mohammed al-Kahtani, “RFBI 03013592, Documents Relating to PENTTBOM Briefing of Dec. 10, 2003, Packet 2, CF;

9

Atta free/rental cars/flying/hijackers everyday activities:

“Hijackers Timeline [redacted],” 11/14/03, INTELWIRE;

10 moved out Paterson/flight manuals:MFR 04016237, 11/6/03, CF, NYT , 10/28/01;

11 Valencia/“thought they were gay”: Die Zeit (Germany), 10/2/02;

12 men tugging/retrieve towel: St. Petersburg Times , 9/1/02. Simpson believed the men who tried her door were Ahmad al-Haznawi and Ahmed al-Nami;