Another "Able Danger" Source Comes Forward

A third source for the Able Danger fiasco has come forward to confirm the allegations made earlier by Army Lt. Colonel Anthony Shaffer and Navy Captain Scott Philpott, as publicized by Representative Curt Weldon (R-PA).

"Able Danger" was a secret military data mining operation that reportedly identified Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 hijackers a year before the attacks. They were prevented from sharing the information, which could have foiled the attacks, by the infamous "wall" put in place by Clinton appointee Jamie Gorelick, who also served on the 9/11 commission. The "wall" was intended to protect the privacy of American citizens, and restricted the exchange of information between various military organizations and law enforcement. The Able Danger operatives tried numerous times to share their information with the FBI, but were blocked by Pentagon lawyers. Though informed of Able Danger, the 9/11 commission chose not to mention it in its voluminous report.

From Fox News:

WASHINGTON — A third person has now come forward to verify claims made by a military intelligence unit that a year before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, it had information showing that lead hijacker Mohamed Atta (search) and other terrorists were identified as being in the United States.

J.D. Smith, a defense contractor who claims he worked on the technical side of the unit, code-named "Able Danger" (search), told reporters Friday that he helped gather open-source information (search), reported on government spending and helped generate charts associated with the unit's work. Able Danger was set up in the 1990s to track Al Qaeda activity worldwide.

"I am absolutely positive that he [Atta] was on our chart among other pictures and ties that we were doing mainly based upon [terror] cells in New York City," Smith said.

It's unclear what the critical mass of confirmation will be to make the major news networks start reporting this story, which has the potential to be bigger than Watergate.