Summary
Overview
FBI agent Ali Soufan's investigation into the USS Cole bombing uncovers critical intelligence about Al-Qaeda's network, including surveillance photos of future 9/11 hijackers that the CIA possessed but didn't share. The episode traces Soufan's work from interrogating Cole suspects in Yemen through the tragedy of 9/11, revealing how intelligence failures and inter-agency politics may have prevented the attacks from being stopped.
The Malaysia Summit: A Missed Opportunity
In January 2000, Malaysian intelligence conducts surveillance on an Al-Qaeda meeting at the CIA's request, photographing several operatives including Khaled Al-Midar and Nawaf, who hold US visas. Despite this being a crucial intelligence opportunity, the CIA decides against intervention, choosing to continue surveillance rather than alert the FBI or other agencies. These men would later become 9/11 hijackers, making this one of the most consequential missed opportunities in counterterrorism history.
- Malaysian Special Branch photographs Al-Qaeda operatives at a condominium, including a man with a prosthetic leg using a payphone
- CIA identifies Khaled Al-Midar, a Saudi with a US visa who's been on their watch list
- CIA decides not to intervene or share information with FBI, preferring to maintain surveillance
- The operatives are allowed to travel to Bangkok to continue preparations for future attacks
" There's no active threat. All we do is reveal we've had eyes on them. Let them go to Bangkok. The CIA will keep watching. "
Breaking Fahad Al-Qasa: The Cole Interrogation
FBI agent Ali Soufan interrogates Fahad Al-Qasa, the suspected third man in the USS Cole attack. Through skillful questioning that exploits Al-Qasa's mistaken belief that the FBI knows more than it does, Soufan gets him to confirm that Osama bin Laden personally ordered the attack. Al-Qasa also reveals his connection to Khaled, the operative with the prosthetic leg, and a mysterious meeting in Bangkok involving $36,000—far too much money for a simple prosthesis.
- Al-Qasa confirms Osama bin Laden personally ordered the USS Cole attack
- Al-Qasa met bin Laden in Afghanistan and was trusted with filming the attack
- Al-Qasa couriered $36,000 to Khaled in Bangkok, supposedly for a prosthetic leg
- Soufan requests CIA information about the Bangkok meeting but is told they have nothing
" Of course, I met him in Afghanistan. He trusts me. With other people he has guarded, but he takes me into his confidence. "
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