What if "only" 40 Americans die in a new Qaeda attack?
United States intelligence officials played down the tape's significance, saying it was not necessarily an indication of a pending Qaeda attack.
Had he done so, maybe his boss would not have blown off intelligence about imminent Qaeda attacks while on siesta in Crawford.
The timing of previous Qaeda attacks has given them reasons for concern, they say.
In hindsight it was labeled a Qaeda attack.
The same studied technique has been central to the most well-known Qaeda attacks, be they in Africa or the United States.
It was not clear if the tape was made before the failed Qaeda attack last month on a Saudi oil facility.
Another Qaeda attack could be coming at any moment.
That was forgotten after the Qaeda attacks.
But by the summer of 2001, the government should not have treated even vague warnings of possible Qaeda attacks lightly.