1. “Wherever you are, death will find you, even in the looming tower.”

    QUR'AN SURA 4:78

  2. This is an interactive branded content campaign for “The Looming Tower,” a Hulu Original Series. It was created in partnership with CNN's branded content studio, Courageous. No Editorial Staff was involved in the production of this work.

  3. Nineteen Al‑Qaeda terrorists hijack four commercial airplanes. It is the deadliest terror attack in modern history.

  4. What Went Wrong?

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A Hulu Original: The Looming Tower

Osama Bin Laden Declares War

In an interview with CNN, Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi national once supported by the CIA, publicizes his call for jihad against the United States. He operates inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan with his terrorist group, Al‑Qaeda.

  • “We declared a jihad, a holy war”
  • “against the United States government”

The Hunt For Osama Bin Laden Begins

The CIA and FBI create competing departments. A legal “wall” between the agencies prevents the open sharing of information. Both teams struggle for adequate attention and resources.

Central Intelligence Agency

The CIA creates the “Alec Station” team in their Washington headquarters

Their major focus is foreign intelligence and disruption of Al‑Qaeda threats abroad.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The FBI creates the “I‑49” division in their New York office.

Their major focus is domestic investigation and criminal prosecution of Al‑Qaeda operatives.

Meanwhile, the Monica Lewinsky scandal rages on with the media and Washington distracted by President Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct.

Al‑Qaeda Bombs U.S. Embassies in Kenya & Tanzania

The United States Retaliates

President Clinton orders missile strikes on suspected Al‑Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and a chemical plant in Sudan.

  • “Our target was terror. Our mission was clear.”
  • “To strike at the network of radical groups affiliated with and funded by”
  • “Osama Bin Laden.”

Tomahawk Cruise Missile

Weight: 1,000 lbs

Speed: 550 mph

Range: 1,550 miles

Cost: $2,981,000

Tomahawk missile Tomahawk missile Tomahawk missile Tomahawk missile Tomahawk missile

An estimated $750 million is spent on the strikes.

No senior Al‑Qaeda leadership is killed in Afghanistan and the chemical plant in Sudan is a pharmaceutical factory for the local population.

Al‑Qaeda Grows Stronger After The Attacks

Foreign recruits, including several future 9/11 hijackers, begin to flood into newly rebuilt training camps in Afghanistan.

Central Intelligence Agency

The CIA draws up new plans to kill or capture Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. The Clinton Administration declines to execute the missions.

“We are providing the military with the locations of the residences Bin Ladin is shuffling among.”

“A simultaneous cruise missile attack on each would increase the likelihood of catching Bin Ladin at one of them.”

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The FBI places Osama Bin Laden on their Most Wanted List. A reward for $5 million is offered for information leading to his arrest.

Al‑Qaeda Meets For “The Summit”

Al‑Qaeda finalizes plans for their next attacks at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Two future 9/11 hijackers attend the summit.

Central Intelligence Agency

CIA identifies Al‑Qaeda operatives at the summit and discovers that two members have US visas and plan to travel to Los Angeles. The CIA does not share this information with the FBI.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Desperate for information connected to Al‑Qaeda plans for “terrorist violence,” the FBI's I‑49 team asks bureau offices across the country for any new intel on possible Al‑Qaeda plans.

Declassified Secret FBI Memo Page 1
Declassified Secret FBI Memo Page 43
Declassified Secret FBI Memo Page 44
Declassified Secret FBI Memo Page 45
Declassified Secret FBI Memo Page 46

“FBIHQ is currently not in receipt of any specific information to indicate that a UBL/Al‑Qaeda terrorist attack is imminent.”

9/11 Hijackers Arrive In The United States

ENTRY OF 9/11 HIJACKERS INTO THE UNITED STATES

George W. Bush Becomes President

Former Clinton officials warn the incoming Bush administration to focus on the rising threat from Al‑Qaeda.

NSC memo page 3
NSC memo page 2
NSC memo page 1

“We urgently need such a Principals level review on the al Qida network. […]”

al Qida is not some narrow, little terrorist issue […]”

al Qida is the active, organized, major force that is using a distorted version of Islam […]”

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Agents in Phoenix send an alert to FBI headquarters that Al‑Qaeda operatives may be training at US flight schools for an upcoming terrorist attack. The memo lacks intel about who the operatives are.

Declassified Secret FBI Memo
Declassified Secret FBI Memo
Declassified Secret FBI Memo
Declassified Secret FBI Memo
Declassified Secret FBI Memo Page 1

“Details: [S] The purpose of this communication is to advise the Bureau and New York of the possibility of a coordinated effort by USAMA BIN LADEN (UBL) to send students to the United States to attend civil aviation universities and colleges.”

Central Intelligence Agency

The CIA warns President Bush that Osama Bin Laden is determined to strike the US. The intelligence, however, lacks actionable evidence of what is going to happen.

“Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US”

September 11, 2001

U.S. Launches the “War on Terror”

President George W. Bush declares war against Al‑Qaeda and their sponsors around the world. The “gloves are off” as the CIA and FBI begin an era of global conflict.

  • “I have a message for our military:”
  • “Be ready.”
  • “Our war on terror begins with Al‑Qaeda, but it does not end there.”
  • “Americans should not expect one battle,”
  • “but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen.”

First Target:
Al‑Qaeda Fighters in Afghanistan

“Operation Enduring Freedom” begins with a bombing campaign against Al‑Qaeda and the Taliban, their Afghan sponsors. CIA operators and Special Forces sweep across the country alongside international and Afghan allies.

INITIAL PHASE OF OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM

CIA + Special Forces invade from the north
US + Allied bombing campaign
US Special Forces with Afghan militia conquer the south
Al‑Qaeda + Taliban retreat towards Pakistan

The Taliban is quickly forced from power. Osama Bin Laden and his fighters retreat to Tora Bora, a system of caves on the border with Pakistan constructed during the war with the Soviet Union during the 1980s.

  1. Battle of Tora Bora

    The CIA and US military, alongside Afghan militia, quickly close in on Osama Bin Laden's position.

  2. The Bush administration does not want to “repeat the mistakes of the Soviets,” who lost a nine-year war in Afghanistan using several hundred thousand troops. Instead, only a small number of US ground forces are made available for the battle.

  3. Without enough troops blocking Osama Bin Laden's retreat, the US Forces lose track of him. He likely slips into Pakistan through one of several mountain passes along the border.

CIA Detains Hundreds of Suspected Al‑Qaeda Operatives

Desperate to catch Bin Laden and prevent the next attack, the CIA begins using previously forbidden interrogation techniques, including torture, on captured detainees.

ENHANCED INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES
Walling
“the interrogator pulls the individual forward and then quickly and firmly pushes the individual into the wall…”
Facial Holds
“used to hold the head immobile. One open palm is placed on either side of the individual's face”
Insult Slapping
“the hand makes contact with the area directly between the tip of the individual's chin and the bottom of the corresponding earlobe”
Cramped Confinement
“the confined space is usually dark. The duration of the confinement varies based upon the size of the container…”
Aggressive Music
“Loud rock music was played…to enhance [detainee's] ‘sense of hopelessness’”
Use of Insects
“placing a harmless insect in the box with the detainee”
Nudity
“detainees were shackled naked in the standing position with their hands above their head…”
Stress Positions
“designed to produce the physical discomfort associated with muscle fatigue…”
Sleep Deprivation
“[the purpose] is to reduce the individual's ability to think…keeping detainees awake for up to 180 hours”
Rectal Rehydration
“at least five CIA detainees were subjected to ‘rectal rehydration’…illustrative of the interrogator's ‘total control over the detainee’…”
Waterboarding
“this procedure triggers an automatic physiological sensation of drowning that the individual cannot control…”
Khalid Sheikh Muhammad
0
Number of times the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is waterboarded.

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The FBI withdraws from participating in the enhanced interrogations. The bureau cites both moral concerns and the likelihood that the information gained will be inaccurate.

Declassified Secret FBI Memo
Declassified Secret FBI Memo
Declassified Secret FBI Memo
Declassified Secret FBI Memo

“FBI Director Mueller decided that FBI agents would not participate in interrogations involving techniques the FBI did not normally use in the United States[.]”

The U.S. and Allies Invade Iraq

Operating partially on intelligence gathered through the CIA's torture program, the United States and allied Coalition forces declare war on Iraq.

The justification for the war focuses on the CIA's “slam dunk” evidence for Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction program and its connection to Al‑Qaeda. Both are later found to be false.

  • “My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and Coalition forces”
  • “are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq”
  • “and to defend the world from grave danger.”
  • “In the battle of Iraq, the United States and her allies have prevailed.”
  • “Another day of attacks on US forces in Iraq…”
  • “The US is blaming these attacks on an influx of insurgents.”
  • “An Iraqi militant group with ties to Al‑Qaeda claims it has established”
  • “an Islamic State in the country.”

Congress Investigates Failures

In Washington, a bipartisan commission investigates the failures that led to the 9/11 attacks. The “9/11 Commission” reviews more than two million documents and interviews over 1,000 people.

This is the first public reckoning for the CIA, FBI, and members of the Clinton and Bush administrations who failed to share information that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks.

  • “Your government failed you.”
  • “Those entrusted with protecting you, failed you.”
  • “and I failed you.”
  • “We tried hard,”
  • “but that doesn’t matter because we failed.”
  • “And for that failure, I would ask, once all the facts are out”
  • “for your understanding, and for your forgiveness.”

The 9/11 Commission Report calls on the FBI and CIA to openly share information. This begins a new era of collaboration as the “wall” that once separated the agencies is torn down.

“A ‘smart’ government would integrate all sources of information to see the enemy as a whole.”

Al‑Qaeda Attacks Spread Around the World

With American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Al‑Qaeda expands its attacks across the globe.

Casualties from Al‑Qaeda
linked attacks
Dead
0
Injured
0

Navy SEALs Kill Osama Bin Laden

Bin Laden is found living in a private residence near Pakistan's national military school. He is killed during an overnight raid led by Navy SEALs.

  • “A small team of Americans carried out the operation”
  • “with extraordinary courage and capability.”
  • “After a firefight they killed Osama Bin Laden”
  • “and took custody of his body.”

Osama Bin Laden

Leader of Al‑Qaeda

Who Takes Over?

Al‑Qaeda

ISIS

Ayman al-Zawahiri

Leader of Al‑Qaeda

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Leader of ISIS

The Islamic State Declares A Caliphate

Born in the chaos of post-invasion Iraq, the Islamic State (ISIS) overtakes Al‑Qaeda with a terror campaign that spreads around the world.

Casualties from Isis linked attacks
Dead
0
Injured
0

The War in Afghanistan Continues

The Taliban has regained control of large parts of Afghanistan while the Islamic State has begun to launch a wave of terror attacks.

Newly elected President Donald Trump sends additional troops to Afghanistan, continuing the war into its sixteenth year.

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