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In reply to the discussion: Bob Graham speaking out about 9/11 again. Also 2 archived articles Saudi flights after 9/11 [View all]Ace Acme
(1,464 posts)Al-Mihdhar had just returned from spending a year in a known al Qaeda communications hub in Yemen, communications of which were monitored separately by the NSA and the CIA, and which had audio bugs inside as well.
The FBI was informed about their presence, and a debate ensued about whether to initiate a limited intel investigation or a full-scale criminal one. The intel investigation was launched--one rookie FBI guy in NYC, Robert Fuller, on 8/28/01. But within a few days Fuller was on their trail. He wanted to do a credit card check. His superior, Dina Corsi, discouraged him from doing that.
Bob Woodward claims If the FBI had done a simple credit card check on the two 9/11 hijackers who had been identified in the United States before 9/11, Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar, they would have found that the two men had bought 10 tickets for early morning flights for groups of other Middle Eastern men for September 11, 2001. That was knowledge that might conceivably have stopped the attacks. (see State of Denial, p. 79-80)