DOD says Able Danger did not identify Atta or other 9-11 terrorist

NY Times:

The Defense Department’s inspector general on Thursday dismissed claims by military officers and others who had insisted that a secret Pentagon program identified Mohamed Atta and other terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks before the attacks occurred.

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“We concluded that prior to Sept. 11, 2001, Able Danger team members did not identify Mohamed Atta or any other 9/11 hijackers,” the report said. “While we interviewed four witnesses who claimed to have seen a chart depicting Mohamed Atta and possibly other terrorists or ‘cells’ involved in 9/11, we determined that their recollections were not accurate.”

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I suspect that this will not end the controversy. It seems to have attracted a following that will be unlikely to give up its theory this easily. However, a more important focus is the one on the value of data mining and I think that in that regard proponents of the program have seen its acceptance increase since the controversy. It appears to be a part of the terrorist surveillance program by the NSA as well as other programs to identify the enemy and intercept their communications and financial transactions.