Navy Officer Affirms Assertions About Pre-9/11 Data on Atta

NY Times ^ | August 22, 2005 | PHILIP SHENON

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Hope this story hangs in there. Something happened and we have a right to know.I tend to believe the Lt. Col.I don't tend to trust bureaucrats.

[Gondring]

Wow.

[Dog]

Another voice is heard...

[tiredoflaundry]

ping a ling a ding dong!

[thoughtomator]

The big question is, why is the New York Times printing stories that may prove immensely damaging to their politics? It's totally out of character.

[My Favorite Headache]

Who cares? What does Cindy Sheehan have to say about this?

That is what matters.

[sono]

Thanks to documentaries like NGC's "Inside 9-11", this story isn't going away. With yet another source, and the inevitable Weldon hearings, this story has legs.

[Guenevere]

bttt

[Dog]

Representative Weldon also arranged an interview with a former employee of a defense contractor who said he had helped create a chart in 2000 for the intelligence program that included Mr. Atta's photograph and name. The former contractor, James D. Smith, said that Mr. Atta's name and photograph were obtained through a private researcher in California who was paid to gather the information from contacts in the Middle East. Mr. Smith said that he had retained a copy of the chart for some time and that it had been posted on his office wall at Andrews Air Force Base. He said it had become stuck to the wall and was impossible to remove when he switched jobs.

[neverdem]

The big question is, why is the New York Times printing stories that may prove immensely damaging to their politics? It's totally out of character.

You'r assuming that they don't want to redeem their reputation. Money talks!

[Desron13]

"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.

Hmmm, lets see, they seem to have known the name of this Atta insect a full year before he managed to pull off the single worst atrocity ever commit ed against the American people but this doesn't seem to constitute "proof" in Mr. Di Rita's vacuous little head. Simply amazing.

"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."

This statement is simply too asinine to comment on.

[thoughtomator]

If they do want to redeem their reputation, this story is the only data point on the chart.

[processing please hold]

They aren't going to be able to unscramble an egg soon. I believe it's reached a point to where the genie can't be put back into the bottle. It's growing daily.

[navyblue]

This is an active duty captain? I think he can forget about ever getting those stars on his collar.

[Beckwith]

This is so normal in a bureaucracy that is 100 layers deep.

Why is anyone surprised. Every layer and every player has an agenda.

[Shermy]

"My story is consistent"

Interesting. does he think others' stories aren't?

"The former contractor, James D. Smith, said that Mr. Atta's name and photograph were obtained through a private researcher in California who was paid to gather the information from contacts in the Middle East."

Doesn't sound much like data mining, but old fashioned-humint.

"Mr. Smith said that he had retained a copy of the chart for some time and that it had been posted on his office wall at Andrews Air Force Base. He said it had become stuck to the wall and was impossible to remove when he switched jobs."

Oh yeah, the old "sticky wall" excuse. He should have just said he didn't think to take it. Instead he creates a story where no poster will be found on his old wall, therefore there was a conspiracy.

Weak stuff.

[Coop]

Smart. I remember hearing Rep. Weldon say there were a dozen of these folks lined up - not necessarily all willing to go public, but there are quite a few sources form which to draw info/corroboration.

[RDTF]

ping!

[Coop]

Thanks to documentaries like NGC's "Inside 9-11",

How was that, by the way?