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by Mark Tapscott
It was painful earlier this week watching a Pentagon official lamely
telling the Senate Judiciary Committee the Defense Department now isn’t
sure if its Able Danger program really identified Mohamed Atta more than
a year before 9/11.
Wasn’t it just a couple of weeks ago when the Pentagon confirmed that
five of its top intelligence operatives did indeed recall seeing Atta’s
name and those of several other 9/11 terrorists on a chart produced by
Able Danger?
That’s why troubling questions keep coming to mind: How stupid do they
think we are? Don’t they realize they are creating more suspicion, not
less? Why do Bush people keep protecting Clinton people from public
scrutiny?
For a life-long conservative Republican and Bush voter in 2000 and 2004
like yours truly, that last question is especially galling. It was bad
enough early in Bush’s first term when he signed an executive order
keeping the truth about Bill Clinton’s midnight pardon spree behind
closed doors. I swallowed hard and accepted the White House’s executive
privilege claim on that one.
But the Able Danger hearing capped a long series of troubling decisions
that tortured credulity such as Bush increasing federal spending twice
as fast as Clinton, expanding entitlements at a pace only Lyndon Johnson
could match, signing a campaign finance law that limits political speech
and refusing to veto even the most outrageous examples of congressional
pork barreling.
The last straw came the day before William Dugan, an assistant to
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said to the Senate panel “I don’t
know” when asked if Able Danger had identified Atta. That’s when the
Pentagon barred testimony by the five officials who have said they
worked on the program and recall seeing the terrorist’s name on a chart
during the Clinton administration.
Either the powers-that-be think most people are too stupid to figure
out that a whitewash is in process or they assume most people aren’t
paying attention and there is little to fear from the Senate. They will
be proven right if Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate panel,
doesn’t quickly start issuing subpoenas to get to the bottom of this
scandal.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-IA, attributed the Pentagon’s actions to fear “they’ll just have egg on their face,” but Captain's Quarters’ Ed Morrissey puts it more succinctly: “The American people suffered the worst attack on our soil four years
ago. We deserve answers about how that attack could have been prevented.
The Pentagon has five witnesses that speak directly to that issue who
have been prevented from speaking to the representatives of the people.
“Arlen Specter needs to subpoena those five witnesses, all of the senior
officers in the chain of command for Able Danger, and Donald Rumsfeld
himself to answer for why the Pentagon will not cooperate. Four years of
hiding Able Danger is long enough.”
What is especially troubling about the Able Danger cover-up is that
we’ve seen this before regarding terrorist attacks on American soil.
During the first shocking hours after the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City
bombing, the FBI was feverishly looking for “John Doe 2.” Then the FBI
suddenly decided far-right nuts Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were
the lone bombers.
For months thereafter, Oklahoma City investigative reporter Jayna Davis
followed lead after lead and found a mountain of concrete evidence and
witnesses who put an Iraqi – Hussain Al-Hussaini – at the bombing scene
seconds before and after the explosion.
They also saw the Iraqi with McVeigh numerous times in the days leading
up to the tragedy at a nearby hotel with a rental truck like the one
used in the bombing that smelled of diesel fuel. They even saw McVeigh
and Al-Hussaini at an Oklahoma City nightclub months before the bombing.
But the FBI refused to pursue the evidence and to this day will not say
whether it ever ruled Al-Hussaini in or out as a suspect. Critical
evidence tying the Iraqi to the bombing has since been destroyed by the
government.
Guess where Al-Hussaini ended up after Oklahoma City? Living in Boston
near Logan Airport with two other Iraqis who provided food catering
services to airlines there. Experts have said the 9/11 hijackers
probably used weapons previously smuggled aboard by…food services
employees.
Now watching the Pentagon under Bush refusing to let witnesses testify
about Able Danger, it’s clear the Washington Establishment takes care of
its own no matter which party happens to be in power. Call them
Republicrats.
Mark Tapscott, a veteran newspaper journalist, is Director of the Center
for Media and Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation, a
Townhall.com Gold Partner.
©2005 The Heritage Foundation
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