Warnings Of 9/11 Threats Mounted For Decades Before Attacks

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks did not come as a complete surprise to U.S. authorities, as the United States had been warned for decades about the possibility of terrorists using aircraft for attacks.

The National Interest makes this point in an article marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks. The publication notes that U.S. authorities had been dealing with the threat of aviation terrorism since the late 1960s. In 1974, General Benjamin Davis, who was responsible for civil aviation security, warned of the risk of a mass-casualty aviation disaster.

In the following years, U.S. intelligence agencies repeatedly received information about terrorist plans to use aircraft as weapons. After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the discovery of the "Bojinka" plot and other incidents, the threat became increasingly apparent.

In July 2001, FBI agent Kenneth Williams warned about the possibility of Osama bin Laden supporters being sent to U.S. flight schools. On August 6, President George W. Bush received an intelligence briefing titled“Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US.”

According to The National Interest, a key problem was the insufficient sharing of intelligence between government agencies. On September 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda militants hijacked four passenger aircraft. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.

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