Posted on 09/29/2005 6:37:50 PM PDT by strategofr
The Pentagon has decided to play games with the Able Danger story, virtually confirming the worst suspicions of just about everybody by first acknowledging that five of its team members recall identifying Mohammed Atta as a potential AQ terrorist a year prior to the attacks, and then forbidding these five witnesses from telling the Senate Judiciary Committee about the program.
The only thing that Donald Rumsfeld has accomplished with this strategy is to introduce real bipartisanship to the Judiciary Committee, which broadly scolded the DoD for pulling the witnesses from the hearing at the last minute:
The complaints came after the Pentagon blocked several witnesses from testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee at a public hearing on Wednesday. The only testimony provided by the Defense Department came from a senior official who would say only that he did not know whether the claims were true.
Five men and women in a highly-classified program, a status one only reaches by faithful and excellent service, tell the DoD that the program identified al-Qaeda's lead terrorists over a year prior to the attacks, and they're not sure whether it's true? That may be the most pathetic spin I've heard yet on Able Danger. If almost half the analysts in an intelligence group such as Able Danger cannot be trusted to remember something as significant as that, then the Pentagon has more problems than anyone realizes.
A Pentagon spokesman had said the decision to limit testimony was based on concerns about disclosing classified information, but Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said he believed the reason was a concern "that they'll just have egg on their face."
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, accused the Pentagon of "a cover-up" and said, "I don't get why people aren't coming forward and saying, 'Here's the deal, here's what happened.'"
Biden, as usual, speaks with equal disingeniuty. He understands perfectly well, at least in general, why the DoD won't produce the witnesses. It has little to do with specific intelligence exposure. After all, if the Senators want to discuss how the identifications worked, they would gladly go into closed session for that testimony.
What the Committee and the rest of us want is open testimony about what they found in relation to 9/11 and the known hijackers, who they identified, what they did with that information -- and who insisted on covering it up, both at the Pentagon and on the 9/11 Commission.
None of that comes under the heading of national security -- it falls into the category of covering some high-ranking ass.
Another reason for the sudden bipartisanship is the timeline of events, especially with the sudden stealth mode of Rumsfeld et al. The identification of the AQ operatives came in 2000, and the initial destruction of the data came in April 2000, as Eric Kleinsmith testified.
That would tend to point to the Clinton Administration as an obstructor. However, the program continued, allegedly predicting the USS Cole attack three weeks before it happened. Shaffer kept extensive files until February 2004, when they mysteriously disappeared after a dispute over a cell-phone bill with the DoD. That sequence happened on Bush's watch, and so does this ill-thought brinksmanship with the Senate.
The American people suffered the worst attack on our soil four years ago. We deserve answers about how that attack could have been prevented. The Pentagon has five witnesses that speak directly to that issue who have been prevented from speaking to the representatives of the people. Arlen Specter needs to subpoena those five witnesses, all of the senior officers in the chain of command for Able Danger, and Donald Rumsfeld himself to answer for why the Pentagon will not cooperate. Four years of hiding Able Danger is long enough. Thursday, September 22, 2005
It is old, and the Pentagon has already changed its mind and will allow them to testify.
All I want to know the name of the officer who ordered the destruction of records.
"It is old, and the Pentagon has already changed its mind and will allow them to testify."
That is not as clear as you seem to think it is. Testimony was scheduled for October 5. It has now been delayed under cloudy circumstances.
"Arlen Specter needs to subpoena those five witnesses, all of the senior officers in the chain of command for Able Danger, and Donald Rumsfeld himself to answer for why the Pentagon will not cooperate."
Be careful what you wish for
"This is a story which Republicans should back away from. This is a can of worms you don't want opened. Rumsfeld is doing the right thing, and he could use our support."
The can is already opened, the American public opened it when they elected the Clintons and apparently there were far too many publicans that got into bed with the sleaze balls.
Just HOW BAD IS IT?????
And why's that? Please share with the group.
To put it simply:
A person stated, "I heard Osama say 1 + 1 = 3"
If clinton said it, nobody would believe it - or at the best view it with high suspicions and it would be easily overlooked and forgotten. Who cares?
If NSA said it, it IS irrefutable - Osama would be looking very close at who was around when he said it ---- Goodbye source!
THAT is the difference in what makes classified information.
The can is already opened, the American public opened it when they elected the Clintons and apparently there were far too many publicans that got into bed with the sleaze balls.
----
To the point. The politicos of Washington, a class now onto themselves, are doing everything they can to HIDE THE FACTS that would most likely implicate not only Clinton and his accomplices but MANY OTHERS in the Washington cartel. It became clear when the formation details of the 9/11 commission was formed and how they put Gorellick on the panel, to prevent her being called as a witness.
Egg all over Washington's face...and the ghosts of 3000 dead Americans are watch and hoping that finally the real truth about the total complicity of Washington will be revealed -- I am not holding my breath.
"This is a can of worms you don't want opened."
Ooooooooooooooo. mysterious. give me a break.
Any government that only pulls an Assistant Secretary of State's clearance for 3 years after he steals secrets in his socks, and then pulls a 20 year active Colonel's clearance for life after he blows the lid on this, means a government that isn't fit to run the nation. Blow it out your pukin a$$. Let the chips fall where they may. I guess you were there when Kennedy decided to not help the cubans overthrow castro, because it was too seeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEeensitive.
Gorelick Wall
Bump
Very bad.
Able Danger, OKC, TWA800, etc...
Big Rummy / "W" fan here but I'd like to know WTH is going on too.
Then count on it coming out the worst most twisted way possible.
That's interesting. We should back away from trying to find out why terrorists were identified on Clinton's watch and nothing was done about it? We should back away from wanting to understand why the murderers of Americans were allowed to do their work while the government *knew* they were here?
Really.
They will again change their minds when it comes time to testify in October.
Bet on it.
"That's interesting. We should back away from trying to find out why terrorists were identified on Clinton's watch and nothing was done about it? We should back away from wanting to understand why the murderers of Americans were allowed to do their work while the government *knew* they were here?
Really."
It is fascinating how far other posters are willing to let the gov't go in the name of partisan politics, isn't it?
I think if Curt Weldon, who no doubt, has security clearance, knew these matters were covered up for good and very real reasons, rather than political cover for Clinton, he would be a good soldier and never have brought it out, or he would fall on the sword. Don't you think so?
I am basically with you on these matters. The exception is if some people working for us would be in danger if certain information gets into the Arab street. The problem with that theory is that 3,000 Americans are already dead, a coverup has been perpetrated and any confidence in the government to bring forth a reasoned explaination was flushed with production of the 9/11 Commission Report, and the 19 Arabs are dead. In a lame political attempt to cover something up the 9/11 commmissions report only fuel the fires of speculation with its commissioners behaving and lying the way they have regarding Able Danger as an entity they say did not exist. Now, no one moderately versed in these matters believe a damn thing they said. It is the same with the cartoon the FBI created showing a ridiculous caricature of the destruction of flight 800. No one believed them then and they don't believe them now. This type of erosion of confidence in the federal government is extremely dangerous in itself. But what are thinking people to believe. Treat us like adults. Tell me the truth and I can deal with it. Tell me lies and I will never believe a g**damn thing you ever say. That is where we are in this Able Danger game.
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