Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) is promising fireworks at an upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Able Danger operation that, in 2000, purportedly fingered al Qaeda cells—including key 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta. Weldon told Congressional Quarterly that a DOD employee would testify that civilian supervisors ordered him to destroy a large cache of data pertaining to al Qaeda—or risk losing his job. And this just after the Pentagon shrugged its shoulders last week upon finishing a three-week investigation and reaffirming that Able Danger was merely a planning exercise. (DR, 09/06/05) Pentagon officials did say they had found three new folks who may recall seeing something on Atta.
A half-dozen pilots from one of the Air Force’s premier F-16 units, the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., have been awarded one of the service’s highest decorations for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.