Declassified CIA Documents Reveal Pre-9/11 Aircraft Threat Warnings

Declassified CIA documents released to the public on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks show that US intelligence agencies reported to the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations years in advance that al-Qaeda could target US cities with explosive-laden aircraft.

Declassified Intelligence Documents

Presidential Daily Briefs, among the US intelligence community's most classified analyses, were released to the public on the 25th anniversary of 9/11. It was stated that 69 out of 71 documents, spanning from early 1998 to the day after the attacks, had never been seen before.

While CIA Director John Ratcliffe emphasized that generations of intelligence personnel dedicated their careers to delivering justice, these published documents shed light on the sensitive information presented to the Clinton and Bush administrations.

Plane Attack and Target Warnings

A briefing dated September 10, 1998, included among the published documents, conveys that Osama bin Laden most wanted to carry out an attack inside the US and that Washington was the primary target.

Another document dated August 28, 1998, contains explicit warnings that the al-Qaeda network remained intact and that bin Laden was actively considering staging an attack on US soil.

Developments After the Attack

Only one of the shared documents belongs to the period after the attacks and was sent at 04:00 on September 12. The document dated September 12 noted that the existence of the plot was already known within extremist circles.

Less than a month after these intelligence disclosures, the US and its allies launched a military intervention in Afghanistan, initiating an occupation.