The AP is
reporting that the 9/11 Commission, through its former chief spokesman Al Felzenberg, acknowledged that it DID, in fact, have the information that Atta was known to be in the US as an Al-Qaida member BEFORE they published their report:
"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Sept. 11 commission knew military intelligence officials had identified lead hijacker Mohamed Atta as a member of al-Qaida who might be part of U.S.-based terror cell more than a year before the terror attacks but decided not to include that in its final report, a spokesman acknowledged Thursday...(more)
"Al Felzenberg, who had been the commission's chief spokesman, said Tuesday the panel was unaware of intelligence specifically naming Atta. But he said subsequent information provided Wednesday confirmed that the commission had been aware of the intelligence.
It did not make it into the final report because the information was not consistent with what the commission knew about Atta's whereabouts before the attacks, Felzenberg said."
WTF!?
Ok, so first they say, "Nope, we didn't have that information." And why the flip-flop? Because ... it gets better ... Congressman Weldon's office reminds them:
"Felzenberg said an unidentified person working with Weldon came forward Wednesday and described a meeting 10 days before the panel's report was issued last July. During it, a military official urged commission staffers to include a reference to the intelligence on Atta in the final report.
Felzenberg said checks were made and the details of the July 12, 2004, meeting were confirmed. Previous to that, Felzenberg said it was believed commission staffers knew about Able Danger from a meeting with military officials in Afghanistan during which no mention was made of Atta or the other three hijackers."
This is Twilight Zone strange. Why would they purposefully leave this information out about Atta, explosive as it is? Hmmm... remember when the report was issued??? Summer 2004 - just before the conventions were to get under way.
What would the American people have thought if issued in the original 9/11 commission report was evidence that Mohammad Atta, lead hijacker, was known and followed by American officials? And, still, nothing was done to catch him? I wonder....
There is a major cover-up here of SOMETHIG. How do I know. This is how Felzenberg tries to make this purposeful omision sound like no big deal:
"'Even if it were valid, it would've joined the lists of dozens of other instances where information was not shared,' Felzenberg said. 'There was a major problem with intelligence sharing.'"
Please. This, dear sir, would have been rather unique on that laundry list. If someone had captured Atta, it could have prevented 9/11 from happening.