Officer Says Military Blocked Sharing of Files on Terrorists -NYT

[Rose Siding]

A military intelligence team repeatedly contacted the F.B.I. in 2000 to warn about the existence of an American-based terrorist cell that included the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a veteran Army intelligence officer who said he had now decided to risk his career by discussing the information publicly.....

Colonel Shaffer said in an interview that the small, highly classified intelligence program known as Able Danger had identified the terrorist ringleader, Mohammed Atta, as well as three other future hijackers by name by mid-2000, and tried to arrange a meeting that summer with agents of the Washington field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to share its information.
....
Colonel Shaffer said that his role in Able Danger was as liaison with the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, and that he was not an intelligence analyst. The interview with Colonel Shaffer on Monday night was arranged for The New York Times and Fox News by Representative Curt Weldon, the Pennsylvania Republican who is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a champion of data-mining programs like Able Danger.
....
Colonel Shaffer said that he had provided information about Able Danger and its identification of Mr. Atta in a private meeting in October 2003 with members of the Sept. 11 commission staff when they visited Afghanistan, where he was then serving. Commission members have disputed that, saying that they do not recall hearing Mr. Atta's name during the briefing and that the name did not appear in documents about Able Danger that were later turned over by the Pentagon.

http://nytimes.com/2005/08/17/politics/17intel.html?hp&ex=1124251200&en=55bd2891c82760c6&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Chicago Democrat]

1. Great minds think alike! AMAZING ! BUSH IS GOING DOWN!

Yay

[bowens43]

2. What does this have to do with bush?

[Postman]

9. Where's Osama?

This is just more deflection, obfuscation and misdirection to keep from focusing on the total F**k up in Iraq and the escape of OBL.

[bowens43]

11. That's not how most people will see it.

[tanyev]

15. Richard Clarke was pretty clear in his book that Clinton's

outgoing administration tried over and over again to communicate to Bush's people that terrorism needed to be their top priority, but they just blew it off. We've all seen the results.

[Stephanie]

4. 2000 - They are blaming Clinton

Aren't they? They tried to schedule meetings in summer 2000? then what happened? Bush had nine months to do something about it. But they are trying to pin it on Clinton.

[librechik]

5. Exactly, this is a Right Wing False Flag operation

and has little credibility, IMO.

Talk Radio and the blogs are going crazy flogging this; don't fuel it further.

[Postman]

3. First off, IF, IF, IF this is true...

then an investigation needs to be launched, however, how is it that a US military unit is conducting counterintelligence missions inside the US proper? Is this not a violation of the Posse Commitatus (sic?)Act?

Wouldn't what "Able Danger" was allegedly doing a function of the FBI and not the military?

Curt Weldon is not exactly a reputable source for this type of information.

[fushuugi]

23. and i quote:

title 18, part I, chapter 67, § 1385. Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus

'Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.'

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001385----000-.html

was this what you meant?

[Chicago Democrat]

6. Officer Says Military Blocked Sharing of Files on Terrorists

August 17, 2005
Officer Says Military Blocked Sharing of Files on Terrorists
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 - A military intelligence team repeatedly contacted the F.B.I. in 2000 to warn about the existence of an American-based terrorist cell that included the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a veteran Army intelligence officer who said he had now decided to risk his career by discussing the information publicly.

The officer, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, said military lawyers later blocked the team from sharing any of its information with the bureau.

Colonel Shaffer said in an interview that the small, highly classified intelligence program known as Able Danger had identified the terrorist ringleader, Mohammed Atta, as well as three other future hijackers by name by mid-2000, and tried to arrange a meeting that summer with agents of the Washington field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to share its information.

But he said military lawyers forced members of the intelligence program to cancel three scheduled meetings with the F.B.I. at the last minute, which left the bureau without information that Colonel Shaffer said might have led to Mr. Atta and the other terrorists while the Sept. 11 attacks were still being planned.

http://nytimes.com/2005/08/17/politics/17intel.html?hp&ex=1124251200&en=55bd2891c82760c6&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Posted 8:35PM ET on NYTIMES

[BootinUp]

7. How about some lawyer jokes

Seems appropriate for this thread.

The devil visited a lawyer's office and made him an offer. "I can arrange some things for you, " the devil said. "I'll increase your income five-fold. Your partners will love you; your clients will respect you; you'll have four months of vacation each year and live to be a hundred. All I require in return is that your wife's soul, your children's souls, and their children's souls rot in hell for eternity."

The lawyer thought for a moment. "What's the catch?" he asked.

[jsamuel]

8. It's COMMIINNNGGGG!!!

SPLASH!

[salin]

10. are they implying October Surpise II ?

So now the military is the scape goat? And why? THe implication, per the timing, is that they wouldn't want the info to go forward (and be prosecuted and the danger ended) in 2000 (think: bushjr's election campaign). Anyone else read that this is a side implication of those pushing this story?

[DURHAM D]

12. Seems to me that this is proof that the 9/11 Commission was

fixing the facts around the policy. Nothing more and nothing less.

[BootinUp]

13. That and we had some dumb sobs

in charge of this top secret intel group.

[enough]

30. YES, as far as I can see, the real story here is that the Commission was

doing the FBI's bidding by igonoring some facts and promoting some "facts." In other words, a cover-up.

See Hopsicker's recent and current stories on this. For example:
http://64.70.236.57/08122005.html

snip>

The FBI has been telling a massive lie to the 9.11 Commission and the American people, a lie whose result has been to halt in its tracks, as a Commission spokesman freely admitted on Thursday, the investigation into the murder of almost 3000 people.

snip>

Here’s the big question nobody seems to be ready to ask: Upon what basis did the 9.11 Commission conclude that the FBI’s timeline was correct and that an elite Army Intel unit was mistaken in saying they were tracking Mohamed Atta roaming freely across America during 1999 and 2000?

snip>

Calling unwelcome attention to the massive inaccuracies in the FBI’s timeline was probably not Republican Curt Weldon’s purpose when he brought the story to light...But if his efforts to implicate Clinton Administration officials results in highlighting the FBI's incomplete and corrupt investigation, we think he get some kind of medal, maybe called the Inadvertent 'Dumb-Ass' Hero Award.

We suspect his Republican friends would much prefer to let sleeping dogs lie. Because it isn’t just one elite Army Intel unit that’s saying it... In the aftermath of the 9.11 attack numerous eyewitnesses came forward to attest to Atta’s presence.

more> a long article.


Or, even better, read DU's own leveymg in a an informative DU thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=147429

leveymg also tells the story in a very interesting diary on Daily Kos:
http://www.dailykos.com/user/leveymg

There's a lot more here than a simple bash-Clinton story.

[wakeme2008]

14. the shit is going to hit the fan

"And if these assertions are credible," Mr. Ben-Veniste continued, "the Pentagon would need to explain why it was that the 9/11 commissioners were not provided this information despite requests for all information regarding Able Danger."

Go Ben-Veniste Go.

[Jackpine Radical]

16. If the Abel Danger story was bad for Clinton,

WHY DID THE REPUG-RUN 9-11 COMMISSION BURY IT???

[Chicago Democrat]

18. If the information was known prior to 9/11 why is this ONLY Clinton's

fault? Its ridiculous. Clinton hounded Osama. Bush ignored him.

[DeepModem Mom]

17. kick

[reprobate]

19. Please don't be taken in by the fact that this was in 2000.

That it was in Clinton's term is immaterial. Just think about how long the neocons have been planning to take over the nation. Even during Bush Sr.'s term they were planning, and even issued their first documents then. In fact, Sr. called them 'radicals' and fired them from his administration.

My point is that they have been planning for a couple of decades. Do you not think that they had coconspirators in the military, the FBI, etc, etc. I know that sounds :tinfoilhat: but that's how conspiracies work. There are planners and there are those in the field who carry out the plans.

Call me a conspiracy theorist and I will gladly accept the title. It is my considered opinion that everything that has taken place in america since Jimmy Carter was in office was concieved, planned, and carried out by a small core of neocons and a larger number of their followers.

So don't let them confuse you with fingers pointed at Clinton.

It was them. Not Clinton. Not the tooth fairy.

The neocons. Traitors.

[Festivito]

24. Indeed, FBI spent more INVESTIGATING Clinton.

I find the FBI suspect anyway. The FBI stopped investigation into Moussoui's computer prior to 911.

Whether the 911 commission heard this is HE SAID, SHE SAID? Outrageous!

And, who are these military lawyers? What are their written reasons for denying this information to the president.

Clinton had high level meetings on terrorism every day. And, this never came up?!

What did Bush do with this information in early 2001? Nothing!

[MetaTrope]

25. Remember that in Summer 2001, the FBI was busy digging up landfills

Looking for evidence against Lee Wen-Ho. :eyes:

[Festivito]

29. It just couldn't have been Prescott Bush years earlier :-o\

..who gave rocket secrets to China. Just because Prescott was running a Satellite company helping the Chinese while brother GHW was president. Naw, just couldn't be. Could it. Naw. <end sarcasm>

[cal04]

20. 'Able Danger' Stopped From Informing FBI

"I don't believe they ever got all the documents, but then again I don't think that they pressed properly to get all of the documents," Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer said on CBS' "The Early Show."He says he was associated with a small intelligence unit, called "Able Danger," that had identified Atta and three of the other future Sept. 11 hijackers as al-Qaida members by mid-2000.

He said military lawyers stopped the unit from sharing the information with the
FBIout of concerns about gathering and sharing information on people in the United States legally. "What we were trying to do as good soldiers is we saw a threat, we recognized the fact that they were here in the United States and we felt we should do something even when the lawyers said we couldn't," Shaffer said.

"The problem was at the time the Special Operations Command is very secretive, quiet warriors," he said. "They like doing things quietly. I had to respect their wishes, to respect the sanctity of that information. What I tried to do was bring them together with the FBI so they could discuss this and take the appropriate action."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050817/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/sept_11_hijackers

[DeepModem Mom]

21. kick

[GoldenOldie]

22. Gen Byrnes was The Commander of the US Army Intelligence Command

The same 4-star Gen Byrnes who was recently axed by Rumsfeld??

Gen. Byrnes was the Installation Commander at Fort Huachuca, Arizona during 2000. Fort Huachuca is the Home of the Intelligence Command and the Intelligence School which trains interrogators for all the services.

I beleive Gen Byrnes was reassigned to a Training Command within the past 1-2 years. Wanna know who was promoted and took over the Intelligence Command.....General Barbara Fast. Barbara Fast was in charge of Abu Gharib. Soon after the disclosure of torture at Abu Gharib, the General was quickly returned to Fort Huachuca along with a Colonel (can't remember his name), who was also promoted to Commander of the Intelligence School a function within the Command.

Sen John McCain R-Arizona, requested that Barbara Fast not be given this promotion until she had been cleared of any taint of Abu Ghraib.
They dismissed Sen. McCains request.

Col. Schaeffer had to have been under the orders of Gen Byrnes.

Something really stinks in the Pentagon/WH. Gen Byrnes being axed for dating a woman the same day his divorce becomes final???? Me thinks the good General has integrity therefore he needed to be rid of.

[Eloriel]

27. Interesting. Got links?

Not that I doubt you, just that that would be helpful for documentation purposes.

I rather think I remember Genl Byrnes being moved to Training -- that seemed to me like a bit of a demotion at the time simpoly because of the relative importance (or cache) of the missions involved.

[DeepModem Mom]

26. kick

[Eloriel]

28. He and Colleen Rowley ought to compare notes

Soon I hope.

[okieinpain]

31. yeah, but why wasn't this presented to the 9-11 commission.

[bobbieinok]

32. Savage interviewed man who claimed he broke the story...also said

he was able to do this because he got the info from Weldon......so the whole story according to this guy comes from Weldon

and we believe everything Weldon says WHY??????