In a moment of reflective clarity, it suddenly hit me why the public (and even private) investigations into the sudden disbanding of the Able Danger unit was so vehemently opposed by the Department of Defense: Able Danger was not really disbanded; it is still operating!
OK, to be less sensationalist, while the Able Danger unit itself was disbanded, the technology and practices of the unit were absorbed into the National Security Agency (NSA). There, the scope of operations was expanded to monitor not just foreign communications and public domain data, as Able Danger was said to have done, but also to monitor ALL communications within the US, as reported by whistleblowers within the NSA.
The investigation into the Able Danger unit of the past was stonewalled because it would inevitably lead to exposing the illegal activities being conducted today. I suspect hearings into Able Danger will not be opposed anymore, since NSA spying is already exposed.
A challenge after the fold:
The great thing about the blogosphere is how it can act as a multi-celled organism. My cell just came up with an insight that links two pieces of a puzzle so closely that they demand further investigation. Though I wish I had the time to do it myself, I'm now handing off this insight to other cells within the dKos community who
do have the time to follow up and gather evidence. I hope the challenge is accepted. It's a great chance to scoop the traditional media.