The 9/11 Files: They Could Have Stopped It | Ep 3 (Part 3 of 5)

Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA’s Bin Laden unit, reveals how the Bush and Clinton administrations repeatedly failed to act on Al-Qaeda. Despite multiple clear warnings, they slashed counterterrorism funding and called off numerous chances to take out Bin Laden—decisions that led directly to 9/11.

We’ve centralized all the evidence, key players, and timeline into this Watch Companion: www.tuckercarlson.com/the-911-files-watch-companion-ep-3

The Clinton and Bush administrations repeatedly ignored intelligence warnings of Al Qaeda in the 1990s that could have prevented the September 11th attacks, even after the bombings of American embassies in East Africa in 1998 and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. Furthermore, plans to kill or capture Osama bin Laden were quashed within the CIA. Future Russiagate hoaxer John Brennan, then the CIA station chief for Riyadh, mysteriously refused to share detailed information about Bin Laden with Alec Station, the unit responsible for monitoring Al Qaeda. If, in the lead-up to 9/11, NORAD and the National Reconnaissance Office suspected that a hijacked airliner could be used in a terror attack, then how could the 9/11 Commission conclude the attack was simply a “failure of imagination?” Part three of our series, The 9/11 Files: They Could Have Stopped It, outlines it all.

Key Figures to Reference
Key figure image for Michael Scheuer
Michael Scheuer
CIA officer, chief of the Bin Laden Unit (Alec Station, 1995–1999). As the key witness in episode three, he provides firsthand insight into the multiple missed opportunities to kill or capture Bin Laden.

Key figure image for George Tenet
George Tenet
CIA Director (1997–2004); implemented “The Plan” to counter Al Qaeda.

Key figure image for Cofer Black
Cofer Black
Director of the CIA Counterterrorism Center (1999–2002). Elevated in late 1999 to oversee U.S. counterterrorism operations, but his team’s warnings about Al Qaeda’s imminent threat were ignored at the highest levels.

Key figure image for Sandy Berger
Sandy Berger
National Security Advisor under Bill Clinton (1997–2001). Briefed the incoming Bush administration on Al Qaeda threats but failed to convey their urgency; later convicted for the unauthorized removal of classified material from the National Archives.

Key figure image for Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
National Security Advisor (2001-2005). Received briefings on Al Qaeda but ignored the repeated warnings.

Key figure image for Philip Zelikow
Philip Zelikow
Executive director of the 9/11 Commission (2002-2004). Before 9/11, Zelikow attended briefings warning of Al Qaeda. Close associate of Condoleezza Rice.

Key figure image for John Brennan
John Brennan
CIA liaison in Saudi Arabia (1996–1999). Reportedly withheld some intelligence on Bin Laden; later, Obama’s CIA Director and the architect of Russiagate.

Key figure image for Richard Clarke
Richard Clarke
Head of the Counterterrorism Security Group (1998–2003). Briefed the Bush administration on the urgent threat posed by Al Qaeda in early 2001, but was sidelined, with his counterterrorism priorities dismissed in favor of other agendas.

Key figure image for Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Deputy Secretary of Defense (2001-2005); had earlier pushed for regime change in Iraq. Questioned the threat posed by Al Qaeda before 9/11, viewed the USS Cole attack as “stale” at the start of the Bush administration.

Key figure image for Thomas Pickard
Thomas Pickard
Acting FBI Director (2001). Pressed for more counterterrorism funding but was overruled by Attorney General Ashcroft, limiting the FBI’s ability to pursue Al Qaeda threats.

Key figure image for John Ashcroft
John Ashcroft
Attorney General (2001-2005). Rejected or restricted counterterrorism funding requests and intelligence initiatives targeting Al Qaeda in the months before 9/11, deprioritizing the threat.

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FAA
Federal Aviation Administration. Issued security circulars in 2001, warning airlines of hijacking risks.

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NORAD & NRO
North American Aerospace Defense Command, National Reconnaissance Office. Government entities dedicated to addressing airborne threats to the United States. Both conducted exercises simulating hijacked planes crashing into U.S. buildings before 9/11.

Timeline of Events
Feb 26, 1993
World Trade Center Bombing
Ramzi Yousef bombs WTC, signaling early Al Qaeda intent against U.S. targets.

1996
The CIA Creates Alec Station for Monitoring Bin Laden
The CIA tracks Bin Laden and Al Qaeda operatives and creates detailed plans to capture or kill Bin Laden.

Aug 23, 1996
Bin Laden Declares War on U.S.
Bin Laden publicly announces that he is at war with America, formalizing the threat posed by Al Qaeda.

1997–1998
CIA Rehearsals for Bin Laden Capture
Operations to capture or kill Bin Laden are rehearsed in Afghanistan and the U.S. The Clinton administration suspended the operation in late May 1998.

Aug 7, 1998
U.S. Embassy Bombings in Kenya & Tanzania
Al Qaeda kills over 200 people in the bombings of American embassies in East Africa. In response, Clinton orders limited missile strikes into Afghanistan and Sudan, which prove ineffective and hit a pharmaceutical factory that U.S. intelligence had mistakenly believed to be producing chemical weapons.

Dec 1999
Millennium Bomber Plot (LAX Bombing)
Border Patrol seizes explosives at the U.S.-Canada border that were to be used to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport. The event demonstrates the domestic threat posed by Al Qaeda.

Oct 12, 2000
USS Cole Attack
Al Qaeda kills 17 U.S. servicemen in an attack on a U.S. destroyer in Yemen; the Clinton administration pursues no immediate retaliation, and the Bush administration views the attack as “stale” when it takes office.

May–July 2001
Escalating Intelligence Warnings
Numerous CIA and FBI reports indicate imminent Al Qaeda attacks inside the U.S.; warnings reach the Bush administration, but are not acted upon and are ignored by figures such as Wolfowitz and Ashcroft.

Aug 6, 2001
Presidential Daily Brief
George Bush receives a warning in his Presidential Daily Brief stating “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” No action is taken in response.

Sep 10, 2001
Denial of Counterterrorism Funding
John Ashcroft rejects the FBI's request for additional resources, leaving the division underprepared.

Sep 11, 2001
9/11 Attacks
Al Qaeda executes coordinated attacks on the WTC & the Pentagon, killing 2,977 people. The government’s failure to act against Al Qaeda or heed various warnings culminated in tragedy.

Sources Cited
August 6th, 2001, Presidential Daily Brief - Declassified intelligence document given to President George W. Bush in the summer of 2001, warning him that Osama Bin Laden was determined to attack the United States.

The 9/11 Commission Report - The government’s official account of the causes of 9/11. In it, investigators admit that Bin Laden had been mentioned in the Presidential Daily Brief over 40 times before 9/11, and then-CIA Director George Tenet commented that "the system was blinking red" by the summer of 2001. Also admits that leading members of the administration, such as National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, and Attorney General John Ashcroft, downplayed and ignored the threat from Al Qaeda.

NORAD exercise had a jet crashing into a building - An article detailing a NORAD training scenario in which the agency prepared for a hijacked airliner crashing into a building as part of a terrorist attack.

9/11 crash simulation stopped when reality hit - Article detailing how the National Reconnaissance Office was scheduled to run a simulation of a plane crashing into a building on September 11th. The attacks obviously rendered the simulation moot.

Tucker Carlson Network (Mirror)
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