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NEWS: Pentagon Bars "Able Danger" Testimony Before Senate Panel

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posted on Sep, 21 2005 @ 11:15 AM
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The Pentagon has prevented Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and a private contractor from testifying before the 9/11 Commission that the U.S. government, through a secret DoD program called "Able Danger," had advance knowledge of four of the Sept. 11th terrorists before the time periods officially stated in the 9/11 Report.
 



news.yahoo.com
The Department of Defense forbade a military intelligence officer to testify Wednesday about a secret military unit that the officer says identified four Sept. 11 hijackers as terrorists more than a year before the attacks, according to the man's attorney.

...

The Judiciary Committee was scheduled to hear testimony about the work of a classified unit code named "Able Danger."

In his prepared remarks, Zaid was ready to say on behalf of Shaffer and contractor John Smith that Able Danger, using data mining techniques, identified four of the terrorists who struck on Sept. 11, 2001 — including mastermind Mohamed Atta.

"At least one chart, and possibly more, featured a photograph of Mohamed Atta," Zaid said in his prepared remarks.

Maj. Paul Swiergosz, a Defense Department spokesman, said Wednesday that open testimony would not be appropriate.

"We have expressed our security concerns and believe it is simply not possible to discuss Able Danger in any great detail in any public forum," he said.


Please visit the link provided for the complete story.


Well, this should come as no surprise. IMO, The private contractor is very likely the same one who just last week announced that he would testify as to the Pentagon's destruction of over 2.5 terabytes of information regarding Able Danger. And let's not forget the following:



On Wednesday, former members of the Sept. 11 commission dismissed the "Able Danger" assertions. One commissioner, ex-Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., said, "Bluntly, it just didn't happen and that's the conclusion of all 10 of us."


This is just sickening. Does anyone care anymore?

Related News Links:
news.yahoo.com

[edit on 21-9-2005 by koji_K]



posted on Sep, 21 2005 @ 11:22 AM
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I knew this would happen. There's no way whatsoever the government is going to let someone point a finger in court.

Back in 1953, the U.S. v. Reynolds case cemented the ability of the government to intervene and shut down a public case. In Reynolds, the widows of three men who died in a mysterious Air Force crash sued the government, and U.S. officials tried to quash the lawsuit by claiming that they couldn't release any information about the accident without endangering national security. The Supreme Court upheld the claim, establishing a legal precedent that today allows the executive branch to block the release of information in any civil suit -- even if the government isn't the one being sued.

After that, cases were only invoke 4 times in 22 years, until after WaterGate, in which it's been used 51 times.

And everytime it's invoked, it's successful.

So are you surprised the government wouldnt allow this gentleman speak regarding "national security"?

The only way this information is going to get out, and brought up in a court, is if it's released, or leaked, to the media beforehand.

[edit on 9/21/2005 by QuietSoul]



posted on Sep, 21 2005 @ 12:05 PM
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The worst thing is that the majority of the American public couldn't care less, and I suspect they'll be punished for that soon. I just feel sorry for the few that do care but don't have enough of a voice to do anything about it.



posted on Sep, 21 2005 @ 12:28 PM
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I can understand the need to keep things a secret in the interests of national security, but what I can't stand is the lies. We get a 9/11 report that is supposed to be the official investigation, the attempt by the government to explain to us just what happened that day, when 3,000+ of us died.... and it's a pack of lies. Why waste the taxpayers money telling us this BS? Why not just say, "Sorry, folks, you don't deserve an explanation of what your government is up to, you'll just have to trust us and occasionally die when we screw up." It would be much more honest. As an American, a New Yorker, and (I'd like to think) a thinking human being, I am feeling very, very betrayed right now.

And while I despise Bush and just about all his administration stands for, I have to confess that this goes beyond politics. Democrats and Republicans are keeping secrets here that we have a right to know about. I cannot accept that there aren't ways of telling us what is going on without divulging exact details of "Able Danger" or whatever other covert ops are going on.

-koji K.

[edit on 21-9-2005 by koji_K]



posted on Sep, 23 2005 @ 07:39 PM
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Followup on this important issue:



A Senate committee said Friday that the
Pentagon has dropped its refusal to let five people with knowledge of a highly classified intelligence program testify about it publicly, but a Pentagon

In a news release, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the five will testify at an open hearing Oct. 5.


Source: Specter, Pentagon at Odds on "Able Danger" (AP News)



posted on Sep, 26 2005 @ 09:12 AM
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You have voted koji_K for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

A bit more time to coerce, intimidate and eliminate the witnesses I guess. I wouldnt rule out a last minute backflip on the issue from the Pentagon either.

I guess we'll have to wait until October 5th to find out.



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