Cyber-sleuths working for a Pentagon intelligence
unit that reportedly identified some of the 9/11 hijackers
before the attack were fired by military officials,
after they mistakenly pinpointed Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and other prominent Americans as
potential security risks, The New York Post reports
in registration-restricted Saturday editions, RAW
STORY has learned. Excerpts follow.
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The private contractors working for the counter-terrorism
unit Able Danger lost their jobs in May 2000. The
firings following a series of analyses that Pentagon
lawyers feared were dangerously close to violating
laws banning the military from spying on Americans,
sources said.
The Pentagon canceled its contract with the private
firm shortly after the analysts — who were working
on identifying al Qaeda operatives — produced
a particularly controversial chart on proliferation
of sensitive technology to China, the sources said.
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The program wrongly tagged Rice, who at the time
was an adviser to then-candidate George W. Bush, and
former Defense Secretary William Perry by linking
their associations at Stanford, along with their contacts
with Chinese leaders, sources said. There was no suggestion
that Rice or any of the others had done anything wrong.
A Pentagon official said last night that, while
the canned contractors worked for Able Danger, the
China project was separate from the counter-terrorism
assignment.
The China chart was put together by James Smith,
who confirmed yesterday that his contract with the
military was canceled and he was fired from his company
because the military brass became concerned about
the focus on U.S. citizens.
Smith also claims his team came up with 9/11 hijacker
Mohamed Atta's name and photo in 2000.
