Fabled Danger?

Atta bombshell looks more like case of mistaken ID

Paul Sperry | September 13, 2005

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Others who claim to have seen a chart naming Atta have spelled his first name incorrectly as Mohammed. In his new book, Countdown to Terror, which started the furor over Atta, Republican Congressman Curt Weldon said the chart "showed Mohammed [sic] Atta and the infamous Brooklyn Cell." (Weldon, a big fan of data-mining intelligence programs like Able Danger, which was defunded, has taken up the cause of its disbanded former leaders.)

Given confusing Arab naming conventions, mistaking the identities of terrorist suspects is commonplace. And variations on the transliteration of Mohammed, the most common name in the Muslim world, are legion. What's more, there are scores of men named Mohamed Atta.

Several Pentagon officials say their colleagues are basing their allegations on flawed memories, echoing the conclusion of 9/11 Commission investigators. According to the Pentagon, only five out of the 80 people associated with Able Danger recall seeing Atta the hijacker on a chart or any document prior to 9/11.

I have no doubt these career military analysts mean well, and would have no motive to lie (although at least one, Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, is upset the data-mining project was axed and is lobbying Congress—with the help of Weldon—for $50 million to refund it). More than likely, they're remembering someone else. It looks simply like a case of mistaken identity.

If Specter wants his hearing to "get to the bottom" of the Atta caper as he says he does, he might also want to call, in addition to Phillpott and Shaffer, German authorities who could testify about the Atta emails in their files. Or he could just call veteran Los Angeles Times reporter Terry McDermott, who obtained copies of them for his book, Perfect Soldiers.

But that would be too easy. Washington loves a good conspiracy theory, so this one will likely drag out beyond the absurd, sapping precious time and money from the investigation of real scandals.