Sept. 11 panel withheld intelligence on hijackers
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
According to Weldon, a classified military intelligence unit called “Able Danger” identified Atta and three other hijackers in 1999 as potential members of a terrorist cell in Brooklyn, N.Y. Weldon said Pentagon lawyers rejected the unit’s recommendation that the information be turned over to the FBI in 2000.
According to Pentagon documents, the information was not shared because of concerns about pursuing information on “U.S. persons,” a legal term that includes U.S. citizens as well as foreigners legally admitted to the country.
Weldon wants answers in intelligence snafu
By WILLIAM BENDER
“Were they Special Forces lawyers, were they Pentagon lawyers, Justice Department lawyers, White House lawyers? We don’t know,” Weldon said Thursday. “Who were the lawyers who weighed in to stop the Able Danger military intelligence folks from briefing the FBI? And why? What was their reasoning?”
[…]
Able Danger is briefly mentioned in the first chapter of Weldon’s book as an example of poor intelligence sharing. The passage describes a Sept. 25, 2001, meeting between the congressman and Stephen Hadley, then the deputy national security adviser to the president.
Upon seeing Weldon’s 2-foot by 3-foot chart regarding Atta and the Brooklyn cell, Hadley responded, “I have to show this to the big man,” according to the book.
(via Mario Profaca)
Daniel Hopsicker calls it an “FBI 9.11 cover-up” that is “mind-boggingly massive” and has some questions for 9/11 Commission spokesman Al Felzenberg.
9/11 Discourse Project: http://www.9-11pdp.org/