Posted on 08/22/2005 4:13:55 PM PDT by neverdem
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 - An active-duty Navy captain has become the second military officer to come forward publicly to say that a secret defense intelligence program tagged the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks as a possible terrorist more than a year before the attacks.
The officer, Scott J. Phillpott, said in a statement today that he could not discuss details of the military program, which was called Able Danger, but confirmed that its analysts had identified the Sept. 11 ringleader, Mohamed Atta, by name by early 2000. "My story is consistent," said Captain Phillpott, who managed the program for the Pentagon's Special Operations Command. "Atta was identified by Able Danger by January-February of 2000."
His comments came on the same day that the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita, told reporters that the Defense Department had been unable to validate the assertions made by an Army intelligence veteran, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, and now backed up by Captain Phillpott, about the early identification of Mr. Atta.
Colonel Shaffer went public with his assertions last week, saying that analysts in the intelligence project had been overruled by military lawyers when they tried to share the program's findings with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2000 in hope of tracking down terror suspects tied to Al Qaeda.
Mr. Di Rita said in an interview that while the department continued to investigate the assertions, there was no evidence so far that the intelligence unit had come up with such specific information about Mr. Atta and any of the other hijackers.
He said that while Colonel Shaffer and Captain Phillpott were respected military officers whose accounts were taken seriously, "thus far we've not been able to uncover what these people said they saw - memory is a complicated thing."
The statement from Captain...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Pretty decent. They did mention the ID of Atta. Actually Part II is ongoing now, for another 50 minutes. It will replay at 9 PDT (11 CDT, 12 EDT) , IIRC. National Geographic channel.
thanks.
They want to damage the Pentagon and the military.
If he taped it to the wall with regular, not "magic" cellophane tape, that does tend to form a pretty strong bond, stronger than the paper, after not all that long. Anyone who's ever been in an office or cube for a goodly period, and taped stuff to the walls, knows this. Double sided tape, or the old trick of making a loop of regular tape with the sticky side out, can be even worse.
Does no corroborating docs = no story apply to JOE WILSON? He didn't file a written report upon his return from Niger.
Look at the NY Post. A conservative and patriotic tabloid, but if a conservative politician screws up the Post is on them like white's on rice. Remember it was the Times alone among the MSM that gave credence to Whitewater. In the end with a newspaper, it's about the story. Why? that most unliberal trait and value, competition. The MSM TV networks don't compete. They're like Ford, GM, And Chrysler were in the 50s and 60s. happy to divide the market. Newspapers, even in different cities, judge themselves against their peers. The Times considers itself the Casey Stengel Yankees. If there is a story here the Times will go with it.
A Navy Captain is an O-6, equivalent to an Army Colonel.
"Does no corroborating docs = no story apply to JOE WILSON?"
No. It only applies to stories that are negative to Dems. Stories negative to GOP never need docs.
Thanks.
grandma mac
Other than tweaking the CIA & FBI. Do you think Schaffer cleared it with his superiors before going public with his info on Able Danger?
Aside from all the political ramifications, what is striking is that this Brooklyn connection of Atta's appears to have been unknown before. Was he also connected to the Al Farooq Mosque?
And the names of three others of the hijackers.
Totally in character for the NY Slimes. When not bashing Bush, return to bashing the FBI, CIA or military, and Clinton gets a pass. News also makes $$.
Oh, THAT little matter. Surely a coincidental confabulation.
Without even watching I'd bet O'Reilly is egging him on too. His similar treatment of the SwiftVets is the reason I never deliberately watch or listing to him any more.
This stinks to high heaven.
What documents would Sandy Berger take?
Shaeffer, if I heard him right, said that he still has his briefing that he gave to the 9/11 Commission.
well in this case, Gordon deserved that treatment.
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