Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Able Danger Might Have Prevented 9/11
A former top Pentagon intelligence official testified on Wednesday that information on four 9/11 hijackers developed by the military's Able Danger data mining project could have helped prevent the 9/11 attacks - had he not been ordered to destroy the data.
Asked by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter if his team had gathered enough intelligence to have thwarted the worst enemy attack ever on the U.S., Erik Kleinsmith, former head of the Pentagon's Land Warfare Analysis Department, said:
"I go to bed every night and other members of our team do as well [thinking] that if [Able Danger] had not been shut down that we would have at least been able to prevent something or assist the United States in some way."
"Could we have prevented 9/11? I could never speculate to that extent," Kleinsmith quickly added. But his previous comments left little doubt that he felt the best chance to avert the deaths of 3,000 Americans had been lost when Able Danger was shut down.
Kleinsmith detailed a May 2000 visit by a top Pentagon lawyer who ordered him to destroy Able Danger's intelligence data, including critical information on lead hijacker Mohammed Atta and three other hijackers.
"We were visited by our general counsel," he told the Committee. After citing Army regulations on gathering intelligence on domestic targets, Kleinsmith said the lawyer "jokingly" ordered: "Remember - delete this data or you guys will go to jail."
Kleinsmith described his reaction: "Ha, ha - very funny. I understand you completely - abide by the regulation."
A former top Pentagon intelligence official testified on Wednesday that information on four 9/11 hijackers developed by the military's Able Danger data mining project could have helped prevent the 9/11 attacks - had he not been ordered to destroy the data.
Asked by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter if his team had gathered enough intelligence to have thwarted the worst enemy attack ever on the U.S., Erik Kleinsmith, former head of the Pentagon's Land Warfare Analysis Department, said:
"I go to bed every night and other members of our team do as well [thinking] that if [Able Danger] had not been shut down that we would have at least been able to prevent something or assist the United States in some way."
"Could we have prevented 9/11? I could never speculate to that extent," Kleinsmith quickly added. But his previous comments left little doubt that he felt the best chance to avert the deaths of 3,000 Americans had been lost when Able Danger was shut down.
Kleinsmith detailed a May 2000 visit by a top Pentagon lawyer who ordered him to destroy Able Danger's intelligence data, including critical information on lead hijacker Mohammed Atta and three other hijackers.
"We were visited by our general counsel," he told the Committee. After citing Army regulations on gathering intelligence on domestic targets, Kleinsmith said the lawyer "jokingly" ordered: "Remember - delete this data or you guys will go to jail."
Kleinsmith described his reaction: "Ha, ha - very funny. I understand you completely - abide by the regulation."
