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* Throughout the spring and early summer of 2001, intelligence agencies flooded the government with warnings of possible terrorist attacks against American targets, including commercial aircraft, by al Qaeda and other groups. The warnings were vague but sufficiently alarming to prompt the FAA to issue four information circulars, or ICs, to the commercial airline industry between June 22 and July 31, warning of possible terrorism.

* On June 22 the military's Central and European Commands imposed "Force Protection Condition Delta," the highest anti-terrorist alert.

* On June 28 National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice said: "It is highly likely that a significant al Qaeda attack is in the near future, within several weeks."

* As of July 31 the FAA urged U.S. airlines to maintain a "high degree of alertness."

* One FAA circular from late July noted, according to Condoleeza Rice, that there was "no specific target, no credible info of attack to U.S. civil aviation interests, but terror groups are known to be planning and training for hijackings, and we ask you therefore to use caution."

* Two counter-terrorism officials described the alerts of the early and mid-summer 2001 as "the most urgent in decades."

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-- Excerpt from the testimony of Kristen Breitweiser, a 9/11 widow, speaking before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

(Bold emphasis mine.)

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