Guest-blogged by Joseph Cannon
UPDATE: As you read the piece below, keep in mind the report by Laura Rozen here. Weldon was peddling claims about the Iranian “threat,” using information derived from a poor source. I do not think that this fact necessarily discredits what Weldon has to say about ABLE DANGER, since that story has a different source — one which the New York Times interviewed directly, and apparently found credible.
Two separate sources have revealed startling new information about Mohammed Atta. Taken separately, these
revelations are disturbing. Taken together, they could prove explosive.
As I write, the mainstream media is paying much attention to the first of these revelations, but seems chary of the second. Let’s start with the big news:
Representative Curt Weldon (R-PA), Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has revealed that a specialized unit of the DIA, code-named ABLE DANGER (which was being run by the Special Operations Command in Tampa, Florida) had identified Mohammed Atta and other terrorist associates weeks before the presidential election of 2000. Atta was photographed and named as a member of al Qaida.
Although the unit had recommended action against Atta and the cell, a DOD lawyer allegedly nixed the idea, arguing that green card holders deserved the same privacy rights as American citizens. This argument strikes me as highly questionable.
Representative Weldon learned about his operation earlier this year. (I’ve called his office to find out exactly when, but have yet to hear back from his communications director.) Weldon’s source was a former intelligence officer who has requested anonymity in news accounts. He has met with journalists for Government Security News and the New York Times. (See also here and here.)
According to the NYT, the office requested anonymity because “he did not want to jeopardize political support and the possible financing for future data-mining operations by speaking publicly.”
His reasoning indicates that Washington has become a very bizarre place indeed. The successful identification of Atta proved the value of “data mining;” the problem was the refusal by DIA higher-ups to act upon the information. Why would discussion of a success story jeopardize future funding for similar operations?
Which brings us back to the more fundamental question: Why did higher-ups at the DOD refuse to share the information with the FBI?
DoD lawyers may also have been reluctant to suggest a bold action by FBI agents after the bureau’s disastrous 1993 strike against the Branch Davidian religious cult in Waco, TX, said Weldon and the intelligence officer.
This explanation seems particularly dubious when we recall the publicity given to pre-9/11 al Qaida attacks.
Partisans may suspect that presidential politics might have played a role. The 2000 campaign was underway; conceivably, Bush supporters within the DOD may have felt uneasy at the prospect of handing the outgoing Clinton administration a last-minute “win” against Osama bin Laden. Of course, this theory does not explain why the Bush administration took no action against Atta between inauguration and 9/11.
Another key question: Why was this information kept secret from the independent commission looking into the 9/11 tragedy? Although committee members were made aware that ABLE DANGER existed, they were not told about the identification of Atta. Why the secrecy?
Answers to these posers might lurk within the folds of the second story about Atta to come out in recent days…
This is the scandal few want to discuss, although a part of the story has made its way onto Talking Points Memo.
Atta, we should note, plays no role in the story under discussion there.
(What follows may seem like a diversion from our main story, but bear with me. We’ll get back to Atta in a minute.)
The focus is on that notoriously shady Republican wheeler-dealer/lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whom Tom Delay considers one of his “closest, dearest friends.” (For further background on Abramoff, you can’t do much better than this TPM Cafe page.)
Josh Marshall draws our attention to this excerpt from an April 26, 2005 Miami Herald article, which reads like something out of Elmore Leonard:
Meanwhile, Boulis claimed that Abramoff and Adam Kidan had shorted him $23 million. There were reports of fisticuffs between Boulis and Kidan. Kidan took out a restraining order to keep Boulis away.
The restraining order became moot on Feb. 6, 2001, when Boulis was gunned down in a mob-style hit. The murder was never solved.
SunCruz, meanwhile, foundered into bankruptcy. Abramoff sued Kidan for the $60 million he claimed the deal cost him.
I cite this story to establish the links between Abramoff, powerful Republicans, and a milieu which will remind most readers of The Sopranos.
Casino ships are largely unregulated; by definition, they operate largely outside the borders of the United States. Boulis, the unfortunate previous owner of SunCruz, was under investigation for using his operation as a front for money laundering and other illegal activities.
Another party involved in money laundering was Osama bin Laden and his associates.
On September 26, 2001, Associated Press writer Vickie Chachere reported that FBI agents probing Atta’s connections had turned their attention to SunCruz casinos — then owned by Abramoff:
Since Abramoff used SunCruz to provide services to Republicans (we may safely presume that the Super Bowl junket wasn’t the only occasion), I’d very much like to see that September 5, 2001 passenger manifest. Who was on the boat with the terrorists?
Several sources have noted that al Qaida operatives had a strange penchant for haunting casinos — and few investigators believe that their purpose was gambling. For example, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on November 4, 2001 that Atta and two other 9/11 terrorists took mysterious side trips to Las Vegas, in June and August; FBI investigators suspected that they may have been involved in the passing of counterfeit bills.
The Toronto Star of September 20, 2002 reported that members of al Qaida were arrested in Buffalo, New York, for participation in a money laundering scheme centered at the Casino Niagara.
We have excellent reason to suspect that a similar scheme prompted Mohammed Atta to hop aboard Jack Abramoff’s SunCruz ship.
If — and based on the current state of evidence, we must stress the word “if” — if further evidence links Mohammed Atta to G.O.P.-friendly shady operators, then many lingering questions may find an answer. Among those questions: Why was the ABLE DANGER team told to steer clear of Atta?
Welcome, Joe. Short message here, to see if I can post a comment. I’ve been getting error messages when trying to post a longer message.
Hey Joe,
Welcome. Maybe you can help me understand how al Qaida, Bin Laden, 9-11 and the falsehoods about the Iraq war (forged documents, etc.) might all fit together. Tall order, I know, but welcome to BradBlog!
My original query is here on another BB thread. The link that I post there is Mortgaged to the House of Saud
After a few tips from BBers, I finally discovered these stories, including yours.
And, another good link explaining the Ledeen/ Rove/ Israeli connection was provided by Doug, #51, here.
But these discussions have to do with Israeli connections.
Okay, here’s my question (well, I guess I’ll have get to it after a long preface) — There seems to be a lot of convincing evidence out there that Bushco were complicit in the 9-11 attacks, even directly responsible, or at the very least, that the official 9-11 accounts are bogus. Mind you, I am not a conspiracy nut, and it took me a lot of reading on various 9-11 sites and much time looking at the various videos etc. of the tower collapses and of the PA crash site to begin to believe this horrid possibility. Given that Bin Laden managed somehow to elude capture when it seems that this might have been done, and other oddities about the Saudi/9-11 connection, I continue to wonder about the close ties between Bushco and the Saudis (as laid out in the House of Saud Op-Ed linked in my earlier post on another thread). These latest revelations (yours above) about the failure to follow through on al Qaida add fuel to the fire.
So, I am completely flummoxed as to how to put together this new information about al Qaida (and all the rest before) with the Bushco. links to Israel.
Okay, finally, here’s the question: do you/ does anyone have a coherent scenario explaining how Bushco., Israel and the Saudis and/or Bin Laden fit together? I apologize if you have already given this in your article above, or elsewhere, but right now it’s hard to keep track of all of the evil deeds.
Great Question(s) Valley Girl! It is very hard to keep track of all the arms of the octopus. I hope someone can explain it or point us in the right direction, too.
That is some crazy s*%t man! Can anyone prove that Atta was on the ship? I know for a fact that those casinos are loaded to the gils with video monitoring. Are the tapes out there? Is anyone mad enough at BushCo to turn them over? Maybe someone who was robbed out of his casino by Abramof and co? No wait, he’s dead!
The quoted passage about Waco I don’t believe is accurate:
"DoD lawyers may also have been reluctant to suggest a bold action by FBI agents after the bureau’s disastrous 1993 strike against the Branch Davidian religious cult in Waco, TX, said Weldon and the intelligence officer."
It was not the FBI at Waco; it was the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).
Correct me if I am wrong. I know it was ATF agents who climbed onto the roof and were shot.
Good image, Kira – octopus. There seems to be so much going on and so much of it apparently contradictory.
Why was the ABLE DANGER team told to steer clear of Atta? For the same reason the FBI was told to end their Bin Laden family investigation. This was a Bush op and the "terrorists" were just proxies.
One a side note: Take note of how certain internet blogs are attempting to link the 9/11 movement with "disgruntled" members in the CIA. These are mainly conservative leaning sites – like the one that called this blog a CIA front :laugh:. Just think logically about that one. A very obvious black-ball tactic which I guess is designed to bait conservatives who become curious about 9/11 and also already have a dislike of CIA-types. When 9.11 is fully investigated and those responsible held accountible, there will be no more al-CIAduh (not to govt org. or its darling proxy).
JC –
I’ve been following all these broken threads too. Thanks for skeining them here at BradBlog!
Okay, finally, here’s the question: do you/ does anyone have a coherent scenario explaining how Bushco., Israel and the Saudis and/or Bin Laden fit together?
Read mortaged to the House of Saud….The three countries, primarily their military complexes had insider Oil trading back and forth.
Israel would get shortchanged alot of the time, and so they started cracking down on the USA hard. Saudi would get all the special treatment. Then finally, Israel started getting all the special treatment and the US deal with Saud eventually went down in flames…
The three of them have for some time, been trading Oil back and forth and Oil plans.
Jack Abramoff & Douglas Feith, are Israeli members of the Likud party. They are connected, too, and most of the aides who know about their deals have fled the USA for Pakistan (Announced about a month ago)
In effect they are responsible for reversing policy and the USA, and forcing the control of Oil assets etc. Saud, and their dictators were getting too greedy with the Oil and along with other M-E countries annoying Ariel Sharon to no end.
Finally that policy was reversed and through Michael Ledeen etc. they are getting full proceeds for every Oil drum. So after getting everything from Iraq, its Iran, Syria and onward.
Doug E.
Don’t forget that Weldon was connected to secretly bringing Rev. Sun Myung Moon into congressional chambers last year to have him crowned "Lord of the Universe" or something to that effect. Anything that comes from the mouth of Weldon should be given the same credibility as anything that comes from Bush or Rove — in other words it is most likely the opposite of the truth.
There are other witnesses besides Weldon, BUT Weldon is the one acting up on it.
So he tries to link it back to Clinton, but the whole thing makes 911 a case that must be reopened.
Doug
For a very in-depth treatment on the Bush-Abramoff-Florida angle see Daniel Hopsicker’s article at
http://www.madcowprod.com/06202005.html
Florida hosts a totally unregulated gambling boat industry that serves as an excellent avenue for laundering cash. It also has one of the largest cash streams in the US in the form of its toll road system (as does Ohio) that alsolends itself to that.
Here’s the biggest tin-foil hat theory so far:
19 Arab hijackers took a couple of plane lessons, commandeered 4 jumbo jets via boxcutters, and outfoxed the greatest president (George W. Bush) and military in world history!
Rightwingers fail to acknowledge that George W. Bush was president and on duty to protect us, during the worst terrorist (?) act on American soil. Sean Hannity and his fans recently said it was Kerry’s fault, because 2 of the planes took off from Boston! Do you believe it?
They somehow don’t think Bush was president for the worst terrorist act in American history! And there’s WMD’S! You can’t even listen to these people! They’re robots!
So, Atta and Abramoff may have been together on the same gambling boat, just off the Florida coast where Jeb is governor. Hmmm.
Atta’s passport was found at the 9/11 site, when so much else was utterly destroyed.
Atta was the only (?) one of the "terrorists" for which they have an airport photo.
Atta was the one "terrorist" they tried to place in the Czech Republic, supposedly meeting an Iraqi agent.
A lot seems to relate to Atta while the other "terrorists" are just warm bodies. That is especially curious since several who supposedly died in the 9/11 attacks were discovered to be alive and were interviewed by mainstream media a week or two after the attacks. Has the FBI ever updated their list of the terrorists names? Do they consider that the identitites of those people might not be whom they think? Do we even have airline logs to show any "Arabs" were on the airlines?
It all reeks of a false-flag operation.
So, if it wasn’t Saudis and Egyptians then who took down the WTC? Who benefitted?
The already admitted back in 2001 that they had no idea if the people they identified actually committed the acts since most used fake ids and stolen passports. Mueller has since been mum about his original statement. Quite a few of the "hijackers" have shown up alive since 2001.
In the immortal words of the one who must not be named (or thereabouts): Hey! I won the trifecta!
"Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be the inevitable by products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today." Gandhi
RAWSTORY
Senate Intelligence chairman quietly ‘fixed’ intelligence, and diverted blame from White House over Iraq
-by Larisa Alexandrovna
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush issued an order to the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department, and his cabinet members that severely curtailed intelligence oversight by restricting classified information to just eight members of Congress.
"The only Members of Congress whom you or your expressly designated officers may brief regarding classified or sensitive law enforcement information," he writes, "are the Speaker of the House, the House Minority Leader, the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders, and the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Intelligence Committees in the House and Senate."
-much more…
Two words for everyone: Douglas Feith
Mr. Cannon what do you know about Feith’s Feith based intelligence?
Feith’s War On the Oil
He runs the office of special plans, and has special authority in the DIA, Defense Department and Pentagon to squash any inquiries such as 9/11.
Doug E.
Interview with Sibel reveals Air Force OSI has re-opened an investigation into the alleged Turkish funding-espionage issues. Sibel says there is information not being disclosed in re 9-11. [More . . .]
Also, the House Intelligence Committee Chairman has some conflicting statements on whether he’s going to look into Danger Able vs Scorpions. [More . . . ]
Issue: Is DoD’s Danger Able "data mining" operation unlawful domestic surveillance and/or a violation of Posse Comitatus act; and how does the program fit in with Bolton’s disclosures on NSA transcripts he’s reviewed?
Sibel says alot of information is classified for "national security reasons," yet the classification aim is to avoid oversight, accountability, and thwart public understanding of issues and information they have every right to have unfettered access to.
thanks, Jen.
How can the president tell Congress which of it’s members will be privy to intelligence matters? It’s their job to provide advice and oversight and they are a separate branch of government. It seems to me the Imperial presidency of the Nixon days has returned in spades. Why do the Congressional Republicans (and too many Democrats) allow this kind of presidency? Remember, even John Kerry said that with full knowledge of the facts he’d still support this kind of Iraq war.
The President is only staying in Iraq because someone has forced his hand, not because of any other reason.
The real reason we are in Iraq is for Israel-Pakistan’s benefit to take the oil, we have a serious problem with US security if we pull out, before finishing their mission
This mission isn’t about anything else but the oil. The real trouble is, Pakistan will hate us no matter what if we pull out or not unless all americans are out of Iraq and the Israelis get out of Palestine!!!!!
Jack Abramoff, dual-citizen has been indicted for wire fraud and possible spying charges.
Jack Abramoff of the Fellowship/AEI, indicted for fraud, possible spying charges
"Local 10 News has learned that the indictment focuses on the sale itself and alleges that Kidan and Abramoff agreed to put up $23 million for the deal in order to get a loan of $60 million from a lending company. But investigators said the money from Kidan and Abramoff never existed and constitutes fraud.
Months after the contentious sale was finalized, Gus Boulis was killed, gunned down gang-land style in his car. No arrest was ever made but investigators believe that a series of Suncruz checks to a Miami Beach man named Tony Ferarri financed the hit, Local 10 News reporter Rad Berky said.
Abramoff and Kidan are charged with five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. Each count carries a penalty up to five years in prison and a 250-thousand dollar fine.
Kidan’s attorney in Florida says his client would surrender voluntarily to federal authorities in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow."
Abramoff and his other advisors were there on the boat when the hijackers were. Conceivably they also knew Mohammed Atta well. Because Abramoff has lied to everyone the whole time about his background, its quite a shock.
He also staged a huge fraudulent coverup with Amy Elizabeth Ridernour, and senior members of the Council for National Policy. They defrauded casinos, bribed Tom DeLay and many state legislatures.
Doug E.
Guess they knew Abramoff was too costly to protect …
good to see the indictment.
The likes of Hopsicker circling around his dirty trail probably didn’t help keep Abramoff’s boat afloat.
The Secret World of Jack Abramoff:
Terrorist, Torpedos, & Republican ‘Muscle’
June 21, 2005 -Venice, FL.
by Daniel Hopsicker
http://www.madcowprod.com/06202005.html
:crazy: This is a great link that ties alot of things together for 9-11
http://members.aol.com/mpwright9/sting.html
Doug E., how did you get to "Abramoff and his other advisors were there on the boat when the hijackers were." ??? Do you have any proof of this?
I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but I don’t think there is a passenger manifest that says so.
Erica,
Try this on for once.
http://members.aol.com/mpwright9/sting.html
Proof enough, now they need the passenger manifests.
Doug
Wow, I feel like any contribution I could make is dwarfed by what has gone before, but I would like to make two points that I’m not sure have been noticed.
1) I remember reading in Richard Clarke’s book (one of the passages that made me throw it across the room) that he had discovered that the Pentagon would tell Clinton one thing (that they didn’t have confidence in plan to snatch OBL) and telling military that WH had put the kibosh on the plan (presumably to portray Clinton as wuss, too married to legalities, and to harm Clinton’s cred with military). So, yeah, I think the DoD attorney saying Atta was off-limits is utter BS.
2) Another commenter mentioned Shrub’s Executive Order that limited how many in congress could access the classified information. Recall that the trigger for that particular EO was a ham-handed leak by Orrin Hatch. Considering how little regard they show for security issues in general (Rove, the ID of the guy the Brits had turned), and the stuff that is now emerging, that Hatch leak hasn’t started to smell any better over time. Mighty convenient to be able to shut down access at that point. Nor do I recall Hatch being hang-dog about being punished by Fearless Leader…
The word ‘casino’ is not to be found in the final report of the 9/11 Commission, nor does it appear in the staff monograph on terrorist financing that followed one month after the release of the ‘final’ report of the 9/11 Commission.
Comment 23#
Doug, have you ever read Noam Chomsky’s book "Imerial Ambitions"? He thinks were in Iraq not to steal oil, to control how much oil Europe and China receive. Its a great read. 😉