FBI Agent John O’Neill Warned of Al Qaeda Threat Long Before He Was Killed on 9/11

I don’t watch PBS because of its blatant leftwing format, but once in a blue moon it actually produces something worth watching.

The program Frontline ran a documentary on John O’Neill, an FBI agent who was with the bureau from 1976-2001.

Synopsis: The former head of the FBI’s flagship antiterrorism unit in New York City, O’Neill led the fight to track down and prosecute Al Qaeda operatives throughout the world. But his flamboyant, James Bond-style and obsession with bin Laden made him a controversial figure inside the buttoned-down world of the FBI. Just two weeks before Sept. 11, O’Neill left the bureau for a job in the private sector — as head of security at the World Trade Center. He died there after rushing back into the burning towers to aid in the rescue efforts.

Complete video, HERE.

Transcript, HERE.

If you’re not angry over the complete incompetence and stupidity of the FBI hierarchy, you will be after you’re through watching the film. The abject idiocy and dismissive attitudes of a leadership which should be focused on the threats to national security are incredible to fathom.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. The State Department, the FBI, and all the three-letter acronym intelligence agencies who didn’t connect the dots or worse, dismissed information outright because they don’t want to “offend” muslims.

Bill Clinton can also pat himself on the back. That son of a bitch had multiple opportunities to get Bin Laden and failed. Sudan even captured him and offered him up on a goddamned silver platter. Clinton turned it down.

In 1993, the FBI had information on Bin Laden’s plans to attack America.

In 1998, an FBI agent in Oklahoma wrote a memo describing reports of “large numbers of Middle Eastern males receiving flight training at Oklahoma airports” which “may be related to planned terrorist activity”.

In 2001, Kenneth Williams, an FBI agent in Phoenix,  wrote a memorandum two months before the 9/11 attacks, warning of the possibility of Osama bin Laden’s followers hijacking aircraft within the United States and using the planes in a terrorist attack.

More:

FBI Special Agent Harry Samit testified in detail at the death penalty phase of the Zaccarias Moussaoui trial. The counterterrorism agent recounted how he worked desperately to stop terrorist Moussaoui–believed to have been the designated 20th hijacker for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
……Samit, a pilot, was sure Moussaoui was involved in a terrorism hijacking plan, but had to resort to a cockamamie scheme to transfer Moussaoui to France in order to search the terrorist’s belongings. Thank Robert Mueller and company for that. Orders from the very top stopped Agent Samit cold.
……Samit said that officials at the FBI headquarters in Washington rejected a series of attempts to obtain a warrant to search Moussaoui’s personal belongings.
Had the belongings been opened before Sept. 11, agents would have found numerous small knives, jumbo-jet pilot manuals, rosters of flight schools and other clues that might have helped them understand the Sept. 11 plot.

 

Their warnings were never followed up on.

The 19 hijackers applied for and received tourist/student visas. (Thank you, State Department)  Muzzie hijackers Atta, Shehhi, and Jarrah violated the terms of their status and/or overstayed their periods of admission, but SNAFUs and inspectors’ inattention to detail, let them slip through the cracks.

None of that information was passed on to the CIA or Bush, for that matter, thanks to Jamie Gorlick, former Clinton Deputy Attorney General. In 1995, Gorlick wrote a memo directing that counterintelligence efforts be kept separate from criminal intelligence. This action created a wall that prohibited collaboration between agencies like the FBI and the CIA, and  impeded the investigation into Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called “20th hijacker”, (pre-9/11) which could have led to the arrest of the other 19.

America’s intelligence agencies need a fucking overhaul.  During my Army career, I worked in tactical boots-on-the-ground battlefield intelligence, strategic intelligence, and counter-terrorism.  My last assignment before I retired was at the counter terrorism section at the DIA.

My experience there was mixed. The military structure of doing business is foreign to them and intimidating.  Though a few of them are veterans, most are not. They were hired as “whiz kids” out of college, and have never seen the “boots on the ground” results of their efforts.  The bureaucratic politically correct environment was stifling.  Me, being the hard-charging Soldier and not one to mince words, didn’t fit in very well.  For instance, pointing out the fact that Islamic-inspired terrorism should be our number one concern when considering domestic threats, was not well received.  They simply were not comfortable with saying the words ‘Islamic’, ‘muslim’, and ‘terrorism’ in the same breath. They cannot divest themselves from the fantasy that we are fighting an enemy that somehow plays by the Marquis of Queensbury Rules.

No wonder smart, dedicated, committed, people like John O’Neill were ousted for having the audacity to go against the status quo.

There are reasons for the increased attacks against the West, not the least of which is unbelievable complacency. Mark my words, there will be another attack on America that will make 9/11 look like a fucking picnic.

 

Related posts:

https://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/muzzie-extremist-appointed-as-dhs-adviser/