Able Danger

Able Danger was a Special Operations Command effort to map al Qaeda using data mining. Erik Kleinsmith, the Army intelligence chief who ran the analysis, testified that his team found “a surprisingly significant presence within the United States,” and that around spring 2000 he and a colleague “were forced to destroy all the data, charts, and other analytical products” not already passed to SOCOM, in line with rules on intelligence about U.S. persons. [2][3]

Shaffer said the team had identified Atta and other hijackers nearly a year before the attack, and that Defense officials stopped the team sharing it with law enforcement. The allegations became public in August 2005. [1]

The Defense Department inspector general examined nine allegations and wrote: “We did not substantiate those allegations. The evidence did not support assertions that Able Danger identified the September 11, 2001, terrorists nearly a year before the attack, that Able Danger team members were prohibited from sharing information with law enforcement authorities, or that DoD officials reprised against LTC Shaffer.” It found “some procedural oversights.” [1]

Supporters say the inspector general could not find a chart because the data had been destroyed, and that several witnesses recalled the same thing independently.