: Al Qaeda Page 1 of 2

.,)NTW WIEHDW F08M«

SPONSORED Elf

March 25,2004

Target: Al Qaeda

S ome of the American intelligence community's actions relating to Osama bin Laden during the
five years before Sept. 11, 2001, according to reports released by the commission investigating the
September attacks:

1996

The C.I.A.'s Counterterrorist Center creates a special "issue station" devoted exclusively to Mr. bin
Laden, who is considered to be a terrorist financier.

MAY Mr. bin Laden leaves Sudan for Afghanistan.

1997

By early 1997, the issue station is aware that Mr. bin Laden is not just a financier but an organizer of
terrorist activity.

C.I. A. headquarters authorizes American officials to begin developing a network of agents to gather
intelligence in Afghanistan and prepare a plan to capture Mr. bin Laden.

1998

AUG. 7 Car bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania kill 224 people and wound
thousands.

After the bombings, President Bill Clinton authorizes the C.I.A. to undertake offensive operations in
Afghanistan against Mr. bin Laden.

Operations are planned using local Afghan groups who would ambush Mr. bin Laden if the opportunity
arose. The groups reported that on about six occasions before Sept. 11, they considered attacking Mr.
bin Laden, but had to abort the operations.

AUG. 20 Cruise missile strikes are launched against suspected terrorist sites in Afghanistan and Sudan,
but neither Mr. bin Laden nor other terrorist leaders are killed.

DECEMBER After receiving intelligence that Mr. bin Laden is in Kandahar, Afghanistan, cruise
missile strikes are prepared, but they are not carried out because of concerns about the quality of the
intelligence and possible civilian casualties.

1999

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/politics/25HUNT-TIME.html?pagewanted=print&po... 3/25/2004
 JURT TV ONLINE - TOP NEWS Page 1 of 2

Man says was recruited by bin Laden

for suicide attack on U.S. Embassy in
Paris

PARIS (AP) — A French-Algerian man has provided

authorities with intricate details of a plot to carry out a
suicide mission against the U.S. Embassy in Paris,
saying he was recruited by Osama bin Laden's deputy
and told the time to act had come, officials said
Tuesday.

Djamel Beghal, 35, a French-Algerian, was extradited to

France from the United Arab Emirates on Sunday and
questioned in connection with an alleged terrorist ring.

Beghal outlined the plot for a suicide mission against

the U.S. Embassy in Paris that was to be carried out
before March of next year, according to court officials,
who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said an attack was also planned for an American

cultural center but embassy officials said Tuesday there
is no such center.

The embassy declined to comment on the alleged plot

other than to say in a statement: "This is part of an
ongoing investigation by French authorities, in whom we
have full confidence."

According to the plan, another man — Nizar Trabelsi, a

Tunisian who was arrested Sept. 13 in Belgium — was
to penetrate the embassy, strapped with explosives,
while a minivan was to be detonated outside the
cultural section, Beghal told the court during 11 hours
of questioning Monday.

Beghal told the judge that he had signed a pact in

March with bin Laden's deputy, Abu Zubaydah, in
Afghanistan, where he trained in a camp run by bin
Laden's al-Qaida organization. AI-Qaida deposited
money for the operation in a Moroccan bank account, he
said.

According to French officials, Beghal said the meeting

with Abu Zubaydah took place in bin Laden's home, but
he said he never met bin Laden himself. Abu Zubaydah
told him that he should undertake the operation in order
to be a good Muslim, Beghal told investigators.

Europe-1 radio reported that Beghal said that Abu

Zubaydah "told me that the time to act had come. He
asked me if I was ready, and I said yes."

Beghal's job in the plot was apparently to gather

information and study the embassy's security plans,
French officials said.

http://www.courttv.com/assault_on_america/1002_suicideattack_ap.html 1/27/2004
Mike Hurley
From: Warren Bass
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2004 8:27 PM
To: Team 3
Subject: The Economist: "10,000 new fanatics"

Remember the Economist piece that Berger and a few other Clinton folks said rebuked them
for the 8/20/98 strikes, arguing they'd breed 10,000 more UBLs? Well, it's still a snotty
piece, but it's a bit more nuanced than advertised.

Copyright 1998 The Economist Newspaper Ltd.

All rights reserved
The Economist

August 29, 1998, U.S. Edition

SECTION: Leaders; Pg. 16

LENGTH: 958 words

HEADLINE: Punish and be damned

BODY:

The perils of over-hasty military reaction

HOWEVER frequently it occurs, terrorism does not lose its ability to shock.
Nor should it. It remains one of the most despicable of crimes, both because the
killing and wounding of innocents are central to its purpose, and because its
perpetrators can so easily do their work without having to confront their
enemies, or their victims, before slinking off to safety. The sense of outrage
that attends terrorist attacks should not, however, be assumed to be equivalent
to a sense of powerlessness: public outrage is one of the most potent weapons in
the limited armoury of counter-terrorism. It tips those who sympathise with the
political aims of the terrorist against the man himself. It denies sanctuary.
It buys co-operation. Nothing should be done to undermine its potency. Which is
why at least some of America's counter-terrorist air strikes on August 20th may
turn out to have been unwise.

That is not to say that America should never hit back at terrorists. America
is a special target for people like the bombers who blew up its embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania on August 7th because it does things other countries are not
called upon to do. It does these things in its own interests, but also in the
interests of its allies and indeed of free countries everywhere. It is the
nearest thing that exists to a world policeman, but it must operate without a
world police force, a world judiciary or a proper world system of law.
Sometimes, if any action is to be taken against terrorists, it will have to be
American military action. But even on these occasions America will have to take
care to keep public opinion on its side and not to dissipate the world's sense
of outrage. That means explaining its actions in full, and showing convincing
evidence for all the claims it makes to justify them.

Few fair-minded people can doubt that the targets of the attacks in
Afghanistan were indeed training camps and bases for Islamist fanatics. Many
people will also be ready to believe that Osama bin Laden, the hitherto obscure
Saudi dissident now elevated to the status of the world's most dangerous man, is
connected with the camps, and that he played a part in the two embassy bombings.
That will be enough perhaps to make many people, at least in the West, think the
attacks were right, and deserved. Whether they were judicious is another matter.
Mike Hurley
From: Warren Bass
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 5:08 PM
To: Team 3
Subject: Wag the Dog: SecDef Cohen on Nightline

FYI. The fact that Nightline--the classiest show on broadcast TV--was playing footsie with
"wag the dog" allegations is telling in and of itself. Might be useful for the monograph
on Aug. 20/98. Warren

SHOW: ABC NIGHTLINE (11:35 pm ET)

AUGUST 20, 1998

Transcript # 98082001-j07

TYPE: PACKAGE

SECTION: NEWS

LENGTH: 3760 words

HEADLINE: AMERICA STRIKES BACK

BYLINE: JOHN DONVAN, TED KOPPEL

HIGHLIGHT:
AMERICA ATTACKS SUDAN AND OSAMA BIN LADEN

BODY:

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: August 20, 1998.

TED KOPPEL, ABC News: (voice-over) On a day that the U.S. military hits terrorist targets
in two countries, questions of political timing.

(interviewing) You told me that you would never have participated in anything if you
thought it was being done for political reasons. I want to dot the I on that one. Would
you have resigned?

WILLIAM COHEN, Secretary of Defense: Oh, absolutely.

TED KOPPEL: (voice-over) Tonight, America strikes back, a conversation with the secretary
of defense.

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, this is Nightline. Reporting from Washington, Ted Koppel.

TED KOPPEL: There was a time when insoluble disagreements between tribes were resolved by
hand to hand combat between champions. Not so very long ago in our own history, civilians
might safely gather on hilltops to watch the unfolding of battles between armies. It is
only in our own time, in this century, that civilians have become deliberate targets of
warfare. In recent years, the practice of war has degraded even further. Now civilians
are frequently the only targets. That kind of warfare, which we have labeled terrorism,
targeted a pair of U.S. embassies only two weeks ago and the casualties equaled those of
some battles, nearly 300 dead, more than 4,000 injured.

Today, the U.S. military struck back, hitting targets in Afghanistan and Sudan. The
United States acted alone. It gave neither prior notice nor did it seek prior approval
from any other government. And, under normal circumstances, few Americans would have
1
frontline: hunting bin laden: who is bin laden?: chronology | PBS Page 1 of7

FRONTLINE N L A D E

OSAMA BIN LADEN

A Chronology oj His Political Life

KGME 1957 Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden is born in
INTRODUCTION Riyadh. He is 17th of 52 children sired by Muhammad Bin
WHO IS BIK LADEN? Laden—Saudi Arabia's wealthiest construction magnate.
TRAIL OF EVIDENCE
TWO TERRORISTS 1979 Bin Laden graduates from King Abdul Aziz University in
INTERVIEWS Jiddah with a degree in civil engineering.

December 26, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Bin Laden leaves Saudi

1979 Arabia to join the Afghan resistance (mujahedeen).

1980-86 From the Pakistani border, bin Laden raises funds and
provides the mujahedeen with logistical and humanitarian
aid.

1986-89 According to Islamic sources, bin Laden participates in

numerous battles during the Afghan war against the Soviet;
as a guerilla commander, including the fierce battle of
Jalalabad which led the Soviets to finally withdraw from
Afghanistan.

1988 Bin Laden establishes "al Qaeda," an organization of ex-

mujahedeen and other supporters. Its mission is to channel
fighters and funds to the Afghan resistance.

June 30, 1989 The National Islamic Front (NIF) stages a military coup am
takes control of the Sudan.

1989 After the Soviets pull out of Afghanistan, bin Laden returns
to Saudi Arabia a hero. He becomes involved in opposition
movements to the Saudi monarchy while working for his
family construction firm, the Bin Laden Group.

August 2, 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait.

April, 1991 Laden flees Saudi Arabia, after being confined to Jidda
for his opposition to the Saudi alliance with the United
States. He moves first to Afghanistan and then to Khartoun
Sudan by 1992 (Source: Newsweek 2/1/99). Sudan had
begun to allow any Muslim into the country without a visa,
in a display of Islamic solidarity. Allegedly, hundreds of

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html 1/25/2004
frontline: hunting bin laden: who is bin laden?: al qaeda | PBS Page 1 of2

FRONTLINE

"AL QAEDA"

The US government issued an indictment in November 1998 alleging that

an international terrorist network called "Al Qaeda," an Arabic word mean
government's allegations from this and subsequent indictments concernin
following:

HOME
BACKGROUND: At QAEDA
INTRODUCTION
WHO IS BIH LAOEN?
TRAIL OF EVIDENCE * In approximately 1989, bin Laden and co-defendant Muhammad Atef foum
TWO TERRORISTS international terrorist group ... which was dedicated to opposing non-Islamic
INTERViEWS violence."

* "One of the principal goals of Al Qaeda was to drive the United States arm<
Arabia (and elsewhere on the Saudi Arabian peninsula) and Somalia by viole:

* " Al Qaeda had a command and control structure which included a majlis al
council) which discussed and approved major undertakings, including terroris
and bin Laden sat on this council.

* Al Qaeda had ties to other "terrorist organizations that operated under its ur
Jihad group based in Egypt, the Islamic Group, formerly led by Sheik Omar 1
jihad groups in other countries. "Al Qaeda also forged alliances with the Nati<
and with representatives of the government of Iran, and its associated terroris
purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the A
United States."

COUNT ONE: CONSPIRACY TO Ktu. UNITED STATES NATIONALS ,

* The named defendants, plus other members of Al Qaeda, "conspired, confei

nationals of the United States." In furtherance of this conspiracy,

* Bin Laden and others "provided training camps and guesthouses in various
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Kenya for the use of Al Qaeda and its aff

* Bin Laden and others provided currency and weapons to members of Al Qa

groups in various countries throughout the world.

* Bin Laden established a headquarters for Al Qaeda in Khartoum, Sudan, in

series of businesses, including two investment companies, an agricultural con
business and a transportation company, all of which were, "operated to pro vie

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/alqaeda.html 1/25/2004
' frontline: hunting bin laden: who is bin laden?: edicts and statements | PBS Page 1 of6

FRONTLINE H U N T I N G B I N L A D E

OSAMA BIN LADEN v. THE U.S.; EDICTS AND STATEMENTS

HOWE April 1995 In a never-published interview with a French journalist, Osama

INTRODUCTION bin Laden says that his decision to fight alongside Afghan
WHO IS BIN LADEN? mujahedeen dated from "the time when the Americans decided
TRAIL OF EVIDENCE help the Afghans fight the Russians."
TWO TERRORISTS
INTERVIEWS "To counter these atheist Russians, the Saudis chose
me as their representative in Afghanistan... I did not
fight against the communist threat while forgetting
the peril from the West."

"For us, the idea was not to get involved more than
necessary in the fight against the Russians, which
was the business of the Americans, but rather to
show our solidarity with our Islamist brothers. I
discovered that it was not enough to fight in
Afghanistan, but that we had to fight on all fronts
against communist or Western oppression. The
urgent thing was communism, but the next target was
America... This is an open war up to the end. until
victory."

August 3, Bin Laden issues a communique called "an Open Letter to King
1995 Fahd." He outlines major grievances against the Saudi regime:
lack of commitment to Sunni Islam, inability to conduct viable
defense policy, the squandering of public funds and oil money,
and the dependence on non-Muslims for protection. He calls for
campaign of guerilla attacks to drive U.S. forces out of the Saudi
Kingdom.

July 10,
1996 The British newspaper The Independentquotes bin Laden as
saying:

"The ordinary man knows that [Saudi Arabia] is the

largest oil producer in the world, yet at the same time
he is suffering from taxes and bad services. Now the
people understand the speeches of the ulemas in the

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/edicts.html 1/25/2004
—' Trontline: hunting bin laden: who is bin laden?: greetings, america. my name is osama bin ... Page 1 of 9

FRONTLINE i N L A D E

"GREETINGS, AMERICA, MY NAME is OSAMA BIN LADEN,,/

by John Miller
ABC reporter John Miller recounts his May 1998 hour-long interview with
Osama bin Laden at his camp on a mountaintop in southern Afghanistan.

HOWE ... In the camp, generators were rumbling.

Excerpted from Miller's
(MRODUCTION The smell of gasoline was thick in the air. article published in
WhO IS BIN LADEN? Rick Bennett was agitated because bin Esquire, February 1, 1999
TRAIL OF EVIDENCE Laden's people had taken his camera days and reprinted with
TWO TERRORISTS before, and it didn't look as though he was permission of the author
INTERVIEWS going to get it back. Now they wanted to
give him another camera. A Panasonic
home-video camera. Bennett had not come halfway around the world to shoo
a home video. He wanted his $65,000 television camera back, and he wanted
it back now! Just then, the gunfire erupted. Bin Laden's convoy arrived. Now
the show that was being staged for us was in full tilt, and we had no camera
with which to record it. Bin Laden's cameraman handed Bennett the
Panasonic. Bennett started taping. That's when the kid started shooting in my
ear. Then he ran alongside Bennett and was firing within an inch of his ear,
too, as he walked backward with this crappy camera, taping bin Laden's
arrival.

Into the din of gunfire, he walked quickly, surrounded by seven bodyguards.

Each had an AK-47. Their eyes darted in every direction for any attacker. Thi
was either merely theatrical or entirely pointless, because with hundreds of
rounds being fired into the air, it would have been impossible to pinpoint an
assassin. Take your pick. At bin Laden's side was his military commander,
Muhammad Atef. Behind him, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Islamic
Jihad, an Egyptian group that has merged with bin Laden's growing army. Bii
Laden, with his simple white turban and long black beard, stood six three and
was the tallest man in the group. Despite the chaos of the scene, his eyes wen
calm, fixed, and steady. He walked by me and ducked his head to step into a
rectangular hut that had been set up for our meeting. One of his aides waved
off the gunfire the way an emcee might quell a standing ovation. Everyone
kept shooting. Somewhere, all these bullets were falling back down to the
earth.

Osama bin Laden had made his entrance.

After his security detail crowded in behind him, I followed into the hut. Asid<
from his height, the first thing that struck me about bin Laden was his voice:!
was soft and slightly high, with a raspy quality that gave it the texture and

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/miller.html 1/25/2004
frontline: hunting bin laden: who is bin laden?: interview with osama bin laden (in may 1... Page 1 of 12

N G B I N L A D E N

INTERVIEW OSAMA BIN LADEN

(may 1998)

In the first part of this interview which occurred in May 1998,

a little over two months before the U.S. embassy bombings in
Kenya and Tanzania, Osama bin Laden answers questions
posed to him by some of his followers at his mountaintop
camp in southern Afghanistan. In the latter part of the
interview, ABC reporter John Miller is asking the questions.

HOME
INTRODUCTION
WHO IS BIN LADEN?
TRAIL OF EVIDENCE
TWO TERRORISTS
INTERVIEWS ... What is the meaning of
Read the translation of the
your call for Muslims to take ABC John Miller interview
arms against America in (videotaped) which is
particular, and what is the further down on this page.
message that you wish to Or, read the full interview
send to the West in general? with Bin Laden which
starts with questions
The call to wage war against posed to him by his
America was made because followers. This interview
America has spear-headed the begins right here; it is
then followed by the
crusade against the Islamic
translation of the Miller
nation, sending tens of interview with Bin Laden.
thousands of its troops to the
land of the two Holy Mosques
over and above its meddling in its affairs and its politics, and its
support of the oppressive, corrupt and tyrannical regime that is in
control. These are the reasons behind the singling out of America
as a target. And not exempt of responsibility are those Western
regimes whose presence in the region offers support to the
American troops there. We know at least one reason behind the
symbolic participation of the Western forces and that is to
support the Jewish and Zionist plans for expansion of what is
called the Great Israel. Surely, their presence is not out of
concern over their interests in the region. ... Their presence has
no meaning save one and that is to offer support to the Jews in
Palestine who are in need of their Christian brothers to achieve
full control over the Arab Peninsula which they intend to make
an important part of the so called Greater Israel. ...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html 1/25/2004
Osama bin Laden - ICT Coverage Pagel of 15

Osama bin Ladin and al-Qaida

Articles & Commentary

The Bombing of Synagogues in Istanbul:

An al-Qaida Operation or a Revival of
Turkish Islamist Terrorism?

Al-Jam'iya al-Salafiya al-Mujahida

A new Jihadi group claims attacks on the
ICT News Coverage U.S. Army in Western Iraq

Nov 27, 2003 Saudi Arabia Confronts Bin Laden

Jordanian terrorist
sentenced in Germany Supporters

Al-Qaida on the Internet

Recent al-Qaida Commentary may shed
Nov 26, 2003 Senior al-Qaida activist
Light on Modus Operand!
captured in Yemen

Osama bin Ladin as the New Prophet of

Islam
Nov 20, 2003 Explosions hit British
targets in Istanbul Saudi cleric issues fatwah on the use of
weapons of mass destruction

Nov 15, 2003 Simutaneous car bombs The Iraqi Mujahidin: a foothold for al-Qaida
target synagogues in
Turkey The Continuing AI-Qa!da Threat

Suicide Carbombing Blamed on Ansar al-

Nov 9, 2003 Bombs Explode in Saudi Islam
Housing Compound
Falling into the Al-Qaida Trap—Again
The Media as Terrorism Facilitator
Nov 4, 2003 Saudi forces arrest al-
Qaida suspects after Treason and Espionage in the Name of Jihad
Shootout
Al-Qaida supporters urge Muslims to
sabotage U.S. war efforts
Oct 19, 2003 New Bin Laden tape
pledges more suicide AI-Qaida's Links to Iranian Security Services
attacks

The Political Economy of Middle East

Oct 3, 2003 Radical Islamic Terrorism
organizations announce
merger with al-Qaida

http://www.ict.org.il/articles/bombings.cftn 12/10/2003
The New Yorker Page 1 of 3 3

January 25, 2004 | home

THE NEW YORKER

FACT
PROFILES
THE MAN BEHIND BIN LADEN
by LAWRENCE WRIGHT
How an Egyptian doctor became a master of terror.
Issue of 2002-09-16
Posted 2002-09-09

.Last March, a band of horsemen journeyed through the province of Paktika, in Afghanistan, near
the Pakistan border. Predator drones were circling the skies and American troops were sweeping
through the mountains. The war had begun six months earlier, and by now the fighting had
narrowed down to the ragged eastern edge of the country. Regional warlords had been bought off,
the borders supposedly sealed. For twelve days, American and coalition forces had been bombing
the nearby Shah-e-Kot Valley and systematically destroying the cave complexes in the Al Qaeda
stronghold. And yet the horsemen were riding unhindered toward Pakistan.
They came to the village of a local militia commander named Gula Jan, whose long beard and
black turban might have signalled that he was a Taliban sympathizer. "I saw a heavy, older man,
an Arab, who wore dark glasses and had a white turban," Jan told Ilene Prusher, of the Christian
Science Monitor, four days later. "He was dressed like an Afghan, but he had a beautiful coat, and
he was with two other Arabs who had masks on." The man in the beautiful coat dismounted and
began talking in a polite and humorous manner. He asked Jan and an Afghan companion about
the location of American and Northern Alliance troops. "We are afraid we will encounter them,"
he said. "Show us the right way."
While the men were talking, Jan slipped away to examine a poster that had been dropped into the
area by American airplanes. It showed a photograph of a man in a white turban and glasses. His
face was broad and meaty, with a strong, prominent nose and full lips. His untrimmed beard was
gray at the temples and ran in milky streaks below his chin. On his high forehead, framed by the
swaths of his turban, was a darkened callus formed by many hours of prayerful prostration. His
eyes reflected the sort of decisiveness one might expect in a medical man, but they also showed a
measure of serenity that seemed oddly out of place. Jan was looking at a wanted poster for a man
named Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who had a price of twenty-five million dollars on his head.
Jan returned to the conversation. The man he now believed to be Zawahiri said to him, "May God
bless you and keep you from the enemies of Islam. Try not to tell them where we came from and
where we are going."
There was a telephone number on the wanted poster, but Gula Jan did not have a phone. Zawahiri
and the masked Arabs disappeared into the mountains.
I—THE SPORTING CLUB

In June of 2001, two terrorist organizations, Al Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, formally
merged into one. The name of the new entity—Qaeda al-Jihad—reflects the long and
interdependent history of these two groups. Although Osama bin Laden, the founder of Al Qaeda,
has become the public face of Islamic terrorism, the members of Islamic Jihad and its guiding

http://www.newyorker.com/printable/7fact/020916fa_fact2 1 /25/2004