THE 9/11 COMMISSION IN MORTAL DANGER

The Corner on National Review Online ^ | 08/11/05 | John Podhoretz

[TonyInOhio]

It behaved disgracefully and in a nakedly partisan fashion, with former officials of the Clinton administration attempting to use the platform to damage the president's reelection chances. Then, after months of ludicrous conduct, out of nowhere came the brilliantly conceived and written report that set a new standard of eloquence and coherence for government documents, became a major bestseller and redeemed the commission's reputation.

Well, that didn't last long.

In a story filed at 7:10 PM, the Associated Press is now confirming all the particulars of what will now forever be called the Able Danger disaster. The 9/11 Commission staff did hear about intelligence-gathering efforts that hit pay dirt on the whereabouts of Mohammed Atta -- in 1999 -- and deliberately chose to omit word of those efforts.

And why? Because to do so might upset the timeline the Commission had established on Atta.

And why is that significant? Because the Mohammed Atta timeline established by the Commission pointedly insisted Atta did not meet with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague.

And why is that significant? Because debunking the Atta-Iraq connection was of vital importance to Democrats, who had become focused almost obsessively on the preposterous notion that there was no relation whatever between Al Qaeda and Iraq -- that Al Qaeda and Iraq might even have been enemies.

I was very skeptical of this Able Danger stuff about Atta, thought it was just sme way Rep. Curt Weldon was trying to sell a book. No longer. This is clearly becoming the biggest story of the summer -- the fact that, as Andy McCarthy alluded to, the "intelligence wall" set up by 9/11 Commissioner Jamie Gorelick when she was in the Justice Department did, in fact, cause the linchpin of the 9/11 attacks to evade capture by American law enforcement.

So was the staff a) protecting the Atta timeline or b) Jamie Gorelick or c) the Clinton administration or d) itself, because it got hold of the information relatively late and the staff was lazy?

More important, what will co-chairmen Tom (pound his fist on the table) Kean and Lee (look sorrowful) Hamilton do and say in the next 36 hours about this calamity?

[wolfcreek]

...He and Jamie Gorelick ought to both be hauled into court and sued by Joe American! HEADS NEED TO ROLL ON THIS ONE!

[bnelson44]

Unimpressive huh?. Well let me get this straight..........

You are inserting a lot of assumptions here without proof. If the evidence surfaces, great. That was my initial poing.

What we don’t know:

* Just how many names Able Danger wanted to forward to the FBI. However, the wording in the Government Security article indicates that these four names were the only four that popped up on AD’s data-mining operation.

Thus, the information Able Danger had amassed about the only terrorist cell they had located inside the United States could not be shared with the FBI, the lawyers concluded. Unless the former intelligence officer quoted in the story is lying, these four guys were all that Able Danger found.

* Whether the military lawyer who denied Able Danger’s request to pass on the information checked with any superiors.

* It seems very hard to imagine this information would not be passed on to Secretary of Defense William Cohen, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, and the White House’s point man on counterterrorism, Richard Clarke. Yet, as of this moment, we have no direct confirmation that this information went any higher than the Pentagon lawyer.

from NRO

[elbucko]

However, Weldon said Pentagon lawyers rejected the recommendation because they said Atta and the others were in the country legally so information on them could not be shared with law enforcement.

I think that this is "obstruction of justice" by, as the article says, "Pentagon lawyers". I really don't see that being "in the country legally" (which they were not) really had anything to do with the investigation. Their, "the lawyers" conclusion defies logic.

[keysguy]

Excuse me I lost my mind for a moment. I forgot how hopelessly addicted audiences are to soap opera style news events. You are absolutely correct sir.

[brazzaville]

Good afternoon.
"He's been back in investment banking for 15 years."

Back from where? What was he, Secretary of the Navy. Was he put on the 9/11 Commision because he was into investment banking.

Jamie Gorelick had been out of the political class for a while herself, Benveniste too.

Actually, I can't think of any of the players in the 9/11 cover up who do not have links to the government that are maintained in private life.

Michael Frazier

[Lone Red Ranger]

We need to help Weldon with whatever we can do.

Has anyone contacted his office? Is there any leg work still to be done? Need extra staff? Consider me a volunteer.

[LS]

Sec. of the Navy in the 1980s????? I hardly call that "political class." If you are going to extrapolate that far out, then virtually everyone in the U.S. is part of the "political class." I don't think that's an explanation. Rather, I think the explanation others offered, which was that Lehman and a couple others staunchly maintained they had not been briefed, and were furious when they learned of this.

[rodguy911]

It's(this story)has already died several times and come back to life, let's give it a chance.

[rodguy911]

Actually I think it is far worse than you state.
I forget the thread but I remember reading that Gorelick was slid into Renos chair to devise a scheme that would basically exempt military intel, cia, fbi and the rest in favor of a group of lawyers who would intercept all intelligence,hence the wall, and distribute it as they saw fit. Basically giving Gorelick and probably Hillary a heads up on all intel before the intel agencies got it! Major bullsh!t, probably never ever tried by an adm. not at war before.

[Allosaurs_r_us]

Yep! I just kinda condensed it for the freeper who thinks we should ignore it cause "nothin will happen" to the clintoons.

[rodguy911]

I heard that too sleuth, basically I think Rush said that analysts were surfing the websites of "likely candidates"(all perfectly legal) of terror and found the jackpot. Info like that was able to have been shared accd. to rush, but of course Hillary's lawyers rushed in and we had 911. I just hope someone puts it all together and has the bad guys prosecuted.

[rodguy911]

I'd laugh but it really is infuriating. But that's why we are here. We are the New Media and have a job to do. People who want the truth will seek it out.

[Stellar Dendrite]

Can anyone tell me why Able Danger is not featured on Drudgereport?? WTF!!! I'm stuned

[Allosaurs_r_us]

It seems very hard to imagine this information would not be passed on to Secretary of Defense William Cohen, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, and the White House’s point man on counterterrorism, Richard Clarke. Yet, as of this moment, we have no direct confirmation that this information went any higher than the Pentagon lawyer.

 

From what I have read the lawyers for the Pentagon, having reviewed the evidence, decided because of Gorelicks memo they could not share the info with the FBI. What difference does it make whether or not it was 4 or 40? I don't understand what that possibly has to do with anything. Especially when the 4 included Atta and a couple of other pilots who carried out flying the planes on 9/11. If the info was not forwarded to Cohen, or Berger, makes little difference other than the fact the that the policies in place were inadequate and their staffs were grossly incompetent. The fact is, these 4 individuals should have been tracked down and apprehended, thus probably preventing the attack altogether. That is just criminal, as it most likely lead to 3,000 deaths. The only reason they were not picked up is because of the wall the Clintoon admin put in place in order to let lawyers decide what was relevant and what was not. So what is it you are not sure about? You are missing the whole point! This lies right in the lap of the previous administration. Clinton and Reno were calling the shots! They put into place the policies that let this happen! Why was this not included in the 9/11 report that Gorelick  bragged about being thorough and comprehensive? (she should have been answering questions, not deciding what went into the report!)

 

My own opinion is this wall was put into place so that BJ's buddies could intercept intelligence pertaining to his illegal money coming from a foreign government. Thereby hiding the info from the proper authorities or making it nearly impossible for anyone to put 2 and 2 together without an immense pile of red tape. But that is another crime altogether.

 

Atta being in the country a year before the Commission's fact finding shoots holes in the whole report. The fact that their staff knew of this, which by the way has already been documented by the NYTimes and the WAPost, does not give those sitting on the panel an excuse for omitting the facts. It looks like some of them knew this, but since it didn't fit what they had already decided they did not share it with others on the panel. This part is supposition, but it is very likely after reading the Pentagon's statements on Abel.

 

The fact that the Commission ignored these facts will bury those involved and likely expose the agenda of the Commission and Burger's destruction of classified documents. I have read enough from various sources that this is all fact. Saying it has yet to be proved is nonsense. The facts are there. All you have to do is connect the dots. Just because a court or special investigative panel has yet to publicize it doesn't mean it does not exist until then.

 

If you followed all of the links on the thread and read all of the info, I don't see how you can come to any other conclusion. Unfortunately many people will read only what is posted on the original thread and then make comments without being informed of the whole story. It pays to absorb all of the info presented by your fellow FReeps so you can make an informed judgment.

 

[jonrick46]

This was from a Newsmax article Saturday, June 11, 2005 posted by Invisible Church on 6/11/05. Just do a search for Gorelick and go to that post date for it. Good info in this post.

I did paste the sentenses you cited because they sum up Gorelick's role as well as Web Hubblell being her predecessor. It also credits William Safire as having the inside track on who called for Gorelick in the first place. Web Hubbell served 16 months for his over charges to his Arkansas law firm and his clients. He also plead guilty on a tax charge that was later dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court due to fifth admendment issues concerning private documents.

It seems as if Hitlary was cutting and pasting "eyes and ears" from the same cloth--Heh! Heh!

[Txsleuth]

Just now reading your post...

but, you reminded me of one name that hasn't been mentioned in the last few days....George Tenet...

hmmmmmmmmm--I wonder if George Tenet's fingers could have been in this stew? Remember, he was a Clinton guy!

[rodguy911]

You are absolutely right.
It looks like the buck is stopping here.It is now up to the new media to put this story in the light where it belongs. If we delve enough into it they(the old media/MSM) won't be able to ignore it forever. Remember this story had a life before and it died. it has come back we have a second chance.
One key will be for us to immediately correct every spin the old media tries, that's their mo and they will undoubtedly try and lie or change the topic asap. We need to nail them every time they do it.
I don't understand drudge.