Able Danger: Pentagon Unloads Big Guns

After doing extensive document searches and interviewing 80 people involved with the Able Danger program, DoD officials have been unable to find the chart alleged to have contained a photo of Sept. 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta, said Pat Downs, a senior policy analyst with the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

Through interviews, DoD officials did find three people who recall a chart with either a photo or a reference to Atta, Downs said. The three are in addition to Army Reserve Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and Navy Capt. Scott Phillpott, a military intelligence officer with U.S. Special Operations Command, who originally came forward with allegations that Atta had been identified before Sept. 11.

One person who recalled the chart was a SOCOM civilian analyst; one was an analyst with the Land Information Warfare Activity; and one was a contractor, said Thomas Gandy, the Army’s director of counterintelligence and human intelligence.

DoD officials have searched documents from all organizations involved with Able Danger, in addition to all the documents sent to the 9/11 commission, Downs said. They found a chart similar to the one described by the five people, but it did not contain a photo or a reference to Atta, she said.

The interviews were conducted with people who were involved both integrally and peripherally with Able Danger, said Navy Cmdr. Christopher Chope, of SOCOM’s Center for Special Operations. These interviews have not been completed, and some people are being re-interviewed as more information is discovered, Downs said.

There is a possibility that such a chart could have been destroyed, because during Able Danger, strict regulations about destruction of documents containing information about U.S. persons were followed, Gandy said. However, the officials found no indication that legal advice was given to anyone involved with the program to destroy documents, Chope said.

Okay, we know that the Pentagon has found at least three people who claim to have seen Atta's photo or reference in connection with the Able Danger program before 9/11. That's in addition to Lt. Col. Shaffer.

This is highly significant information corroborating Shaffer's recollection. And it further solidifies Rep. Curt Weldon's assertions about the 9/11 Commission missing vital data in the course of its investigation.

Meanwhile, Able Danger team member J.D. Smith believes that some of the issues investigated by the team are still under investigation, including links between some public officials and China.

Curious. Previously, Sec. State Rice was suggested as one of those whose name was picked up by Able Danger.

UPDATE:
The Strata-Sphere has more, and notes that the Pentagon said "... that there was no evidence that military lawyers blocked the sharing of Able Danger information with the FBI." This might be a distinction without a difference as it did not say Pentagon lawyers, but Strata think that this is further implication of Gorelick's wall on data.

As usual, check out the following sites who are covering Able Danger: Weapons Of Mass Discussion, Let Freedom Ring, Boxer Watch, What Attitude Problem, Intel Dump, Flopping Aces, JunkYard Blog, and QT Monster. Just keep scrolling.