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Keys to symbols
1993:
==Jan.20 > [•] Bill Clinton is inaugurated as
President of the United States.
==Jan.25 > [•X] A
young Pakistani named Mir Amal Kansi shoots several motorists stopped at a
traffic light at the entrance to CIA headquarters. Kansi flees the country,
but he is finally apprehended in 1997. [clarke]
==early.1993 > [X]
Al-Qaeda members complete the comprehensive terrorist manual Encyclopedia of
the Afghan Jihad, thousands of pages long. Police in Brussels find a
copy on a CD in Mar.1995. At some point in the next few years, al-Qaeda
produces another terrorist primer: Military Studies in the Jihad against the
Tyrants. [berg / nyt.Jan.14.2001]
==Feb.26 > [•XX] The first major Islamist terrorist
attack within the US: the original World Trade Center bombing is carried
out by Ramzi Yousef and associates from the Alkhifa Center in Brooklyn.
Hoping to kill thousands by toppling the North Tower onto the South, the
group detonates a 1500-pound bomb concealed in a rental van in a parking
garage beneath the towers. The blast and the smoke from the resulting fires
kill six people and injure about 1000. The $5000 terrorist operation does
$300 million worth of damage, but the towers remain standing. During the
well-conducted investigation into the bombing, US officials get their first
glimpses into the activities of Muslim extremists, though for several years
they have only a vague understanding of the threat. See Jun.1993.
[mcder / 911cm]
= [X]
The 1993 evacuation of the towers is an ordeal; with the electricity knocked
out and the public address system silenced, it takes ten hours to get
everyone down the darkened, smoke-filled stairs and out of the buildings. The
Port Authority - the landlord of the World Trade Center - eventually corrects
many of the problems by beefing up security, intensifying evacuation
training, and improving stairwell lighting. The Fire and Police Departments
make little effort to improve the poor communication that plagued their
responses to the 1993 bombing. [dwyer]
= [XX] In retrospect, the 1993 WTC bombing marks
the beginning of the third and most prolonged wave of international
terrorism. Islamist extremists are the predominant terrorists, either
operating as freelancers or as part of loose associations like al-Qaeda.
Earlier terrorist organizations often had state sponsors, were usually
pursuing identifiable goals, and seldom attempted mass casualty attacks. Some
groups gave up violence when they were drawn into conventional politics. The
new Islamist terrorists are different - they generally have no coherent
political aims at all, are indifferent to threats or rewards, and often plan
terrorist actions designed to slaughter as many people as possible.
[naftali]
= [•X] After several years of cutbacks, funding
for the CIA's Counterterrorism Center slowly begins to climb again after
1993. [naftali]
==Mar.29 > [X]
In public hearings on the World Trade Center bombings, former WTC director
Guy Tozzoli urges officials to prepare for the possibility of a plane hitting
the twin towers. His suggestions are completely
ignored. [nwd.Nov.12.2001 / dwyer]
==Mar.--- > [•X] Pakistan arrests 800 foreign Muslim
extremists - but fails to suppress al-Qaeda and other militant groups.
In May, 300 foreign Afghan war veterans flee Pakistan for Sudan, with bin
Laden paying their travel expenses. [berg /
senic.Oct.17.2002]
==Apr.14 > [•]
Kuwaiti police thwart an Iraqi attempt to assassinate visiting former
President Bush. In retaliation, on Jun.26, Clinton launches missiles that
demolish Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad. After this blow, there
is no evidence that Iraq engages in any further acts of terrorism.
[usdos / wall / 911cm]
==May.16 > [•X]
The Saudi government issues an arrest warrant for Osama bin
Laden. [pbsf]
==May.--- > [•]
Russia signs a mutual security pact with Tajikistan and posts 15,000 border
guards on the Tajik-Afghan border, protecting Russian-dominated Central Asia
against instability from disintegrating Afghanistan. In July, the
Russian border guards fight off a large-scale attack by Afghan-based Tajik
insurgents. [hiro1]
==Jun.--- > [•XX] The FBI
disrupts the 'landmarks plot,' an Islamist plan to blow up the Holland and
Lincoln Tunnels, the UN, and the Manhattan Federal Building which houses the
FBI. Among those arrested are the blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and other
extremists who were involved in the February WTC
bombing. [nyt.Sep.16.2001 / 911cm]
==Jul.14-Aug.28 > [•X] Osama
bin Laden begins showing up in US intelligence reports: he is linked to
Egyptian terrorists in Sudan and to the Dec.1992 hotel bombing in Aden.
During 1993, his name is included on a State Department watchlist. But for
several years he's believed to be a financier of terrorism, rather than a
major leader. [911cm]
==summer > [•]
Samuel P. Huntington’s article 'The Clash of Civilizations' appears in
Foreign Affairs. Huntington contradicts the optimistic globalism that
dominates the 1990s, asserting that struggles between largely irreconcilable
civilizations are likely to increasingly destabilize the world. He sees
Islam as especially threatening. 'The Clash of Civilizations' is met
with general skepticism, but its bleak outlook is a foretaste of the grim,
fearful tone of international relations after 9/11. The article is
expanded and published in book form in Nov.1996. [foraf.Summer.1993
/ amz]
==Aug.--- > [•] 33 years
after it was first promised, a Saudi Consultative Council is appointed by
King Fahd. Clinton calls it “an important step to widen popular
participation.” In fact, the council is unelected and powerless, and
Saudi Arabia is becoming even more authoritarian. A Saudi liberal tells
a reporter “Now we couldn’t even set up a neighborhood committee for dealing
with stray dogs.” [hiro1]
==Sep.01 > [•X]
Louis Freeh is sworn in as FBI Director. [fbi]
==Sep.09-10 > [•]
Israel and the PLO recognize each other. [lmd]
==Sep.13 > [•]
The Oslo accords: Rabin and Arafat sign the ‘Declaration of
Principles’ in Washington, setting up a framework for establishing
Palestinian self-government. Further accords are signed in 1994. Tensions
temporarily ease in the Middle East and a stable Israeli-Palestinian
peace briefly seems possible. [wall / lmd]
==Oct.03-04 > [•X]
In the battle later portrayed in Black Hawk Down, 18 US troops are killed
in confused urban combat in Mogadishu, Somalia. Some of the Somali
fighters were evidently trained by al Qaeda operatives, though the US
did not realize this until years later. [berg
/ nyt.Jan.14.2001]
==Nov.--- > [•X] The
height of the Egyptian Islamist crisis. The government further
intensifies its crackdown, routinely torturing prisoners, taking militants’
relatives hostage and censoring even moderate Islamist writers. These
heavy-handed policies are having some effect. Al Jihad commits its last
terrorist attack within Egypt - damaged by arrests, the organization remains
active abroad and eventually merges with al-Qaeda. There are 1,116
deaths related to religious violence in Egypt in 1993 - but by 1994, the
violence is starting to ease off. [hiro1 /
bbc]
==Dec.--- > [•X]
An al-Qaeda team begins casing targets for a terrorist attack in
Nairobi, the beginning of the operation that will result in the embassy
bombings of Aug.07.1998. [911cm]
== ------- > [•] Washington
labels Sudan a supporter of international terrorism. [hiro1]
== ------- > [X] Al Quds mosque opens in Hamburg,
Germany. The mosque eventually plays a key role in the plots that lead
to 9/11. See Apr.11.1996 [lat.Sep.01.2002]
==1993-1994 > [•X] A
Pentagon study group prepares a report on potential terrorist attacks
entitled Terror 2000. The group discusses the possibility of airliners
being deliberately flown into public buildings, including the Pentagon.
A draft report predicts that “In the future, horrified civilians will get to
watch every step in a terrorist plot. CNN and other networks will
certainly air the footage.” One member speculates that terrorists would
launch “multiple, simultaneous operations” to stun the government. From
the mid-1990s, there are many committees studying terrorism - but most of
them focus on weapons of mass destruction and ignore more likely
tactics. [wap.Oct.02.2001]
1994:
==Jan.01-Feb > [•] Renewed
fighting between mujahedeen factions leaves half the remaining residents of
Kabul homeless. Factional violence in Afghanistan is becoming endemic.
See spring [hiro1]
==Jan.--- > [•X] Al-Qaeda is
operating at least three military training camps in northern
Sudan. [senic.Oct.17.2002]
==early.1994 > [•X] World Trade
Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and his uncle Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) enter
the Philippines and begin developing a series of terrorist plots. KSM, who
attended college in North Carolina, has been a committed Islamist since the
late 1980s and has fought in Afghanistan and Bosnia. His activities in the
Philippines are his first direct involvement with terrorism. He is ostensibly
employed as an engineer by the government of Qatar, but he's evidently
loosely supervised - over the next couple years he spends much of his time in
extensive international travel related to terrorist activity. See Dec.11.1994
and Jan.06.1995 [lat.Sep.01.2002 / 911cm]
==Feb.25 > [•X]
Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish right-wing extremist and US citizen, machine-guns
a mosque in Hebron on the West Bank, killing 29
worshippers. [usdos / lmd]
==Feb.--- > [•X] The Saudis quietly strip Osama bin Laden
of his citizenship and freeze his assets - for several years he seems to be
short of funds. In March, the bin Laden family disowns Osama. A
1994 assassination attempt on him in Khartoum is probably ordered by the
Saudi regime. [hiro1 / berg]
==Apr.07-Sep. > [•X]
A disgruntled FedEx flight engineer hitching a ride on a cargo plane attacks
the crew with hammers and is subdued only after a violent struggle. The
attacker evidently intended to take over the controls and crash the plane
into a FedEx building in Memphis. In September a man crashes a stolen
single-engine Cessna into a tree on the White House grounds, close to the president's
bedroom. These are the only acts of air piracy in America between 1991 and
the 9/11 attacks. Worldwide, hijackings are generally becoming increasingly
rare during the 1990s. [airsafe.Aug.23.1996 /
nyt.Oct.03.2001 / sundti.Sep.12.2001]
==spring > [•X]
The Taliban is formed. The group’s origins are obscure, but it
probably begins around the spring of 1994 as an informal organization of
religious students near Kandahar, who are appalled by the lawlessness of the
mujahadeen and wish to restore order. Soon after the group’s formation,
Taliban chief Mullah Omar defeats a local warlord who had raped two girls,
and hangs him from the barrel of a wrecked Russian tank. In July, Omar
forces an end to full-scale fighting in Kandahar between two commanders vying
for the sexual favors of a young boy. The Taliban seems to promise an
end to anarchy, and many Afghans initially support its rise. See
Nov.05 [rash2 / hiro1]
==May.--- > [•] Israelis withdraw forces from part of the
West Bank and from the Gaza Strip, to make way for Palestinian
self-rule. [wall]
==Jul.01 > [•]
Arafat returns to Gaza, entering Palestinian territory for the first time in
25 years. [wall]
==Jul.11 > [•X]
Bin Laden forms the Committee for Advice and Reform (CAR or ARC), ostensibly
to promote Islamist-imposed reform in Saudi
Arabia. [hiro1 / berg]
==Jul.25 > [•]
Israel and Jordan end the state of conflict between the two countries.
On Oct.26, a formal peace treaty is signed. [wall
/ lmd]
==Aug.--- > [•] Ken Starr is appointed independent
counsel in the Whitewater investigation. [msnbc]
==Aug.--- > [•XX] North
African/French Muslims open fire in a tourist hotel in Morocco, killing two
Spaniards. The subsequent investigation begins to uncover the network
of Islamist extremist cells in Europe. [nyt.Jan.14.2001]
==Oct.15 > [•]
Rabin, Peres, and Arafat win the Nobel Peace Prize.
==Oct.21 > [•]
The US and North Korea reach an accord, ending a highly dangerous crisis
brought on by North Korea’s nuclear program. [wall]
==Nov.05 > [•X]
The Taliban secure control of Kandahar, free a Pakistani truck convoy that
had been waylaid by local warlords while on its way to Central Asia, and
begin to develop strong ties with Islamabad - the Pakistani Interior Minister
refers to the group as “our boys.” They enforce an extreme version of
Islamic law, start to build a well-armed military force, and begin to rapidly
expand at the expense of the mujahadeen. The Taliban are becoming a major
force in south Afghanistan. [rash2 / hiro1]
==Nov.08 > [•] The Republicans win a strong victory
in US midterm elections, gaining control of both houses of Congress for the
first time in decades. George W. Bush is elected Governor of Texas.
==late 1994 or early 1995 > [•X] Al-Qaeda
makes intermittent overtures to Iraq, until 1999. Baghdad, however, is
generally wary and Saddam and bin Laden evidently never
collaborate. [911cm]
==Dec.24 > [•XX] Members of the Algerian Islamist GIA
hijack an Air France airliner with the intention of crashing it into the
Eiffel Tower, but the hijackers are killed when the plane is stormed by a SWAT
team. [usdos / nwwk.May.27.02]
==Dec.11 > [•]
Russian forces invade the Muslim region of Chechnya in the Caucasus - the
First Chechen War to 1996. [wall]
==Dec.11 > [•X]
Ramzi Yousef tests the detonation device he's invented by setting off a bomb
in a Philippines Airlines flight to Tokyo, killing a Japanese businessman and
injuring 10 other passengers. Yousef had conducted an earlier test on Dec.01,
bombing a movie theater in Manila. [911cm /
wap.Jul.21.1996]
==Dec-Jan. > [•X] Reflecting
the Saudi regime’s temporarily mellowed attitude toward Israel after the Oslo
accords, the Grand Mufti preaches that it’s possible for Muslims to coexist
with Jews. Saudi Islamists react furiously to the
sermons. [hiro1]
== ------- > [•] Afghanistan
produces 3,200 metric tons of opium, more than half the world’s total, and a
32-fold increase since war broke out in 1979. [hiro1]
1995:
==Jan.06 > [•XX] The Manila bomb factory run by Ramzi
Yousef and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is discovered. The two terrorists escape,
but police seize an abandoned laptop that contains plans to assassinate the
pope, to crash a plane into CIA headquarters, and to blow up a dozen American
airliners over the Pacific in a two-day period. The latter plot is known as
‘Project Bojinka,’ a nonsense word that KSM picked up in Afghanistan. Yousef
and KSM were also working on plots to assassinate President Clinton and to
blow up cargo flights. Counterterrorist investigators become aware of “a
strong network, continuously hatching plots.” See Feb.07.1995, early 1996,
and late winter 1999 [lat.Sep.01.2002 / 911cm]
==Jan.--- > [•X] An Islamic Jihad suicide bombing in Beit
Lid kills 19, provoking Israel to seal off the occupied territories and
threatening the peace process. [lmd]
John O’Neill
==Feb.07 > [•X]
Ramzi Yousef, the organizer of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is
apprehended in Islamabad as he is about to board a bus for Afghanistan.
The arrest operation is coordinated by the energetic John O’Neill, who had
just taken over as the FBI counterterrorism chief. O’Neill immerses
himself in the study of Islamist terrorism, and eventually becomes one of the
first Americans to begin to understand how al-Qaeda functions and to grasp
the danger it represents. But he alienates Director Freeh and the FBI
establishment and becomes increasingly frustrated by the Bureau’s internal
politics. See Sep.10.2001
[pbsf.Oct.03.2002 / nykr.Jan.14.2002]
==Feb.--- > [•X] In
what is perhaps the first official American action against bin Laden, he is
included in a confidential court document listing dozens of unindicted
possible co-conspirators in the landmarks plot (see Jun.1993). US authorities
still regard him as no more than a financier of terrorism, and won't begin to
recognize his significance until early 1996. [911cm]
==Mar.20 > [•X]
The Aum Shinrikyo cult releases nerve gas in a Tokyo subway, killing twelve
commuters and injuring over 5000. [usdos]
==late.Mar > [•XX] The extremist ‘Islamic People’s Congress’
in Khartoum is attended by bin Laden and al-Qaeda, the GIA from Algeria,
Hezbollah from Lebanon, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad from the Occupied
Territories, and extremist groups from Pakistan, Tunisia, and other
countries. Bin Laden meets with Hezbollah
representatives. [hiro1 / berg]
==Mar.27 > [•X]
Inspired by the Aum nerve gas attack in Tokyo, the Apr.03 issue of Time
magazine (on sale Mar.27) features a frightening article on large-scale
terrorism, with experts making comments like “Nightmares are coming
true. I think we're in for deep trouble.” The normally calm
Senator Nunn discusses the possibility of terrorists crashing a
radio-controlled drone plane loaded with chemical weapons into the Capitol
during the State of the Union Address, wiping out much of the federal
government. A deep fear of terrorism is taking root in America.
==Apr.19 > [•XX] The Oklahoma City bombing:
American right-wing extremists blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building,
in the worst American terrorist attack until 2001. There are 168
fatalities, including 19 children in a day care center.
Counterterrorism becomes a major priority of the Clinton
administration. [hrtl / nyt.Dec.30.2001]
==Apr.---> [•X]
After three attacks on Israelis by Hamas, Arafat arrests 170 members of the
group. [lmd]
==Jun.21 > [•X]
The Clinton administration issues PDD-39, a directive outlining its beefed-up
policies against terrorism. This is the first formal presidential directive
on terrorism in almost a decade. Clinton has been promoting a package of
strong counterterrorist legislation for months, but it will wind up being
blocked by Congressional Republicans. [clarke / usgov
/ naftali / 911cm]
==Jun.26 > [•X]
Visiting Addis Ababa, Mubarak narrowly survives an assassination attempt by
Egyptian terrorists operating from Sudan. He immediately re-intensifies the
crackdown on Egyptian Islamists. Sudan is soon under pressure: the UN votes
sanctions, the US considers raiding al-Qaeda bases in the country, and Egypt
threatens direct military action. [hiro1 /
clarke]
==Jul.11-16 > [•]
Bosnian Serbs overrun the town of Srebrenica and massacre about 7,000 Muslim
men. [bbc]
==Aug.09 > [•] The initial public offering of
Netscape Communications Corp. sees its stock more than double in value on its
first day of trading, though the company has yet to make any money. The
enthused high-tech venture capitalist John Doerr is soon promoting the ‘new
economy’ as “the greatest legal creation of wealth in the history of the
planet.” The Internet boom is underway. [wap.Nov.13.2002]
==Aug.--- > [•X] In an open letter to King Fahd, bin Laden
calls for guerilla warfare to drive the US out of
Arabia. [pbs]
==Sep.05 > [•X]
In western Afghanistan, the Taliban captures Herat from a pro-Iranian
faction, provoking hostility from Tehran. Saudi Arabia aligns with the
Taliban. [rash2 / hiro1]
==Sep.28 > [•]
The Oslo II agreement is signed by Arafat and Rabin in Washington, extending
Palestinian autonomy to the West Bank. Clinton, Mubarak, and King
Hussein witness the event. [lmd]
==Oct.21 > [•]
The politically well-connected American oil company Unocal signs an agreement
with Turkmenistan to build a pipeline through Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Unocal faces stiff competition from its Argentine rival Bridas. Highly
involved oil politics start to further complicate the situation in Central
Asia. See early Dec.1997 [rash2 /
wap.Oct.05.1998]
==Nov.04 > [•X]
Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by a young Israeli rightwing extremist. Hopes
for peace in the Middle East recede. [lmd]
==Nov.13 > [•X]
The first major bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 5 US troops in Riyadh.
The bombers are apprehended and eventually confess that they were veterans of
the Afghan war and were inspired by bin Laden. They are probably linked
to al-Qaeda, but are beheaded by the Saudis before they can be interviewed by
the FBI. [hiro1 / berg]
==Nov.20 > [•X]
The Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is wrecked by a powerful truck
bomb attack that kills 15 and wounds 80. US investigators believe that
al-Qaeda is involved and Pakistan cracks down on local al-Qaeda operations.
The bombers’ method is similar to that which will be used in the bombing of
the US embassy in Kenya in 1998. [berg]
==late.Nov. > [•] King Fahd
suffers a severe stroke that leaves him largely paralyzed, and Crown Prince
Abdullah becomes the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. The House of Saud is
divided by factional power struggles, and Abdullah is unable to stem the
Saudi royal family’s growing corruption and estrangement from the Arabian
public. [hiro1 / nykr.Oct.16.2001]
==Nov.--- > [•X] The Egyptian
government suppresses the relatively moderate Muslim Brotherhood and
blatantly rigs a parliamentary election. The Al Gamaat group responds
with several terrorist attacks, but the Egyptian Islamists are loosing their
struggle with Mubarak. [hiro1]
==Nov-Dec. > [•] Israeli
forces complete their withdrawal from Palestinian towns, except for
Hebron. [lmd]
==late.1995 or early.1996 > [••X] Sudan quietly offers to hand bin Laden
over to Saudi Arabia, but the Saudis decline to take
him. [911cm]
==Winter 1995-1996 > [X] After returning to Hamburg from a pilgrimage
to Mecca, graduate student Mohamed Atta begins gravitating toward Islamist
extremism. He largely loses interest in his academic work, socializes almost
exclusively with ultra-pious Muslims, and spends more time at the hard-core
al Quds mosque. Around this time he strikes up a friendship with Ramzi bin
al-Shibh, a Yemeni who is seeking asylum in Germany and who is also being
drawn to Islamism. See end.1997- early.1998 [mcder]
==Dec.--- > [•] The California Public Utilities
Commission votes to deregulate the state’s power industry. Next year,
after a unanimous vote in the legislature, California becomes the first state
to deregulate electricity. See
Mar.20.2001 [pbs]
==Dec.--- > [•] 'From Containment to Global
Leadership?: America & the World After the Cold War' by neo-conservative
Zalmay Khalilzad is published, arguing in favor of pre-emptive wars to
forestall any possible rivals to US predominance. Khalizad later
becomes an influential foreign policy adviser and special envoy to
Afghanistan in the George W. Bush administration.
[harp.Oct.2002 / amz]
== ------- > [•X]
The CIA's Clandestine Services reaches its nadir, with only 25 new officers.
The increasing fear of terrorism after the 1995 attacks in Tokyo and Oklahoma
City will lead to revived support for the agency. [911cm]
== ------- > [•] The US begins
admitting Uzbek officers to Pentagon military schools. In Aug.1996, US
troops participate in joint military exercises in Uzbekistan. America
is beginning to forge military ties with the newly independent nations that
used to comprise Soviet Central Asia. [hiro1]
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