Getting anything out of Rumsfeld's Pentagon that might prove embarrassing is like pulling teeth - Abu Ghraib is just one example - but Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, should do whatever is necessary in this case to force the secretary to open wide.
We agree with senators from both parties that, as Specter put it Wednesday, "the Department of Defense owes the American people an explanation as to what went on here."
The remark came after the Pentagon, citing concerns about revealing classified information in an open hearing, barred several witnesses from testifying before the committee. The panel is investigating the secret program known as Able Danger to determine if it had identified Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker on 9/11, and others as potential terrorists. The program sought to uncover people with links to al-Qaida through computer searches of unclassified data.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon said that its own investigation of Able Danger had proven inconclusive, with at least five participants recalling a chart in 2000 that identified Atta, but others having no such recollection. One military officer was prepared to testify that he had thrice attempted to talk to the FBI about the unit's findings, but had been blocked by Pentagon lawyers citing the federal Posse Comitatus law of 1878 that restricts domestic law enforcement activities by the military.
Another participant, former Army major Erik Kleinsmith, testified that Army regulations had forced him in 2000 to destroy "an immense amount of data for analysis that allowed us to map al-Qaida as a worldwide threat with a surprisingly significant presence in the United States."
The 9/11 commission made no mention of Able Danger in its final report because, said member Slade Gorton, a review of program documents turned up nothing about the hijackers before Sept. 11.
Undeterred, Specter has informed the Pentagon that his committee wants to hear from Able Danger participants, in part to determine if the Posse Comitatus law should be amended. That should be reason enough for Rumsfeld to comply.
