Ex-NORAD chief says he wasn't told of Atta

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Aug 27, 2005 | by PAM ZUBECK THE GAZETTE

The former head of the joint U.S.-Canadian defense of North American airspace said Friday that he was unaware the military had identified Mohamed Atta as part of a terrorist cell in Brooklyn a year before the Sept. 11 attacks.

"All I know is, they never said anything to me about it. No one did," said retired Air Force Gen. Ralph "Ed" Eberhart, chief of North American Aerospace Defense Command on Sept. 11 and who later also headed U.S. Northern Command when it was created in 2002.

In an interview, Eberhart also fretted about the impact of base closures on NORAD operations and dismissed reports of an apparent conflict between military and civilian authorities over who would take charge of the response to domestic terrorism.

Eberhart was in Colorado Springs on Friday to attend a meeting of the nonprofit National Homeland Defense Foundation board. Since retiring last fall, Eberhart has been president of the Armed Forces Benefit Association, based in Alexandria, Va.

On Sept. 11, 2001, he ran NORAD, U.S. Space Command and Air Force Space Command.

NORAD, which at that time monitored threats from outside the continent, was caught off-guard by the terrorist hijackers. It got permission to shoot down one of the airliners only after it crashed.

In recent weeks, a special agent has claimed that a secret military intelligence operation called "Able Danger" identified Atta as an al-Qaida cell leader long before the attacks but couldn't advise the proper authorities.

The Pentagon hasn't confirmed the claims, but some Congress members want to know more.

Eberhart said Friday that he doesn't know whether Atta was identified early on, but if he was, Eberhart wasn't told about it. He also said he didn't think a similar oversight would happen today.

"I personally believe that, in fact, if Atta was known by any agency in the government today under today's rules and construct, that if it looked like there was any link to aviation, to hijacking," he said, "NORAD/NorthCom would be among the first to know."

Eberhart was less confident about the Pentagon's plan to close or downsize 30 Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard sites from Massachusetts to Texas to Oregon. NORAD relies on the Guard for fighter jets to respond to errant or threatening aircraft. The plan, being considered by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, calls for 29 of 88 flying units to have no aircraft.

"I can only assume and hope that if they do, in fact, close and move some of these fighters from some of these locations that I think are important, there will be some accommodation for other airplanes in the vicinity so that they figure out some other way to get the mission done," he said.

In recent weeks, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff disputed NORAD and NorthCom commander Adm. Timothy Keating's comments that NorthCom has drafted command and control plans for being the lead agency under some circumstances of terrorist attacks on home soil.

Chertoff said his agency would take the lead, with the military providing a supporting role.

Eberhart said he has no doubt Chertoff and Keating "fully understand the lanes in the road," including the rule that the military play a supporting role.

Although Eberhart didn't draft a written plan to take over incidents like Keating apparently has, he supports worst-case- scenario planning and emphasized that the military would take over only if no other agency could handle it.

"The last thing we want to do is be in charge, because that means it is really bad," he said.

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