[TomGuy]

No Evidence Pentagon Knew of Atta, Panel Says

Splitting hairs?

Per the Left/Libs' own hero, Richard Clarke, the FBI told him it was Atta by 10:00 a.m.:



I found this timeline of 9-11-01 from Center for Cooperative Research:

(9:59 a.m.): Clarke Told Some Hijackers Have al-Qaeda Connections

Counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke is told in private by Dale Watson, counterterrorism chief at the FBI, “We got the passenger manifests from the airlines. We recognize some names, Dick. they're al-Qaeda.” Clarke replies, “How the f_ck did they get on board then?” He is told, “Hey, don't shoot the messenger, friend. CIA forgot to tell us about them.” As they are talking about this, they see the first WTC tower collapse on television. [Clarke, 2004, pp 13-14] Some hijacker names, including Mohamed Atta's, were identified on a reservations computer over an hour earlier.


(After 10:06 a.m.): Al-Qaeda Agents Heard Saying we've Hit the Targets

According to Newsweek, “shortly after the suicide attacks,” US intelligence picks up communications among bin Laden associates relaying the message: “we've hit the targets.” [Newsweek, 9/13/01]


(11:00 a.m.): Customs Claims to Determine the Names of All 19 Hijackers

Robert Bonner, the head of Customs and Border Protection, later testifies, “We ran passenger manifests through the system used by Customs—two were hits on our watch list of August 2001.” (This is presumably a reference to hijackers Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, watch-listed on August 23, 2001.) “And by looking at the Arab names and their seat locations, ticket purchases and other passenger information, it didn't take a lot to do a rudimentary link analysis. Customs officers were able to ID 19 probable hijackers within 45 minutes. I saw the sheet by 11 a.m. And that analysis did indeed correctly identify the terrorists.” [New York Observer, 2/11/04] However, Bonner appears to be at least somewhat incorrect: for two days after the attacks the FBI believes there are only 18 hijackers, and the original list contains some erroneous Arab-sounding names on the flight manifests, such as Adnan Bukhari and Ameer Bukhari. [CNN, 9/13/01 (D)] Some hijacker names, including Mohamed Atta's, were identified on a reservations computer around 8:30 a.m., and Richard Clarke was told some of the names were al-Qaeda around 10:00 a.m.


===

This website has an extensive timeline. It seems to lean somewhat anti-Administration, but it has a wealth of data.

I am not sure when any of the hijackers' names made the airwaves, but I do seem to remember it was that day.

---

Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies

[gov_bean_ counter]

IMO, red herring. This was an initiative of the CJCS. IIRC the JCS serves in primarily an advisory capacity to the president and has no downward command authority. Given that there is some question as to how much information would necessarily filter down and to what level.