Able Danger, Unable Commission

Folks, this should make your blood boil. Some of you newspaper junkies and current events junkies may have come across the recent story about the elite super secret, 8 member, military spy unit - Able Danger. You would have to be a newspaper junkie, because thus far, this has been buried deep, deep within the pages of the major news outlets.

It turns out that military intelligence knew about Mohammed Atta and three other highjackers a year before 9/11. Unfortunately ("Uunfortunate" is an understatement given the severity of what was to follow), the military was not allowed to share their knowledge with law enforcement. And why is that?

In 1995 top deputy to then-Attorney General Janet Reno, Jamie Gorelick, issued an order creating a "wall" that prevented intelligence on terrorists from being shared with law enforcement (Note: liberals should be familiar with "wall" terminology although in this case, this wall costs people their life, as opposed the supposed religion "wall" that strips people of their right to freely practice their religion). So strict was this "wall" that the branch of the FBI that deals with terrorism could not share their information with the branch of the FBI that deals with domestic issues - as an example.

The frustrating part of the story is that the 9/11Commission staffers (including the afore mentioned Gorelick) first denied knowing about the military spy unit Able Danger, but later admitted that they were indeed briefed on it, twice. How convenient that they commission failed to mention this in their 1,000 page report (certainly not for lack of space).

And as Deborah Orin of the NY Post points out here, Gorelick was warned about this order way back in 1995 by another Clinton appointee, US Attorney Mary Jo White, who headed up terror probes such as the prosecution of the first WTC bombing. White warned that this "wall" could lead to a loss of life, but Reno and Gorelick refused to budge. I'm guessing on the grounds that if the military spies told the domestic spies that someone was planning on flying planes into the WTC, that this would have somehow violated their civil rights. Can't have the military getting involved in civilian affairs and such.

If Gorelick would have been made to testify during the 9/11 Commission as some senators wanted, this would have all come out back then. Instead, the Commission went forward with their report, putting the majority of the blame for 9/11 on the Bush administration, while all along they knew that the Clinton administration, by way of the Attorney General's office "wall" memo - played a significant role in the failure of the "intelligence community" to stop the attacks.

Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) sums it up nicely, "The commission's refusal to investigate Able Danger after being notified of its existence, and its recent efforts to feign ignorance of the project while blaming others for supposedly withholding information on it, brings shame on the commissions."

You can bet that there will be more to come on this.