Anthony Shaffer ( intelligence officer ) Anthony Shaffer ( born 1962 ) is a retired U . S . Army Lieutenant Colonel who gained fame for his claims about mishandled intelligence before the September 11 attacks and for the censoring of his book , " Operation Dark Heart " . Shaffer enlisted in the Ohio Army National Guard in 1980 and graduated from Officer Candidate School in 1982 . He received his B . A . in political science and environmental studies from Wright State University in 1986 and was a member of the WSU national championship Mock Trial team that defeated Northwestern University in front of the Iowa Supreme Court that same year . 9 / 11 hijacker claims . Shaffer has alleged that the U . S . Defense Intelligence Agency ( DIA ) failed to properly evaluate intelligence on 9 / 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta . Shaffer ' s allegations subsequently became known as the Able Danger controversy . In October 2003 , according to his later statement to Congress , Shaffer told the 9 / 11 Commission staff director , Dr . Philip D . Zelikow , that in 2000 a DIA data - mining program known as Able Danger had uncovered two of the three terrorist cells eventually implicated in the September 11 attacks . Shaffer reportedly told Zelikow that DIA leadership declined to share this information with the FBI because military lawyers expressed concerns about the legality of doing so . Shaffer also asserted that he briefed Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet on three separate occasions regarding his unit ' s activities . The 9 / 11 Commission Report did not mention Shaffer ' s allegations , but in 2005 and 2006 the Chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee , Rep . Curt Weldon , publicized Shaffer ' s allegations in public statements and hearings . Censored memoirs . Shaffer published his memoirs as the book " Operation Dark Heart " . The Defense Department attempted to preserve secrecy of revelations made by the book , by buying up and destroying all 10 , 000 copies of the book ' s first , uncensored run , before allowing for the release of a second , censored printing . However , several uncensored pre - release copies were distributed , allowing a person in possession of an earlier copy to compare it to the redacted version to glean what the government considers unfit for public consumption . Current work . Shaffer has conducted multiple courses of instruction in his capacity as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies , including the Psychology of Terrorism , Leadership and Effects - Based Operations . He is a frequent guest on national electronic media ( TV and radio ) and is frequently quoted in print media as an analyst on defense issues . He is also a nationally known Subject Matter Expert ( SME ) on intelligence collection and policy , terrorism , data mining , situational awareness and adaptive / disruptive technologies . Shaffer recently retired from the U . S . Army Reserve , in which his last position he served in a training division as its Reserve G6 Assistant Chief of Staff , Communications and Technology . He is also a senior advisor to multiple organizations on terrorism and counterinsurgency issues and a member of the U . S . Nuclear Strategy Forum . Shaffer is a Senior Fellow with EMPact America , and blogs on their web site : http : / / www . empactamerica . org / matterantimatter / . With William H . Keith , he has written a novel , " The Last Line " , to be released in June 2013 .