More On The "Able Danger" Obstruction Scandal

Last month, I asked these questions about the Able Danger cover-up:

Why would officials in the Bush Administration decide to cover up something that happened at the end of the Clinton Administration? Wouldn't something like that support the Bush Regime's dominant theory regarding 9-11, namely, that the whole thing was Clinton's fault?

Several weeks have passed, and I still haven't heard any convincing answers to those questions.

To recap: In August, members of the 9-11 Commission asked Congress to find out whether the Pentagon withheld certain intelligence information from the 9-11 Panel showing that a secret American military unit -- "Able Danger" -- had identified Mohamed Atta and three other hijackers as potential terror threats over one year prior to the 9-11 attacks.

The whole thing had a certain "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." quality about it, and the Senate Judiciary Committee took up the cause. Well, the investigation appears to be heating up:

Senators from both parties accused the Defense Department on Wednesday of obstructing an investigation into whether a highly classified intelligence program known as Able Danger did indeed identify Mohamed Atta and other future hijackers as potential threats well before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The complaints came after the Pentagon blocked several witnesses from testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee at a public hearing on Wednesday. The only testimony provided by the Defense Department came from a senior official who would say only that he did not know whether the claims were true.

Blocked several witnesses? Obviously, there is a lot more going on here than a simple case of one part of the government (the military) not being able to tell another part of the government (The FBI) about certain information it uncovered. A former army major told the committee that he had been "'forced to destroy all the data, charts and other analytical product' in compliance with Army regulations that prohibit keeping data related to American citizens and others, including permanent residents who have legal protections. . . ."

OK, that's all very interesting -- but the question still remains: Why wasn't the 9-11 Commission told about all this? And why is BushCo's Defense Department actively obstructing a congressional investigation into this matter now?

Clearly, there is a lot more to this story left to be uncovered, and at least one senator appears to sense this:

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, accused the Pentagon of "a cover-up" and said, "I don't get why people aren't coming forward and saying, 'Here's the deal, here's what happened.'"

That's a good point, Joe. In fact, isn't that the whole point?