Floods, natural disasters, Specter apparently doing a serious investigation, and the New York Times doing real journalism. Must be the end of the world.
Posted on 08/31/2005 11:48:59 PM PDT by neverdem
WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 - The Senate Judiciary Committee announced Wednesday that it was investigating reports from two military officers that a highly classified Pentagon intelligence program identified the Sept. 11 ringleader as a potential terrorist more than a year before the attacks.
The committee's chairman, Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, said in an interview that he was scheduling a public hearing on Sept. 14 "to get to the bottom of this" and that the military officers "appear to have credibility."
The senator said his staff had confirmed reports from the two officers that employees of the intelligence program tried to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2000 to discuss the work of the program, known as Able Danger.
The officers, Capt. Scott J. Phillpott of the Navy and Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer of the Army, have said the intelligence program identified the terrorist ringleader, Mohamed Atta, by early 2000. Colonel Shaffer, a reservist, has said three meetings with F.B.I. agents in 2000 to discuss Able Danger were canceled on the order of military lawyers.
Senator Specter's announcement came as the Pentagon said again on Wednesday that while it was not disputing the officers' reports, it could find no documentation to back up what they were saying.
"Not only can we not find documentation, we can't find documents to lead us to the documentation," said Maj. Paul Swiergosz, a Pentagon spokesman.
Other Pentagon officials have suggested that the memories of Captain Phillpott and Colonel Shaffer are flawed and that Mr. Atta could not have been identified before the attacks, a view shared by members of the independent commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks.
But Colonel Shaffer and military officials involved in the intelligence program say it may not be surprising that documents were destroyed, since the project became...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
These hearings will continue past this fall and maybe even until next Nov. Preferably the report will be released in time to disembowel the Evil One prior to the fall elections.
I do not want this to be done rapidly.
Nor am I a "strenuous defender" of Specter. However, I do not doubt he will do the right thing here. Nor does the chairman have to be present for the hearings to continue.
Floods, natural disasters, Specter apparently doing a serious investigation, and the New York Times doing real journalism. Must be the end of the world.
I so can't wait to see what else Weldon has.
I might be a little starry-eyed here... but does anyone else think that Weldon should run for the Presidency in '08? I love the way he's just throwing himself underneath the Washington machine to make sure the truth gets out. I'm not that familiar with his track record, but I'm liking the man's integrity.
BUMP for exposure
Latest on Able Danger on Levin's Show Now.
www.wabcradio.com
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1475098/posts?page=54
bttt
How about some more information on Able Danger's chain of command? I don't think Arlen can pull the equivalent of another "magic bullet" explanation, and if he tries, Congressman Weldon probably won't allow it.
Third Source Backs 'Able Danger' Claims About Atta
J.D. Smith, a defense contractor who claims he worked on the technical side of the unit, code-named "Able Danger", has pay records that should be traceable.
Four in 9/11 Plot Are Called Tied to Qaeda in '00
He said the team had been established by the Special Operations Command in 1999, under a classified directive issued by Gen. Hugh Shelton, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to assemble information about Al Qaeda networks around the world.
Gen. Hugh Shelton should testify.
From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.
Perhaps the missing documentation was in the section of the Pentagon that was destroyed on 9/11.
Thanks for the ping!
Specter is called the undertaker for a reason...he buries evidence.
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