Able Danger Disabled

From the New York Post:

WASHINGTON — A former Army intelligence analyst said yesterday he is haunted by the destruction of data his unit had collected on al Qaeda more than a year before 9/11 — and claimed the information might have helped U.S. policymakers better understand the looming threat posed by the terror group.

In dramatic testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, former Maj. Erik Kleinsmith said he was ordered by Army lawyers to destroy data collected by the secret Pentagon data-mining project known as Able Danger that reportedly included the name and picture of 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta and at least three other hijackers.

"I do go to bed every night, and other members of our team do as well, [thinking] if we had not been shut down, we would have been able to prevent something or assist the United States in some way. Could we have prevented 9/11? I can never speculate to that extent," he testified.

Kleinsmith recalls being jokingly told by a military lawyer "remember [to] delete this data or you guys will go to jail."

I don't understand why there has been so much stonewalling ever since Curt Weldon brought Able Danger to the country's attention.

The 9/11 commission members have hemmed and hawed and lied.

The Defense Department has barred witnesses from testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

If it quacks like a cover-up, it's a cover-up.

I know that the hurricanes are drawing media attention away from Able Danger. However, there surely must be a little space in the papers or a few minutes on TV that could be devoted to this story.