Official Report
The 9/11 Commission Report
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
About the Report
The 9/11 Commission Report represents the official documentation and analysis of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States conducted extensive investigations through public hearings and staff research to provide comprehensive recommendations for preventing future attacks.
Official Source: All documents on this page were gathered from the Commission's official website at http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/index.htm
The official website was frozen as of September 20, 2004 at 12:00 AM, EDT. It is now a Federal record managed by the National Archives and Records Administration.
Complete Report
Report by Chapter
Chapter 1: "We Have Some Planes"
- Inside the Four Flights
- Improvising a Homeland Defense
- National Crisis Management
Chapter 2: The Foundation of the New Terrorism
- A Declaration of War
- Bin Ladin's Appeal in the Islamic World
- The Rise of Bin Ladin and al Qaeda (1988-1992)
- Building an Organization, Declaring War on the United States (1992-1996)
- Al Qaeda's Renewal in Afghanistan (1996-1998)
Chapter 3: Counterterrorism Evolves
- From the Old Terrorism to the New: The First World Trade Center Bombing
- Adaptation in Law Enforcement and Intelligence
- Changes in the FAA, State Department, and Defense Department
- White House and Congressional Response
Chapter 4: Responses to Al Qaeda's Initial Assaults
- Before the Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania
- Crisis: August 1998
- Diplomacy and Covert Action
- Searching for Fresh Options
Chapter 5: Al Qaeda Aims at the American Homeland
- Terrorist Entrepreneurs
- The "Planes Operation"
- The Hamburg Contingent
- A Money Trail?
Chapter 6: From Threat To Threat
- The Millennium Crisis
- Post-Crisis Reflection: Agenda for 2000
- The Attack on the USS Cole
- Change and Continuity
- The New Administration's Approach
Chapter 7: The Attack Looms
- First Arrivals in California
- The 9/11 Pilots in the United States
- Assembling the Teams
- Final Strategies and Tactics
Chapter 8: "The System Was Blinking Red"
- The Summer of Threat
- Late Leads--Mihdhar, Moussaoui, and KSM
Chapter 9: Heroism and Horror
- Preparedness as of September 11
- September 11, 2001
- Emergency Response at the Pentagon
- Analysis
Chapter 10: Wartime
- Immediate Responses at Home
- Planning for War
- "Phase Two" and the Question of Iraq
Chapter 11: Foresight--and Hindsight
- Imagination
- Policy
- Capabilities
- Management
Chapter 12: What To Do? A Global Strategy
- Reflecting on a Generational Challenge
- Attack Terrorists and Their Organizations
- Prevent the Continued Growth of Islamist Terrorism
- Protect against and Prepare for Terrorist Attacks
Chapter 13: How To Do It? A Different Way of Organizing the Government
- Unity of Effort across the Foreign-Domestic Divide
- Unity of Effort in the Intelligence Community
- Unity of Effort in Sharing Information
- Unity of Effort in the Congress
- Organizing America's Defenses in the United States