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somebigguy
12-05-2005, 10:06 AM
This could be the moment we've been waiting for. 245 Senators and Reps have signed Curt Weldon's letter demanding that Able Danger whistleblowers testify before Congress. Able Danger, you may remember, was the military intelligence project that identified as terrorists, and tracked, Mohammad Atta & Co. in 2000, but was quickly gagged. Able Danger officers were told to forget they'd ever heard of Atta; and when whistleblower Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer went public this year, he was harassed and had his clearance revoked.

Key congresspeople are pleading with you to write them and give them the groundswell of support they need to investigate Able Danger. See below for details.

And don't forget to call in to National Public Radio tomorrow! Soft-pedal your topic to get past the screeners...then play hardball when you're live on the air.
Monday, December 5th, 1:00 PM Midwest Time - - - Talk of the Nation (check your local NPR station schedule for exact time)
When the Nine-Eleven Commission officially ended, its members decided there was more work to do. They stayed together for one more year to see what happened to their recommendations to keep America safe. After one, on Talk of the Nation, Nine-Eleven Commission Co-Chairs Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton share their final report card with Neal Conan.

From Jim at Colorado 9/11 Truth:

How Can You Help Uncover Operation Able Danger and Expose the Truth of 9-11?
(pass on far and wide)

Congressman Weldon is calling on all Members of Congress to sign a letter he is sending to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld requesting that members of Able Danger be allowed to testify before Congress and the American people.

The Pentagon has prevented members of the Able Danger effort from testifying in an open hearing. Able Danger dealt with open-sourced, unclassified information, and their story should be told to the American people.

There are currently 245 signatures on this letter balanced between Republicans and Democrats, including senior leadership. Urge your representative, if he/she hasn't, to sign this letter TODAY!
See signatures below.


I Talked to Spectors staffer on the Judicial Committee and asked him for some advice as to moving this forward. He suggested to have people call their Senators and urge them to start a similar letter to Rumsfeld. So.......call your Senators, write, fax, email and ask them to get this hearing going and start a Senate letter! All testimony in the House or Senate is basically assumed under oath. And Rummy knows it.


Call the Pentagon and leave a message with Donny boy.....Remember, you pay his salary!!!! He craps sitting down too. He puts his pants on one leg at a time.... You own him!!!! Tell him to let Schaffer and Philpott and Smith and Preisser testify. The time is now to be BOLD! As bold and brazen as they were for taking us into endless war and endless spending! As bold and brazen as they were for shutting down Sibel Edmonds! For murdering 2100 soldiers. For murdering over 100,000 Iraqi civilians. And as all the evidence is showing us, complicit in 9-11.


DOD info line 703-545-6700 Press 1, ask for or spell Rumsfeld
Ask him why he's destroying evidence. Tell him to un-gag Schaffer, Phillpott and the others.

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml
Or call the switchboard for the Senate and House and ask to be connected. 202-224-3121

Write to Newspapers.
http://www.usnpl.com/ - U.S. Newspapers
http://www.usnpl.com/conews.html - Colorado newspapers

Call or write to Weldon and Spector, tell them you support them. Ask for Russ Caso, the staffer for Weldon who is handling this issue. Ask for Barr, the staffer for Spectors Judiciary Committee. (he wouldn't give me his last name.)

Weldons Address, Phone, Fax, Email
2466 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2011
Fax: (202) 225-8137
CurtPa07@Mail.House.Gov

Able Danger News on Weldons site:
http://curtweldon.house.gov/News/DocumentQuery.aspx?CatagoryID=1932

Arlen Spector:
Main Office:
711 Hart Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: 202-224-4254
http://specter.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInfo.Home

Talking Points:
1. If the 9-11 commissioners believe that Able Danger was so insignificant, why won't they push for the Pentagon to cooperate in the hearings?
2. Why is Rumsfeld obstructing these hearings? Is he afraid of what will be exposed by these whistle blowers, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, Navy Capt. Scott Phillpott, and civilian analyst James D. Smithn who have been gagged? (Dr. Eileen Preisser has not come forward yet but should be subpeoned.)
3. Why, if the Pentagon is interested in the truth of 9-11 and is not concerned that Able Danger was significant, are they destroying evidence? Isn't that illegal? Yes! They must file forms before destroying classified info and so far haven't produced those forms to Weldon.
4. How is it that Rumsfeld can tell the Armed Services Committee and the Judiciary Committee that these people cannot testify? Can't these committees subpoena these people, over-riding this inept Defense Secretary? The Congress oversees the DOD!
5. This is a matter of huge significance for the public who were counting on the 9-11 commission to report all the facts, now found to be guilty of omitting important evidence that these hijackers were known of years before!

The absolute best source to understand Able Danger and it's significance

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline&before_9/11=ableDanger

Does Able Danger implicate the Pentagon? Were Atta, Honjour and others merely dupes, being controlled by a rouge cabal in our Military and Intelligence, in a larger plan by PNAC to take the U.S. into an un-needed aggressive war? Why then is it reported that 5 and possibly more of the supposed hijackers were found to be alive and well? No proof of any of these hijackers on flight passenger logs or seen in boardingvideo. No DNA recovered from the crash sites. No black box recordings released. No reconstruction of wreckage or crash investigation reports from NTSB for flights 77 and 93, as is normal procedure. All videos of the Pentagon area, confiscated immediately by the FBI. Complete preposterous failure of our standard hijacking intercept procedures, followed flawlessly 100's of times a year and never requiring Sec. of Defense or Presidential permission to intercept. STANDARD PROCEDURE. Yes, to shoot down took an order by many high ranking Generals up to the President but only until June 01, That's when Rumsfeld had a Joint Chiefs order changed to require that only he or the President or Vice President could order shoot down. Complete failure of the anti-aircraft gun batteries around the Pentagons restricted air space. Rumsfeld, knowing flight 77 is bearing down on D.C. fails to evacuate the Pentagon. All the flight school records gathered and flown out of Venice FL. just days after 9-11 by Jeb Bush. It just goes on and on and on.... coincidence or complicity? No reprimands, dismissals or demotions! Only promotions and huge increases in budgets!

MORE THAN HALF OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WANTS OPEN HEARINGS ON ABLE DANGER

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 - U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), vice chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees, has sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld signed by over half of the House of Representatives requesting that he allow "former participants in the intelligence program known as ABLE DANGER to testify in an open hearing before the United States Congress." The letter has 246 signatures (144 Republicans, 101 Democrats, and one Independent), including senior members and leadership on both sides of the isle.

"The full story of ABLE DANGER deserves to be heard by the American people," said Weldon. "Secretary Rumsfeld must understand that the will of Congress is behind allowing members of the ABLE DANGER effort to testify in an open hearing about the work they were doing prior to 9-11 to track the linkages and relationships of al-Qaeda worldwide.

--- A FULL-TEXT VERSION OF THE LETTER & LIST OF SIGNATORIES IS BELOW ---

The Honorable Donald Rumsfeld
Secretary
Department of Defense
Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:

We the undersigned are formally requesting that you allow former participants in the intelligence program known as ABLE DANGER to testify in an open hearing before the United States Congress. Until this point, congressional efforts to investigate ABLE DANGER have been obstructed by Department of Defense insistence that certain individuals with knowledge of ABLE DANGER be prevented from freely and frankly testifying in an open hearing. We realize that you do not question Congress’s authority to maintain effective oversight of executive branch agencies, including your department. It is our understanding that your objection instead derives from concern that classified information could be improperly exposed in an open hearing. We of course would never support any activity that might compromise sensitive information involving national security. However, we firmly believe that testimony from the appropriate individuals in an open hearing on ABLE DANGER would not only fail to jeopardize national security, but would in fact enhance it over the long term. This is due to our abiding belief that America can only better prepare itself against future attacks if it understands the full scope of its past failures to do so.

On September 21, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary conducted a hearing on ABLE DANGER which Bill Dugan, Acting Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight, certified did not reveal any classified information. Congressman Curt Weldon’s testimony at that hearing was largely based on the information that has been given to him by ABLE DANGER participants barred from open testimony by DOD. Their testimony would therefore closely mirror that of Congressman Weldon, who did not reveal classified information. Therefore we are at a loss as to how the testimony of ABLE DANGER participants would jeopardize classified information. Much of what they would present has already been revealed. Further refusal to allow ABLE DANGER participants to testify in an open congressional hearing can only lead us to conclude that the Department of Defense is uncomfortable with the prospect of Members of Congress questioning these individuals about the circumstances surrounding ABLE DANGER. This would suggest not a concern for national security, but rather an attempt to prevent potentially embarrassing facts from coming to light. Such a consideration would of course be an unacceptable justification for the refusal of a congressional request.

somebigguy
12-05-2005, 10:07 AM
Sincerely,

Republican (144)
1. Curt Weldon (R-PA)
2. David L. Hobson, (R-OH)
3. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
4. Joel Hefley (R-CO)
5. Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
6. Tom Davis (R-VA)
7. Michael G. Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
8. Charles W. Dent (R-PA)
9. Jim Ramstad (R-MN)
10. Mark Souder (R-IN)
11. Phil English (R-PA)
12. Michael McCaul (R-TX)
13. Sam Johnson (R-TX)
14. Christopher Shays (R-CT)
15. Walter B. Jones (R-NC)
16. Charles H. Taylor (R-NC)
17. John L. Mica (R-FL)
18. John T. Doolittle (R-CA)
19. Jeff Miller (R-FL)
20. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD)
21. Nathan Deal (R-GA)
22. Joe Wilson (R-SC)
23. Donald A. Manzullo (R-IL)
24. Charles W. Boustany, Jr. (R-LA)
25. Ralph M. Hall (R-TX)
26. John E. Peterson (R-PA)
27. Ron Paul (R-TX)
28. Jerry Weller (R-IL)
29. Michael N. Castle (R-DE)
30. Geoff Davis (R-KY)
31. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
32. Cliff Stearns (R-FL)
33. Fred Upton (R-MI)
34. Rob Simmons (R-CT)
35. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)
36. Henry Bonilla (R-TX)
37. Virgil H. Goode, Jr. (R-VA)
38. Howard Coble (R-NC)
39. Jim Gibbons (R-NV)
40. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)
41. Dan Burton (R-IN)
42. Joseph R.Pitts (R-PA)
43. Jim Gerlach (R-PA)
44. Trent Franks (R-AZ)
45. Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
46. Ellen Gallegly (R-CA)
47. Don Sherwood (R-PA)
48. Zach Wamp (R-TN)
49. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD)
50. Chris Smith (R-NJ)
51. Frank Wolf (R-VA)
52. Chris Chocola (R-IN)
53. Bobby Jindal (R-LA)
54. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
55. Mark Kirk (R-IL)
56. Ron Lewis (R-KY)
57. Rob Aderholt (R-AL)
58. Randy J. Forbes (R-VA)
59. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA)
60. John Boozman (R-AR)
61. Frank A. LoBiondo (R-NJ)
62. John E. Sweeney (R-NY)
63. Michael R. Turner (R-OH)
64. Dennis R. Rehberg (R-MT-At Large)
65. Tom Osborne (R-NE)
66. Scott Garrett (R-NJ)
67. Pete Sessions (R-TX)
68. John Linder (R-GA)
69. Todd W. Akin (R-MO)
70. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
71. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
72. Phil Gingrey (R-GA)
73. Robin Hayes (R-NC)
74. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN)
75. Bob Inglis (R-SC)
76. Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
77. Lee Terry (R-NE)
78. Dave Weldon (R-FL)
79. Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT)
80. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
81. Melissa Hart (R-PA)
82. John Sullivan (R-OK)
83. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
84. Adam H. Putnam (R-FL)
85. Don Young (R-AK-At Large)
86. Peter King (R-NY)
87. Daniel E. Lungren (R-CA)
88. Michael T. McCaul (R-TX)
89. Katherine Harris (R-FL)
90. John Hostettler (R-IN)
91. Paul E. Gillmor (R-OH)
92. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
93. Michael Simpson (R-ID)
94. Tom Price (R-GA)
95. Charlie Norwood (R-GA)
96. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL)
97. Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
98. Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-SC)
99. Thomas G. Tancredo (R-CO)
100. Terry Everett (R-AL)
101. Robert Ney (R-OH)
102. Ed Whitfield (R-KY)
103. Wally Herger (R-CA)
104. Mark Foley (R-FL)
105. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)
106. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA)
107. Mike Rogers (R-MI)
108. John J. H. “Joe” Schwarz (R-MI)
109. Jon C. Porter (R-NV)
110. Kay Granger (R-TX)
111. Greg Walden (R-OR)
112. Mary Bono (R-CA)
113. Anne Northup (R-KY)
114. John Kline (R-MN)
115. Frank D. Lucas (R-OK)
116. Candice S. Miller (R-MI)
117. William Jenkins (R-TN)
118. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
119. Sue W. Kelly (R-NY)
120. Mike Pence (R-IN)
121. Kenny Hulshof (R-MO)
122. Cathy McMorris (R-WA)
123. Ralph Regula (R-OH)
124. John Carter (R-TX)
125. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI)
126. James Leach (R-IA)
127. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ)
128. Bill Shuster (R-PA)
129. John McHugh (R-NY)
130. Tim Murphy (R-PA)
131. Barbara Cubin (R-WY-at large)
132. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
133. Chris Cannon (R-UT)
134. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
135. Jim Ryun (R-KS)
136. Jeb Bradley (R-NH)
137. Steven C. LaTourette (R-OH)
138. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL)
139. Bill Young (R-FL)
140. Melissa Bean (D-IL)
141. Jack Kingston (R-GA)
142. Ed Royce (R-CA)
143. Tom Cole (R-OK)
144. Patrick Tiberi (R-OH)
Democrats (101)
145. John Murtha, John P. (D-PA)
146. Ike Skelton (D-MO)
147. Jim Cooper (D-TN)
148. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
149. Solomon Ortiz (D-TX)
150. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)
151. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
152. Joe Baca (D-CA)
153. Bob Etheridge (D-NC)
154. James R. Langevin (D-RI)
155. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX)
156. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)
157. Ed Pastor (D-AZ)
158. Eliot Engel (D-NY)
159. Loretta T. Sanchez (D-CA)
160. Linda T. Sanchez (D-CA)
161. Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
162. Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-NY)
163. Corrine Brown (D-FL)
164. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
165. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)
166. Sam Farr (D-CA)
167. Chet Edwards (D-TX)
168. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)
169. Nita M. Lowey (D-NY)
170. Neil Abercrombie (D –HI)
171. Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD)
172. Gwen Moore (D-WI)
173. Madeline Z. Bordallo (D-GU)
174. Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
175. Nick J. Rahall, II (D-WV)
176. Robert Brady (D-PA)
177. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA)
178. Mike Doyle (D-PA)
179. Tim Holden (D-PA)
180. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)
181. Dale E. Kildee (D-MI)
182. James E. Clyburn (D-SC)
183. Steve Israel (D-NY)
184. Harold Ford (D-TN)
185. John Larson (D-CT)
186. Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS)
187. Ken Meek (D-FL)
188. John Dingell (D-MI)
189. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
190. Rush Holt (D-NJ)
191. Vernon J. Ehlers (D-MI)
192. Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL)
193. Martin Olav Sabo (D-MN)
194. Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA)
195. David Wu (D-OR)
196. Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA)
197. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
198. Ruben HinoJosa (D-TX)
199. John M. Spratt, Jr. (D-SC)
200. Norman D. Dicks (D-WA)
201. Edward Markey (D-MA)
202. Jane Harman (D-CA)
203. Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
204. Bart Stupak (D-MI)
205. Susan A. Davis (D-CA)
206. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
207. Hilda Solis (D-CA)
208. Gene Green (D-TX)
209. Martin T. Meehan (D-MA)
210. Marion Berry (D-AR)
211. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
212. James P. Moran (D-VA)
213. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD)
214. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
215. John Lewis (D-GA)
216. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)
217. Chaka Fattah (D-PA)
218. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
219. Lane Evans (D-IL)
220. Shelley Berkley (D-NV)
221. Bill Delahunt (D-MA)
222. Rick Larsen (D-WA)
223. Robert E. (Bud) Cramer, Jr. (D-AL)
224. Gene Taylor (D-MS)
225. Allyson Y. Schwartz (D-PA)
226. Richard E. Neal (D-MA)
227. Al Green (D-TX)
228. Robert Wexler (D-FL)
229. John T. Salazar (D-CO)
230. Michael Capuano (D-MA)
231. Mike Thompson (D-CA)
232. Collin Peterson (D-MN)
233. Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
234. Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
235. Mark Udall (D-CO)
236. George Miller (D-CA)
237. Adam Smith (D-WA)
238. Michael Honda (D-CA)
239. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
240. Steven R. Rothman (D-NJ)
241. Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
242. Jerry Costello (D-IL)
243. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ)
244. Allen Boyd (D-FL)

In the article below, the reference to the "firewall" that existed between the intelligence agencies has been disproven as a disinformation effort by the DOJ during the 9-11 hearings, to project the intel. agencies as faultless. Nothing could be further from the truth. FBI superiors obstructed field agents investigations of Bin Ladens and hijackers before 9-11 and ultimately ordered them curtailed. And as we see in Able Danger, the Pentagon had full knowledge of the supposed hijackers, but are now shutting down access. Also former FBI director Freeh has some skeletons in his closet as he may have taken part in a cover up for Condi Rice and Lewis Perry who were doing defense deals illegally with China between 99 and now. So Freehs calling for truth in Able Danger is suspect to say the least. Maybe he's exorcising his demons, hoping for a better afterlife.

Able Danger: Uncovering the 9/11 Cover-up
More Than Half of House Reps. Want Hearings on Able Danger
by Barbara Anderson

November 21, 2005 - Writing for the Wall Street Journal's opinion page, former FBI Director Louis Freeh has become the most recent critic of the 9/11 Commission's investigation into the terrorist attacks that killed 3,000 Americans. He also leveled criticism at the 9/11 Commission Report, which he says is flawed because it is incomplete.

Able Danger, a relatively small data-mining operation, claims it identified several terrorist cells in this country and elsewhere before the 9/11 attacks. It also claims that members identified Mohammed Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers in mid-2000. They further claim that they warned defense officials about activity in Aden, Yemen. They advised against entering the Port of Aden two days before the attack on the U.S.S. Cole on October 12, 2000, which left seventeen American sailors dead.

According to Able Danger participants, this vital information about terrorists in our midst was never allowed to get to those who may have used it to thwart the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They claim they tried three separate times to present it to the FBI and were barred three separate times from doing so by attorneys for the Clinton administration.

When LTC Anthony Shaffer of Able Danger went public with his allegations, appearing on talk shows, retaliation was swift. Representative Curt Weldon, who has gone to bat for Shaffer, relates: "They have gagged the military officers. They have prevented them from talking to any member of Congress. They have prevented them from talking to the media. And the Defense Intelligence Agency has began a process to destroy the career and the life of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer." In other action, according to Representative Weldon, one day before the Lieutenant Colonel was to testify before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, in uniform, they permanently removed his security clearance. The Defense Intelligence Agency told LTC Shaffer's attorney they planned to seek a permanent removal of his pay and his health care benefits for him and his two children. Reports are that this punishment has been lightened somewhat, but we still may not hear from LTC Shaffer. He has been effectively muzzled.

Why did this information never get to the FBI? Former Director Freeh has remarked that the Able Danger information was the kind of intelligence that could have prevented the hijackings. What the 9/11 Commission did show was the lack of communication between the different agencies because of a "firewall" set up to hinder such communication. It has been charged that the person responsible for that wall was none other than Jamie Gorelick, who was part of the Clinton administration, and who was the lead Democrat on the 9/11 Commission.

Congressman Weldon has called for a criminal investigation into what he says is the most important story of our lifetime. He says he has support from 202 fellow lawmakers from both parties, noting on Thursday, November 17, that their goal was to force Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to allow "former participants in the intelligence program-known as Able Danger-to testify in an open hearing before the United States Congress." However, Congressman Weldon has encountered resistance for such a criminal investigation from some on the 9/11 Commission. Slade Gorton appeared on Lou Dobbs Tonight to say there is nothing to the reports about Able Danger and they are not important enough to consider further action. Tim Roemer has chimed in that Able Danger presented no helpful information for the 9/11 Commission to consider.

Former FBI Director Louis Freeh disagrees. He charged that the 9/11 Commission ignored or "summarily rejected" the most critical evidence that could have prevented the horrible deaths of 3,000 of our fellow citizens. Evidence collected by Able Danger, if true, is "undoubtedly the most relevant fact of the entire post-9/11 inquiry." However, the 9/11 Commission concluded, and members have publicly stated, that it was "not historically significant". Thus was valuable information dismissed. Thus was Able Danger rendered irrelevant.

In righteous anger Congressman Weldon has noted that "in two weeks with two staffers, I've uncovered more in this regard than they did with 80 staffers and $15 million of taxpayers' money!" He also claimed that "there's something very sinister that's going on here that really troubles me."

Freeh says that new revelations point out that it is "a good time for the country to make some assessments of the 9/11 Commission itself." Freeh has commended the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Arlen Specter, for examining some of these matters. Able Danger was not mentioned in the 9/11 Commission Report. Weldon has claimed, "There's a cover-up here. It's clear and unequivocal". Freeh makes a good case for an investigation, saying "The Joint Intelligence Committees should reconvene and, in addition to Able Danger team members, we should have the 9/11 commissioners appear as witnesses so the families can hear their explanation why this doesn't matter." Many other Americans would like to hear that explanation, also.

somebigguy
12-05-2005, 10:07 AM
September 21, 2005: Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Public Hearing on Able Danger Unit; Key Officers Barred From Testifying

Sen. Arlen Specter.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Sen. Arlen Specter (R), holds a public hearing to investigate an intelligence program called Able Danger, to explore allegations that it identified Mohamed Atta and three other hijackers more than a year before 9/11, and to learn why the Pentagon disbanded it and destroyed the information it had gathered. [UPI, 9/21/05; Government Computer News, 9/21/05;New York Times, 9/21/05] The committee is seeking testimony from several former Able Danger members. Among these are Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, Navy Capt. Scott Phillpott, Dr. Eileen Preisser, and civilian analyst James D. Smith; all but Preisser have recently come forward with allegations about the unit (see August 17, 2005;August 22-September 1, 2005). However, the day before the hearing, Defense Department lawyers ordered them and other former Able Danger members not to testify. [UPI, 9/21/05; Jerry Doyle Show, 9/20/05] Shaffer says in an interview, “I was told by two [Defense Department] officials today directly that it is their understanding that [Defense Secretary Rumsfeld] directed that we not testify...” [Jerry Doyle Show, 9/20/05] The Defense Department's only reason for doing so, offered by a spokesman, is that they have “expressed [their] security concerns and believe it is simply not possible to discuss Able Danger in any great detail in an open public forum open testimony of these witnesses.” [New York Times, 9/21/05] Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter says, “That looks to me like it may be obstruction of the committee's activities, something we will have to determine.” He complains that the Pentagon only delivered hundreds of pages of documents related to Able Danger late on the eve of the hearing, leaving no time for committee staff to review the material. [Reuters, 9/21/05] Furthermore, the Pentagon's representative at the hearing, William Dugan, admits that he has very limited knowledge of Able Danger. Arlen Specter tells him, “You were sent over—perhaps with the calculation you wouldn't have the information.” [Associated Press, 9/21/05; Government Computer News, 9/21/05]

Gold9472
12-05-2005, 10:16 AM
Too much to read.... what do I gotta do?

somebigguy
12-05-2005, 10:24 AM
Call your senator if they are not on the list and tell them to support this. Send a letter to Donald Rumsfeld too...