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Posted on 08/10/2005 7:05:39 PM PDT by dila813
WASHINGTON -- Members of the Sept. 11 commission want to know whether defense intelligence officials knew 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 panel could issue a statement by the end of the week after reviewing claims that officials had identified ringleader Mohamed 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 Mohamed 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.
A group of 9/11 widows called the September 11th Advocates issued a statement Wednesday saying they were "horrified" to learn that further possible evidence exists, and they are disappointed the 9/11 Commission report is "incomplete and illusory."
"The revelation of this information demands answers that are forthcoming, clear and concise," the statement said. "The 9/11 attacks could have and should have been prevented."
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.
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Associated Press Writer John J. Lumpkin contributed to this report.
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
not that I heard of
The legacy that keeps on giving and giving and giving......
Fox...guards...henhouse
Otherwise, in late 1999-2000 the Clinton admin had other pressing priorities. There were determined to deal with another situation--frightfully dangerous Elian Gonzalez.
Makes no sense. If they were members of a terrorist group, and didn't reveal that information, they weren't in the country legally, but under false pretenses. If I find out the guy next door is a mass murderer from Lower Slobovia, I'm not going to keep the information to myself just because he's in the country on a "valid" visa.
Have you taken another look at either Reno and Helen Thomas recently? (and be sure to wear welders' goggles for heaven's sake)
He revealed the information on the House floor in June 2005. Apparently we weren't listening, and the MSM didn't want to bring it up unless it had to since it wasn't Bush's fault.
Comes straight down from the #1 man who said of the Clinton shortly after being elected, "The past is the past"...
And then came along the Tsunami and the "son" Bubba Herbert W. never had.
"And again- where the eff was Richard dickie Clarke while all this was going down???"
If you says his name as Richard dickie Clark-e, it rhymes.
It's a fool's name for a total fool.
Interesting. I wouldn't expect this to be a slam dunk for Republicans at this point.
The sad thing is, the Dems would immediately be on every Media outlet claiming it didn't matter, that Bush should've known, blah-blah... and the Media will do their part as a transcription service and facilitator of the Democrat anti-American agenda.
It's disgusting that she's been part of the 9/11 commission considering her key roll in ensuring intelligence gathering and sharing *would* fail.
"Is anybody else suspicious?"
Nope. Read this, and notice the source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1460891/posts
They came awfully close, however... The Hitlery, Janet & Jamie gang just about pulled it off!!!
That's the same question Rush was asking today .. and the same question I was asking yesterday when I first heard about. And .. what did Gorelick know about all of this .. and did Gorelick stop the staffers from revealing it ..??
"This would be a huge scandal."
ONLY IF IT WERE THE REPUBLICANS - because it's democrats and Clinton's cabal .. you can bet your sweet bippy the liberals will do all they can to squash this.
9/11 Report = Warren Commission Report
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