Able Danger

Able Danger, according to Curt Weldon, Republican Congressman and Representative of Pennsylvania, and former defense intelligence official, was a "small, highly classified military intelligence unit" which identified Mohammed Atta and "three other future hijackers as likely members of a cell of Al Qaeda operating in the United States ... more than a year before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

According to Weldon

"In the summer of 2000, the military team, known as Able Danger, prepared a chart that included visa photographs of the four men and recommended to the military's Special Operations Command that the information be shared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Weldon said August 15, 2005.

"The recommendation was rejected and the information was not shared, they said, apparently at least in part because Mr. Atta, and the others were in the United States on valid entry visas."

The New York Times reported that Al Felzenberg, former spokesman for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, "confirmed that members of its staff, including Philip Zelikow, the executive director, were told about the program on an overseas trip in October 2003 that included stops in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But Mr. Felzenberg said the briefers did not mention Mr. Atta's name. ... The report produced by the commission last year does not mention the episode."

Curiousities

"On a related subject, former 9/11 commissioner Tim Roemer thinks there's something screwy about the Able Danger timeline. Supposedly, the Able Danger team produced a chart that included Mohamed Atta's name and picture, but according to Fox News, Roemer wondered 'how Able Danger got a photo of Atta in 2000 for its alleged chart of terrorists when he had not yet applied for a U.S. visa.'" [1]

From the "Right": Blaming the Clinton administration

• Rush Limbaugh, "Clinton Administration's Gorelick Wall Prevented ...", August 10, 2005. Log-in Required for "Rush 24/7 Members".
• "Able Danger: Clinton's Folly," Little Green Footballs, August 10, 2005.
• "Clinton Lawyers: Mohamed Atta Off-Limits," NewsMax, August 12, 2005.
• Michelle Malkin, "Able Danger ... and Danger Enablers," michellemalkin.com, August 12, 2005.
• Mike Kelly, "Deadly tale of incompetence (Clinton, Atta, Able Danger)," New Jersey Media, (Free Republic), August 14, 2005.
• Barbara J. Stock, "Does “Able Danger” Matter?" MensNewsDaily.com, August 18, 2005.

Related SourceWatch Resources

• Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction: Final Report
• Daniel Hopsicker
• intelligence community

External Links

Documents

• U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Deputy Attorney General memo, August 6, 2001.

Articles & Commentary

• Douglas Jehl, "Four in 9/11 Plot Are Called Tied to Qaeda in '00," New York Times, August 9, 2005.
• Kimberly Hefling, "Congressman: 9/11 Hijackers Were Monitored," Associated Press (Yahoo! News), August 9, 2005.
• "New Pre-9/11 Intel Questions," CBS News/Associated Press, August 9, 2005.
• Douglas Jehl and Philip Shenon, "9/11 Commission's Staff Rejected Report on Early Identification of Chief Hijacker," New York Times, August 11, 2005.
• Mark G. Levey, "Cong. Weldon's Preemptive Strike Against the CIA," BuzzFlash, August 12, 2005.
• "Source: 9/11 Panel Staffers Probing Documents on 'Able Danger'," Fox News, August 11, 2005.
• "'Able Danger' Could Rewrite History," Fox News, August 12, 2005.
• Douglas Jehl, "9/11 Panel Explains Move on Intelligence Unit," New York Times, August 13, 2005.
• "Weldon not buying 'Able Danger' dismissal. Accuses 9-11 commission of changing its story on Atta info," WorldNetDaily, August 13, 2005.
• Jack Kelly, "Able Danger -- now they tell us. The 9/11 commission report, once much lauded, now has an awfully big hole," Pittsburg Post-Gazette, August 14, 2005.
• Brian Bennett, Timothy J. Burger, and Douglas Waller, "Was Mohammed Atta Overlooked? New questions about whether the U.S. had information about the 9/11 mastermind years before the attacks," Time, August 14, 2005.
• Mark Steyn, "Atta way to blow 9/11 panel's credibility," Chicago Sun-Times, August 14, 2005.
• Geoff Metcalf, "Complicit to Cover Up - Who Knew What and When?" The Sierra Times, August 15, 2005.
• Hiawatha Bray, "A wasted opportunity in war on terror," Boston Globe, August 15, 2005.
• Joseph Farah, "The 9-11 smoking gun," WorldNetDaily, August 15, 2005.
• "Lawyers barred unit from informing FBI of 9/11 terrorist," Associated Press (USA Today), August 16, 2005.
• Paige Kollock, "Congressman Wants More Investigation into 9/11 Intelligence Failures," Voice of America (iwar.org.uk), August 16, 2005.
• Philip Shenon, "Officer Says Military Blocked Sharing of Files on Terrorists," New York Times, August 17, 2005; International Herald Tribune, August 18, 2005.
• Roxanna Hegeman, "Agent Details BTK Killing Spree at Hearing," Associated Press (The Stamford Advocate), August 17, 2005.
• Gil Spencer, "Suddenly, there is a name (beside Curt Weldon’s) to put with the allegation that a secret military intelligence unit called Able Danger identified Mohammed Atta more than a year before he led 9/11 attacks against America. The name is Tony Shaffer," The Daily Times, August 17, 2005.
• "Officer: 9/11 panel didn't receive key information," CNN, August 17, 2005: "A former member of a classified Pentagon intelligence unit told CNN on Wednesday that information he tried to provide to the commission investigating the September 11, 2001, attacks never made it to the panel's members."
• "'Able Danger' specialist: I briefed 9-11 staff. Army officer involved in gleaning Atta intel in 2000 speaks out," WorldNetDaily, August 17, 2005.
• "Agent Defends Military Unit's Data on 9/11 Hijackers," Fox News, August 17, 2005.
• "A Pentagon review of a defunct defense operation said to have linked a Sept. 11 hijacker to a terrorist cell in New York City, could shed new light on why Defense Department officials shut down the secret program, 'Able Danger,' more than a year before the Sept. 11 attacks," Times Herald (Philadelphia), August 17, 2005.
• "Officer: Hijacker Info Blocked," CBS News/Associated Press, August 17, 2005.
• "Able Danger Intel Exposed. 'Protected' Heroin Trafficking," Mad Cow Morning News, August 17, 2005. re Able Danger, Mohamed Atta, Jeb Bush, and Katherine Harris.
• Deborah Orin, "Colonel Tells of Sickening Spy Blunder: 'We Had' Atta & Did Nothing," New York Post, August 18, 2005.
• "Pentagon Investigates Able Danger Work," Associated Press (Fox News), August 18, 2005.
• "Military intel team, 9/11 panel at odds. Able Danger member says he told the panel his team had ID'd Mohammed Atta and three other hijackers in 2000, but was ignored," USA Today (Tucson Citizen), August 18, 2005.
• Niles Latham, "Pentagon Tool a Hi-Tech Fiend-Finder," New York Post (CRM Knowledge Base), August 18, 2005.
• Philip Shenon, "Pentagon urged to divulge data on officer's revelation," New York Times (San Francisco Chronicle), August 18, 2005; "Assessment of officers' 9/1l accounts sought," International Herald Tribune (New York Times), August 19, 2005.
• Dan Eggen, "Officer Says 2 Others Are Source of His Atta Claims," Washington Post, August 19, 2005.
• "Pentagon Probes Able Danger Claims," Fox News, August 19, 2005.
• "Senate Considers Hearing on Able Danger Findings," Fox News, August 19, 2005.
• Kevin Drum, "Able Danger Update," Washington Monthly, August 19, 2005.
• Shaun Waterman, "House GOP leaders backed Able Danger plan," UPI (World Peace Herald), August 22, 2005.
• "Pentagon can't verify Able Danger claim. Initial probe hasn't confirmed hijackers were watched before 9/11," CNN, August 22, 2005.
• "Pentagon Unable to Validate 9/11 Claims," Associated Press (Washington Post), August 22, 2005.
• Philip Shenon, "Navy Officer Affirms Assertions About Pre-9/11 Data on Atta," New York Times, August 22, 2005.
• "Able Danger: Team Members Spoke With Reporters," Captain's Quarters blog, August 22, 2005.
• Kevin Drum, "Able Danger Followup," Washington Monthly, August 22, 2005.
• "Sen. Gorton's O'Reilly smackdown: 'Nothing Jamie Gorelick wrote had the slightest impact on the Department of Defense or its willingness or ability to share intelligence'," Media Matters for America, August 23, 2005.
• "Navy Captain Backs Able Danger Claims," Fox News, August 23, 2005.
• Kevin Drum, "More Able Danger Weirdness," Washington Monthly, August 23, 2005.
• Philip Shenon, "Second Officer Says 9/11 Leader Was Named Before Attacks," New York Times, August 23, 2005; "2nd officer says hijacker was tagged before 9/11," International Herald Tribune, August 24, 2005.
• Rowan Scarborough, "Pentagon: No evidence Atta was identified before 9-11," Washington Times, (World Peace Herald), August 23, 2005.
• James Ridgeway, with Natalie Wittlin, "Errors of Commission. The hijacking of the probe into the 9-11 hijackers," Village Voice, August 23, 2005.
• "NY Times, Fox News falsely reported that second military official backed up Shaffer's Able Danger claim," Media Matters for America, August 24, 2005.