The Phoenix memo casts a shadow on the history of the FBI, especially on its failings. On July 10, 2001, an FBI agent in Phoenix wrote a note raising several serious concerns. One of them was about Middle Eastern men attending U.S. flight schools. Failure to share intelligence efficiently caused America to face its worst catastrophe in history. The memo never made its way up the chain of command, and no action followed. FBI Director Robert Mueller didn’t see it until after September 11. The Phoenix memo will go down in the history of the FBI as a piece of information that would have prevented a catastrophe.
For more information on the Phoenix memo, click
FAILURE TO SHARE INTELLIGENCE AND HOW IT LED TO 9/11
Security agencies had pieces of information before September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But failure to share intelligence by the agencies followed. For example, in July 2001, an FBI agent in Phoenix, Arizona, wrote a memo to bureau executives in Washington. He warned of the “possibility of a coordinated effort by Bin Ladin” to train terrorists in U.S. flight schools. A month after the discovery of the Phoenix memo, the FBI’s Minneapolis office did not notify the Federal Aviation Administration of an agent’s assessment that Zacarias Moussaoui planned to hijack an airplane. The Phoenix memo taints the history of the FBI as its ignorance caused U.S. great turmoil.
For more information on the failure to share intelligence and how it led to 9/11, click
HISTORY OF THE FBI AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO THE U.S
The history of the FBI helps in understanding its role in protecting the U.S. from threats, both internal and external. The U.S. was united, with its borders stretching from coast to coast. But there were dark clouds on the horizon due to the failure to share intelligence among law enforcement. The country’s cities had grown enormously by 1908, and understandably, crime had become right along with them. In these big cities, with their many overcrowded tenements filled with the poor and disillusioned, tempers often flared. The Phoenix memo is part of the dark history of the FBI and helped in shaping organizational culture.
For more information on the history of FBI and its importance to the U.S., click
Additional attachments
>> Download
