"The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks [...] resulted in a new and extraordinary emphasis by the Bush administration on combating terrorism. During the last ten days key administration officials [...] have repeatedly emphasized that their long-term objective is the destruction of terrorism [...] Terrorism, however, was hardly ignored in previous administrations. [...] the Reagan administration, [...] executive branch agencies, [...] Congressional bodies, [...] General Accounting Office, [...] The following documents, some of which were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, include assessments of the terrorist threat and a CIA profile of Usama bin Ladin, presidential and Defense Department policy directives, the details about U.S. response to specific terrorist attacks, and evaluations of U.S. government preparedness to deal with terrorism."