(8:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001: Navy Commander Describes Need for ‘Seminal’ Terrorist Event
At the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, three senior CIA officers—John Russack, Don Kerr, and Charlie Allen—are having breakfast with Navy Commander Kirk Lippold. Lippold was the commanding officer of the USS Cole when it was attacked in Yemen the previous year (see October 12, 2000). The men’s discussion is focused on terrorism. Lippold is upset that the American public still does not recognize the threat it poses, and says that it will take a “seminal event” to awaken them to the problem. Following the breakfast, Lippold heads to the Counterterrorist Center at CIA headquarters for some briefings. Just minutes later, after the WTC is hit, Charlie Allen will contact Lippold and tell him, “The seminal event just happened.” [Tenet, 2007, pp. 162-163]
www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=...ent#a830seminalevent
Tenet's Public Warning 3 Weeks Before Attacks
In a little-noticed interview published in October 2001 but based on a discussion that took place in August, about 3 weeks before the attacks, CIA Director George Tenet warns against the possibility of a catastrophic intelligence failure in remarkably stark terms. In an article in SIGNAL Magazine, an intelligence and defense journal published by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), Tenet described the likely consequences of an unanticipated attack. Says Tenet:
QUOTE
The country is surprised and disadvantaged, and the president has no options because he is responding and reacting rather than thinking about how to put us in a better position. Once it has happened, it is too late. Then the country will want to know why we didn’t make those investments; why we didn’t pay the price; why we didn’t develop the capability. Then, there will be a ‘war crimes’ trial like you’ve never seen in your life about all the investments that were never made—and then it is too late.
Source: Robert K. Ackerman, "Intelligence at a Crossroads", SIGNAL Magazine, October 2001,
www.afcea.org/signal/articles/templ...d=483&zoneid=31
forum.911movement.org/ar/t6596.htm