Able Danger: Second Source Sheds Anonymity, Confirms Shaffer
By Captain Ed on 9/11 Commission
Captain's Quarters
The second source for the Able Danger story, the somewhat mysterious Navy captain that tried to get the 9/11 Commission to look into the data-mining project at the last minute, has shed his anonymity and pushed the ID of Mohammed Atta even earlier than first thought. Captain Scott Philpott now says that Able Danger identified Atta as an al-Qaeda operative in January-February 2000:
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The officer, Scott J. Phillpott, said in a statement today that he could not discuss details of the military program, which was called Able Danger, but confirmed that its analysts had identified the Sept. 11 ringleader, Mohamed Atta, by name by early 2000. "My story is consistent," said Captain Phillpott, who managed the program for the Pentagon's Special Operations Command. "Atta was identified by Able Danger by January-February of 2000....
The statement from Captain Phillpott , a 1983 Naval Academy graduate, who has served in the Navy for 22 years, was provided to The New York Times and Fox News through the office of Representative Curt Weldon, Republican of Pennsylvania, who is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a longtime proponent of so-called data-mining programs like Able Danger.
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Not only did Philpott come forward and confirm that identification, Rep. Weldon also found and named a contractor who created the chart in 2000 that included Atta as an identified potential threat. James Smith recalled the identification because he retained a copy of the chart created for Able Danger, keeping it on his wall until it stuck there and could not easily be removed.
This makes three different witnesses, including at least one named source who worked on Able Danger and insists that Atta was identified well before the attacks. The Commission and the Pentagon look more and more ill-informed at best. When will Congress decide to act?
(h/t: CQ readers Bill and and Eddy B)
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