Terror warnings ignored
The week's news at a glance.
Alexandria, Va.
Three weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks, an FBI agent warned superiors that Zacharias Moussaoui was involved in a plot to hijack a commercial jet using small knives, the agent testified this week. Special Agent Harry Samit, testifying in a trial that will determine whether Moussaoui will be imprisoned for life or put to death, said he detailed his concerns in more than 70 pages of memos to FBI headquarters. But officials in Washington declined Samit’s repeated requests for permission to search Moussaoui’s apartment. He later confessed to being an al Qaida operative. “God help us all if the next terrorist incident involves this kind of plan,” an investigator in Samit’s office wrote, in a memo dated Sept. 10, 2001.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Cosy cabins for a country escape
The Week Recommends Slow down and take in the nature at these amazing. secluded retreats
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Scottish hospitality shines at these 7 hotels
The Week Recommends Sleep well at these lovely inns across Scotland
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Scientists invent a solid carbon-negative building material
Under the radar Building CO2 into the buildings
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published