Finally, an Able Danger Confirmation

Following the questionable allegations of Rep. Curt Weldon, a "veteran Army intelligence officer," Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, has come forward to confirm that Able Danger did uncover an Al Qaeda cell with Mohammed Atta's name associated with it before 9/11. Money quote:

Colonel Shaffer said he had provided information about Able Danger and its identification of Mr. Atta in a private meeting in October 2003 with members of the Sept. 11 commission staff when they visited Afghanistan, where he was then serving. Commission members have disputed that, saying that they do not recall hearing Mr. Atta's name during the briefing and that the name did not appear in documents about Able Danger that were later turned over by the Pentagon.

"I would implore the 9/11 commission to support a follow-on investigation to ascertain what the real truth is," Colonel Shaffer said in the interview this week. "I do believe the 9/11 commission should have done that job: figuring out what went wrong with Able Danger."

Shaffer claims that Pentagon lawyers blocked Able Danger from sharing the information with the FBI, basically to cover their asses if something went wrong. Well, something did, and if this is true, I'm sure they've had a few sleepless nights since then.