9/11 Commission's Staff Ignored Military's Early Identification of Chief Hijacker

NYTIMES ^ | 08/11/05 | DOUGLAS JEHL and PHILIP SHENON

[Pikamax]

9/11 Commission's Staff Ignored Military's Early Identification of Chief Hijacker By DOUGLAS JEHL and PHILIP SHENON

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 - The Sept. 11 commission was warned by a uniformed military officer 10 days before issuing its final report that the account would be incomplete without reference to what he described as a secret military operation that by the summer of 2000 had identified as a potential threat the member of Al Qaeda who would lead the attacks more than a year later, commission officials said on Wednesday.

The officials said that the information had not been included in the report because aspects of the officer's account had sounded inconsistent with what the commission knew about that Qaeda member, Mohammed Atta, the plot's leader.

But aides to the Republican congressman who has sought to call attention to the military unit that conducted the secret operation said such a conclusion relied too much on specific dates involving Mr. Atta's travels and not nearly enough on the operation's broader determination that he was a threat.

The briefing by the military officer is the second known instance in which people on the commission's staff were told by members of the military team about the secret program, called Able Danger.

The meeting, on July 12, 2004, has not been previously disclosed. That it occurred, and that the officer identified Mr. Atta there, were acknowledged by officials of the commission after the congressman, Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania, provided information about it.

[maestro]

...Everybody needs to be made to say everything UNDER OATH. The we'll have a decent place to start. ...

/OFF-10 Commandments?

/OFF-'is'?

/sarcasm?

[mewzilla]

I'll make you a bet that not everyone is prepared to go to the slammer over this.

[ravingnutter]

A sidebar moderator on FR is kind of like a hall monitor in school, they keep us honest : ) He/She is asking you to provide a source for your article in #55. If you can't do html, just post the basic url and I will convert it for you.

[maestro]

ping

[maestro]

bingo

[linkinpunk]

Great.

Let's appoint a commission to investigate the commission.

And in another four years we can have a few more partial answers to what happened four years ago on 9/11.

[mwl1]

The story did not mention either Clinton or Reno. That is no accident. If they have to report the story, the MSM is going to hold-off from linking this to Clinton and hope that people attribute any lapse to W.

Additionally, the MSM will successfully peddle the inference that Bush was president in 2000, not Clinton.

This entire situation is a disgrace and Delay/Hastert had better protect and support Curt Weldon, because the knives are heading his way.

[patj]

it would have reflected poorly on the Clinton Administration, but more importantly it would have ruined one of their own, Jamie Gorelick.

Do you remember how Tom Kean came out in support of Jamie and said he had the utmost confidence in her? Was he ever interested in getting at the truth or was his only interest being on TV? I bet that any one of us here could answer that.

[linkinpunk]

The Sept. 11 commission issued its final report on July 22, 2004. Mr. Felzenberg noted that the interview with the military officer had taken place in the final, hectic days before the commission sent the report to the printers, and said the meeting reflected a willingness by the commission to gather facts, even at the last possible minute.

"Lots of stuff was coming in over the transom," Mr. Felzenberg said. "Lots of stuff was flying around. At the end of the day, when you're writing the report, you have to take facts presented to you."

"We already had our conclusions drawn up. We didn't need to be cufused with any facts at that time."

[TVenn]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1460891/posts

Quote from link above

"The recommendation to bring down that New York City cell -- in which two other Al Qaeda terrorists were also active -- was not pursued during the weeks leading up to the 2000 presidential election, said Weldon. That’s because Mohammed Atta possessed a “green card” at the time and Defense Department lawyers did not want to recommend that the FBI go after someone holding a green card, Weldon told his House colleagues last June 27 during a little-noticed speech, known as a “special order,” which he delivered on the House floor."

........................................

I think the key point here is according to Weldon and the DIA intelligence officer, Clinton Administration lawyers told members of a U.S. Army military intelligence program, known as “Able Danger,” that Mohamed Atta and the other hijackers had "green cards". Green cards are permanent residence identification.

None of the hijackers identified as permanent U.S. residents by Clinton lawyers to “Able Danger” were permanent U.S. residents.

Mohamed Atta did not have a green card.

Why did the Clinton lawyers tell the U.S. military intelligence team Atta was a permanent U.S. resident?

[conservativecorner]

Got ya. I hadn't had any contact with the said " sidebar moderator", so I had no idea what in the world they were. The names are already in the post itself, and here's the link. Hope this answers their question.

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/default.htm

[TVenn]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/10/us_knew_of_al_qaeda_cell_before_911_lawmaker/

The former military intelligence official insists he personally told Sept. 11 commission staff members about Atta in Afghanistan, and offered to supply them with documents upon his return to the United States, only to be rebuffed

"We don't know whether the lawyers were with the DOD or the White House. All we know is that (the Able Danger members) were stopped," said Weldon.

[Travis McGee]

Jamie "the wall" Gorelick needs to spend some quality time at Gitmo, getting horizontal hydrotherapy.

Then we'll find out.

[TVenn]

From link in 92

"Able Danger," now disbanded, was a small classified military operation engaged in data-mining analysis of "open source" information including media reports and public records through the use of massively powerful computer systems.

The former military official said his unit recommended that information identifying Atta and fellow hijackers Marwan al-Shehhi, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi as part of an al Qaeda cell they called "Brooklyn" be forwarded to the FBI.

[bert]

.....They should have been raising hell .....

Please pay attention...... you are letting your bias cloud your vision. Your desires are in process. Relax and enjoy the unfolding truth.

This thread is the evidence.

[bert]

....."Able Danger," now disbanded, was a small classified military operation engaged in data-mining analysis .....

A small classified military operation..... Hmmmm

One wonders if it was authorized by the Clintonistas or if it was a rogue operation put on by real Americans who knew the score.

[maestro]

Your# 90.....yep!

This has NOTHING to do with the 'INS'......move on......

/Extreme Sarcasm

[bert]

.....(including Bush today). .....

That statement is completely unjustified.

If you pay attention you will see that the process of presenting the truth is now in process.

There are several ways to skin a cat besides going to the center of Yankee stadium and yanking it off in patches on the pitchers mound during the World Series.

[americaprd]

Don't forget that in 2000, the Clinton Administration launched a huge push to legalize as many immigrants as possible prior to the election so that they could vote for Gore. I wonder how that factors into DODs thinking?