More To Able Danger Than Meets The Eye
The intelligence team of Able Danger is back in the news today. It has been in the news since it was first revealed that the 9/11 Commission chose to overlook the team. The Commission claimed it had very little significance in history. Well, that would be all well and good, except that Able Danger will not go away, and more information keeps coming out about it.
WASHINGTON — The military intelligence official who first spoke publicly about Able Danger, the pre-Sept. 11 task force looking for terror threats to the United States, went to Capitol Hill Thursday to brief staffers who work for Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A congressional source told FOX News that hearings could be in the cards this fall over Able Danger's findings and its omission from the Sept. 11 commission's report issued last year. Neither Specter's office nor Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who made the explosive allegations, would confirm a plan for hearings.
That is from FOX News, as is this.
The former chairman of the Sept. 11 commission said in a telephone interview that he believes the onus is on the Pentagon to do a speedy evaluation of the claims by Shaffer and others that lead hijacker Mohamed Atta and three other hijackers had been identified one year before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
"The files are in the possession of the Defense Department, so really nobody else besides the administration can get to the bottom of it ... if there exists a file on Able Danger," said Chairman Tom Kean.
Whoa. Hold on. How is it now on DoD’s back to confirm this? The 9/11 Commission could also get to the bottom of this. They are still assembled. Should there need to be further investigations, they can do it. Personally, I am in favor of Congressional hearings into how badly they botched the job. We already know the Commission refused to go back too far in history, more than likely to protect the non-legacy of Pres. Clinton.
I am sure the Left will throw an irate hissy fit over that. We should just forget about him, and move on, right? Right? I think not. Whether the Left gets this or not, Pres. Clinton had a serious hand in 9/11. He can go on Larry King Dead, or Beat the Press, or any other show and proclaim to the world that terrorism was job #1 at his White House. However, the facts speak much differently. People who worked for him during his administration even claim that Washington’s approach to terror was a joke.
Dick Morris came straight out and stated that Clinton did not want to address the terror issue. He did not want to get his hands dirty. He preferred to launch a missile at an abandoned terrorist camp in Afghanistan, and proclaim victory over al-Qaeda. Yeah. There you go, Bubba. They are on the run now.
"If Atta's name is mentioned, you send off a host of fire alarms, neon lights, people's hair gets on fire and you're going to find out what that's all about. But you also need evidence, you can't just say here's my recollection of something I thought I saw in a notebook. You've got to say, 'Here is the chart,'" Roemer said.
Able Danger was not included in the final commission report because three separate commission requests did not yield Pentagon documents that could confirm that a military unit had identified any of the future hijackers, Kean said.
"We'll be mad as hell frankly if stuff was withheld from us. That would be terrible. So I, you know, until we have the answer from the administration, I don't think anybody is in a position to say something is true or not true," Kean said.
You will be mad? How mad do you think America will be? How mad do you think the victim’s families will be? I can give everyone a heads up here. If this team is proven to be authentic, and they did have a link to Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers, then the ire should go directly to the Clinton administration. Able Danger was working during the time he was in office, and supposedly tried, on three separate occasions, to inform the FBI about Atta. Each time they tried, DoD lawyers told them they could not talk to the FBI.
And that would be another focal point in the Congressional hearing. WHY was there a wall erected between the FBI and the CIA, DIA, and the DoD? There has to be a reason, and we at the Asylum want Jamie Gorelick under oath and answering that question. As the deputy Attorney General in the Clinton administration, she put the wall up. She is the primary person to put these retarded measures in place. In essence, she helped perpetuate 9/11 by refusing to allow our intelligence agencies to share information.
There needs to be hearings. Everyone warned that if Congress had launched a 9/11 investigation that partisanship would have been the norm. Well, what did we get with the 9/11 Commission? The Commission stated that the CIA and FBI failed both Pres. Clinton and Pres. Bush. Yet, the woman that helped make that failure come true was sitting on the commission. And there was plenty of controversy on the panel alone. Gorelick was not the only one. Everyone on the Commission had some little secret or connection to something that could have been seen as a conflict of interest. From connections to airlines to connections to the hierarchy of either party’s national committee, the Commission was far from non-partisan.
And we are not saying that a Congressional Hearing would be non-partisan. However, with the information that has been released thus far over the last couple of weeks, someone has to check this out. Rep. Curt Weldon made the accusations that the 9/11 Commission had declined to recognize Able Danger. Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer has stepped forward to vouch for Weldon’s claims, as well as revealing himsefl as Weldon’s source. What remains in question, after reviewing what the 9/11 Commission stated, is whether or not the Pentagon can prove this. Both sides have things to prove. Maybe Congress can get to the bottom of it. Regardless, something has to be done. This is our security being screwed around with.
The Bunny ;)
UPDATE: Dafydd over at Captain's Quarters has some new information regarding Jamie Gorelick, and her involvement in the Able Danger issue, which is starting to form a much bigger picture of just how badly the 9/11 Commission failed in truly finding the truth about 9/11. The relevant links are below--one to a new WSJ article, and the other to Dafydd's post.
Point being on this issue is there are far more questions popping than answers, and WE at the Asylum join Capt. Ed, Dafydd, and others in calling for Gorelick to be sworn in, and that she testify about why she raised the wall higher. The wall was raised during the height of terrorist activities against the US and her interests abroad. And as our comment moderator, Mistress Pundit, pointed out, when it comes to national security, there should be no reason why our intelligence agencies cannot share relevant, pertinent intelligence when it matters most.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004956
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/005258.php
I highly recommend both be read.
The Bunny ;)
The intelligence team of Able Danger is back in the news today. It has been in the news since it was first revealed that the 9/11 Commission chose to overlook the team. The Commission claimed it had very little significance in history. Well, that would be all well and good, except that Able Danger will not go away, and more information keeps coming out about it.
WASHINGTON — The military intelligence official who first spoke publicly about Able Danger, the pre-Sept. 11 task force looking for terror threats to the United States, went to Capitol Hill Thursday to brief staffers who work for Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A congressional source told FOX News that hearings could be in the cards this fall over Able Danger's findings and its omission from the Sept. 11 commission's report issued last year. Neither Specter's office nor Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, who made the explosive allegations, would confirm a plan for hearings.
That is from FOX News, as is this.
The former chairman of the Sept. 11 commission said in a telephone interview that he believes the onus is on the Pentagon to do a speedy evaluation of the claims by Shaffer and others that lead hijacker Mohamed Atta and three other hijackers had been identified one year before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
"The files are in the possession of the Defense Department, so really nobody else besides the administration can get to the bottom of it ... if there exists a file on Able Danger," said Chairman Tom Kean.
Whoa. Hold on. How is it now on DoD’s back to confirm this? The 9/11 Commission could also get to the bottom of this. They are still assembled. Should there need to be further investigations, they can do it. Personally, I am in favor of Congressional hearings into how badly they botched the job. We already know the Commission refused to go back too far in history, more than likely to protect the non-legacy of Pres. Clinton.
I am sure the Left will throw an irate hissy fit over that. We should just forget about him, and move on, right? Right? I think not. Whether the Left gets this or not, Pres. Clinton had a serious hand in 9/11. He can go on Larry King Dead, or Beat the Press, or any other show and proclaim to the world that terrorism was job #1 at his White House. However, the facts speak much differently. People who worked for him during his administration even claim that Washington’s approach to terror was a joke.
Dick Morris came straight out and stated that Clinton did not want to address the terror issue. He did not want to get his hands dirty. He preferred to launch a missile at an abandoned terrorist camp in Afghanistan, and proclaim victory over al-Qaeda. Yeah. There you go, Bubba. They are on the run now.
"If Atta's name is mentioned, you send off a host of fire alarms, neon lights, people's hair gets on fire and you're going to find out what that's all about. But you also need evidence, you can't just say here's my recollection of something I thought I saw in a notebook. You've got to say, 'Here is the chart,'" Roemer said.
Able Danger was not included in the final commission report because three separate commission requests did not yield Pentagon documents that could confirm that a military unit had identified any of the future hijackers, Kean said.
"We'll be mad as hell frankly if stuff was withheld from us. That would be terrible. So I, you know, until we have the answer from the administration, I don't think anybody is in a position to say something is true or not true," Kean said.
You will be mad? How mad do you think America will be? How mad do you think the victim’s families will be? I can give everyone a heads up here. If this team is proven to be authentic, and they did have a link to Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers, then the ire should go directly to the Clinton administration. Able Danger was working during the time he was in office, and supposedly tried, on three separate occasions, to inform the FBI about Atta. Each time they tried, DoD lawyers told them they could not talk to the FBI.
And that would be another focal point in the Congressional hearing. WHY was there a wall erected between the FBI and the CIA, DIA, and the DoD? There has to be a reason, and we at the Asylum want Jamie Gorelick under oath and answering that question. As the deputy Attorney General in the Clinton administration, she put the wall up. She is the primary person to put these retarded measures in place. In essence, she helped perpetuate 9/11 by refusing to allow our intelligence agencies to share information.
There needs to be hearings. Everyone warned that if Congress had launched a 9/11 investigation that partisanship would have been the norm. Well, what did we get with the 9/11 Commission? The Commission stated that the CIA and FBI failed both Pres. Clinton and Pres. Bush. Yet, the woman that helped make that failure come true was sitting on the commission. And there was plenty of controversy on the panel alone. Gorelick was not the only one. Everyone on the Commission had some little secret or connection to something that could have been seen as a conflict of interest. From connections to airlines to connections to the hierarchy of either party’s national committee, the Commission was far from non-partisan.
And we are not saying that a Congressional Hearing would be non-partisan. However, with the information that has been released thus far over the last couple of weeks, someone has to check this out. Rep. Curt Weldon made the accusations that the 9/11 Commission had declined to recognize Able Danger. Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer has stepped forward to vouch for Weldon’s claims, as well as revealing himsefl as Weldon’s source. What remains in question, after reviewing what the 9/11 Commission stated, is whether or not the Pentagon can prove this. Both sides have things to prove. Maybe Congress can get to the bottom of it. Regardless, something has to be done. This is our security being screwed around with.
The Bunny ;)
UPDATE: Dafydd over at Captain's Quarters has some new information regarding Jamie Gorelick, and her involvement in the Able Danger issue, which is starting to form a much bigger picture of just how badly the 9/11 Commission failed in truly finding the truth about 9/11. The relevant links are below--one to a new WSJ article, and the other to Dafydd's post.
Point being on this issue is there are far more questions popping than answers, and WE at the Asylum join Capt. Ed, Dafydd, and others in calling for Gorelick to be sworn in, and that she testify about why she raised the wall higher. The wall was raised during the height of terrorist activities against the US and her interests abroad. And as our comment moderator, Mistress Pundit, pointed out, when it comes to national security, there should be no reason why our intelligence agencies cannot share relevant, pertinent intelligence when it matters most.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004956
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/005258.php
I highly recommend both be read.
The Bunny ;)
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 10:06 AM
1 Comments:
Bunny,
Again, an excellent post. You are correct that there are arguments from both sides of this issue. Was what Able Danger discovered really relevant to 9/11, or not? This is just one of many questions that should be asked.
And I agree that it is time for Congress to step in and take a close look at this.
The 9/11 Commission was established to determine where the failures were which led up to 9/11. They concluded that the FBI and the CIA failed in their jobs to protect this nation. That's fine, but they failed to address WHY they failed.
Jamie Gorelick expanded the wall of separation between foreign and domestic intelligence agencies. Contrary to popular belief, she did not erect it, as Atty. Gen. Ashcroft recanted later. But in matters of national security--such as the allegations made by Rep. Weldon and Able Danger--I fail to see why the intelligence couldn't have been shared. We are talking about national security.
We are also talking about people here in this nation that were not citizens. This is something the Left keeps forgetting. If one is not a citizen of the United States, they are not entitled to the Constitutional protections bestowed to citizens.
If this is the real Mohammed Atta (and I have read arguments that it wasn't; it was another Atta connected to the Abu Nidal movement)then why were the intelligence agencies not informed. We knew during the Clinton administration that al-Qaeda was an enemy to this nation. Atta was a known member of al-Qaeda. If he was in this nation, it wasn't for vacation.
Congress can get to the bottom of this. But to do so, they have to put their partisanship up on a shelf, and do what is right for the country.
I know that that sort of wish has a snowball's chance in hell of ever happening.
Mistress Pundit
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