Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Colonel got permission to disclose pre-9/11 data
Washington Times ^ | August 22, 2005 | Shaun Waterman

Posted on 08/22/2005 7:37:04 AM PDT by bobsunshine

House Republican leaders approved in advance plans by a military intelligence official to go public with details of a top-secret Pentagon project code-named Able Danger.

Army Reserve Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer says the data-mining project identified Mohamed Atta and three of the other September 11 hijackers as members of an al Qaeda cell more than a year before the attacks.

"I spoke personally to Denny Hastert and to Pete Hoekstra," Col. Shaffer said. Mr. Hastert, Illinois Republican, is speaker of the House, and Mr. Hoekstra, Michigan Republican, is chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

"I was given assurances by [them] that this was the right thing to do. ... I was given assurances we would not suffer any adverse consequences for bringing this to the attention of the public," Col. Shaffer said.

Col. Shaffer said his conversations with Mr. Hastert and Mr. Hoekstra took place before he and members of the Able Danger team spoke as anonymous sources to reporters in the offices of Rep. Curt Weldon, Pennsylvania Republican, on Aug. 8.

Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean said yesterday that he had no information about whether the meeting took place and had no comment to make. Mr. Hoekstra was said by staff to be out of the country.

Col. Shaffer also said he was given what he interpreted as tacit approval from senior Pentagon officials before going on the record to Fox News and the New York Times last week

(Excerpt) Read more at insider.washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 911commission; abledanger; anthonyshaffer; atta; gorelick; wall
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-33 next last
Also from the article:

"Col. Shaffer he said he had met with Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone and Lt. Gen. Norton Schwartz, the staff director for outgoing Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard B. Myers.

"They knew that this would be the next logical step," Col. Shaffer said, and the officials did not ask him to refrain from going public."

1 posted on 08/22/2005 7:37:07 AM PDT by bobsunshine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: bobsunshine

So far, the MSM is doing a nice job spiking this story.
I wonder how much longer they can hold out.


2 posted on 08/22/2005 7:39:52 AM PDT by tractorman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dog

Have you seen this? Interesting...


3 posted on 08/22/2005 7:41:53 AM PDT by small voice in the wilderness (Behold the Riderless Pony. Bringing doom and destruction on a smaller scale.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tractorman

Until the day after the 2008 election. Then they will suddenly report it like it is breaking news.


4 posted on 08/22/2005 7:42:04 AM PDT by Brilliant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: bobsunshine
Interesting how the focus has become the 'messenger'; rather than the message.
5 posted on 08/22/2005 7:46:17 AM PDT by cricket (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bobsunshine

.


NEVER FORGET


CLINTON let BIN LADEN Slip Away and Metastasize

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1467967/posts


NEVER FORGET


.


6 posted on 08/22/2005 7:47:02 AM PDT by ALOHA RONNIE ("ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer/Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.lzxray.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bobsunshine

That said. . .I guess the Dems never thought the Repubs would have the 'whatevers' to do precisely this. Some real surprised Demrat players, no doubt.


7 posted on 08/22/2005 7:48:22 AM PDT by cricket (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bobsunshine

Anyone notice the national geographic special last night on 9/11 didn't mention klinton til after the Cole bombing?


8 posted on 08/22/2005 7:48:25 AM PDT by longfellow (Bill Maher, the 21st hijacker.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bobsunshine
Maybe they are waiting to see if the public has any interest in finding the "TRUTH" of 9/11, and what a complete and total disaster Clintonism really was, is and will be.
9 posted on 08/22/2005 7:49:04 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Brilliant
It's the right time to get this out. It goes directly to the credibility of the Special 9-11 commission and reflects Bubba's interest in the commissions report.

Bubba will just deny any knowledge of Able Danger.....until someone says and can prove...."Bubba, Gorelick, Berger and Clarke (and the FBI and CIA) knew about the cell" and BUBBA made the decision to bury it".

I'm going to look and see what Hillary had to say about the Special 9-11 Commission before it came about.

10 posted on 08/22/2005 7:55:31 AM PDT by Sacajaweau (God Bless Our Troops!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: longfellow

Not true ... they listed all the failures during the previous administration to act and get Bin Laden.


11 posted on 08/22/2005 7:59:49 AM PDT by sono
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: bobsunshine

Why do Congressmen have more balls than Senators?


12 posted on 08/22/2005 8:06:12 AM PDT by nuffsenuff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bobsunshine

I kept thinking this fellow soldier wasn't just a cut above stupid! He is a real crackerjack and I'm damned glad he's on our side! We need more true honest and able folks to come forward and start telling us the truth-WE CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH !! I'm like most Americans, I'm sick of the bullshi* we've been fed, and I'm damned sick of the lies we've been told. Thank God for soldiers like Col. Shaffer.


13 posted on 08/22/2005 8:18:26 AM PDT by geezerwheezer (get up boys, we're burnin' daylight!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: geezerwheezer; bobsunshine; All

Lt. Col. Shaffer was on C-SPAN WASHINGTON JOURNAL YESTERDAY [08-21-05]

http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Series&Code=WJE&ShowVidNum=9&Rot_Cat_CD=WJ&Rot_HT=206&Rot_WD=&ShowVidDays=100&ShowVidDesc=&ArchiveDays=30

Under "Recent Programs" find the link 08-21-05.

Is there anything he said yesterday about lost documents that would discredit his recollection of Able Danger?...rto


14 posted on 08/22/2005 8:43:28 AM PDT by visitor (...and the dems wonder why they lost and will continue to lose, good riddance)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: sono

Yes they kept saying "administration" but not Klinton by name. and I only saw one pic of him when he was talking about catching those responsible for the Cole. Which we all know was b.s.


15 posted on 08/22/2005 8:51:40 AM PDT by longfellow (Bill Maher, the 21st hijacker.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: sono; longfellow

Yes, they listed failures during the 'previous administration', but they never used clinton's name until after the Cole.


16 posted on 08/22/2005 8:58:53 AM PDT by katykelly
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: katykelly

They have done that before.


17 posted on 08/22/2005 9:09:36 AM PDT by longfellow (Bill Maher, the 21st hijacker.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: bobsunshine

Coverup 101...by 'toons' inept administration....


18 posted on 08/22/2005 9:28:35 AM PDT by shield (The Greatest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God!!!! by Dr. H. Ross, Astrophysicist)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: longfellow
Catch it again tonight--part 1 at 7PM EST--they mention Clinton for the 93 WTC bombing--also the Lewinsky affair and the bombing of the aspirin factory--true they don't out and out condemn him for his failures leading up to 9/11 but they do make it very clear that bin Laden was greatly underestimated and that Clinton's approach to terrorism was sporadic and weighed down by legal worries...

I think many people forget that prior to 9/11 very few Americans (except for the enlightened here at FR) cared about OBL, terrorism, and bombings because it was happening OVER THERE--even the USS Cole didn't really outrage many people--it would have taken more guts than Bill Clinton could even dream of possessing for him to stand up and demand support from the American people to fight bin Laden--but he was a poll driven wimp who, essentially, needed to score a lot of chicks to feel like a man...he hurt this country, I agree, but he was elected to be Dr. Feeelgood not a military leader--heck his salutes looked more like he was tipping his hat.

19 posted on 08/22/2005 10:05:22 AM PDT by foreshadowed at waco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: bobsunshine

MULTIPLE SOURCES AVAILABLE:

This is up on Captains Quarters Blog now:


The Washington Times reports that although Col. Tony Shaffer remains the only person connected to Able Danger to willingly part with anonymity, several other sources met with the press on August 8 when the story went public, including members of the AD team. The meetings with reporters came with the explicit blessings of key Congressmen and the "tacit" approval of the Pentagon, Shaffer says:

House Republican leaders approved in advance plans by a military intelligence official to go public with details of a top-secret Pentagon project code-named Able Danger. ...

"I spoke personally to Denny Hastert and to Pete Hoekstra," Col. Shaffer said. Mr. Hastert, Illinois Republican, is speaker of the House, and Mr. Hoekstra, Michigan Republican, is chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.


"I was given assurances by [them] that this was the right thing to do. ... I was given assurances we would not suffer any adverse consequences for bringing this to the attention of the public," Col. Shaffer said.


Col. Shaffer said his conversations with Mr. Hastert and Mr. Hoekstra took place before he and members of the Able Danger team spoke as anonymous sources to reporters in the offices of Rep. Curt Weldon, Pennsylvania Republican, on Aug. 8.



This last paragraph gets repeated by Shaun Waterman as fact later in the article, saying that "members of the Able Danger team" joined Shaffer on at least one occasion on August 8. This should change some evaluations of this story. Now we have multiple sources, including people who had their hands on the data, telling reporters what they know about the identification of Mohammed Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers over a year before the attacks. Up to now, the assumption has been that only two sources came forward, one of which (Shaffer) only worked in a liaison capacity.


This explains why the New York Times and other media ran the story despite the anonymous sourcing. It also explains some of the inconsistencies between the first reporting on the story and Shaffer's interviews later. We had all assumed that Shaffer and the Navy captain were the only two original sources for the story. However, the original articles on Able Danger just mention "sources" as a generic term, and if the team members took part in this press conference on August 8th as the Washington Times says, then the information gleaned would have had more detail than Shaffer knew from first-hand experience.


We need to have these witnesses come forward publicly. At the least, we need the Times and other media outlets that participated in this August 8 meeting to confirm the number and nature of these sources, even without their names


20 posted on 08/22/2005 10:17:50 AM PDT by mercy (never again a patsy for Bill Gates - spyware and viri free for over TWO YEARS now)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-33 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson