Find, Fix, Finish (40 page)

• September 11, 2001—Al-Qaeda attacks NYC and Washington DC

• September 20, 2001—President Bush declares “war on terror”

• October 2001—US-led coalition invades Afghanistan

• October 2001—USA-PATRIOT Act passes Congress

• November 2001—Al-Libi is captured in Pakistan

• December 2001—Pakistan turns al-Libi over to US at Kandahar air base

• December 2001—Al-Libi is transferred to Bagram air base

• January 2002—The CIA transfers al-Libi to the USS
Bataan

• Late January 2002—The CIA transfers al-Libi to Egyptian custody

• Late January 2002–February 2002—Al-Libi provides information that al-Qaeda agents traveled to Iraq for training

• February 2002—The DIA publishes DITSUM 044–02, which casts doubt on the truth of al-Libi’s testimony

• March 2002—The CIA establishes the first “black sites”

• Summer 2002—Support builds for the Iraq War

• August 1, 2002—John Yoo writes the “torture memo”

• September 2002—The CIA’s
Iraqi Support for Terrorism Report
casts doubts on al-Libi’s statements

• September 2002—DCI Tenet and National Security Adviser Rice use al-Libi’s statements as proof of an Iraq-al-Qaeda link in testimony

• September 2002—Undersecretary of Defense Feith and Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz found the Office of Special Plans

• October 1, 2002—The IC delivers the Iraq NIE to Congress

• October 7, 2002—Bush references al-Libi’s testimony in his Cincinnati speech

• October 10, 2002—Congress authorizes the use of military force against Iraq

• November 8, 2002—The UNSC releases Resolution 1441, which claims that Iraq is in breach of cease-fire agreements

• January 2003—The CIA’s
Iraqi Support for Terrorism
report is updated and more broadly disseminated

• February 5, 2003—Secretary of State Powell presents the US case for war with Iraq to the UN

• Early 2003—Egypt returns al-Libi to US custody; he is reportedly detained in Afghanistan

• March 19, 2003—Operation Iraqi Freedom begins

• June 2003—The Office of Special Plans is dissolved

• October 2003—Undersecretary Feith sends
Summary of Body of Intelligence on Iraq–Al-Qaeda Contacts,
which references al-Libi’s testimony, to members of Congress

• January 2004—Al-Libi recants his testimony and alleges torture by the Egyptians

• February 2004—Al-Libi is reportedly transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; CIA learns of his recantation

• February 2004—Senior administration officials learn of al-Libi’s recantation

• April 2004—News of abuse at Abu Ghraib breaks

• June 2004—In an interview with CNBC, Vice President Cheney argues that an al-Qaeda–Iraq connection exists

• June 2004—The torture memo is leaked to the press; CIA suspends the use of enhanced interrogation techniques

• July 2004—The media first publishes accounts of al-Libi’s recantation

• July 9, 2004—The SSCI releases its first assessment of prewar intelligence on Iraq

• September 2004—The Iraq Survey Group concludes that Iraq did not have an active WMD program

• October 2005—DITSUM 044–02 is declassified

• Early 2006—The US transfers al-Libi to Libyan custody

• September 6, 2006—President Bush orders the CIA to transfer fourteen HVDs from black sites to Guantanamo Bay

• September 8, 2006—The SSCI releases its Phase II reports, which include descriptions of al-Libi’s recantation and harsh interrogation

• November 2006—The Democrats gain a congressional majority in the midterm elections

• February 9. 2007—The Pentagon’s inspector general releases a report on the Office of Special Plans that finds the organization’s work “inappropriate”

• May 24, 2007—Four members of Congress request information on al-Libi’s whereabouts from President Bush

• November 2008—Democrat Barack Obama is elected president

• January 2009—President Obama signs executive orders shutting down Guantanamo and all CIA black sites

• May 11, 2009—Al-Libi reportedly commits suicide in Libyan custody