Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs Page #3

SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I WILL

FAITHFULLY EXECUTE THE OFFICE OF

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

THERE'S NO DOUBT THA POLICYMAKERS ACROSS TWO

ADMINISTRATIONS UNDERSTOOD FROM

ME, AND UNDERSTOOD FROM COFER

AND ALL OF OUR ANALYSTS AND

PEOPLE WHO BRIEFED THEM,

UNDERSTOOD THE MAGNITUDE OF THE

THREAT IN FRONT OF THEM.

IN THE SPRING OF 2001, WE

SUBMITTED AUTHORITIES TO THE

INCOMING BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND

ESSENTIALLY ADVOCATING A

PARAMILITARY OPERATION.

AND THE WORD BACK WAS, "WE'RE

NOT QUITE READY TO CONSIDER THIS

WE DON'T WANT THE CLOCK TO STAR TICKING."

WHAT DID THAT MEAN TO YOU?

THAT THE ADMINISTRATION WAS

NOT QUITE READY TO CONSIDER WHA ITS OPTIONS WERE WITH REGARD TO

TERRORISM.

I THINK THEY WERE MENTALLY

STUCK BACK EIGHT YEARS AGO.

WHEN THEY WERE IN POWER, THEY

WERE USED TO TERRORISTS BEING

EURO LEFTIES-- DRINK CHAMPAGNE

BY NIGHT, BLOW THINGS UP DURING

THE DAY-- AND IT WAS A VERY

DIFFICULT SELL TO COMMUNICATE

THE URGENCY TO THIS.

FOR US, THE SYSTEM WAS

BLINKING RED IN THE SENSE THA WE THOUGHT WHAT WE WERE

UNCOVERING WAS A TOP-DOWN PLOT,

SOMETHING BEING ORDERED FROM

AFGHANISTAN OUT.

BUT IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT FOR US

TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT WAS.

Narrator:
THE CRISIS COMES TO

A HEAD ON JULY 10, 2001.

RICHARD BLEE, THE HEAD OF THE

BIN LADEN UNIT, BARGES INTO

COFER BLACK'S OFFICE.

HE COMES AND HE GOES, "OKAY,

ROOF'S FALLEN IN."

I SAID, "GREAT, WHAT'CHA GOT?"

THE INFORMATION THAT WE HAD NOW

COMPILED WAS ABSOLUTELY

COMPELLING.

IT WAS MULTIPLE-SOURCED, AND I WAS... IT WAS SORT OF THE LAS STRAW.

PICKED UP THE PHONE, CALLED THE

SECRETARY, "HAVE TO SEE THE

DIRECTOR, I'M COMING UP WITH

RICH."

SHE SAYS, "WELL, I'M SORRY, HE'S

IN WITH THE HEAD OF SOME FOREIGN

INTELLIGENCE SERVICE."

I SAID, "WE'RE COMING UP.

KICK THE GUY OUT.

WE'RE COMING NOW.

TELL HIM TO GET READY."

GEORGE TENET IS A VERY SMAR GUY.

CHEWING ON HIS CIGAR, GOING BACK

AND FORTH, JUMPING UP AND DOWN.

HIS EYES ARE FLASHING.

WISH I HAD A FILM OF IT.

HE GOT IT, ALL RIGHT.

IT'S NOT JUST RED LIGHTS.

RED LIGHTS AND CHATTER IS A

CONVENIENT WAY THIS IS

PORTRAYED.

THERE WERE REAL PLOTS BEING

MANIFESTED.

THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN SANA'A

IS GOING TO BE BOMBED, BRITISH

AND AMERICAN SCHOOLS IN JEDDAH

ARE GOING TO BE BOMBED.

THE WORLD WAS ON THE EDGE OF

ERUPTION.

[PARENT EXPLOSION]

NOW, WHAT HAPPENS THEN IN THIS

PERIOD OF TIME IN JUNE AND JULY,

THE THREAT CONTINUES TO RISE.

PUBLIC PRONOUNCEMENTS BY PEOPLE

IN AL QAEDA WAS, THERE WOULD BE

EIGHT MAJOR CELEBRATIONS COMING.

THE WORLD WAS GOING TO BE

STUNNED BY WHAT WOULD SOON

HAPPEN.

TERRORISTS WERE DISAPPEARING.

CAMPS WERE CLOSING.

THREAT REPORTING ON THE RISE.

AND THIS STARTED BUILDING TO A

CRESCENDO.

WE DECIDED THE NEXT THING TO

DO WAS PICK UP THE WHITE PHONE,

CALL THE WHITE HOUSE, "WE'RE

COMING DOWN RIGHT NOW."

I SAID, "CONDI, I HAVE TO

COME SEE YOU."

IT WAS ONE OF THE RARE TIMES IN

MY SEVEN YEARS AS DIRECTOR WHERE

I SAID, "I HAVE TO COME SEE YOU.

WE'RE COMING RIGHT NOW."

Narrator:
PRESENT AT THE JULY

10 WHITE HOUSE MEETING ARE

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR

CONDOLEEZZA RICE AND OTHER TOP

OFFICIALS.

SO RICH STARTED BY SAYING,

"THERE WILL BE SIGNIFICAN TERRORIST ATTACKS AGAINST THE

UNITED STATES IN THE COMING

WEEKS OR MONTHS.

THE ATTACKS WILL BE SPECTACULAR.

THEY MAY BE MULTIPLE.

AL QAEDA'S INTENTION IS THE

DESTRUCTION OF THE UNITED

STATES."

AND I SAID, "THIS COUNTRY'S

GOT TO GO A WAR FOOTING NOW."

I SLAMMED MY HAND ON THE TABLE.

AFTER IT WAS OVER, RICH BLEE AND

I SORT OF CONGRATULATED EACH

OTHER IN THE SENSE THAT, "I

THINK WE FINALLY GOT THROUGH TO

THESE PEOPLE.

WE HAVE EXECUTED OUR

RESPONSIBILITIES."

WHAT HAPPENED?

YEAH.

WHAT DID HAPPEN?

YEAH.

WHAT HAPPENED?

ESSENTIALLY, NOTHING

HAPPENED?

YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT.

Narrator:
CONDOLEEZZA RICE

WOULD LATER WRITE THAT HER

MEMORY OF THE MEETING WAS "NO VERY CRISP BECAUSE WE WERE

DISCUSSING THE THREAT EVERY

DAY."

HAVING RAISED THE ALERT LEVELS

FOR U.S. PERSONNEL ABROAD, SHE

ADDED, "I THOUGHT WE WERE DOING

WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE."

IF ON THE 10th OF SEPTEMBER

WE'D BEEN ABLE TO WALK INTO THE

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

AND SAY, "WE THINK U.S.

AIRLINERS ARE GOING TO BE

HIJACKED TOMORROW," JUST THINK

ABOUT IT.

IF WE HAD BEEN ABLE TO GIVE HIM

THAT VERY SPECIFIC PIECE, AS THE

PRESIDENT, HE MAY VERY WELL HAVE

HELD ALL THE AIRLINERS FROM

FLYING, UNTIL WHEN?

WE MIGHT HAVE STOPPED 9/11 FROM

HAPPENING ON 9/11, BUT I THINK

IT WOULD'VE HAPPENED ON THE 10th

OF OCTOBER OR THE 12th OF

NOVEMBER.

IF YOU DON'T PUT A SYSTEM OF

DEFENSE IN PLACE, IF YOU DON' BUTTON UP YOUR AIRPORTS, BUTTON

UP YOUR BUILDINGS, CHANGE YOUR

VISA POLICIES, HAVE SOME

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON

IN THE UNITED STATES, CREATE A

MECHANISM WHERE THERE'S A...

WHERE THERE'S A QUICK SWIVEL

BETWEEN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC,

YOU'RE GOING TO GET HURT.

YOU KNOW WHAT REALLY DOES

PISS ME OFF?

WHEN PEOPLE CALL THIS AN

INTELLIGENCE FAILURE.

WE KNEW THIS WAS COMING,

AMERICAN INTERESTS ARE GOING TO

BE ATTACKED, AND IT COULD VERY

WELL BE IN THE UNITED STATES.

IT'S SERIOUS, IT'S COMING.

SOMETIMES WHEN I DRIVE MY CAR I

THINK ABOUT IT, AND TO ME I REMAINS INCOMPREHENSIBLE STILL.

I MEAN, HOW IS IT THAT YOU COULD

WARN SENIOR PEOPLE SO MANY TIMES

AND NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED?

IT'S KIND OF LIKE THE "TWILIGH ZONE."

YOU ALMOST SOMETIMES FEEL LIKE

YOU WANT TO PINCH YOURSELF.

AT THE END OF JULY, WE WERE

SITTING IN MY CONFERENCE ROOM

JUST THINKING ABOUT ALL OF THIS

AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW

THIS ATTACK MIGHT OCCUR, AND

I'LL NEVER FORGET THIS TILL THE

DAY I DIE.

RICH BLEE LOOKED AT EVERYBODY

AND SAID, "THEY'RE COMING HERE."

AND THE SILENCE THAT FOLLOWED

WAS DEAFENING.

YOU COULD HEAR A PIN DROP.

"THEY'RE COMING HERE."

THE HEAD OF MY SECURITY

DETAIL CAME OVER TO ME TO SAY A

PLANE HAD HIT ONE OF THE TOWERS

OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER.

MY INSTINCTUAL REACTION WAS,

"THIS IS AL QAEDA.

I'VE GOT TO GO."

THERE ARE FIRE CREWS JUS STREAMING INTO THIS AREA FROM

EVERY CONCEIVABLE DIRECTION.

AND WE ALL LOOKED AROUND AND

WE THOUGHT, "OH, MY GOODNESS.

TRAGIC ACCIDENT."

AND PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOU A PRIVATE AIRCRAFT HAD FLOWN

INTO... INTO THE TOWER.

I THOUGHT, "GEEZ, THIS MUS BE THE WORLD'S WORST PILOT."

I JUMPED IN THE CAR.

IT WAS THE WORLD'S LONGES CAR RIDE.

IT TOOK 12 MINUTES, BUT THE

PHONES WEREN'T WORKING.

LOOKING UP AT THE TV, IN REAL

TIME WE SAW THE SECOND PLANE HI THE OTHER TOWER.

WE KNEW, WE ALL KNEW, "WE'RE

UNDER ATTACK."

HOLY SH*T, THE FIRST ONE WE

THOUGHT WAS AN ACCIDENT.

WHEN WE HEARD THERE WAS A SECOND

ONE, WE DEFINITELY THOUGHT I WAS TERRORISM.

AND I HEARD A ROAR, AND I

LOOKED UP AND SAW THE SECOND

PLANE HIT.

PEOPLE WERE CRYING, HOLDING

ON TO EACH OTHER.

STAY CALM.

STAY CALM, STAY CALM.

PLEASE, GOD.

YOU'RE DOING A GOOD JOB.

AND SOMEBODY SAID, "MY GOD,

THEY HIT THE PENTAGON, THEY HI THE PENTAGON."

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET'S

KEEP MOVE... AWAY FROM THE

BUILDING.

LET'S GET AWAY FROM THE

BUILDING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

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