The only part about this entire story that I kinda question...is that they waited...and waited...and waited. It seems rather odd that they would wait this long, and now raise the flag. I'm willing to give them a open door...but they wait almost six months after the report was released to say this.
Another odd thing...this Able Danger group likely dragged up hundreds of individuals or tips...and how they seem to remember this one guy (Atta) and rattle off their statement is kind of amazing. They must have kept notes or something.
They did NOT wait.
They briefed their chains of command. Military officers do not give press conferences. They do not enter into the political arena. They perform their duties. These men forwarded this information up the chain. Scott Philpot was briefly interviewed by the 9/11 Commission. The political classes who sit atop the military, and who sat in that Commission, were not interested in what Captain Philpot had to say, and they were not interested in what was reported up the chain of command either.
What happened here was that a young officer, the LCDR, got sick of the bullshit and the lies of the political classes, both parties, and seeing that the lie was going to become the official truth, he broke ranks and told the truth.
And rather than let him be hung out to dry, his superior, Capt. Philpot, unenthusiastically stepped forward - when the malignant politicians of BOTH parties (let's keep this straight here; the Republicans are in command and they have not stood by these officers but have made statements that undermine them) made it clear that the LCDR was going to be destroyed and the truth denied, and his commander said "No, he's telling the truth. That's what happened."
So, Captain Philpot and this LCDR both just ended their careers, because they told a truth that the Democrats and Republicans both want to supress and massage for their own reasons.
They deserve medals. Instead, the Republican establishment is going to cashier them. The buck stops with the men in charge. And the men in charge on September 11, 2001, and the men directing DiRita, are REPUBLICANS, not Democrats.
Philpot came forth because he wasn't going to let his junior officer be eaten alive for telling the truth. So now they are both going to be eaten alive by the bastards in the Democratic Party. But I am going to focus on the bastards in the REPUBLICAN party who, instead of standing by their officers, are playing the discrediting games.
How these officers are treated will tell you everything you need to know about the honesty of the Bush Administration. They are telling the complete truth, as far as they knew it. They have reported this, in due course of business, up the chain and been ignored. The Administration controls the mechanism that can protect these people. If they don't, if instead you see Captain Philpot twisting in the wind, you will know - if you are discerning enough to listen to the Truth and understand it when you are being it told it - that the Bush Administration are lying snakes no better than the Clintons.
This is the Bush Administration's Billy Dale moment. Billy Dale is Scott Philpott. Watch what happens to him. If Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld are honorable, Philpott will be praised and protected. If they are Clintonesque, Philpott will be called "in error", and hung out to dry.
To those who can see, this is the great test.
lets see. 22 years = pension. I dont blame them for waiting for their pension to come in.
Their impact is even greater this way watching gore-lick fall into the trap.
I think they've waited because they know what dragon they are awakening. They let the 9-11 Commissioners get all of their statements and finger pointing on the record.
They followed proper channels in trying to get this to the right people pre 9-11, and they followed proper channels in trying to inform the Commissioners.
Now they continue to follow proper channels, getting the backing of their military superiors and the Congressional leadership.
I think Bush's people are staying out of it until they're sent the proper requests and inquiries, that is, by Committee chairmen. Bush folks are handling this apolitically, as their boss demands.
Right now, this is media driven. The media haven't asked the proper questions, neither have the military. (Yes, I'm planning Pollyanna again...) When it is time for the files to be brought out, they will be asked for by the proper parties and be presented in the proper forum(s).
I think we've all been conditioned by the Clintons to watch news cycles, have the spinners, pollsters and pr specialists take over and drive these stries politically. Call it a deaf ear, but for the time being, I'm thinking Bush is trusting himself and his people to be up front and honest in the right time and place.
(And I've got my fingers crossed. lol)
Pinz