[Travis McGee]

Lending IDs between themselves is a common trick of terrorists and criminals for crossing borders and other purposes. Atta may have lent his ID to another cell member, knowing how sloppy our border controls are.

Able Danger relies on "brilliant data mining" to arrange a picture out of thousands of minute but interrelated factoids. Credit card use, ATM hits, internet use etc are all crunched by computers. But they CANNOT tell WHO exactly USED someone's credit card etc at a particular time.

Some of the discrepancies in the time lines ("Atta was elsewhere when Able Danger said he was in such and such a place") may be the result of Atta and his cell lending IDs, credit cards etc to one another as a matter of convenience.

Able Danger data mining can only tell when an ID or credit card was used, NOT who used it. This does NOT take away from the value of Able Danger information, but it is important to understand this twist.

[Travis McGee]

C5

[onyx]

You're exactly right. One legit ID is passed around (copied) for use by the hundreds. Not exaggerating either.

[okie01]

Able Danger data mining can only tell when an ID or credit card was used, NOT who used it. This does NOT take away from the value of Able Danger information, but it is important to understand this twist.

By the same token, the 9/11 commission insists that Atta could not possibly have been meeting with al-Ani in Prague because, at about the same time, his cell phone was used to make a call in Florida.

[vrwc0915]

Some baddies in the know purposely make a cell phone known to law enforcement and have someone else to physically carry said phone to provide an electronic alibi. While electronic methods are useful good old fashion eyes on surveillance will never be outdated

[nopardons]

bttt

[Myrddin]

Good observation with respect to knowing when and where an item was used, but being unable to assure the user was the actual owner of the ID.

I'm reminded of the technique of cutting off a tracking collar from an animal and hanging it on the back end of an 18 wheel truck. It would be dead simple to pass "terrorist" ids to ignorant individuals with permission to use them as a diversionary tactic.