Wednesday September 3, 2003 COULD THE 9/11 ATTACKS HAVE BEEN PREVENTED? Hindsight is 20/20, of course. But with a little more foresight on the part of the FBI, the September 11th tragedy of two years ago could have been prevented. Should have been according to Peter Lance, the author of a book out today called A Thousand Years for Revenge, International Terrorism and the FBI.

"I show for the first time that the New York office of the FBI, the bin Laden office of origin, basically was onto these guys, the same cell, as far back as 1989, and dropped the ball not just once, not just a dozen times, but dozens and dozens of times."

Author Peter Lance says there never would have been a September 11th tragedy if there hadn't been an earlier bombing of the World Trade Center in 1992 and that could have been prevented if the FBI had arrested the professional bomber Shiek Omar Abdel Rahman recruited for the job, Ramzi Yousef.

"It was absolutely possible for the FBI to have identified and stopped Yousef in the Fall of '92, as he built the bomb. If they had stopped Ramzi Yousef in 1992, they would have stopped 9/11."

Lance found more than the joint Congressional Investigating Committee did.

"What we found, and this has never been made public, was that Osama bin Laden had an effective Al Qaeda cell in Brooklyn, New York, as early as March of 1991. Osama bin Laden directly bankrolled the original World Trade Center bombing operation, and Osama bin Laden directly bankrolled 9/11."

Lance says the FBI had an informant close to the group, Emad Salem, who reported he heard whispers about a bomb plot but that interoffice squabbling at the Bureau forced Salem to quit, leaving with a chilling warning.

"The last thing Emad Salem said to Nancy Floyd, his control agent, before he left, was, "don't call me when the bombs go off."

There'll be more from Peter Lance, author of 100 Years for Revenge International Terrorism and the FBI on tonight's CBS Evening News and a response to the charges he makes from the FBI.