[Vision2020] Pentagon Burns 9, 500 Copies of Book Claiming Hijacker Atta Identified as Threat Prior to 9/11 Attack

[Ted Moffett]

The implications of this story seem at odds with what many assume is the
political bias of Fox News...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/25/pentagon-destroys-copies-controversial-memoir-written-army-officer/<http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=262102>

The Pentagon has burned 9,500 copies of Army Reserve Lt. Col. Anthony
Shaffer's memoir "Operation Dark Heart," his book about going undercover in
Afghanistan.

A Department of Defense official tells Fox News that the department
purchased copies of the first printing because they contained information
which could cause damage to national security.

The U.S. Army originally cleared the book for release.

The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency attempted to block the book about the
tipping point in Afghanistan and a controversial pre-9/11 data mining
project called "Able Danger."

In a letter obtained by Fox News, the DIA says national security could be
breached if "Operation Dark Heart" is published in its current form. The
agency also attempted to block key portions of the book that claim "Able
Danger" successfully identified hijacker Mohammed Atta as a threat to the
United States before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Specifically, the DIA wanted references to a meeting between Lt. Col. Tony
Shaffer, the book's author, and the executive director of the 9/11
Commission, Philip Zelikow, removed. In that meeting, which took place in
Afghanistan, Shaffer alleges the commission was told about "Able Danger" and
the identification of Atta before the attacks. No mention of this was made
in the final 9/11 report.

Shaffer, who was undercover at the time, said there was "stunned silence" at
the meeting after he told the executive director of the commission and
others that Atta was identified as early as 2000 by "Able Danger."

"Dr. Philip Zelikow approached me in the corner of the room. 'What you said
today is very important. I need you to get in touch with me as soon as you
return from your deployment here in Afghanistan'," Shaffer said.

Once back in the U.S., Shaffer says he contacted the commission. Without
explanation, the commission was no longer interested. An inspector general
report by the Department of Defense concluded there was no evidence to
support the claims of Shaffer and others. But Fox News has obtained an
unredacted copy of the IG report containing the names of witnesses, who
backed up Shaffer's story when contacted for comment.

Atta was the alleged ringleader of the Sept. 11 hijackers and piloted
American Airlines Flight 11 into the World Trade Center.

Shaffer spoke to Fox News before he was asked by the military not to discuss
the book. He confirmed efforts to block the book and other details.

Calling the move "highly unusual," he explained that the book had already
been cleared for release when the DIA stepped in.

"Apparently, Defense Intelligence Agency took exception to the way the Army
cleared the book," he told Fox News.

The DOD says Shaffer and the book’s publisher ‘voluntarily agreed’ to remove
what it deemed to be classified information prior to the book’s first
printing.

“Given the sensitive nature of this request and the potential damage to
national security, the Department of Defense had every reason to believe
that this would be handled with the utmost discretion by all of the parties.
Unfortunately, someone disclosed to the press these ongoing efforts before
the Department of Defense had the opportunity to finish working with the
publisher on a corrected version,” a DOD official told Fox News.

The DOD is currently working with the publisher to ‘mitigate the resulting
effects of the disclosures,’ the official said.

The documents and exclusive interviews, including an Army data collector on
the Able Danger Project, are part of an ongoing investigation by the
documentary unit "Fox News Reporting" which uncovered new details about
American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and efforts by the FBI to track and recruit
him for intelligence purposes after 9/11.
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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