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Title: EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon Attempts to Block Book on Afghan War
Source:
Fox News (WTH?)
URL Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201 ... pts-block-book-afghan-war/?tes
Published: Sep 11, 2010
Author: Catherine Herridge
Post Date: 2010-09-11 01:04:41 by TooConservative
Keywords: None
Views: 706
Comments: 11
The Defense Intelligence Agency has blocked a book about the tipping point in Afghanistan and a controversial pre-9/11 data mining project called "Able Danger." On the eve of Sept. 11, Fox News has learned the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has attempted to block a book about the tipping point in Afghanistan and a controversial pre-9/11 data mining project called "Able Danger." In a letter obtained by Fox News, the DIA says national security could be breached if "Operation Dark Heart" is published in its current form. The agency also attempted to block key portions of the book that claim "Able Danger" successfully identified hijacker Mohammed Atta as a threat to the United States before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Click here to read the full DIA letter (pdf) In a highly unusual move, the Department of Defense is now negotiating with the publisher, St. Martin's Press, to buy all 10,000 copies of the first printing of the book to keep it off shelves -- even after the U.S. Army had cleared the book for release. Specifically, the DIA wanted references to a meeting between Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, the book's author, and the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, removed. In that meeting, which took place in Afghanistan, Shaffer alleges the commission was told about "Able Danger" and the identification of Atta before the attacks. No mention of this was made in the final 9/11 report. Shaffer, who was undercover at the time, said there was "stunned silence" at the meeting after he told the executive director of the commission and others that Atta was identified as early as 2000 by "Able Danger." "Dr. Philip Zelikow approached me in the corner of the room. 'What you said today is very important. I need you to get in touch with me as soon as you return from your deployment here in Afghanistan'," Shaffer said. Once back in the U.S., Shaffer says he contacted the commission. Without explanation, the commission was no longer interested. An inspector general report by the Department of Defense concluded there was no evidence to support the claims of Shaffer and others. But Fox News has obtained an unredacted copy of the IG report containing the names of witnesses, who backed up Shaffer's story when contacted for comment. Atta was the alleged ringleader of the Sept. 11 hijackers and piloted American Airlines Flight 11 into the World Trade Center. Shaffer spoke to Fox News before he was asked by the military not to discuss the book. He confirmed efforts to block the book and other details. Calling the move "highly unusual," he explained that the book had already been cleared for release when the DIA stepped in. "Apparently, Defense Intelligence Agency took exception to the way the Army cleared the book," he told Fox News. The documents and exclusive interviews, including an Army data collector on the Able Danger Project, are part of an ongoing investigation by the documentary unit "Fox News Reporting" which uncovered new details about American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and efforts by the FBI to track and recruit him for intelligence purposes after 9/11. Poster Comment: Something here for everyone.
EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon Attempts to Block Book on Afghan War
By Catherine Herridge
Published September 10, 2010
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#1. To: TooConservative (#0)
Red Herring alert !!! "They" knew about it in advance because "they" did it !
I thought, being all MIHOPpy, this story would have appeal for 9/11. Apparently not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abl e_ Danger: the Able Danger computer records were erased
Yeah, sure they were. I expect they issued some SQL commands to extract a set of meaningful data, transferred it elsewhere, then "erased" the 2.5 terabyte database. If you know the history of America's intel community, you should know these things never ever disappear, even if they promise they destroyed them. This was true of efforts to scale back domestic spying after WW I and after WW II.
#10. To: TooConservative (#9)
(Edited)
Wikipedia page excerpts: On September 15, 2005, [Congressman] Weldon asserted that he had identified an employee who had been ordered to destroy the 2.5 terabytes (TB) of data collected by Able Danger two years before the 9/11 attack.[23] [edit] Weldon changes his story A Time magazine article dated August 14, 2005, reports that Weldon admitted he is no longer sure that Atta's name was on the chart he presented to Hadley and that he was unable to verify whether this was the case, having handed over his only copy, and that a reconstruction was used for post-9/11 presentations.[24] Weldon gave a talk at the Heritage Foundation with a chart he described as the one handed over on May 23, 2002. However, a week later he referred reporters to a recently reconstructed version of the chart in his office where, among dozens of names and photos of terrorists from around the world, there was a color mug shot of Mohammad Atta, circled in black marker. Although the Able Danger computer records were erased, to date, no electronic or paper document has showed that any connection was made to Atta before 9/11. No emails to or from the Able Danger team make any references to Atta, nor do any paper documents between the team and any other DoD teams or offices. No notes taken at any pre 9/11 meetings between the DoD and FBI, or interoffice DoD meetings, show any mention of Atta or a terrorist cell in New York. ____ Those reconstruction imagineerings of "'Atta-boy" remind me of the imaginatively reconstructed log in some of the USS Liberty Attack testimonials. What do you suppose happened to the alleged originals?
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#2. To: noone222 (#1)
#8. To: TooConservative (#2)
I thought, being all MIHOPpy, this story would have appeal for 9/11.
#9. To: GreyLmist (#8)
the Able Danger computer records were erased
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