Able Danger: Short Time-line

[jsamuel]

The newspapers have recently mentioned Able Danger identifying the 9/11 hijackers in 2000. This has now been confirmed by 2 sources and is supposed to be also supported by 2 Republicans in congress. Some have thought of Clinton in 2000 and think that is where this stops, but it is much more complicated. More has come out recently.

In order to summarize, I have a small time-line:

• Able Danger starts "mining data" in 1999.


• Able Danger discovered the 9/11 hijackers in mid-2000.


• Able Danger tried to inform the FBI.


• Military lawyers told Able Danger that they cannot tell the FBI because the hijackers were in the US legally.


• The hijackers were not in the US legally.


• The hijackers got visa’s quickly (Oct) after the military didn’t allow the passing of information to the FBI.


• Bush is inaugurated January 2001.


• Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill reports that the Bush admin is having meetings about invading Iraq.


• Able Danger is untimely terminated in February 2001.


• August 2001, memo to Bush states “Bin Laden determined to strike in US”.


• 9/11

The Pentagon is denying that they have any information regarding this, but there are multiple sources coming out with this information. This leads me to believe that the Pentagon either no longer has the information or thinks there is something in it that should not become public knowledge.

[snot]

1. Kick nt

[Must_B_Free]

2. What they are trying to tell is is LIHOP

Now a second officer confirms the story today.

[shraby]

3. Seems really odd to me, if

they didn't pass the info on where did all the knowledge about who hijacked the planes come from...they had the pictures, full names, where they had been staying in the U.S., that they had taken flying lessons in the U.S. and all within a couple of days after 9/11. Someone was watching them..or helping them.

[jsamuel]

4. one person said that there were reports that the hijackers were in a US

military base before 2000 in Florida.

US Senator investigated, but the base would not tell him if they were there or not.

So this part is unconfirmed, but not debunked either.

[EC]

26. Since the hi-jackers got Visa's shortly after

AbleDanger wanted to pass info and was fired, I'm wondering if it is indicating or pointing to a someone in the CIA or PNAC helped them get their VISAs?

[jsamuel]

27. here is an article from abc showing that the VISA's were done suspiciously

Sloppy State Dept. Paper Work Let Sept. 11 Hijackers Into the U.S.
<snip>
The pattern? None of the 15 applications reviewed was filled out properly.

Brothers Wail and Waleed al Shehri applied together in October 2000. Under "occupation" Wail wrote "teater;" brother Waleed claimed "student." The name and address of alleged employer and school was listed as "South City," and the questionable U.S. destination named as "Wasantwn." Visas approved.

Abdulaziz Alomari claimed to be a student but didn't name a school; claimed to be married but didn't name a spouse; under nationality and gender, he didn't list anything. Visa approved.

Three months later, Alomari followed his friend Mohamed Atta through airport security … heading for the World Trade Center. Khalid Al Mihdhar, who helped crash the plane into the Pentagon, simply listed "Hotel" as his U.S. destination — no name, no city, no state — but no problem getting a visa.
<snip>

http://www.wanttoknow.info/021023abc.orig

[EC]

29. I wonder if Fitzgerald is digging this far back.. n/t

[jsamuel]

30. hmmm... I don't think so

but one can hope the media will eventually pick up on the obvious

[wli]

5. where's the "protected" heroin smuggling in here? n/t

[radwriter0555]

6. Maybe they can explain how the hijackers were training legally at US air

bases, military ones no less, if no one in the intel services knew about it?

Shortly after September 11, several US news outlets reported that Saeed Alghamdi—named as taking part in the hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in western Pennsylvania—had taken courses at the Defense Language Institute, the US military’s primary foreign language facility, where Butler was a leading officer overseeing students (essentially, dean of students).

Alghamdi, a 41-year-old Saudi national, was one of several alleged hijackers, including accused ringleader Mohamed Atta, who reportedly trained at US military facilities, according to a series of articles published between September 15 and 17 in the Washington Post, Newsweek magazine, the New York Times and several other newspapers.

On September 15, Newsweek reported: “U.S. military sources have given the FBI information that suggests five of the alleged hijackers of the planes used in Tuesday’s terror attacks received training at secure U.S. military installations in the 1990s.”

The magazine said that Saeed Alghamdi was among three who had taken flight training at the Navy Air Station in Pensacola, Florida—known as the “cradle of US Navy aviation”—which also administers training of foreign aviation students for the Navy. The magazine, citing “a high-ranking Pentagon official” as its source, reported that two others—both former Saudi air force pilots who had come to the US—also attended such facilities. One received tactical training at the Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama and the other language training at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

Over the next few days, more detailed information appeared in several other newspapers. A September 16 article in the New York Times reported: “Three of the men identified as the hijackers in the attacks on Tuesday have the same names as alumni of American military schools, the authorities said today. The men were identified as Mohamed Atta, Abdulaziz al-Omari and Saeed al-Ghamdi.

“The Defense Department said Mr. Atta had gone to the International Officers School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama; Mr. al-Omari to the Aerospace Medical School at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas; and Mr. al-Ghamdi to the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio in Monterey, Calif.”

The Knight Ridder news service also reported that Saeed Alghamdi had been to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey and the Associated Press cited Air Force sources indicating that more than one of the hijackers may have received language training at the installation.

The media dropped the story after the Air Force officials issued a cursory statement aimed at preventing any further inquiry into links between the US military and the terrorists. While acknowledging that some of the suspected terrorists “had similar names to foreign alumni of U.S. military courses,” the statement said discrepancies in biographical information, such as birth dates and name spellings, “indicate we are probably not talking about the same people.” Without providing any substantiation, the statement suggested the hijackers may have stolen the identities of foreign military personnel who received training at the bases.

Following this less than convincing explanation, the Air Force refused to release the ages, countries of origin or any other information about the individuals whose names matched those of the alleged hijackers—making it virtually impossible to verify the claim that these were not the same individuals.

Attorney General John Ashcroft and the FBI also refused to make public any information. Asked by Florida Senator Bill Nelson whether any of the hijackers were trained at the Pensacola base, the Justice Department refused to give a definitive answer, and the FBI said it could not respond until it could “sort through something complicated and difficult,” according to the senator’s representative.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jun2002/offi-j21_prn.shtml

[jsamuel]

7. kick

[jsamuel]

8. kick

[jsamuel]

9. goodmorning Stephanie

[jsamuel]

10. another

:kick:

[Roland99]

11. Zoinks!

:scared:

[jsamuel]

12. yeah, tip of the iceberg

[robertpaulsen]

13. They can't blame the Clenis anymore!

Check this story out:

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 obsesses with Osama Bin Laden and HE was the guy the neo-con moles did not want to know 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.

more...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/8/24/124834/678

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4447706

[jsamuel]

15. wow, that is good evidence there

[robertpaulsen]

16. I thought the post-its over Mohammed Atta's face was revealing.

I think we've clearly moved from excusing US involvement in 9/11 as negligence to COVER-UP.

[jsamuel]

17. Yeah, "The Great Post-its Cover Up"

[mzmolly]

20. OMG.

:scared:

[eridani]

25. So, has anyone contacted Richard Clarke about this?

Or Joe Wilson?

[Igel]

35. Good grief.

It's no longer necessary for somebody to say he didn't hear about it. Now his merely not mentioning something is ironclad proof that he never heard about it.

Gone are the comments such as 'The Commander in Chief is responsible for everything done under him', or 'Obviously they must have known about it ... they're just not talking.' Or even, 'It doesn't matter they deny it ... they knew; denial = admission.'

[ck4829]

14. More here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4449690&mesg_id=4449690

[mom cat]

18. Gee! Blame it on the Clinton admin...what a novel idea!

[Beam Me Up]

19. Finally. "Incompetence" can no longer mask their TREASON. n/t

[Gelliebeans]

21. Thank you for the summary

I have had a terrific headache for about 3 days and I wanted to start reading all the Able Danger threads but the daunting task can now be put off until later because you have conveniently surmised the time line. :)

:yourock:

[jsamuel]

22. Yeah, there is a lot more to this than in this post too, but I wanted to

keep it short with only info that has been completely validated by the 2 sources.

[Nothing Without Hope]

23. Rumsfeld and his Pentagon stooges had a role in planning 9/11. n/t

[jsamuel]

24. hmmm

[txindy]

28. Thanks for the summary

The part about the hijackers getting visas after Able Danger was told by the military that they were here legally is very unsettling, to say the least.

[jsamuel]

31. yeah, and that they got them despite listing "Hotel" as their destination

pretty bad stuff

[jsamuel]

32. small kick

:kick:

[seemslikeadream]

33. What do ya think of this post jsamuel?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4447706&mesg_id=4452908


vickitulsa (198 posts) Thu Aug-25-05 06:48 AM
Response to Reply #4
21. Okay, it appears the name "Shaffer" led to some confusion.
But as I searched for contact info on the Able Danger intel person I saw on the news shows, thinking he was probably the Michael Shaffer mentioned in the article referenced in this thread, I came across some very interesting stuff.

Not contact info -- yet, anyway -- but at least one Website where these issues re Able Danger are being discussed currently and in some depth.

Check out this piece.

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/abledanger.asp

At least I'm hoping that link gets you to what I just read. Here is a bit of the article:


Sadly, The 9/11 Commission Has Failed Every American

By Douglas J. Hagmann, Director (My note: He is director of something called the Northeast Intelligence Network.)

19 August 2005: Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer is a true American patriot of great character and integrity. Placing the unbridled truth over potential negative career ramifications and harassment, the Army intelligence officer yesterday publicly charged that the unit in which he worked had identified two al Qaeda cells inside the U.S. and 9/11 ringleader Mohamed Atta more than a year before the terrorist attacks. Properly handled, according to Lt. Colonel Shaffer, that information might have prevented the terror attacks.

Lt. Col. Shaffer stated that his unit, code-named Able Danger, provided this very information to the 9/11 commission headed by former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean; nonetheless, the commission failed to include any reference to this vital information in its final report.

... Also missing from the final report are any references to declassified documents proving that State Department analysts repeatedly warned the Clinton administration as early as 1996 that Osama bin Laden posed a major threat to U.S. interests.

From an outright lie to a twisting of the facts and onward to a minimization of the “significance” of the data, the 9/11 commission continues to fail every American citizen to cover their own failings and political cover-ups.

~*~*~*~*~

Now this clarifies my muddled memory of the guy I saw interviewed on several news programs not long ago -- one of them being Wolf Blitzer's show. I had not been certain if he was a CIA operative or a military intel person since I knew I'd heard the man MENTION the CIA, at least. However, the Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer cited in the article at this URL is the one I heard blowing open the doors on national TV with information about Able Danger.

Fits my memory in several respects, actually. I was certain I had fixed his rank -- Lt. Colonel -- in my mind as well as his surname. When a CIA operative named Michael Shaffer was mentioned in the piece originally referenced in this thread, I thought maybe I'd been mistakenly recalling the guy I saw to be military when he was actually CIA. I didn't think they had a "Lt. Colonel" rank in the CIA!

BUT -- I believe the man I saw wore a military uniform in his appearances on the TV news shows. That's something ya don't generally mistake for anything else, even though I'm legally blind so my vision is not good. I also remember that I felt some grave concern for the man's career security seeing as how he was going public with information that SOME very powerful people apparently did NOT want to see made public.

So I'll stop here and see if some of you can check this article out and give us your take on it.

But that's the deal -- I am now certain the intel person I saw just a few days ago on television was Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, NOT Michael Shaffer of the CIA.

Thanks for bearing with me as I sort this out!

~VV

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[jsamuel]

34. hmmm... could be CIA... that would explain a couple of things...

like why they are coming out with it when they are tired of being blamed for things by the admin...

[jsamuel]

38. on second thought, I don't think this is coming from CIA, but from INSIDE

the Pentagon or DoD


Only some people want this to get out...

some...

[jsamuel]

36. IT IS BEING LEAKED NOW BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO GIVE US HINTS

ABOUT 9/11!!!!

http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=558226&nid=251

"Every time I've talked to the Army they've said tell the truth. There have been other conversations that I have had with other elements of the DoD, and I think you all have seen some of this in the press where there was a whisper campaign and some other not so subtle means of dissuasion -- kind of put out there to wave people off this." --Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer (emphasis mine)

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, does want to know more about the Able Danger unit. He has asked the FBI to hand over all information related to it.

[underpants]

37. Kick

:kick:

[Az_lefty]

39. I never really bought into the LIHOP/MIHOP theories before...

but this is just unreal. Hope Fitz is digging into this.
:hide: