Able Danger - "Mr. Speaker, this is not America."

In his speech Friday about Abel Danger to the floor of Congress, Curt Weldon, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, requested a full independent investigation by the Inspector General of the Pentagon. "Let the independent inspector for the Pentagon go in, not DIA. DIA cannot investigate itself. It does not have the capability to do that. It does not have the integrity to do that," said Weldon.

Excerpts (emphasis added):

What I did not know, Mr. Speaker, up until June of this year, was that that secret program called Able Danger actually identified the Brooklyn cell of al Qaeda in January and February of 2000, over 1 year before 9/11 every happened. In addition, I learned that not only did we identify the Brooklyn cell of al Qaeda, but we identified Mohamed Atta as one of the members of that Brooklyn cell along with three other terrorists who were the leadership of the 9/11 attack.

I have also learned, Mr. Speaker, that in September of 2000, again, over 1 year before 9/11, that Able Danger team attempted on three separate occasions to provide information to the FBI about the Brooklyn cell of al Qaeda, and on three separate occasions they were denied by lawyers in the previous administration to transfer that information.

And what Louis Freeh said, Mr. Speaker, is that that kind of actionable data could have allowed us to prevent the hijackings that occurred on September 11.

What we have here, I am convinced of this now, is an aggressive attempt by CIA management to cover up their own shortcomings in not being able to do what the Able Danger team did: They identified Mohammed Atta and the al Qaeda cell of Brooklyn 1 year before Ð9/11. But even before that, as the story unfolds, you are going to hear the story that they also identified the threat to the USS Cole 2 weeks before the attack, and 2 days before the attack were screaming not to let the USS Cole come into the harbor at Yemen because they knew something was about to happen.

So what has happened to Lieutenant Colonel Shaffer, Mr. Speaker? The Defense Intelligence Agency has lifted his security clearance. One day before he was to testify before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, in uniform, they permanently removed his security clearance. And now our Defense Intelligence Agency has told Colonel Shaffer's lawyer that they plan to seek a permanent removal of his pay and his health care benefits for him and his two children. Why, Mr. Speaker? Because Lieutenant Colonel Shaffer, like Commander Scott Philpot of the Navy, like J. D. Smith, and like a host of other Able Danger employees, has told the truth.

Mr. Speaker, this is not America.
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Molten Eagle's Analysis...
Reasons the Defense Intelligence Agency does not want Able Danger exposed:
+ Exposure risks revealing the capabilities of cutting-edge technology that currently allows the U.S. to predict emerging terrorist threats. (even if partially true, the public must understand the fatal impact of the lawyers' information block, so it is never allowed to occur again).

+ (as Weldon suggests) leaders in the Defense Intelligence Agency, including the deputy director, decided they do not want the story told. I think because they perhaps are fearful of being embarrassed and humiliated. (if this is true, the stakes are higher than humiliation or embarrassment - firings and denial of pensions are in order).

+ Because the Able Danger team attempted on three occasions to provide information to the FBI about the Brooklyn cell of al Qaeda, and on three occasions they were denied by lawyers in the previous administration to transfer that information, over 1 year before 9/11, public backlash against government lawyers might imperil Senate incumbents, and DOJ careerists deservedly.
(Note: Youngest of nine children in a blue collar family, Curt Weldon was the first in his family to attend and graduate from college. Weldon is not a Lawyer, it shows).