The Multiple Atta Scenario

One of the (many) reasons I've been skeptical of of the charges that  Able Danger ID'd Atta in '99 is that--according to LAT reporter Terry McDermott, who wrote the definitive take on the 9/11 hijackers--Atta wasn't even recruited by AQ until 2000. And he didn't enter the U.S. until then either. Nor did he seem to have a presence on the public databases, such as Nexis, that Big Source Shaffer says Able Danger relied on.

Could it have been a case of mistaken identity? That is, Atta wasn't flagged pre-9/11 but it just so happens that guys with similar names were.  Tom at JustOneMinute raises that posssibility, naming a former Palestinian terrorist named Mahmoud Atta. 

And here's another one: Back in the late 1990s there was a Egpytian-born  man who was linked  in sting-operation trying to ships arms to militants to Egypt. That man's name is Mohamed el Amir. Mohamed Atta's full name is  Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta. Or as he was commonly known: Mohamed el Amir.

(Thanks to Terry and another big paper reporter for the Atta doppleganger theory.)

UPDATE:
I thought I had posted this yesterday--turns out, I forgot the whole "publish" button concept.  In any case, Mickey has since  gone into detail explaining why the two Atta theory makes so much sense.

I concur. In fact,  the two-Atta theory only leaves one major issue unexplained:   What about  the three other 9/11 hijackers that Able Danger purportedly fingered? Possible answers:  1) Mr. Shaffer was embellishing. (Has he named the specific hijackers who were purportedly  ID'd?)  2) They indeed were named and--just like Atta may be--are also cases of mistaken identity.  That would be understandable. It's easy for Arabic speakers to  mix up Arabic names.  Indeed, the FBI itself originally pegged four or five wrong people as the 9/11 hijackers.

Comments

[Paul Thompson]

No. This speculation is completely wrong. Terry McDermott is consistenly wrong about 9/11 and the hijackers and his belief that Atta didn't even join al-Qaeda until 2000 is laughably wrong. Just look at my 9/11 timeline at www.cooperativeresearch.org for some of Atta's connections long before then.

As to how US intelligence learned of Atta's name in 1999, there are so many different ways. Here's one from my timeline. Remember that Atta and Marwan Alshehhi are roommates at the time, and practically inseparable. What if the CIA DID follow up on this tip from Germany?

February 17, 1999: Germans Intercept al-Qaeda Calls, One Mentions Atta’s Name
German intelligence is periodically tapping suspected al-Qaeda terrorist Mohammed Haydar Zammar’s telephone. On this day, investigators hear a caller being told Zammar is at a meeting with “Mohamed, Ramzi, and Said,” and can be reached at the phone number of the Marienstrasse apartment where all three of them live. This refers to Mohamed Atta, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and Said Bahaji, all members of the Hamburg al-Qaeda cell. However, apparently the German police fail to grasp the importance of these names, even though Said Bahaji is also under investigation. [ASSOCIATED PRESS, 6/22/02; NEW YORK TIMES, 1/18/03] Atta’s last name is given as well. Agents check the phone number and confirm the street address, but it is not known what they make of the information. [DER SPIEGEL, 2/3/03]

March 1999: Germany Provides CIA Hijacker’s Name and Telephone Number
German intelligence gives the CIA the first name of hijacker Marwan Alshehhi and his telephone number in the United Arab Emirates. The Germans learned the information from surveillance of suspected terrorists. They tell the CIA that Alshehhi has been in contact with suspected al-Qaeda members Mohammed Haydar Zammar and Mamoun Darkanzali. He is described as a United Arab Emirates student who has spent some time studying in Germany. [9/11 CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY, 7/24/03; DEUTCHE PRESSE-AGENTEUR, 8/13/03; NEW YORK TIMES, 2/24/04] The Germans consider this information “particularly valuable” and ask the CIA to track Alshehhi, but the CIA never responds until after the 9/11 attacks. The CIA decides at the time that this “Marwan” is probably an associate of bin Laden but never track him down. It is not clear why the CIA fails to act, or if they learn his last name before 9/11. [NEW YORK TIMES, 2/24/04] The Germans monitor other calls between Alshehhi and Zammar, but it isn’t clear if the CIA is also told of these or not.