Editing Mohamed Atta (section)

=== Able Danger ===
In 2005, Army Lt. Col. [[Anthony Shaffer (intelligence officer)|Anthony Shaffer]] and Congressman [[Curt Weldon]] alleged that the [[United States Department of Defense|Defense Department]] data mining project, [[Able Danger]], produced a chart that identified Atta, along with [[Nawaf al-Hazmi]], [[Khalid al-Mihdhar]], and [[Marwan al-Shehhi]], as members of a [[Brooklyn]]-based [[al-Qaeda]] cell in early 2000.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/09/politics/09intel.html?pagewanted=print |title=Four in 9/11 Plot Are Called Tied to Qaeda in '00 |author=Jehl, Douglas |date=9 August 2005 |work=The New York Times |access-date=29 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406160538/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/09/politics/09intel.html?pagewanted=print |archive-date=6 April 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> Shaffer largely based his allegations on the recollections of Navy Captain Scott Phillpott,<ref name="wp-20050819">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/18/AR2005081801751.html |author=Eggen, Dan |title=Officer Says 2 Others Are Source of His Atta Claims |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=19 August 2005 |access-date=29 September 2008
| page=A11
| archive-date=24 July 2008
| url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724132004/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/18/AR2005081801751.html
}}</ref> who later recanted his recollection, telling investigators that he was "convinced that Atta was not on the chart that we had." Phillpott said that Shaffer was "relying on my recollection 100 percent," and the Defense Department Inspector General's report indicated that Philpott "may have exaggerated knowing Atta's identity because he supported using Able Danger's techniques to fight [[terrorism]]."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR2006092101831.html |title=Hijackers Were Not Identified Before 9/11, Investigation Says |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=22 September 2006 |author=White, Josh |access-date=29 September 2008
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106151245/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR2006092101831.html
| url-status=live | archive-date=6 November 2012
}}</ref><ref name="oig">{{cite web |url=http://www.dodig.mil/fo/foia/ERR/r_H05L97905217-PWH.pdf |title=Office Inspector General's Report |publisher=Department of Defense |date=18 September 2006 |access-date=29 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216064401/http://www.dodig.mil/fo/foia/ERR/r_H05L97905217-PWH.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2012}}</ref>

Five witnesses who had worked on Able Danger and had been questioned by the Defense Department's Inspector General later told investigative journalists that their statements to the IG were distorted by investigators in the final IG's report, or the report omitted essential information that they had provided. The alleged [[Able Danger#Alleged evidence of IG cover-up|distortions of the IG report]] centered around excluding any evidence that [[Able Danger]] had identified and tracked Atta years before 9/11.<ref name="foxnews.com">{{cite news |first=Catherine |last=Herridge |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/exclusive-witnesses-in-defense-dept-report-suggest-cover-up-of-9-11-findings/ |title=Exclusive: Witnesses in Defense Dept. Report Suggest Cover-Up of 9/11 Findings |publisher=Fox News|date=4 October 2010 |access-date=11 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516210737/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/04/exclusive-witnesses-defense-department-report-suggest-cover-findings/ |archive-date=16 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Lt. Col. Shaffer's book also clearly indicates direct identification of the [[Brooklyn]] cell, and Mohamed Atta.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shaffer|first=Anthony|title=Operation Dark Heart|year=2010|publisher=St Martin's Press|pages=170|isbn=978-0-312-60369-4}}</ref>