The Plot Thickens with the 'Able Danger' disclosure
Earl J. Prignitz
March 07, 2006
The plot really thickens with every disclosure that comes to the light of day. What with Rep. Curt Weldon's (R-Pa.) open hearing about the existence of an intellegence cell that may have identified the ringleaders of the Sept. 11th attacks a full year before they happened. I have heard rumors about that being the case for a long time, but now it seems that the rumors were true.
Why were there only a handfull of lawmakers present at the hearing, that was chaired by Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities? One would think that every Congress person in our capital would be concerned about this important revelation.
The top-secret, military intelligence unit known as "Able Danger" identified Mohammed Atta, the leader of the Sept. 11 hijackers, 13 times before the 2001 attacks, according to new information released Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees.
Able Danger has been identified by Weldon and team member Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer as an elite group of approximately two dozen individuals tasked with identifying and targeting the links and relationships of al Qaeda worldwide.
The Pentagon's top intelligence official clashed repeatedly with former operatives of the clandestine Able Danger program over how much the government knew about al-Qaida before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and whether ringleader Mohammed Atta had been identified long before the tragedy.
In a rare public display of bitter disputes within the close-knit military intelligence community, three members of a computer data-mining initiative code-named "Able Danger" told Congress that the Sept. 11 attacks might have been prevented if law enforcement agencies had acted on the information about al-Qaida they unearthed.
"It shocked us how entrenched of a presence al-Qaida had in the United States," former Army Maj. Erik Kleinsmith told two subcommittees of the House Armed Services Committee.
Weldon, the vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has been involved in a heated months-long crusade to shed light on a Pentagon intelligence cell called Able Danger that he says identified the now-infamous Mohamed Atta a year before the attacks. He said the cell tried to warn other government agencies about Atta's plans, but other government agencies either never received those communications or failed to act on them.
The Pennsylvania congressman grew visibly frustrated with the Pentagon officials at the hearing when he believed the information he received from Stephen Cambone, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, did not jibe with information he had received from participants in the program.
Weldon also alleged that certain whistle-blowers had been intimidated and that their careers were threatened. Cambone denied the allegation, saying: "I can assure you that no one is being subject to threats that I'm aware of."
"How can we trivialize what these people have said?" Weldon asked Cambone. "It's about just giving the story. I am not a conspiracy theorist."
"I do not understand - it is frustrating to me," he added. "I am not going to stop here. President Nixon had to resign over a third-rate burglary," while 3,000 people died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Maybe neither administration [Clinton or Bush] wants to know what happened," Weldon said. "Maybe I am offending everyone."
Yes the plot certainly does thicken with every new revelation that comes to light. Where does it lead to from here is the question?
Why were there only a handfull of lawmakers present at the hearing, that was chaired by Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities? One would think that every Congress person in our capital would be concerned about this important revelation.
The top-secret, military intelligence unit known as "Able Danger" identified Mohammed Atta, the leader of the Sept. 11 hijackers, 13 times before the 2001 attacks, according to new information released Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees.
Able Danger has been identified by Weldon and team member Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer as an elite group of approximately two dozen individuals tasked with identifying and targeting the links and relationships of al Qaeda worldwide.
The Pentagon's top intelligence official clashed repeatedly with former operatives of the clandestine Able Danger program over how much the government knew about al-Qaida before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and whether ringleader Mohammed Atta had been identified long before the tragedy.
In a rare public display of bitter disputes within the close-knit military intelligence community, three members of a computer data-mining initiative code-named "Able Danger" told Congress that the Sept. 11 attacks might have been prevented if law enforcement agencies had acted on the information about al-Qaida they unearthed.
"It shocked us how entrenched of a presence al-Qaida had in the United States," former Army Maj. Erik Kleinsmith told two subcommittees of the House Armed Services Committee.
Weldon, the vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has been involved in a heated months-long crusade to shed light on a Pentagon intelligence cell called Able Danger that he says identified the now-infamous Mohamed Atta a year before the attacks. He said the cell tried to warn other government agencies about Atta's plans, but other government agencies either never received those communications or failed to act on them.
The Pennsylvania congressman grew visibly frustrated with the Pentagon officials at the hearing when he believed the information he received from Stephen Cambone, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, did not jibe with information he had received from participants in the program.
Weldon also alleged that certain whistle-blowers had been intimidated and that their careers were threatened. Cambone denied the allegation, saying: "I can assure you that no one is being subject to threats that I'm aware of."
"How can we trivialize what these people have said?" Weldon asked Cambone. "It's about just giving the story. I am not a conspiracy theorist."
"I do not understand - it is frustrating to me," he added. "I am not going to stop here. President Nixon had to resign over a third-rate burglary," while 3,000 people died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Maybe neither administration [Clinton or Bush] wants to know what happened," Weldon said. "Maybe I am offending everyone."
Yes the plot certainly does thicken with every new revelation that comes to light. Where does it lead to from here is the question?
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