June 16, 2017
The Cyclical Politics of Counterterrorism
Why didn’t the United States invade Afghanistan and destroy Al Qaeda before September 11, 2001?
This isn’t as farfetched as it might sound. In 2001, President Bush issued a presidential directive instructing the Department of Defense to “‘develop contingency plans’ to attack both al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Afghanistan.” After the 1998 East Africa embassy bombings, CIA Director George Tenet told employees that the Agency was “at war” with Al Qaeda. And the intelligence community well understood Al Qaeda’s grave threat to the homeland: the August 6, 2001, President’s Daily Brief included an item entitled “Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US,” the 36th PDB item briefed that year on Al Qaeda.
Read the full piece on Lawfare.
More from CNAS
-
US, Iran open indirect discussions to revive nuclear deal
Video
Ilan Goldenberg joins France 24 to discuss possible revival of talks between U.S. and Iran and whether they can find common ground on the nuclear deal. Watch the full video f...
By Ilan Goldenberg
-
Missiles, Mines, and the Future of U.S.-Iranian Diplomacy
Podcast
Elisa Ewers joins The Warcast to discuss ongoing developments to an explosion that struck an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman. Listen to the full interview from War on ...
By Elisa Catalano Ewers
-
Sharper: National Security's Next Generation
Commentary
The need to amplify new and diverse voices in national security policymaking has never been clearer....
By Chris Estep, Ainikki Riikonen & Cole Stevens
-
Will Biden Stop Trump’s Afghan Retreat?
Commentary
The Biden team inherits a ticking time bomb it must quickly disarm....
By Vance Serchuk
