In the US, former CIA deputy director Morell recounts conversation with Bush on September 11
In the United States, former CIA deputy director Michael Morell recounted a conversation with President George Bush aboard Air Force One on September 11, 2001. According to Morell, who was the president's daily intelligence briefer that day, Bush asked him who was behind the attacks, and he suggested the involvement of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
As ABC News Australia reports, on the morning of September 11, Morell gave Bush an intelligence briefing at the Colony Resort hotel in Florida. He said terrorism was not discussed during that meeting. About 40 minutes later, on the way to Emma E. Booker Elementary School, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer informed Morell about a plane that had crashed into the World Trade Center.
Evacuation of the president
At first, Morell assumed that a small plane might have crashed in New York because of bad weather. However, the CIA operations center told him that it was a large passenger aircraft. After the second plane crashed into one of the towers in New York, he concluded that the United States had come under a terrorist attack.
Due to uncertainty about possible further attacks, the Secret Service decided to take Bush from the school to the airport. The presidential aircraft first headed to a military air base in Louisiana and later to a base in Nebraska. Morell recalled that he did not know whether he would remain aboard, but a military aide relayed the president's decision for him to stay with the team.
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Assessment of those involved
During the flight, Bush summoned Morell to his office and asked who was responsible for the attacks. The analyst said one might initially think of Iran or Iraq, but in his assessment, such actions would not have been in their interests. Instead, he suggested that the investigation would lead to bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
Morell later learned that the CIA had already reached a similar conclusion. According to him, the agency compared the passenger lists of the flights with terrorist databases and found matches connected to al-Qaeda. During the return to Washington, Air Force One was escorted by two F-16 fighters of the District of Columbia National Guard. Morell said they were to shield the presidential aircraft in the event of a surface-to-air missile threat during the landing approach.
Morell called the events of September 11 a national failure of the United States involving intelligence work, policy, congressional oversight, legislation, and public attitudes. He was Bush's intelligence briefer until January 4, 2002, and later became deputy director of the CIA.
