After hyping "Able Danger" Lou Dobbs ignored finding that claims were bogus

[NNN0LHI]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200609270011

Despite initially hyping "Able Danger" claims, CNN and others ignored inspector general's finding that claims were bogus

<snip>But on September 21, the Defense Department inspector general's office released the results of an internal investigation into the matter and found that Shaffer's and Weldon's claims "were not accurate." The report "determin{ed} that there is no evidence to substantiate claims that Atta's name and photograph were on charts collected by military officials before the strikes." Additionally, the inspector general's report concluded: "{W}e found no evidence to corroborate LTC Shaffer's claim that Able Danger members were prohibited by DoD officials from attending meetings he allegedly arranged with the FBI" and, as The Washington Post noted, "Previous probes by the Sept. 11 commission, the Defense Department and others turned up no evidence to support the allegations."

Yet, despite these findings, several media outlets that initially hyped the Able Danger claims have ignored the inspector general's findings:

Lou Dobbs Tonight: Dobbs gave the Able Danger allegations significant weight, devoting 35 different segments of his show to the claims from August 12, 2005, to February 17, 2006, and interviewing Able Danger supporters -- such as Weldon, Shaffer's lawyer Mark Zaid, Freeh, and journalist and author Peter Lance -- 14 different times. By contrast, those questioning Shaffer's and Weldon's claims, such as former 9-11 Commission members, former Rep. Timothy Roemer (D-IN) and former Sen. Thomas Slade Gorton (R-WA), who were interviewed a combined total of six times. Dobbs promoted Weldon's assertion that "the Able Danger scandal is bigger than Watergate," frequently referred to the allegations as "one of the greatest scandals of our time," highlighted on his show's website Weldon's petition to launch a criminal investigation into Able Danger, referred to Weldon's efforts for a congressional investigation as Weldon's "campaign for the truth about Able Danger," and even counted down the number of days since Weldon had sent his "Able Danger letter to Defense Secretary {Donald H.} Rumsfeld demanding an Able Danger hearing on Capitol Hill" and had "not received a response." By mid-February, Dobbs had tapered his Able Danger coverage, focusing more on illegal immigration or "Broken Borders"; Lou Dobbs Tonight does not appear to have reported on Able Danger since February 17.

* Despite the considerable coverage Dobbs has given to the Able Danger allegations, as of the September 26 edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight, Dobbs has not reported that the Able Danger claims have, in fact, been found to be inaccurate.

[joemurphy]

1. Lou also said he'd never forgive Fitzgerald for "what he did to

Judy Miller". After Miller was found to have feet of clay, Lou said nothing.

[NNN0LHI]

2. Remember back when one of these Lou Dobbs/"Able Danger" threads...

...would get dozens of posts and recommendations? Whats up with that?

Don

[americanstranger]

3. That's the problem I've always had with Dobbs.

He's a user. He'll grab onto a topic (like AD or his other big one, 'Broken Borders') and milk it to death with breathless reporting and 'outraged' commentary.

Never trusted the guy, still don't.

But the real deal for me on CNN (and the biggest media surprise I've seen) is Jack Cafferty. I watched him for years on WNBC here in NYC, never liked him.

But he's surprised me by actually having a sense of outrage about this administration.

- as

[Octafish]

4. Bush's IG cleared Bush's Pentagon

The original witness, and the other military officers who knew of the program, were prevented from testifying in public by their bosses in the Pentagon. I don't recall their stories, even in censored form, getting fully covered either by Corporate McPravda, progressive writers or the alternative press. So now, I'm supposed to feel bad that Bush's inspector general clears Bush's Pentagon? Sorry to say, I agree with the puke Weldon on this one: The Pentagon is giving Bush another pass.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

5. Octafish, I agree with you 100%. Thank you for stating it so well. nt

[NNN0LHI]

6. Then why isn't Lou Dobbs still saying so then?

Why doesn't Dobbs have Kurt "The Screamer" Weldon on saying just what you said?

Any ideas?

Bigger than Watergate?

And how did Weldon Of Arabia's' personal search for Iraqi WMDs turn out?

Weldon is a fucking nut.

Don

[Octafish]

7. Dunno about Dobbs. Here's what Weldon has to say about IG report...

From the puke's press release:

WELDON REJECTS DOD REPORT ON ABLE DANGER & HARASSMENT OF MILITARY OFFICER

WASHINGTON, Sep 21 - U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees, today released the following statement about the Department of Defense Inspector General (DOD IG) report on "Alleged Misconduct by Senior DoD Officials Concerning the Able Danger Program and Lieutenant Colonel Anthony A. Shaffer, U.S. Army Reserve" (pdf).

"The purpose of the DOD IG investigation was to shed light on the pressures and harassment placed on LTC Shaffer and other Able Danger team members. It was also supposed to investigate why Able Danger was glossed over by the Pentagon and why there was such a fight to get information out of the Department of Defense about Able Danger, its findings and the reasoning behind destroying crucial data about linkages and relationship of al-Qaeda prior to 9/11. The IG's report did little to answer these questions.

"The DOD IG failed to brief LTC Shaffer's lawyer before releasing the report. The contents and overall tone and scope of the report were leaked to the media before Congress was even briefed of its findings. The DOD IG failed to explain in their briefing to me and my staff how such information got out to the media. They said they would investigate, but I have very little confidence that anything will come of that. Also, the timeliness of this report, just weeks before Congressional elections, also raises serious questions about the IG's motivations.

"Acting in a sickening bureaucratic manner, the DOD IG cherry picked testimony from witnesses in an effort to minimize the historical importance of the Able Danger effort. The IG narrowly focused their investigation on the witnesses recollections of the 9/11 hijackers and a chart. The report trashes the reputations of military officers who had the courage to step forward and put their necks on the line to describe important work they were doing to track al-Qaeda prior to 9/11.

"To further substantiate the Able Danger effort, within the last three months of the DOD IG investigation, another person who recently retired from the military has come forward and corroborated the work of the Able Danger program. Additionally, another official within DOD has conducted data runs of stored pre-9/11 data that has yielded information about the Brooklyn cell.

"They do not explain why LTC Shaffer and other Able Danger principles were harassed by their superiors. Specifically, the report did not address why the Defense Intelligence Agency trumped up phony charges against LTC Shaffer in an effort to revoke his clearance. When the DOD IG briefed me, they could not account for why they failed to interview key witnesses connected to this harassment, except for claiming that these witnesses 'did not come to us' -- evidence that this was not a proactive investigation.

"The FBI agent that was tasked with setting up meetings between Able Danger and FBI officials -- meetings that were block by DOD lawyers -- was not interviewed in this report, yet it concluded that 'Able Danger members were not prohibited from sharing intelligence information with law enforcement authorities.'

"I am appalled that the DOD IG would expect the American people to actually consider this a full and thorough investigation. I question their motives and the content of this report, and I reject the conclusions they have drawn."

###

Source: http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2006/09/weldon092106.html

On a personal note: I don't like Weldon. Neither do I like Dobbs, the current Pentagon leadership or the monkey occupying the Oval Office. What I want to see from them is the truth about Able Danger. As a citizen of the United States, I am entitled to it.

[NNN0LHI]

8. Oh, I figured Weldon would not let go of this

He does strike me as quite obsessive after seeing him ranting like a maniac on 35 Lou Dobbs shows.

Don