Able Danger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Able Danger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Able Danger was a highly classified United States Special Operations Command military intelligence program under the command of the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

It was created as a result of a directive from the Joint Chiefs' of Staff in early October 1999 by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hugh Shelton, to develop a Information Operations Campaign Plan against transnational terrorism, "specifically al-Qaida."

According to statements by Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and confirmed by four others, Able Danger had identified the September 11, 2001 attack leader Mohamed Atta, and three of the 9/11 plot's 19 hijackers, as possible members of an al Qaeda cell linked to the '93 World Trade Center Attacks. The group used all information legally collected under the rule of law.

Primarily consisting of classified information, all publicly obtained information was approved after a legal review of SOCOM lawyers. The early identification of the four hijackers by Able Danger appears to contradict the official conclusion of the 9/11 Commission, that American intelligence agencies had not identified Atta as a terrorist prior to the attack. This has resulted in a political controversy that has begun to damage the credibility of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission.

Operational Commanders decided to wait on contacting the FBI to allow the technology to mature. Louis Freeh, Richard Clarke, and former President Bill Clinton were likely never told that there were four al-Queda terrorists on American soil but the timing and evidence of this event tends to incriminate both the Clinton and the Bush administrations.

Later, Pete Schoomaker, one of the Generals in charge of Able Danger, was pulled out of retirement in 2003 and made Army Chief of Staff, an unprecedented move.

A new data mining effort, based on a reconstituted Able Danger type team called "Able Providence", has been proposed by Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA).[1]