Tuesday, May 23, 2006
'Able Danger' Data-Mining Documents Emerge
The Defense Department’s Inspector General’s office and the joint Special Operations Command apparently have collected some 9,500 pages of documents on the controversial data-mining program known as "Able Danger.”
Senior DoD members and 9/11 Commission officials have implied that these documents were destroyed or can no longer be located, according to a report posted to NavySeals.com.
Scott Malone of NavySeals.com, the author of the report, and Christopher Law of PublicEdCenter.org have long been following the Able Danger story. Back in November, Law submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all documents and e-mails that could be located related to Able Danger.
Last week, Law’s request was finally denied. DOD refused to turn over a single document - but admitted there were at least 9,500 pages of data responsive to his request.
"The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, has determined that approximately 9,500 pages of these collected documents are potentially responsive to your FOIA request,” cited the denial letter.
Able Danger was a classified military intelligence program created as a result of a directive from the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1999 to develop an Information Operations Campaign Plan against transnational terrorism, specifically al-Qaida.
According to statements by Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and confirmed by four others, Able Danger had identified the September 11, 2001 attack leader Mohammed Atta, and three of the 9/11 plot's 19 hijackers, as possible members of an al-Qaida cell.
However, no electronic or paper documents have shown that any connection was made to Atta before 9/11. No e-mails to and 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.
The early identification of the four hijackers by Able Danger would contradict the official conclusion of the 9/11 Commission, that American intelligence agencies had not identified Atta as a terrorist prior to the attack.
Quoted in the NavySeals.com article, Law remarked, "It wasn’t exactly what I asked for.” He had requested only the September, 2005 "Defense Department’s Intelligence Oversight Report” on Able Danger, and any backup documents.
"I certainly didn’t expect them to have 9,500 pages of files which they had stated officially had been destroyed,” Law said.
In a possibly related development, the Web site reported that the attorneys for the secret team members, who disclosed the existence of Able Danger, have argued in a new court filing that they be "cleared” to review such files.
Lt. Col. Shaffer, one of those secret team members, said he had no comment on either the newly disclosed existence of the 9,500 pages of Able Danger documents - or even on his attorneys’ court filings, without clearance from his superiors at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Meanwhile, Rep. Curt Weldon, R-a., the salient investigator of the Able Danger case, has announced that he plans to continue his investigation regarding official claims that the top-secret spying unit’s data was destroyed.
The Defense Department’s Inspector General’s office and the joint Special Operations Command apparently have collected some 9,500 pages of documents on the controversial data-mining program known as "Able Danger.”
Senior DoD members and 9/11 Commission officials have implied that these documents were destroyed or can no longer be located, according to a report posted to NavySeals.com.
Scott Malone of NavySeals.com, the author of the report, and Christopher Law of PublicEdCenter.org have long been following the Able Danger story. Back in November, Law submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all documents and e-mails that could be located related to Able Danger.
Last week, Law’s request was finally denied. DOD refused to turn over a single document - but admitted there were at least 9,500 pages of data responsive to his request.
"The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, has determined that approximately 9,500 pages of these collected documents are potentially responsive to your FOIA request,” cited the denial letter.
Able Danger was a classified military intelligence program created as a result of a directive from the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1999 to develop an Information Operations Campaign Plan against transnational terrorism, specifically al-Qaida.
According to statements by Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and confirmed by four others, Able Danger had identified the September 11, 2001 attack leader Mohammed Atta, and three of the 9/11 plot's 19 hijackers, as possible members of an al-Qaida cell.
However, no electronic or paper documents have shown that any connection was made to Atta before 9/11. No e-mails to and 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.
The early identification of the four hijackers by Able Danger would contradict the official conclusion of the 9/11 Commission, that American intelligence agencies had not identified Atta as a terrorist prior to the attack.
Quoted in the NavySeals.com article, Law remarked, "It wasn’t exactly what I asked for.” He had requested only the September, 2005 "Defense Department’s Intelligence Oversight Report” on Able Danger, and any backup documents.
"I certainly didn’t expect them to have 9,500 pages of files which they had stated officially had been destroyed,” Law said.
In a possibly related development, the Web site reported that the attorneys for the secret team members, who disclosed the existence of Able Danger, have argued in a new court filing that they be "cleared” to review such files.
Lt. Col. Shaffer, one of those secret team members, said he had no comment on either the newly disclosed existence of the 9,500 pages of Able Danger documents - or even on his attorneys’ court filings, without clearance from his superiors at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Meanwhile, Rep. Curt Weldon, R-a., the salient investigator of the Able Danger case, has announced that he plans to continue his investigation regarding official claims that the top-secret spying unit’s data was destroyed.
