The August 6, 2001 Daily Briefing Memo

Well, it seems today is an important anniversary. Seven years ago today, President Bush was handed a daily briefing memo. Titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.", the memo mentioned the suspected plan to hijack airliners. This is one month after an FBI memo claimed that possible terrorists could be receiving training at an Arizona flight school. Apparently, these two memos were not linked together nor were they shared between the FBI and the CIA. Thirty-six days later, two airliners struck the Twin Towers, one hits the Pentagon, and one more goes down in a Pennsylvania field. Although the hijacking of planes was a serious threat, everybody assumed any attack would be on our interests overseas and nobody considered the possibility that planes would be used as missiles. Except, the government had been warned for that scenario also. In 1999.