(Between February 24-August 16,
2001): Moussaoui Writes Blackwater Phone Number in Notebook
A page of Zacarias Moussaoui’s notebook
with a phone number for the security contractor Blackwater. [Source: US District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division]Zacarias
Moussaoui writes the phone number for the private security contractor
Blackwater in his notebook. [US District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, Alexandria District, 7/31/2006 
] It is
unclear why he writes the phone number down or whether he has any actual
contact with Blackwater, but terrorism analyst J. M. Berger will later comment:
“The discovery may best be taken with the proverbial grain of salt, and a large
one at that. The phone number is publicly available and connects to a Blackwater
training center in North Carolina. Moussaoui
was researching physical and combat training options while he was in the United
States. The simplest and most innocent
explanation is quite possibly the correct one. Nevertheless, a glimpse of the
controversial company’s contact information nestled among Moussaoui’s
handwritten notes inspires the jaw to drop in a not-entirely unreasonable
manner.” [Intelwire(.com), 8/1/2006]
Entity Tags: Blackwater USA, Zacarias Moussaoui, John M. Berger
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline
Category Tags: Zacarias Moussaoui
February 26, 2001: Paul Bremer:
Bush Administration Paying No Attention to Terrorism
Paul Bremer, who will be appointed the US
administrator of Iraq in 2003,
says in a speech that the Bush administration is “paying no attention” to
terrorism. “What they will do is stagger along until there’s a major incident
and then suddenly say, ‘Oh my God, shouldn’t we be organized to deal with
this.’” Bremer speaks shortly after chairing the National Commission on
Terrorism, a bipartisan body formed during the Clinton
administration. [Associated Press, 4/29/2004]
Entity Tags: Paul Bremer, Bush administration, National Commission on Terrorism, Clinton administration
Category Tags: Counterterrorism Before 9/11