The Insider: Daily Terrorism Report
Apr. 13, 2004 -- — A more communicative relationship between the FBI and CIA might have uncovered the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist plot, the commission investigating the attacks said Tuesday, listing a series of missed opportunities and systemic failures leading up to the attacks, news wires reported today. Today's report, the ninth in a series of staff statements by the 9-11 Commission, was devoted to law enforcement, counterterrorism and intelligence collection in the United States before the Sept. 11 attacks. Former FBI, Justice Department and counterterrorism chiefs, including former Attorney General Janet Reno, former FBI director Louis Freeh and Attorney General John Ashcroft testified in front of the 10-member panel on Tuesday. Tomorrow, CIA director George Tenet will be the first witness to testify in front of the panel.
THE WAR ON TERROR
INVESTIGATIONS
9/11 Commission
'Deficient' FBI Unable to Prevent Terror Attacks
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation was ill-equipped to prevent terrorist attacks prior to September 11, hobbled by both legal and resource constraints and by its own failures to carry out overdue reforms, the commission investigating the attacks reported on Tuesday.
(Financial Times)
Ashcroft Said to Limit Counterterror FundsU.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft denied extra funding to counter terrorism in 2001, the commission on the Sept. 11 attacks heard on Tuesday, as the panel leveled stinging criticism at the Justice Department and the FBI for failing to meet the growing threat from al Qaeda. (Reuters)
Ashcroft's Pre-9/11 Priorities Scrutinized
Attorney General John D. Ashcroft will face sharp questioning Tuesday from the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks about whether terrorism received low priority on his agenda in 2001. (Washington Post)
Commission Seeks Author of Brief Interview with CIA analyst requested. (Washington Post)
Staff Statements from 9-11 Commission hearings (9-11 Commission)
Saudi ArabiaFour Saudi policemen killed north of Riyadh
Officer, three policemen killed by armed men at Um Sedrah checkpoint between Riyadh and Qassim district. (Middle East Online)
U.S. Embassy Urges Vigilance After Riyadh ClashesThe U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia urged American citizens Tuesday to be on alert, a day after a policeman and a suspected militant were killed in a fierce clash in Riyadh. (Reuters)
Militant, Security Officer Killed in Riyadh Clash
A security officer was killed and a militant gunned down during a clash in an eastern neighborhood of Riyadh yesterday evening, an Interior Ministry official said. (Arab News)
Spain
Report: Madrid Terrorists Planned to Attack Jewish Targets
Suspected Islamist terrorists who bombed four suburban trains in the Madrid region on March 11 also planned to attack a Jewish assembly house and cemetery, the Spanish daily El Mundo reported Tuesday. (Ha'aretz)
PakistanTribes Accused Of Aiding Al QaedaA Pakistani army cordon tightening around their mud-brick compounds, leaders of a tribe along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border say they are desperate to avoid bloodshed as a deadline to turn over al Qaeda suspects rapidly draws near. (AP)
Jirga Meets Wanted Tribesmen
The all-tribes jirga has met local supporters of al Qaeda in South Waziristan Agency to ask them to surrender to the government, a tribal elder told Daily Times on Monday. (Daily Times — Pakistan)
LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
U.K.
Caution Urged Over New Anti-Terror Law HUMAN-RIGHTS campaigners have urged caution over plans to make it a crime to "associate" with terror suspects. (The Scotsman)
THE WAR IN IRAQ
Iraqi Cleric Withdraws Militias from Najaf
Iraqi cleric withdraws militiamen from Najaf but U.S. mission remains to 'kill or capture' him. (AP)
U.S. Copter Crashes, Burns Near Fallujah
U.S. copter crashes, burns outside Fallujah; one soldiers killed as troops converge on Najaf. (AP)
U.S. Troops Seize Sadr Aide A key aide of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was detained by U.S. troops in Baghdad today, in a sign that the coalition was closing in on the leaders of the Shia insurgency despite warnings of further violence. (The Guardian)
FBI Probes About 40 Abductions in Iraq About 40 foreign hostages from 12 countries are being held by Iraqi insurgents, and the FBI is investigating the abductions, a coalition spokesman said Tuesday. (AP)
Four Italians Held Hostage in Iraq: Al JazeeraThe "Iraqi resistance" has kidnapped four Italians in Iraq and is demanding a withdrawal of Italian forces from the country, Al Jazeera television reported, showing a video of four hostages. (AFP)
8 Workers of Russian Company Freed in Iraq
Eight employees of a Russian energy company seized by masked gunmen who broke into their house in Baghdad were released unharmed Tuesday after less than a day in captivity, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. (AP)
Leading Shiites and Rebel Meet On Iraq Standoff A delegation of Shiite clerics began negotiations to resolve the standoff between the U.S. military and Moktada al-Sadr. (NY Times)
Halliburton Suspends Some Iraq Supply ConvoysAfter recent attacks, the firm says it will wait until security is increased, raising the risk that troops could lack food and water. (LA Times)
ANALYSIS & OPINION
The August Memo
The release this weekend of the much-discussed Aug. 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief on al Qaeda was both welcome and anticlimactic. (Washington Post)
Kidnapping and Chaos
Hostage-taking: newest tactic in Iraq. (ABCNEWS)
Fundamental Errors of Inflexible Army
America's military tactics in Iraq come with their own carefully constructed vocabulary. It is a sanitized language that talks of textbook style operations against a precisely defined enemy. (The Guardian)
How Could They Be So Ungrateful?
Why are the Iraqi people being so obstructionist? What can they be thinking of ruining the plot like that? A year after they gained their freedom from that romance-story-reading cross between Attila the Hun, Hitler and Genghis Khan — famous for his mass graves and rape rooms, those Bush will never let us forget — they should be throwing a grand countrywide party. (Arab News)
Did the U.S. Miscalculate in Iraq?
Iraqi officials, British commanders say U.S. has mishandled the situation in Iraq. (CS Monitor)
Seek Help in Iraq — Now
When President Bush holds his first formal press conference of the year this evening, he must come with a plan in hand. (LA Times)
Chaos and Illusions …
It is better to replace "Governor" Paul Bremer now, before June 30, if Washington still respects this date of transferring authority to the Iraqis. (Al Hayat)
Blind in Baghdad
Here are the reasons Iraq is not Vietnam. (Washington Post)
There is No Alternative to Tony Blair's Policy On Iraq It is vital that the outcome should be freedom, not fundamentalism. (The Guardian)
The Insider Daily Terrorism Report (DTR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to international terrorism and the war in Iraq. The DTR is edited from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham, Hoda Osman, and Brinda Adhikari of the ABCNEWS Investigative Unit. The outside views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.