2: 6. The 9/11 Failure and the Cold War Mindset Liza Mundy Book: The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA Leading up to 9/11, the women of Alec Station had been repeatedly warning that al-Qaeda had the capability to attack the United States. On

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🗓️ 19 October 2025

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Summary

6. The 9/11 Failure and the Cold War Mindset Liza Mundy Book: The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA

Leading up to 9/11, the women of Alec Station had been repeatedly warning that al-Qaeda had the capability to attack the United States. On 9/11, the CIA learned of the attacks via CNN, confirming the women's "sick inevitability." While CIA Director George Tenet evacuated the headquarters due to the threat of a plane attack, the Counterterrorism Center staff remained at their posts, working 24/7 to prevent a second wave. The women faced a reckoning afterward, being blamed for failing to connect the dots, despite previous internal struggles to get their analysis published. Adding to the difficulty, the incoming Bush administration, composed largely of "Cold Warriors," struggled to recognize a stateless terror organization as a legitimate, existential threat, focusing instead on traditional state adversaries with armies and capitals. Furthermore, historical failures like the Waco incident made the Clinton administration hesitant to approve operations against bin Laden due to fears of collateral damage.

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0:17.9	Visit sumup.co.uk to learn more.
0:24.0	I'm John Dats with Liza Mundy.
0:25.9	Her new book is The Sisterhood,
0:27.5	the Secret History of Women at the CIA.
0:30.1	It is the summer of 2000,
0:31.7	again and again.
0:33.3	The CTC, the Alex station,
0:35.0	have been alerting that there's movement,
0:37.1	there's information, there's information,
0:38.8	there's reason to believe they're going to attack the United States, not overseas.
0:44.1	It reminds me so much of how Roosevelt and his staff believed the Japanese were going to attack
0:49.3	Singapore.
0:50.3	They were not, didn't think that it would be attacking the United States.
0:54.5	Who would attack the United States?
0:55.9	This rag-tag bunch that lives in caves.
0:58.7	Well, Cindy Storer and Barbara sued and Gina Bennett from State and certainly Heidi Fields, Heidi August, who was running CTC for a moment at this point, recognized that they are not rag tag at all. They have the
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