The Able Danger blog has news from a FOIA request filed by Scott Malone of NavySeals.com and Christopher Law of PublicEdCenter.org that has produced an interesting response from the Pentagon. When they demanded the release of all information regarding the Able Danger project, the DoD rejected the request after a bit of bureaucratic misdirection. However, they acknowledged the existence of over 9500 pages of documentation -- apparently the same paperwork that they told Congress no longer existed:

In two possibly related developments in the past week, the Pentagon denied access to almost 10,000 pages of classified documents relating to a top-secret intelligence program senior officials have three times previously testified were destroyed or unable to be located. And the attorneys for the secret team members who disclosed the existence of the data-mining counter-terrorism program, called ABLE DANGER, have argued in a new court filing that they be “cleared” to review such files.

The Defense Department’s Inspector General’s office (DoD-OIG) and the joint Special Operations Command (SOCOM) have amassed some 9,500 pages of documents on a program that senior DoD and 9/11 Commission officials have stated repeatedly were destroyed or can no longer be located.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, “The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, has determined that approximately 9,500 pages of these collected documents are potentially responsive to your FOIA request.”

That news should stun those who have been following the Able Danger story for the past year. The official story has had all documentation being destroyed in a particularly aggressive form of housekeeping that took place after Col. Tony Shaffer revealed the existence of the program to the 9/11 Commission. The missing documentation proves, according to Shaffer, that the intelligence community identified Mohammed Atta and the other members of the core 9/11 cell prior to the attacks as potential al-Qaeda agents.

The assertion that 9500 pages of evidence still exists at the Pentagon will no doubt surprise members of Congress that received little from their investigations into the program. Hopefully this will pique their curiosity once more. Be sure to read all of the links at the Able Danger blog.

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