Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate "Able Danger" News
Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate "Able Danger"

[JURIST] US Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] has asked the FBI for "all information and documents it has" pertaining to "Able Danger" [Wikipedia profile], the US Army intelligence program alleged to have identified Mohammed Atta [Wikipedia profile] and three other 9/11 hijackers as members of al-Qaeda in mid-2000. According to Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and Capt. Scott Philpott, the members of the intelligence program identified the terrorists by searching large amounts of data for patterns, but military lawyers dissuaded them from further pursuing Atta and sharing information with the FBI because he was legally in the US at the time. They also accuse the 9/11 Commission [official website] of ignoring their findings, which if shown to be accurate, would change the date when officials first learned of Atta's links to al-Qaeda. While no date has been set, Fox News is reporting that Specter's aides are discussing holding a hearing on "Able Danger" and information-sharing between the Pentagon and FBI. According to Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman no evidence has been found to support claims that "Able Danger" identified the hijackers. AP has more.