Full transcript
0:03Was Osama bin Laden planning an attack
0:05on India?
0:06Apparently, he was. Years before 9/11,
0:09he had India in his sights.
0:11That's what a new CIA report says.
0:14This is part of newly declassified
0:16files. They say that bin Laden was
0:18planning to attack India in 1998. The
0:21files also reveal a string of warnings
0:23before 9/11 about attacks on the US and
0:26aircraft hijackings.
0:28So, what did US intelligence know and
0:31how close did bin Laden come to
0:33targeting India?
0:35Here's our report.
0:45>> 3 years before 9/11,
0:47the CIA was already sounding the alarm.
0:50Osama bin Laden was planning attacks
0:53across the world, and India was on his
0:56radar.
0:58A presidential daily brief from August
1:001998
1:02said that bin Laden intended to strike
1:05several countries. India was one of
1:07them. So were Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi
1:10Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Uganda, and
1:14possibly Nigeria.
1:16The CIA did not name an Indian city or a
1:20specific target,
1:22but his focus on India was clear,
1:24particularly terrorist operations in
1:26Jammu and Kashmir.
1:28Later evidence showed just how deep that
1:31interest ran.
1:33>> Hey, let's go.
1:34>> In 2011, US forces killed bin Laden at
1:38his compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan.
1:42They also recovered a vast trove of
1:44files.
1:46Those files revealed his interest in
1:47South Asia,
1:49especially Jammu and Kashmir.
1:52They also pointed to links between
1:54al-Qaeda and Pakistan-based terror
1:56groups.
1:59One figure was particularly important,
2:01Ilyas Kashmiri, the leader of
2:03Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami.
2:06He helped connect Pakistan-centric
2:08terrorists in Kashmir with al-Qaeda's
2:11global network.
2:13He later became a key figure in the
2:15al-Qaeda.
2:17Then came the terror attacks on Mumbai,
2:20November 26th, 2008.
2:24Bin Laden followed the aftermath of the
2:26attacks. Files from his compound
2:29contained reports about David Coleman
2:31Headley,
2:32the Lashkar-e-Taiba operative who
2:34conducted reconnaissance for the Mumbai
2:37attacks.
2:38Bin Laden had highlighted details about
2:41Headley's missions and his Pakistani
2:43handlers.
2:45The new CIA release also talks about
2:48warnings,
2:49repeated warnings that came years and
2:52even weeks before 9/11.
2:56In 1998,
2:57intelligence analysts were already
3:00considering the possibility of attacks
3:03on the US mainland.
3:05A brief in September 1998
3:08stands out.
3:10It identified Washington as a preferred
3:12target. It raised the possibility of an
3:16aircraft loaded with explosives being
3:18used against an American city.
3:21By December, the CIA reported that
3:24al-Qaeda operatives had received
3:26aircraft hijacking training
3:28and that they were testing security at
3:30an unidentified New York airport.
3:34Then came the final warning,
3:36August 6th, 2001,
3:39just 36 days before 9/11.
3:43It was a presidential brief titled Bin
3:45Laden determined to strike in US. It
3:49warned that Bin Laden would carry out an
3:51attack inside America.
3:54It flagged suspicious activity linked to
3:56possible hijackings,
3:58including surveillance of federal
4:00buildings in New York.
4:03None of this proves that US intelligence
4:05knew the 9/11 plot.
4:08But the warning signs were piling up.
4:11Bin Laden was building a global terror
4:13network. America was a target.
4:17And years before 9/11, India was on his
4:20radar, too.