Article

2005-09-30 Home Front: WoT

'Able Danger' Officer's Clearance Revoked

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by .com 2005-09-30 04:21|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 stealing pens? Flashing his Id when drunk? If this doesn't look like a witch hunt I don't know what does.

Posted by 2b 2005-09-30 04:49|| 2005-09-30 04:49|| Front Page Top

#2 Pentagon rules -- sounds like they're kind of like speed limits -- they're set so low, cops can virtually stop anyone anywhere at any time for violating them.

Posted by jolly roger 2005-09-30 06:29|| 2005-09-30 06:29|| Front Page Top

#3 It's imperative that those who are obstructed, destroyed, and are now covering up the work of the Able Danger team be identified and punished. I am not a conspiracy fan, but this looking like an effort from some well connected people to suppress the what is now known to have been the most promising intelligence effort that might have prevented the 9/11/2001 attacks.

Posted by ed 2005-09-30 06:46|| 2005-09-30 06:46|| Front Page Top

#4 Showing irresponsibility with $2,012 in credit card debt. He said he paid off the debt.

That's it? If that's a criterion, I might as well not even try for a clearance.

Posted by eLarson 2005-09-30 08:24|| http://larsonian.blogspot.com]">[http://larsonian.blogspot.com] 2005-09-30 08:24|| Front Page Top

#5 Rummey's head is nearer to the cutting block with every single *&#&)Y!!! misstep that these CYA suits keep making. Wake up call!! Time to lead that marine guard contingent from your office down to these yahoo's and start clearing house.

Posted by Hupinemble Thomoger2928 2005-09-30 09:23|| 2005-09-30 09:23|| Front Page Top

#6 Two issues. First, the big one.

this looking like an effort from some well connected people to suppress the what is now known to have been the most promising intelligence effort that might have prevented the 9/11/2001 attacks.

It's a fine line. The way this has been played in the press really, really runs the risk of undermining what might well be the most important weapon we have in the GWOT.

I lived through the Vietnam days. What you are pushing to out is going to be lumped -- FAIRLY OR NOT -- with the illegal collection of info on war protestors from those days.

What's at stake here is bigger than hanging the Clinton administration for their series of derelictions.

Now, the minor issue. If this guy got a service medal under false pretenses and is flashing his creds inappropriately, he's a loose cannon at best. I know of several LtCols whose careers came to a screeching halt over that sort of shit.

No doubt the brass is coming down on him, but like I said, there are cases where those same offenses nailed guys.

The pens, tho ..... shaking head

Posted by lotp 2005-09-30 09:31|| 2005-09-30 09:31|| Front Page Top

#7 One other thing,

This guy was in Special Ops. You do NOT want loose cannons in SOCOM.

Period.

and I can't emphasize too much how dangerous the pressure to out Able Danger might turn out to be, guys. Pentagon politics aside, you run the serious risk of exposing collection and analysis techniques that our current lives depend on. Weldon means well, but he's playing with far more fire than he seems to realize.

Posted by lotp 2005-09-30 09:45|| 2005-09-30 09:45|| Front Page Top

#8
What started as a Tom Clancy/Steve Pieczenic Net Force plot seems to be finishing as a "Kill the Chick in the Egg" plot.

Posted by SwissTex 2005-09-30 09:51|| 2005-09-30 09:51|| Front Page Top

#9 If Weldon's playing with fire, take the truth to the appropriate intelligence cammittee and have the members pay a visit on Weldon to discuss the national interest.

The other option is there's a big turd on the floor and no body wants to admit it's there or their's.

I don't know which is true. But Weldon's heart seems to be in the right place and nobody seems to have told him to shut up, so I hope he keeps at it.

From everything I can infer about the collection and analysis techniques, there's little anybody could do reduce their risk if they knew how it works without returning to the stone age. This isn't just about satellite phones.

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-09-30 10:06|| 2005-09-30 10:06|| Front Page Top

#10 Showing irresponsibility with $2,012 in credit card debt.

I have a $2500 balance on one of my Visa cards. Color me extra-irresponsible....

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2005-09-30 11:05|| 2005-09-30 11:05|| Front Page Top

#11 "Mark Zaid, Shaffer's attorney, said the Pentagon started looking into Shaffer's security clearance about the time in 2003 he met in Afghanistan with staff members of the bipartisan commission that studied the Sept. 11 attacks and told them about Able Danger."

"The Sept. 11 commission has dismissed the claims. " 2005

I'm not jumping to conclusions but something doesn't smell right.

Posted by DepotGuy 2005-09-30 11:50|| 2005-09-30 11:50|| Front Page Top

#12 We do not need to know techniques or methodologies. That is a red herring being pushed by those engaged in emergeny CYA to avoid exposure for their part in this real cover-up. What we need to know is if terrorist activity or terrorist were identified - yes or no. When they were identified. And who failed to kick the info up the chain of command [to the Sec of Def or even the President] to get a authorization to pass said info the agencies responsible for internal national security. Anything else is CYA coverage.

Posted by Hupinemble Thomoger2928 2005-09-30 11:57|| 2005-09-30 11:57|| Front Page Top

#13 He knew something like this was going to happen, he did the right thing and "fell on his sword". Pulling the security clearance is a big deal even though it's an administrative action (ie, legal rules don't apply). Without the clearance he can't get a beltway bandit job like the rest of the retired DC officer corps.
If the $2,012 of credit card debt was personal debt on a government card it would be an explicit violation of the rules. Still looks like a witchhunt to me, someone probably did a deep background check and only came up with trivial bs.

Posted by wrinkleneck_trout 2005-09-30 12:22|| 2005-09-30 12:22|| Front Page Top

#14 Mrs D, You can significantly reduce your chances of showing up in a data mining exercise but undertaking 'pattern breaking' activities. The obvious example is paying cash but there are others. If you know or suspect the patterns they are looking for, then you can pretty much guarantee not to show up on the radar.

Posted by phil_b 2005-09-30 16:14|| 2005-09-30 16:14|| Front Page Top

#15 I have a $2500 balance on one of my Visa cards. Color me extra-irresponsible....
Once I was about an order of magnitude higher. By the grace of God I'm out from under.

If the $2,012 of credit card debt was personal debt on a government card it would be an explicit violation of the rules.
Ah, now that would be entirely more believable. The report didn't state whether it was or wasn't. (quelle surprise)

Posted by eLarson 2005-09-30 17:23|| http://larsonian.blogspot.com]">[http://larsonian.blogspot.com] 2005-09-30 17:23|| Front Page Top

#16 1) Yes, if there were personal charges on a government credit card it's a violation.

2) Yes, there is important information that could be inferred about our data mining capabilities - and their limitations - if enough info got out about what was seen when.

3) Weldon HAS been told to shut up indirectly by the Pentagon's response.

4) I would expect that the work of Able Danger was classified in a special compartment, meaning that he may well have broken serious security regs back in 2003 depending on the clearances held by those he talked to that year. Whether it was worth it is a separate question - but absolutely no one should expect to divulge compartmentalized info and retain his/her clearance.

Again, it's theoretically possible he broke the law - and not just an administrative reg - in so doing. I doubt he will be prosecuted for it, but I'm not at all sure this guy is a hero.

Posted by rkb 2005-09-30 17:59|| 2005-09-30 17:59|| Front Page Top

#17 Are you sure he's not?

Posted by Glaitch Sheash2949 2005-09-30 18:50|| 2005-09-30 18:50|| Front Page Top

04:01 Janice
04:00 Janice
03:58 Janice
03:57 Janice
03:56 Janice
03:55 Janice
03:53 Janice
03:52 Janice
03:51 Janice
03:50 Janice
03:50 Janice
03:49 Janice
03:48 Janice
03:47 Janice
03:46 Janice
03:45 Janice
03:44 Janice
23:48 Subsunk
23:46 Red Dog
23:33 Angearong Gleling4527
23:32 JosephMendiola
23:26 Captain America
23:18 SR-71
23:13 JosephMendiola