Posted on 08/11/2005 5:57:46 PM PDT by TonyInOhio
It behaved disgracefully and in a nakedly partisan fashion, with former officials of the Clinton administration attempting to use the platform to damage the president's reelection chances. Then, after months of ludicrous conduct, out of nowhere came the brilliantly conceived and written report that set a new standard of eloquence and coherence for government documents, became a major bestseller and redeemed the commission's reputation.
Well, that didn't last long.
In a story filed at 7:10 PM, the Associated Press is now confirming all the particulars of what will now forever be called the Able Danger disaster. The 9/11 Commission staff did hear about intelligence-gathering efforts that hit pay dirt on the whereabouts of Mohammed Atta -- in 1999 -- and deliberately chose to omit word of those efforts.
And why? Because to do so might upset the timeline the Commission had established on Atta.
And why is that significant? Because the Mohammed Atta timeline established by the Commission pointedly insisted Atta did not meet with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague.
And why is that significant? Because debunking the Atta-Iraq connection was of vital importance to Democrats, who had become focused almost obsessively on the preposterous notion that there was no relation whatever between Al Qaeda and Iraq -- that Al Qaeda and Iraq might even have been enemies.
I was very skeptical of this Able Danger stuff about Atta, thought it was just sme way Rep. Curt Weldon was trying to sell a book. No longer. This is clearly becoming the biggest story of the summer -- the fact that, as Andy McCarthy alluded to, the "intelligence wall" set up by 9/11 Commissioner Jamie Gorelick when she was in the Justice Department did, in fact, cause the linchpin of the 9/11 attacks to evade capture by American law enforcement.
So was the staff a) protecting the Atta timeline or b) Jamie Gorelick or c) the Clinton administration or d) itself, because it got hold of the information relatively late and the staff was lazy?
More important, what will co-chairmen Tom (pound his fist on the table) Kean and Lee (look sorrowful) Hamilton do and say in the next 36 hours about this calamity?
I suspected that Tony was going to mention something about the leak and Valeria Plame.
I agree with you about Lehman...but what if he never saw the info to begin with?
I think Berger was whining about losing his security clearance. Hey, anyone who steals Top Secret documents should have a security clearance. Or maybe he's waiting for the Clintons to pay his legal fees.
I'd like to have a trial, myself. I'd love to see it described in open court how Sandy shoved documents into his shorts.
Do you remember when this went down, they talked about he destroyed copies and they had him on videotape? Just what did they find or did they copy what files he was interested in and put them back?
Think we are a long way from finding out the real story but Burger better be thinking witness protection and changing his appearance because with this breaking bet the Clintons think he is singing.
I know this is too much to home for.
I hope the whole Rove stink fest this summer was allowed to go on so this could come to fruit without the MSM getting onto it.
There is nothing like throwing the attack dogs in the MSM a red herring while the Whale gets landed in the background.
I'm glad you mentioned it...think anyone is peeing in their potentially-Presidential polyester pantsuit right about now?
we need to start digging and archiving because there is going to be a majory cleansing in the comming HOURS.
Perhaps we need one of those flow charts to show how everone is interconected.
Did Hitlary push this conceal in order to protect her own viability?
The Clinton Administration. The gift that keeps on giving. How much longer will we have to put up with these sleazebags?
It's all so damn incestuous.
But something IS going on. Something big. I just hope we get to hear about it.
A seriou timeline before leading up to this date 1/6/95 and what it protected during the CLINTONS INC!
what did the Republicans like Lehman---a pretty straight shooter---have to gain by allowing this to be swept under the rug?
I dunno, but when he asked former FBI Director Louis Freeh about possible middle eastern involvement and the work of Jayna Davis, he let Freeh off the hook when he said "He'd never heard of it".
No follow ups were asked!
We have a winner here.
Once again, accusing others of doing what they are in fact doing.
-PJ
I heard Weldon on a talk show this morning...and he was asked how far the Republicans in the Congress would be willing to go with this..
He said that he had already had assurances by Duncan Hunter, and a couple of other Rep. committee chairmen, that they would do whatever they could to see that hearings and investigations get done...
He didn't mention Senators...but I will be very angry if Pat Roberts doesn't immediately call for investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee..(Rockefeller is not gonna like it!)...boo, freakin hoo!
"Interestingly, the Prague sighting occured during a records-gap of about a week of Atta's travels inside America."
Yep. There's no evidence of any kind that shows Atta was in the U.S. during that week.
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