Posted on 08/22/2005 4:13:55 PM PDT by neverdem
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 - An active-duty Navy captain has become the second military officer to come forward publicly to say that a secret defense intelligence program tagged the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks as a possible terrorist more than a year before the attacks.
The officer, Scott J. Phillpott, said in a statement today that he could not discuss details of the military program, which was called Able Danger, but confirmed that its analysts had identified the Sept. 11 ringleader, Mohamed Atta, by name by early 2000. "My story is consistent," said Captain Phillpott, who managed the program for the Pentagon's Special Operations Command. "Atta was identified by Able Danger by January-February of 2000."
His comments came on the same day that the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita, told reporters that the Defense Department had been unable to validate the assertions made by an Army intelligence veteran, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, and now backed up by Captain Phillpott, about the early identification of Mr. Atta.
Colonel Shaffer went public with his assertions last week, saying that analysts in the intelligence project had been overruled by military lawyers when they tried to share the program's findings with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2000 in hope of tracking down terror suspects tied to Al Qaeda.
Mr. Di Rita said in an interview that while the department continued to investigate the assertions, there was no evidence so far that the intelligence unit had come up with such specific information about Mr. Atta and any of the other hijackers.
He said that while Colonel Shaffer and Captain Phillpott were respected military officers whose accounts were taken seriously, "thus far we've not been able to uncover what these people said they saw - memory is a complicated thing."
The statement from Captain...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
slade gordon on OReilly now trashing Shaffer.
".I tend to believe the Lt. Col.I don't tend to trust bureaucrats."
That needs to be repeated.
The weiny politicized people there will be much more likely to throw someone (on the ground, in the field etc.) overboard.
They don't want to burn bridges when the 2008 elections happen and they have a new boss.
Are you shocked?
OReilly going toe to toe with Gordon over Gorelick. Gordon is total scum.
O'Reilly has on Slade Gordon right now...and Gordon says that Schaeffer is not telling the truth about telling their staffers about Atta....and that now the woman that schaeffer refers to is saying she doesn't know what he is talking about...
First he said that the defense dept told them they knew about AD, but not about Atta...now he is saying DOD is denying any knowledge of what Schaeffer is saying..
BTW, O'Reilly tapes early so there is no mention of this new witness..
no.
but I can fake it.
Slade Gordon is a pitiful weasel RINO like Kean.... the only member of the 9/11 O-MISSION I trust even slightly is Lehman, and that trust will evaporate if he doesn't force this issue to the max......
For an honorable man, there are things more important than those stars. I trust you agree.
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That's the point.
The omission of Able Danger makes the 9/11 Commission report a better paperweight than the Warren Commission report.
O'Reilly said he asked Gorelick on, because she has been crying to the press about O'Reilly saying she built the "wall" and should have recused herself from the 9/11 Commission...
Gorelick DECLINED his invitation to come on...
He's out-talking O'Reilly! Comes off as -very- defensive of the 9-11 Commission. Gorton was also directly defensive of the Gorelick "wall" memo, said that it had NO impact on information sharing, expect against individuals in the criminal justice system -- that is, if a person wasn't under arrest or being prosecuted, then foreign intelligence could be shared with FBI.
Slade Gorton is still vociferously defending Gorelick by attacking the veracity of Col Shaffer. I would love to know the source for the McDill reference in "Inside 9-11" and look forward to Weldon's hearings. I do trust that Weldon will not become to 9-11 what Jim Garrison was to the JFK assassination.
I would suggest that FReepers who haven't read the Congression Record report of Weldon's speech on the floor of the House sometime in June (July) 2005 do so. Thus far the NYTimes has tried to imply the Able Danger is a nerf ball. Weldon would disagree.
Drip, drip, drip.
Two people corroborating key aspects of Col. Shaffer's account on Able Danger -- the picture is starting to get filled in, but we still need a lot more detail and evidence -- someone tracking down some d----- documents would sure help!!!
he was very defensive. but I doubt anyone has ever asked him even a single tough question regarding the 9-11 commission report before. I give OReilly credit for that. if FNC would ditch the "missing persons" format for 2 hours of primetime a night, we might have more interviews like this.
What Gorton doesn't say is that there was a DOD policy which similarly proscribed such sharing of info. Guess where JG worked before joining DOJ? Anyone ...
Former senator Slade Gordon, if I recall correctly, is from the State of Washington.
Need I say more ?
Somebody tell Slade Gorton that Able Danger existed, that there is more and more evidence that it identified Atta and others, and that he better shut up before he ruins his reputation.
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