Congressman: 9/11 Hijackers Were Monitored [Archive]

2pac Shakur

08-09-2005, 05:48 PM

WASHINGTON - Sept. 11 ringleader Mohammed Atta and three other hijackers were identified by defense intelligence officials more than a year before the attacks, but information about possible al-Qaida connections never was sent to law enforcement, Rep. Curt Weldon (news, bio, voting record) said Tuesday.

Weldon, R-Pa. and vice chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, said the hijackers were identified in 1999 by a classified military intelligence unit known as "Able Danger," which determined they could be members of an al-Qaida cell.

Weldon said that in September 2000 the unit recommended that its information on the hijackers be given to the FBI "so they could bring that cell in and take out the terrorists," Weldon said in an interview.

However, Weldon said Pentagon lawyers rejected the recommendation because they said Atta and the others were in the country legally.

"In fact, I'll tell you how stupid it was, they put stickies on the faces of Mohammed Atta on the chart that the military intelligence unit had completed and they said you can't talk to Atta because he's here" legally, Weldon said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050809/ap_on_go_co/sept_11_hijackers

They were gummint employees.
9/11 was an inside job.

2pac Shakur

08-09-2005, 07:01 PM

"The 9/11 commission did not learn of any U.S. government knowledge prior to 9/11 of surveillance of Mohammed Atta or of his cell," said Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana. "Had we learned of it obviously it would've been a major focus of our investigation."

Ooopsie!
Oh well. I'm sure there's an honest excuse...

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he was unaware of the intelligence until the latest reports surfaced.

But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the 9/11 Commission looked into the matter during its investigation into government missteps leading to the attacks and chose not to include it in the final report.

Hamilton said 9/11 Commission staff members learned of Able Danger during a meeting with military personnel in October 2003 in Afghanistan, but the staff members do not recall learning of a connection between Able Danger and any of the four terrorists Weldon mentioned.

The old "not to my recollection" excuse.
Remember, that's GOP-speak for: "I'm lying right now".

2pac Shakur

08-10-2005, 02:48 AM

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 - Members of the independent commission that investigated the Sept. 11 terror attacks called on Congress to determine whether the Pentagon withheld intelligence information showing that a secret American military unit had identified Mohammed Atta and three other hijackers as potential threats more than a year before the attacks.

The former commission members said the information, if true, could rewrite an important chapter of the history of the intelligence failures before Sept. 11, 2001.

"I think this is a big deal," said John F. Lehman, a Republican member of the commission who was Navy secretary in the Reagan administration. "The issue is whether there was in fact surveillance before 9/11 of Atta and, if so, why weren't we told about it? Who made the decision not to brief the commission's staff or the commissioners?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/politics/10intel.html?ex=1124337600&en=f0b8265731e8319c&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Why would you need to know this information to complete a whitewash?

fallout

08-10-2005, 09:53 AM

Is this one of those things that the Patriot act will correct?

O. Hannah

08-10-2005, 10:23 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050809/ap_on_go_co/sept_11_hijackers

They were gummint employees.
9/11 was an inside job.

Before you claimed that Israel was behind it. Given up on that one yet?
I think your mom did it personally....just leaned her fat but up against the towers and knocked them over.

2pac Shakur

08-10-2005, 11:12 AM

Before you claimed that Israel was behind it. Given up on that one yet?
I think your mom did it personally....just leaned her fat but up against the towers and knocked them over.

I'm sure there were a few people with Israel connections involved in this.
That doesn't mean it wasn't an inside job. The AIPAC investigation should make that pretty obvious, even for a flagwaver like you.

2pac Shakur

08-10-2005, 11:13 AM

Is this one of those things that the Patriot act will correct?

No.
It is at least incompetence, at worst criminal behavior, being rewarded by the Patriot Act.

O. Hannah

08-10-2005, 11:39 AM

I'm sure there were a few people with Israel connections involved in this.
That doesn't mean it wasn't an inside job. The AIPAC investigation should make that pretty obvious, even for a flagwaver like you.

It's funny seeing you latch onto "flagwaver" like a drowning man in every single thread. Flagwaver indeed means you have nothing and you are waving your white flag as you flee the thread. :-)

2pac Shakur

08-10-2005, 11:46 AM

It's funny seeing you latch onto "flagwaver" like a drowning man in every single thread. Flagwaver indeed means you have nothing and you are waving your white flag as you flee the thread. :-)

Spoken like the true flagwaver you are.
Flagwaver.

O. Hannah

08-10-2005, 12:04 PM

Spoken like the true flagwaver you are.
Flagwaver.

This is you....I hope you get the help you need someday. (seriously)

http://www.rense.com/general34/fant.htm

2pac Shakur

08-11-2005, 07:07 PM

Republican Congressman Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania says a secret military intelligence unit called Able Danger identified well in advance four of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania as potential terrorist threats.

"They said we actually identified in this process Mohammed Atta's cell in 1999 and in September of 2000, on three separate occasions, we made recommendations to bring in the FBI to share with them the data we had on Mohammed Atta's cell. The [government] lawyers told us we could not do that," he said.

Congressman Weldon says he wants a congressional investigation to determine who prevented the information from being shared and why the independent commission probing the attacks did not include the episode in its final report last year.

Congressman Weldon says one of the unidentified military intelligence analysts did talk to staff members of the 9/11 commission just days before the final report was issued.

But a co-chairman of the commission, former Congressman Lee Hamilton, told CBS television that information was not made available to the commission members.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-08-11-voa35.cfm

Inside job.

fallout

08-11-2005, 07:26 PM

Tupac, I'm curious. What would you have liked the FBI to do to Atta before 9/11?

2pac Shakur

08-11-2005, 07:31 PM

Tupac, I'm curious. What would you have liked the FBI to do to Atta before 9/11?

Before 9/11, at a minimum, FBI should have been informed that there were some concerns wrt Atta.
After 9/11, the 9/11 commission should have been informed that Atta was pegged as a potential terrorist.

2pac Shakur

08-11-2005, 07:37 PM

Al Qaeda's lead 9/11 hijacker, Mohamed Atta, was allegedly partying with CIA-connected pilots while he got his flight training in fall/winter 2000 at Huffman Aviation in Venice, Fla., where two of the other 9/11 hijacker pilots trained. Atta wasn't acting much like a holy martyr: He wore jeans and sneakers, played video games, bought himself a red Pontiac and was said to be a hedonist. The Press posed the question to
Ben-Veniste: If Atta belonged to the fundamentalist Muslim group, why was he snorting cocaine and frequenting strip bars?

"You know," said Ben-Veniste, as he smiled a little. "That's a heck of a question."

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/atta_9-11.html

If it doesn't fit...

fallout

08-11-2005, 10:12 PM

Before 9/11, at a minimum, FBI should have been informed that there were some concerns wrt Atta.
After 9/11, the 9/11 commission should have been informed that Atta was pegged as a potential terrorist.

OK, assume for a second all the intelligence worked perfectly, the FBI had serious concerns about this guy. What do they do about it?

Wait for him to knock down buildings? Arrest him on suspicion? Tap his phones? What?

fallout

08-12-2005, 03:48 PM

Surprised tupac missed this thread.

Bumped awaiting your response #1.

Harry

08-12-2005, 03:50 PM

OK, assume for a second all the intelligence worked perfectly, the FBI had serious concerns about this guy. What do they do about it?

Wait for him to knock down buildings? Arrest him on suspicion? Tap his phones? What?

I suggest an invasion of Iraq. That would have stopped 9/11. See, we haven't been attacked since. It's working.

fallout

08-12-2005, 06:31 PM

I suggest an invasion of Iraq. That would have stopped 9/11. See, we haven't been attacked since. It's working.

Thanks for your usual input. Nothing of value.

Harry

08-13-2005, 12:44 AM

Thanks for your usual input. Nothing of value.

You're welcome.

silverfox

08-13-2005, 01:01 AM

I see that the political subforum is where all the highest post count people reside. I was wondering why there were so many people I never saw before when putting you goons in the puzzle.

fallout

08-13-2005, 07:24 PM

OK, assume for a second all the intelligence worked perfectly, the FBI had serious concerns about this guy. What do they do about it?

Wait for him to knock down buildings? Arrest him on suspicion? Tap his phones? What?

Bumped awaiting response from tupac.

(is this a first, someone actually waiting for a repsonse from tupac?)

fallout

08-15-2005, 06:51 PM

I am shocked that tupac has ducked this thread.

Normally he would post something completely inane and move on. Why are you afraid of this one?

2pac Shakur

08-15-2005, 06:59 PM

I am shocked that tupac has ducked this thread.

Normally he would post something completely inane and move on. Why are you afraid of this one?

I like making you wait.
(plus, I was out of town this weekend)

fallout

08-15-2005, 07:08 PM

I like making you wait.
(plus, I was out of town this weekend)

Ok. You are clearly back now.

So?

2pac Shakur

08-15-2005, 07:10 PM

Ok. You are clearly back now.

So?

Later.
I'm busy right now.

I'll respond after some rippers, when I do my best work.

2pac Shakur

08-15-2005, 11:20 PM

OK, assume for a second all the intelligence worked perfectly, the FBI had serious concerns about this guy. What do they do about it?

Wait for him to knock down buildings? Arrest him on suspicion? Tap his phones? What?

I have to start with a disclaimer:

I believe 9/11 was an inside job, and it was by design that Mohammed Atta was never brought in to be questioned. I don’t believe the entire FBI was in on it. I believe it was just a few well placed, high ranking officials who were able to put the brakes on any progress made by legit agents.

Assuming Atta was a random terrorist, and the FBI suspected him of plotting 9/11:

In this case, I think the FBI should have used every tool available to them in order to bring him in. This would include surveillance and wiretaps. These things did exist prior to 9/11, despite what the White House wants people to believe. I think some agents wanted to do this (agents like Rowley and Edmonds), but somehow they weren’t allowed to. I think it was by design, flagwavers think it’s because there wasn’t a Patriot Act. I suppose it's because we didn't have the Patriot Act that the 9/11 commission never knew the FBI was monitoring Atta?

In 2pac’s perfect world:

They would have brought him in for questioning, and he would be allowed to have an attorney present. Based on that questioning, either hold him or let him go. I don’t think the FBI, or any gummint agency should have wiretap authority. I don’t trust them enough. That’s just liberal old me.

fallout

08-16-2005, 07:12 AM

I have to start with a disclaimer:

I believe 9/11 was an inside job, and it was by design that Mohammed Atta was never brought in to be questioned. I don’t believe the entire FBI was in on it. I believe it was just a few well placed, high ranking officials who were able to put the brakes on any progress made by legit agents.

Assuming Atta was a random terrorist, and the FBI suspected him of plotting 9/11:

In this case, I think the FBI should have used every tool available to them in order to bring him in. This would include surveillance and wiretaps. These things did exist prior to 9/11, despite what the White House wants people to believe. I think some agents wanted to do this (agents like Rowley and Edmonds), but somehow they weren’t allowed to. I think it was by design, flagwavers think it’s because there wasn’t a Patriot Act. I suppose it's because we didn't have the Patriot Act that the 9/11 commission never knew the FBI was monitoring Atta?

In 2pac’s perfect world:

They would have brought him in for questioning, and he would be allowed to have an attorney present. Based on that questioning, either hold him or let him go. I don’t think the FBI, or any gummint agency should have wiretap authority. I don’t trust them enough. That’s just liberal old me.

So talk to him and then let him crash the planes into the buildings?

2pac Shakur

08-16-2005, 10:18 AM

So talk to him and then let him crash the planes into the buildings?

No.

fallout

08-16-2005, 12:50 PM

Happy Eellike Prodigality

08-16-2005, 12:54 PM

I have to start with a disclaimer:

I believe 9/11 was an inside job, and it was by design that Mohammed Atta was never brought in to be questioned. I don’t believe the entire FBI was in on it. I believe it was just a few well placed, high ranking officials who were able to put the brakes on any progress made by legit agents.

Assuming Atta was a random terrorist, and the FBI suspected him of plotting 9/11:

In this case, I think the FBI should have used every tool available to them in order to bring him in. This would include surveillance and wiretaps. These things did exist prior to 9/11, despite what the White House wants people to believe. I think some agents wanted to do this (agents like Rowley and Edmonds), but somehow they weren’t allowed to. I think it was by design, flagwavers think it’s because there wasn’t a Patriot Act. I suppose it's because we didn't have the Patriot Act that the 9/11 commission never knew the FBI was monitoring Atta?

In 2pac’s perfect world:

They would have brought him in for questioning, and he would be allowed to have an attorney present. Based on that questioning, either hold him or let him go. I don’t think the FBI, or any gummint agency should have wiretap authority. I don’t trust them enough. That’s just liberal old me.

Did the Bush administration know about the plan too?

Harry

08-16-2005, 01:02 PM

In 2pac’s perfect world:

They would have brought him in for questioning, and he would be allowed to have an attorney present. Based on that questioning, either hold him or let him go. I don’t think the FBI, or any gummint agency should have wiretap authority. I don’t trust them enough. That’s just liberal old me.

Which part of this would have kept the planes out of the side of the WTC?

Maybe he would have been scared and left the country rather than going out partying with strippers? I still think invading Iraq would have prevented those planes from hitting the WTC.

fallout

08-16-2005, 01:05 PM

Maybe he would have been scared and left the country rather than going out partying with strippers? I still think invading Iraq would have prevented those planes from hitting the WTC.

Please see post #20.

Or don't, what do I care.

2pac Shakur

08-16-2005, 01:24 PM

In 2pac’s perfect world:

They would have brought him in for questioning, and he would be allowed to have an attorney present. Based on that questioning, either hold him or let him go. I don’t think the FBI, or any gummint agency should have wiretap authority. I don’t trust them enough. That’s just liberal old me.

Which part of this would have kept the planes out of the side of the WTC?

If he was really guilty, they'd hold him.
If he was just some Cat Stevens, they let him go, and he doesn't blow anything up.

2pac Shakur

08-16-2005, 01:25 PM

Did the Bush administration know about the plan too?

Some members did, absolutely.
So did some members of the Clinton administration.

fallout

08-16-2005, 02:02 PM

If he was really guilty, they'd hold him.
If he was just some Cat Stevens, they let him go, and he doesn't blow anything up.

So, if they questioned him about things he was thinking of doing, and found something that he was "THINKING ABOUT DOING" and decided to hold him, how would you react to that?

Harry

08-16-2005, 02:05 PM

So, if they questioned him about things he was thinking of doing, and found something that he was "THINKING ABOUT DOING" and decided to hold him, how would you react to that?

So now you want to arrest people for thinking? That makes sense. You would be safe.

fallout

08-16-2005, 09:05 PM

So now you want to arrest people for thinking? That makes sense. You would be safe.

You can't possibly be this dense. Really. You can't.

Harry

08-17-2005, 09:46 AM

You can't possibly be this dense. Really. You can't.

Help me understand. Please. You want to arrest people for things they might do in the future, right? Not things they've done, things they are thinking of doing. Does that sound Constitutional to you?

fallout

08-17-2005, 09:48 AM

Help me understand. Please. You want to arrest people for things they might do in the future, right? Not things they've done, things they are thinking of doing. Does that sound Constitutional to you?

No. I wonder if you can read. Honestly. Do you actually read the words typed or do you try to skim and then apply the words in a different order that helps you make your inane points?