The Scrutinator

In a story filed at 7:10 PM, the Associated Press is now confirming all the particulars of what will now forever be called the Able Danger disaster. The 9/11 Commission staff did hear about intelligence-gathering efforts that hit pay dirt on the whereabouts of Mohammed Atta -- in 1999 -- and deliberately chose to omit word of those efforts.

Stay tuned for more, though at this point there's a lot of speculation, and no firm evidence that this bears directly on the Iraq-al Qaida connection (as many think).

Pundits are divided.

Links:

• National Review's The Corner blog's early speculation, quoted above.
• AP: Atta Intelligence Omitted From Report
• AP, via NY Times: 9/11 Commission's Staff Rejected Report on Early Identification of Chief Hijacker
• Powerline: Whitewashing the wall? I.e., Commission member Jamie Gorelick's wall of separation between foreign intelligence and domestic law enforcement.
• The 9-11 Public Discourse Project, founded by all the 9-11 Commission members. (The Commission follow-on.)
• Captain Ed speculates about Able Danger and how it relates to the Iraq-al Qaida connection.
• Dr. Sanity revisits Sandy Berger's actions in light of this new story.
• Fox News: 9/11 Panel Staffers Probing Documents on 'Able Danger'
• Fox News: 'Able Danger' Intel Could Rewrite 9/11 History
• [8/15] FrontPage Magazine weighs in.
• [8/15] National Review's Blog The Corner is warning away from the whole story. And getting more condemning for Rep. Curt Weldon.
• [8/16] Time Magazine: Penagon says, "This is much ado about nothing."
• [8/16:] Jack Kelly is still interested, despite that NRO "is in full crawlback mode". His article is here.
• [8/16] Powerline: Able Danger's anonymous source is now in the open: Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer.
• [9/2] Powerline: Looks like it's true

By The Scrutinator @ 9:49 PM