Posted on 04/16/2007 5:44:26 AM PDT by SJackson
A French intelligence service learned as early as January 2001 that al-Qaida was working on a plot to hijack US airliners, and it passed the information on to the CIA, Le Monde reported Monday.
The newspaper said it had obtained 328 pages of classified documents on Osama bin Laden's terror network that were drawn up by the French foreign intelligence service, the DGSE, between July 2000 and October 2001.
The Defense Ministry did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Le Monde reported that the documents included a note dated January 5, 2001, which said al-Qaida had been working on a hijacking plot for months. The intelligence note reported that bin Laden had attended a meeting in Afghanistan in October 2000, where a final decision to carry out the plot was made, the newspaper said.
French intelligence officials apparently had no idea that al-Qaida was plotting to crash hijacked planes into buildings, as what happened in the Septeber 11 attacks.
Le Monde quoted Pierre-Antoine Lorenzi, a former chief of staff for the intelligence agency's director, as saying, "You have to remember that up until 2001, hijacking an airplane did not have the same meaning as after September 11. At the time, that meant forcing an airplane to land in an airport to carry out negotiations. We were used to handling that."
The newspaper said the DGSE report was passed on to the CIA chief in Paris, as was all information about possible threats to American interests.
Could be true. The airlines got plenty of alerts before 9/11.
I think it’s been pretty well established that French intel had communicated with CIA. But then remember, we had the Gorelick Wall, so it’s probable that a) CIA’s transfer of info to the FBI was limited and b) with all the other threats made against US interests, this one just went to the bottom of the list. Truth be told, our hubris has more to blame for the success of the hijackers as any one group or agency. We simply believed that, in some way, despite the first WTC bombing, we were somehow immune. And that hubris was a bipartisan effort.
Inimaginable!
It was a general warning without specifics. Were they going to hijack the planes overseas? Were they going to blow them up over the Pacific or Atlantic or use them for negotiations? Wnen were they going to strike?
There were warnings as far back as the 90’s about an AlQeada plot (bojinka contained the outlines of the 9-11 attacks) but without specifics these warnings are pretty useless.
I don’t doubt the report, I believe the 9/11 commission acknowledged intercepted threats of hijackings. The risk is applying the post 9/11 template to the report. Hijackings were nothing new, using airliners as bombs wasn’t considered.
Pearl Harbor Syndrome, I’ll bet.
“French intelligence officials apparently had no idea that al-Qaida was plotting to crash hijacked planes into buildings, as what happened in the September 11 attacks.
Le Monde quoted Pierre-Antoine Lorenzi, a former chief of staff for the intelligence agency’s director, as saying, “You have to remember that up until 2001, hijacking an airplane did not have the same meaning as after September 11. At the time, that meant forcing an airplane to land in an airport to carry out negotiations. We were used to handling that.”
1999: British Intelligence Warns Al-Qaeda Plans to Use Aircraft, Possibly as Flying BombsMI6, the British intelligence agency, gives a secret report to liaison staff at the US embassy in London. The reports states that al-Qaeda has plans to use “commercial aircraft” in “unconventional ways,” “possibly as flying bombs.” [Sunday Times (London), 6/9/2002
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March 1999: Germany Provides CIA Hijacker’s Name and Telephone NumberGerman intelligence gives the CIA the first name of hijacker Marwan Alshehhi and his telephone number in the United Arab Emirates. The Germans learned the information from surveillance of suspected Islamic militants. They tell the CIA that Alshehhi has been in contact with suspected al-Qaeda members Mohammed Haydar Zammar and Mamoun Darkazanli. He is described as a United Arab Emirates student who has spent some time studying in Germany. [US Congress, 7/24/2003 ; Deutsche Presse-Agentur (Hamburg), 8/13/2003; New York Times, 2/24/2004] The Germans consider this information “particularly valuable” and ask the CIA to track Alshehhi, but the CIA never responds until after the 9/11 attacks. The CIA decides at the time that this “Marwan” is probably an associate of bin Laden but never track him down. It is not clear why the CIA fails to act, or if they learn his last name before 9/11. [New York Times, 2/24/2004] The Germans monitor other calls between Alshehhi and Zammar, but it isn’t clear if the CIA is also told of these or not (see September 21, 1999).
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August 12, 2000: Italian Intelligence Wiretap of al-Qaeda Cell Reveals Massive Aircraft-based StrikeItalian intelligence successfully wiretap the al-Qaeda cell in Milan, Italy from late 1999 until the summer of 2001. [Boston Globe, 8/4/2002] In a wiretapped conversation from this day, suspected Yemeni Abdulsalam Ali Abdulrahman tells wanted Egyptian Mahmoud Es Sayed about a massive strike against the enemies of Islam involving aircraft and the sky, a blow that “will be written about in all the newspapers of the world. This will be one of those strikes that will never be forgotten.… This is a terrifying thing. This is a thing that will spread from south to north, from east to west: The person who came up with this program is a madman from a madhouse, a madman but a genius.” In another conversation, Abdulrahman tells Es Sayed: “I’m studying airplanes. I hope, God willing, that I can bring you a window or a piece of an airplane the next time we see each other.” The comment is followed by laughter. Beginning in October 2000, FBI experts will help Italian police analyze the intercepts and warnings. Neither Italy nor the FBI will understand their meaning until after 9/11, but apparently, the Italians will understand enough to give the US an attack warning in March 2001 (see March 2001). [Los Angeles Times, 5/29/2002; Guardian, 5/30/2002; Washington Post, 5/31/2002] The Milan cell “is believed to have created a cottage industry in supplying false passports and other bogus documents.” [Boston Globe, 8/4/2002]
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Foreign Intelligence Agency Attack Warnings
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&warning_signs:_specific_cases=foreignIntelligence
“....At the time, that meant forcing an airplane to land in an airport to carry out negotiations. We were used to handling that.”
Negotiating with Pirates/Terrorists has been Franco policy for 100’s of years.
No doubt the warnings landed on Valerie Plame’s desk and was filed away.
Don’t let the obvious lack of details mitigate this claim, in the latest attempts to blame the President.
The only question is: Will Islam get nuclear weapons first from Pakistan, Iran or France?
Info stopped there. End of story.
January 5th, 2001, at which point the Clinton administration was busy removing the W’s from the WH computers, looting the silverware, pardoning terrorists and trying their very best to handicap the incoming administration...etc., etc., etc.
on a submarine from france. Mutinied by a muz crewmen who dispatch their crewmates.... of course the french govt. will not tell the world because of embarrassment and that “We have their own ways of dealing with these issues”..... Well you can see how it would unfold from there.
bttt
Well now I have a good idea what Sandy stuck in his socks.
Well, two.
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