Fall 1999: CIA Draws Up New Plan to Combat Al-Qaeda; Includes Disruption, Rendition and Capture Operations

The CIA drafts a new plan to combat al-Qaeda. The document, entitled “The Plan,” has several elements:
Continue with the CIA’s rendition program, which had begun some time previously (see Summer 1995);
Continue with disruption operations against al-Qaeda;
Hire and train better officers with counterterrorism skills;
Recruit more assets and try to penetrate al-Qaeda’s ranks;
Close gaps in the collection of signals and imagery intelligence;
Increase contacts with the Northern Alliance (see Summer 1999). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 142]