CONTENTS

List of Illustrations and Tables   ix

Member List   xi

Staff List   xiii-xiv

Preface   xv

1. "WE HAVE SOME PLANES"   1

• 1.1 Inside the Four Flights   1
• 1.2 Improvising a Homeland Defense   14
• 1.3 National Crisis Management   35

2. THE FOUNDATION OF THE NEW TERRORISM   47

• 2.1 A Declaration of War   47
• 2.2 Bin Ladin's Appeal in the Islamic World   48
• 2.3 The Rise of Bin Ladin and al Qaeda (1988-1992)   55
• 2.4 Building an Organization, Declaring War on the United States (1992-1996)   59
• 2.5 Al Qaeda's Renewal in Afghanistan (1996-1998)   63

3. COUNTERTERRORISM EVOLVES   71

• 3.1 From the Old Terrorism to the New: The First World Trade Center Bombing   71
• 3.2 Adaptation-and Nonadaptation-in the Law Enforcement Community   73
• 3.3 . . . and in the Federal Aviation Administration   82
• 3.4 . . . and in the Intelligence Community   86
• 3.5 . . . and in the State Department and the Defense Department   93
• 3.6 . . . and in the White House   98
• 3.7 . . . and in the Congress   102

4. RESPONSES TO AL QAEDA'S INITIAL ASSAULTS   108

• 4.1 Before the Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania   108
• 4.2 Crisis: August 1998   115
• 4.3 Diplomacy   121
• 4.4 Covert Action   126
• 4.5 Searching for Fresh Options   134

5. AL QAEDA AIMS AT THE AMERICAN HOMELAND   145

• 5.1 Terrorist Entrepreneurs   145
• 5.2 The "Planes Operation"   153
• 5.3 The Hamburg Contingent   160
• 5.4 A Money Trail?   169

6. FROM THREAT TO THREAT   174

• 6.1 The Millennium Crisis   174
• 6.2 Post-Crisis Reflection: Agenda for 2000   182
  
• 6.3 The Attack on the USS Cole   190
• 6.4 Change and Continuity   198
• 6.5 The New Administration's Approach   203

7. THE ATTACK LOOMS   215

• 7.1 First Arrivals in California   215
• 7.2 The 9/11 Pilots in the United States   223
• 7.3 Assembling the Teams   231
• 7.4 Final Strategies and Tactics   241

8. "THE SYSTEM WAS BLINKING RED"   254

• 8.1 The Summer of Threat   254
• 8.2 Late Leads-Mihdhar, Moussaoui, and KSM   266

9. HEROISM AND HORROR   278

• 9.1 Preparedness as of September 11   278
• 9.2 September 11, 2001   285
• 9.3 Emergency Response at the Pentagon   311
• 9.4 Analysis   315

10. WARTIME   325

• 10.1 Immediate Responses at Home   326
• 10.2 Planning for War   330
• 10.3 "Phase Two" and the Question of Iraq   334

11. FORESIGHT-AND HINDSIGHT   339

• 11.1 Imagination   339
• 11.2 Policy   348
• 11.3 Capabilities   350
• 11.4 Management   353

12. WHAT TO DO? A GLOBAL STRATEGY   361

• 12.1 Reflecting on a Generational Challenge   361
• 12.2 Attack Terrorists and Their Organizations   365
  
• 12.3 Prevent the Continued Growth of Islamist Terrorism   374
• 12.4 Protect against and Prepare for Terrorist Attacks   383

13. HOW TO DO IT? A DIFFERENT WAY OF ORGANIZING THE GOVERNMENT   399

• 13.1 Unity of Effort across the Foreign-Domestic Divide   400
• 13.2 Unity of Effort in the Intelligence Community   407
• 13.3 Unity of Effort in Sharing Information   416
• 13.4 Unity of Effort in the Congress   419
• 13.5 Organizing America's Defenses in the United States   423

Appendix A: Common Abbreviations 429

Appendix B:Table of Names 431

Appendix C: Commission Hearings 439

Notes 449

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES

p. 15	FAA Air Traffic Control Centers
p. 15	Reporting structure, Northeast Air Defense Sector
p. 32-33	Flight paths and timelines
p. 49	Usama Bin Ladin
p. 64	Map of Afghanistan
p. 148	Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
p. 238-239	The 9/11 hijackers
p. 279	The World Trade Center Complex as of 9/11
p. 284	The World Trade Center radio repeater system
p. 288	The World Trade Center North Tower stairwell with deviations
p. 312	The Twin Towers following the impact of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175
p. 313	The Pentagon after being struck by American Airlines Flight 77
p. 313	American Airlines Flight 93 crash site, Shanksville, Pennsylvania
p. 413	Unity of effort in managing intelligence

COMMISSION MEMBERS

Thomas H. Kean, CHAIR

Lee H. Hamilton, VICE CHAIR

Richard Ben-Veniste

Bob Kerrey

Fred F. Fielding

John F. Lehman

Jamie S. Gorelick

Timothy J. Roemer

Slade Gorton

James R. Thompson

COMMISSION STAFF

Philip Zelikow, Executive Director
Christopher A. Kojm, Deputy Executive Director
Daniel Marcus, General Counsel

Joanne M. Accolla Staff Assistant Alexis Albion Professional Staff Member Scott H. Allan, Jr. Counsel John A. Azzarello Counsel Caroline Barnes Professional Staff Member Warren Bass Professional Staff Member Ann M. Bennett Information Control Officer Mark S. Bittinger Professional Staff Member Madeleine Blot Counsel Antwion M. Blount Systems Engineer Sam Brinkley Professional Staff Member Geoffrey Scott Brown Research Assistant Daniel Byman Professional Staff Member Dianna Campagna Manager of Operations Samuel M.W. Caspersen Counsel Melissa A. Coffey Staff Assistant Lance Cole Consultant Marquittia L. Coleman Staff Assistant Marco A. Cordero Professional Staff Member Rajesh De Counsel George W. Delgrosso Investigator Gerald L. Dillingham Professional Staff Member Thomas E. Dowling Professional Staff Member Steven M. Dunne Deputy General Counsel Thomas R. Eldridge Counsel Alice Falk Editor John J. Farmer, Jr. Senior Counsel & Team Leader Alvin S. Felzenberg Deputy for Communications Lorry M. Fenner Professional Staff Member Susan Ginsburg Senior Counsel & Team Leader T. Graham Giusti Security Officer Nicole Marie Grandrimo Professional Staff Member Douglas N. Greenburg Counsel Barbara A. Grewe Senior Counsel, Special Projects Elinore Flynn Hartz Family Liaison Leonard R. Hawley Professional Staff Member L. Christine Healey Senior Counsel & Team Leader Karen Heitkotter Executive Secretary Walter T. Hempel II Professional Staff Member

C. Michael Hurley Senior Counsel & Team Leader Dana J. Hyde Counsel Professional John W. Ivicic Security Officer Michael N. Jacobson Counsel Hunter W. Jamerson Intern Bonnie D. Jenkins Counsel Reginald F. Johnson Staff Assistant R.William Johnstone Professional Staff Member Stephanie L. Kaplan Special Assistant & Managing Editor Miles L. Kara, Sr. Professional Staff Member Janice L. Kephart Counsel Hyon Kim Counsel Katarzyna Kozaczuk Financial Assistant Gordon Nathaniel Lederman Counsel Daniel J. Leopold Staff Assistant Sarah Webb Linden Professional Staff Member Douglas J. MacEachin Professional Staff Member & Team Leader Ernest R. May Senior Adviser Joseph McBride Intern James Miller Professional Staff Member Kelly Moore Professional Staff Member Charles M. Pereira Professional Staff Member John Raidt Professional Staff Member John Roth Senior Counsel & Team Leader Peter Rundlet Counsel Lloyd D. Salvetti Professional Staff Member Kevin J. Scheid Staff Member & Team Leader Kevin Shaeffer Professional Staff Member Tracy J. Shycoff Deputy for Administration & Finance Dietrich L. Snell Senior Counsel & Team Leader Jonathan DeWees Stull Communications Assistant Lisa Marie Sullivan Staff Assistant Quinn John Tamm, Jr. Professional Staff Member Catharine S.Taylor Staff Assistant Yoel Tobin Counsel Emily Landis Walker Professional Staff Member & Family Liaison Garth Wermter Senior IT Consultant Serena B.Wille Counsel Peter Yerkes Public Affairs Assistant