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Not 'Able' to Disseminate
'Danger' Without Common Sense
Government/Frank
Salvato, Managing Editor |
September 23, 2005
- Washington DC, a city that thrives on partisan
politics, power plays and the satisfaction derived from the downfall of
others. In this city cooperation is about as rare as a MoveOn.org fundraiser
featuring Michael Moore without a deprecating comment about President Bush.
But sometimes, even in our nation’s capitol, the pettiness of partisan
politics needs to be set aside, if not for the good of the country, then to
secure our very existence. Such is the case with the probe into Able Danger.
Able Danger was a secret military intelligence team charged with data-mining
terror threats to the United States. Two military officers affiliated with
the project, Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and Navy Capt. Scott Phillpott,
have come forward with claims that the US military identified four September
11 hijackers more than a year before the 2001 attacks. This identification
incorporated a chart that not only made reference to Mohamed Atta but
included his picture. Since Shaffer and Phillpott’s declaration the Pentagon
has announced that three more people recall seeing the chart prior to the
September 11 attacks.
These revelations incited a plethora of calls for a congressional
investigation into whether information that could have prevented the attacks
of September 11 was mismanaged, went unheeded or both.
On September 21 of this year, the Senate Judiciary Committee initiated open
hearings into the issue of Able Danger, what they knew, when they knew it
and to whom they conveyed their knowledge.
Set to testify before the committee were military intelligence officers and
analysts involved in the Able Danger project, including Shaffer and
Phillpott. These analysts used powerful computers to sift through public
data in search of intelligence clues. This process is referred to as
data-mining. Arguably, the information acquired during data-mining is
sensitive, classified and in most cases top secret.
In light of the fact that the 9/11 Commission’s report omitted Able Danger
entirely, Shaffer has said publicly that members of the team tried to pass
the information they had uncovered about Atta and other 9/11 murderers to
the FBI several times in September 2000. Two more members of the team have
come forward to validate Shaffer’s claims.
In response to the committee’s request for testimony the Defense Department
barred this slate of witnesses from testifying at the hearings citing the
sensitive nature of the material in question. The only testimony given
outlined how the Pentagon is squeamish about intelligence containing
information on US citizens and the timetable used to destroy such
information. There was nothing mentioned about Mohamed Atta, data-mining or
Able Danger.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld issued a statement saying that the Pentagon
offered to hold a classified briefing on Able Danger to accommodate the
Senate Judiciary Committee’s inquiries but refused to entertain the idea of
participating in an "open hearing on a classified matter.”
Arlen Specter (R-PA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, responded
by saying, "That looks to me like it may be obstruction of the committee's
activities, something we will have to determine."
Considering the sensitive nature of the information involved and the secret
nature of the vehicle used to acquire the information, it is remarkable that
a congressional committee would make such a poor choice of a venue for their
inquiry. The choice of an open hearing effectively mandated redacted
testimony, so much so that instead of hearing testimony into what may have
very likely been serious intelligence communications mismanagement, the
committee was met with a "wall of silence.”
I understand the cautionary tone with which the Pentagon is approaching this
matter. It would be criminal to compromise what little clandestine
intelligence we have in place considering the destruction our intelligence
community underwent in the 1990s. While transparency in government is
preferred, safeguarding the things that keep us safe makes a great deal of
sense. Perhaps that’s why many in Washington and the mainstream media have a
hard time grasping the notion.
The fact that such data existed before the attacks of September 11th and
that nothing was done to thwart Atta’s actions is disturbing. So too is the
fact that the September 11th Commission was more of a dog and pony show used
to protect political legacies than to identify weaknesses in our
intelligence system, a system meant to safeguard the American public from
terrorist generated slaughter. But to think that testimony regarding
critical information on the slaughter of over 3000 Americans is being
obstructed because some politico didn’t have the sense to schedule a closed
hearing instead of an open one is infuriating.
In the end the most important thing is to fix and refine our intelligence
process so that Americans can feel safe about going to work, whether in
Chicago’s Sears Tower or any of the myriad buildings that al Qaeda and the
other cretins of the terror world salivate over destroying. Scheduling an
open congressional hearing knowing full well that classified information
cannot be shared in such a venue isn’t facilitating the refinement of our
national intelligence process; it facilitates the continuation of an inept
political process.
Government works at the competency level of the lowest common denominator.
It validates the theory about the weakest link, be it at the federal, state,
county or municipal level. But this issue is too important to settle for the
ineptness of the political status quo. Our very existence could very well
depend on it.
Related Reading:
Pentagon blocking September 11 inquiry: Senator
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&summit=AutosSummit05&storyid=2005-09-21T211406Z_01_KWA176340_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-ATTACKS.xml
Weldon: Atta Papers Destroyed on Orders
http://www.herald-sun.com/nationworld/14-646579.html
Sept. 11 Commission Rejects Atta Claim
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050915/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/sept11_hijackers%3b_ylt=A9FJqaMfQCpDJAQApwus0NUE%3b_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-
'Able Danger' is probe target
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=national&story_id=092205b2_abledanger
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