Able Danger Fox Trot II: What Was Said In October 2003?
By Captain Ed on 9/11 Commission
Col. Tony Shaffer's appearance on Hannity and Colmes last night on Fox has people on all sides of the Able Danger thread scratching their heads. Initial news reports about this interview claim that Shaffer denied naming Atta to the Commission staffers in October 2003. However, it appears that Shaffer said he didn't discuss the names of any other hijackers except Atta, as that was the only name he could recall at the time. The transcript from the show has already been posted, and Shaffer tries to make this point clear (emphases mine):
COLMES: Lieutenant Colonel, explain to me, how is it they deny it? They also - staff members, like executive director Phil Zelikow, say, despite your statements, they were not told the names of these hijackers, as you claim?
SHAFFER: Well, I don't know how they can overlook that, because the fact is this: They were told not once but twice by a fellow officer, a Navy captain, later on in 2004.
In my October discussion with him, I did not discuss the names of the terrorists. I'm not saying that. I never said that. I did talk about the fact that we found three cells through the use of some advanced technology, two to three cells which conducted 9/11 attacks, to include Atta.
Now, that was the only name I remembered. You have to understand, I was in Afghanistan deployed. I didn't have my documents with me. I didn't have the background. So during this discussion, it was using some notes that I put together myself, based on my memory as talking points, and I discussed the fact that Able Danger was able to use data mining techniques, that were at the time cutting-edge, to merge out of this information data.
To say that Shaffer failed in his bid for clarity seems an understatement, but this does appear to say that he gave them Atta's name in October 2003. In a later exchange with Sean Hannity, Shaffer pointed out the inconsistencies from the Commission on the nature of their meetings:
HANNITY: So there's two big questions here. Question number one is, who stopped the investigation and this important information from getting to the proper authorities to investigate these guys, one?
And number two, the 9/11 Commission had known about this. And in the last week, they've given at least five or six different accounts that I can tell about what you had told them. Explain that.
SHAFFER: Well, on the account thing, I don't understand it, because I've reread, and read, and reread their 12 August account. Their paragraph describing my meeting with them is not even in the ballpark with what happened.
Again, I have talking points that I prepared before the meeting. I used those talking points to talk of. I talked about another human operation, as well as outlining and, in a time line fashion, the whole Able Danger story. And none of those points are even addressed in their statement.
So I don't understand how they could be, like, so far, you know, off what I told them, based on the fact that I do have my talking points from that meeting.
I think that the original Fox News press release on this interview mischaracterized the content, to Shaffer's detriment. Shaffer never said that he gave them all of the names, only Atta's. As I recall, that matches with what Weldon originally said as well. We need to wait on analyzing these interviews until the actual transcripts hit the web. |
