Posted on 08/10/2005 1:05:03 AM PDT by Cougar66
WASHINGTON (AP) - Members of the commission that uncovered the government's failures to share intelligence among agencies before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks want to know whether U.S. defense intelligence officials knew for more than a year that four of the hijackers were part of an al-Qaida cell but failed to tell law enforcement. Lee Hamilton, co-chairman of the now-disbanded commission, said Tuesday that members of the Sept. 11 commission could issue a statement by the end of the week after reviewing claims that defense intelligence officials had identified ringleader Mohammed Atta and three other hijackers, .
"The 9/11 commission did not learn of any U.S. government knowledge prior to 9/11 of surveillance of Mohammed Atta or of his cell," said Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana. "Had we learned of it obviously it would've been a major focus of our investigation."
The commission's report on the terrorist attacks, released last year, traced government mistakes that allowed the hijackers to succeed. Among the problems the commission cited was a lack of coordination across intelligence agencies.
Rep. Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who serves as vice chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, said a classified military intelligence unit known as "Able Danger" identified the men in 1999.
That's an earlier link to al-Qaida than any previously disclosed intelligence about Atta if the information, which Weldon said came from multiple intelligence sources, is true.
With the 9/11 commission disbanded for a year under provisions of the legislation that created it, some of the panel's members have said congressional committees should investigate Weldon's assertions.
According to Weldon, Able Danger identified Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Khalid al-Mihdar and Nawaf al-Hazmi as members of a cell the unit code-named "Brooklyn" because of some loose connections to New York City.
Weldon said that in September 2000 Able Danger recommended that its information on the hijackers be given to the FBI "so they could bring that cell in and take out the terrorists." However, Weldon said Pentagon lawyers rejected the recommendation because they said Atta and the others were in the country legally, so information on them could not be shared with law enforcement.
Weldon did not provide details on how the intelligence officials identified the future hijackers and determined they might be part of a terrorist cell.
Defense Department documents shown to an Associated Press reporter Tuesday said the Able Danger team was set up in 1999 to identify potential al-Qaida operatives for U.S. Special Operations Command. At some point, information provided to the team by the Army's Information Dominance Center pointed to a possible al-Qaida cell in Brooklyn, the documents said.
However, because of concerns about pursuing information on "U.S. persons" - a legal term that includes U.S. citizens as well as foreigners admitted to the country for permanent residence - Special Operations Command did not provide the Army information to the FBI. It is unclear whether the Army provided the information to anyone else.
The command instead turned its focus to overseas threats.
The documents provided no information on whether the team identified anyone connected to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and Washington that killed nearly 3,000 people.
If the team did identify Atta and the others, it's unclear why the information wasn't forwarded. The prohibition against sharing intelligence on "U.S. persons" should not have applied since they were in the country on visas and did not have permanent resident status.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he was unaware of the intelligence until the latest reports surfaced.
But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the 9/11 Commission looked into the matter during its investigation into government missteps leading to the attacks and chose not to include it in the final report.
Hamilton said 9/11 Commission staff members learned of Able Danger during a meeting with military personnel in October 2003 in Afghanistan, but that the staff members do not recall learning of a connection between Able Danger and any of the four terrorists Weldon mentioned.
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Its Clinton's fault anyway.
These people are like bad pennies, aren't they? When I think of Gorelick being on this commission, I'm reminded of Colin Ferguson cross-examining his victims.
"So, then what happened?"
"Well, then YOU approached me and threatened me with YOUR pistol!"
That's because Jamie Gorelick was on the Commission and not a WITNESS UNDER OATH!!! She is THE PERSON who wrote the "MEMO" to keep agencies from SHARING INFORMATION!!!
I don't know who the Commission thinks it's fooling by trying to pretend they didn't know any of this. What a bunch of liars!
Anyone who was involved with the Clinton administration should be IN JAIL! How can ANYONE even THINK of electing HILLARY CLINTON as president?!!!
We'll never know the trVth, Sandy Berger's dog ate it.
Why does OJ looking for the real killer come to mind?
Gorelick wrote the "wall of separation" memo that kept military intelligence agencies from talking to FBI officials. Her memo was directed at the Director of the FBI and told him and his agency what they could not do.
In short, Gorelick's memo contributed to the bad result in this situation, and presumably others. She should never have been a member of the Commission. Instead, she should have been sworn as a witness and cross-examined under oath.
She is why the Commission didn't deal with this subject in its report. And she definitely doesn't want an investigation that will find her fingerprints on this failure of intelligence about Mohammed Atta.
Congressman Billybob
bttt
For goodness sake, don't ever think the 9-ll Commission will die a natural death. Not as long as there's a camera rolling, not as long as the members keep fame, glory, and CYA "I told you so", as their top priorities.
Just for the record, the following CBS News report helped me understand this "what they knew and when they knew it" crap shoot, a little better:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/09/terror/main769440_page2.shtml
excerpt: "...Despite the conflict over who knew about Atta and when, (CBS News Correspondent Wyatt) ) Andrews reports that most experts say that this kind of information would be shared today. Under the 9/11 intelligence reforms, Pentagon agents are now allowed to tip off the FBI to suspected terrorists.
The Justice Department inspector general said in a report released in June that the FBI missed at least five opportunities before the Sept. 11 attacks to piece together vital intelligence information about the terrorists. Inspector General Glenn Fine called it “a significant failure” that hindered the FBI's chances of preventing the attacks."
Now they will spin it as some clumsy mistake and the media will not question Gorelick's role in forbidding agencys from sharing information about terrorists. If there was a rumor that Bolton got a parking ticket 10 years ago the media would be very inquisitive and the NYT would run a 10-part investigative article about it. The Clinton administration made policies that protected terrorists and contributed to 9/11 and the mainstream media will show no curiosity about this or about the 911 Commission covering it up.
http://hnn.us/articles/11972.html
The above link will take you to a most interesting, in-depth description of the 9-11 Commission.
The Commission is going to have to re-constitute itself so it can cover up this latest embarrassment. Gorelick knows that all roads lead back to her...
The real crime is the cover up by the media .No mention that this took place during the Clinton administration...MSM is at it again..
Lee Hamilton wants to get back in the spotlight. There was ZERO chance that he or his feckless commission was going to admit anything implicating Bill Clinton's treasonous administration with Jamie Gorelick on the commission. She is an expert at putting up firewalls for Clinton, after all. Not one more dime should be wasted on this know-nothing/see-nothing commission.
And let's make sure that the timing of the Able Danger information that was ignored was 1999 and 2000. During Clinton's term.
Bet Jaimie Gorelick doesn't...
And where's Kristen Breitweiser? Paging the Jersey Girls...
Check out the Heather Mcdonald story in the "Opinion Journal" Autumn 2002 "Why the FBI didnt stop 9/11" All about The Wall,tells all you need to know.
You will know exactly why the traitor Gorelic was on the 9/11 commission and not a witness
Check out the Heather Mcdonald story in the "Opinion Journal" Autumn 2002 "Why the FBI didnt stop 9/11" All about The Wall,tells all you need to know.
You will know exactly why the traitor Gorelic was on the 9/11 commission and not a witness
Members of the commission that uncovered the government's failures to share intelligence among agencies before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks want to know whether U.S. defense intelligence officials knew for more than a year that four of the hijackers were part of an al-Qaida cell but failed to tell law enforcement. ... "The 9/11 commission did not learn of any U.S. government knowledge prior to 9/11 of surveillance of Mohammed Atta or of his cell," said Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana. "Had we learned of it obviously it would've been a major focus of our investigation."Because the Commission was designed to do nothing but knock Bush before the 2004 elections. They deliberately left this info out. The denials by Hamiliton et al are sick. (IMO).
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But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the 9/11 Commission looked into the matter during its investigation into government missteps leading to the attacks and chose not to include it in the final report.
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