“The 9/11 9/11 Commission” (Not a Misprint)

Special to FreeRepublic ^ | 20 August 2005 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

[Congressman Billybob]

Enough has come out about the failure of the 9/11 Commission to include critical information about Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 attackers, to suggest a new Commission to investigate the original Commission. The cure may not be that drastic, but it is that important.

In short, a special Army intelligence operation known as “Able Danger” identified Atta and four of his accomplices, and identified Al-Qaeda cells in Hamburg and Brooklyn and elsewhere, a year before the 9/11 attacks. They offered then to share that information with law enforcement agencies including the FBI.

Those offers were cut off by Clinton Administration attorneys and based that refusal on the “wall of separation” memo written by Jamie Gorelick, then a deputy under Attorney General Janet Reno. By the time 9/11 staffers received multiple briefings on Able Danger’s findings and efforts, Ms. Gorelick had become a member of that Commission.

All details now known, and some reasonable speculation on why Ms. Gorelick wrote that memo, and why the Administration wanted to prevent prosecutors from receiving information from intelligence agencies, is well covered in an article by my colleague, Gregory Borse. His title is, “Gorelick 'MemoGate': It Just Got Worse,” and is here: http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=16201

I deal here with two aspects not addressed by Greg -- the fascinating nature of the research done by Able Danger, and the solution Congress can apply to this festering problem.

“Open Source” means using sources that are out in public. It seems like a contradiction in terms that highly secret information can be derived from documents, articles, speeches, radio and TV broadcasts made in public, in front of God and everybody, as they say hereabouts.

Imagine a jigsaw puzzle with no picture on the box, you don’t know how many pieces there are, the pieces are each hidden in a pile of other pieces that aren’t part of the puzzle, and the pieces are anywhere in the world and written in languages from English to German to Farsi. For a fictional (but accurate) depiction of this process, rent and review an excellent movie, “Three Days of the Condor,” starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway.

Or use this real example. Three decades ago, I attended a speech by Isaac Asimov at Johns Hopkins University. I still remember one particular aspect of Dr. Asimov’s talk. He said, “Japanese or German spies during WW II could have discovered America’s most secret scientific project, using information the federal government required to be published.”

Here is Dr. Asimov’s thinking: 1. Analog Science Fiction & Fact has gone through several changes of name and control, but has always carried articles based on sound science. (Think the accurate science of Arthur Clarke’s “2001" series, rather than the bad science of George Lucas’ “Star Wars.” There is no air in space for Ti fighters to bank against, nor to transmit any sound of exploding Death Stars or planets. But I digress.)

2. As a result, many of America’s “hard” scientists subscribe to Analog. 3. The Post Office required every magazine with a second-class mailing permit to recount, once a year, the circulation of its paid subscriptions. 4. Therefore, Analog published information showong a statistical bulge, a “rat in the snake,” a group of scientists appearing first in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and then in Los Alamos, New Mexico. 5. Since there was no new university or other private employer who hired these scientists, this had to indicate some type of government-sponsored scientific research.

So it was. This “open source” investigation, with some common sense employed, would have led a spy to the location of the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb.

Now, we turn to the solution to this 9/11 Commission problem. It is a normal duty of Congress to exercise oversight concerning all federal agencies. The Commission is/was a federal agency. Its failures concerning the Able Danger research is a very focused inquiry. Therefore, an appropriate Committee of Congress should and can convene an inquiry to get to the bottom of this problem.

How fast can Congress act? Well, it ginned up a hearing on steroid use in baseball on 30-days’ notice. It seems to me that the 9/11 failure is slightly more important than that. So start your steroid clocks now. Let’s see if Congress can get Jamie Gorelick on camera and under oath within 30 days. Let the “9/11 9/11" hearings begin.

About the Author: John Armor is a First Amendment attorney and author who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu

[arasina]

Well done, John. Bookmarking.

[arasina]

the only way something would happen on this, is if somebody outside the DC "club" who has some national prominence, called them out on it. My pick for that job - Rudy Giuliani.

Wha? As much as I like him, Rudy's a politician just like the rest of 'em.

[Christopher Lincoln]

I agree it would be a very dumb move, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

[Christopher Lincoln]

True, but the Soviets had better information than that. Soon, if not from the beginning, they had their own people actually working in the Manhattan Project.

[Phlap]

Has anybody talked to Richard Cohen the alleged republican member of the Clinton cabinet on this subject?

[JoeFromSidney]

It occured to me that some Soviet Scientists had to be following those publications in the 1930s. The fact that nothing was published after the Manhattan project was approved would have and likely did stand out like a sore thumb.

This is known as the "bathtub curve." We used it to identify when the Soviets found something worth hiding. Publication on the topic would suddenly nosedive. Later, when they got it deployed and couldn't hide it anyway, publication would rise again. I presume they were doing the same thing to us.

[oceanview]

he's not part of the DC inner circle.

who do you suggest take up this cause?

[goarmy]

Good stuff. Thanks.

[gargoyle]

..."Three days of the Condor", one of my favorite films. To bad, it takes years to expose iniquities of the selfish, and the tyranny of evil men...

[randog]

I think a nice fat lawsuit by victims families of 9/11 against the administration of the time and all those involved would be a nice big fire cracker put under their butts.

You might be on to something...

Trusting this investigation to politicians and government dinks will always leave the door open to obfuscation and fraud. This needs to be taken out of the political arena and put into a legal boxing ring where lawyers will actually fight to get at the truth while others try to hide it. At least the process will be open and someone will be fighting for our side.

[ErnBatavia]

Three decades ago, I attended a speech by Isaac Asimov

Large faux pas...Asimov is known by most as a Science Fiction writer.

Otherwise, good essay - but ya kinda spoiled it with the above tinfoil-ish reference.

[Bigun]

Another home run Billybob!

BTW; Have you seen this thread?

I would love to hear what you have to say about that piece.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

Thanks for an excellent article!

Call your congresscritter NOW and ask for an investigation! Who knew what when, and why did the aides to the commission suppress the info? Here's the toll-free number at the Capitol: 1-877-762-8762.

[Congressman Billybob]

Of course, Asimov is known mostly for his science fiction. Though with more than 200 books published, he covered a lot of subjects. However, exactly as I say in my article, the best of science fiction is solidly grounded in science. No faux pas here.

John

[TheForceOfOne]

It seem as though a few lines from the comedy "Spaceballs" could have easily been stolen from a day on the 911 commission.

Dark Helmet: How many a$$holes do we have on this ship anyhow?.
Crew: YO!
Dark Helmet: I knew it! I'm surrounded by a$$holes!
(Pulls down facemask)
Keep firing a$$holes!

[Congressman Billybob]

Yes, I saw that thread and appreciated John Podheretz's article. The visible situation was bad when he wrote that. It is now much worse as of the articles by Deborah Orin and Greg Borse.

It has even gotten worse since I wrote my article at 5 p.m. The spokesman for the "continuing" efforts of the 9/11 Commission has now acknowledged that the Commission DID know about the Atta information, but "chose" not to include it because of timeline problems.

That's the third major backtrack from a false statement by the Commission spokesman. Somehow, I don't think it will be the last.

John

[Fred Nerks]

Thanks Hetty!

"Call your congresscritter NOW and ask for an investigation! Who knew what when, and why did the aides to the commission suppress the info? Here's the toll-free number at the Capitol: 1-877-762-8762."

Make an extra call for me, I can't use toll-free from Oz!

[Bigun]

Thank you!

You don't suppose it possible that some previously very tightly wound balls are about to unravel do you?

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

One thing to watch for: by now Congress has signed on to the 911 Commission Report and has congratulated itself on having implemented the commission's recommendations. Therefore Congress - and the WH - have been conned.

Question is, do they admit it - or do they shoot the messenger? Where would you put your money on that question?

[NormsRevenge]

Gorelick 'MemoGate': It Just Got Worse ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1462416/posts