Three more assert Pentagon knew of 9/11 ringleader

[deminks]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three more people associated with a secret U.S. military intelligence team have asserted that the program identified September 11 ringleader Mohammed Atta as an Al Qaeda suspect inside the United States more than a year before the 2001 attacks, the
Pentagon said on Thursday.

The Pentagon said a three-week review had turned up no documents to back up the assertion, but did not rule out that such documents relating to the classified operation had been destroyed.

Downs said that three more people, as well as Phillpott and Shaffer, recalled the existence of an intelligence chart identifying Atta by name. Four of the five recalled a photo of Atta accompanying the chart, Downs said.

Pentagon officials declined to identify the three by name, but said they were an analyst with the military's Special Operations Command, an analyst with the Land Information Warfare Assessment Center and a contractor who supported the center.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050901/pl_nm/security_attacks_pentagon_dc

[iconoclastic cat]

1. Well, that's a hell of a dump.

[atommom]

2. Too bad the hurricane news will distract people from this story.

It deserves more attention.

[JoFerret]

25. But George said.....

America can cope with both Iraq and Katrina.

[Maple]

3. First rule in a crisis:

dump out all the bad news you don't want people to notice.

[bowens43]

5. This is good news for bush.

This will allow the spinners to shift all of the blame to Clinton administration. He wants everyone to hear this.

[AtomicKitten]

6. You got that right.

They're already spinning, thrilled for an avenue to shift blame from their incompetent leader. This story really smells and I'm not sure what to believe.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. "Pentagon officials declined to identify the three by name"

Right. This sounds solid to me this time!

[paulthompson]

7. Hopefully, DUers will stop downplaying this story

I'm surprised by how many DUers have been skeptical of this Able Danger story, thinking it's some kind of right wing plot to discredit Clinton. That's not true. Maybe that was Representative Curt Weldon's motivation, but as the story develops it becomes clear to me that this story is just as much a problem for Bush as for Clinton, if not more so.

The Able Danger team was disbanded in Feb. 2001. That's just weeks after Bush came into office. One of the Able Danger whistleblowers stated on MNSBC's "The Big Idea" show the other night that he believes it was disbanded because their unorthodox data analysis methods were showing ties between US government officials and overseas criminal activity. As soon as Bush gets into office, he shuts this unit down. Was he trying to protect powerful people with criminal ties? We need to keep digging. The whistleblower also stated that in 2000 he was told by a two star general NOT to go after Atta or he would lose his job. It seems to me that Able Danger was on the verge of finding out some scandalous things, and I suspect that general was part of some kind of corruption.

Able Danger is not a Curt Weldon anti-Clinton fantasy. The facts fit in with everything I know about 9/11. For instance, check out the below Associated Press story from December 2001, showing that Atta WAS living in Brooklyn in the spring of 2000, just as Able Danger says, and something the 9/11 Commission whitewash has denied and continues to deny.

Investigator: Atta Visited New York Before Attacks

http://www.nctimes.net/news/2001/20011209/61522.html

NEW YORK — Mohamed Atta, suspected ringleader of the Sept. 11 terrorist hijackings, rented rooms in New York City in the spring of 2000 with another hijacker, a federal investigator said. Authorities learned of their stay in New York while retracing the hijackers' steps before the attacks, according to the investigator, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Investigators confirmed that Atta and the second man rented rooms in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and are trying to identify anyone who might have supported them.

Atta's trail in Brooklyn began with a parking ticket issued to a rental car he was driving, said a senior Justice Department official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

[NNN0LHI]

8. I am waiting for Weldon and his friends to produce some physical evidence

Until they do this story is :boring: .

Don

[jsamuel]

9. ummm... the physical evidence was at the pentagon... it isn't anymore

that should tell you how important this is that the BUSH Pentagon doesn't want this to get out

[NNN0LHI]

11. ummm...that is what confirmed liar Kurt Weldon is saying

That tells me more than I need to know. It should be enough for you too.

Don

[paulthompson]

20. Forget Curt Weldon

He is a right wing loonie with ties to the Moonies and all that. But he was just passing on what whistleblowers said, and now we're hearing from the whistleblowers directly. Not just one person, but five now. Able Danger was a small team of ten people are less. It's what those people say that matter, not what the paper trail says, because the paper trail can be destroyed. Read Sen. Bob Graham's book on 9/11, Intelligence Matters. In it, he describes how the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry aaaaaalllmost missed the fact that two of the 9/11 hijackers had an FBI informant for a landlord because the FBI was hiding all the information relating to it. To this day, they still won't let anyone speak to the landlord.

We've seen the same pattern over and over again - coverup and lies. The people I trust the most are the whistleblowers. There will be Congressional hearings on this soon, and they will testify, either with their face to the camera or behind a screen. Hopefully then we'll know more. But to say this is all a Curt Weldon lie is absurd when so many from the Able Danger team are coming forward.

[StrafingMoose]

34. Is Shaffer under pressure?

Would you have seen him mention this at all in some kind of interview?

I think he's still on the payroll of the military and he's not smeared as a conspiracy nut either.

So that would mean that is very credible and nobody dares 'touch' him, or maybe he was _told_ to go out with this information?

Looking at the kind of 'protection' (FBI investigation stiffling, same thing with Able Danger's 'lawyers') Atta seems to have enjoyed, he definitely looks like he was 'brought into' US soil.

[ursacorwin]

10. it's been a while

since i've steeped myself in all the 9/11 BFEE lit, but i think it's important to remember that when we speak of clinton vs bush and the differences and responsibilities, we have to remember that clinton respected the Rule of Law, whereas the BFEE since iran-contra and before has done all to forget it.

if atta had been busy during clinton's watch, perhaps the reason he wasn't arrested had to do with the fact that there was a developing investigation going on, and more evidence was needed. these things, properly done, do take time.

of course bush shut it all down and fired anyone related to real terrorism when he took office. i think most people here know why, and what results he wanted/expected.

but i'm sorry, i will not believe that clinton was in any way acting like those who run this country now. he wasn't perfect, but he sure as hell wasn't out to make war on the middle east's only secular nation to enrich his buddies, or free poppy growers in af'stan to conduct robust business again. that's all on bush.

[KittyWampus]

12. indeed, you don't arrest a suspect who can lead you to more solid evidence

to prove your case.

[StrafingMoose]

36. The investigation "stifflers" and those...

who interfere with transfer of information are not necesarily Clinton. Were possibly talking about people who don't even get elected.

[seemslikeadream]

15. I'm with ya paul

lookin good on CSPAN yesterday :hi:




BUDDY BUDDY

DO THE MATH

24 MINUTES

THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A MILITARY ORDER

http://www.bushflash.com/buddy.html



Senate May Hold Hearings on Able Danger, Info Sharing

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1727804&mesg_id=1727804

post by robertpaulsen

Able Danger is a Pandora's Box that will blow up in the RW's face.
Re-open the 9/11 investigation? BRING IT ON! Here's why:

So the responsibility for stopping DIA program Able Danger, which had Identified Atta and 3 other hijackers and linked them to 56 other al-Queda terrorists overseas, has been laid at the feet of Bill Clinton--except he and Richard Clarke were never told about it at all.

That's right. Bill Clinton was never told about Able Danger and the ID of Atta because Richard Clarke was never told about AD. How do I know? He never wrote about it in his book, nor did he testify about it's existence before the 9-11 Commission!

You see Richard Clarke was known for being obsessed with Osama Bin Laden and HE was the guy the neo-con moles did not want to find out about Atta and the gang. Schoomaker and the neo-cons knew telling the FBI would inform Clarke and then Mr. Laser Beam himself, President of the United State William Jefferson Clinton, would have gotten involved--and the Pearl Harbor-type attack would never take place (the neo-cons talked about the need for a Pearl Harbor-type attack before the PNAC Plan would be accepted by the American people--so when one presented itself, they let it happen).

General Pete Schoomaker, who were later heavily rewarded by the neo-cons in the Bush Administration, blocked the upward motion of the DIA information by having Shaffer and Philpott meet with Pentagon lawyers opinions--lawyers who were rubberstamping ridiculous legal opinions to carry out the neo-con plan. These certain people were neo-cons in the Clinton Administration, covertly carrying out the PNAC plan to let a Pearl Harbor-type attack occur so Iraq and 6 other countries could be invaded.


MUST READ - RE: ABLE DANGER INFO
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4447706

Hopsicker: Able Danger Intel Exposed "Protected" Heroin Trafficking
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x149481

Able Danger: Short Time-line
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4441903

Was Able Danger Shut Down After It Detected Condi-PRC Spy Ring?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4494524

Congressman Weldon -- Why now? Why ever?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4500623

[paulthompson]

23. Thanks

:)

[Psyop Samurai]

21. Thanks for your perspective, Paul & SLD

I've had a similar sense of this, and have felt the need to focus on it, but have thus far had difficulty wrapping my brain around it. Am watching and bookmarking though.

[Frederik]

28. Thank you, Paul

Why am I not surprised by the knee-jerk reaction that "it's all a lie" because it happened while Clinton was president. The Able Danger story is very important, I think. As you say, it fits in with other things we know. Hopsicker said the same: it's corroboration of what he has known for three years.

Many DUers, sadly, would rather trust the Kean omission commission.

And believe me folks, the evidence here is not pointing in the direction of Bill Clinton, no matter what Rush might say. The Bush administration shut down this programme immediately after taking office.

[paulthompson]

33. Yes

Keep in mind that Able Danger had eight months to follow up on the Atta information during Bush's administration, but instead the program was shut down as soon as Bush came to office. Very damning, IMHO.

[DemInDistress]

35. Fred..that statement would make for a good poll

question,"many DUers sadly would rather trust the Kean omission commission".

How about,"Do you believe the Whitehouse Official Story" the 911 re-
port? Yes?No..Personaly I don't accept the Kean cover up..

[Roland99]

13. LIHOP/MIHOP, indeed! Only a matter of time before Sibel gets to tell all.

[goforit]

14. Most definitely!!....PNAC always hiding who OBL really works for.

And Mihop is the motive to destroy all evidence.

[cascadiance]

24. There's another interview that discusses Sibel's and other related issues.

on Scott Horton's interviews this weekend with both Karen Kwiatkowski and Philip Giraldi. For MP3 archive links go to:

http://www.weekendinterviewshow.com/

Hoping a transcript for these show up soon. Hard to not have these info pieces drowned out this weekend.

[Trevelyan]

32. Please don't forget to visit Sibel Edmonds' site

JUST A CITIZEN.COM, she requested that people post her site on as many boards as possible.

She also wrote an Article entitled "I'm Just Gagged, I'm Not Dead" and the article ends with that phrase but she adds "Yet".

It offers her a measure of protection if people visit her site often, sign her petition to lift the gag order and write to their Congressperson to fight to lift the gag order.

Even with the gag order, Sibel asks very sharp questions for people who have read about 911 to think about and some of the interviews and letters to Congress and to Kean on her site are very interesting.

I hope she is well and to keep our Whistleblowers safe we need to help them when we can and she has specifically requested visits to her site JUSTACITIZEN.COM

[babylonsister]

16. This is great-made my night!

Interspersed between the death and destruction of Katrina and the ineptitude of this admin, now I can concentrate on the fact that they selected and directed where info went PRIOR to the blivet even getting 'selected'.
It did happen; info was manipulated way before this fucking idiot blivet even got into office. Now, how do we get him out?

[Mnemosyne]

17. .

:kick:

[faithnotgreed]

18. kick

[ShockediSay]

19. So this means that from day 1

So this means that from day 1, this administration had knowledge of Atta.

I remember! They were intent on tax cuts at the time.

[ngGale]

22. This one just might come back....

and bite them on the butt. On top of NOLA this will not go down well for *.

[Ernesto]

26. Talk & think DUers!....... kick!

[bribri16]

27. McKinney hearings really connect these dots. Must see. n/t

[Igel]

29. It's a case where the crap will hit just about everybody.

Why did the lawyers hush it up ... *before* the election? Hard to blame * on that one, and we're left with a neocon conspiracy. Plus the stated rationale seems more plausible than any other that I've seen offered. The 9/11 commission dealt with this rationale explicitly.

Data mining proposals were made under *. They were met with protest from civil libertarians of all stripes, but dems were the most vocal. But that's what picked up the 9/11 names. Hype Able Danger, and you hype data mining.

One RW source adds that one of the sources was (overseas?) mosque attendance lists bought from information brokers. If so, it means they were engaged in what's erroneously called "racial profiling" ("religious profiling" is more like it). How would we have accepted this information in summer 2000?

There were various subcontracts for Able Danger. One, separate from the 9/11 connection program, used techniques that started turning up ties between Condi Rice and China. The people involved didn't say anything illegal was being done; in fact, the explanation is that they were legitimate connections. Data mining results give false positives. But that all happened pre-*, and has given rise to RW speculation about shenanigans between Clinton and China being the cause of the shutdown. (Reynolds is a non-partisan seller of fine headwear.)

The defense of Clark--he was never told--applies as well to *. In both cases, evidence would be needed that those in charge were told of the results.

Able Danger should be discussed. But it's not going to be pretty, if the Pentagon ever does find the documents. With three possible independent witnesses (and a google search will turn up two, if not all three, of them), it's hard to argue it never happened.

[Peace Patriot]

30. I am not familiar with this evidence. Is any of it independent of

Rumsfeld's Pentagon? I'm finding it hard to get past WHO is releasing this info on recent whistleblowers (the Pentagon). Just say, yes or no, there are whistleblowers and/or evidence outside of the Pentagon--and point me.

I've no doubt at all that covert Bush Cartel ops could have been going on without Clarke's or Clinton's knowledge. 9/11 was obviously carefully planned years in advance. That was no fly-by-night "suicide bombing." Carefully, carefully planned in every way. And I don't even have the slightest suspicion of Clinton or Clarke (neither of neglect nor collusion), or most Dems or Repubs, although I certainly think there is reason to suspect Cheney/Rumsfeld and their criminal gang, cabals inside the military and intelligence establishments (possibly not large ones but well-placed), the Saudis of course (Osama bin Laden turned against them, and it would be to their advantage to have him be a hunted criminal), and also Mossad (it's very much in the interest of Israel's rightwing to have the entire U.S. military now ensconced in the Middle East--probably never to be dislodged).

The Air Force standdown on 9/11 was enough to convince me that something is very, very wrong. They couldn't even protect our nation's capitol--with nearly an hour's notice? And couldn't even protect the Pentagon? And all standard procedures for hijackings failed? And no heads rolled afterwards (not even patsy heads)???

I found this staggering. I know there is lots of other quite compelling evidence that there was, at the very least, high-up insider cooperation. But the Air Force standdown really glares at you. It is so incredible, so audacious, that most Americans couldn't take it in, and can't take it in to this day. And I've always thought that that's where the crack will come from--from some AF officer or NORAD official hiding away somewhere, who finally can't stand it any more and decides to expose them--or who will come forward when there are signs that the American people have had it, and have started acting to take our country back. It may be too dangerous in the current climate, in which, even with publicity, nothing at all happens--the news monopolies permit everything to be spun--and these criminals remain in power.

To give youngsters a little perspective (I'm an oldster), the Halliburton scandals ALONE should have brought this regime down long ago--if anything in our democracy was working as it should. That alone! Or at the least should have resulted in Cheney's resignation. The thief is still receiving a million dollars a year from Halliburton! It's beyond the beyond. That alone! Nothing else. And that's just the tip of the polar ice cap.

To any of us who remember Watergate, or the "vicuna coat" scandal in Ike's administration (--Ike's chief of staff's wife's acceptance of a vicuna coat got the chief of staff fired), or Nixon's "Checkers' speech" (re: Nixon claimed that their dog Checkers was the only gift he received as a Congressman, with $18,000 in gifts at issue--peanuts = major scandal), or the demise of House Majority leader (Dem-TX) Jim Wright over a book deal, or Iran-Contra (where at least some of the underlings in an illegal war got prosecuted), the corruption of the Bush Cartel is MIND-BOGGLING. The checks and balances in our system are GONE! No one is held accountable for ANYTHING (except for phony charges against someone like Calif Dem Sec of State Kevin Shelley, who had sued Bush's buddies at the Diebold electronic voting machine company and decertified their election theft machines before the 2004 election--he got booted for, literally, NOTHING--while the corrupt Dems and Repubs who have sold away our right to vote remain in power).

The INCREDIBLE SCANDAL of our entire air protection system TOTALLY FAILING on 9/11 SHOULD HAVE engendered a HUGE investigation, with the country and the media and president and the congress NOT RESTING until we knew WHY--and WHO was responsible. That that didn't happen should have told us long ago that we are suffering a fascist coup.

[sam sarrha]

31. ASScroft refused warents for taps on 3/4 of the hijackers 8 months before