Searchable text of the IG report

It's available over at cryptome.org for those who are interested. No, they did not figure out any of the Non-OPSEC redacted names. Yes, I am still working on figuring them out myself.

UPDATE: Here is what I know so far.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
REPORT OF INVESTIGATION
CASE NUMBER
H05L97905217

DATE
SEP 18 2006

ALLEGED MISCONDUCT BY SENIOR DOD OFFICIALS
CONCERNING THE ABLE DANGER PROGRAM AND
LIEUTENANT COLONEL ANTHONY A. SHAFFER, U.S. ARMY RESERVE


Prepared by the Office of the Deputy Inspector General for Investigations


INSPECTOR GENERAL
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
400 ARMY NAVY DRIVE
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA 22202-4704

SEP 18 2006

MEMORANDUM FOR

UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (INTELLIGENCE)
COMMANDER, UNITED STATES SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND
DIRECTOR, DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
SUBJECT:

Investigation into Alleged Misconduct by Senior DoD Officials
Concerning the Able Danger Program and Lieutenant Colonel Anthony A.
Shaffer, U.S. Army Reserve (Case Number H05L979052l7)
This report provides the results of our investigation into allegations that DoD officials mismanaged an antiterrorist program known as "Able Danger," and that in doing so they reprised against a key proponent of Able Danger, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Anthony A. Shaffer, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve who holds a civilian position in the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

The investigation addressed nine specific allegations raised in the media and by various Members of Congress. We did not substantiate those allegations. The evidence did not support assertions that Able Danger identified the September 11, 2001, terrorists nearly a year before the attack, that Able Danger team members were prohibited from sharing information with law enforcement authorities, or that DoD officials reprised against LTC Shaffer for his disclosures regarding Able Danger.

We found some procedural oversights concerning the DIA handling of LTC Shaffer's office contents and his Officer Evaluation Reports. We recommend that the Director, DIA, review these areas and advise us of action taken within 90 days. By separate correspondence we will advise LTC Shaffer of his options for correcting his military record and offer our assistance if he chooses to do so.

We appreciate the courtesies extended to our investigative staff. Should you have any questions, please contact me or Mr. John R. Crane, Assistant Inspector General, Communications and Congressional Liaison, at (703) 604-8324.

[Signed]

Thomas F. Gimble
Acting



FORWARD
The course of this investigation, in particular the central issues, was framed through a series of requests from Members of Congress, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Anthony A. Shaffer, U.S. Army Reserve.

In letters to the Secretary of Defense dated October 7, 2005, and to this Office dated October 18, 2005, Representative Curt Weldon requested an explanation for the suspension of LTC Shaffer's security clearance and "a detailed report on the destruction of LTC Shaffer's documents and other files." In a floor speech on October 21, 2005, Representative Weldon alleged that DIA included Government property and classified documents in a shipment of personal effects to LTC Shaffer.

In a letter to the Secretary of Defense dated October 20, 2005, Chairman Duncan Hunter, House Armed Services Committee, requested that we "conduct an independent review of the facts and circumstances surrounding DIA's actions to revoke LTC Shaffer's security clearance."

In a letter to this Office dated October 21, 2005, Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Senate Finance Committee, asked that we review LTC Shaffer's representations concerning Able Danger's "alleged early warnings" of the September 11, 2001 (9/11), terrorist attack and whether LTC Shaffer was "subjected to any action which constituted reprisal for disclosures related to Able Danger."

In a letter to this Office dated December 20, 2005, Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman requested that we investigate allegations that Able Danger identified 9/11 terrorists before the attack, DoD failed to share that information with cognizant Government agencies, and DoD closed down Able Danger prematurely, improperly destroying Able Danger records.

In a joint letter to this Office dated February 8, 2006, Representatives Peter Hoekstra and Frank R. Wolf asked that we "investigate what intelligence the Able Danger program generated regarding al Qaeda, Mohammed Atta, and other 9/11 highjackers," and whether, if generated, that intelligence was shared with the FBI. Additionally, Representatives Hoekstra and Wolf asked us to investigate alleged destruction of Able Danger intelligence and the nature of Able Danger information shared with the 9/11 Commission.

By letter dated November 1,2005, the General Counsel, DIA, asked us to conduct an independent assessment of matters involving LTC Shaffer.

Because the background and fact patterns for allegations involving Able Danger and LTC Shaffer are similar, we address them in a single report to avoid duplicative effort and to provide a single repository for the results of our investigative work.

Although many aspects of the Able Danger program remain classified, this report is unclassified to promote maximum utility and avoid delays that would attend a classified issuance. We believe the issues are fully addressed without the inclusion of classified information.



TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section Page

I. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

II. BACKGROUND ON ABLE DANGER

III. SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION

IV. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

A. Did the Able Danger team identify Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 terrorists before September 11,2001?
B. Did DoD officials prohibit Able Danger members from sharing relevant terrorist information with the FBI, the CIA, or other agencies which could have acted on that information?

C. Did DoD officials improperly direct the destruction of Able Danger mission related data?

D. Did DoD officials terminate the Able Danger project prematurely?

E. Did DoD officials execute the Able Danger mission in compliance with applicable intelligence oversight guidance?

F. Did DIA officials, when cleaning out LTC Shaffer's civilian office, improperly destroy Able Danger documents that LTC. Shaffer had accumulated?

G. Did DIA officials improperly ship Government property and classified documents to LTC Shaffer's attorney?

H. Did DIA officials take action to suspend LTC Shaffer's access to classified information and revoke his security clearance in reprisal for his communications to Members of Congress or the 9/11 Commission staff regarding Able Danger?

I. Did DIA officials issue LTC Shaffer unfavorable Officer Evaluation Reports (OERs) in reprisal for communicating with the 9/11 Commission staff regarding Able Danger?

V. CONCLUSIONS

VI. RECOMMENDATIONS



LIST OF ACRONYMS
Acronym Refers to:

AR
Army G2

CIA

CAPT

CDR

CINC

Col

COL

CPT

DAC

DCID 6/4

DCIPS

DIA

DMSM

DoD

E.O. 12333

FBI

GEN

GOMOR

GPS

HUMINT

INSCOM

IG

IO

JCAG

JWAC

LIWA

LTC

Lt Col

LTG

Maj

MG

NSA

OCWG

OER

OPSEC

OUSD(I)

RADM

RDML

SAB

SCI

SOCC

SOIO

TDY

TOR

TWC

UBL

UC

USSOCOM
Army Regulation
U.S. Army Office of Intelligence

Central Intelligence Agency

Captain (Navy)

Commander (Navy)

Commander in Chief

Colonel (Air Force)

Colonel (Army)

Captain (Army)

Directorate of Administration, Counterintelligence and Security Activity

Director of Central Intelligence Directive 6/4

Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System

Defense Intelligence Agency

Defense Meritorious Service Medal

Department of Defense

Executive Order 12333

Federal Bureau of Investigation

General (Army)

General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand

Global Positioning Satellite

Human Intelligence

U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command

Inspector General

Information Operations

Joint Counterintelligence Assessment Group

Joint Warfare Analysis Center

Land Information Warfare Activity

Lieutenant Colonel (Army)

Lieutenant Colonel (Air Force)

Lieutenant General (Army)

Major (Air Force)

Major General (Army)

National Security Agency

Operational Concepts Working Group

Officer Evaluation Report

Operations Security

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

Rear Admiral (Upper Half) (Navy)

Rear Admiral (Lower Half) (Navy)

Security Appeals Board

Sensitive Compartmented Information

Special Operations Collaborative Center

Special Operations Information Operations

Temporary Duty

Terms of Reference

Transnational Warfare Center

Usama (Osama) Bin Laden

Unit Chief (FBI)

United States Special Operations Command






ALLEGED MISCONDUCT BY SENIOR DOD OFFICIALS
CONCERNING THE ABLE DANGER PROGRAM AND
LIEUTENANT COLONEL ANTHONY A. SHAFFER, U.S. ARMY RESERVE



I. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

We initiated the investigation to address allegations that senior DoD officials mismanaged a DoD antiterrorist program known as "Able Danger," and that in doing so they sought to end the military and civilian careers of a key proponent of Able Danger, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Anthony A. Shaffer, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve who also held a civilian position as a senior intelligence officer in the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).1

___________________

1 LTC Shaffer served in DIA as both a civilian employee and, when called to active duty, a military officer. Because the allegations cover time periods and events that relate to both his military and civilian duties, we will refer to LTC Shaffer using his military rank in this report.

Allegations concerning Able Danger became public in August 2005 when media sources reported allegations, made by LTC Shaffer, that the identities of terrorists involved in the attack of September 11, 2001 (9/11), were discovered by Able Danger before the attack, but DoD officials prohibited Able Danger personnel from sharing that information with law enforcement authorities. Subsequently, Members of Congress contacted this Office requesting investigations into unfavorable actions allegedly being taken by DIA officials against LTC Shaffer for making those allegations, as well as into the allegations themselves. In response to those communications, we formulated the following issues/allegations that warranted investigation and will be addressed in this report:

Allegations involving the Able Danger program:


Did the Able Danger team identify Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 terrorists before the 9/11 attack?
Did DoD officials prohibit Able Danger members from sharing relevant terrorist information with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or other agencies which could have acted on that information?
Did DoD officials improperly direct the destruction of Able Danger mission related data?
Did DoD officials terminate the Able Danger program prematurely?
Did DoD officials execute the Able Danger mission in compliance with applicable intelligence oversight guidance?
Did DIA officials, when cleaning out LTC Shaffer's civilian office, improperly destroy Able Danger documents that LTC Shaffer had accumulated?2
Did DIA officials improperly ship Government property and classified documents to LTC Shaffer's attorney when disposing of what they believed to be LTC Shaffer's personal property?
___________________

2 As discussed in this report, LTC Shaffer was placed on administrative leave from DIA and vacated his office in April 2004. His office was then cleared for occupancy by another employee.

Allegations of reprisal against LTC Shaffer:


Did DIA officials take action to suspend LTC Shaffer's access to classified information and revoke his security clearance in reprisal for his communications to Members of Congress or the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission) regarding Able Danger -- or in reprisal for his earlier communications to the DIA Inspector General (IG)?3

Did DIA officials issue LTC Shaffer unfavorable (military) Officer Evaluation Reports (OERs) in reprisal for his communications with the 9/11 Commission staff regarding Able Danger?

___________________

3 The 9/11 Commission was created by congressional legislation signed by President George W. BushirLNovember 2002. The Commission's mission was to prepare a full account of circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and report its findings to the President and Congress.

Conclusions concerning Able Danger issues

We found that in October 1999, General (GEN) Henry H. Shelton, U.S. Army, thenChairman ofthe Joint Chiefs of Staff, directed the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to develop a "campaign plan"; that is, an operational concept that when implemented would obtain detailed information on international terrorist organizations, identifying terrorist leaders, command and control infrastructures, and supporting institutions. The unclassified name for the initiative to develop such a campaign plan was "Able Danger."

An "Operational Concepts Working Group" consisting of six to eight members was established at USSOCOM to produce the campaign plan, which called for the use of state-of-theart information technology tools to gather information on international terrorists from Government data bases and open sources (to include the World Wide Web) with the initial focus on al Qaeda. The campaign plan was presented to GEN Shelton in January 2001. Upon presenting the campaign plan to GEN Shelton, USSOCOM's tasking was satisfied, the Able Danger mission was terminated, and the Able Danger team disbanded. Data mining and visualization tools similar to those employed by Able Danger to formulate the campaign plan were subsequently incorporated into intelligence gathering efforts at USSOCOM.

We concluded that prior to September 11, 2001, Able Danger team members did not identify Mohammed Atta or any other 9/11 hijacker. While we interviewed four witnesses who claimed to have seen a chart depicting Mohammed Atta and possibly other terrorists or "cells" involved in 9/11, we determined that their recollections were not accurate. Testimony by witnesses who claimed to have seen such a chart varied significantly from each other, and in some instances testimony obtained in reinterviews was inconsistent with testimony that witnesses provided earlier. In particular, we found inaccurate LTC Shaffer's assertions regarding the existence of pre-9/11 information on the terrorists and his suggestion that DoD officials thwarted efforts to share Able Danger information with law enforcement authorities. In drawing this conclusion, we found particularly persuasive the sworn testimony of witnesses who disavowed statements and claims that LTC Shaffer attributed to them.

The preponderance of witness testimony indicated that recollections concerning the identification of 9/11 terrorists were linked to a single chart depicting al Qaeda cells responsible for pre-9/11 terrorist attacks, which was obtained but not produced by the Able Danger team.

That chart (Figure 1 of this report) was produced by Orion Scientific Corporation (Orion) in May 1999 and contained the names and/or photographs of 53 terrorists who had been identified and in many cases, incarcerated, before 9/11, including a Brooklyn cell, but it did not identify Mohammed Atta or any ofthe other 9/11 terrorists. Our review of Able Danger team records found no evidence that Able Danger team members had identified Mohammed Atta or any ofthe other terrorists who participated in the 9/11 attack.

With respect to allegations concerning prohibited contacts between Able Danger and law enforcement authorities, we found no evidence to corroborate LTC Shaffer's claims that Able Danger members were prohibited by DoD officials from attending meetings he allegedly arranged with the FBI. All witnesses who were in a position to know denied LTC Shaffer's claim that efforts to meet with FBI antiterrorism units were made, much less thwarted by DoD officials. One Able Danger team member alleged that he was prohibited from providing the chart at Figure 1 to the FBI by a senior USSOCOM official sometime in early 2000. However, the senior official did not recall the incident and we are persuaded that the chart would have been of minimal intelligence value to the FBI. Accordingly, any decision to prohibit transfer of the chart would not have been inappropriate under the circumstances.

We found that large quantities of data that had been collected at two locations as part of the Able Danger data mining mission were destroyed. One intelligence analyst told us that he destroyed approximately "2.5 terabytes" of Able Danger data that had been collected at the Land Information Warfare Activity (LIWA), Fort Belvoir, V A, where Able Danger activities were initially located. Additionally, an Able Danger analyst testified that a large quantity of "extraneous" data was destroyed when the Able Danger team departed its second location -- a contractor facility in Garland, Texas -- and returned to USSOCOM. We found no basis to conclude that either of those destructions was improper, but rather followed established procedure and violated no regulation.

As indicated above, we concluded that the Able Danger project was appropriately terminated after it had met its objective of producing an antiterrorism campaign plan. Further, we determined that it complied with applicable intelligence oversight guidance.

With respect to allegations concerning the improper disposal of materials located in LTC Shaffer's DIA office, we found no evidence to corroborate LTC Shaffer's assertion that he came to possess a significant volume of Able Danger documents in his DIA office, rendering the allegation of their improper destruction moot. Witnesses whom LTC Shaffer identified as being aware of Able Danger documentation he purportedly stored in his DIA office did not corroborate his assertions in that regard. In particular, Able Danger team members, whom LTC Shaffer asserted had left Able Danger documentation with him for safekeeping on their travel to Washington, D.C., denied doing so. DIA employees responsible for cleaning out LTC Shaffer's office acknowledged destroying some Government documents, but none recalled seeing any documents associated with Able Danger. Accordingly, we concluded the alleged improper destruction did not occur.

We concluded that DIA officials did not improperly ship classified documents or Government property of significant value to LTC Shaffer.4 We confirmed that DIA shipped seven boxes of personal items to LTC Shaffer's attorney. A member of congressional committee staff provided us four classified documents (six pages) that LTC Shaffer indicated were included in that shipment.5 However, the evidence was insufficient to conclude that any classified items were in the boxes at the time that DIA officials shipped them. Additionally, LTC Shaffer provided us a Government-owned Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) unit that he said was included in the boxes that were sent to his attorney. We confirmed, by serial number, that this GPS unit had been provided to LTC Shaffer in Afghanistan by a DIA contractor employee, but we found that LTC Shaffer never returned the GPS unit to DIA. As a result, that GPS unit could not have been included by DIA employees in the boxes that were shipped to LTC Shaffer's attorney.

____________________

4 We acknowledge that some Government office supplies may have been included in the shipment (e.g., commercially available pens, pencils, blank CD ROM disks), but considered that inclusion an oversight not warranting further investigation.
5 LTC Shaffer provided the four documents to congressional staff.


Conclusions concerning reprisal

We concluded that DIA officials did not reprise against LTC Shaffer, in either his civilian or military capacity, for making disclosures regarding Able Danger or, in a separate matter, for his earlier disclosures to the DIA IG regarding alleged misconduct by DIA officials. In that regard, we identified the following communications which warranted consideration during our analysis of alleged reprisal:6


Communications that LTC Shaffer asserted he made to the DIA IG, as part oftwo investigations during the March to December 2002 period. Although our investigation found that LTC Shaffer was not the source of some of the communications, nevertheless, for purposes of this investigation, we assumed that DIA officials believed that he was the source. (The communications and investigation were not related to Able Danger.)
Communications during a meeting with staff members of the 9/11 Commission in October 2003, while serving in Afghanistan. LTC Shaffer testified that he told the 9/11 Commission staff members that Able Danger discovered the identity of 9/11 terrorists before the attack but was prevented from sharing that information with law enforcement authorities. However, four witness also present at the meeting unanimously disputed LTC Shaffer's recollection -- testifying, under oath, that LTC Shaffer made no such claims for Able Danger at that meeting.
Disclosures regarding Able Danger to Members of Congress beginning in February 2005 and to the media beginning in August 2005.
___________________

6 In conducting reprisal analysis, we recognize that whistleblower complaints made by civilian employees in the intelligence community are excluded from the jurisdiction of the Office of Special Counsel under Section 2302 (a)(2)( c) of Title 5, United States Code. However, it is our policy to apply Title 5 standards for all investigations into complaints of reprisal submitted by civilian appropriated fund employees.

The overriding unfavorable action taken by DIA officials following those disclosures was the final revocation of LTC Shaffer's access to classified information in September 2005 and the revocation of his security clearance in February 2006. That revocation essentially ended LTC Shaffer's career as an intelligence officer, both at DIA and in the Army Reserve.7

____________________

7 Based on the revocation of his access and anticipated revocation of his clearance, LTC Shaffer was proposed for removal from his DIA civilian position in November 2005. That action was held in abeyance pending completion of this investigation. LTC Shaffer continued on paid administrative leave.

We concluded that DIA officials would have taken action to revoke LTC Shaffer's access and clearance regardless of his disclosures to the DIA IG, the 9/11 Commission staff members, Members of Congress, or the media. We found that the action was based on misconduct by LTC Shaffer that was substantiated during an official DIA IG investigation taken together with other security-related issues that were not previously sufficient to trigger adverse security action at DIA. Of note, the final decision to revoke LTC Shaffer's access was recommended by a panel of three senior intelligence officers, one of whom was not a DoD employee. Sworn testimony from those panel members compellingly demonstrated that their recommendation regarding LTC Shaffer followed established security guidelines, was justified by circumstances, and would have occurred absent his disclosures. Moreover, our comparison of LTC Shaffer's case to those of other DIA employees who had their access or clearances revoked found no basis to conclude that DIA's actions with respect to LTC Shaffer were outside the norm or otherwise gave evidence of disparate treatment.

Finally, we concluded that an OER issued to LTC Shaffer in September 2004 would have contained the same XXXXXX ratings had he not made protected communications to the DIA IG and the 9/11 Commission staff members and, therefore, was not an act of reprisal. However, we found minor procedural anomalies in the processing of LTC Shaffer's OER that warrant review by the Director, DIA.

[XXXXXX = Redaction]
[Citations below for redaction justification; hereafter omitted.]

b(6)
b(7)(C)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. BACKGROUND

In October 1999 GEN Shelton tasked USSOCOM to develop a campaign plan to deter al Qaeda. As part ofthe tasking, USSOCOM was directed to employ advanced analytical information technology tools. Further, USSOCOM's campaign plan was to be integrated into an overarching interagency plan. The unclassified name for the tasking was "Able Danger." The Able Danger program was classified "Top Secret" and only personnel with a "need to know" were "read-on" to the program.

GEN Shelton testified that he had no specific recollection of term "Able Danger" or the Able Danger program, but did recall that while he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff he was concerned about al Qaeda and the need to develop a holistic view of al Qaeda. GEN Shelton stated,

the genesis of starting to try to collect on a worldwide basis against terrorists, came about as a result of me looking at all the information that was coming into the Chairman's office, and seeing that we would get -- we were just being inundated with information, and it wasn't really intelligence, but little snippets.
USSOCOM's initial goal was to identify al Qaeda's worldwide operations. GEN Peter J. Schoomaker, current Army Chief of Staff, and formerly Commander, USSOCOM, characterized Able Danger as "an effort to put together a campaign plan to address the al Qaeda terrorist network."

The Operational Concepts Working Group (OCWG) -- a term used to identify USSOCOM personnel assigned to produce the campaign plan -- represented the core personnel working on Able Danger and ranged from six to eight members. Throughout the duration of Able Danger, various USSOCOM officers and civilian employees augmented the OCWG as necessary. For ease of reference in this report, we refer to the OCWG and its augmentees collectively as the "Able Danger team."

Colonel (Col) XXXXXX U.S. Air Force, served as the Director of the Able Danger team from June 2000 to January 2001. Col XXXXXX reported to Major General (MG) Geoffrey C. Lambert, U.S. Army, former Director, Center for Operations, Plans and Policy, USSOCOM. MG Lambert, in turn, reported directly to GEN Schoomaker on issues related to Able Danger. Captain (CAPT) (then-Commander) XXXXXX U.S. Navy, who was assigned to the Center for Intelligence and Information Operations at USS COM, served as the Operations Officer for the Able Danger team from its inception until the end of October 2000. At the time, Rear Admiral (RDML) Thomas W. Steffens, U.S. Navy, was the Director, Center for Intelligence and Information Operations. By the nature of his position, RDML Steffens was involved with the Able Danger mission.

The Able Danger team focused on "identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities associated with al Qaeda's command and control infrastructure, its leadership and supporting organizations." In order to accomplish these goals, the team employed advanced analytic tools and methodologies that were available in the 1999-2000 time frame. It sought to identify linkages and patterns in large volumes of data (data mining) and display the mined data in a userfriendly fashion for intelligence analysts and operations planners (data visualization). The data that the members mined came from Government data bases supplied by various intelligence agencies and organizations as well as open source material. Open source material included information retrieved from the World Wide Web. Additionally, the team attempted to initiate a collaborative environment (chat room) for members of the intelligence community, within and outside DoD, to share information.

The Able Danger team initially arranged to utilize the Joint Warfare Analysis Center (JWAC), Dahlgren, VA, for support. JWAC, at that time, offered the Able Danger team an analytical tool called the Situational Influence Assessment Module (SIAM). SIAM allowed users to "construct graphic depictions of complex, cause-and-effect relationships involving uncertainty." GEN Schoomaker stated, "One of the reasons we went to JW AC is I remember telling people that JW AC-type tools would probably be useful to us because we had used them operationally in the past."

On November 22, 1999, an "Initial Planning Conference Announcement" was communicated to the various Able Danger participants. This conference was held January 10-14, 2000, at JWAC. Attendees to the conference represented a wide cross section ofthe intelligence community and included members of the DIA, CIA, National Reconnaissance Office, National Security Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence organizations. The participants used SIAM to attempt to map out the al Qaeda network. Regarding their results, CAPT XXXXXX testified, "with high-priced help . . . we still couldn't do it . . . it was feckless." Accordingly, other options for support to the Able Danger mission were considered.

CAPT XXXXXX testified that during the XXXXXX conference at JWAC, LTC Shaffer approached him and recommended that CAPT XXXXXX contact Dr. XXXXXX a civilian intelligence analyst then-working for LIWA. LIWA was a subordinate organization of the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). Accordingly, immediately after that conference, CAPT XXXXXX visited Dr. XXXXXX at LIWA and she provided an overview of LIWA's capabilities, showing him various products. CAPT XXXXXX recalled that, within 3 or 4 days of his LIWA visit, XXXXXX provided three charts to LTC Shaffer, who, in turn, delivered them to CAPT XXXXXX at USSOCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

As discussed at Section IV. A. of this report, the three charts that were provided to CAPT XXXXXX included two charts that were produced by Orion and one chart that was produced by LIWA. The Orion charts are depicted at Figures 1 and 2.8 An example of the type of chart that was produced by LIWA and provided to CAPT XXXXXX is depicted at Figure 3.9 All three charts are examples of link analysis.

____________________

8 Photographs of Figures 1 and 2 were retrieved from a laptop computer that contained Able Danger material in a safe at USSOCOM Headquarters. We did not locate the original charts.
9 We did not locate the actual chart that had been provided to CAPT XXXXXX.







Subsequent Able Danger conferences were held at JWAC during the periods January 24-27 and February 9-17, 2000. Dr. XXXXXX and Mr. XXXXXX formerly an active duty major in the U.S. Army assigned to LIWA as Chief, Intelligence Branch, attended the conference that was held January 24-27,2000. During this conference CAPT XXXXXX traveled to LIWA and met with senior officials there to pursue a cooperative association between Able Danger and LIWA.

At the February 2000 JW AC conference, Mr. XXXXXX attended but Dr. XXXXXX was prohibited by the LIWA commander from attending. Mr. XXXXXX stated Dr. XXXXXX did not attend "because they [INSCOM and LIW A leadership] were not happy with her ability to get along well with others." In a timeline prepared by CAPT XXXXXX for this Office, an entry for February 14, 2000, provided, "Dr. XXXXXX removed from program." Dr. XXXXXX testified she was, thereafter, "very limited" in the support she could do for the Able Danger team and that she was "being minimized." Although we agree that Dr. XXXXXX role in the Able Danger program itself was limited, we believe she played a significant role in the Able Danger controversy because she subsequently claimed to have seen Mohammed Atta depicted on charts she provided to CAPT XXXXXX in January 2000. Dr. XXXXXX also claimed that on September 25, 2001, she had a brief glimpse of a chart prepared before the 9/11 attack, which depicted terrorist activities and which she believed contained a picture of Mohammed Atta.

CAPT XXXXXX testified that although he was disappointed with the products that had been produced at JWAC, he was very impressed by what he had seen during his two visits to LIWA as well as by the three charts that had been provided to him by Dr. XXXXXX via LTC Shaffer. CAPT XXXXXX thereby decided that support for the Able Danger mission should be moved from JWAC to LIWA However, he indicated that his chain of command essentially ignored his suggestion to move Able Danger mission support to LIWA Nonetheless, since CAPT XXXXXX was convinced that LIWA could offer the best assistance, he worked through the command's reluctance to move operations to LIWA He testified, "I was pretty adamant that we needed to shift. . .. So I started to hook up systems that would allow us in Tampa to have access to the data [at] LIWA."10

____________________

10 Dr. XXXXXX testified that the Able Danger team did not have access to LIWA's data. Rather, she had provided CAPT XXXXXX file transfer protocol (FTP) access that enabled CAPT XXXXXX to download products that were uploaded by LIWA personnel for him.

Though CAPT XXXXXX was convinced that Able Danger should be associated with LIWA, and appeared to have been receiving some support from LIWA, it was not until mid-March 2000 that USSOCOM established a working relationship with LIWA. CAPT XXXXXX testified that on March 3, 2000, GEN Schoomaker was briefed by the Able Danger team on their progress to date. CAPT XXXXXX testified, "He [GEN Schoomaker] walked over and I sat there and I walked him through a lot of classified discoveries using these tools on the system linked in to [LIWA]." CAPT XXXXXX stated that within 2 weeks of the March 3, 2000, briefing, LIWA was officially associated with the Able Danger mission. Regarding the March 3, 2000, briefing, GEN Schoomaker stated, "I know that JWAC was probably less useful than what I saw at LIWA. So it was a LIWA kind of thing that people wanted."

LIW A offered a facility with cutting-edge technology that enabled the Able Danger team to process large amounts of both Government and open source data. When the Able Danger team became associated with LIWA, Dr. James E. Heath was the Senior Intelligence and Technical Advisor for INSCOM. Dr. Heath testified that the LIWA suite of technologies included "Oracle data bases, parsers, geographic visualization, [and] relationship [constructors], [which were] essential to us from an intelligence standpoint." He characterized the use of this technology as,

You have a lot of cool ways to visualize [data] and interact with it, and so now you have this haystack of information . . . these tools have the capability to interact with it, allow you to find needles within that haystack effectively and quickly.
In anticipation of providing extensive support to Able Danger, Mr. XXXXXX collected approximately 2.5 terabytes of open source data that could serve as a data repository for analytical studies by Able Danger members. However, despite the advanced capability there, LIWA's direct support to Able Danger ultimately consisted primarily of a mid-March 2000 training session for some of the Able Danger intelligence analysts. Dr. XXXXXX, Mr. XXXXXX and two intelligence analysts under Mr. XXXXXX's supervision provided the training support.11

____________________

11 Mr. XXXXXX told us that after he was read on to Able Danger, he began accumulating large quantities of data primarily from open sources. He said that he subjected that data to LIWA analytical tools and found numerous potential al Qaeda links in the United States. However, he acknowledged that he had not vetted this preliminary work and that he did not identify any of the 9/11 terrorists or other potential targets of interest.
Shortly after the March 2000 training session, Lieutenant General (LTG) Robert W. Noonan, Jr., U.S. Army, then-Commanding General, INSCOM, ordered LIWA to limit support for Able Danger to training and familiarizing team members on the LIWA tools. LTG Noonan imposed this limitation because of issues related to collecting data on United States persons that arose during a previous project at LIWA that generated significant interest at the highest levels in DoD. LIWA's decision to limit support to training, without allowing analysis of data, effectively halted meaningful progress by the Able Danger team for about 3 months (March through June 2000).

CAPT XXXXXX testified that LIWA had not produced anything of significance for Able Danger prior to terminating its support. Other than the three charts he received from Dr. XXXXXX he assessed the value of the intelligence that had been gained while Able Danger was associated with LIWA as "zero."

Dr. XXXXXX corroborated CAPT xxxxxx's testimony in that regard, stating that products other than the three charts were of minimal importance to Able Danger. Dr. Heath agreed, describing the LIW A support as "the SOCOM guys come down, just like we had lots of other people come down and sit with the analysts for a week or two, get a sense for what you could do." He added that further support for Able Danger was prohibited by the INSCOM commander until specific authorization from the Office of the Secretary of Defense was received.

CAPT XXXXXX testified that eventually Dr. XXXXXX recommended that he move the Able Danger operation to Raytheon Company's Garland, Texas, facility, since LIWA could not support it. Dr. XXXXXX, formerly Chief Scientist, Intelligence Division, Raytheon Company, told us that Raytheon, which set up the LIWA facility in 1997, constructed a backup center at the Garland facility with capabilities that he believed were "actually better but they were at least the same" as those of LIWA. Thereafter, USSOCOM entered into a $750,000 contract with Raytheon Company to provide support to Able Danger for the period July 17 to October 17, 2000.

Dr. XXXXXX stated that the Garland facility was organized so that Able Danger worked in a secure area separate from Raytheon Company employees, who did not get involved in Able Danger activities. He stated, "Only Special Forces or Government people could go in that room and so they may have had stuff in there, but, you know we weren't allowed to see." Dr. XXXXXX characterized Raytheon Company's support as,

Well we provided them the JWICS [Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System] lines and analyst workstations and interfaces to national collection systems and secure telephones and faxes and so on. And also provided them know-how on the processes on putting together the whole software and setting up the process for collection and analysis.
When the Able Danger team arrived at the Garland facility the members were disappointed that the capabilities they were led to believe would be in place were not.

CAPT XXXXXX testified that though there was a computing system at the facility, "it didn't have the tools on it. The tools didn't migrate well." CAPT XXXXXX estimated that the Garland facility was not operational for "60, 65 [days]" after his arrival on July 1, 2000. Accordingly, the facility was not fully operational until about September 1, 2000. One witness testified that when the Garland facility was finally operational the capabilities exceeded those that had been shown to the team members at LIWA.

CAPT XXXXXX added "When the 3-month time limit expired, Gen Schoomaker gave me yet another month to work it, because I think he was pretty happy." CAPT XXXXXX testified that USSOCOM paid $250,000 for this additional month at the Garland facility. This extension enabled the Able Danger team to continue work at the Garland facility until mid-November 2000.

When the Garland facility became operational, Able Danger team members applied the data mining and visualization tools to data from Govermnent data bases and the World Wide Web. Dr. XXXXXX stated, "They got 6 years of classified data from 18 agencies in one location." With regard to open source data, Dr. XXXXXX testified, "they started from scratch." Dr. XXXXXX estimated the Able Danger team members were collecting data from 10,000 Web sites each day. He said, "What we were doing is collecting data from news Web sites and terrorist's Web sites and things like that." However, we found that the Able Danger team members generally limited their searches to English language Web sites.12

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12 CAPT XXXXXX told us that he performed a number of searches of Portuguese language Web sites.

Dr. XXXXXX testified that sometime in September 2000, she took leave and traveled to the Garland facility in order to interview for a position there with the Raytheon Company. She was hired effective September 28, 2000, and began working at the Garland facility shortly thereafter. As a Raytheon Company employee, Dr. XXXXXX's association with the Able Danger mission was limited. She stated, "I was a contractor. I wasn't a Govermnent person at that time, so there was a lot that happened that I wasn't privy to."

On October 10, 2000, GEN Schoomaker traveled to the Garland facility and was briefed on the progress of the Able Danger program. CAPT XXXXXX characterized the briefing as

What we tried to impart on him at that meeting was, "Hey, we've got the pieces in place. We've got the data sets here. We're starting to process it. We're starting to come up with vignettes that we think are warranted and we need to look at. People are looking at doing it this way. We think it's fast, we think it's robust and it's credible."13
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13 Coincidentally, this briefing occurred 2 days before the attack on the USS COLE (DDG-67) in Aden, Yemen. CAPT XXXXXX told us that Yemen was mentioned as a "hotspot" during the briefing, but characterized any assertion that GEN Schoomaker failed to act on a warning of an imminent threat there as "all crap."

Witnesses who were present at the briefing testified that GEN Schoomaker was very impressed with the technology he observed at the Garland facility. CAPT XXXXXX testified, "Gen Schoomaker said, you know, 'you guys are too far away. This four-month prototype effort in Garland has been fun but I want you guys closer.' "MG Lambert testified that "everyone agreed with that decision [to move the analytical capabilities to USSOCOM headquarters]."

GEN Schoomaker testified he had anticipated USSOCOM having a local capacity of advanced analytical tools and data mining. He stated, "From the very beginning, these things looked [like] they had promise." GEN Schoomaker added, "It was always intended to be brought back into our spaces [at USSOCOM headquarters] so that our analysts would be able to do this every day." GEN Schoomaker provided, "It didn't make any sense for us to have it all the way in Texas. It was there because of the contractor facility."

On October 12, 2000, Col XXXXXX sent a memorandum to the Able Danger team members in which he discussed a meeting h had that day with MG Lambert and Brigadier General (BG) James W. Parker, U.S. Army, Director, Special Operations Information Operations (SOIO), USSOCOM. Based on that meeting, Col XXXXXX outlined "the current picture of the future." In his memorandum, Col XXXXXX advised that the Able Danger team "will dissolve with the 15 Dec [December 15, 2000] publication of the IO [Information Operations] Campaign Plan." He added that as a follow on mission to the Able Danger team, SOIO would take "the lead in developing the SOCC [Special Operations Collaborative Center]." He added, "As you could tell, the CINC [GEN Schoomaker] was and is very happy with your accomplishments." Col XXXXXX also wrote, "your only concern is the IO Campaign Plan." (emphasis in original).

In an attachment to Col XXXXXX's memorandum of October 12, 2000, the vision, charter, and command relations of the SOCC were discussed. The charter provided that "the SOCC will develop and use non-traditional techniques and procedures to define areas for IO applications to obtain the initiative in combating transnational threats." It also stressed the need for "close collaboration between DOD and Other Government Agencies." In a follow-on memorandum of October 17, 2000, Col XXXXXX advised Able Danger team members of GEN Schoomaker's guidance to "capture the Able Danger team capabilities and develop an IO planning cell in USSOCOM/SOIO around them."

In a letter dated October 23, 2000, Col XXXXXX ordered CAPT XXXXXX to return from the Garland facility to USSOCOM headquarters. CAPT XXXXXX characterized this order as being "fired" and expressed his frustration that he was prohibited from continuing with data mining operations. He returned to USSOCOM headquarters on October 30, 2000, and then worked on bringing the capabilities that were at the Garland facility to USSOCOM. He continued to work this issue through May 2001.

Col XXXXXX testified that the Able Danger team was "a hundred percent successful" in regard to being "a proof of concept for data mining and its capability to support operational planning." He added, however, in terms of the other aspects of the mission, identifying al Qaeda and analyzing its vulnerabilities, the team was only "30 percent" successful. He stated the weakness was that, "as far as we got was to identify . . . a proposed indication of the al Qaeda network. It was not validated." Col XXXXXX testified that additional work was required in attaining "more interagency connectivity and then the bridge, once we had developed actionable intelligence, a bridge into operational planning." Col XXXXXX stressed the importance of interagency connectivity and highlighted that "the military targets [account for] maybe five percent of actually engaging the al Qaeda network."

MG Lambert characterized the success of the Able Danger team as "it helped . . . make people realize that you can use automated tools to [discover] that very hard human networking business much more effectively and much quicker." However, MG Lambert testified "we didn't get the mission accomplished." He explained, "It ended up, the final product was just a framework, you know it was . . . just a template." He added, "But it was worth a try and there were some benefits. . . . So it was a success, it was worth the money for that, but we didn't get the mission accomplished."

Similarly, RDML Steffens was favorably impressed by the technology employed by the Able Danger team while at the Garland facility. He stated that those capabilities were "a fabulous tool." He added, "As soon as you saw it, it impressed you with the, what it could do as far as reviewing and linking information and also the visual presentations that it gave you, enabled you to see how things were connected."

CAPT XXXXXX assessed that prior to his departure at the end of October 2000, the Able Danger team "had made very little progress." He commented that the team had collected a significant amount of data from open sources, but "still hadn't set the architecture to analyze it very well."

In summary, the history of Able Danger, from its inception in October 1999 to its termination in January 2001, demonstrated that its work product was limited to the development of a "Campaign Plan" that formed the basis for follow-on intelligence gathering efforts.14 The first 9 months of Able Danger were characterized by "false starts" and repeat efforts to find a suitable operating environment and location. Its initial placement at the JWAC and subsequent association with LIWA achieved nothing other than a basic level of familiarization with state-ofthe-art analytical tools and capabilities. Essentially no significant progress on Able Danger was made until September 2000 when operations at the Garland facility began. Those operations collected data from other agencies and thousands of Web sites in order to apply analytical tools that would make connections and linkages between data points to demonstrate a strategy for attacking the al Qaeda infrastructure. Operations at Garland continued for about 2 months, sufficient to develop such a strategy; i.e., a Campaign Plan, but were then terminated.

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14 The campaign plan itself is classified.

LTC Shaffer's Involvement with Able Danger

Because of the representations that LTC Shaffer made regarding Able Danger, we sought to determine the nature of his participation in, hence knowledge of, Able Danger activities. Based on our interviews with individuals familiar with the Able Danger mission, we determined that his participation was limited. A summary of his involvement follows:


LTC Shaffer testified that in December 1999, while on travel in active duty status from DIA, he met with GEN Schoomaker at USSOCOM headquarters. According to LTC Shaffer, GEN Schoomaker asked LTC Shaffer to contact CAPT XXXXXX to discuss the Able Danger mission. GEN Schoomaker testified he did not recall this meeting or ever meeting LTC Shaffer, but did not deny that the meeting may have occurred. MG Lambert and RDML Steffens, two senior USSOCOM officials closest to the Able Danger program, did not recall meeting LTC Shaffer during the 1999/2000 time period.
LTC Shaffer was one of nearly 500 people who were "read-on" to the Able Danger program.
LTC Shaffer attended the three Able Danger conferences at JWAC in January and February 2000.
LTC Shaffer was responsible for putting CAPT XXXXXX in contact with Dr. XXXXXX at LIWA in order to determine whether LIWA could support the Able Danger mission. Subsequently, LTC Shaffer delivered three charts from Dr. XXXXXX to CAPT XXXXXX that demonstrated link analysis.
LTC Shaffer told us that at the request of GEN Schoomaker he "negotiated" with the LIWA commander an arrangement between USSOCOM and LIWA for LIWA to support the Able Danger mission. However, we could not corroborate this assertion as the LIWA commander (now retired) refused our request for an interview and, as indicated above, GEN Schoomaker did not recall ever meeting LTC Shaffer.
We found that LTC Shaffer traveled to Garland on one occasion, but we found no evidence that he conducted any significant work there. LTC Shaffer told us that, during his one visit to Garland, he was engaged in "looking at the data versus what we're going to do with the data and creating the options."
LTC Shaffer assisted Able Danger team members in receiving special authorization that enhanced their ability to access various World Wide Web sites and coordinated with DIA and other intelligence agencies to provide data bases to the Able Danger team.
Witness testimony concerning LTC Shaffer's involvement and contributions was inconsistent. CAPT XXXXXX and Dr. XXXXXX characterized LTC Shaffer's contributions to the Able Danger mission as significant. CAPT XXXXXX stated that LTC Shaffer got the Able Danger team data bases, provided an analyst who came to the Garland facility, and linked CAPT XXXXXX with LIWA. Another witness, who was a key participant on the Able Danger team, characterized LTC Shaffer's involvement on Able Danger as "basically the delivery boy," referring to LTC Shaffer's assistance in providing "classified tapes from DIA." This witness added that LTC Shaffer "wasn't part of the team as he's claimed to be. He helped us out in bringing some data down and that was about it."



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III. SCOPE

In the course of our investigation, we obtained sworn testimony from 98 witnesses with knowledge of the matters under investigation, including GEN Shelton, GEN Schoomaker, LTC Shaffer, CAPT XXXXXX, Dr. XXXXXX, members of,the Able Danger team, DIA officials who were involved with Able Danger or LTC Shaffer, and contractor employees involved with the program. Because of inconsistencies in testimony and need for follow-up, we conducted re-interviews of key witnesses, including LTC Shaffer who was interviewed four times and CAPT XXXXXX who was interviewed three times. Additionally, we examined relevant documentation.

This report is unclassified, which caused us to omit certain factual information that might be relevant, but not essential, to resolution of the issues under consideration. In our view, the issues are fully addressed with unclassified information.

As indicated above, we evaluated reprisal allegations involving LTC Shaffer from two perspectives -- his status as a Service member and his status as a DIA civilian appropriated fund employee. While the guidelines for conducting such reprisal analysis vary because of the different statutes involved, we focused on the central question in any reprisal case -- would the unfavorable actions have been taken absent the employee's whistleblower activity? To give full consideration to LTC Shaffer's situation, we presumed that his perceived involvement in two DIA IG investigations in 2002; his discussions with the 9/11 Commission staff members in October 2003; and his communications regarding Able Danger with Members of Congress and the media in 2005 all constituted "protected communications" for purposes of reprisal analysis. We then focused our analysis on the basis for unfavorable actions taken against him to determine whether those actions were justified based on factors apart from LTC Shaffer's communications.



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IV. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

A. Did the Able Danger team identify Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 terrorists before September 11, 2001?
Facts

Much has been reported in the media and in Congressional deliberations regarding the possibility that Able Danger identified Mohammed Atta and other terrorists associated with the attack of 9/11. That possibility was based on statements by LTC Shaffer and others who recalled seeing a chart, created before 9/11, that allegedly contained a photograph of Mohammed Atta in connection with an al Qaeda "New York" or "Brooklyn cell" or, at a minimum, displayed his name along with the names of other suspected terrorists.

We found no charts or other documentation created before 9/11 that contained a photograph or name of Mohammed Atta and was produced or possessed by the Able Danger team. Further, we found no contemporaneous documentary evidence that such a discovery had been made by Able Danger. As a result, the resolution of this issue rests on witness testimony -- particularly the credibility and consistency of testimony by witnesses who claimed to have seen such a depiction of Mohammed Atta. We set forth the following summaries of relevant testimony to address this matter.

CAPT XXXXXX

CAPT XXXXXX served as the Operations Officer for the Able Danger team from its inception in October 1999 through October 2000 and was closely involved in all Able Danger activities. We interviewed him on three occasions; December 13, 2005, February 17,2006, and May 24, 2006. During each interview he discussed a chart that allegedly contained a photograph of Mohammed Atta. At the first interview CAPT XXXXXX was "100 percent [certain] Mohammed Atta's image was on the chart." At the second interview he acknowledged there was "a compelling amount of evidence that would make it appear that I did not see Mohammed Atta." In the third interview CAPT XXXXXX stated, "I'm convinced that Atta was not on that chart, the chart we had."

CAPT XXXXXX testified that within "3 or 4 days" of meeting with Dr. XXXXXX at LIWA in January 2000, LTC Shaffer delivered three charts to him at USSOCOM headquarters.15 After initially denying that Figure 1 was one of those charts, CAPT XXXXXX eventually testified that Figure 1 was one of the original charts and that Figure 2 was also one of the charts. He described the third chart that was delivered to him as a "propeller chart," Figure 3 is an example of such a propeller chart, but is not the chart that was delivered to CAPT XXXXXX.

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15 CAPT XXXXXX first met Dr. XXXXXX sometime between January 10 and 14, 2000, while at JWAC for the Initial Planning Conference. On CAPT XXXXXX's time line is an entry for January 23, 2000, "LIWA provides suggestions . . . including demos." Accordingly, we concluded the charts were provided to CAPT XXXXXX between January 15 and 23,2000.

During our initial interview, CAPT XXXXXX testified that he was certain that Mohammed Atta's photograph was on one of the three charts delivered to him in January or February 2000 which portrayed a Brooklyn cell. While he believed that photographs of other 9/11 terrorists were on the chart, he was not as certain as he was about Mohammed Atta's photograph. He testified,

I know 100 percent Mohammed Atta's image was on the chart. I pretty well recollect that there were three [terrorists], at least three others, but I have not gone into any depth in trying to recreate the memory of who any of them were. All I know is what I originally saw on the days shortly after 9/11 and that was him.
CAPT XXXXXX also stated that in addition to the Brooklyn cell there were four other cells depicted on the chart. He recalled the cells were "Dar es Salaam, Kenya, Tanzania, [and] Nairobi."16

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16 We noted that Dar es Salaam is the capitol of Tanzania, and Nairobi is the capitol of Kenya. The U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi were both attacked on August 7, 1998.

In our second interview we discussed with CAPT XXXXXX a memorandum dated August 30, 2000, signed by CAPT XXXXXX which addressed a chart entitled "The Al-Qaeda Network: Snapshots of Typical Operational Cells Associated with UBL [Usama Bin Laden]."17 CAPT XXXXXX reviewed the chart depicted at Figure 1 and agreed that this chart appeared to be the chart discussed in the memorandum. CAPT XXXXXX estified,

Well, I mean, obviously there's a compelling amount of evidence that would make it appear that I did not see Mohammed Atta. And I will absolutely grant you that based on what you're showing me my recollection could have been wrong. But I still need to stress that if I told you that I didn't think I saw Mohammed Atta's face, that in fact would be lying. . . . I honestly believe that I saw Atta on the chart.
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17 The memorandum addressed the retention of data involving United States persons.

CAPT XXXXXX testified that the he did not know the current location of the original chart reproduced as Figure 1. He stated that the last time he saw it was when he left the Garland facility (October 2000). During our third interview CAPT XXXXXX testified that the last time he saw the chart was in July 2000 before the Able Danger team arrived at the Garland facility, and that he never possessed any other charts with photographs depicting link analysis other than the two Orion charts that had been provided to him by LIWA.

In our third interview CAPT XXXXXX stated, "I'm convinced that Atta was not on that chart, the chart that we had." However, he then recalled that, in June 2000 at USSOCOM headquarters, he "saw Atta's face" on a document that an intelligence analyst on the Able Danger team was holding. CAPT XXXXXX claimed he was sitting next to the intelligence analyst who was "sifting through a bunch of paperwork" and said, "Hey, look at this guy . . . This is one mean [son of a bitch]." CAPT XXXXXX testified "I turned, I looked at it and I concurred with him." CAPT XXXXXX explained the incident caused him to believe that the photograph of Mohammed Atta was on a chart because, "I thought he [the intelligence officer] was working on the chart and that's how it kind of played out in my head."

CAPT XXXXXX was certain that the photograph was "something derived from the intelligence community. Some document that the intelligence community has. . . . But it was that picture of Atta." CAPT XXXXXX could not recall whether the photograph was color or black and white and testified he only viewed the photograph for "four seconds, maybe five." He added, "that was the heart of what I recalled all along, not the chart but that damn picture." CAPT XXXXXX did not recall any other instances where Mohammed Atta was identified by the Able Danger team.

In response to whether he had any thoughts as to the reason that others claimed to have seen a chart that depicted Mohammed Atta and a Brooklyn cell as well as possibly other 9/11 terrorists, CAPT XXXXXX testified, "[LTC] Tony [Shaffer] was relying on my recollection, I think, 100 percent. I mean, I think a lot of people are."

We found that following his experience with Able Danger CAPT XXXXXX actively promoted data mining as an antiterrorist tool and, in doing so, suggested with increasing certainty that Able Danger had identified Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 terrorists before the 9/11 attack.

Commander (CDR) XXXXXX, U.S. Navy, who served as CAPT XXXXXX's executive officer from March 2002 to March 2003 aboard the USS ESTOCIN, told us that CAPT XXXXXX discussed his previous assignment at USSOCOM and his interest in data mining. CDR XXXXXX recalled CAPT XXXXXX had discussed seeing some of the 9/11 terrorists prior to the attacks in a general sense and believed CAPT XXXXXX may have mentioned Mohammed Atta. CDR XXXXXX stated,

My recollection of it is he was pointing to they had knowledge of it prior or they had enough data points and enough indication to believe that . . . they had enough knowledge to identify these people as potential possible terrorists that we should be trying to capture or to apprehend.
Although CAPT XXXXXX told us that the last time he saw the charts at Figures 1 and 2 was July or October 2000 (see above), CDR XXXXXX testified that CAPT XXXXXX showed him at least two, possibly three, charts in CAPT XXXXXX 's stateroom aboard ship (about 2 years later).

CDR XXXXXX stated that the charts were approximately three feet by four feet and were unrolled on a table in CAPT XXXXXX 's stateroom where CAPT XXXXXX would use them to explain data mining. CDR XXXXXX testified that there were photographs on the chart and lines connecting the photographs.

CDR XXXXXX was "90 percent" certain and "real sure" that one of the charts CAPT XXXXXX showed him is the chart depicted at Figure 1. He stated, "I do remember this chart. I can't say 100 percent but I believe that this is the chart. . . I believe this is the chart I saw in CAPT XXXXXX's stateroom." CDR XXXXXX had a specific recollection of "the blind, Rahman" and Eyad Ismoil who are depicted in Figure 1. CDR XXXXXX also recalled seeing the chart entitled, "Al-Qaeda and Pan-Islamic Extremism: Associations and Linkages" (Figure 2). CDR XXXXXX was "70 percent" sure that he had seen this chart in CAPT XXXXXX's stateroom.

Mr. XXXXXX, Assistant for Strategic Initiative, Special Operations and Combating Terrorism, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, testified he met with CAPT XXXXXX and LTC Shaffer during April 2003 to discuss their desire to develop an antiterrorism project applying the technology that was used by the Able Danger team. Mr. XXXXXX testified that he discussed with CAPT XXXXXX that they would need to prepare briefing materials that showed examples of the capabilities that were achieved with the Able Danger mission. Mr. XXXXXX recalled:

both [LTC] Tony Shaffer and [CAPT] XXXXXX alluded to the fact -- alluded to the fact -- that prior to 9/11, there were linkages to some of the 9/11 participants that came back to the United States at a time when, for example, Mohammed Atta might have been in the United States. . .. I recall is that they alluded to the fact that three of the 9/11 hijackers had showed up in the Able Danger data base.
What Mr. XXXXXX recalled of the discussion was that it was said "in passing" and "it wasn't clear to me as to whether that information even existed any longer anyway." Mr. XXXXXX was confident, however, that there was no mention of a "Brooklyn" or "Brooklyn, NY" cell.

GEN Norton A. Schwartz, U.S. Air Force, currently, Commander, U.S. Transportation Command, and then-Director of Operations for the Joint Staff, testified that in late 2003 or early 2004, CAPT XXXXXX presented to him a PowerPoint briefing related to data mining. CAPT XXXXXX provided us a copy of the presentation, entitled "Strategic Planning Initiative." The three objectives of the briefing were listed on a slide as: "Demonstrate a Strategic Planning approach," "Demonstrate a complete Horizontal Fusion strategy for all-source information," and "Request a Mission."

The briefing contained slides depicting various analytical tools used by the Able Danger mission team and examples of computerized visual displays, but made no mention of having identified Mohammed Atta or other terrorists prior to 9/11. GEN Schwartz confirmed that CAPT XXXXXX did not mention he had identified Mohammed Atta during the brief. However, CAPT XXXXXX disputed GEN Schwartz' recollection, telling us, "Atta was mentioned as a punctuation at the end of the brief. I told him how close we had gotten to catching the bad guys of 9/11."

In early 2004 CAPT XXXXXX sought to meet with the 9/11 Commission and requested authorization for a meeting through his chain of command. The request was coordinated with various DoD offices and on July 12, 2004, CAPT XXXXXX met with staff members of the 9/11 Commission. During his first interview with us, CAPT XXXXXX testified he stated he had four points that he wanted to bring to the attention of the 9/11 Commission:

the [Able Danger] program existed, that we knew about Mohammed Atta prior to the [USS] COLE,18 that transitioning information to the FBI had been thwarted, and that Mohammed Atta was on, was on the chart.
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18 As mentioned above, the USS COLE (DDG 67) was bombed by terrorists on October 12, 2000, shortly after mooring in the Yemeni port of Aden.
During our second interview, we asked CAPT XXXXXX to explain why he waited until 2004 to contact the 9/11 Commission with the foregoing information. He stated it was a "complicated answer" and discussed his frustrations with failing to convince his Navy superiors of the need to embrace data mining and visualization. Accordingly, he elected to e-mail "my boss, that I had this information and I wanted to go forward and get permission to go to the 9/11 Commission and brief them." With regard to the substance of his testimony to the 9/11 Commission staff, CAPT XXXXXX stated,

I didn't know if they had fully understood the struggle that SOCOM was going through to get details on this transnational threat prior to 9/11. I mean, there was hard work being done and I wanted to make sure they understood the level of effort, the community of effort that was going after al Qaeda prior to 9/11. So that's why I went.
On July 12, 2004, CAPT XXXXXX met with Mr. Dietrich Snell, Senior Counsel and Team Leader on the 9/11 Commission staff, who had served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1988 to 1999. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Snell was involved with major al Qaeda cases, including the prosecution of Ramzi Yousef for his role in a 1994-1995 plot to blow up jets over the Pacific (Yousef was convicted) and the appeal processes following the conviction of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers. He told us that, prior to his meeting, he was made aware of CAPT XXXXXX's intent to discuss a specific program that had identified Mohammed Atta before 9/11.

Mr. Snell told us that during the interview CAPT XXXXXX strongly promoted computer generated link analysis as tool that needed to be exploited within the Government. He recalled that CAPT XXXXXX expressed "unhappiness about his superiors shutting down the. . . [Able Danger] program" and he spent "most of the interview talking about the program itself and his role in it." According to Mr. Snell, CAPT XXXXXX exhibited excitement about the value of link analysis and thought that it had the support of his superiors in the chain of command, but that Able Danger was shut down after "lawyers within the DoD became too concerned" about data collection involving United States persons. Mr. Snell recalled that the primary focus of their discussion was CAPT XXXXXX's disagreement with that decision.

In order to illustrate how valuable link analysis could be, Mr. Snell recalled that CAPT XXXXXX "described as a recollection -- although not a very solid one -- that Mohammed Atta had been identified through this link analysis and actually had appeared either by photo or by name or both on a chart that [CAPT] XXXXXX said he had seen in the early part of 2000."

However, Mr. Snell considered CAPT XXXXXX's recollection with respect to Able Danger's identification of Mohammed Atta inaccurate because it was "one hundred percent inconsistent with everything we knew about Mohammed Atta and his colleagues at the time." Mr. Snell went on to describe his knowledge of Mohammed Atta's overseas travel and associations before 9/11, noting the "utter absence of any information suggesting any kind of a tie between Atta and anyone located in this country during the first half of the year 2000," when Able Danger had allegedly identified him.

Mr. Snell testified that CAPT XXXXXX "qualified" his level of certainty about whether he had definitely identified Mohammed Atta, emphasizing that CAPT XXXXXX:

was unable to tell me anything at all about what caused him to believe that he had actually seen Atta on a chart. In other words, what was the underlying basis for Atta's name and picture coming up and being linked? . . . he admitted that he had only seen the chart briefly and he was a little vague about whether it was the picture and the name or just one or the other. Even more significantly to me, he couldn't give me any information about why, if assuming Atta actually, he had actually seen Atta, why was Atta there, what was the underlying basis? . . . So factoring everything into the mix, I concluded that CAPT XXXXXX was simply mistaken about what he said he saw.
Mr. Snell addressed the fact that the 9/11 Commission Report was to be printed only 10 days after he met with CAPT XXXXXX. In response to whether anyone had pressured Mr. Snell to discount CAPT XXXXXX's testimony because the impending date of publication, Mr. Snell responded, "Absolutely not."

Dr. XXXXXX

Dr. XXXXXX played a limited role in Able Danger activities, but we interviewed her on three occasions because of her recollection that two charts she provided to CAPT XXXXXX in early January 2000 identified Mohammed Atta. She recalled that one chart was produced by Orion and allegedly contained a photograph of Mohammed Atta. However, she denied that this was the chart at Figure 1. The other chart was a "parentage" or "dot" chart that was produced by LIWA. Dr. XXXXXX described the parentage chart as not having any photographs but, rather containing names of entities such as people or companies designated by small circles, or "dots," on the chart (similar to the propeller chart at Figure 3). Both charts were provided to CAPT XXXXXX in order to demonstrate link analysis. Dr. XXXXXX testified that any link analysis chart with photographs was produced by Orion because LIWA did not have that capability to produce such charts.

Regarding the Orion charts, Mr. XXXXXX recalled that in January 2000 Dr. XXXXXX asked Mr. XXXXXX, an intelligence analyst for Orion, for a chart that she could give to the Able Danger team. He stated Dr. XXXXXX told Mr. XXXXXX "You can advertise your business. . . give me something very slick that we can use." Mr. XXXXXX stated that Orion had prepared the al Qaeda charts which Mr. XXXXXX provided to Dr. XXXXXX as part of a work effort not related to Able Danger.

In our first interview Dr. XXXXXX initially testified that Mohammed Atta was "highlighted" on the Orion chart and associated with wealthy individuals and religious leaders. She specifically identified the Brooklyn cell as being distinct from the area in which Mohammed Atta was located. Dr. XXXXXX stated,

And it [the chart] also associated him [Mohammed Atta] with some wealthy Middle Eastern players and some religious holy men from the region we would be interested in. I also believe that that chart had on it, to the best of my memory, several other cells, one of them being the Brooklyn cell that I had been looking at for a long time.
However, later in that interview, when asked by an investigator where Mohammed Atta was in relation to the Brooklyn cell, Dr. XXXXXX responded, "I believe he would have been part of the Brooklyn cell." Dr. XXXXXX was unable to recall with certainty how many other people were depicted in the Brooklyn cell and stated, "I can't say with any. . . . Four or five." She recalled the photograph of Mohammed Atta was "very unclear," "granular," and "grainy" while the quality of the other pictures was "pretty good."

Dr. XXXXXX described the chart as depicting events in a time line fashion and containing Mohammed Atta's picture in the upper left comer. She stated that the chart depicted terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 and the embassy bombings in Africa as well as possibly some activity in Europe. She stated, "My memory fades on what that connection to the European group is." Dr. XXXXXX explained,

In my recollection the timeline on this chart was all associated around the events of the African bombings and the World Trade Center bombings and how the personnel from the different groups were related to the Bin Laden network.
Dr. XXXXXX commented that her memory of the chart was not precise. She explained that the chart was produced by a contractor and that it had little analytical value and had been provided to Able Danger just for its visual impact as "eye candy."

During our second interview, Dr. XXXXXX acknowledged she could not recall the chart provided by Orion in detail. Dr. XXXXXX testified,

I have a real hard time remembering exactly what that Orion Scientific chart looked like because to me, it doesn't have the same importance to me that it seems to have for everyone else right now. It was simply a demonstration that whatever data they had confirmed what we were seeing here [at LIWA].
Dr. XXXXXX acknowledged during the second interview that the chart produced by Orion was of limited utility, commenting "So if we go back to what kind of chart was this, to me those charts were not actionable intelligence."

During our third interview, Dr. XXXXXX made statements that were inconsistent with her earlier testimony regarding the Orion chart. During our first interview Dr. XXXXXX testified that she recalled Mohammed Atta "name and picture," but in our third interview Dr. XXXXXX testified that she no longer had a recollection of a photograph but recalled the name "Mohammed Atta" appearing on the Orion chart.

Dr. XXXXXX was consistent in her testimony that she recalled the name "Atta" (did not recall "Mohammed Atta") related to a Brooklyn cell depicted on the parentage chart. She stated, "I remember the name Atta either directly under, next to, or associated with one of these dots." We found noteworthy that, while stating that the name "Atta" appeared on this chart, Dr. XXXXXX acknowledged that the chart was produced using data that had been collected for previous projects related to technology transfers and support to Army units in Bosnia and Korea.

Dr. XXXXXX discussed that only after speaking with CAPT XXXXXX after the 9/11 attacks did she recall that Mohammed Atta was on the charts that had been produced in January 2000. She testified that on September 11 or 12, 2001, CAPT XXXXXX called her and reminded her of the charts. She said CAPT XXXXXX asked her about the chart with the photographs. She recalled him asking her, "Do you remember that first chart you had telling -- bringing to me, that had that horseshoe-shaped cluster around Atta?" Dr. XXXXXX also testified that during this telephone conversation, CAPT XXXXXX discussed parentage or propeller chart that also included Mohammed Atta. She stated, "So he [CAPT XXXXXX] said go back to those briefings. Those dot charts that were unclassified I think are in those briefings." Dr. XXXXXX described the conversation as "We are remembering what happened. We're in agreement. . . . He's adamant. [quoting CAPT XXXXXX] 'I saw that [a photograph of Mohammed Atta]. It was on those charts. I saw this chart. Do you have this chart?' " Dr. XXXXXX added that during the conversation with CAPT XXXXXX she told him that she did not have the charts, but, "If they're anywhere, [Representative] Weldon or one of the congressmen has them." She also stated that CAPT XXXXXX told her, "look for them. Call Tony [LTC Shaffer]. Someone has to have these charts."

CAPT XXXXXX denied that he spoke with Dr. XXXXXX as described above. He told us that on September 11, 2001, he was on board a Navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea and did not have access to a telephone until his ship came to port in France around September 17, 2001. CAPT XXXXXX denied contacting Dr. XXXXXX from France and stated that he did not speak with her until December 2001 when he returned to the United States. CAPT XXXXXX also testified that though he received information about the 9/11 attacks, it was not until September 15, 2001, that he first saw any pictures of the alleged terrorists from media reports.

Mr. XXXXXX , employed by Orion from 1998 to 2001 as a senior intelligence analyst, told us that he prepared the charts depicted at Figure 1 and 2, which do not identify Mohammed Atta or any other 9/11 terrorist, using Orion Magic, a proprietary software program owned by Orion. He testified that the charts prepared by Orion were either link analysis or timeline charts. He stressed that the charts prepared by Orion depicted historical events and individuals with known ties to terrorist organizations. Mr. XXXXXX testified that Orion Magic was not capable of discovering the identity of unknown terrorists.

Dr. XXXXXX was also interviewed by members of the U.S. Army Office of Intelligence (Army G2) on August 17, 19, and 22, 2005, before we began this Investigation. In her first interview Dr. XXXXXX discussed a parentage chart and recalled a Brooklyn cell. In her second interview Dr. XXXXXX recalled the Brooklyn cell and the name "Atta" on the chart. She did not recall a picture of Mohammed Atta and stated, "Why would I have a picture of him?" and "I remember Atta's name, not a photograph."

Mr. XXXXXX testified that sometime after Dr. XXXXXX spoke with the Army G2, he spoke with Dr. _XXXXXX. He stated, "The first time she talked to Army G2 she said she didn't remember [seeing Mohammed Atta]. And the second time she talked to them she said, 'Oh, wait, I remember.' " Mr. XXXXXX added that Dr. XXXXXX was upset "because nobody would believe her after her first interview that she had changed her story. She said nobody would believe her."

Dr. XXXXXX testified that on September 25, 2001, Representative Curt Weldon possessed a copy of the Orion chart, which included a picture of Mohammed Atta, that she had provided to CAPT XXXXXX in January 2000. She stated she was in Representative Weldon's office and they were preparing to go to the White House to meet with I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, then-Chief of Staff and Assistant for National Security Affairs to Vice President Richard B. Cheney. Before they left the office, Dr. XXXXXX asserted, Representative Weldon retrieved the chart from a closet where he had kept other charts. In response to our question, "Do you recall [Representative Weldon] having a chart with Mohammed Atta's picture or name on it?", Dr. XXXXXX responded, "And Atta's picture, I believe, to the best of my memory, I saw it in the upper left-hand corner in that chart."

Dr. XXXXXX testified the chart was brought to Mr. Libby's office and there were other people in the room. She remembered the people included Representatives Christopher H. Shays and Dan Burton; Mr. Thomas J. Ridge, then-Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, Office of Homeland Security, and future-Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and "some of Ridge's kind of deputies in this new departmenw they were setting up." There were other people in the office that she did not recognize. Dr. XXXXXX testified, "I'm going through my mind, and what I have when I walked into Scooter Libby's front reception area, and I unwrapped a lot of charts," but she could not recall whether she presented the chart depicting Mohammed Atta while in Mr. Libby's office.

Dr. XXXXXX testified that she departed Mr. Libby's office with Representatives Weldon and Shays and went to the office of Mr. Stephen J. Hadley, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and then-Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor. Dr. XXXXXX testified that she had a "60 percent" confidence level that the chart with Mohammed Atta's photograph was shown to Mr. Hadley. Regarding whether the chart contained a photograph of Mohammed Atta, Dr. XXXXXX stated,

And the reason I have a higher confidence level is I saw the picture of the World Trade Center and what I thought was the World Trade Center and what I thought were the two embassy bombings on it, which to me was the trigger that reminded me of this chart.
Dr. XXXXXX added, however, that she did not see the picture of Mohammed Atta on the chart. She stated "I didn't see it that day. However, from my memory of that chart, I knew that it would have had to have been here."

Representative Weldon wrote about the September 25,2001, meeting with Mr. Hadley in his book Countdown to Terror, which was published in June 2005. At page 18 he wrote,

On September 25, 2001, just 2 weeks after 9/11, I met in the White House with Stephen Hadley, the deputy national security adviser to the President. I presented him with a 2' x 3' chart I had been given in the aftermath of 9/11. The chart was developed in 1999, as part of a Defense Department initiative dubbed "Able Danger." It diagrammed the affiliations of al Qaeda and showed Mohammed Atta and the infamous Brooklyn cell. Hadley's response was "I have to show this to the big man."19
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19 In a response to Representative Weldon's account, a spokesperson for Mr. Hadley, as quoted in a New York Times article published October 1, 2005, stated that Mr. Hadley recalled meeting with Representative Weldon on September 25, 2001, and being shown a chart that was an example of link analysis, but did not recall being shown a chart bearing the name or photograph of Mohammed Atta.

Dr. XXXXXX testified that she had talked with Representative Weldon about whether the chart that was provided to Mr. Hadley was supplied by him or by her. She stated that Representative Weldon told her that she supplied the chart and that she told him that he supplied the chart. She testified that Representative Weldon told her, "That I brought all of the charts into his office and that this one that we're talking about with Atta's picture is among them." Dr. XXXXXX added, "And I have a different memory of the event than he has, regrettably. I wish I had the same memory."

LTC Shaffer

LTC Shaffer testified that in January 2000 he delivered a chart from LIWA to CAPT XXXXXX at USSOCOM headquarters. He stated that he reviewed the chart with CAPT XXXXXX and recalled that it contained a Brooklyn cell and a photograph of Mohammad Atta.20 LTC Shaffer stated there were multiple names listed under the photograph of Mohammed Atta; "It was a photo with several names. There was not one name below it." He added that he recalled the photograph and not the names associated with the photograph. LTC Shaffer added that the quality of the photograph was very poor. He stated that in addition to Mohammed Atta, there were approximately 120 people depicted on the chart, none of whom he recalled. LTC Shaffer also stated that within the Brooklyn cell he believed there were "three other bombers." He added, "It's my recollection, please this is not me saying this, Captain's recollection that there were three other bombers [9/11 terrorists] within that Brooklyn cell.

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20 As indicated above, CAPT XXXXXX testified that the three charts delivered to him by LTC Shaffer consisted of Figures 1 and 2, and a propeller (or parentage) chart similar to Figure 3.

LTC Shaffer testified that he subsequently possessed the chart or a later version of the chart because it had been left with him by one of the Able Danger team members. He explained that the chart was used to brief Pentagon leadership and, therefore, it was stored in his DIA office at Clarendon, VA. He stated, "I was just simply the repository of that" and "I maintained a copy of it in the office during the time, because we, we were one of the forward holding areas of the Able Danger team." LTC Shaffer added,

I subsequently had a copy of the chart that was left in Clarendon because the special operations command guys chose to leave it there. I didn't, these charts that I got were not necessarily my charts. They were not given to me as my, because of my duties.
LTC Shaffer also stated that while he believed the chart retained in his office did have Mohammed Atta's photograph, he could not be certain. He explained that the chart that was left with him might have been a later version of the chart LIWA had produced and he had delivered to CAPT XXXXXX and this later version may not have included Mohammed Atta. He stated, "There were several iterations of the chart made by LIWA. So which exact iteration and if the things were configured slightly different, I can't speak to that, I don't have that level of memory on that."21

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21 As discussed above any link analysis chart that included photographs was produced by Orion. We obtained no evidence that Orion provided LIWA any other iterations of the chart at Figure 1. LIWA did not produce link analysis charts that included photographs.

However, LTC Shaffer testified that he believed that the chart that had been provided to him by a member of the Able Danger team did have a photograph of Mohammed Atta. LTC Shaffer said, "As, as best I can recollect, one of the charts which was brought up by special operations command and left in my possession . . . I believe it was one of the charts with Atta."

LTC Shaffer testified that on September 18, 2001, he met with Dr. XXXXXX at a Starbucks coffee shop after she called him and said, "You'll never believe what, what I found." He testified that at Starbucks, Dr. XXXXXX showed him the chart that included a photograph of Mohammed Atta. LTC Shaffer stated,

And she said look at the chart and I started looking at it and I looked up in the comer and there was Atta's photograph again and it was the same chart that I had seen previously during the runs of data. And that was where the light kind of came on that we had linked these guys, we had had these guys identified before 9/11.
LTC Shaffer recalled that after meeting with Dr. XXXXXX and reviewing the chart that had a photograph of Mohammed Atta he did not return to his office that day. He added that he never confirmed whether he possessed a chart that included a picture of Mohammed Atta. However, LTC Shaffer did testify that in 2002 he had various people who were working with him review all his Able Danger related materials, including charts. He stated that none of these people ever commented to him that there was a picture of Mohammed Atta on any chart. LTC Shaffer explained during our second interview,

No, no one ever commented on the Atta picture. And that's why I told you last time, I'm not 100 percent sure that I have -- I believe on one of the charts we did have the Atta picture. I can't tell you I went back and looked at it for sure.
We interviewed all the people whom LTC Shaffer claimed had reviewed the Able Danger materials he asserted he possessed in his DIA office. As discussed in greater detail in Section IV. F. of this report, none of those witnesses recalled seeing any Able Danger documents in LTC Shaffer's possession.

Dr. XXXXXX confirmed that she met with LTC Shaffer at a Starbucks coffee shop shortly after September 11, 2001. However, Dr. XXXXXX denied that she showed LTC Shaffer a chart at that time. She stated, "Starbucks had those little tables. That chart, I would have had to have rolled out. I can't imagine myself doing that." She added, "I don't remember that chart" and "I did not have a memory of a chart." Additionally, in a document Dr. XXXXXX prepared on September 18, 2005, entitled "Able Danger Timeline," Dr. XXXXXX wrote that at the meeting with LTC Shaffer at Starbucks, "Shaffer remembers seeing a chart [with Mohammed Atta's photograph)." Dr. XXXXXX also wrote in her timeline that she remembered having Able Danger material that "was likely a briefing on the computer not a hard copy chart" which did not contain a photograph of Mohammed Atta.

Dr. XXXXXX testified about an occasion in 2005, after Representative Weldon gave a floor speech in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she and Representative Weldon were discussing their concern that they could not locate the chart that had the photograph of Mohammed Atta. She stated LTC Shaffer told them that he had the chart locked in a safe at his office space in Clarendon. Dr. XXXXXX stated, "So everyone was not very worried about it until Tony's safe didn't yield any data at all any more."

Colonel (COL) XXXXXX, U.S. Army, former Chief of Operations for the Defense Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Service, DIA, was LTC Shaffer's second-line supervisor during the period of Able Danger activities. COL XXXXXX commented that if LTC Shaffer had, as he asserted, seen a chart within 2 weeks of 9/11 that included photographs of unknown individuals as well as a photograph of Mohammed Atta associated with a Brooklyn cell, LTC Shaffer would have brought that information forward for both its intelligence value and LTC Shaffer's personal gain.

With respect to the chart's intelligence value, COL XXXXXX stated that in the period immediately after September 11, 2001, the Intelligence Community was "afraid that because planes got grounded there were other terrorists that may have been waiting to get on flights." COL XXXXXX explained that at that time DIA would no longer be interested in running an operation on the individuals depicted in the chart but would get the names to the FBI. He stated that the mission became "getting the FBI involved in and wrapping all these folks up, because at that point it's more of a shooter's war than an intelligence war. You've got to get them off the street." COL XXXXXX added that at that time the individuals on the chart needed to be apprehended "yesterday. "

COL XXXXXX was asked whether a "minimally qualified" HUMINT officer would have appreciated the significance of having a chart depicting Mohammed Atta associated with a Brooklyn cell on which there were other unknown individuals depicted. He answered,

I think if you've got a HUMINT officer, whether he's minimally qualified or not, I mean, that doesn't take a rocket scientist. That's one of the biggest events that's happened in our history.
So it's something that no matter what, you're going to jump all over that because that is an opportunity to have intel that directly affects and has direct results because you could take that chart and all of a sudden everybody on there is suspect because they're hooked to one guy.

In that regard LTC Shaffer told us that he thought providing the chart to the FBI was a bad idea. He stated, "So the last thing I wanted to do was give it to the FBI and then have them go roll these guys up." LTC Shaffer testified that he took no action with regard to the chart.

Mr. XXXXXX

Mr. XXXXXX who was employed by Orion from October 1999 to August 2000, was never read-on to the Able Danger program and testified he "didn't even know about Able Danger . . . did not know about the name, Able Danger." Mr. XXXXXX told us that he delivered a chart that included Mohammed Atta's photograph to LIWA in January or February 2000. He recalled that the chart was produced in response to a request from LIWA in which Orion was tasked to perform a study related to the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. He characterized the tasking as "a study of Omar Abdul Rahman . . . and what other personnel may be associated with his particular cell or groups up in New York City."22 While Mr. XXXXXX could not recall the precise request from LIWA, he provided, "The way I remember it, it was 'give us ties and associates of the New York City, what happened in New York City, the people known to cause the New York City issue [referring to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing].' "

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22 Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman is a blind Egyptian Muslim cleric who is currently serving a life sentence for seditious conspiracy in connection with terrorist bombing attempts in the United States. He was arrested in 1993 and convicted in 1995.

In addition to a chart, Mr. XXXXXX recalled he also delivered as part of the tasking from LIWA a significant amount of back-up documentation and a report. He stated,

Also, we had attachments and it was huge and this is, we print every printed report we had that linked them and delivered that. It was, I delivered in boxes literally reams of paper because we couldn't give the software. So what we did was I'd print out every file that supported the pictures.
Mr. XXXXXX testified that based upon the complexity of the tasking the chart required a considerable amount of effort and time to produce; "it was about a 30-day full time effort." He reported, "I'm guesstimating based upon that type of work we were doing and we were gathering information basically 24 hours a day and then looking at it and culling through it during the day."

We had Mr. XXXXXX draw on a sheet of paper what he recalled from the chart. He placed a box representing Rahman in the upper right hand corner of the chart and then drew boxes representing other individuals in a row below the Rahman box with lines connecting those boxes to the Rahman box. He stated, "I don't remember how many but there was multiple spikes or spokes that led to what we called the second tier people." Of this second tier, Mr. XXXXXX recalled, "Oh my, there was, there was more than five and probably less than ten because we filled up the whole chart."

Next Mr. XXXXXX drew more boxes that represented individuals in a lower row. He stated, "Atta's picture was one of the third tier and he was over here somewhere. . . on the extreme left side. . .. So I associated it with whoever this person [on the second tier] was." Mr. XXXXXX had no recollection of how many individuals were depicted in the third tier. He testified, "There was more . . . oh, I have no clue. There was, we had at least double, two and a half times the second tier." Mr. XXXXXX also identified areas on the chart that had contained a photograph of the World Trade Center as well as textual material. Mr. XXXXXX could not recall the number of people depicted on the chart. He provided, "because of the size and we had to cram them in, oh, 30 or 40 people altogether I think."

Regarding the photograph of Mohammed Atta, Mr. XXXXXX testified, "It was a very grainy, but it was clear enough that you could make out that stare, his high cheekbones, the very, the very pronounced his eyes. Yeah, definitely Atta." He also stated, "It was bad. It looked like it had been transmitted over a low line or it was, had been copied multiple times. It was very grainy." While Mr. XXXXXX had a clear recollection of Mohammed Atta's photograph, he did not recall whether there was a name attached to the photograph. Mr. XXXXXX stated,

I'm not sure if it was his name, his name and several others, because on the third level we had so many different names with the same picture we couldn't, we didn't have the ability to, or the intelligence access to, to confirm the names. . .. So I don't honestly remember if it was just Atta or it was a different Arabic name that we had on there, but the picture was very unique.
Mr. XXXXXX had no recollection of any other person depicted on the chart but for Omar Abdul Rahman and Mohammed Atta. He stated, "I don't know. I don't know. I just remember Atta. There, there may have been others on there. I don't recall the others." Mr. XXXXXX did not recall whether the chart had the term "Brooklyn cell" but recalled "New York City." He stated, "I know it said New York City. It may have said, I don't recall. It may have said Brooklyn, I don't know."

Regarding how Mohammed Atta's photograph had come to be on the chart, Mr. XXXXXX stated it was provided by a woman whose name he could not recall during the interview but later confirmed, through his attorney, as Ms. XXXXXX. He stated that Ms. XXXXXX "was going through Los Angeles or going through Web sites in the Los Angeles area for us and she gathered a lot of the raw data for us."

At the Joint Hearing on the Able Danger Program, held on February 15, 2006, by the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces and Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, in response to a query by Representative Weldon regarding where he obtained the photograph, Mr. XXXXXX stated,

We were getting the information from Arab sources through Los Angeles. We were able to get a lot of inside Arabic information . . . we were able to purchase much of the information and get it from their own countrymen. . . . I believe we got that information directly from a mosque.
In a Fox News article, "Third Source Backs 'Able Danger' Claims About Atta," dated August 28, 2005, Mr. XXXXXX is quoted as alleging the photograph of Mohammed Atta was "obtained from overseas."

In order to clarify from whom Mr. alleged he received the photograph of Mohammed Atta we requested from Mr. XXXXXX through his attorney, clarification on this issue. In an e-mail message, dated Apri 13, 2006, Mr. XXXXXX's attorney provided a statement from Mr. XXXXXX in which Mr. XXXXXX advised that Ms. XXXXXX obtained photographs and other data that were used by analysts at Orion. Mr. XXXXXX stated, "As far as I best can recall today, the Atta photograph was supplied by Ms. XXXXXX." He added, "However, I cannot rule out that we had another source for it." He also stated, "I do believe we also had people obtaining similar information . . . directly from Mosques."

We pursued the alleged source of Mr. XXXXXX's photograph but obtained no information that corroborated his account. Ms. XXXXXX testified that she was employed by Orion as a senior intelligence analyst from April 1999 through May 2001 doing open source intelligence.

Ms. XXXXXX stated that if she had had a photograph of Mohammed Atta prior to September 11, 2001, she would have received it from Mr. XXXXXX. Mr. XXXXXX had previously been associated with the Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare of the U.S. Congress.

Mr. XXXXXX told us that the possibility of him possessing data that included Mohammed Atta prior to September 11, 2001, was "Absolute zero."

Mr. XXXXXX testified he had been in possession of this chart and others produced by Orion because he collected charts that were produced for customers but not delivered to them because of quality problems, such as blurred or smudged lines. He stated he originally kept these charts in the trunk of his automobile. He stated that he later moved the charts from his car trunk and placed them under his bed. He recalled that shortly after September 11, 2001, when he first saw photographs identifying Mohammed Atta as one ofthe terrorists, he recognized him. Mr. XXXXXX testified, "Yeah and I'm looking and I said, Jesus, I recognized his picture instantly. . . . Yeah, I went to my chart to compare and I said there he is."

Mr. XXXXXX stated that after discovering Mohammed Atta's photograph on the chart he told numerous people about his identification of Mohammed Atta and showed them the chart. He stated, "I spoke to everybody that would listen to me," "I talked to quite a few people," and "I told them we had previously identified this person as a known terrorist."

When pressed to estimate the number of people with whom he recalled discussing the previous identification of Mohammed Atta and showing them the chart immediately after the 9/11 attacks, Mr. XXXXXX stated, "I'd say four or five. . . . Distinctly remember, yes." Though Mr. XXXXXX refused to provide the identity of any of the people with whom he spoke, he did disclose that one of them is a real estate agent, "and another one's a PhD at the University of Maryland," "The other's a former CIA official who is retired. . . . The other two are coworkers."

Mr. XXXXXX was asked to provide the number of people to whom he had shown the chart from the period of October 2001 and October 2002. He estimated that he had shown the chart to between 30 to 40 people. He stated, "[For] anybody that would listen I would reel it out." He added, "a lot of the people that I contacted in my family, they remember the chart but they don't specifically remember Atta's picture."

Mr. XXXXXX testified that from October 2002 until August 2004 he prominently displayed the chart containing Mohammed Atta's picture while he was employed by Beta Analytics in Maryland. He testified that he placed the chart on the wall directly across from his desk and stated, "I stared at that everyday." Mr. XXXXXX testified that he worked with four other people in the office area, but of those four coworkers, "Some of them recall the chart, but don't specifically recall Atta." Mr. XXXXXX added that on 30 to 40 different occasions, when people came to his office and asked about the chart he would "go right to the picture [of Mohammed Atta] and say there, there is that asshole right there."

Mr. XXXXXX disclosed that he had recently contacted many people whom he believed he had shown the chart which included Mohammed Atta's photograph. He testified that he had only found two who remembered seeing the photograph and that they would not come forward.

He added, "I'm not going to disclose them until counsel releases them." On February 23, 2006, in response to an e-mail request from this Office to Mr. XXXXXX's counsel requesting information regarding witnesses who had seen the chart at issue, Mr. XXXXXX's counsel responded, "I have spoken with two people so far who have informed me that they saw the chart. I am working on getting affidavits though I doubt their names will be referenced -- unfortunately.23

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23 To date, this Office has not received any affidavits or additional information from Mr. XXXXXX's counsel regarding this matter.

Mr. XXXXXX testified that in August 2004 he moved from his office at Beta Analytics and while taking down the charts that he had posted on the walls, two of the charts, including the one he alleged contained Mohammed Atta's photograph, disintegrated. He testified,

And in the process of trying to remove it, it had been up there so long I had quite a lot of tape up there because it had been rolled up. In the process the tape was tearing the chart. It just, they were disintegrating from age and this one [the chart that contained Mohammed Atta] I lost and I believe the pie chart I lost.
Mr. XXXXXX added,

Yeah, it came apart in pieces. It shredded itself as I was trying to pull it off the wall carefully. . . . Oh my God, it was a mess. It was just falling apart because of the age. I think it was, it became very brittle, so it was, it was just a ball of . . . it wouldn't unfold, it wouldn't do anything so I just threw it away.
Witness 124

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24 Based upon operational concerns, Witness 1's identity was shielded.

Witness 1 was previously assigned to the Special Technical Operations Division at USSOCOM and was assigned to the Able Danger team as an operations planner. Witness 1 emphasized that the objective of Able Danger was to identify "systems that could bring this guy [Usama bin Laden] down. That was the purpose of Able Danger." He recalled seeing the name "Mohammed Atta" in the data base while at the Garland facility, stating "I remember his name in the Access data base." (This data base was built by members of the OCWG and tracked all people and entities against whom searches were conducted). Witness 1 had no recollection of seeing a photograph of Mohammed Atta or a chart depicting a "Brooklyn" or "New York" cell.

Witness 1 testified that he never confirmed whether Mohammed Atta's name was in the data base but agreed that if his memory was accurate, Mohammed Atta's name would be reflected in the data base. After interviewing Witness 1, we reviewed a list of all terms stored in the data base built by the Able Danger team. There was no record of "Mohammed Atta" or "Atta."25

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25 A listing of all entities and individuals against whom searches were conducted was printed and retained at us SOCOM when the Able Danger team departed the Garland facility.

In October 2001 Witness 1 was selected to provide a presentation to Representative Weldon about the findings of Able Danger. Witness 1 testified that he described the Able Danger mission, but did not tell Representative Weldon that he saw the name "Mohammed Atta" in the data base at the Garland facility.

On November 9, 2005, Representative Weldon held a press conference at which he alleged that Dr. XXXXXX (formerly Chief Scientist, Intelligence Division, Raytheon Company) had informed him that Mohammed Atta had been identified by the Able Danger team members while working at the Garland facility. Representative Weldon stated,

Doctor XXXXXX told me that his unit also identified Mohammed Atta, not by photo but by name, before 9/11. So now we have two separate data mining efforts [LIWA and Garland] of the military openly and willingly stating on the record that they identified Mohammed Atta before 9/11.
Dr. XXXXXX testified that regarding whether he recalled identifying Mohammed Atta prior to September 11,2001, "It's possible. I just don't remember." Dr. XXXXXX added, "I've heard it [Mohammed Atta's name] a long time so I don't remember when I heard it first."

Dr. XXXXXX testified that he told Representative Weldon, "I didn't recall one way or the other. It might have happened that that name [Mohammed Atta] was on there." He stated that Representative Weldon "exaggerated what I said." However, Dr. XXXXXX added, "I actually think it might have been but I can't say for sure."

Mr. XXXXXX

Mr. XXXXXX was a USSOCOM counter-terrorism intelligence analyst assigned to the Able Danger team. He testified that he recalled seeing a photograph of Mohammed Atta projected on a large screen while at the Garland facility. Mr. XXXXXX stated that Mohammed Atta's face was one of the hundreds of faces that he had seen while working on Able Danger. He did not recall whether a name was associated with the photograph. Mr. XXXXXX stated that the picture was from an open source Internet site and was not stored on the Able Danger computers. He added that at the time "we didn't know how big a terrorist he was, how small a terrorist or anything else or if he in fact, he truly was a terrorist, it was just some kind of link."

Discussion

We concluded that the Able Danger team did not identify Mohammed Atta or any of the 9/11 terrorists as possible threats at any time during its existence. Further, witnesses purporting to have seen a chart obtained by the Able Danger team from LIWA but produced by Orion depicting Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 terrorists were in error. Although it is conceivable that the name "Mohammed Atta" or a photograph of Mohammed Atta may have appeared along with thousands of other bits of information examined by the Able Danger team, neither Mohammed Atta nor any other 9/11 terrorist was identified in a manner that would have linked them to al Qaeda or justified more focused information gathering. We set forth the following points to support this conclusion:


Virtually every knowledgeable witness described the mission of Able Danger as strategic in nature -- the development of a campaign plan to obtain information useful for attacking the al Qaeda support inftastructure. Although Able Danger identified various individuals, entities, and corporations potentially linked to al Qaeda in order to achieve that mission, the information itself was for purposes of demonstration and was not subjected to rigorous intelligence analysis.

Although Able Danger was in existence for about 12 months, only a small portion of that time was devoted to mission-related work. The first 9 months were characterized by "false starts" and repeat efforts to find a suitable operating environment and location. Significant mission-related work did not begin until July 2000 and was essentially completed by November 2000. The final product was a briefing in January 2001 that described a campaign plan.

While several key witnesses -- primarily LTC Shaffer, CAPT XXXXXX and Dr. XXXXXX -- claim to have seen Mohammed Atta's picture on an anon chart that was provided to CAPT XXXXXX in January/February 2000, their recollection was not credible. The conflicts and inconsistency in their testimonies, coupled with other evidence concerning the charts at issue, provided overwhelming rebuttal to their claims. In particular we noted:

The evidence indicated that the chart recalled by these key witnesses is the chart at Figure 1 ofthis report -- Dr. XXXXXX's denials notwithstanding. It bears the title mentioned by CAPT XXXXXX in a contemporaneous memorandum and contains information described, in various ways, by LTC Shaffer and Dr. XXXXXX. That chart, as well as the chart at Figure 2 also obtained by Able Danger, were provided to CAPT XXXXXX as examples of link analysis for the Able Danger team. Both charts were produced by Orion and depicted terrorists known to have engaged in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and/or the 1998 African embassy bombings.
Of the three witnesses, CAPT XXXXXX participated in Able Danger on a day-today basis and had in-depth knowledge of Able Danger operations. LTC Shaffer and Dr. XXXXXX did not. The evidence suggested that they based their claims regarding the identification of Mohammed Atta on information provided to them by CAPT XXXXXX who ultimately acknowledged to us that he did not see Mohammed Atta's picture on any chart, but claimed that while at USSOCOM headquarters he had a fleeting glimpse -- 4 or 5 seconds -- of a picture of someone whom he stated he believed was Mohammed Atta. We did not consider that recollection credible. CAPT XXXXXX made the claim in our third interview only after being provided strong evidence that Mohammed Atta never appeared on any chart provided to the Able Danger team.26 Further, we questioned anyone's ability to make an after-the-fact identification of the type claimed here.

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26 We noted that CAPT XXXXXX failed to notify us about recalling seeing a photograph of Mohammed Atta on a document while at USSOCOM headquarters between our second (February 17,2006) and third (May 24,2006) interviews but sent 12 e-mail messages to us during that period updating other information he provided.

Based on the testimonial evidence from GEN Schwartz, CDR XXXXXX, Mr. XXXXXX, and Mr. Snell, it is our conclusion that CAPT XXXXXX inflated his claims regarding Able Danger's success in identifying 9/11 terrorists in order to promote his role as an advocate for data mining in the war against terrorism. His representations to those officials, however, were so tenuous that they were either not specifically recalled (CDR XXXXXX), refuted (GEN Schwartz), or not considered worthy of pursuit (Mr. XXXXXX, Mr. Snell). We considered Mr. Snell's negative assessment of CAPT XXXXXX's claims particularly persuasive given Mr. Snell's knowledge and background in antiterrorist efforts involving al Qaeda. Further diminishing CAPT XXXXXX's credibility was his assertion to us that the last time he saw a link analysis chart (Figure 1) was in July or October 2000, contrary to CDR XXXXXX's testimony that CAPT XXXXXX shared the charts at Figures 1 and 2 with him aboard the USS ESTOCIN during the 2002-2003 time period.27

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27 CAPT XXXXXX did not challenge CDR XXXXXX's recollection.

Dr. XXXXXX provided a variety of scenarios describing her identification of Mohammed Atta before 9/11 -- none of them credible. In her interviews with the Army she had no recollection, but later recalled a chart that included the word "Atta" associated with a Brooklyn cell without a picture of Mohammed Atta. She denied that the chart at Figure 1 was the one she provided to CAPT XXXXXX but the evidence, particularly CAPT XXXXXX's testimony, demonstrated that it was. Moreover, in her first interview she indicated the chart that she saw had Mohammed Atta's picture with "religious holy men" separate from the Brooklyn cell. Later in the interview, she claimed the picture was part of the Brooklyn cell. In a subsequent interview, Dr.XXXXXX no longer recalled seeing Mohammed Atta's picture on the Orion chart she claimed to have provided CAPT XXXXXX and recalled seeing only his name.
We were unable to corroborate Dr. XXXXXX 's assertion that she provided CAPT XXXXXX a second chart that included a dot with the name "Atta" associated with a Brooklyn cell. She testified that this chart was produced in January 2000, prior to LIWA's support for Able Danger and based on data that had been collected for previous projects related to technology transfers and support to U.S. Army units in Bosnia and Korea. Assuming for the sake of argument that a single chart with dot and the name "Atta" associated with a Brooklyn cell existed in January 2000, it would have been of limited intelligence value prior to September 11,2001.
LTC Shaffer had minimal involvement in the analytical work conducted by Able Danger. He served as liaison between Able Danger and Dr. XXXXXX at LIWA, and later assisted in providing logistics assistance to the team. Any information he obtained regarding Able Danger "discoveries" would have been second hand -- primarily from CAPT XXXXXX who ultimately denied seeing Mohammed Atta's picture on a chart. Additioally, as described in detail under Section IV.F. of this report, we found no evidence to corroborate LTC Shaffer's claim that he was a "repository" for Able Danger materials and thereby carne to possess a chart containing Mohammed Atta's picture.
In particular, we consider not credible LTC Shaffer's assertion that he viewed a chart containing Mohammed Atta's picture during a meeting with Dr. XXXXXX at Starbucks on September 18, 2001. As described by LTC Shaffer, the chart was identical to the one he provided to CAPT XXXXXX in January 2000 (Figure 1) and contained Mohammed Atta's photograph, along with photographs of 120 other unknown individuals. Dr. XXXXXX denied possessing a chart at this meeting. Further, we find implausible that, as an intelligence officer, LTC Shaffer took no action to alert his supervisors or law enforcement authorities of the identities of 120 individuals with possible links to Mohammed Atta, given the situation immediately following 9/11. Accordingly, we conclude that the chart, as described by LTC Shaffer, did not exist.

None of the Able Danger team members, who were in a far better position to describe Able Danger findings, made the type of identification of Mohammed Atta that characterized Dr. XXXXXX and LTC Shaffer's claims. Colonel who headed Able Danger during its most productive period, made no claim regarding Mohammed Atta. Similarly the officers who provided the final Able Danger briefing to GEN Shelton made no claims of discovering the identity of possible terrorists, even though doing so may have strengthened the case for Able Danger success. While some of the team members suggested that they may have com