Posted on 08/16/2005 10:28:31 AM PDT by spycatcher
Just heard from a guy I trust that the Pentagon will be releasing information regarding Able Danger in the not too distant future. The short version: Don't expect any bombshells.
Thank you, Congressman Weldon, for getting just enough of this story right (the existence of Able Danger and its mission) to get folks like myself and lot of others to take you seriously. Those others weren't just bloggers, by the way - I'm talking about the New York Times, the AP, the Bergen Record...
And thanks a [really bad word] heap for getting more than enough wrong that we look like idiots for trusting you.
You know, like that rather key element that Able Danger had picked out four of the 9/11 hijackers and recommended they be picked up by the FBI. I can see how you could mix up that pesky little detail.
Thank you for making all of these stunning allegations without any supporting evidence. Thank you for not having any documents, memos, or anything beyond allegations from an anonymous former defense intelligence guy who is unwilling to come forward and speak on the record.
Thanks for using us to goose your book sales this month.
Thank you for making the 9/11 Commission, a group that seemed to have done a sloppy, incomplete job, look absolutely on the ball and well-organized and coherent in comparison. (In retrospect, should the Commission have mentioned Able Danger? Sure. They were a small part of U.S. counterterrorism efforts before 9/11. But if they never found anything that tied into the attacks, then the Commission is right, they weren't all that signficant in the big picture. They warranted a paragraph or two.)
If Weldon generates some actual evidence, or if any of the 11 guys in Able Danger come forward and make a persuasive case that "yes, we did spot four hijackers in 2000", then I'll backtrack on all of this. But right now, I doubt that we will ever hear from any of them.
The only silver lining to this mess? I can gloat to Mary Mapes about how to burn a source that leads you astray.
UPDATE: I'm told that Tony Snow recently announced that one of the Able Danger team members will be doing an interview with Catherine Herridge today, and that he (Tony) has a radio interview with the gentleman scheduled for tomorrow. AJ Strata points to a article indicating that Weldon told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity, "I can guarantee you that you will be able to have one on your show. You might want to go with your TV show with this, because it will be a major story. And you can interview him directly."
We will see. As TKS reader Ted put it:
On something as huge as this, I found it hard it hard to believe that the Able Danger guys would have stayed quiet for four years. It just seems to me that the psychological and emotional pressure on them would have driven someone public a long time ago - "We knew we had those SOB's nailed, the dumb lawyers shut us down, and then we watched 9/11 on TV just like everyone else. Do you have any idea what it's like to think you might have that on your conscience? Now it's being swept under the rug by a bunch of butt-covering bureaucrats. This is a whitewash!" If eleven people supposedly were in the loop, odds are one of them would've surfaced a long time ago.But then, you could look at Colleen Rowley, the FBI agent in Minneapolis, and agree "Yeah, see what happens to whistleblowers."
So who knows.
To: mware
7 pm Eastern. Catherine Herridge has the interview.
298 posted on 08/16/2005 8:14:59 AM PDT by Tony Snow
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see #21, and
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1464394/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1464369/posts
The Panel on Special Report with Brit Hume (Jim Angle was subbing) was very negative about this too, labeling it a non story. Hope everyone is wrong, but they indicated that Weldon has done this kind of hype before and been wrong.
I just hope everyone on here understands what Able/Danger was and what its limitations were. There is so much Bravo Sierra floating around the net right now on this. It was a bunch of guys looking at names and numbers.
That's what's so bizarre. Why is there so much interference being run on NRO by Podhoretz and Geraghty when they don't even know the facts yet??? They're acting like children whining about other people who are trying to unearth the facts that we know have been buried up until now.
When will you people learn? Politicians are politicians are politicians.
There is no reason to trust anyone in Washington anymore. As long as the trains run on time, I'm happy at this point. If there's a mushroom cloud on my horizon, Weldon's book won't stop it, and I can't stop it, so why think about it at all?
People in Washington don't act unless it profits them. Weldon didn't need to write a book - why can't anyone see that??? What kind of "concerned" politician tries to profit off of intelligence breakdowns that could make or break our nation? Why didn't he come forward immediately when his conscience attacked him into going public with those communications with his "source"? Did he have to make sure he got a book deal before he could warn us all???
Start a blog, for cryin' out loud if it's so important, Congressman Weldon!
In other news, I CAN'T WAIT for Tancredo's book.
I'm afraid you're right...hope we won't have too much egg on our faces. We conservatives are never as good at sticking with a story even when it's been proven false as the dems are.....but maybe that's a good thing! We'll hope for the best here, but, the HBM may be using this story to show how conservatives are just out to get Clinton as usual!
The Sunday Morning Talk Show thread was mostly about Krauthammer's dismissal of this...but,
I do not see what the reasoning is behind the people that are acting like it would be "silly" to check this out...and I am not talking about the libs, either.
Rush is talking about this and had a caller ask him about Krauthammer's take on this...and Rush said that a lot of conservatives are afraid of being put in the made up catagory of "right wing radicals" and paying attention to this...
He said that we aren't nearly to the end of this story, but a lot of TV conservatives are worried about their reputations so there is a lot of CYA, when they say they DOUBT this information is real.
Col Tony will be on FNC at 7 EDT - Catherine Herrage (sp?) will have an interview with this Able Danger guy, and he will be on Tony Snow's show tomorrow.
Weldon went to the FBI three times on this from what I've heard. A book and the media is the way to go when whistleblowers are being ignored.
Podhoretz called for weldon to apologize to the 9/11 commission. What a phony.....
I expect leadership from elected officials. Leadership involves doing what's RIGHT. Doing what's right often involves RISK and SACRIFICE. It's the difference between mice and men. We have too many mice on the right and too many RATS on the left.
Just shilling a book is definitely the talking point. Even Rush got it. Well, the swifties were just shilling their book too. And the american public - "Got It".
Sure hope Rush is right! Seldom get to hear him, but trust him to get things right. His takes makes me feel a bit better, because I have to admit I usually agree with Krauthammer and was quite deflated to hear his take yesterday and over the weekend. Thanks for the update!
And for the record, if the Bush admin looks bad too...so be it. I just want all the facts out.
He could start a blog. It requires almost no money. A blogging Congressman could have his message broadcast across the world within 24 hours. It would be spread far and wide by other bloggers. The only difference is there's no advance.
Wish I wasn't so cynical.
Yep, Curt Weldon and the military investigators are the new Swift Boat Vets and the NRO disinformation squad is reporting for duty!
Well for politicians it's very normal to write a book. It gets your ideas out there for the public record.
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