The Times reports that officials within the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center became increasingly angry and in one meeting an official suggested the staff request a transfer so they could not be blamed when the attack occurred.
Worrying: Former U.S. President George Bush was given a series of direct warnings throughout 2001 about the possibility of a terrorist attack on the U.S. by Al Qaeda – but failed to take them seriously, it has emerged
Former President George Bush was given a series of direct warnings throughout 2001 about the possibility of a terrorist attack by Al Qaeda – but failed to take them seriously, it was claimed today.
On the eleventh anniversary of the atrocity, it has been reported that the White House received multiple briefs between May and August that year about an attack with explosives and numerous casualties.
But the president continually failed to take any significant action and questioned the thoroughness of the briefings – leading to huge frustrations within the CIA.
The retrospective report was lambasted as ‘unfair’ and a ‘disservice to history’ by George Pataki, the New York state governor during 9/11 who praised Bush’s leadership in the months after the attacks.
But it shows the repeated warnings came before the famous top secret briefing – which has previously been reported – given to Bush on August 6 with the heading ‘Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S’.
Just a few weeks later on September 11, terrorists smashed planes into the World Trade Center in New York City – killing nearly 3,000 people and horrifying the world.
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