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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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 Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:34 am Post subject: |
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Hmm. The Pentagon has clamped down. I think it's not so much a cover up as it is protecting their current intelligence operation from scrutiny of the ACLU and those in congress who would be squawking "you can't do that". Their mission is to stop another terrorist attack by whatever means necessary.
| Quote: | Pentagon Blocks Testimony at Senate Hearing on Terrorist
By PHILIP SHENON
Published: September 20, 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 - 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.
Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the committee, said he was surprised by the Pentagon's decision because "so much of this has already been in the public domain, and I think that the American people need to know what happened here."
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."
Two military officers - an active-duty Navy captain and a reservist Army lieutenant colonel - have said publicly in recent weeks that they were involved with Able Danger and that the program's analysts identified Mohamed Atta, the Egyptian-born ringleader of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, by name as a potential terrorist by early 2000.
They said they attempted to share the information with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the summer of 2000, more than a year before the terrorist attacks, but were blocked by Defense Department lawyers. F.B.I. officials, who answer to the jurisdiction of Senator Specter's committee, have confirmed that Defense Department abruptly canceled meetings in 2000 between the bureau's Washington field office and representatives of the Able Danger team.
The Pentagon has said that it has interviewed three other people who were involved with Able Danger and who said that they, too, recalled the identification of Mr. Atta as a terrorist suspect. But Defense Department investigators said they could find no documentary evidence to back up the assertion; they acknowledged that much of the information might have been routinely destroyed.
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."
Mr. Whitman, the Pentagon spokesman, said that in place of members of the Able Danger team, a senior defense official would be sent to the Wednesday hearing to discuss "what the law and policies are on domestic surveillance and to provide some insights about information-sharing between agencies." |
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/20/politics/20cnd-intel.html
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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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| Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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Col. Shaffer has been gagged. He was supposed to be on Hannity today but was told he cannot speak publicly again or face insubordination charges.
Weldon said that Specter along with other Senators Session, Kyl, Grasley and even Joe Biden are irate that the scheduled witnesses were not allowed to appear. The witnesses had been INVITED to testify.
Now I wonder if the Committee will COMPEL testimony via subpoena.
I also want to see Gorelick brought up to do a little 'splaining.
_________________
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776) |
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kate
Admin
Joined: 14 May 2004
Posts: 1891
Location: Upstate, New York
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 1:58 am Post subject: |
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and now un-gagged....
National Review Online
Friday, September 23, 2005
ABLE DANGER [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
| Quote: | In from Specter's committee office:
Washington, D.C.--Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, will hold a second hearing on Operation Able Danger on October 5, 2005.
In the initial hearing held on September 21, 2005, the Department of Defense refused to produce five key witnesses relating to the identification of 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta. The Department of Defense has now changed their position and will make the witnesses available in a public hearing. The Committee will focus on obtaining corroborating evidence as to what occurred with the pre-9/11 charts and information which were allegedly destroyed by order of DoD personnel. |
getting interesting,
who pulled strings on this
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PhantomSgt
Vice Admiral
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 972
Location: GUAM, USA
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 4:21 am Post subject: |
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| kate wrote: | and now un-gagged....
National Review Online
Friday, September 23, 2005
ABLE DANGER [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
| Quote: | In from Specter's committee office:
Washington, D.C.--Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, will hold a second hearing on Operation Able Danger on October 5, 2005.
In the initial hearing held on September 21, 2005, the Department of Defense refused to produce five key witnesses relating to the identification of 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta. The Department of Defense has now changed their position and will make the witnesses available in a public hearing. The Committee will focus on obtaining corroborating evidence as to what occurred with the pre-9/11 charts and information which were allegedly destroyed by order of DoD personnel. |
getting interesting,
who pulled strings on this |
Only two people have the authority to declassify DoD information prior to the declassification date: SECDEF or the President
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Retired AF E-8
Independent that leans right of center. |
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J. Toy
Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 96
Location: Pa.
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 5:37 am Post subject: |
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http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/005501.php#comments
| Quote: |
Able Danger Foxtrot VI: The Pentagon Backstep Redux
Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced that it had an agreement with the Pentagon to allow the five witnesses to testify in open hearings on the Able Danger project and its identification of the four lead hijackers of the 9/11 attacks. Now the AP reports that the Pentagon may yet block that testimony again, and that the only certainty at this point is continued uncertainty:
On Friday, the Senate committee announced the Pentagon had reversed its position and would allow the five witnesses to testify at a new public hearing scheduled for October 5.
The Pentagon denied anything had changed, despite behind-the-scenes negotiations to reach a solution agreeable to both sides.
"Our position has not changed," Defense spokesman Bryan Whitman told Reuters. "This is a classified program and there are still aspects of it that are not appropriate for an open hearing. And that's what we have told the committee."
Not so, responded William Reynolds, the judiciary committee's director of communications.
"The Pentagon has agreed to make five witnesses available. Although there was no talk at the time when they made that offer, the assumption was that it would be in an open committee hearing," Reynolds said in an interview.
"If the Pentagon has issues with that, they need to let us know," he added.
Arlen Specter has hinted at bringing charges against Pentagon personnel for obstruction of a Congressional investigation, and others in the Senate have talked openly of a DoD cover-up on 9/11. It seems better for the Pentagon to act now to demonstrate openness and cooperation before Specter starts issuing subpoenas not just for the five witnesses he wants, but for people like Shelton and Schoomaker as well.
Several CQ readers point out in comments and e-mail that the Pentagon represents many entities, some of them competing with each other. Of course this is true, but the political leadership handles the relationship with Congress. That starts with Rumsfeld and works its way through his staff. This constant back-and-forth with Congresss shows that the indecision exists in the political section of the DoD. No doubt they have received contradictory data from other factions, but the lack of consistency has to be laid at the feet of the Secretary.
He'd better correct this soon, too. The dance routine has started to look more like a burlesque stall tactic.
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This story is a troubling example of at best...gross incompetence and at worst...much, much worse!
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J. Toy
Seaman Apprentice
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 96
Location: Pa.
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 10:09 pm Post subject: |
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If you don't believe Bush protects Democrats just recall his failure to press the media to investigate the allegations of all 264 Swift Boat Veterans; the penalty of the highest security officer in the United Sates for stealing top secrets files by stuffing them in his pants, and so many other accommodations that this Able-Danger fraud protecting the Clinton Administration has become the rule rather than the exception. Those of us who toil to find the truth are surely compromised by these deceits by the Administration. The American people are due better. RAM
| Quote: |
Republicrats are taking care of each other in Able Danger
Mark Tapscott
September 24, 2005
It was painful earlier this week watching a Pentagon official lamely telling the Senate Judiciary Committee the Defense Department now isnÂ?t sure if its Able Danger program really identified Mohamed Atta more than a year before 9/11.
WasnÂ?t it just a couple of weeks ago when the Pentagon confirmed that five of its top intelligence operatives did indeed recall seeing AttaÂ?s name and those of several other 9/11 terrorists on a chart produced by Able Danger?
ThatÂ?s why troubling questions keep coming to mind: How stupid do they think we are? DonÂ?t they realize they are creating more suspicion, not less? Why do Bush people keep protecting Clinton people from public scrutiny?
For a life-long conservative Republican and Bush voter in 2000 and 2004 like yours truly, that last question is especially galling. It was bad enough early in BushÂ?s first term when he signed an executive order keeping the truth about Bill ClintonÂ?s midnight pardon spree behind closed doors. I swallowed hard and accepted the White HouseÂ?s executive privilege claim on that one.
But the Able Danger hearing capped a long series of troubling decisions that tortured credulity such as Bush increasing federal spending twice as fast as Clinton, expanding entitlements at a pace only Lyndon Johnson could match, signing a campaign finance law that limits political speech and refusing to veto even the most outrageous examples of congressional pork barreling.
The last straw came the day before William Dugan, an assistant to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said to the Senate panel Â?I donÂ?t knowÂ? when asked if Able Danger had identified Atta. ThatÂ?s when the Pentagon barred testimony by the five officials who have said they worked on the program and recall seeing the terroristÂ?s name on a chart during the Clinton administration.
Either the powers-that-be think most people are too stupid to figure out that a whitewash is in process or they assume most people arenÂ?t paying attention and there is little to fear from the Senate. They will be proven right if Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate panel, doesnÂ?t quickly start issuing subpoenas to get to the bottom of this scandal.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-IA, attributed the PentagonÂ?s actions to fear Â?theyÂ?ll just have egg on their face,Â? but CaptainÂ?s QuartersÂ? Ed Morrissey puts it more succinctly: Â?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.
Â?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.Â?
What is especially troubling about the Able Danger cover-up is that weÂ?ve seen this before regarding terrorist attacks on American soil. During the first shocking hours after the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing, the FBI was feverishly looking for Â?John Doe 2.Â? Then the FBI suddenly decided far right nuts Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were the lone bombers.
For months thereafter, Oklahoma City investigative reporter Jayna Davis followed lead after lead and found a mountain of concrete evidence and witnesses who put an Iraqi Â? Hussain Al-Hussaini - at the bombing scene seconds before and after the explosion.
They also saw the Iraqi with McVeigh numerous times in the days leading up to the tragedy at a nearby hotel with a rental truck like the one used in the bombing that smelled of diesel fuel. They even saw McVeigh and Al-Hussaini at an Oklahoma City nightclub months before the bombing.
But the FBI refused to pursue the evidence and to this day will not say whether it ever ruled Al-Hussaini in or out as a suspect. Critical evidence tying the Iraqi to the bombing has since been destroyed by the government.
Guess where Al-Hussaini ended up after Oklahoma City? Living in Boston near Logan Airport with two other Iraqis who provided food catering services to airlines there. Experts have said the 9/11 hijackers probably used weapons previously smuggled aboard by Â? food services employees.
Now watching the Pentagon under Bush refusing to let witnesses testify about Able Danger, its clear the Washington Establishment takes care of its own no matter which party happens to be in power. Call them Republicrats.
Mark Tapscott, a veteran newspaper journalist, is Director of the Center for Media and Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation, a Townhall.com Gold Partner.
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Townhall.com
edit to add source & reformat
please supply links when posting from sources not your own
thanks/kate
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kate
Admin
Joined: 14 May 2004
Posts: 1891
Location: Upstate, New York
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| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 3:40 am Post subject: |
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what IS going on.....
now Hadley is backing off, saying he never had the chart
Weldon is saying they discussed it only 3 months ago
NationalReview
ABLE DANGER: DID YOU GET A CHART, MR. HADLEY?
<snip>
| Quote: | REP. WELDON: That was two weeks after 9/11, so it would have been September the 25th.
And I took it down immediately. As soon as I got it, I said I've got to get this down to the White House.
Stephen Hadley's response to me was where did you get this from, Congressman? I said I got it from the Army's Information Dominance Center. I said this is the process that's been used that I've been trying to convince the government for three years to put into place, but the CIA has refused to accept. Because up until the establishment of the TTIC -- the Terrorist Threat Integration Center -- the CIA was not using open source information, which to me was a disaster in itself for our national intelligence estimates.
And so I said to Mr. Hadley -- I said this is a process they used to obtain this information. And he said to me -- and I remember this quote; it sticks out in my head … that he said I've got to show this to the man. And I said the man? He said yes, the president of the United States. So I gave him the chart.
(Sept. 21 T’script. pp. 15-16.) Why after all these weeks, and after all the controversy over whether Weldon and the Able Danger witnesses were credible – about whether, in fact, they had fabricated a tall tale about having an al Qaeda chart, compiled before 9/11, that may have had hijacker Mohamed Atta on it – have we still not heard from National Security Adviser Hadley, or someone at the White House, about whether Hadley agrees with Weldon’s version of events?
It’s not like this is unimportant. And it’s not like Hadley’s memory has faded – at least according to Weldon, who told the committee he’s recently spoken with Hadley about it:
And I can tell you this -- I talked to Mr. Hadley three months ago when I briefed him on another issue, and I said, remember that chart that I gave you? And he said, yes, I remember it. Now, I don't know why [sic] the White House still has it. They probably don't. It's been four years. I can tell you, my recollection of that chart is it was very similar to this [demonstration chart used at the senate hearing], but not as comprehensive. This chart includes post-9/11 data, so obviously the chart that I gave him did not have post-9/11 data. But it was significant. It identified the cells -- the five key cells they were working on, and to the best of my recollection, identified Mohamed Atta on the chart. |
WashingtonPost
Claim Atta Was Named Debated
Security Chief Denies Getting Chart Identifying Hijacker
<snip>
| Quote: | But a spokesman for Hadley, who has previously declined to comment on Weldon's claims, said yesterday that a search of National Security Council files produced no such documents identifying Atta and that Hadley was not given such a chart by Weldon.
"Mr. Hadley does not recall any chart bearing the name or photo of Mohamed Atta," said the spokesman, Frederick L. Jones II. "NSC staff reviewed the files of Mr. Hadley as well as of all NSC personnel" who might have received such a chart.
"That search has turned up no chart," he said.
Hadley does recall seeing a chart used as an example of "link analysis" -- the technique used by the Able Danger program -- as a counterterrorism tool, but is not sure whether it happened during a Sept. 25, 2001, meeting with Weldon or at another session, Jones said.
Weldon's chief of staff, Russ Caso, said that "the congressman sticks by his account" of the meeting, adding that it was understandable Hadley may have forgotten or misplaced the chart, given the demands of his job.
"This case is not closed," Caso said. "We are still aggressively trying to track down charts and/or documents. We haven't turned over every rock yet." |
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