Able Danger - Spying on US Citizens? [With UPDATE]

AJ Strata finds more on Able Danger from WTOP, and it connects nicely with a recent post by the Captain speculating that privacy concerns are hindering Able Danger type programs.

Here is the lead from WTOP:

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon appears to have reversed its position on Able Danger, the Army intelligence collection team.

A Pentagon spokesman now says "there's no reason to doubt the specific recollections" of the growing number of team members. The team members say the project had pre-Sept. 11 intelligence on al Qaida, which Defense Department lawyers prohibited them from sharing with the FBI.

And why did Able Danger die?

"The I.G. (inspector general) came in and shut down the operation because of a claim that we were collecting information on U.S citizens," says Smith.

It turned out to be more than just a claim.

"On some of my charts I had links to U.S citizens," he says.

Smith notes that it's illegal for the military to collect intelligence on U.S. citizens.

Oh, boy.  If the program was illegal, that might explain why the Pentagon did not provide many details to the 9/11 Commission.

I can not find an actual Pentagon statement.  And it is certainly possible that WTOP is hyping an out of context quote.  For example, a spokesperson may have said "there's no reason to doubt the specific recollections..., but we can't find any support for it."

However, the admission by Smith that there were legal problems noted by the IG seems like an obvious clue for follow-up - if the IG killed this program, there must be files.

And if the IG killed it, who buried it?

UPDATE:  WTOP updates their story:

WASHINGTON - The names of U.S. citizens with connections to the military, political organizations and educational institutions reportedly turned up when the Pentagon collected intelligence as part of its Able Danger effort.

The Pentagon shut down the data mining operation that uncovered the names of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers a year before the terror attacks.

Defense contractor J.D. Smith who worked on the project says his job was to find connections among people and where those connections went.

The names and the origin of the information turned out to be so sensitive that Smith says,"It cost me a contract and a eventually my job at the company that employed me at the time."

But the names the intelligence group investigated turned out not to be connected with al Qaida.

Sources familiar with Able Danger say the project was shut down because it could have lead to the exposure of a separate secret data mining project focusing on U.S Citizens allegedly transferring super-sensitive U.S technology illegally to the Chinese government.

Emphasis added - it sounds as if Smith is describing the China meltdown reported in the NY Post; we have a generous excerpt after the break.

From the NY Post:

MILITARY 'SPIED' ON RICE
By NILES LATHEM

August 27, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — Cyber-sleuths working for a Pentagon intelligence unit that reportedly identified some of the 9/11 hijackers before the attack were fired by military officials, after they mistakenly pinpointed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other prominent Americans as potential security risks, The Post has learned.

The private contractors working for the counter-terrorism unit Able Danger lost their jobs in May 2000. The firings following a series of analyses that Pentagon lawyers feared were dangerously close to violating laws banning the military from spying on Americans, sources said.

The Pentagon canceled its contract with the private firm shortly after the analysts — who were working on identifying al Qaeda operatives — produced a particularly controversial chart on proliferation of sensitive technology to China, the sources said.

Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, the veteran Army officer who was the Defense Intelligence Agency liaison to Able Danger, told The Post China "had something to do" with the decision to restructure Able Danger.

Sources said the private contractors, using sophisticated computer software that sifts through massive amounts of raw data to establish patterns, came up with a chart of Chinese strategic and business connections in the U.S.

The program wrongly tagged Rice, who at the time was an adviser to then-candidate George W. Bush, and former Defense Secretary William Perry by linking their associations at Stanford, along with their contacts with Chinese leaders, sources said.

The program also spat out scores of names of other former government officials with legitimate ties to China, as well as prominent American businessmen. There was no suggestion that Rice or any of the others had done anything wrong.

A Pentagon official said last night that, while the canned contractors worked for Able Danger, the China project was separate from the counter-terrorism assignment.

The Able Danger work was transferred to another Department of Defense contractor — and the program quietly expired later that year when it was completed, the official said.

The China chart was put together by James Smith, who confirmed yesterday that his contract with the military was canceled and he was fired from his company because the military brass became concerned about the focus on U.S. citizens.

"It was shut down in a matter of hours. The colonel said our service was no longer needed and told me: 'You just ended my career.' "

 

Smith also claims his team came up with 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta's name and photo in 2000.

Comments

[kim]

Well to be slightly more precise, the program wasn't illegal; it was edging into illegal territory. But it still explains, without requiring nefariousness, why it got hushed up.
=========================================

[BurbankErnie]

TM,
This is the first I have heard of who it was that actually shut down AD. Now I am going to have to search for the person who was IG from 1998 to 2001, specifically May 2001. I don't even know if that is a concrete date for the demise of AD, but it has been thrown about enough as to be taken as fact.

Hopefully this timeline and the IG source will uncover a few more snakes under the rocks.

BTW, great work on this Blog. I don't post often, but I read it daily and appreciate the work you do here.

[TexasToast]

OT

I'm not wondering why Martin from Meterie is not posting.
The red cross donation link is verrry slow.

[kim]

I've just been listening to Krupa and the St James' Infirmary.
=================================================

[Cheryl]

Was it the DOJ IG? Glenn Fine?

[Cheryl]

Here's a list of appointed IG's....

http://www.ignet.gov/igs/ighistory.pdf

[cheryl]

Ok, so looking into the 9/11 statements of Mr. Fine, he was directly reporting on Atta and Alshehhi's INS status and entry into the US. (Tues April 1, 2003)

I find this interesting:

"However, our review found that the adjudication of their change of status applications was untimely and significantly flawed. The INS took more that 10 months to adjudicate the applications, well after Atta and Alshehhi had finished their training course at the Florida flight school. In addition, the INS adjudicator who approved their applications did so without adequate information, including the fact that they had left the country twice after filing their applications, which meant they had abandoned their request for a change of status."

So TEN months to ajudicate? And in that interim they left the country TWICE?

Does that not support the Able Danger timeline?

http://www.sacred-texts.com/ame/911/911tr/040103.htm

[cheryl]

Would it be the DOS IG? Look slike there WASN'T one apppointed from January 2001 to August 2001?

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/12147.htm

[BurbankErnie]

Cheryl,
I think you hit it With Glenn Fine at the DoJ.
There was no IG at the DoD during that timeline either.

What is most disturbing is that the DoJ IG worked directly for Ashcroft. Now where Ashcroft fits in is another dot. Maybe he pulled the plug. Maybe Clinton had the plug pulled back in 2000 to spare Algore hardships during his election run.

I still think this is an important Date and an important piece is who pulled the plug on AD. Find the plug puller and a lot of answers will surely follow.

Also Cheryl, regarding the ten month lag time, Atta not only left the Country during that time, but got his Visa renewed after leaving the Country for a week, thus abandoning the need for the INS Status Change. Ironically, it was approved for him post mortem (sic).

[Cheryl]

Ok - Sorry for treading on previous ground, but was it determined who these 2 gentlemen were? This was in July of 2001.

"To give a sense of his anxiety at the time, one senior official in the Counterterrorist Center told us that he and a colleague were considering resigning in order to go public with their concerns."

(Blinking Red section page 259 of 9/11 rpt)

[Cheryl]

Ok, I'm being an official pest. But I'm utterly convinced there is more to this story.

Am I way off base here or, does this scenario fit (loosely) what the AD data-mining encompased? Page 268, read the section June 01 Meeting New York.

Didn't Smith or Shafer infer the "3rd" person was a female analyst? Could it be "Jane"? She seemed to have quite a few pictures...the chart had pictures.....lot's of coincidences that make me think someone knew SOMETHING and whitewashed it. Correct me if I'm wrong!

[Cheryl]

This is the report I'm looking at.

This "Jane" person is very interesting. I have a bad feeling that agencies WERE working together. Bigger names were not advancing the 2+2 theories......

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/22jul20041130/www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/sec8.pdf

[Tom Panemus]

John Gravesend has a different spin on things, check it out:

"tubalows.blogspot.com"

Makes ya think?

[Cheryl]

Yep - I think some high-thinkin' underlings took it upon themselves to make decisions that ended up being pathetically off course. Both presidents and their staff would be outed for not knowing WTH is going on around them and in the midst of all that - Boom - 9/11. I think neither one wants it to come out - BUT both sides should push for the truth. End of story.

[BurbankErnie]

Chryl,
Can you repost the link? It is broken.

I think it is the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on 9/11 which preceded the 9/11 Commission. I will dig up a link to that report.

[Cheryl]

You mean this one?

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/22jul20041130/www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/sec8.pdf

[Cheryl]

If that doesn't work - try this one:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/

Then go into the Full Report.pdf file

[Reg Jones]

"The I.G. (inspector general) came in and shut down the operation because of a claim that we were collecting information on U.S citizens," says Smith.

This seems to be the "China Flap" where Smith was fired in May, 2000. And the IG mentioned is probably DOD not DOJ.

DOD IG:
1995-April,1999: Eleanor Hill IG
May 1999-Jan.,2001: Donald Mancuso Act IG
Jan,2001-April,2002: Robert Lieberman Act IG
April,2002-Current: Joseph Schmitz IG

IF that is true we want to talk to Mr. Mancuso. We also might to ring Ms. Hill...formely the Staff Director of the Joint Congressional Committee on 9-11.

Interesting.

[BurbankErnie]

Reg,
Good catch. Eleanor Hill has been entrenched with the Clinton Cabal for quite some time, she is an enlightening Google Search.

Now i amm going to look into Mancuso and Smith and the China Effect on both.
Good Catch.

[Reg Jones]

Bonus points:
For anyone who can clarify Ms. Hill's role as “co-chair of the Intelligence Community Inspectors General Forum…”.

http://www.kslaw.com/attorney_dir/attorneybrief.asp?1422

[BurbankErnie]

Mancuso was "acting IG, Clinton could have recessed appointed him, but didn't. A week before Bush was sworn in as POTUS, Mancuso resigned.

The John Deutch Affair is reminescent of Sandy Burger... Damn near espionage, a slap on the wrist penalty, and a full Pardon by Clinton on his way out. Hear is a great source of info on Deutch.

Still digging on Smith and ChinaGate.

[BurbankErnie]

Eleanor Hill Served in Clinton's DoJ, amongst other things. That qualified her for the 9/11 Omission, and the disabling of Able Danger. Can we all say coverup?

Here is the money quote from your linked article:

"As Staff Director for the Joint Congressional Inquiry, she led the historic, bipartisan and bicameral investigative effort of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees to determine what our Intelligence Community knew, or should have known, regarding the terrorist threat to the United States prior to the September 11th attacks. The extensive investigation and the hearings that followed culminated in the release of an 800-page report that identified numerous shortcomings in Intelligence Community counterterrorist efforts and nineteen recommendations for reform. Ms. Hill spent nearly seven months leading the team that negotiated the declassification of that report with the Intelligence Community."

BTW, she was special counsel for Sen. Sam Nunn.

[j.foeter]

data mining . if data means data , then they matched items that were already data. sort of like credit card companies and house loan brokers. beware the head fakes. no one dares take a stand on behalf of ignorence , so some will try and mask the scent. you know the atta intel dump scent that existed hours after the deed.

[kim]

Uh oh, Hillary's getting worried.
=================================

[Oyster]

All the Chinese espionage, money laundering and campaign donations were in full swing from 1996 - 1998. And much of it led back to the White House. What other names did Able Danger come up with besides a few who may, in fact, have been innocent of wrong doing?

I compiled a list of it all here:

http://oyster.journalspace.com/?entryid=1131

(Credit is given at the bottom)

[kim]

Someone's sure to try to make the point that it was cancelled because of the Rice connection, I doubt that. It was too easy to disprove, and there were many much more provable bits of chicanery in the China mess.

Remember, early infusion of Chinese cash sunk Dole in '96 like Pearl Harbor, at the dock.
==============================================

[Kirk Spencer]

Lots of folk trying to push it back to Clinton. I'd like to focus on the gist what I think is critical among what Smith, Shaffer and Phillpott have said.

The project was shut down swiftly. Not gradually, not tapered off with some folk tying off loose ends, not "funding was not renewed this fiscal period," but SLAM the door and GET OUT NOW.

And it happened in May, of 2000 - five months after a new sheriff came to town.

Yes, it might have been Clinton's people reacting to bad news. But the timing - both the when and the swiftness - don't jibe with that. That's why I think any traces that run through Clinton et al are red herrings on this subject.

[Les Nessman]

Kirk,
Do you mean May 2000 or May 2001?

[kim]

Likely concealment by many. It has stayed hidden thus far because nearly everyone above the level of the actual Able Danger crew has had reason to suppress it.

That also explains why so many politicians have been struck dumb by this affair(Ablegate; I like the image of a gate to represent the naming of scandals. Janus smiles). Neither those in the know, nor those not, know how this will shake out. Closets in both houses hold skeletons.
===================================================

[kim]

But the Clintons had bigger closets. Veritable charnel houses.
==================================================

[kim]

Dangergate fits better. We held the gate open, and in walked danger.

And to all those who object to the now everpresent use of 'gate' as the linguistic appendage to indicate horrified hoi polloi, we appreciate your rearguard action to keep the language pure; now, come through the gate, and slam it behind you. 'Gate' to indicate a scandal, has entered the English language, among others, forevermore. It is Nixon's immortal contribution to the culture.
=================================================

[kim]

Hey you in the defile, it's not defiling.
===========================================