Able Danger, the 9/11 Commission & the Strange (But Now Explainable) Actions of Sandy Berger

NavySeals.com/Black Net Global Intel ^ | 8-12-05 | Sean Osborne, Senior Analyst & Military Affairs Expert

[cgk]

Able Danger, the 9/11 Commission & the Strange (But Now Explainable) Actions of Sandy Berger

	Written by Northeast Intelligence Network
	Friday August 12, 2005

Page: | 1 |

Able Danger, the 9/11 Commission & the Strange (But Now Explainable) Actions of Sandy Berger



By Sean Osborne, Senior Analyst & Military Affairs Expert

& Douglas J. Hagmann, Director



10 August 2005: Hey America… do you remember the strange actions of President Clinton’s national security adviser Sandy Berger during the 9/11 Commission investigation when he removed highly classified terrorism documents that should have been turned over to that independent commission? Did you ever wonder what Berger was attempting to hide and even more importantly, why? Did you also wonder why, even though he committed a felony, he received nothing more than a slap on the wrist while various political and intelligence officials played down his actions, wanting them to disappear as quickly as possible? It appears that we just might have discovered the answers to these and other troubling questions: Able Danger.



Able Danger is the code name of a secret team of U.S. Army military intelligence operatives created in 1999 under a directive signed by General Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to assemble information about al Qaeda networks around the world. In mid-2000, the Able Danger team discovered the existence of the key 9/11 terror cell of Mohammed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawar al-Hamzi inside the U.S. and recommended to their military superiors that the FBI be called in to “take out that cell,” according to Representative Curt Weldon, the Pennsylvania House member and vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. That information was presented in the summer of 2000 in the form of a chart complete with photographs of the terrorists to the Pentagon's Special Operations Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Our intelligence was dead-on accurate, but was not acted upon a full year before the 9/11 attacks.

In fact, Representative Weldon said Able Danger members had recommended that the information they uncovered be shared with the FBI, but the idea was rejected and they “were directed to take those 3M yellow stickers and place them over the faces of Atta and the other terrorists and pretend they didn’t exist.”



Despite the findings of Able Danger, absolutely no action was pursued to take out the cell during the weeks leading up to the 2000 presidential election, said Weldon. The reason? Mohammed Atta possessed a “green card” at the time. Under the rules of the Clinton Justice Department, lawyers working for Special Operations decided that anyone holding a green card had to be granted essentially the same legal protections as any U.S. citizen. They did not want to recommend that the FBI go after someone holding a green card, Weldon told his House colleagues on June 27, 2005 during a speech, known as a “special order,” which he delivered on the House floor. Defense Department lawyers were also said to be reluctant to suggest a bold action by FBI agents after the bureau’s disastrous 1993 strike against the Branch Davidian religious cult in Waco, Texas.




Read Curt Weldon’s June 27, 2005 Testimony This week, Representative Weldon and a former defense intelligence official said they had spoken with three Able Danger team members, all still working in the government, including two in the military, and that they were consistent in asserting that Mohammed Atta's affiliation with a Qaeda terrorism cell in the United States was known within the Defense Department by mid-2000 but was not acted upon. Further and after the fact, the 9-11 Commission was reportedly never told about Able Danger or its findings.

Enter Sandy Berger – During the 9/11 Commission



While the investigation by the 9/11 Commission was in progress, Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, who served as Clinton's national security adviser for all of President's Clinton’s second term, was caught removing documents from the national Archives – the very same documents that should have been turned over to the independent commission probing the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Berger ultimately admitted to intentionally taking and destroying various classified documents relating to terrorism collected under the Clinton administration. Berger and his lawyer said on July 19, 2004 that he knowingly removed the handwritten notes by placing them in his jacket, pants and socks, and also “inadvertently” took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio. Those documents reportedly included an assessment of America's terror vulnerabilities at airports, something very relevant to Able Danger’s findings and key to the 9/11 attacks. What Sandy Berger did was a! felony, yet was allowed a generous plea agreement of a fine and a three-year suspension of his security clearance.



Under the prism of Able Danger, we are now able to make sense out of the previously curious actions of Sandy Berger.

Able Danger & the Saga of the 9/11 Commission; Warren Commission Redux



According to Weldon, staff members of the 9/11 Commission were briefed on the findings of the Able Danger intelligence unit within the Special Operations Command and about the specific recommendation to break up the Mohammed Atta cell, yet those members reportedly decided not to brief the commission’s members on those matters. Why not?

Clearer now is the conflict of interest of having Jamie Gorelick, the Assistant Attorney General under Bill Clinton serving on the 9/11 Commission. Ms. Gorelick worked directly for Janet Reno and was directly involved in matters that were under review by the 9/11 Commission.



Remember the reason the findings of Able Danger were not acted upon? In his testimony before the 9/11 Commission, Attorney General John Ashcroft stated the following:




"In 1995, the Justice Department embraced flawed legal reasoning, imposing a series of restrictions on the FBI that went beyond what the law required," he said. "The 1995 Guidelines and the procedures developed around them imposed draconian barriers to communications between the law enforcement and intelligence communities. The wall left intelligence agents afraid to talk with criminal prosecutors or agents. In 1995, the Justice Department designed a system destined to fail." Continuing his testimony, Ashcroft stated:

"Somebody built this wall.” Ashcroft added: "The basic architecture for the wall . . . was contained in a classified memorandum entitled 'Instructions on Separation of Certain Foreign Counterintelligence and Criminal Investigations. Full disclosure compels me to inform you that its author is a member of this Commission." Ashcroft was referring to Jamie Gorelick, who served as Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton Administration as well as general counsel at the Department of Defense. Both jobs put her at the very center of the former administration's anti-terrorism efforts. Consequently, her actions, as well as those of her superiors, were the subject of review by the very commission on which she is a member. Most assuredly, that is a huge conflict of interest. In her position at the Justice Department, Gorelick wrote a memo that provides a picture of the role she played setting policy for intelligence gathering and sharing during the Clinton Administration. The memo stemmed from the Justice Department's prosecution of the 1993 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.



Gorelick wrote in 1995:

“During the course of those investigations, significant counterintelligence information has been developed related to the activities and plans of agents of foreign powers operating in this country and overseas, including previously unknown connections between separate terrorist groups." We believe that it is prudent to establish a set of instructions that will clearly separate the counterintelligence investigation from the more limited, but continued, criminal investigations. These procedures, which go beyond what is legally required, will prevent any risk of creating an unwarranted appearance that FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) is being used to avoid procedural safeguards which would apply in a criminal investigation." And therein is the framework for the legal conundrum faced by Able Danger, and why Atta and his minions were free to hijack 4 airliners on 9/11.

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/analysts.asp

[US/21]

[cgk]

Oh dear: I am VERY VERY sorry. I didn't write post #4. I thought I copied the title & author with the source, but re-reading it, obviously it's not there. The author is Sean Osborne, but until their website goes back online, I can't post the link. (navyseals.com).

[cgk]

Here's the link:

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/abledanger.asp

That is where part 2 was carried. I still can't figure out why the author didn't show up on the page, as it's there on the source. Sorry for the confusion.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

One can see that they are in major CYA mode, and as-ever relying on their comrades in the MSM to provide cover. I would be surprised if Gorelick weer sacrificed at this point. Both sides fully understand the news cycle now. And the Democrats are far better at it's management. I agree, the blogosphere is our only hope, otherwise, this scandal, like hundreds before it, will vaporize just as the Busines-Government establishment requires.

[freema]

I can't even find an article that describes ANYTHING that the good Senator from New York might have said about 9/11/05. Zero.

I found a curious little video, though. She appears a bit tense, terse, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, not quite sure what the descriptive word might be- take a look.
http://www.freepressinternational.com/hillaryashcroft.html

[tiki]

I wish I knew and I'm not a conspiracy nut either.

[krazyrep]

Why isn't Sandy the Burglar in prison where he belongs?

He hasn't been sentenced yet. I hear his sentencing has been delayed since the Able Danger story broke. Could prove interesting.

[samadams2000]

To the gallows.

[libertyhoundusnr]

The wall was built to protect the Clinton activities with Chinese intell and the passing of cash for missile secrets. Do you believe the NSA doesn't have records on this? To the Clintons, all terrorist actions were and still are acceptable losses in their eyes. They would rather have a Girl Scout National Jamboree nuked than admit their crimes. Not that it would matter. The Clintons and their co-conspirators will never be convicted. Get over it.

[Wil H]

Despite the findings of Able Danger, absolutely no action was pursued to take out the cell during the weeks leading up to the 2000 presidential election, said Weldon. The reason? Mohammed Atta possessed a “green card” at the time.

If that were true, what was he doing entering from Prague on a TOURIST VISA in 2000? And who sponsored his Green Card, if it ever existed?

[petercooper]

I think I read Hillary, Bill and Al Gore were out of the country on 9-11-01. Can anyone confirm?

[Orion78]

I think I remember reading that. If I remember correctly, the Clintons were to fly in a couple days later too, even though flights were banned after 9/11