The Blue sky memo was a document authored by the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

(CIA). The premise of the memo was to describe actions the CIA should undertake if it did not have to operate under legal, financial, and political restrictions (that is to say, if the "sky were blue"). The memorandum was inspired by the USS ''Cole'' bombing, and written in the final weeks of the

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

. It was delivered to Richard A. Clarke on December 29, 2000. According to the

9/11 Commission Report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'', officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States'', is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prep ...

No action was taken on these ideas in the few remaining weeks of the Clinton administration. ational Security Adviser SandyBerger did not recall seeing or being briefed on the Blue Sky memo. Nor was the memo discussed during the transition with incoming top Bush administration officials. IA Director GeorgeTenet and his deputy told us they pressed these ideas as options after the new administration took office.
9/11 Commission Report ''The 9/11 Commission Report'', officially the ''Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States'', is the official report into the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was prep ...
, Chapter 6. ( Wikisource text)

References

Memoranda Central Intelligence Agency {{US-gov-stub