The 9/11 Commission Report: The Attack from Planning to Aftermath

by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, Philip D. Zelikow (Afterword)

Overview

“A document of historic sweep and almost unprecedented detail.”—Washington Post

Published for the tenth anniversary of 9/11, this new edition of the authorized report is limited to the Commission’s riveting account—which was a finalist for the National Book Award—of the attack and its background, examining both the attackers and the U.S. government, the emergency response, and the immediate aftermath. It includes new material from Philip Zelikow, the Commission’s executive director, on the Commission’s work, the fate of its recommendations, and the way this struggle has evolved right up to the present day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393340136
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	08/08/2011
Edition description:	Authorized Text, Shorter Edition
Pages:	656
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	15 Years

About the Author

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was an independent, bipartisan panel chaired by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton.

Philip D. Zelikow was executive director of the 9/11 Commission. He is the White Burkett Miller Professor of History at the University of Virginia.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables vii

Member List ix

Staff List xi

1 "We have some Planes" 1

1.1 Inside the Four Flights 1

1.2 Improvising a Homeland Defense 20

1.3 National Crisis Management 47

2 The Foundation of the New Terrorism 64

2.1 A Declaration of War 64

2.2 Bin Ladin's Appeal in the Islamic World 66

2.3 The Rise of Bin Ladin and al Qaeda (1988-1992) 75

2.4 Building an Organization, Declaring War on the United States (1992-1996) 80

2.5 Al Qaeda's Renewal in Afghanistan (1996-1998) 86

3 Counterterrorism Evolves 97

3.1 From the Old Terrorism to the New: The First World Trade Center Bombing 97

3.2 Adaptation-and Nonadaptation-... in the Law Enforcement Community 100

3.3 ... and in the Federal Aviation Administration 113

3.4 ... and in the Intelligence Community 118

3.5 ... and in the State Department and the Defense Department 129

3.6 ... and in the White House 136

3.7 ... and in the Congress 141

4 Responses to Al Qaeda's Initial Assaults 149

4.1 Before the Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania 149

4.2 Crisis: August 1998 160

4.3 Diplomacy 168

4.4 Covert Action 175

4.5 Searching for Fresh Options 186

5 Al Qaeda Aims at the American Homeland 200

5.1 Terrorist Entrepreneurs 200

5.2 The "Planes Operation" 211

5.3 The Hamburg Contingent 221

5.4 A Money Trail? 234

6 From Threat to Threat 240

6.1 The Millennium Crisis 241

6.2 Post-Crisis Reflection: Agenda for 2000 251

6.3 The Attack on the USS Cole 263

6.4 Change and Continuity 273

6.5 The New Administration's Approach 281

7 The Attack Looms 298

7.1 First Arrivals in California 298

7.2 The 9/11 Pilots in the United States 310

7.3 Assembling the Teams 320

7.4 Final Strategies and Tactics 334

8 "The System was Blinking Red" 352

8.1 The Summer of Threat 352

8.2 Late Leads-Mihdhar, Moussaoui, and KSM 368

9 Heroism and Horror 386

9.1 Preparedness as of September 11 386

9.2 September 11, 2001 395

9.3 Emergency Response at the Pentagon 433

9.4 Analysis 437

10 Wartime 449

10.1 Immediate Responses at Home 451

10.2 Planning for War 454

10.3 "Phase Two" and the Question of Iraq 461

11 Foresight-and Hindsight 468

11.1 Imagination 469

11.2 Policy 480

11.3 Capabilities 484

11.4 Management 487

Afterword: The Twilight War Philip Zelikow 499

Appendix A Common Abbreviations 549

Appendix B Table of Names 551

Notes 563

Index 607

Editorial Reviews

"The King James Bible (1611) [was] our language’s lone masterpiece produced by committee, at least until this year’s 9/11 Commission Report."

The New Yorker - John Updike

"The findings [are] presented in a dramatic, often gripping style."

The New York Times

"Meticulous in its reconstruction and unflinching in its conclusions."

Time

"The most riveting book ever to have been published by the United States government."

The New Republic

"Meticulous in its reconstruction and unflinching in its conclusions."

Time