August 14, 2005

Able Endangered

The 9/11 Commission has responded rather persuasively to the so called Able Danger revelations, and several conservative bloggers and pundits are admitting that they may have "been had" by Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) when he claimed that Mohammed Atta had been identified by the secret Pentagon intelligence team, and that team members in turn had briefed 9/11 Commission staffers on the Atta identification.

John Podhoretz and Jim Geraghty are at least somewhat persuaded. And Michelle Malkin links to a growing group of skeptics.

The bottom line is that to this point Rep. Weldon has produced no hard evidence to support his claim that the Able Danger group identified Mohammed Atta at all, much less that they reported his identification to 9/11 Commission staffers. Unless or until Weldon's sources step forward from anonymity, skepticism about his claims seems the prudent course.

This doesn't change my view that there was a lot wrong with the 9/11 Commission, not least Jamie Gorelick's seat on the commission instead of on the witness stand. But if the right half of the blogosphere bought into Weldon's claims too eagerly, and have to eat crow as a result, then serve me up a healthy portion too.

Posted by dan at August 14, 2005 11:40 PM
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