Able Danger

We learn more about the Army's "Able Danger" group and the lack of input they had in the 9/11 Commission hearings, among other places. Able Danger had isolated and begun to track 4 individuals who later were among the 19 9/11 hijackers. Among the Able Danger subjects was Mohammad Atta, the most high-profile of the attackers.

Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer claims he alerted the FBI in September 2000 about the information uncovered by the secret military unit "Able Danger," but he says three meetings he set up with bureau officials were allegedly blocked by military lawyers, according to Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., who has set up interviews for Shaffer.

But his claims were also never heard in the 9/11 Commission meetings, making clear that we have an incomplete report on 9/11:

"I don't believe they ever got all the documents, but then again I don't think that they pressed properly to get all of the documents," Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer said on CBS' "The Early Show."

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"What we were trying to do as good soldiers is we saw a threat, we recognized the fact that they were here in the United States and we felt we should do something even when the lawyers said we couldn't," Shaffer said.

"The problem was at the time the Special Operations Command is very secretive, quiet warriors," he said. "They like doing things quietly. I had to respect their wishes, to respect the sanctity of that information. What I tried to do was bring them together with the FBI so they could discuss this and take the appropriate action."

The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks left the Able Danger claims out of its official report and has since said it did not obtain enough information on the operation to consider it historically significant.

What happened with Able Danger, and why has it taken a complete year to hear about it, after the publication of the 9/11 Report? It is politically opportune to say that given the circumstances of last year's election, had Shaffer come forward following the publication of the report, his impact would have been drastic. And not at all solely in favor of Democrats. So why have we not heard about the Able Danger team until now?

This information has been so important that it is vital that Americans know about it. But why does it take so long to learn it?