Considering Able Danger was setup to track Al Qaeda globally, and stike them abroad before they could strike us at home, (to paraphrase Shaffer), it's easy to explain Phillpott's statement that they had identified Atta in January/February of 2000. That's when the CIA traced several of the 9/11 attackers to a planning meeting in Kuala Lampur. Shaffer says that one of the things Able Danger tracked was "travel records". Think about it.