Sep 20 2005
Able Danger, Pentagon Hides, 09/20/05
The Pentagon pulled a really bad stunt today stopping all the military witnesses to Able Danger from testifying to the Senate:
The Pentagon said today that it had blocked a group of military officers and intelligence analysts from testifying at an open Congressional hearing about a highly classified military intelligence program that, the officers have said, identified a ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks as a potential terrorist more than a year before the attacks.
The announcement came a day before the officers and intelligence analysts had been scheduled to testify about the program, known as Able Danger, at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Bryan Whitman, a Defense Department spokesman, said in a statement that open testimony about the program “would not be appropriate – we have expressed our security concerns and believe it is simply not possible to discuss Able Danger in any great detail in an open public forum.” He offered no other detail on the Pentagon’s reasoning in blocking the testimony.
There are ways to handle this without exposing classified information. This looks like some kind of cover up or something. I doubt it is – but it will be played that way. How come they couldn’t work out rules for discussing the matter without compromising intel? The big questions are policy and responsibility – not intel.
That would explain why the posted witness list is a bit sparse as well. From the NY Times article referrenced above Specter is planning to go ahead – but with what? Weldon? We know his story.
Mr. Specter said in a telephone interview that he intended to go ahead with the hearing on Wednesday and hoped that it “may produce a change of heart by the Department of Defense in answering some very basic questions.”
Specter and his staff were evidently convinced there was something to the claims:
Mr. Specter said his staff had talked to all five of the potential witnesses and found that “credibility has been established” for all of them.
“There are quite a few credible people who are prepared to testify that Mohamed Atta was identified long before 9/11,” he said. “Now maybe there’s more than one Mohamed Atta. Or maybe there’s some mistake. But that’s what we’re trying to find out.”
The 9-11 families are rightfully irritated, as we all should be.
Sept. 11 family members are protesting a reported Pentagon attempt to close this week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on a claim that military intelligence had lead hijacker Mohammed Atta in its sights as early as 1999.
“They want to sweep it under the rug,” said Joan Molinaro, a former Eltingville resident, whose firefighter son was killed at Ground Zero.
“They have been denying this Atta thing up, down and sideways for weeks,” she said. “And now they want to cover it up.”
…
“It would be a travesty to keep the facts surrounding this operation from the public,” said Kristen Breitweiser of New Jersey, who lost her husband at Ground Zero.
This is one of the rare times I am siding with Kristen Breitweiser. The Able Danger story has the potential to null and void the complete 9-11 report. It also may represent the smartest use of available information out there to find terrorists. An approach which better be back in use today.
The powerline guys will have to update their preview post
UPDATE:
More from UPI here, where even Slade Gorton got cold feet:
Former GOP Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington told United Press International that he had volunteered to testify, and had been invited to do so, but had to cancel at the last minute owing to an unexpected conflict. He said that he would be submitting a letter in place of his testimony, which would “answer, in detail, all the questions” that the committee had.
UPDATE II:
Captain Ed Morrissey links to transcript of Lt Col Shaffer at QTMonster that alleges Rumsfeld himself may have intervened. Make sure to check out both sites.
Tom Maguire opines here with lots of links.
Off to a day of meetings.
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AJ,
You are taking this a lot calmer then I am. I see this as a full fledged cover up by both Parties. Unfortunately, the buck stops at President Bush’s desk on this. From Sandy Berger to the 9/11 Commission to Able Danger, why are the Republicans covering for the Democrats? Why do we have the Plame outing run in headlines along with Sheehan for the entire month of August? The Dems and the Media pretty much had Karl Rove frog marched out of the White House. Cindy Sheehan? The second coming of Hanoi Jane. Never mind that the Media never mentioned the absurd comments and her association with Communist and Socialist Parties.
Anyway, the current Administration could have defended themselves regarding Katrina, Sheehan, Plame, and pretty much the entire Clinton Administration, but they have remained quiet, and in some cases, seem to be in collusion (Berger, 9/11) with the Democrats. This just looks to me like a huge conspiracy, 3,000 Americans dead, Al Qaeda in the U.S., parties identified, nothing done, and now the truth will not come out. And the President is simpatico with this, and everything else.
I hope I am wrong and you are right. This stinks to high Heaven to me.
C-Span 3 has the hearing scheduled.
You can watch it live online at 9:30AM ET.
On C-Span’s homepage, there is a link to the video feed.
http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp
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[…] We must follow. As always, AJ at the Strata-Sphere is the Able Danger story. AJ notes a New York Times story saying the Pentagon is stone-walling- AJ’s take: There are ways to handle this without exposing classified information. This looks like some kind of cover up or something. I doubt it is – but it will be played that way. How come they couldn’t work out rules for discussing the matter without compromising intel? The big questions are policy and responsibility – not intel. That would explain why the posted witness list is a bit sparse as well. From the NY Times article referrenced above Specter is planning to go ahead – but with what? Weldon? We know his story. […]
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