Pentagon Finds More Who Recall Atta Intel

The Washington Post ^ | September 1, 2005 | Robert Burns

[YaYa123]

WASHINGTON -- Pentagon officials said Thursday they have found three more people who recall an intelligence chart that identified Sept. 11 mastermind Mohamed Atta as a terrorist one year before the attacks on New York and Washington. But they have been unable to find the chart or other evidence that it existed.

Last month, two military officers, Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and Navy Capt. Scott Philpott, went public with claims that a secret unit code-named Able Danger used data mining _ searching large amounts of data for patterns _ to identify Atta in 2000. Shaffer has said three other Sept. 11 hijackers also were identified.

In recent days Pentagon officials have said they could not yet verify or disprove the assertions by Shaffer and Philpott. On Thursday, four intelligence officials provided the first extensive briefing for reporters on the outcome of their interviews with people associated with Able Danger and their review of documents.

They said they interviewed at least 80 people over a three-week period and found three, besides Philpott and Shaffer, who said they remember seeing a chart that either mentioned Atta by name as an al-Qaida operative or showed his photograph. Four of the five recalled a chart with a pre-9/11 photo of Atta; the other person recalled only a reference to his name

[Marine_Uncle]

"Things don't work that way anymore. The smear machine is so impotent that all it can do is distract with "human interest" stories: Natalie, Terri, Disaster of the Day, Celebrity trials etc. Our beloved Treason Media must avoid real news at any cost."
I do hope your opinion would be true all the time. But I for one do not see the L/MSM going the way of the dinosaurs. We must understand they are an institution that is deeply rooted in the American fabric and for the most part hold allegiance to powers that be. Your examples can be shown to have been a technique they have used for many many years as standard practice. Their method of operenda never varies only the amount of latitude they excercise as conditions dictact. In short they control the mainstream newspapers as well as the airwaves. Their job is to report to the masses.

[4woodenboats]

They've already started. I read a story in the Seattle Times from the NYTimes, in which the meetings took place between AD operatives & Defence Dept in the summer of 2000, and early 2001. I can find nothing to back up 2001 meetings, I believe the NYT just slid that in there to implicate the incoming administration.

So here too the Post uses early 2001 in a decidedly ambiguous yet suggestive way;

"He called it an internal working group with a core of 10 staffers at Special Operations Command. Philpott was the "team leader," he said. "Able Danger was never a military unit," and it never targeted individual terrorists, he said. It went out of existence when the planning effort was finished in early 2001, he said."

This raises, by design methinks, the question of which administration shut down Able Danger - the brilliant and ever viligant Richard Clarke, who made it his life's work tracking Al Qaeda, or the woefully incompetent Condi Rice who stole his job [dripping sarcasm].

This'll be the diversion, making it look like the Bush administration ended intelligence gathering the 1st day in office, and the 3rd thing Bush did that day - planning a vacation being #1, ordering the Iraq war 2nd of course!

[Marine_Uncle]

"This raises, by design methinks, the question of which administration shut down Able Danger - the brilliant and ever viligant Richard Clarke, who made it his life's work tracking Al Qaeda, or the woefully incompetent Condi Rice who stole his job [dripping sarcasm]."

Most likely none of the above. It is going to be found that the military shut it done for a number of reasons. Perhaps you may want to delve into the following new post and the link to the excellant GSN article.
http://www.gsnmagazine.com/sep_05/shaffer_interview.html

[4woodenboats]

Thanks!!!

[Marine_Uncle]

"Thanks!!!"
Your welcome.

[Marine_Uncle]

I finished reading the GSN interview with Colonel Shaffer.
This is perhaps the best packet of info thus far. No politics,no second guessing etc.. I found it interesting to observe that if you go by what the colonel has to say in his closing statements, Weldon made his original speach with the intention to gain support for reconstructing what the AD group altimately put together for use in the future, not a witch hunt. I'll leave it go at that so I don't put my foot into my mouth. Obviously it will interesting to see where this all ends up since the DoJ is now starting a formal investigation, obviously intended for other then obtaining funds to give our MI better tools to work with.

[nutmeg]

ping! (apologies for any duplicate pings)

Thanks for the heads up, YaYa123.

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[YaYa123]

At least FreeRepublic readers know about this, I don't think anyone else will give a rip.