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October 02, 2005
Zaid's Rebuttal To The AP
Earlier this week, the AP reported on a series of issues that the DIA used as an excuse to revoke the clearances of Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, the liaison to the SOCOM program Able Danger and the first public witness to the program's identification of four 9/11 hijackers as al-Qaeda operatives more than a year before the terrorist attacks. Many of us saw the revocation as a transparent attempt to discredit LTC Shaffer before he has a chance to testify to Congress on the Able Danger program, and the failure of the DoD to allow it to share its information with the FBI as well as the 9/11 Commission's refusal to meet with any of the Able Danger team.Now his attorney, Mark Zaid, has posted his comment on the matter at CQ. With his permission, I'm reposting here so that it gets the most exposure possible.
Zaid's lengthy comment provides all the details.
The most salient points I noticed were that his Bronze Star has NOT been challenged in any way shape or form. A different medal called a DMSM was challenged by someone at DIA, apparently because they were not authorized to know about what he was doing when he won it. Zaid even provided the AP with a copy of a letter from Col. Gerry York supporting the fact that Shaffer definitely earned the DMSM award.
Zaid also notes that the pens and notepads were taken for school from an American Embassy when Shaffer was 15 or 16 and apparently in high school overseas. I guess one of his parents worked at the embassy? Not sure, but talk about going on your permanent record! I have no idea how that could have anything to do with his security clearance. Adding insult to injury, the late payments on his credit card occured while he was in Afghanistan deployed for Operation Enduring Freedom! He arranged for his wife to make the payments but she simply forgot. DIA has since dropped that issue, though the AP still mentioned it.
I really think the AP story makes the DIA look bad, not Shaffer, but Zaid's frustration is a reminder that you can not count on getting the full story from a reporter who is up against a deadline. They go for volume first then quality and accuracy. Zaid got them to correct the story three different times, but they still couldn't get it right.
Posted by Mike at October 2, 2005 01:05 AM
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