AFP: 9/11 ringleader was 'identified' in early 2000: US Navy officer

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 8/23/05 | AFP - Washington

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US Navy captain said that a top secret US Defense Department intelligence operation had identified Mohammed Atta a year before the Egyptian led the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Navy Captain Scott Philpott said the top secret US program called "Able Danger" had identified Atta as an Al-Qaeda member in early 2000, according to Fox News.

"Atta was identified by Able Danger in early 2000," Philpott -- who worked on the program -- was quoted as saying in a statement to Fox News.

Philpott's statement appeared at odds with the Pentagon's position Monday.

A Pentagon spokesman told reporters that a review has so far found no evidence that a secret intelligence operation identified Atta as a member of a US-based Al-Qaeda cell before the September 11 attacks.

"What we have found are mostly sort of general reference to terrorist cells that people were generally aware of," spokesman Lawrence DiRita said.

Representative Curt Weldon (news, bio, voting record) and Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer have charged that Atta and three other September 11 hijackers were identified as early as mid-2000 through the data-mining program codenamed Able Danger.

Weldon and Shaffer have said all four appeared as members of a Brooklyn-based Al-Qaeda cell on an Able Danger chart that was presented to the US Special Operations Command in early to mid-2000.

They said the group had recommended the information be shared with the FBI, but that the command's lawyers rejected that course of action.

DiRita said earlier Monday that a review of materials related to Able Danger has so far turned up no evidence that it identified Atta.

"I have briefed the Department of the Army, the Special Operations Command and the office of Dr. Cambone (the undersecretary of defense for intelligence) as well as the 9/11 commission. My story has remained consistent," Philpott told Fox News.

Atta was the reputed leader of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and the likely pilot of the jet which slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center, according to media reports.

[.cnI redruM]

>>>>>"I have briefed the Department of the Army, the Special Operations Command and the office of Dr. Cambone (the undersecretary of defense for intelligence) as well as the 9/11 commission. My story has remained consistent," Philpott told Fox News.


I really hope Philpott has a copy of the briefing he gave. Somehow, mysteriously, none of these other people will recall having received it.

[beyond the sea]

A Pentagon spokesman told reporters that a review has so far found no evidence that a secret intelligence operation identified Atta as a member of a US-based Al-Qaeda cell before the September 11 attacks.

I wonder who this slippery functionary is.

[Mia T]

 

sandy berger haberdashery feint
(the specs, not the pants or the socks)


WHY DID BILL CLINTON IGNORE TERRORISM?
Was it simply the constraints of his liberal mindset, or was it something even more threatening to our national security?


Why hillary clinton should never be allowed anywhere near the Oval Office... or any position of power--THE SERIES
REASON 1: MISSUS CLINTON HIRED JAMIE GORELICK

[NormsRevenge]

Death , Dishonor, Destruction

Clintoon's 3D Legacy?

GORELICK GATE: Developing... Thx Backhoe!

FR Archives Keyword Search Results for Gorelick Wall

[ncountylee]

... Once the clintons' own U.S. attorneys were in place, once the opposition was disemboweled by the knowledge that their raw FBI files had been in the possession of the clintons, once domestic law enforcement was effectively blinded to foreign data by Gorelick's Wall, the clintons were free to methodically and seditiously and with impunity auction off America's security, sovereignty and economy to the highest foreign bidder.

And that's exactly what they did!

[Mia T]

bump

[Txsleuth]

I am watching a presser with Rummy...I didn't see the first part...but FOX NEWS ran a "note" under their "alert" banner that said that Rummy said that Defense Department did see Able Danger records...or turned them over...or something..

IOW...Rummy acknowledged they exist!!

[rdcorso]

The bureaucrats who work in the government for life are doing everything in their power to cover up their incompetence.The 9/11 commission was stacked with political operatives who were put there to end public skepticism and silence government critics.They tried their hardest to pin the blame on the newly elected Bush administration but they were only partly successful.It might have worked out better for them if they weren't trying to hide eight years of colossal failure by the Clinton administration.It's pretty obvious to any normal person that the terrorist threat was allowed to grow by leaps and bounds while Bill Clinton played dip the cigar with Monica and Hilliary.The Able Danger report will cause even more people to distrust the democratic party if the story gains momentum.It looks like the cover up is about to fail miserably.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

When the french catch on to something, it really looks bad for US media.