Sept. 11 Commission Report to Outline 10 Missed Chances to Possibly Prevent Attacks

The U.S. commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is expected to outline in a report to be released tomorrow 10 missed opportunities by both the Bush and Clinton administrations to detect and possibly prevent the attacks, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, July 20).

Of the 10 “operational opportunities” described in the report, six occurred during the Bush administration and four occurred during the Clinton administration, according to a U.S. official. The missed chances include the CIA’s failure to place the names of two of the hijackers on a terrorist watch list barring them from entering the United States and several unsuccessful efforts to kill or capture terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, according to a second U.S. official.

The report also says, though, that many of missed opportunities had a low chance of success to prevent the attacks, according to sources.

“There clearly were many opportunities out there that were not taken advantage of,” said one commission member. “From that, some will conclude it could have been prevented, others will say it might have been prevented and the rest will say it’s impossible to tell. … We said we couldn’t get an answer to this,” the commissioner said (Eggen/Allen, Washington Post, July 21).

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