September 11 attacks advance-knowledge conspiracy theories

Immediately following the attacks, President George W. Bush stated that: "Nobody in our government, at least, and I don't think the prior government, could envision flying airplanes into buildings",{{Cite web |date=2004-04-20 |title=SCHAKOWSKY: BUSH ADMINISTRATIONS MISSTATEMENT OF THE DAY 9/11 TERRORIST ATTACKS |url=https://schakowsky.house.gov/media/press-releases/schakowsky-bush-administrations-misstatement-day-911-terrorist-attacks |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky |language=en}} and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice claimed: "no one could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile". An Air Force general called the attack: "something we had never seen before, something we had never even thought of."{{cite web|last=Graham|first=Bradley|title=At the Pentagon: Response Hampered by Confusion, Lack of Preparedness|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37991-2001Sep15.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 16, 2001|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010917015553/http://msnbc.com/news/629538.asp?cp1=1&cpe=1&cpm=1|archive-date=September 17, 2001}} Also published as: "Pentagon was unprepared for attack", "Pentagon explains why it didn't evacuate building", "Pentagon Unprepared for 'Something We Had Never Even Thought Of'" A few days after the attacks, FBI Director Robert Mueller announced: "There were no warning signs that I'm aware of that would indicate this type of operation in the country."[https://web.archive.org/web/20021208092449/http://www.publicedcenter.org/faaterrorist.htm The Public Education Center]. However, Mueller noted that an FBI agent in Minneapolis said Moussaoui might be that type of person that could fly something into the World Trade Center.{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=91624&page=1 |title=Who Will Be the Red Flag Scapegoats? |page=4 |newspaper=ABC News |date=May 18, 2002 |last=Lumpkin |first=Beverly |access-date=July 8, 2013}} Mueller said this warning should have been followed more vigorously.

Some mainstream media reports have conflicted with these statements, claiming that the FBI, CIA and Executive Branch{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/99-report-warned-of-suicide-hijacking/ |title=99 Report Warned Of Suicide Hijacking |work=USA TODAY |date=May 17, 2002}}

knew of the threat of planes being used as missiles as early as 1995, following the foiling of the Bojinka plot. In September 2002, one year after the 9/11 attacks, The Chicago Sun-Times reported that:

The FBI had advance indications of plans to hijack U.S. airliners and use them as weapons, but neither acted on them nor distributed the intelligence to local police agencies. From the moment of the September 11 attacks, all high-ranking federal officials insisted that the terrorists' method of operation surprised them. Many continue to stick to that story. Actually, elements of the suicide hijacking plan were known to the FBI as early as 1995 and, if coupled with current information, might have uncovered the plot.

The Pentagon Mass Casualty project (codenamed Pentagon Mascal) was a contingency exercise that was held in the Office of the Secretary of Defense conference room between October 24 and October 26, 2000. The exercise required emergency response teams, members of the defense protective services, and U.S. government officials to conduct emergency simulations in preparation for a possible plane crash into the Pentagon.

The book The Terror Timeline includes numerous articles that are often cited to suggest that the method of flying planes into buildings was known by U.S. officials:[http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&complete_911_timeline_key_events=complete_911_timeline_key_warnings Complete 911 Timeline: Key Warnings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306024230/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&complete_911_timeline_key_events=complete_911_timeline_key_warnings |date=March 6, 2008 }}.

• In 1994, there were three examples of failed attempts to deliberately crash planes into buildings, including one where a lone pilot crashed a small plane into the lawn of the White House.[http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq36.html#_Toc9410686 Did Bush Know? :: Warning Signs of 9–11 and Intelligence Failures :: (by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed) – Media Monitors Network] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313233235/http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq36.html#_Toc9410686 |date=March 13, 2017 }}.
• The Bojinka Plot was a foiled large-scale al-Qaeda terrorist attack to blow up eleven airliners and their passengers as they flew from Asia to America, due to take place in January 1995.
• The 2000 edition of the FAA's annual report on Criminal Acts Against Aviation said that although Osama bin Laden 'is not known to have attacked civil aviation, he has both the motivation and the wherewithal to do so,' adding, 'Bin Laden's anti-Western and anti-American attitudes make him and his followers a significant threat to civil aviation, particularly to U.S. civil aviation.'"
• In April 2001, NORAD ran a war game in which the Pentagon was to become incapacitated; a NORAD planner proposed the simulated crash of a hijacked foreign commercial airliner into the Pentagon, but the Joints Chiefs of Staff rejected that scenario as "too unrealistic"[https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-04-18-norad_x.htm NORAD had drills of jets as weapons] By Steven Komarow and Tom Squitieri, USA TODAY. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
• In July 2001 at the G8 summit in Genoa, anti-aircraft missile batteries were installed following a report that terrorists would try to crash a plane to kill George Bush and other world leaders.{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=2001-09-27 |title=Italy Tells of Threat at Genoa Summit |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-27-mn-50549-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910163523/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-27-mn-50549-story.html |archive-date=10 September 2021 |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/11/globalisation.rorycarroll|title=Missiles to protect summit leaders|website=TheGuardian.com |date=July 11, 2001}}
• On the morning of September 11, 2001, the National Reconnaissance Office, which is responsible for operating U.S. reconnaissance satellites, had scheduled an exercise simulating the crashing of an aircraft into their building, 4 miles (6 km) from Washington Dulles International Airport.{{cite web |last=Lumpkin |first=John |date=September 11, 2002 |year=2002 |title=Agency planned exercise on Sept. 11 built around a plane crashing into a building |url=http://www.boston.com/news/packages/sept11/anniversary/wire_stories/0903_plane_exercise.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020911222515/https://www.boston.com/news/packages/sept11/anniversary/wire_stories/0903_plane_exercise.htm |archive-date=September 11, 2002 |access-date=June 12, 2011 |work=Boston Globe}}

A 2004 USA Today article, "NORAD had drills of jets as weapons," describes pre-9/11 NORAD drills that suggest they were prepared for such an attack as happened on 9/11:

In the two years before the September 11 attacks, the North American Aerospace Defense Command conducted exercises simulating what the White House says was unimaginable at the time: hijacked airliners used as weapons to crash into targets and cause mass casualties. One of the imagined targets was the World Trade Center. In another exercise, jets performed a mock shootdown over the Atlantic Ocean of a jet supposedly laden with chemical poisons headed toward a target in the United States. In a third scenario, the target was the Pentagon{{snd}}but that drill was not run after Defense officials said it was unrealistic.

That NORAD was aware of the threat of terrorists hijacking commercial airliners within the United States, and using them as guided missiles, was flatly denied by the 9/11 Commission, which asserted several times in their report that "The threat of terrorists hijacking commercial airliners within the United States{{snd}}and using them as guided missiles{{snd}}was not recognized by NORAD before 9/11."

The September 11 attacks in 2001 occurred during that year's Global Guardian and Vigilant Guardian joint exercises. That year, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, Vigilant Guardian 'postulated a bomber attack from the former Soviet Union' on North America. In contrast to the 9/11 Commission Report – Michael Ruppert has characterized Vigilant Guardian as "a hijacking drill, not a cold war exercise". He cites direct quotes from participants which indicate "that the drill involved hijacked airliners rather than Russian Bombers". General Arnold, Tech. Sgt. W. Powel and Lt. Col. Dwane Deskins have stated that when they first were informed about hijacked airliners they thought it was "part of the exercise"'{{cite book |last=Ruppert |first=Michael C. |title=Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil |publisher=New Society Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=0-86571-540-8 }} {{xref|(see Global Guardian and the September 11 Attacks)}}.

The Joint Inquiry of 2002 confirmed that the Intelligence Community had received at least twelve reports over a seven-year period suggesting that terrorists might use planes as weapons. After briefly discussing each of them, it says that "The CIA disseminated several of these reports to the FBI and to agencies responsible for preventive actions. They included the FAA... Despite these reports, the Intelligence Community did not produce any assessments of the likelihood that terrorists would use planes as weapons, and U.S. policymakers apparently remained unaware of this kind of potential threat."[http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/911rpt/ part 2, pp. 209, 212]. Former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger testified to the Joint Inquiry:

We heard of the idea of planes as weapons, but I don't recall being presented with any specific threat information about an attack of this nature, or highlighting this threat, or indicating it was more likely than any other[http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/911rpt/ part 2, p. 212].

By September 2001, a part of the Pentagon Renovation Program was completed: blast windows and wall reinforcing system, to significantly diminish the Defense Department headquarters' vulnerability to blast damage from a terrorist attack.

The Times reported on September 18 that investigations were underway into the unusually large numbers of shares in insurance companies and airlines sold off before the attack in the UK, Italy, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, France, and the US.[http://911research.wtc7.net/cache/sept11/londontimes_insidertrading.html Stocks Inquiry: Millions of shares sold before disaster] by James Doran, The Times, September 18, 2001.{{cite web

|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/09/24/gen.europe.shortselling/index.html

|author=Tom Bogdanowicz and Brooks Jackson

|title=Probes into 'suspicious' trading

|publisher=CNN

|date=September 24, 2001

|access-date=2011-07-07}} News accounts in the weeks that followed reported a notable pattern of trading in the options of United and American Airlines,[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/10/19/BU142745.DTL SEC wants data-sharing system: Network of brokerages would help trace trades by terrorists] October 19, 2001. Retrieved March 24, 2009. as well as Morgan Stanley and other market activity.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1341404/Bin-Laden-rigged-oil-and-gold-prices---bank-chief.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930234227/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1341404/Bin-Laden-rigged-oil-and-gold-prices---bank-chief.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 30, 2008 |title=Bin Laden rigged oil and gold prices - bank chief |date=September 23, 2001 |access-date=March 24, 2009 }} An article published in The Journal of Business in 2006 provides statistical evidence of unusual put option market activity days before 9/11:

Examination of the option trading leading up to September 11 reveals that there was an unusually high level of put buying. This finding is consistent with informed investors having traded options before the attacks.[http://www.business.uiuc.edu/poteshma/research/poteshman2006.pdf Unusual Option Market Activity and the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528105732/http://www.business.uiuc.edu/poteshma/research/poteshman2006.pdf |date=May 28, 2008 }} by Allen M. Poteshman. Retrieved 2010-01-12.

In a statement to the 9/11 Commission in 2003, Mindy Kleinberg, of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee, said:

Never before on the Chicago Exchange were such large amounts of United and American Airlines options traded. These investors netted a profit of at least $5 million after the September 11 attacks. Interestingly, the names of the investors remain undisclosed and the $5 million remains unclaimed in the Chicago Exchange account.[http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing1/witness_kleinberg.htm Statement of Mindy Kleinberg to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States] March 31, 2003.

The 9/11 Commission Report concluded that "Exhaustive investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, FBI, and other agencies have uncovered no evidence that anyone with advance knowledge of the attacks profited through securities transactions."{{cite web|url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf |title=Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |page=172 |access-date=2015-07-20 |date=2004-07-22 |publisher=9-11commission.gov}} The report further stated:

{{quote|text=Highly publicized allegations of insider trading in advance of 9/11 generally rest on reports of unusual pre-9/11 trading activity in companies whose stock plummeted after the attacks. Some unusual trading did in fact occur, but each such trade proved to have an innocuous explanation. For example, the volume of put options — investments that pay off only when a stock drops in price — surged in the parent companies of United Airlines on September 6 and American Airlines on September 10 — highly suspicious trading on its face. Yet, further investigation has revealed that the trading had no connection with 9/11. A single U.S.-based institutional investor with no conceivable ties to al Qaeda purchased 95 percent of the UAL puts on September 6 as part of a trading strategy that also included buying 115,000 shares of American on September 10. Similarly, much of the seemingly suspicious trading in American on September 10 was traced to a specific U.S.-based options trading newsletter, faxed to its subscribers on Sunday, September 9, which recommended these trades. These examples typify the evidence examined by the investigation. The SEC and the FBI, aided by other agencies and the securities industry, devoted enormous resources to investigating this issue, including securing the cooperation of many foreign governments. These investigators have found that the apparently suspicious consistently proved innocuous.{{cite web |date=2004-07-22 |title=Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |publisher=9-11commission.gov |page=499 |url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf |access-date=2015-07-20}}}}

In December 2001 and early 2002, there was extensive media coverage of the efforts by the German data retrieval company Convar to reconstruct, using laser scanning technology, data from damaged hard drives recovered from the WTC as part of the investigation into a surge in financial transactions just before the two hijacked planes crashed into New York's World Trade Center.{{cite news

|url = http://articles.cnn.com/2001-12-20/tech/wtc.harddrives.idg_1_data-recovery-terrorist-plot-encryption-keys?_s=PM:TECH

|title = Computer disk drives from WTC could yield clues

|publisher = CNN

|date = December 20, 2001

|access-date = May 3, 2011

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110502185147/http://articles.cnn.com/2001-12-20/tech/wtc.harddrives.idg_1_data-recovery-terrorist-plot-encryption-keys?_s=PM:TECH

|archive-date = May 2, 2011

|url-status = dead

}} The company's CEO, Peter Henschel, noting that the investigation was being conducted for a number of U.S.-based clients cooperating with the FBI, said that there was suspicion that criminals had used inside knowledge about the attacks to make and authorize financial transactions during the chaos. According to Convar's data retrieval expert Richard Wagner, criminal transactions in excess of 100 million dollars could have been made in the hope that their trail would have disappeared as a result of the destruction of the WTC mainframe computers.{{cite news

|url = http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,173404,00.html

|title = Das Geheimnis der verkohlten Festplatten

|work = Der Spiegel

|date = December 18, 2001

|access-date = May 3, 2011

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110111034632/http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,173404,00.html

|archive-date = January 11, 2011

|url-status = dead

}}{{cite news

|url=http://www.foxnews.com//story/0,2933,41004,00.html

|title=German Firm Probes Final World Trade Center Deals

|publisher=Fox News

|date=December 17, 2001

|access-date=May 3, 2011

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501091959/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41004,00.html

|archive-date=May 1, 2011

|url-status=dead }} As reported by the Heute Journal, a news programme by the German ZDF TV channel, by March 2002 Convar had been able to restore several hundred hard drives from the WTC.{{cite news

|title=Geheimsache World Trade Center

|publisher=ZDF News

|date=March 11, 2002 }}

However, the 9/11 Commission, in a memorandum entitled "FBI Briefing on Trading" dated October 18, 2003, said that when asked about the media coverage of the hard drive restoration operation, the "assembled [FBI] agents expressed no knowledge of the reported hard-drive recovery effort", further noting that one New York agent argued that it was "extremely unlikely that any hard-drives survived to the extent that they data {{sic}} be recovered."{{cite web

|url = http://media.nara.gov/9-11/MFR/t-0148-911MFR-00269.pdf

|title = FBI Bfiefing on Trading

|author = National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States

|date = October 18, 2003

|quote = The assembled agents expressed no knowledge of the reported hard-drive recovery effort or the alleged scheme. Moreover, one of the New York agents pointed out, from personal experience, that everything at the WTC was pulverized to near power, making it extremely unlikely that any hard-drives survived to the extent they data be recovered.

|access-date = May 3, 2011

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110531185233/http://media.nara.gov/9-11/MFR/t-0148-911MFR-00269.pdf

|archive-date = May 31, 2011

|url-status = dead }}

The papers of several finance researchers also suggest that some profited from foreknowledge of 9/11. In 2006, Allen Poteshman, a professor of Finance from the University of Illinois, published an analysis of the airline stock option trades preceding the attacks. This peer-reviewed study, published by the University of Chicago Press, came to the conclusion that an indicator of long put volume was "unusually high which is consistent with informed investors having traded in the option market in advance of the attacks".{{cite journal

| jstor = 10

| title = Unusual Option Market Activity and the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001

| author = Allen M. Poteshman

| journal = The Journal of Business

| volume=16

| pages=670–675

}} In January 2010, a team of Swiss financial experts published evidence for at least thirteen informed trades in which the investors had apparent foreknowledge of the attacks.{{cite journal

| ssrn = 1522157

| title = Detecting Informed Trading Activities in the Options Markets

| author = Marc Chesney| publisher = Social Science Research Network

|date=January 2010

|display-authors=etal}} Finally, in April 2010, an international team of experts showed that there was a significant abnormal increase in trading volume in the option market just before the 9/11 attacks in contrast to the absence of abnormal trading volume over periods long before the attacks, concluding that their findings were "consistent with insiders anticipating the 9-11 attacks".{{cite journal

| ssrn = 1588523

| title = Was there Abnormal Trading in the S&P 500 Index Options Prior to the September 11 Attacks?

| author = Wing-Keung Wong| publisher = Social Science Research Network

|date=April 2010

|display-authors=etal}}

The 9/11 Commission Report states that "the 9/11 attacks were a shock, but they should not have come as a surprise. Islamic extremists had given plenty of warnings that they meant to kill Americans indiscriminately and in large numbers."9/11 Commission Report Executive Summary, p. 2. The report continued:

During the spring and summer of 2001, U.S. intelligence agencies received a stream of warnings about an attack al-Qaeda planned, as one report puts it "something very, very, very big." Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet told us "the system was blinking red."9/11 Commission Report Executive Summary, p. 6.

The US administration, CIA and FBI received multiple prior warnings from foreign governments and intelligence services, including France, Germany, the UK, Israel, Jordan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Morocco and Russia.{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,53065,00.html | work=Fox News | title=Clues Alerted White House to Potential Attacks | first=Carl | last=Cameron | date=May 17, 2002 | access-date=January 9, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208040420/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,53065,00.html | archive-date=December 8, 2011 | url-status=dead }} The warnings varied in their level of detail, but all stated that they believed an al-Qaeda attack inside the United States was imminent. British Member of Parliament Michael Meacher cites these warnings, suggesting that some of them must have been deliberately ignored.{{cite news |last = Meacher |first = Michael |author-link = Michael Meacher |url = http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/comment/0,12956,1036687,00.html |title = This war on terrorism is bogus |work = The Guardian Unlimited – Comment |publisher = Guardian Newspapers Limited |access-date = June 11, 2006 | location=London | date=September 6, 2003}} Some of these warnings include the following:

• March 2001 – Italian intelligence warns of an al-Qaeda plot in the United States involving a massive strike involving aircraft, based on their wiretap of an al-Qaeda cell in Milan.{{Cite web |date=2008-03-06 |title=Context of 'March 2001: Italians Advise US about Al-Qaeda Wiretaps' |url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0301italywiretaps |access-date=2024-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306034047/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0301italywiretaps |archive-date=March 6, 2008 }}{{Cite web |date=2008-03-06 |title=Context of 'September 4, 2001: Secret Embedded Messages Help Show Milan Al-Qaeda Have 9/11 Foreknowledge' |url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a090401embeddedmessages |access-date=2024-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306073339/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a090401embeddedmessages |archive-date=March 6, 2008 }}
• July 2001 – Jordanian intelligence told US officials that al-Qaeda was planning an attack on American soil, and Egyptian intelligence warned the CIA that 20 al-Qaeda Jihadists were in the United States, and that four of them were receiving flight training.{{Cite web |date=2008-03-06 |title=Context of 'Late Summer 2001: Jordan Warns US that Aircraft Will Be Used in Major Attack Inside the US' |url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=alatesummer01jordan |access-date=2024-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306061642/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=alatesummer01jordan |archive-date=March 6, 2008 }}{{Cite web |date=2008-03-06 |title=Context of 'Late July 2001: Egypt Warns CIA of 20 Al-Qaeda Operatives in US; Four Training to Fly; CIA Is Not Interested' |url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0701egypt |access-date=2024-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306061938/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0701egypt |archive-date=March 6, 2008 }}
• July 26, 2001 – CBS News reports that Attorney General Ashcroft has stopped flying commercial airlines due to a threat assessment.{{Cite web |date=2008-03-06 |title=Context of 'July 26, 2001: Ashcroft Stops Flying Commercial Airlines; Refuses to Explain Why' |url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a072601ashcroft |access-date=2024-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306095054/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a072601ashcroft |archive-date=March 6, 2008 }}
• August 2001 – The Israeli Mossad gives the CIA a list of 19 terrorists living in the US and says that they appear to be planning to carry out an attack in the near future.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-20-mn-47840-story.html |title=Officials Told of 'Major Assault' Plans |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 20, 2001 |last1=Serrano |first1=Richard A. |last2=Dahlburg |first2=John Thor |access-date=September 10, 2021}}{{Cite web |date=2008-03-06 |title=Context of 'August 23, 2001: Mossad Reportedly Gives CIA List of Terrorists Living in US; at Least Four 9/11 Hijackers Named' |url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a082301mossad |access-date=2024-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306024238/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a082301mossad |archive-date=March 6, 2008 }}
• August 2001 – The United Kingdom is warned three times of an imminent al-Qaeda attack in the United States, the third specifying multiple airplane hijackings. According to the Sunday Herald, the report is passed on to President Bush a short time later.{{Cite web |date=2008-03-06 |title=Context of 'Early August 2001: Britain Warns US Again; Specifies Multiple Airplane Hijackings' |url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0801british |access-date=2024-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306061543/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0801british |archive-date=March 6, 2008 }}
• September 2001 – Egyptian intelligence warns American officials that al-Qaeda is in the advanced stages of executing a significant operation against an American target, probably within the US.{{Cite web |date=2008-03-06 |title=Context of 'August 30, 2001-September 4, 2001: Egypt Warns Al-Qaeda Is in Advanced Stages of Planning Significant Attack on US' |url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a083001egypt |access-date=2024-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306024240/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a083001egypt |archive-date=March 6, 2008 }}
• September 10, 2001 – US Generals warned not to fly on morning of 9/11.{{Cite web |date=2008-03-06 |title=Context of 'September 10, 2001: US Generals Warned Not to Fly on Morning of 9/11' |url=http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a091001generals |access-date=2024-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306061553/http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a091001generals |archive-date=March 6, 2008 }}{{unreliable source?|date=December 2024}}

{{Main|Able Danger}}

A classified military intelligence program known as "Able Danger" was created in October 1999 specifically targeting al-Qaeda. Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA) charged before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Able Danger had identified Mohamed Atta, and three of the other hijackers, prior to 9/11.

The existence of Able Danger, and its purported early identification of the 9/11 terrorists, was first disclosed publicly on June 19, 2005.{{cite news |first = Keith |last = Phucas |url = http://www.timesherald.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=14720231&BRD=1672&PAG=461&dept_id=33380&rfi=8 |title = Missed chance on way to 9/11 |work = The Times Herald |publisher = Shelley Meenan |date = June 19, 2005 |access-date = August 3, 2006 }}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} On June 27, 2005, Weldon stated to the House:

Mr. Speaker, I rise because information has come to my attention over the past several months that is very disturbing. I have learned that, in fact, one of our Federal agencies had, in fact, identified the major New York cell of Mohamed Atta prior to 9/11; and I have learned, Mr. Speaker, that in September 2000, that Federal agency actually was prepared to bring the FBI in and prepared to work with the FBI to take down the cell that Mohamed Atta was involved in in New York City, along with two of the other terrorists. I have also learned, Mr. Speaker, that when that recommendation was discussed within that Federal agency, the lawyers in the administration at that time said, you cannot pursue contact with the FBI against that cell. Mohamed Atta is in the U.S. on a green card, and we are fearful of the fallout from the Waco incident. So we did not allow that Federal agency to proceed.United States Congress. "{{cite web|url= http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2005_record&page=H5244&position=all |title=U.S. Intelligence. }}" Congressional Record—House. Washington, D.C.: GPO, June 27, 2005. 109th Cong., 1st sess. HR H5244.

There is no mention of Able Danger in the 9/11 Commission Report. Two 9/11 Commission members, Timothy J. Roemer and John F. Lehman, both claimed not to have received any information on Able Danger.{{cite news |author = Goodwin, Jacob |url = http://www.gsnmagazine.com/aug_05/dod_lawyers.html |title = Did DoD lawyers blow the chance to nab Atta? |work = GSN: Government Security News |publisher = Edward Tyler |date = n.d. |access-date = August 3, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060405064127/http://www.gsnmagazine.com/aug_05/dod_lawyers.html |archive-date = April 5, 2006 |author-link = Jacob Goodwin}} Weldon alleged that intelligence concerning Able Danger was provided to the 9/11 Commission but was ignored.United States Congress. "{{cite web|url= http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=H5250&dbname=2005_record |title=U.S. Intelligence. }}" Congressional Record—House. Washington, D.C.: GPO, June 27, 2005. 109th Cong., 1st sess. HR H5250. Retrieved August 3, 2006.

Following coverage in the national media of Weldon's claims in August 2005, Thomas Kean and Lee H. Hamilton, former Chair and Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission, issued a statement{{cite web |url= http://www.9-11pdp.org/press/2005-08-12_pr.pdf |title= statement |access-date= February 2, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090301024454/http://www.9-11pdp.org/press/2005-08-12_pr.pdf |archive-date= March 1, 2009 |url-status=dead }} in which they stated the Commission had been aware of the Able Danger program, and requested and obtained information about it from the Department of Defense (DoD), but none of the information provided had indicated the program had identified Atta or other 9/11 hijackers.[http://www.onlinejournal.org/Special_Reports/082405Chin/08-24-05_Chin.pdf More pre-9/11 US intelligence connections to al-Qaeda exposed and spun] Online Journal.Com August 24, 2005 pdf.[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/19/MNGH5EA5121.DTL&hw=claim+about+9%2F11&sn=004&sc=719 Claim about 9/11 takes new twist] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060109133724/http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2005%2F08%2F19%2FMNGH5EA5121.DTL&hw=claim+about+9%2F11&sn=004&sc=719 |date=January 9, 2006 }} San Francisco Chronicle August 19, 2005.

Curt Weldon issued a response to this statement clarifying the mission of Able Danger, expressing concern over the statements made by various members of the 9/11 Commission, and promising to push forward until it is understood why the DoD was unable to pass the information uncovered by Able Danger to the FBI, and why the 9/11 Commission failed to follow up on the information they were given on Able Danger.[https://web.archive.org/web/20061130002015/http://curtweldon.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=32271 WELDON RESPONDS TO OMISSION OF ABLE DANGER FROM 9/11 REPORT], August 12, 2005. Retrieved 2010-01-12.

{{See also|Responsibility for the September 11 attacks#Culpability}}

In 2002, FBI agent Coleen Rowley wrote to FBI director Robert Mueller describing her experience working with Minneapolis FBI agents tracking suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui prior to the attacks.Kevin Johnson [http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/05/28/letter-fbi.htm Letter shifts heat to FBI] USA Today, 28 May 2002{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020603/memo.html |magazine=Time |title=The Bombshell Memo: Were Warnings Ignored? |date=May 26, 2002 |access-date=April 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106215518/http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020603/memo.html |archive-date=January 6, 2010 }} She describes how FBI HQ personnel in Washington, D.C. had mishandled and failed to take action on information provided by the Minneapolis Field Office, and had failed to issue a warrant to search Moussaui's computer despite having probable cause. Senator Chuck Grassley later wrote that "If the application for the FISA warrant had gone forward, agents would have found information in Moussaoui's belongings that linked him ... to a major financier of the hijacking plot".{{cn|date=September 2021}} Rowley was credited as a whistleblower and jointly awarded the TIME Magazine "Person of the Year" for 2002.Amanda Ripley and Maggie Sieger [https://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1003988,00.html Coleen Rowley: The Special Agent] TIME Magazine, 30 December 2002

In May, Rowley testified to the Senate and the 9/11 Commission about the FBI's pre-9/11 lapses due to its internal organization and mishandling of information related to the attacks.Max Lerner [https://www.pbs.org/now/politics/rowley.html Coleen Rowley] Civil liberties in times of war. PBS Now, 3 April 2005 Mueller and Grassley pushed for and achieved a major reorganization, focused on creation of the new Office of Intelligence at the FBI.Neil A. Lewis [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/30/national/30INQU.html F.B.I. Chief Admits 9/11 Might Have Been Detectable] The New York Times, 30 May 2002. "...reassigning 400 of the bureau's 11,500 field agents from narcotics investigations to counterterrorism. Another 59 agents would be reassigned to counterterrorism from white-collar crime investigations and an additional 59 from the violent crimes unit."

FBI agent and al-Qaeda expert John P. O'Neill warned of an al-Qaeda threat to the United States in 2000. He retired from his position in mid-2001, citing repeated blocking of his investigations of al-Qaeda by FBI officials. After his retirement from the FBI, the World Trade Center hired him as its chief of security. He started work on August 23, 2001; 9/11 rescue workers found his body in a staircase inside the south tower rubble.{{cite web |last = Kirk |first = Michael |author2=Jim Gilmore |year = 2002 |url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/etc/script.html |title = The Man Who Knew |work = Transcript of Frontline program #2103 |publisher = WGBH Educational Foundation |access-date = June 11, 2006}}

FBI agent Robert Wright accused the agency of shutting down his investigation into alleged terrorist-training camps in Chicago and Kansas City in 1998 and described them as "having failed to take seriously the threat of terrorism in the U.S.".{{cite web |last = Crogan |first = Jim |year = 2002 |url = http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/37/news-crogan.php |title = Another FBI Agent Blows the Whistle |work = LA Weekly News |publisher = LA Weekly, LP |access-date = June 11, 2006 |archive-date = August 2, 2002 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020802193835/http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/37/news-crogan.php |url-status = dead }}

According to Senator Bob Graham, who was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee from June 2001 through the buildup to the Iraq war, "Two of the September 11, 2001, hijackers had a support network in the United States that included agents of the Saudi government, and the Bush administration and FBI blocked a congressional investigation into that relationship," as reported by the Miami Herald. And in Graham's book, Intelligence Matters, he makes clear that some details of that financial support from Saudi Arabia were in the 27 pages of the congressional inquiry's final report that were blocked from release by the administration, despite the pleas of leaders of both parties on the House and Senate intelligence committees."{{cite web |url=http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/9584265.htm |title=Graham book: Inquiry into 9/11, Saudi ties blocked |publisher=Miami Herald.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040907022815/http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/9584265.htm |archive-date=September 7, 2004}} In March 2012 as part of a lawsuit by 9/11 victims families Graham and another former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey said in affidavits that they were certain there were direct links between the Saudi government and the attacks.[http://tribune.com.pk/story/344642/direct-line-between-911-terrorists-saudi-government-claim-ex-us-senators/ 'Direct line' between 9/11 terrorists, Saudi government, claim ex-US Senators The Expresse Tribune with The International Herald Tribune March 2, 2012]

There have also been allegations that the hijackers' preparations may have been given assistance by U.S. intelligence. According to CBS News, "two of the Sept. 11 hijackers who lived in San Diego in 2000 rented a room from a man who reportedly worked as an undercover FBI informant... the FBI informant prayed with them and even helped one open a bank account."{{cite news| url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hijackers-lived-with-fbi-informant/ | work=CBS News | title=Hijackers Lived With FBI Informant | date=September 9, 2002}} Doubts have been raised about the speed with which the hijackers were identified, leading to suggestions that the FBI already had the names of the hijackers in advance. In his book Against All Enemies, Richard Clarke said that at 9:59 am on September 11, which is the time when WTC2 collapsed and 8 minutes before NORAD even knew Flight 93 had been hijacked, the FBI already had a list of the 19 alleged hijackers.{{cn|date=October 2019}} A former high-level intelligence official said that "Whatever trail was left was left deliberately—for the F.B.I. to chase."[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2001/10/08/011008fa_FACT What Went Wrong] by Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, October 8, 2001. Retrieved 2010-01-12.

It has been suggested that some foreign governments and intelligence agencies may have had some foreknowledge of the attacks.

Sibel Edmonds, an FBI translator, was told by another translator that the FBI received information in April 2001, from a reliable Iranian intelligence asset, that Osama Bin Laden was planning attacks on 4–5 cities with planes, and that some of the plotters were already in the country and the attacks would happen in a few months. The translator described the interviewing agents' reaction that the warnings were not specific enough to act upon.[https://web.archive.org/web/20040602210202/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=507514 April 2, 2004 'I saw papers that show US knew al-Qa'ida would attack cities with aeroplanes' The Independent].[http://www.justacitizen.com/articles_documents/FBI%20&%20911.htm FBI & 9/11 – by Sibel Edmonds].

In 2004 the 9/11 Commission "found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack." Just before their report was published the committee received evidence which caused to add to the report that the topic required further investigation.[http://www.scrippsnews.com/content/may-al-qaidas-big-fat-iranian-wedding May: Al-Qaida's big fat Iranian wedding]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Clifford May for Scripps Howard News Service

On December 22, 2010, a United States Federal Judge signed a default judgment holding Iran, the Taliban and al-Qaeda liable following an open court hearing in which the evidence was produced by the plaintiffs' attorneys which they said showed that Iran assisted the hijackers. 9/11 Commission members and witnesses who claimed they were Iranian defectors and members of Ministry of Intelligence and National Security and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards also testified during the hearing. The suit Havlish, et al. v. bin Laden, et al. was brought in 2001 by Fiona Havlish whose husband died in the North Tower. Abolghasem Mesbahi, who claimed he was a former Ministry of Intelligence operative in charge of Iran's espionage operations in Western Europe testified that he was part of a task force that designed contingency plans for unconventional warfare against the United States code-named Shaitan dar Atash/Satan in Flames which included crashing hijacked passenger airliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the White House, and that in the summer of 2001 he received three coded messages telling him to activate the plan. An Iranian government memorandum was presented as evidence that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had pre-knowledge of the attacks.[https://web.archive.org/web/20111224130453/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57347506/judge-iran-taliban-al-qaeda-liable-for-9-11/ Judge: Iran, Taliban, al Qaeda liable for 9/11 CBS News December 22, 2011][http://www.eurasiareview.com/28122011-federal-judge-rules-iran-behind-911-attacks-oped/ Federal Judge Rules: Iran Behind 9/11 Attacks – OpEd Eurasia Review December 28, 2011] Several days after the ruling a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign ministry said charges that Iran "had a hand in planning the attacks and that one of al-Qaeda's members was present inside the country is baseless," and said "With the repetition of such claims to back its political aims the U.S. is putting the peace and security of the world in jeopardy".[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-25/iran-rejects-u-s-accusations-of-sept-11-role-ministry-says.html Iran Rejects U.S. Accusations of Sept. 11 Role, Ministry Says Bloomberg]

In February 2012 President Obama's Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that "Iran has harbored al-Qaida leaders, facilitators," and that they have been "under house arrest conditions. (Iran's rulers) have had this sort of standoff arrangement with al-Qaida, allowing (al-Qaida) to exist (inside Iran), but not to foment any operations directly from Iran, because they're very sensitive about, 'Hey, we might come after them there as well.'... So there has been this longstanding, as I say, kind of, shotgun marriage, or marriage of convenience."

It was reported that the Mossad informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in August 2001 that as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning "a major assault on the United States." The Israeli intelligence agency allegedly cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of a "large-scale target" in the United States and that Americans would be "very vulnerable."[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-20-mn-47840-story.html Officials Told of ‘Major Assault’ Plans] LA Times, RICHARD A. SERRANO and JOHN-THOR DAHLBURG|TIMES STAFF WRITERS

In September 2001, The New York Times and Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that four hours after the attack, the FBI arrested five Israelis who had been filming the smoking skyline from the roof of a white van in the parking lot of an apartment building, for "puzzling behavior". They were charged with illegally residing in the United States and working there without permits. The Israelis were said to have pulled into the parking lot after the destruction of the first tower and videotaped the remainder of the disaster with what was interpreted as cries of "joy and mockery".{{cite news |author=JAMES RISEN AND DON VAN NATTA JR. |title=AFTER THE ATTACKS: THE INVESTIGATION; Authorities Have Learned the Identities Of 18 Hijackers, Attorney General Says |date=September 14, 2001 |work=New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2DD1E38F937A2575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 |access-date=August 5, 2008 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/1.5396918 |title=5 Israelis detained for 'puzzling behavior' after WTC tragedy |date=2001-09-17 |author=Yossi Melman |work=Haaretz |access-date=2021-03-25 }}{{Cite web|title=ABCNEWS.com : Were Israelis Detained on Sept. 11 Spies?|website=ABC News |url=http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/2020_whitevan_020621.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021003225412/http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/2020_whitevan_020621.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 3, 2002|date=2002-10-03|access-date=2020-05-16}} The incident became known as the "dancing Israelis" in conspiracy theory circles.{{citation |url=https://www.newsweek.com/oliver-anthony-9-11-antisemitic-jewish-conspiracy-1821632 |title=Oliver Anthony Accused of Promoting Antisemitic 9/11 Conspiracy Theories |author=Shannon Power |website=Newsweek |date=August 23, 2023}} Police found the van and a search revealed $4,700 in cash hidden, along with foreign passports and a boxcutter which aroused suspicions and led to the detention of the occupants. The men were held in detention for more than 2 months, during which time they were subjected to interrogation and polygraph tests, before being deported back to Israel; one of the men (Paul Kurzberg) refused to take the test for 10 weeks, and then failed it.{{cite news |title=Were Israelis Detained on Sept. 11 Spies? |date=June 20, 2002 |work=ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=123885&page=1#.T0lytIeQYZw |access-date=February 25, 2012 }}

The five men worked at the company Urban Moving Systems Inc, owned and operated by Dominik Suter. After the men were arrested the FBI searched their offices and questioned Suter, however Suter fled to Israel before he could be questioned further. Eventually, Suter's name appeared on the May 2002 FBI Suspect List, along with the Sep 11 hijackers and other suspected extremists.{{cite news |last=Phucas |first=Keith |url=https://www.timesherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15114089&BRD=1672&PAG=461&dept_id=33380&rfi=6 |title=Sept. 11 riddles remain |work=The Times Herald |location=Philadelphia, PA |date=2005-08-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051027033906/https://www.timesherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15114089&BRD=1672&PAG=461&dept_id=33380&rfi=6 |archive-date=2005-10-27 |access-date=2019-09-12 }}

On March 15, 2002, The Forward claimed that the FBI had concluded that the van's driver, Paul Kurzberg, and his brother Sivan, were indeed Mossad operatives, who were in America "spying on local Arabs".{{cite web |url=https://forward.com/news/national/325698/spy-rumors-fly-on-gusts-of-truth |title=Spy Rumors Fly on Gusts of Truth |author=Marc Perelman |date=March 15, 2002 |work=FORWARD News |access-date=2018-08-16 }} ABC news cited this report on June 21, 2002, adding that the FBI had concluded that the five Israelis had no foreknowledge of the attacks.{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/2020_whitevan_020621.html |title=The White Van:Were Israelis Detained on Sep 11 Spies? (June 21, 2002) |website=ABC News |access-date=2002-08-02 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020802194310/https://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/2020_whitevan_020621.html |archive-date=August 2, 2002 }}

In March 2001, the US Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive had issued a warning about people identifying themselves as "Israeli art students" attempting to bypass security and gain entry to federal buildings, and even to the private residences of senior federal officials. A French intelligence agency later noted "according to the FBI, Arab terrorists and suspected terror cells lived in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as in Miami and Hollywood, Florida, from December 2000 to April 2001 in direct proximity to the Israeli spy cells". The report contended that Mossad agents were spying on Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehi, two leaders of the 9/11 hijack teams.{{cite web |url=http://www.ncix.gov/archives/nacic/news/2001/mar01.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070124104741/http://www.ncix.gov/archives/nacic/news/2001/mar01.html |archive-date=January 24, 2007 |title=Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive: Suspicious Visitors to Federal Facilities (archived at Internet Archive}}{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/03/07/wspy07.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/03/07/ixworld.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040113032106/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2002%2F03%2F07%2Fwspy07.xml&sSheet=%2Fnews%2F2002%2F03%2F07%2Fixworld.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 13, 2004 | title=US arrests 200 young Israelis in spying investigation | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | first=Ben | last=Fenton | date=March 7, 2002 | access-date=April 23, 2010 }}{{cite web |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/05/07/students/index_np.html |title=Salon.com: The Israeli "art student" mystery |access-date=January 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029154742/http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/05/07/students/index_np.html |archive-date=October 29, 2007 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12768362.five-israelis-were-seen-filming-as-jet-liners-ploughed-into-the-twin-towers-on-september-11-2001/| website=The Herald (Glasgow) |title=Five Israelis were seen filming as jet liners ploughed into the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 |date=November 2, 2003}} In 2002 several officials dismissed reports of a spy ring and said the allegations were made by a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was angry that his theories had been dismissed.{{cite news |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20020307/notspies07/us-officials-dismiss-report-of-israeli-spies |title=U.S. officials dismiss report of Israeli spies |last=Mintz |first=John |author2=Dan Eggen |date=March 7, 2002 |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=October 18, 2008}}

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an August 2010 speech that no "Zionists" were killed in the attacks since, according to him, "one day earlier they were told not go to their workplace." He also remarked, "What was the story of September 11? During five to six days, and with the aid of the media, they created and prepared public opinion so that everyone considered an attack on Afghanistan and Iraq".{{cite web|author=Robin Pomeroy |author2=Ramin Mostafavi |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38605348/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820043231/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38605348/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 20, 2010 |title=Iran president: Sept. 11 attacks exaggerated – World news – Mideast/N. Africa – Iran |publisher=MSNBC |date=July 8, 2010 |access-date=2010-08-10}} However, contrary to such conspiracy theories about Jews being warned not to go to work that day, the number of Jews who died in the attacks is variously estimated at between 270 and 400,{{cite web|url=http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2005/Jan/14-260933.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050408072925/http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2005/Jan/14-260933.html |archive-date=April 8, 2005 |title=The 4,000 Jews Rumor: Rumor surrounding Sept. 11th proved untrue. Internet Archive – which appeared in the September 12 internet edition of the "Jerusalem Post". It stated, "The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem has so far received the names of 4,000 Israelis believed to have been in the areas of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon at the time of the attacks." |access-date=October 15, 2010}}A survey of the 1,700 victims whose religion was listed found approximately 10% were Jewish indicating around 270 in total. A survey based on the last names of victims found that around 400 (15½%) were possibly Jewish. A survey of 390 Cantor Fitzgerald employees who had public memorials (out of the 658 who died) found 49 were Jewish (12½%). According to the 2002 American Jewish Year Book, New York State's population was 9% Jewish. Sixty-four percent of the WTC victims lived in New York State.{{cite web|url=http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-13.htm |title=The Resuscitation of Anti-Semitism: An American Perspective: An Interview with Abraham Foxman |publisher=Jcpa.org |access-date=May 30, 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110608060311/http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-13.htm| archive-date=June 8, 2011 | url-status= live}} while several Israelis died in the attack as well.{{cite web|title=Foreign Nationals Add to List of Missing in Terror Attack |url=http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/abc/20010921/wl/wtc_recovery_rescue010921_1.html |work=ABCNEWS |access-date=25 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010921204336/http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/abc/20010921/wl/wtc_recovery_rescue010921_1.html |archive-date=September 21, 2001 }}

On December 5, 2007, French authorities filed preliminary charges against Guillaume Dasquié, a reporter for the daily Le Monde, for publishing state secrets related to the 9/11 hijackings. Dasquié's April 16 article in Le Monde, titled "September 11: the French had long known" reported that the General Directorate of External Security (DGSE), had warned the U.S. of a possible terrorist plot that involved al-Qaeda hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings some eight months before 9/11. The article contained excerpts from a 328-page classified DGSE report on al-Qaeda activities which included maps, analyses, graphics, and satellite photos.[http://www.cpj.org/news/2007/europe/france10dec07na.html French journalist investigated over intelligence leaks] Committee to Protect Journalists December 10, 2007.

Moderate elements of the Taliban are reported to have given the United States advance warning of the attacks.

{{cite news

|author = Kate Clark

|work = BBC News

|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2242594.stm

|date = September 7, 2002

|title = Taleban 'warned US of huge attack'

|access-date = January 16, 2007

|quote = An aide to the former Taleban foreign minister, Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, has revealed that he was sent to warn American diplomats and the United Nations that Osama bin Laden was due to launch a huge attack on American soil.

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070825150144/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2242594.stm

|archive-date = August 25, 2007

|author-link = Kate Clark (journalist)

}} The BBC reports that Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, the Taliban's Foreign Minister, sent the US an advance warning of the attack following a tip-off he received from Tohir Yo'ldosh, the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Like al-Qaeda, the Taliban allowed the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan to place training camps in Afghanistan. Tohir Yo'ldosh was reported to have been concerned, correctly, as it turned out, that if al-Qaeda was not stopped prior to launching the attacks, the US would retaliate against all of Afghanistan, which would have a negative effect on his movement's efforts.

• It is often alleged that San Francisco Mayor, Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. canceled his flight plans for September 11 after receiving a warning late on September 10 from what he described as his airport security.{{cite news |author1=Phillip Matier|author2= Andrew Ross |url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/12/MN229389.DTL |title = Willie Brown got low-key early warning about air travel | work=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date = June 11, 2006 | date=September 12, 2001}} Brown said, "they always alert me when I ought to be careful," and he decided to fly anyway.[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/12/MN229389.DTL Willie Brown got low-key early warning about air travel] at http://www.sfgate.com. In September 2006, Willie Brown responded to these escalating conspiracy rumors by calling them an "ongoing myth."[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/13/BAGG9L4KI81.DTL Angelides aides damned if they do or don't] at http://www.sfgate.com
• Odigo Messenger reported that two of their employees who were working in an Odigo office in Herzliya Pituah in Israel,Washington Post, "Instant Messages to Israel Warned of WTC attack", September 27, 2001{{Cite web |last=Chidi Jr |first=George A. |date=2001-09-27 |title=FBI probes advance IM warnings on attacks |url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2583254/fbi-probes-advance-im-warnings-on-attacks.html |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=Computerworld |language=en}} received a derogatory English electronic instant message, on the day of the attack, non-specifically threatening them that a terrorist attack would happen.Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 29, 2001 They did not mention this to their employer until after they heard reports of a terrorist attack in America on the news, after which they informed the company's management, who traced the IP and contacted the FBI."FBI probing 'threatening' message, firm says", Daniel Sieberg, CNN News, September 28, 2001{{Cite web |date=2002-03-09 |title=CNN.com - FBI probing 'threatening' message, firm says - September 28, 2001 |url=http://64.12.50.249/2001/US/09/28/inv.message.warning/ |access-date=2023-11-21 |archive-date=March 9, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020309034530/http://64.12.50.249/2001/US/09/28/inv.message.warning/ |url-status=bot: unknown }} However, the threatening message did not mention the location of an attack. The notes ended with an anti-Semitic slur.Odigo Clarifies Attack Messages, Newsbytes (The Washington Post), September 28, 2001 Odigo Vice President of Sales and Marketing Alex Diamandis later said that the message did not identify the United States or the World Trade Center as to be involved in the event, and that "it could easily be coincidence."{{cite web |url=http://amenusa.org/prior.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2008-07-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215193716/http://amenusa.org/prior.htm |archive-date=February 15, 2006 |df=mdy-all }}[http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/8471_893851 InternetNews Realtime IT News – Odigo: Instant Messages Warned Of Terrorist Attacks] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516062500/http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/8471_893851 |date=May 16, 2008 }} at http://www.atnewyork.com
• Silverstein Properties, according to the New York Times, had planned to meet on September 11 on the 88th floor of one of the towers to "discuss what to do in the event of a terrorist attack," but canceled the meeting late on September 10 "because one participant could not attend."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/12/business/day-terror-insurers-reinsurance-companies-wait-sort-cost-damages.html |title=Reinsurance Companies Wait to Sort Out Cost of Damage |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 12, 2001 |access-date=2010-01-12 }}
• Susan Lindauer asserts that she and other intelligence colleagues were aware of the attacks in April 2001, and that Richard Carl Fuisz had advised in August 2001 against traveling to New York.{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5R_L_hXlWc&feature=BFa&list=SP17115F4AFE7C1E29&lf=list_related | title = Susan Lindauer Speaks in Seattle | access-date = 2011-09-17 | publisher = YouTube | quote = And I said, "you think it's that soon?" And he said, "oh, it's just in a couple weeks." And I said, "oh, well, I'll go back to New York and I'll talk to the Iraqi diplomats immediately and see if they've got any word from Baghdad. I'll try one more time." And he said, "Susan, don't go back to New York. Do not go back to New York!" And I said "Richard, you think it's going to be that soon?" and he said "yeah, I don't want you going back to New York at all, until this is over." And I said, "well, I'll go up the day after tomorrow," which was August 4th. And he said "after that, never again until it's done."}}
• Parke Godfrey, a professor of computer science at York University in Toronto, Ontario testified in United States v. Susan Lindauer that he had been warned by Lindauer on several occasions of a "massive" attack on southern Manhattan that would involve planes and the possibility of a thermonuclear weapon.{{cite news | first = Michael | last = Collins | title = M. Collins: 911 Prediction Revealed at Lindauer Hearing in NYC | date = June 20, 2008 | publisher = ProgressNow | url = http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/blog/2008/06/Cq4N.html | work = "Scoop" Independent News | access-date = 2011-09-17 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120402132422/http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/blog/2008/06/Cq4N.html | archive-date = April 2, 2012 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}

On September 6, 2001, a freshman from a class of Pakistani immigrants at New Utrecht High School in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, was overheard by his English teacher, Antoinette DiLorenzo, to say that the two World Trade Center towers "won't be standing there next week." After DiLorenzo reported the incident on September 13, the youth and his older brother were questioned by the FBI and local police. According to police, the youth admitted to making the comment but he and his brother said he had been kidding.{{cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/75425/page/1 |title=Between The Lines Online: A Chilling Tale |newspaper=Newsweek |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915234035/http://www.newsweek.com/id/75425/page/1 |archive-date=2008-09-15 |access-date=2024-10-03}}

Kurt Sonnenfeld, a former videographer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) who documented the aftermath of the attacks at the World Trade Center complex, claims that he has videotapes proving that U.S. government officials had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks. Sonnenfeld is currently living in Argentina, where Denver police are seeking his extradition on charges of murdering his wife.{{cite news| url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13811770| author=Kirk Mitchell| title=Fugitive unlikely to return from Argentina to Denver for murder trial| newspaper=Denver Post| date=November 18, 2009}}

• Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge conspiracy theory
• Federal Express Flight 705 – 1994 cockpit attack
• Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 – August 2000 cockpit attack
• Debt of Honor – 1994 Tom Clancy novel where a 747 is crashed into the US Capitol
• Executive Decision – 1996 Kurt Russell movie where a 747 is used as a weapon targeting Washington, DC
• Operation Bojinka – plot by Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, foiled in 1995, to attack multiple airliners and crash a plane into the CIA
• Escape from New York – 1981 John Carpenter movie starring Kurt Russell, where Air Force One is hijacked by terrorists and flown into a skyscraper very close to the World Trade Center.
• The Lone Gunmen – 2001 The X-Files spin-off, where in the pilot episode an airliner departing Boston is hijacked, with plans to crash it into the World Trade Center.

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Category:9/11 conspiracy theories