The missed opportunities of 9/11 from MSNBC

[Cannikin]

Program airs tonight at 9EST

On Sept. 11, 2001 — it all seemed so sudden, and without warning. But three years and two investigations later, it's clear there was a tragic trail of missed opportunities to stop some of the hijackers, disrupt the plot and perhaps save 3,000 lives. Here are nine of them:

Malaysia meeting
January 2000: Top al-Qaida operatives converge on Kuala Lampur for a planning meeting that that includes two of the 9/11 hijackers — the first time a hijacker comes on the radar of American intelligence. The CIA loses track of the hijackers, and fails to watch-list them or warn the FBI one has a valid visa to enter the U.S. "It's one of those critical nodes where we could have disrupted the 9/11 plot well before it ever got off the ground," says NBC analyst and terrorism expert Roger Cressey.

The Calls
Once in the U.S., one of the hijackers gets up to a dozen calls from a known al-Qaida switchboard in Yemen. The National Security Agency is listening, but doesn't figure out that the calls are to someone inside the U.S.

walk-in
April 2000: Niaz Khan, who says he was trained by al-Qaida, walks into an FBI office with an incredible tale. "I've been to Pakistan, I know about this hijacking, something going on. … I told them before 9/11, about more than a year, be … hijacking in America or on an America airline," Khan tells federal agents. He says he was sent to the U.S. to join operatives here. Khan passes two polygraphs, but FBI headquarters doesn’t believe him and lets him go.

Continued:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5469870/