Foreword
  Preface
    
PART ONE

Introduction: The Making of The 9/11 Commission Report
The Politics of the 9/11 Era
The Creation of the 9/11 Commission
Battles between the Commission and the Administration
The Public Hearings of the Commission
The Commission Report
Shortcomings of the Report

What’s Missing?

Cast of Characters

Glossary of Acronyms

PART TWO

The Document: The 9/11 Commission Report
    

Preface
  

1. "We Have Some Planes"
Inside the Four Flights

Boston: American 11 and United 175 • Washington

Dulles: American 77 • Newark: United 93 • The

Hijacking of American 11 • The Hijacking of United

175 • The Hijacking of American 77 • The Battle

for United 93

Improvising a Homeland Defense
National Crisis Management

The President and the Vice President • United 93 and

the Shootdown Order

  2. The Foundation of the New Terrorism
    A Declaration of War
    Bin Ladin's Appeal in the Islamic World

Islam • Bin Ladin’s Worldview • History and

Political Context • Social and Economic Malaise •

Bin Ladin’s Historical Opportunity
    The Rise of Bin Ladin and al Qaeda (1988–1992)
    Al Qaeda's Renewal in Afghanistan (1996–1998)

The Embassy Bombings

3. Counterterrorism Evolves
    From the Old Terrorism to the New: The First World Trade Center Bombing
    Adaptation -- and Nonadaptation -- in the Law Enforcement Community
     The Justice Department and the FBI • Legal Constraints

on the FBI and "the Wall" • Other Law Enforcement

Agencies

…and in the Intelligence Community

The CIA • Clandestine and Covert Action •

Analysis • Early Counterterrorism Efforts
…and in the State Department and the Defense Department

The State Department • The Department of Defense
 …and in the White House
 …and in the Congress
    
  4. Responses to al Qaeda's Initial Assaults
    Before the Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania

Early Efforts against Bin Ladin • The CIA Develops a

Capture Plan
    Crisis: August 1998

A Follow-on Campaign?
    Covert Action
    Searching for Fresh Options

"Boots on the Ground?" • The Desert Camp, February

1999 • Looking for New Partners • Kandahar,

May 1999
    
  5. Al Qaeda Aims at the American Homeland
    Terrorist Entrepreneurs

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [KSM]
    The "Planes Operation"

The Plan Evolves
    The Hamburg Contingent

Mohamed Atta • Ramzi Binalshibh • Marwan

al Shehhi • Ziad Jarrah • Requirements for a

Successful Attack
    
  6. From Threat to Threat
    The Millennium Crisis

"Bodies Will Pile Up in Sacks" • Ressam’s Arrest

Emergency Cooperation • A Lost Trail in Southeast

Asia
    Post-Crisis Reflection: Agenda for 2000

"Afghan Eyes"
    The Attack on the USS Cole

Considering a Response
    Change and Continuity

Early Decisions • Starting a Review
    The New Administration's Approach

September 2001
    
  7. The Attack Looms
    First Arrivals in California
    The 9/11 Pilots in the United States

The Fourth Pilot: Hani Hanjour
 Assembling the Teams
     Dissent within the al Qaeda Leadership • Moving to

Departure Positions

  8. "The System Was Blinking Red"
    The Summer of Threat
     Zacarias Moussaoui • Time Runs Out

  9. Heroism and Horror

Emergency Response at the Pentagon
    
  10. Wartime
    Immediate Responses at Home
    Planning for War
    "Phase Two" and the Question of Iraq
    
  11. Foresight -- and Hindsight
    Imagination

Historical Perspective • Understanding the

Danger • Institutionalizing Imagination: The Case

of Aircraft as Weapons
    Policy
    Capabilities
    Management

Operational Management • Institutional

Management • The Millennium Exception
    
  12. What to Do? A Global Strategy
    
  13. How to Do It? A Different Way of Organizing Government

PART THREE

Related Documents

1. Declarations by Usama Bin Ladin, August 23, 1996; May 10, 1997; February 23, 1998

2. From The President’s Daily Brief, December 4, 1998, and August 6, 2001

3. The 9/11 Commission, Final Report on 9/11 Commission Recommendations, December 5, 2005
  

Appendixes
    A 9/11 Chronology (1978-2005)
    Questions for Consideration
    Selected Bibliography
    
  Index