9/11 Commission is on the Defensive

Damn, people. It's all just mass chaos and insanity. I need a drink.

The leaders of the 9/11 commission late Friday disputed a congressman's criticism that the panel did not adequately investigate a claim that four hijackers were identified as al-Qaida members more than a year before the attacks.

In a joint statement, former commission chairman Thomas Kean and vice chairman Lee Hamilton said a military official who made the claim had no documentation to back it up. And they said only 9/11 ringleader Mohamed Atta was identified to them and not three additional hijackers as claimed by Rep. Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security committees.

"He could not describe what information had led to this supposed Atta identification," the statement said of the military official.

They also said no else could place the other three hijackers with Atta in a purported terror cell code-named "Brooklyn" during the time period cited by Weldon.

The pre-Sept. 11 intelligence on Atta was disclosed recently by Weldon, who said a secret military unit called "Able Danger" had identified the four hijackers as part of terrorist cell. He said the information should have been forwarded by the military to the FBI.

In response to the statement by Kean and Hamilton, Weldon accused the commission of purposely omitting information on Able Danger. He said in a statement that he will continue to push for a "full accounting of the historical record."

If proves correct, the intelligence would change the timeline for when government officials first learned of Atta's links to al-Qaida. The Pentagon and at least two congressional committees are looking into the issue.