Senators Debunk 9/11 Conspiracy Claim

(AP)  A lengthy Senate investigation has debunked charges by a Republican congressman that military analysts identified Mohamed Atta and other Sept. 11 hijackers before the attacks, according to a committee aide familiar with the report.

In a letter to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sens. Pat Roberts and John D. Rockefeller dismissed suggestions by Rep. Curt Weldon that defense analysts ignored analysis that could have prevented the attacks. Roberts, a Republican, is outgoing chairman and Rockefeller is the senior Democrat who will assume the chairmanship Jan. 4 month when the new Congress convenes.

They concluded "there was no evidence Mohamad Atta or any hijackers were identified prior to 9/11," said the committee aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the aide was not authorized to speak publicly on the subject.

An internal Defense Department assessment already had dismissed Weldon's charges as unfounded. But the letter from Roberts and Rockefeller is the first rejection from Capitol Hill. The letter was obtained and first reported Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times.

Weldon, a 10-term Republican who lost his seat in the Nov. 7 election, repeatedly contended a secret military unit called "Able Danger" searched large amounts of data to link four Sept. 11 hijackers to al-Qaida more than a year before the attacks.

In September, the Pentagon's inspector general found some employees recalled seeing an intelligence chart identifying Atta as a terrorist before the attacks. But the report said those accounts "varied significantly" and witnesses were inconsistent at times in their statements.

At the time, Weldon questioned the "motives and the content" of the report and rejected its conclusions, which he said relied on cherry-picked testimony. Weldon could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

According to the committee aide, Roberts and Rockefeller found similar problems in their investigation.

Weldon lost his seat to Democrat Joe Sestak, a retired Navy admiral who called for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2007.

Just weeks before the election, the FBI raided the homes of Weldon's daughter and a close friend in an investigation of whether the congressman improperly helped the pair win lobbying and consulting contracts.

[mh4cbs1]

The 'missing' plane in DC is a junk theory.

But the smoking gun is Building 7. There is no way in the universe that it could have collapsed as it did without demo help. Building 7 was a strong, traditional post&lintel steel frame building with minor fires -- it was not hit by a plane, and only minor debris damage as it was not even as close as other buildings left standing. And why did owner Silverstein say on PBS that the building was to be "pulled"?

[emhawks]

The truth is what America needs to begin healing. I'm so sick of all the lies!
Reopen the 911 Investigation.

[long_rider]

Why is it that there was an investigation into a group of secret men, Able Danger, and no investigation on the more obvious facts concerning 9/11. Why isn't anyone requesting the 11 videos showing a 757 hitting the Pentagon?

9/11 is a cover up. Every American should try to get to the truth, support a new investigation.

[nyckate]

Thank goodness - as much as I have no faith in the current presidential administration from top to bottom it would be beyond horrible to consider that anyone in any level of government was aware of the immediate danger such as 9-11 and did nothing or allowed it to happen.

[nyckate]

Notblue asserts that mistrust of the US might decrease now that democrats are majority in house- the thing he forgets is that it is the president who sets the policies not Congress or Senate. Bush needs Congress to fund his policies - he also needed a complacent over-trusting and power-mad congress to allow him to act as he has the past 6 years - that is what is at an end - now he will have to answer for some of his actions and now he will have to prove he is being honest and truthful with his assertions.

[pendragon679]

For notblue & others who'd like to place the blame for 9/11 on Bill Clinton: You couldn't be more wrong! I have undeniable evidence that 9/11 was planned, executed & financed by Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison & a secret cadre of space aliens based in Roswell, NM.

[notblue]

Itchybrain, I'm not one of the guys who run the country. The reason the planes were not blown from the sky that day is because as Americans we could not comprehend the evil happening. We try to mitigate innocent civilian casualties unlike the attackers who focus on the innocents. We likely will never have all the answers since Clintons securtiy advisor Sandy Burger has hidden or destroyed key documents leading up to 911.

[itchybrain]

notblue... aren't you curious at all as to the answers to some of these questions? I'm not a tin foil hat wearer... I was an air traffic controller and I know the proceedures that should have been followed. They weren't followed... why not? Instead of freaking out, just answer the questions.

And, as the reds told the blues after the 2000 election, get over it! Quit whining and realize your guys did a crummy job of running the country... otherwise, they'd have won in 2006. Period, end of story.

[notblue]

Grumpas, typical rant of denial including the usual name calling etc. If you hate your country so much why don't you leave. I'm cetainly not a savior of the world. But unlike you I'm not a destroyer of our way of life.

[grumpas]

notblue The typical infantile Republican who wants to paint themselves as savior's of the world! I hate to be the one to tell you notblue! But, if we weren't in Iraq we would still have our freedom's pure and simple! Admittedly we would have a whole lot more freedoms if the fascist George Bush wasn't in office. He has done a lot more to destroy this country and our freedoms than Islamic Extremist's have. Don't you think it's time for people like you to grow up and stop listening to all of Bush's outlandish propaganda! What has Bush ever done but lie to the American people and con us (the list is to long to go into here)???? And people like you honestly wonder why a lot of us don't trust the government??? But, I do think George is guilty for 9/11 out of arrogance and ignorance he choose to ignore intelligence that stated we were going to be hit in the near future! That is a matter of record at the 9/11 hearings! But, considering the Islamic Extremist's didn't spell it out where they were going to strike, good old Bush ignored it! So, as far as I can see if Bush was as smart as he thinks he is 9/11 would have never happened!