PLAME INDICTMENTS #17-HIGH CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS-The Tip Of The Iceberg

[Pallas180]

COVER UP OF TREASON


We, you and I, are THE grass-roots democratic power.

We are by the people, of the people, for the people.

Our primary job is to continue to educate the public, pressure Congress through our letters, faxes and phone calls, register voters, and increase participation in those treasures defined by the Bill of Rights.

While thousands of us on the internet truly know the danger this country is on the verge of, millions who are not on the internet have no idea of the neo-con/PNAC One World Government plan and the purposeful destruction of our Freedoms through the Patriot Act and continued additions to it.

Here's an easy way to work to spread the message about the Plame Indictments, Sibel Edmonds' and the High Crimes and Misdemeanors committed by elected officials and their appointees in this administraton:

Become ACTIVELY involved in educating the American public without drawing attention to yourself. You can spread the word of our Government's deception and betrayal from one citizen to another without any personal exposure.

One DU'er named it "Dropaganda".

Here's how: Make ten or more copies of the color "letter-flyer" by clicking on the URL below, and leave them in a public place where someone else will find it and read it. Ideal locations for maximum exposure include book stores, copy shops, libraries and train stations, buses, subways, taxis, laundromats, check-out lines at the grocery store, hair salons,barber shops,rest rooms, gas stations, convenience stores,movie seats,corporate lunchrooms, grocery stores, bulletin boards, church pews and anywhere you happen to be will work just fine. Do this every week from now through November.

You can just happen to leave this flyer everywhere you
visit (just cut and paste into "Word" and print or print directly in color from URL just below) and you'll know you've done your part to help protect America from the most destructive force that has ever occupied not just the White House, but many appointee positions in our government.

It's YOUR COUNTRY. You and we have to help ourselves by this movement against non stop war on other countries, on our jobs,on
our standard of living, and most of all the war on our liberties and
the Constitution.

GO FOR IT!~

With thanks to DU'er Dist22Dem for this magnificent professionally
printed color flyer. Just click on the URL below and print it out


http://s93118771.onlinehome.us/DU/letter.pd

[Pallas180]

1. THEORY OF THE WHY-PLAME>CHENEY>HALLIBURTON

"WHY" THEORY PLAME>CHENEY>HALLIBURTON>ILLEGAL WMD TRADE

A THEORY ON THE WHY - Plame -> Cheney->Halliburton

On my way home today, as I thought about the why the outing of Valerie Plame was necessary, I was so engrossed I drove 4 exits past my exit.

Here's what we know:

1) Valerie Plame was "active in a sting operation involving the trafficking of Weapons of Mass Destruction components"" when her identity was exposed by the White House. It also said" Only a high-ranking official could have had access to the knowledge" that Valerie Plame was a covert CIA agent.

2) Vice President Cheney since 1995 as CEO of Halliburton was fined 1.2 milion dollars for illegal sales of components to Libya which could be used for nuclear purposes. Shortly before becoming Vice President he bitterly assailed US policy against selling such components to Syrria and Iran, which apparently hurt Halliburton's bottom line.

3) There is an investigation of Vice President Cheney in other countries for illegal bribery and various other offenses connected to Halliburton as well as paying amounts to secret Swiss bank accounts

4)The Atomic Energy Commission has said a North American company is one of 20 being investigated for black market sales of WMD materials.

Here's the theory:

Valerie Plame was stopped in her tracks and the biggest treasonous taboo of revealing a CIA sting operation was done because she/it was coming close to discovering even more serious violations of the laws against trading nuclear materials with certain countries by our own Vice President and the Hallibuton company he has awarded billions of US taxpayer dollars to in non-bid contracts after he became VP.

Recently Libya was accused of having WMD components and the US threat
ened to invade unless Quaddaffi gave the WMD components to the US.
Bush 2 was seen on TV this week inspecting the cases of returned materials from Iraq triumphantly. The fact that Quaddafi received these illegal shipments of components from Cheney/Halliburton was not
mentioned in the victory video.

Dick Cheney, even after the Senate Intel Committee, The Atomic Commission and numerous other agencies have said no WMD exist in Iraq,
insists Iraq has WMD even in the last week.

Why? Because Dick Cheney knows he, through an offshore Halliburton company with a PO Box, at some time in the past sold Saddam Hussein WMD or components of WMD. In the same way "they" under Bush 1 adminstration sold Hussein lethal gas which he used, and then attacked him for using it saying he was a threat to the community.

Why do Cheney and Bush insist they must attack Syrria and Iran as the next step in making the world safe and that Syrria and Iran have
WMD? Cheney-Halliburton know that Syrria and Iran have WMD components because Cheney illegally sold the WMD components to Syrria and Iran.

Why did Bush Cheney know that North Korea had WMD and where did they gget the components?

Why were Pakistan and India able to test and develop nuclear weapons undetected by the CIA's "big eye in the sky" or any agency's seismic
discovery? And where did India and Pakistan purchase the components
for WMD which were illegal for any company to sell them?

What was Valerie Plame investigating?


good spooks vs the bad spooks in the FBI and CIA becomes very confusing to most, I think.



Not to add confusion to my "theory " above, but I also thought:

When Saudi Arabia asked Junior and Company to get out of Saudi Arabia
afer we had built a monstrous and expensive base armed with the newest weaponry - one might call it a home base -why would they do that, when they had wanted US to protect them and their oil fields for years???

The reason given for asking us to vacate was to calm the anti-American element. Hmmm. But if they needed our protection from that very element, WHY would they ask their protector to leave.
BECAUSE they "likely" also received WMD from certain parties.

So now, we can guess, the entire Middle East is armed with illegal components of WMD...supplied by whom?hmmm

And I agree with you ROBERTPAULSEN- it's a great racket. Supply them
with the components, collect payment. Shuttle back and forth between
private employment and government employment, selling WMD for your company's bottom line while a private CEO, earning large bonuses and
deferred "payment" plus increased stock option value, go back into government, create a war on those countries who have the WMD you have sold them, then you have created a situation where your company and the other companies you hold stock in, or which belong to your other associates, can supply the army with munitions, destroy the country you have sold WMD to, and then the very same companies who supplied the munitions for destruction, go in and rebuild the country.


So. Now how many times have you profiteered?
1) illegal selling of WMD
2) earn bonus, increase value of stock options
3) Supply Army Munitions on no bid contracts
4) Rebuild the country on no bid contracts



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robertpaulsen (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-25-04 03:22 PM
Response to Reply #55

56. PALLAS THEORY - WHY BRIT INTEL WONT SHOW THEIR EVIDENCE


everyone is assuming that the Brit Intel is the same Intel that the
CIA had. (on yellowcake)

You're right about one thing...the intel agencies all share their info.BUT you are forgetting that the French have been investigating CHeney Halliburton illegalities for some time, and Cheney Halliburton
did not sell yellowcake (to our knowledge), they sold equipment that could be used for dual use - and one of the uses was for a nuklar bomb.

So there is nothing to say that the Brit Intel was the same Niger info.In fact it may not be.

WHY would they not share with the world what information they had about Iraq having WMD? And why have they suddenly changed their mindsagain saying it was bogus after all - after insisting for 1 1/2 years they had separate proof of Iraq having WMD?

Theory: because it would cause a great deal of embarrassment to "he who calls himself president of VICE ! !! a-ha!

Could be one of Halliburton's subsidiaries or offshores, whose name and connection was not recognized immediately was in the hands of Brit Intel so they said they had separate verifying proof of WMD in Iraq - only to realize the proof traced back to a company named Halliburton or Brown Root - and so they shut up. (TOP SECRET - CANNOT BE REVEALED, of course while every intel agency in the world knows, but the general public date not know becaue we would hang the perpetrator)

Highly plausible . First they say they have proof of WMD in Iraq.but refuse to show it.......now they suddenly say the proof is bogus - and still refuse to reveal it.



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robertpaulsen (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-25-04 03:23 PM
Response to Reply #56

57. H20 THEORY - RECAP


H2O Man (1000+ posts) Sat Jul-17-04 02:01 PM




We know that Valerie Plame was involved in a sting operation involving the components for WMDs. This is verfied in J. Klein's article in Time, 7-5-04. Remember also that when Novak called CI for confirmation of Plame's status -- and Robert NoFacts had told a total stranger on a public street on the day afterWilson's NYT op-ed article that she was a WMD specialist -- the CIA requested that he not only should NOT mention Wilson's wife was an operative with the Agency, but that her name should not ever be printed.

One of the things to keep in mind is that by revealing Plame's identity, it insured that at very least, a half-dozen operatives (American and other-wise) were exposed to the last people on earth that they should have been exposed to. Let's just say, for example, that there was a person who was working in the Pakistan area ... and he had worked in deep cover for over a decade, and was very, very close to accessing information on the sale of not only technology, but also components, that went to Iran .... and he had a known link to Plame .... then he would be dead 24 hours after Novak's article was printed. Further, no one in the USA would be at liberty to discuss the fact that he existed.

You will recall that I've referred to this as high stakes chess. A board game where the removal of one player compromises the safety and value of several others.

Listen: if they wanted to call Wilson's conclusions into question, they could create confusion with a series of bullshit documents from England, etc. They could have said that his was one of three US reports, and that there were the British papers that were still open to question, considering that Wilson had not viewed them. They could have even said, yes, we tend to agree with Wilson.

But they didn't. They had been waiting to reveal information on Plame for some time. The fact that Iran is sharing he focus in the recent days, along with Wilson, is a clue .... a big clue.



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robertpaulsen (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-25-04 03:24 PM
Response to Reply #57

58. CALIMARY THEORY RECAP


Pallas180 (1000+ posts) Sat Jul-17-04 05:43 PM


71. I am convinced Valerie Plame was the target, & they thought
they would do a 'Rosenberg' on them. Two for the price of one.
Set them up.Traitors to the country, electric chair, the whole bit.




calimary (1000+ posts) Sat Jul-17-04 09:47 PM
Response to Reply #71

143. That would fit in conveniently with the message they evidently wanted to put out to the intel community: the "do not cheney with us" message. Wilson has, many times, mentioned that what happened to his wife, whether to her directly or indirectly to him, was to seriously discourage others from getting "out of line." Wouldn't that just be the decisive little coup de grace - to "Rosenberg" one or both of them, to put a chill on anybody else who might be getting too dangerously close? If they knew they were not only going to be ruined, but they also faced the electric chair or some other kind of EXTREMELY final punishment, there'd be icicles hanging off all of them before you could say "BOO!"

And for awhile, they've seemed invincible, haven't they? So who would dare...

But things are a lot stickier and more complicated now. Their anticipated free ride is starting to get seriously mucked up as more people know, and talk, and spread out, and start asking questions, and some guy like Fitzgerald gets involved (who couldn't be counted on to be a "good" republi-CON after all. And, as someone else mentioned either here or on Thread 8 - they misunderestimated the internet. They thought we'd all just shut up and go to our corner and suck our thumbs and mope and cower and give up, didn't they? They didn't know we'd (literally, here) go underground...

As Martha Stewart would say - it's a VERY good thing. And it's gaining traction.

Which is what our efforts in all these arenas should do, as well. GAIN TRACTION.






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robertpaulsen (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-25-04 03:26 PM
Response to Reply #58

60. ROBERTPAULSEN THEORY HALLI>KHAN-OBL>PLAME>CHENEY


robertpaulsen (1000+ posts) Mon Jul-19-04 07:22 PM
Response to Reply #216

234. WHOA!!! Could this be circumstantial evidence of a Khan/Plame link?!


When I first read this article, I decided to post it here because of the dirt it has on a Musharraf/Khan/Bin Laden connection.

A. Q. KHAN & OSAMA BIN LADEN

snip
These accounts of three of the travels of Dr.A.Q.Khan establish conclusively the following facts:

He had kept the Pakistani Foreign Office informed of his travels. The Foreign Office had instructed the Pakistani diplomatic missions in the countries visited by him to accord the due honours of protocol to him.
In all the countries, he was received by officers of the Pakistani diplomatic missions and entertained by the heads of missions.
In Sudan, he was accorded the honours of protocol generally given to a member of the Cabinet and called on the President of the country.
He was accompanied by senior serving scientists of Pakistan's nuclear establishment, who were among those responsible for Pakistan's military nuclear development. They could not have gone abroad and remained absent for days without the knowledge and clearance of the Government.
At least one Lt.Gen. belonging to the Pakistan Army's Medical Corps, who had headed it, and two Brigadiers had accompanied him. They could not have gone and remained away from the country without the knowledge and clearance of the Military Headquarters.
The uranium enriched at KRL, Kahuta, used to come from Africa, mainly Niger. This partly explains the frequent travels of A.Q.Khan to Africa. From the accounts given by the Pakistani author, two intriguing questions arise:

Why did Khan consider it necessary to visit the site of a factory in Sudan, which became the target of US Cruise missile attacks after the explosions outside the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam by Al Qaeda in August 1998? The Americans had alleged at that time that this factory belonged to Osama bin Laden and was producing chemicals for weaponisation purposes. Denying this, the Sudanese authorities had claimed that it was producing anti-malaria drugs.
Why was he visiting frequently Timbuktu, which has apparently no importance from the nuclear point of view? Pakistani officials have alleged that he had illegally constructed a hotel there ( Hotel La Colombe?) in the name of his wife. If he was going there to supervise the construction of the hotel, he should have been accompanied by experts in building construction and the hotel industry. No such person accompanied him. He was always accompanied by scientists and Army officers associated with KRL and Tahir Mian, who was helping him in the procurement of centrifuges.
It is reliably learnt from well-placed observers that it also came out during the recent interrogation of the associates of Khan in Pakistan's nuclear establishment that after Osama bin Laden shifted from Khartoum to Afghanistan in 1996, Dr.Khan was also looking after bin Laden's extensive investments in the mining industry in many African countries and that the money invested in the Timbuktu hotel had come from these investments of bin Laden. The Pakistani authorities have reportedly suppressed this information and not shared it with the US.

http://www.kashmirherald.com/featuredarticle/khanandbin ...

Sooooo....

Khan, with the assistance of the Pakistani government and military, looked after bin Laden investments in Africa. Pretty bad on its own merits. But then this sentence caught my eye.


The uranium enriched at KRL, Kahuta, used to come from Africa, mainly Niger. This partly explains the frequent travels of A.Q.Khan to Africa.


What a coincidence. The enriched uranium that Khan had access to came mainly from NIGER!

Now, when Cheney sent Wilson to Niger, wasn't he aware of Plame's WMD "sting operation" in the Middle East?!

No wonder Musharraf had this reaction:

"In one of his statements, he has even blamed the US intelligence agencies for not uncovering this network earlier than October last year and asserted that if they had done so, he would have acted against it even earlier."

I know this is not direct proof of a smoking gun, but I think this information could be an extremely important piece of the puzzle. If the WMD trafficking that Plame's "sting operation" covered is linked to Khan, who got his enriched uranium mainly from Niger, and we can verify Cheney had access to this intelligence, then we are getting even closer to H20 Man and Prouty's big question: why?



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robertpaulsen (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-25-04 03:30 PM
Response to Reply #60

62. ROBERTPAULSEN - CHENEY/KHAN TIE: MOTIVE TO OUT PLAME


We all know about the $1.2 million fine Cheney got for selling dual-use components. Going back over some of my old posts, here's another bit of dirt we should all remember:

Cheney helped cover-up Pakistani nuclear proliferation in '89 so US could sell country fighter jets

Tuesday, March 16 2004 @ 04:04 PM Eastern Standard Time
Jason Leopold
When Pakistan's clandestine program involving its top nuclear scientist selling rogue nations, such as Iran and North Korea, blueprints for building an atomic bomb was uncovered last month, the world's leaders waited, with baited breath to see what type of punishment George W. Bush would inflict upon Pakistan's President Pervez Musharaff. Bush has, after all, spent his entire term in office talking tough about countries and dictators that conceal weapons of mass destruction and even tougher on individuals who supply rogue nations and terrorists with the means to build WMD. For all intents and purposes, Pakistan and Musharraf fit that description.

Remember, Bush accused Iraq of harboring a cache of WMD, which was the primary reason he gave for the United States launching a preemptive strike on that country a year ago, and also claimed that Iraq may have given its WMD to al-Qaeda terrorists and/or Syria, weapons that, Bush said, could be used to attack the U.S. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and top members of the administration reacted with shock when they found out that Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, spent the past 15 years selling outlaw nations nuclear technology and equipment. So it was sort of a surprise when Bush, upon finding out about Khan's proliferation of nuclear technology, let Pakistan off with a slap on the wrist. But it was all an act. In fact, it was actually a coverup designed to shield Cheney because he knew about the proliferation for more than a decade and did nothing to stop it.

Like the terrorist attacks on 9-11, the Bush administration had mountains of evidence on Pakistan's sales of nuclear technology and equipment to nations vilified by the U.S.?nations that are considered much more of a threat than Iraq?but turned a blind eye to the threat and allowed it to happen. In 1989, the year Khan first started selling nuclear secrets on the black-market; Richard Barlow, a young intelligence analyst working for the Pentagon prepared a shocking report for Cheney, who was then secretary of defense under the Bush I administration: Pakistan built an atomic bomb and was selling its nuclear equipment to countries the U.S. said was sponsoring terrorism. But Barlow's findings, as reported in a January 2002 story in Mother Jones magazine, were "politically inconvenient."

"A finding that Pakistan possessed a nuclear bomb would have triggered a congressionally mandated cutoff of aid to the country, a key ally in the CIA's efforts to support Afghan rebels fighting a pro-Soviet government. It also would have killed a $1.4-billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad," Mother Jones reported. Ironically, Pakistan, critics say, was let off the hook last month so the U.S. could use its borders to hunt for al-Qaeda leader and alleged 9-11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. Cheney dismissed Barlow's report because he desperately wanted to sell Pakistan the F-16 fighter planes. Several months later, a Pentagon official was told by Cheney to downplay Pakistan's nuclear capabilities when he testified on the threat before Congress. Barlow complained to his bosses at the Pentagon and was fired.

http://www.pakistan-facts.com/article.php/2004031621042 ...

That got me thinking about other facts surrounding the Plame scandal. Like the "sting operation involving the trafficking of WMD components". When Khan's operation was exposed, everyone in the loop was caught with their pants down. Musharraf had to pardon Khan because as the father of the Pakistani atomic bomb, he is a national hero. Do you buy that as the real reason? That's like accepting the Bush misadministration's silence over the pardon because Pakistan is our ally in the War on Terror. Right. Reminds me of Michael Corleone in Godfather Part II: "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer".

My theory is that the sting operation Plame was involved in brought down A.Q. Khan. As far as "trafficking of WMD components" goes, Khan was a pretty huge player. My fear is that Khan was just the tip of the iceberg and that when Plame's operation was derailed, it allowed even bigger fish to swim away where Middle East WMD trafficking is concerned. Remember this about Musharraf:

"His repeatedly-asserted contention has been that after the interception by the intelligence agencies of the US and the UK of a ship in October last year which was found carrying to Libya a clandestine consignment of centrifuges for uranium enrichment got manufactured at the instance of A.Q.Khan by a company in Malaysia with the assistance of a Sri Lankan Muslim, he became aware of the extensive non-proliferation activities of the A.Q.Khan group and immediately acted against them.

According to Musharraf, details of the clandestine travels and proliferation network of A.Q. Khan came to notice during the subsequent investigation. In one of his statements, he has even blamed the US intelligence agencies for not uncovering this network earlier than October last year and asserted that if they had done so, he would have acted against it even earlier

http://www.kashmirherald.com/featuredarticle/khanandbin ...

If Plame was in on this sting, Musharraf certainly had a reason to voice disdain for the US intelligence agencies, and Cheney certainly had a reason to out Plame.



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robertpaulsen (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-25-04 03:32 PM
Response to Reply #62

63. Nuclear Walmart: Little Doubt that OBL has dirty bomb -


if you read Robert's post above carefully, you see that
Pakistani scientist Khan was running a Nuclear Walmart.

1)He sold the secrets of the nuclear bomb world wide. This is fact.
2)He had access to yellow cake by his trips to Africa/Niger
3)He was OBL's overseer of finances and properties, with the help
of the secret service ISI of Pakistan.

The ISI of Pakistan was also the supporter and installer of the TAliban in Afghanistan (and current protector/hider of OBL)

When Khan was exposed as the merchant of death ofa ring selling nuclear materials world wide, he was immediately pardoned by
Musharaf, PM of of Pakistan. Pardoned so fast that none of the US
Intel agencies would be able to question him.

WHY? H20 always tells us to ask WHY? Why was Khan immediately pardoned? Because to try him for criminality would have exposed
who gave him nuclear components, what corporations sold illegally,
what country and high officials were involved.

WHERE did Khan get the components which are necessary to set off
a nuclear device?

WHO? do we know who has illegally been selling nuclear dual components?

Some of these answers go back to the administration in 1988 when it
was known that administration gave other countries the miniaturized
nuke W88. Hmmmm. What current officials were in the same administration?

What was the name of the President at the time?



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robertpaulsen (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-25-04 03:35 PM
Response to Reply #63

64. Why go to the elaborate scenarios? to stop WMD investigations:


Subject: Why go to the elaborate scenarios: to stop investigations into WMD sales
Message:
Pallas180 (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-18-04 06:12 PM
Response to Reply #59

71. They're not called the Mayberry Machiavellis for nothing - I think

in a way it was the other way around, they weren't after Wilson, they were after Plame. Two for the price of one. Rosenberg them.

Cheney has been in govt since Nixon, that we know of, then Ford.
He's been around a long time with access to top security items.
To recap, we also knew he made at least 10 trips to CI HQ and would
have, could have, pinpointed who was working blackmarket WMD which
would have been of great interest to him. He would also have access
to CI files, would know of or remember Ambassador Wilson. Bingo -
the plot is hatched.

Ask her would her husband be interested in helping? Of course.
Discredit him, expose/discredit her operation and put a stop to her work and the work of the entire spy group/cell she had set up worldwide which MAY have been hot on the trail of Halliburton/Brown Root/et al illegal black market sales of components which could be used for WMD, which as we all know was Valerie's job.

He figures he's home free, no more fines, no discovery of the double dealing, but the Mayberrys call Novak and committ a treasonous act which leads right back to the WH and darth vader.

___________________________________________________________________


Pallas180 (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-18-04 09:41 PM
Response to Reply #102

117. If Pappy gave the mini nuke W88 to China,as widely reported, there is nothing to say Pappy and darth vader didn't give the same or similar components to Khan. And your theory sounds just about right - Khan would have had to be pardoned immediately because not to pardon him, the good FBI would be over there asking him where he got the WMD and the arrow would point right back to the 1988 administration # 1 and/or the current WH.

Another reason why junior sealed Pappy's records.

Nice, huh. It still sounds like treason to me at the highest levels
__________________________________________________________

robertpaulsen (1000+ posts) Sun Jul-18-04 11:01 PM
Response to Reply #117

138. Glad you agree!
The extent of treason is pretty scary. Gives me nightmares sometimes. I woke up this morning with the memory of seeing a news report: "Bush prepares for upcoming Iran invasion". That's one nightmare I'm afraid might come true.

But I take comfort in knowing we're all on the side of righteousness in this struggle

Additional edit for this thread: These theories are all different, but as far as I can see, they all fit into a pattern, like different pieces of the same jigsaw puzzle. I look forward to reading more research into these theories, as well as new theories that could give us a fresh perspective on the nature of this crime.


shraby (1000+ posts) Tue Jul-27-04 12:44 AM
Response to Reply #55

185. There is one more aspect


to the 1-2-3-4

5.The "criminals" re-Enter government from time to time and make sure laws and regulations are such that can be most profitable to them while they and/or their friends and associates are in the private sector.

[Pallas180]

2. WHAT THE NEO-CON/PNAC ADMINISTRATION IS UP TO by Will Pitt

http://truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archiv...

February 2003


Blood Money
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 27 February 2003

"In the counsels of Government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the Military Industrial Complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes."
- President Dwight Eisenhower, January 1961.

George W. Bush gave a speech Wednesday night before the Godfather of conservative Washington think tanks, the American Enterprise Institute. In his speech, Bush quantified his coming war with Iraq as part of a larger struggle to bring pro-western governments into power in the Middle East. Couched in hopeful language describing peace and freedom for all, the speech was in fact the closest articulation of the actual plan for Iraq that has yet been heard from the administration.

In a previous truthout article from February 21, the ideological connections between an extremist right-wing Washington think tank and the foreign policy aspirations of the Bush administration were detailed.

The Project for a New American Century, or PNAC, is a group founded in 1997 that has been agitating since its inception for a war with Iraq. PNAC was the driving force behind the drafting and passage of the Iraqi Liberation Act, a bill that painted a veneer of legality over the ultimate designs behind such a conflict. The names of every prominent PNAC member were on a letter delivered to President Clinton in 1998 which castigated him for not implementing the Act by driving troops into Baghdad.

PNAC has funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to a Hussein opposition group called the Iraqi National Congress, and to Iraq's heir-apparent, Ahmed Chalabi, despite the fact that Chalabi was sentenced in absentia by a Jordanian court to 22 years in prison on 31 counts of bank fraud. Chalabi and the INC have, over the years, gathered support for their cause by promising oil contracts to anyone that would help to put them in power in Iraq.

Most recently, PNAC created a new group called The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. Staffed entirely by PNAC members, The Committee has set out to "educate" Americans via cable news connections about the need for war in Iraq. This group met recently with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice regarding the ways and means of this education.

Who is PNAC? Its members include:

* Vice President Dick Cheney, one of the PNAC founders, who served as Secretary of Defense for Bush Sr.;

* I. Lewis Libby, Cheney's top national security assistant;

* Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, also a founding member, along with four of his chief aides including;

* Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, arguably the ideological father of the group;

* Eliot Abrams, prominent member of Bush's National Security Council, who was pardoned by Bush Sr. in the Iran/Contra scandal;

* John Bolton, who serves as Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security in the Bush administration;

* Richard Perle, former Reagan administration official and present chairman of the powerful Defense Policy Board;

* Randy Scheunemann, President of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, who was Trent Lott's national security aide and who served as an advisor to Rumsfeld on Iraq in 2001;

* Bruce Jackson, Chairman of PNAC, a position he took after serving for years as vice president of weapons manufacturer Lockheed-Martin, and who also headed the Republican Party Platform subcommittee for National Security and Foreign Policy during the 2000 campaign. His section of the 2000 GOP Platform explicitly called for the removal of Saddam Hussein;

* William Kristol, noted conservative writer for the Weekly Standard, a magazine owned along with the Fox News Network by conservative media mogul Ruppert Murdoch.

The Project for the New American Century seeks to establish what they call 'Pax Americana' across the globe. Essentially, their goal is to transform America, the sole remaining superpower, into a planetary empire by force of arms. A report released by PNAC in September of 2000 entitled 'Rebuilding America's Defenses' codifies this plan, which requires a massive increase in defense spending and the fighting of several major theater wars in order to establish American dominance. The first has been achieved in Bush's new budget plan, which calls for the exact dollar amount to be spent on defense that was requested by PNAC in 2000. Arrangements are underway for the fighting of the wars.

The men from PNAC are in a perfect position to see their foreign policy schemes, hatched in 1997, brought into reality. They control the White House, the Pentagon and Defense Department, by way of this the armed forces and intelligence communities, and have at their feet a Republican-dominated Congress that will rubber-stamp virtually everything on their wish list.

The first step towards the establishment of this Pax Americana is, and has always been, the removal of Saddam Hussein and the establishment of an American protectorate in Iraq. The purpose of this is threefold: 1) To acquire control of the oilheads so as to fund the entire enterprise; 2) To fire a warning shot across the bows of every leader in the Middle East; 3) To establish in Iraq a military staging area for the eventual invasion and overthrow of several Middle Eastern regimes, including some that are allies of the United States.

Another PNAC signatory, author Norman Podhoretz, quantified this aspect of the grand plan in the September 2002 issue of his journal, 'Commentary'. In it, Podhoretz notes that the regimes, "that richly deserve to be overthrown and replaced, are not confined to the three singled-out members of the axis of evil. At a minimum, the axis should extend to Syria and Lebanon and Libya, as well as 'friends' of America like the Saudi royal family and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, along with the Palestinian Authority, whether headed by Arafat or one of his henchmen." At bottom, for Podhoretz, this action is about "the long-overdue internal reform and modernization of Islam."

This casts Bush's speech to AEI on Wednesday in a completely different light.

Weapons of mass destruction are a smokescreen. Paeans to the idea of Iraqi liberation and democratization are cynical in their inception. At the end of the day, this is not even about oil. The drive behind this war is ideological in nature, a crusade to 'reform' the religion of Islam as it exists in both government and society within the Middle East. Once this is accomplished, the road to empire will be open, ten lanes wide and steppin' out over the line.

At the end of the day, however, ideology is only good for bull sessions in the board room and the bar. Something has to grease the skids, to make the whole thing worthwhile to those involved, and entice those outside the loop to get into the game.

Thus, the payout.

It is well known by now that Dick Cheney, before becoming Vice President, served as chairman and chief executive of the Dallas-based petroleum corporation Halliburton. During his tenure, according to oil industry executives and United Nations records, Halliburton did a brisk $73 million in business with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. While working face-to-face with Hussein, Cheney and Halliburton were also moving into position to capitalize upon Hussein's removal from power. In October of 1995, the same month Cheney was made CEO of Halliburton, that company announced a deal that would put it first in line should war break out in Iraq. Their job: To take control of burning oil wells, put out the fires, and prepare them for service.

Another corporation that stands to do well by a war in Iraq is Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton. Ostensibly, Brown & Root is in the construction business, and thus has won a share of the $900 million government contract for the rebuilding of post-war Iraqi bridges, roads and other basic infrastructure. This is but the tip of the financial iceberg, as the oil wells will also have to be repaired after parent-company Halliburton puts out the fires.

More ominously is Brown & Root's stock in trade: the building of permanent American military bases. There are twelve permanent U.S. bases in Kosovo today, all built and maintained by Brown & Root for a multi-billion dollar profit. If anyone should wonder why the administration has not offered an exit strategy to the Iraq war plans, the presence of Brown & Root should answer them succinctly. We do not plan on exiting. In all likelihood, Brown & Root is in Iraq to build permanent bases there, from which attacks upon other Middle Eastern nations can be staged and managed.

Again, this casts Bush's speech on Wednesday in a new light.

Being at the center of the action is nothing new for Halliburton and Brown & Root. The two companies have worked closely with governments in Algeria, Angola, Bosnia, Burma, Croatia, Haiti, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Somalia during the worst chapters in those nation's histories. Many environmental and human rights groups claim that Cheney, Halliburton and Brown & Root were, in fact, centrally involved in these fiascos. More recently, Brown & Root was contracted by the Defense Department to build cells for detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The bill for that one project came to $300 million.

Cheney became involved with PNAC officially in 1997, while still profiting from deals between Halliburton and Hussein. One year later, Cheney and PNAC began actively and publicly agitating for war on Iraq. They have not stopped to this very day.

Another company with a vested interest in both war on Iraq and massively increased defense spending is the Carlyle Group. Carlyle, a private global investment firm with more than $12.5 billion in capital under management, was formed in 1987. Its interests are spread across 164 companies, including telecommunications firms and defense contractors. It is staffed at the highest levels by former members of the Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations. Former President George H. W. Bush is himself employed by Carlyle as a senior advisor, as is long-time Bush family advisor and former Secretary of State James Baker III.

One company acquired by Carlyle is United Defense, a weapons manufacturer based in Arlington, VA. United Defense provides the Defense Department with combat vehicle systems, fire support, combat support vehicle systems, weapons delivery systems, amphibious assault vehicles, combat support services and naval armaments. Specifically, United Defense manufactures the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the M113 armored personnel carrier, the M88A2 Recovery Vehicle, the Grizzly, the M9 ACE, the Composite Armored Vehicle, the M6 Linebacker, the M7 BFIST, the Armored Gun System, the M4 Command and Control Vehicle, the Battle Command Vehicle, the Paladin, the Crusader, and Electric Gun/Pulse Power weapons technology.

In other words, everything a growing Defense Department, a war in Iraq, and a burgeoning American military empire needs.

Ironically, one group that won't profit from Carlyle's involvement in American military buildup is the family of Osama bin Laden. The bin Laden family fortune was amassed by Mohammed bin Laden, father of Osama, who built a multi-billion dollar construction empire through contracts with the Saudi government. The Saudi BinLaden Group, as this company is called, was heavily invested in Carlyle for years. Specifically, they were invested in Carlyle's Partners II Fund, which includes in that portfolio United Defense and other weapons manufacturers.

This relationship was described in a September 27, 2001 article in the Wall Street Journal entitled 'Bin Laden Family Could Profit From Jump in Defense Spending Due to Ties to US Bank.' The 'bank' in question was the Carlyle Group. A follow-up article published by the Journal on September 28 entitled ' Bin Laden Family Has Intricate Ties With Washington - Saudi Clan Has Had Access To Influential Republicans ' further describes the relationship. In October of 2001, Saudi BinLaden and Carlyle severed their relationship by mutual agreement. The timing is auspicious.

There are a number of depths to be plumbed in all of this. The Bush administration has claimed all along that this war with Iraq is about Saddam Hussein's connections to terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, though through it all they have roundly failed to establish any basis for either accusation. On Wednesday, Bush went further to claim that the war is about liberating the Iraqi people and bringing democracy to the Middle East. This ignores cultural realities on the ground in Iraq and throughout the region that, salted with decades of deep mistrust for American motives, make such a democracy movement brought at the point of the sword utterly impossible to achieve.

This movement, cloaked in democracy, is in fact a PNAC-inspired push for an American global empire. It behooves Americans to understand that there is a great difference between being the citizen of a constitutional democracy and being a citizen of an empire. The establishment of an empire requires some significant sacrifices.

Essential social, medical, educational and retirement services will have to be gutted so that those funds can be directed towards a necessary military buildup. Actions taken abroad to establish the preeminence of American power, most specifically in the Middle East, will bring a torrent of terrorist attacks to the home front. Such attacks will bring about the final suspension of constitutional rights and the rule of habeas corpus, as we will find ourselves under martial law. In the end, however, this may be inevitable. An empire cannot function with the slow, cumbersome machine of a constitutional democracy on its back. Empires must be ruled with speed and ruthlessness, in a manner utterly antithetical to the way in which America has been governed for 227 years.

And yes, of course, a great many people will die.

It would be one thing if all of this was based purely on the ideology of our leaders. It is another thing altogether to consider the incredible profit motive behind it all. The President, his father, the Vice President, a whole host of powerful government officials, along with stockholders and executives from Halliburton and Carlyle, stand to make a mint off this war. Long-time corporate sponsors from the defense, construction and petroleum industries will likewise profit enormously.

Critics of the Bush administration like to bandy about the word "fascist" when speaking of George. The image that word conjures is of Nazi stormtroopers marching in unison towards Hitler's Final Solution. This does not at all fit. It is better, in this matter, to view the Bush administration through the eyes of Benito Mussolini. Mussolini, dubbed 'the father of Fascism,' defined the word in a far more pertinent fashion. "Fascism," said Mussolini, "should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power."

Boycott the French, the Germans, and the other 114 nations who stand against this Iraq war all you wish. France and Germany do not oppose Bush because they are cowards, or because they enjoy the existence of Saddam Hussein. France and Germany stand against the Bush administration because they intend to stop this Pax Americana in its tracks if they can. They have seen militant fascism up close and personal before, and wish never to see it again.

Would that we Americans could be so wise.

-------

William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times bestselling author of two books - "War On Iraq" (with Scott Ritter) available now from Context Books, and "The Greatest Sedition is Silence," available in May 2003 from Pluto Press. He teaches high school in Boston, MA.

Scott Lowery contributed research to this report.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

© : t r u t h o u t 2004

[Pallas180]

5. THE DANGER TO THE CONSTITUIONAL DEMOCRACY by Waterman

THE DANGER TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY BY Waterman Jul-25-04


The Revolutionary Presidency vs The Bill of Rights


1) Introduction

This paper will examine the dangers to constitutional democracy posed by the Bush Administration. It will review the concepts of separation of federal powers, the practice of the balancing of those powers, and scrutinize several areas where Bush/Cheney have corrupted this constitutional system that our democracy is based upon.

This paper will focus primarily on how the growing menace of an Imperial Presidency of the Nixon era has become the threatening reality of the Revolutionary Presidency today.

2) The Balance of Powers

A- The theories behind the constitutional democracy of the United States are the "distinctive American contribution(s) to the art of government." (The Imperial Presidency; Schelsinger; pg vii)

The idea of the 13 Colonies forming a confederate federal state came directly from meetings between Founding Fathers, primarily Ben Franklin, and the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee, or Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. Jefferson was influenced by the Iroquois' concepts of the freedoms of individuals; these, along with the contributions of progressive European thought (found primarily in France), led to the Bill of Rights.

However, in European history, governments had assumed a unified authority that allowed them to control, and deny, basic human rights to citizens of the state. Jefferson and Madison and others created the more perfect union, which allowed citizens to control the government through a series of checks and balances implied in the separation of powers on the federal level.

B- The three branches of the federal government are the executive, legislative, and judiciary. These three are intended to form a balanced triangle. The separation of powers is not intended to make all three to be locked into an equal status; rather, it offers checks and balances that creates an inertia that keeps any one branch from assuming unlimited powers. The goal, according to Justice Brandis (Myers v US 1926) is "not to promote efficiency, but to preclude the exercise of arbitrary power."

The executive, or the office of the president, has the implied power to provide leadership in emergency situations. In our early history, from the Revolutionary to the Civil War, this power was used only to respond to threats to the safety of citizens ( re: pirate attacks, which generally came from Tripoli, and which share important parallels with today's situation) and wars with foreign nations.

In these cases, these emergency powers were onlyintended for a brief period, before congressional controls took over. The Senate is the seat of the actual war powers. Further, according to Supreme Court Justice James Wilson, "The House of Representatives ... forms the grand inquest of the state. They will dilegently inquire into grievences, arising both from men and things." (Grand Inquest; New York; 1961; pgs 22-30)

C- The history of democracy has been imperfect in the United States. The most basic rights have been denied to both groups and individuals, based upon their sex, age, race, and religion. Issues including gay marriage show that we still have a long way to go.

Yet, for all of its faults, our constitutional democracy has shown the greatest of promise. The efforts of each generation of Americans has brought us closer to providing the rights of free people to a larger, more inclusive population. This is a great nation.

From the Revolutionary to the Civil War was known as the "Golden Age" of the congress.Also, the sequence of presidents, and the series of federal courts moved the nation towards the promise of the Founding Fathers, found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The reasons were found not only in those great documents, but in that separation and balance of powers at the federal level. These insured the Bill of Rights was a living entity. In fact, while many today note that President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil war, there "was no effective censorship, no Sedition Act, no Espiionage Act." (Schlesinger; pg 335)

However, after the Civil War, changes in the economy which were a result of the change from an agrarian to industrial national base, led directly to unprecedented influence of business on the national politics. This new level of extreme corruption led Mark Twain to refer to the phenomenon as the "Gilded Age" of politics.

It is important to note that all of industry would be connected, either directly or indirectly, to the production of oil. By 1870, all of the economies of the industrialized nations were based on oil. The significance of this is explored in greater detail in the book, "Farewell America."

D- Business interest rapidly became central to the decision-making processes of (1) citizens electing officials to the legislative and executive branches; and (2) the domestic and foreign policies of those elected officials in both branches. While the federal courts are defined as the branch that is supposed to "do the least harm to democracy," the changes in the executive and legislative branches created changes in the judiciary, just as surely as the pulling of two sides of a triangular mobile suspende above the crib of democracy.

Thus: (1) the president begins to increasingly dominate the legislative process; (2) the congress increasingly delegates its authority to the president; and (3) the federal courts tend to become "activist" to offset congressional impotence. And despite the best of intentions, and while acknowledging the value of many progressive decisions, the federal courts should not be "activist," as the dangers posed by current federal courts demonstrate.

3) Threats to our Constitutional Democracy

The deteriorative influences of business interests on the separation of federal powers accelerated during WW2. If we examine the relationship of the competition of the world economy on American political life, we can note a progression in the executive branch (including FDR, Truman, Ike, JFK, & LBJ) moving towards the Imperial Presidency of the Nixon Era. The two areas where this threat to our constitutional democracy were concentrated were (a) the war powers, and (b) secrecy. (Schlesinger)

The history of the war powers in terms of the president responding to a threat to the nation's security evolved significantly after WW2. This was due to the influence of the military industrial complex. All American foreign policy, with the exception of some initial attempts by JFK which ended on 11-22-1963, equated the access to foreign resources with national security, and domestic security with bureaucratic secrecy.

This was in opposition to the 64th Federalist Paper, in which John Jay interpreted the Constitution to recognize but two needs for federal secrecy: (1) diplomatic negotiations, and (2) intelligence.

Democracy by its very nature demands the disclosure of information by all three branches of government. Even among the widely varying opinions of the Founding Fathers, there was complete agreement that the free diffusion of information was vital to insure a stable federal government.

Yet as the executive branch created an elastic definition of "national security," the presidents began a more undemocratic relationship with the bureaucracies of the military indistrial complex. And the instinct of bureaucracy is "to increase the superiority of the professionally informed by keeping their knowledge and intentions secret." (Max Weber: Essays in Sociology; Grath & Mills; New York; 1946)

4) External Threats to our Constitutional Democracy

The external threats to the USA from WW2 to the prsent tend to fit into three groups: the Nazi/ Axis powers; the communist menace; and the Islamic terrorist/"axis of evil" group of today. With the exceptions of Pearl Harbor and 9-11, all defined threats to our national interest tended to be defined as occuring in other countries, either to American business interests, or to trading partners. The cultural implications of Pearl Harbor and 9-11 are obvious.

Another external threat to our national security has become known to a large segment of our population through a cultural phenomenon, Michael Moore's movie "F 9-11." The threat is posed by foreign investments going beyond a few acres of land, or shares in a corporate stock. F 9-11 demonstrates clearly that a significant segment of our economy is controlled by foreign governments. One, for example, is Saudi Arabia. The Saudi royal family shows no appreciation for constitutional democracy.

Moore's movie demonstrates that the Saudi royal family is able to compromise the balance of powers in our federal government. Their influence with the Bush administration has stopped a serious investigation into what role they played in the 9-11 attack on the USA; allows them to manipulate what information becomes known to the American public; and interferes with the legal system, when James Baker represents the Saudis in a court action filed by the families of 9-11 victims.

5) The Revolutionary Presidency

The danger to our constitutional democracy could be measured in 2003 by the following: (a) the Bush administration was comprised almost exclusively by people with ties to business that define "conflicts of interest;" (b) both houses of congress, if not impotent, had at least agreed to a legislative abstinence of duty; the only elected representitives who attempted to stand up to the executive were from "minority" populations; and (c) the US Supreme Court had disgraced the judicial institution with its 2000 selection of Bush for president, based entirely upon political and economic interests.

The dangers of an imperial presidency pales in comparison to the current threat posed by the revolutionary presidency. Consider that: (a) George Bush has become the most absolute monarch of any world power in today's world. Add to that the fact that VP Cheney has more concentrated power than any dictator in world history, including Mao Tse-tung; (b)the congress is divided and weakened. The Senate has lost any control over the White House urge for increased war-making, and the House of Representatives no longer enquires into grievences, unless they concern issues such as oral sex rather than Enron, 9-11, the Plame exposure, or the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of black citizens in Florida; and (c) the idea of 13 Colonies demanding freedom of speech is disgraced by 13 states having "libel" laws making it illegal to express concerns about food farms, or the safety of related "agro-business" food products. (Crimes Against Nature; Robery Kennedy, Jr)

6) You Reap What You Sow

The Bush administration rules through fear, the "threats" to national security that they define, through manipulating the 9-11 national emergency, and through secrecy. Their policies pose a threat to individual liberties in order to benefit business interests, and they are the greatest threat to constitutional democracy today. The extent of this threat is exposed by a series of books associated with John Dean, Richard Clarke, Paul O'Neill, Robery Kennedy, Jr., and many others. It is also exposed to grass-roots America by the movie "F 9-11."

The reaction of the administration is to attempt to discredit the individuals involved in exposing the political corruption of this administration. This is not a new tactic. Before the FBI focused on Martin Luther King's sex life, before the COINTELPRO operations of the 1960s and '70s, we remember the efforts of two congressional leaders in the mid-50s. Senator Thomas Hennings, Jr. and Rep. John Moss questioned the bureaucratic secrecy that threatened the democratic system, by discussing why the government labled a Pentagon study of the bow & arrow ("Silent Flashless Weapons") as "top secret."
They were accused of threatening national security.

This administration and its corporate sponsors, including the news media, are involved in a similar campaign to discredit critics. This campaign includes Ambassador Joseph Wilson. (see Plame Indictment Threads #1-12)

An unintended consequence of the high level of bureaucratic secrecy is that it leads to no respect for individual secrecy. This is evident from a reading of the Patriot Act: things like medical and library records, which should be protected by the US Constitution, are no longer private.

Further, the exposure of Valerie Plame as a CIA operative stands as the moststark example of the administration's contempt for the rights to privacy implied by the Constitution.

7) Conclusion

At the time of the American Revolution, the "founding fathers" met in secret. They were almost exclusively from the "upper class," and needed to keep their actions secret from King George. While they may have spoken more openly as individuals, their group efforts were not known to the upper class, including the newspapers of the day.

However, the middle class and the poor spread the word. They were aware of King George's spies, so they spread the word on a democratic underground. It took root -- and grass roots democracy has been the most important part of the foundation for this country ever since. The grass roots are more powerful than those three branches of the federal government.

We're in similar circumstances today. Our president is no more in favor of democracy than old King George was. We have two chances of kicking him out of power. The most obvious is the election in November. But there's also the Plame Indictments.

If there is any life breath in the balance of powers, the legislative and judiciary must do their jobs. This is a criminal outfit. There are now numerous "upper class" people organizing to hold this administration liable for their crimes. It's not just democrats hoping to reclaim the presidency in 2004. It's a wide range of citizens who know that Bush and Cheney intend to fully destroy the constitutional democracy we should enjoy.

You and I aren't meeting in their secret get-togethers. We're that grass-roots democratic power. Our primary job is to continue to educate the public, register voters, and increase participation in those treasures defined by the Bill of Rights. Please work to spread the message about the Plame Indictments. We've seen a preview of the administration's late summer counter-offensive.

Let's expose them as totally offensive.

Thank you,
H2O Man

[Pallas180]

6. THE WATERMAN PAPER (as published on DU front page)

The Waterman Paper (Plame Affair - High Crimes & Misdemeanors)



The Waterman Paper (as published on the Home Page of Democratic Underground)

The Waterman Paper
By H2O Man


This paper examines the possibility that Vice President Dick Cheney orchestrated the "leaking" of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to the news media in the summer of 2003, in order to accomplish three goals.

These include (1) to punish Joseph Wilson for challenging "16 words" in President Bush's 1-28-03 State of the Union address; and (2) to intimidate other sources from publicly challenging the White House's version of events involving the "war on terrorism" and the US invasion of Iraq. Both of these goals are well-known from numerous reports on this White House scandal.

The other, (3) is that VP Cheney was attempting to derail an investigation that Plame may have been involved in at the time that her identity was exposed. This third potential goal has not been the subject of any major media attention.
The author of this paper put it forward on an internet forum, the Democratic Underground, in early July, 2004. The resulting eleven DU "threads," which consist of over 3,000 posts from interested citizens across the country, is the only known forum debating this theory.

Besides the eleven DU "Plame Indictment" threads, the information in this paper comes from the following four sources: The Politics of Truth, by Joseph Wilson; Worse Than Watergate, by John Dean; Don't Tread on Joseph Wilson, NYT book review by John Dean on 5-23-04; and Plenty to Swear About, by Joe Klein, Time, 7-5-04.

Time Line

While the case involving Wilson's investigation in Niger, and the White House's efforts to expose Plame is long and complicated, this paper will focus on a "time line" established by Wilson in his book.

1. Jan '02: The first reports of a Niger-Iraq uranium connection surface in the White House.

2. Feb '02: Wilson is asked to investigate by the CIA.

3. March '02: Wilson returns from Niger and briefs the CIA on the investigation. His conclusion supports those of two others that there was no Niger-Iraq connection.

4. Jan '03: Bush includes the "16 words" in his State of the Union address.

5. On or about March 5, '03: the CIA gives VP Cheney an oral report, informing him of Wilson's conclusions.

6. March 7, '03: the IAEA announces the US's documents on Niger-Iraq are forgeries.

7. March 8, '03: (a) a State Department spokesperson admits, "We fell for it" in regard to the forged document; (b) Wilson tells CNN that the State Department has more information on the subject; and (c) a workshop meeting is held in VP Cheney's office. It is attended by top republican officials, possibly including Cheney, Scooter Libby, and Newt Gingrich. The group discusses ways to discredit Wilson.

8. June 8, '03: Condoleeza Rice denies knowledge of the weakness of the Niger uranium claim on Meet The Press. She states, "Maybe someone down in the bowels of the Agency knew about this, but nobody in my circles."

9. July 6, '03: Wilson's NYT op-ed is published. By the following day, two senior White House officials began contacting at least six reporters, informing them of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA operative.

10. July 8, '03: Reporter Robert Novak tells a complete stranger on a Washington street: "Wilson's an asshole. The CIA sent him. His wife, Valerie, works for the CIA. She's a weapons of mass destruction specialist. She sent him." In the following days, Novak would ask the CIA for confirmation of Plame's identity. He was asked not to print her name or identity in any article regarding Wilson.

11. July 14, '03: Novak's article exposes Plame.

12. July 20, '03: NBC's Andrea Mitchell tells Wilson that senior White House officials told her that the "real story" was not the 16 words, but was Wilson and his wife.

13. July 21, '03: NBC's Chris Matthews tells Wilson that Karl Rove called him and said," Wilson's wife is fair game." Matthews said he would confirm that if asked.

This time line indicates that while the exposing of Plame's identity was a result of Wilson's op-ed, it was also part of a larger strategy that had been planned in VP Cheney's office since March 8. It clearly confirms goal #1: by exposing Plame, and putting her safety at risk, the White House had severely punished Joseph Wilson.
It also supports goal #2: the White House had a strategy to intimidate any other potential intelligence operatives from exposing the administration for distorting information regarding Iraq.

Likewise, the exposing of Plame supports goal #3: exposing Plame put an immediate end to any activities that Plame was participating in at the time. This is supported by Wilson (pg 345): "She immediately began to prepare a checklist of things she needed to do to minimize the fall-out to the projects she was working on."

Also, Wilson notes: "Compromising the officer means compromising a career, a network, and every person with who the officer might have ever worked. Slips of the tongue cost people their lives." (pg 13)

The Leakers' Identities

Robert Novak sourced his story to two senior White House officials. Other reporters, including Andrea Mitchell, made mention of the two unidentified senior White House officials. These two are among the at least six reporters contacted by these two officials.
Chris Matthew's call identifies Karl Rove as being involved in the efforts to make "Wilson's wife ... fair game." This call took place after the calls from the senior officials to the six reporters.
Wilson's book indicates a belief that the two senior officials were Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Eliot Abrams. Abrams is no stranger to White House disgrace, having been convicted on two charges during the Iran-Contra scandal.

There is evidence the three were operating with the knowledge of, and perhaps under the direction of VP Cheney. The March 8 "workshop" in VP Cheney's office indicates that this was a long-standing, well-organized effort to discredit Wilson. As Wilson notes (pg 387) : "... a plan to attack me had been formed before the moment. It was cocked and ready to fire .... an organized smear campaign directed from the highest reaches of the White House."

Cheney and Pre-War Intelligence

Those involved in the "workshop" to discredit Wilson were also active in efforts to influence pre-war intelligence reports. On page 6, Wilson discusses "leaks" that Cheney, Libby, and Newt Gingrich pressured the intelligence community "to skew intelligence analysists" to fit their own needs.

On page 338, Wilson notes that these three reportedly intimidated analysts by implying, "if you do a 'Wilson' on us, we will do worse to you."

Wilson notes (pg 434) that VP Cheney runs a "parallel national security office," which has no congressional oversight, and hence can "circumvent long-standing and accepted reporting structures and to skew decision-making practices."

As a result, as reported by Joe Klein in Time (7-5-04) "the intelligence community is at war with the White House." Klein notes that "multiple intelligence sources" indicated to him their belief that Cheny strong-armed out-going CIA Director George Tenet, to make him support Cheney and Rumsfeld's positions on Iraq.

Cheney, Niger, and Wilson's Trip

Wilson notes a report on a possible Niger-Iraq yellow cake uranium transaction had "aroused the interests of Vice President Dick Cheney." (pg 14) Cheney's office "had tasked the CIA to determine if there was any truth to the report." (pg 14)

It is clear that Cheney was aware of the Niger report, and had directed his office to have the CIA do an investigation of it. There is evidence that on March 5, the CIA gave VP Cheney an oral report on Wilson's findings. This was three days before the State Department spokesperson told the media, "We fell for it," and that Wilson told CNN that the State Department had more information on that subject. March 8 was also the day that the "workshop" to discredit Wilson was held in Cheney's office.

"What I Didn't Find" vs "16 Words"

The White House retracted President Bush's infamous 16 words immediately after Wilson's op-ed appeared in the New York Times.
On 7-13-03, Condi Rice told Fox News Sunday that, "It is ludicrous to suggest that the president of the United States went to war on the question of whether Saddam Hussein sought uranium from Africa."
On 7-14-03, Robert Novak exposed Valerie Plame's identity. It is important to recognize that Novak was aware that Plame was an operative who specialized in WMDs, and that he had been asked by the CIA not to reveal her identity, or even print her name, in an article on Wilson.

The White House continued to engage in efforts to discredit Wilson, including sending three identical e-mails of "talking points" to Keith Olbermann when Wilson was appearing on MSNBC's Countdown.
1982 Intelligence Identity Protection Act

Wilson notes that the administration had already acknowledged the Niger-Iraq link was unsubstantiated, and that logically, they should have focused attention on how the 16 words made their way into the president's State of the Union address. The effort to expose Plame's identity made little sense. (pg 7)

Later, he continues with, "The White House gained nothing by publicizing Valerie's name..." (pg 7)
"Then it struck me that the attack by Rove and the administration on my wife had little to do with her, but a lot to do with others who might be tempted to speak out." (pgs 5-6)
"The decision of the president's people to come after me .... arose from no concerns over the emergence of secrets from my mission -- there weren't any." (pg 339)
"However offensive, there was a certain logic to it. If you have something to hide, one way to keep it secret is to threaten anyone who might expose it. But it was too late to silence me." (pg 338)


Goal #3: Why Cheney Exposed Plame

Wilson notes that Sandy Berger, President Clinton's national security advisor, pointed out that since the Bush people had never backed down before, the fact that they had been "so quick to admit their error this time meant they must have something more important to protect." (pg 4)

In Worse Than Watergate, John Dean calls the exposing of Plame the "Dirtiest of Dirty Tricks." He writes that "revealing her identity damaged the national security and her career, and resulted in the loss of a valuable government asset." He called this action "literally life-threatening." (pgs 170-171)

What could have possibly been so important to VP Cheney that he oversaw the violating of the 1982 IIPA, and risked a White House scandal? The answer clearly can not be found in goals #1 or #2.
The answer, which supports goal #3, appears in Klein's article: "Furthermore, there is intense anger over the White House's revealing the identity of Plame, who may have been active in a sting operation involving the trafficking of WMD components. ..... 'Only a very high-ranking official could have had access to the knowledge that Plame was on the payroll' of the CIA, an intelligence source told me."

And that very high-ranking official may have known through his parallel national security office about the activities that Plame was involved with at that time. The answer to goal #3 likely is to be found in the checklist of things Valerie Plame did to mitigate the damage done by Novak's article immediately after she read it.

Conclusions

This paper presents direct evidence that the intelligence group that operates out of VP Cheney's office orchestrated the exposure of Valerie Plame as a CIA operative, in order to realize goal #1, the "punishing" of Joseph Wilson for publicly challenging President Bush.

It includes both direct and circumstantial evidence from sources including Wilson, Dean, Klein, and others, that indicates they also had goal #2 in mind: to intimidate any other potential sources that could challenge their reasons for invading Iraq, as well as other measures in their "war on terorism."

Yet these two goals alone do not explain why VP Cheney would (1) take part in a measure that would violate a federal law against exposing a CIA operative, or (2) risk a serious scandal for the Bush Administration.

The possibility that VP Cheney was hoping to derail a sting operation involving Valerie Plame, which is our identified goal #3, does explain why VP Cheney would condone the breaking of the federal law, and risk the most serious scandal that this administration faces.

Further research by an ad hoc DU "think tank" has identified possible connections between businesses connected to VP Cheney that may be associated with the sale of WMD components to countries in the Middle East. It is our belief that this theory and the evidence that supports it needs a more in-depth investigation.
At the time of publishing, the most recent message board thread on this subject can be found here:

PLAME INDICTMENTS - "HIGH CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS- THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG"




July 24, 2004

[Pallas180]

8. TOLL FREE PHONE # TO CONGRESS 1 800 839 5276

TOLL FREE # TO CONGRESS 1800 839 5276 - use it to tell them


what you think of this administration, what you approve of, what you disapprove of and what you expect of this country.


. 1 800 839 5276 TOLL FREE TO CAPITOL HILL

[Pallas180]

9. DIRECTORY TO CONTACT ANYONE IN CONGRESS

A DIRECTORY TO CONTACT ANYBODY IN CONGRESS



www.congress.org - for a directory to ANYBODY on the Hill, AND their

local/regional offices.

[Pallas180]

10. FIRST 12 PLAME THREADS IN MS WORD FORMAT by Ms. Kittie

Plame Threads in MsWord format : first 12


All 12 can be found here as MSWord ".doc"s:

http://www.aeschatech.com/dumpster/plame /



Also thread # 15 and before, just click on URL and first header
in 15.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2123068

[Pallas180]

11. TO CONTACT INDIVIDUAL REPORTERS-MEDIA LIST READY TO GO

Contact Individual Reporters through this site:

MEDIA LIST all set up for e mailing


list of other media contacts, here's some for you.

[email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]



other individual reporters or news outlets can be found at
Drudgereport.com

(sorry, it's the pits but the news contacts are nicely listed for
us. )



Individual Reporters & Newspaper List

forgive me, it's on the drudge rag site, but it's useful

http://www.drudgereport.com /

[Pallas180]

15. NORTHWOODS -The original US MILITARY plan to attack US CITIZENS

to get Americans to support war and stopped by JFK.

126. Here ORIGINAL NORTHWOOD DOCUMENTS-our Military plan to attack US citizens to make American citizens angry enough to support war......

I THINK WE SHOULD MAIL/ FAX THIS TO EVERY CONGRESS PERSON AND SAY WE KNOW! WE KNOW! AND YOU'D BETTER REMOVE THIS ADMINISTRATION OR YOU WILL BE OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE AND DESERVE JAIL TERMS FOR TREASON ALONG WITH THE WHITE HOUSE.


http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/jointchiefs ...

picture of Lemnitzer


Operation Northwoods: The Pentagon’s Secret Plot to Murder US Citizens to Provoke a War September 13, 2002

General Lyman L. Lemnitzer. Credit: NATO.

On May 1, 2001, ABC News broadcast a chilling revelation: “In the early 1960s, America's top military leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in US cities to create public support for a war against Cuba.”
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/dailynews/jointc...

The Pentagon’s secret “Operation Northwoods” proposed that the US assassinate Cuban émigrés, hijack planes, sink ships, and stage an incident of violent terrorism in US cities. The Joint Chiefs at the time were headed by Army Gen. Lyman L. Lemnitzer.

The Pentagon’s top brass were even willing to murder US troops, if that’s what it took to stampede the country into a war. "We could blow up a US ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba," they wrote, noting with cold logic that, "casualty lists in US newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation."

The Joint Chiefs even saw the potential death of astronaut John Glenn as an opportunity to falsely provoke a war with Cuba. If Glenn’s rocket failed to make it safely into orbit, the Pentagon was prepared to falsely accuse Cuba of shooting down Glenn’s space capsule.

An analysis of Operation Northwood is contained in James Bamford’s new book, Body of Secrets (Doubleday) discloses that the plans were approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and presented to President Kennedy's Defense Secretary Robert McNamara on March 13, 1962. Lemnitzer argued that Operation Northwoods should be run by the military but McNamara apparently had second thoughts. The civilians in the White House overruled the soldiers in the Pentagon and the plan was rejected. All copies of the memorandum were ordered destroyed. The existence of the plot remained undisclosed for nearly 40 years.

"Although no one in Congress could have known at the time," Bamford writes, "Lemnitzer and the Joint Chiefs had quietly slipped over the edge." Bamford characterized the Joint Chiefs’ plot as, perhaps “the most corrupt plan ever created by the US government." But even after Lemnitzer retired, Bamford charges, the Joint Chiefs continued to plan similar "pretext" operations at least through 1963.

The documents only saw the light of day after the popular success of Oliver Stone’s 1992 blockbuster film JFK about the Kennedy assassination. Congress passed a law to increase public access to government records related to the assassination. In the process of combing through reams of declassified papers, a single surviving copy of the 15-page memo on Operation Northwoods was discovered.

Particularly disturbing — especially in the aftermath of the many unanswered questions surrounding the September 11 terrorist attack — is the Pentagon’s elaborate plan to falsely trigger a war by staging the fake destruction of a civilian commercial jetliner.

The document is reprinted below in its entirety. A PDF version of the actual 15-page document is available at the website of George Washington University’s National Security Archive project: <www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430 >



The first page of the 15-page Operation Northwoods terror plot. Credit: The National Security Archives/George Washington University <http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv />.
TOP SECRET SPECIAL HANDLING NOFORN (declassified 2000)
The Joint Chiefs of Staff Washington DC Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense

SUBJECT: Justification for U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba (TS)

JCS to Secretary of War Robert McNamara March 13, 1962

The Joint Chiefs of Staff have considered the attatched memorandum for the chief of Operations, Cuba Project, which responds to a request by that office for brief but precise description of pretexts which would provide justification for US military intervention in Cuba.


The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend that the proposed memorandum be forwarded as a preliminary submission suitable for planning purproses. It is assumed that there will be similar submissions from other agencies and that these inputs will be used as a basis for developing a time-phased plan. Individual projects can then be considered on a case-by-case basis.


Further, it is assumed that a single agency will be given the primary responsibility for developing military and para-military aspects of the basic plan. It is recommended that this responsibility for both overt and covert military operations be assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
For the Joint Chiefs of Staff signed: L.L. Limnitzer Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

Note by the Secretaries to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Northwoods

Footnoted memorandums:
"Operation Mongoose"
"Instances to Provoke Military Actions in Cuba"
RECOMMENDATIONS:
This paper NOT be forwarded to commanders of specified or unified commands.

This paper NOT be forwarded to US officers assigned to NATO activities.

This paper NOT be forwarded to the Chairman, US Delegation, United Nations Military Staff Committee.

Such a plan would enable a logical buildup of incidents to be combined with other seemingly unrelated events to camoflage the ultimate objective and create the necessary impression of Cuban rashness and irresponsibility on a large scale, directed at other countries in addition to the United States. The desired resultant from the execution of this plan would be to place the United States in the apparent position of suffering defensible grievances.
1. A series of well-coordinated incidents will be planned to take place to give genuine appearance of being done by hostile Cuban forces.

2. Incidents to establish a credible attack:
1. Start rumors (many). Use clandestine radio. 2. Land friendly Cubans in uniform "over-the-fence" to stage attack on the base. 3. Capture Cuban (friendly) sabateurs inside the base. 4. Start riots near the entrance to the base (friendly Cubans). 5. Blow up ammunition inside the base; start fires. 6. Burn aircraft on airbase (sabatage) . 7. Lob morter shells from outsidethe base to inside the base. Some damage to installation. 8. Capture assault teams. 9. Capture militia group which storms the base. 10. Sabotage ship in harbor; large fires -- napthalene . 11. Sink ship near harbor entrance. Conduct funerals for mock-victims.

(b) United States would respond by executing offensive operations.
3. A "Remember the Maine" incident could be arranged in several forms:
We could blow up a US ship and blame Cuba.

We could blow up a drone (unmannded) vessel anywhere in the Cuban waters. The presense of Cuban planes or ships merely investigating the intent of the vessel could be fairly compelling evidence that the ship was taken under attack. The US could follow with an air/sea rescue operation covered by US fighters to "evacuate" remaining members of the non-existant crew. Casualty lists in US newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation.
4. We could develop a Communist Cuba terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Flordia cities and even in Washington. The terror campaign could be pointed at Cuban refugees seeking haven in the United States. We could sink a boatload of Cubans enroute to Florida (real or simulated). We could foster attempts on lives of Cubans in the United States even to the extent of wounding in instances to be widely publicized. Exploding a few bombs in carefully chosen spots. The arrest of Cuban agents and the release of prepared documents substantiating cuban involvement.

5. A "Cuban-based, Castro-supported" filibuster could be simulated against a neighboring Caribbean nation. These efforts can be magnified with additional ones contrived for exposure. "Cuban" B-26 or C-46 type aircraft could make cane-burning raids at night. Soviet Bloc incidiaries could be found. This could be coupled with "Cuban" messages to the Communist underground and "Cuban" shipments of arms which would be found, or intercepted, on the beach.

6. Use of MIG-type aircraft by US pilots could provide additional provocation. Harassment of civil air, attacks on surface shipping, and destruction of US military drone aircraft by MIG type palnes would be useful. An F-86 properly painted would convince air passengers that they saw a Cuban MIG, especially if the pilot of the transport were to announce that fact.

7. Hijacking attampts against US civil air and surface craft should be encouraged.

8. It is possible to create an incident which would demonstrate convincingly that a Cuban aircraft has attacked and shot down a chartered civilian airliner from the United States.
An aircraft at Eglin AFB would be painted and numbered as an exact duplicate for a civil registered aircraft belonging to a CIA proprietary organization in the Miami area. At a designated time the duplicate would be substituted for the actual civil aircraft and the passengers, all boarded under carefully prepared aliases. The actual registered aircraft would be converted to a drone.

Take off times of the drone aircraft and the actual aircraft will be scheduled to allow a rondevous. From the rondevous point the passenger-carrying aircraft will descend to minimum altitude and go directly to an auxiliary airfield at Eglin AFB where arrangements will have been made to evacuate the passengers and return the aircraft to its original status. Meanwhile the drone aircraft will continue to fly the filed flight plan. The drone will be transmitting on the international distress frequency "MAY DAY" message stating it is under attack by Cuban MIG aircraft. The transmission will be interrupted by the destruction of aircraft which will be triggered by radio signal. This will allow IACO radio stations to tell the US what has happened to the aircraft instead of the US trying to "sell" the incident.
9. It is possible to create an incident that will make it appear that Communist Cuban MIGs have destroyed a USAF aircraft over international waters in an unprovoked attack.
On one such flight, a pre-briefed pilot would fly Tail-end Charlie. While near the Cuban island this pilot would broadcast that he had been jumped by MIGs and was going down. This pilot would then fly at extremely low altitude and land at a secure base, an Eglin auxiliary. The aircraft would be met by the proper people, quickly stored and given a new tail number. The pilot who performed the mission under an alias would resume his proper identity. The pilot and aircraft would then have disappeared.

A submarine or small craft would distribute F-101 parts, parachute, etc. The pilots retuning to Homestead would have a true story as far as they knew. Search ships and aircraft could be dispatched and parts of aircraft found.

It is understood that the Department of State is also preparing suggested courses of action to develope justification for US military intervention in Cuba.

[Pallas180]

16. HENRY KISSINGER ON HOW TO MANIPULATE AMERICANS

Henry Kissinger: A little manipulation should get them ready-911 anyone?


"Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los

Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful. This is

especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from

beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very

existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead with

world leaders to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every

man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario,

individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee

of their well being granted to them by their world government."

Henry Kissinger, Speaking at Evian, France, May 21, 1992. Bilderberg

meeting.

[Pallas180]

17. AND FINALLY A WORD ON CORPORATISM which has overtaken the US:

And finally a word from Mussolini:


"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it

is a merger of State and corporate power."

Benito Mussolini, 1883-1945, Fascist dictator of Italy

[Pallas180]

19. PREVIOUS THREADS:

PLAME INDICTMENTS - "HIGH CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS- THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG"

These links seem to work better if you open them in "Open In New Window"



Plame Indictments Thread 1
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 2
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 3
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 4
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 5
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 6
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 7
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 8
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 9
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 10
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 11
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 12
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 13
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Plame Indictments Thread 14
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Plame Indictments Thread 15
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2123068#2123376

Plame Indictments Thread 16
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2146652

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2146652&mesg_id=2146652&page=

[PfcHammer]

22. Actually,

beammeup(sp?) is responsible for the Word documents.

Plame PDFs 1-16 can be found here,
http://s93118771.onlinehome.us/DU/PlameIndictments.html

Despite the feminine sounding SN, I'm a he. Will probably be changing to a more masculine SN at some point.
Still a cat fancier though.:)

[Pallas180]

24. PLAME PDF THREADS 1 -16 by KleverKittie :)

Plame PDFs 1-16 can be found here,


http://s93118771.onlinehome.us/DU/PlameIndictments.html

[Beam Me Up]

186. Thanks for the mention KK

I stopped making the word documents because I find the PDF files more useful. I have downloaded all of them and can mirror them if the need arises. Thanks for doing this for us.

Oh, I'm a cat lover, two. I have two, Scratch and Sniff. They are brothers from the same litter and look almost identical. Two of the sweetest kitties I've ever owned ;)

[Pallas180]

205. Ditto (no pun intended) cat lover being tested by

Kitty refusing to use new cat door installed for her so we can
save on air conditioning . cat box is on patio..door has to be opne

So we closed the door and she peed on the carpets\\

not any carpets...husband's mother's persian carpets.

Want a kitty?

[KoKo]

181. You all have been very busy and your research is incredible! I was

out of town with funeral and other things, so only checking and posting on DU sporadically the last several weeks. Have just now been able to get into reading this thread, and need to go back to the others before this one that I missed for lack of time while on the road.

I'm still reading, but wanted to commend all of you here, and Pallas for keeping the interest in this thread going these many weeks. The "Waterman Paper" and "American Judas" are just amazing reads. To see "dots connected" that make sense out of many of our suspicions that something so huge and dark has been going on in our "Military/Industrial Complex" that the coverup had to be defended at gravest cost to the financial health of our country that we had to start illegal immoral wars to keep it buried, is evident.

The tentacles of this go into every corner of our government, congress, legal system and press. No wonder we don't have any decent TV media today. The hands are covered with blood money everywhere.

A :toast: to you all, although "toast" is too happy a description for this mess we are in. And...figuring out how this info can be revealed and folks brought to justice is beyond comprehension. It's just so massive but goes back to Nixon, imho...and it's time that this comes out and we try to start from the ashes with new ideas and controls over the Imperial Government which has taken hold of America.

[Occulus]

13. PALLAS- you were asking for a list of names?

Well, here:

* Vice President Dick Cheney, one of the PNAC founders, who served as Secretary of Defense for Bush Sr.;

* I. Lewis Libby, Cheney's top national security assistant;

* Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, also a founding member, along with four of his chief aides including;

* Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, arguably the ideological father of the group;

* Eliot Abrams, prominent member of Bush's National Security Council, who was pardoned by Bush Sr. in the Iran/Contra scandal;

* John Bolton, who serves as Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security in the Bush administration;

* Richard Perle, former Reagan administration official and present chairman of the powerful Defense Policy Board;

* Randy Scheunemann, President of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, who was Trent Lott's national security aide and who served as an advisor to Rumsfeld on Iraq in 2001;

* Bruce Jackson, Chairman of PNAC, a position he took after serving for years as vice president of weapons manufacturer Lockheed-Martin, and who also headed the Republican Party Platform subcommittee for National Security and Foreign Policy during the 2000 campaign. His section of the 2000 GOP Platform explicitly called for the removal of Saddam Hussein;

* William Kristol, noted conservative writer for the Weekly Standard, a magazine owned along with the Fox News Network by conservative media mogul Ruppert Murdoch.

Several times when I was a kid, I would make a "house" out of playing cards. I'm sure most of us did something like that, but mine were always... hmm, unorthodox. They always shared one common characteristic: there were "key" cards, ones which, if pulled from the structure, would cause a domino-like collapse of the whole.

I would suggest that the persons above are the "keys" to this whole mess: Plame, Iraq, and most certainly WMD movements around the globe, possibly for decades. We know these people have been involved in government and international affairs for a long, long time... most of them, for longer than I've been alive.

Nobody is perfect, and nobody covers their tracks perfectly. I would humbly suggest that the people above are the ones we need to take the closest possible look at when considering WMD trafficking. I'm certain there are others, but this group seems to me to be the puppetmasters.

[Me.]

30. Also...

Didn't * and his brother *eb sign the document along with the others?

[Pallas180]

31. Me , here's the PNAC letter Jeb and Cheney signed, but not

dimson, here's a link to what they are showing now....apparently
there has been some editing but these names would still be good
to google.

http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm



June 3, 1997

American foreign and defense policy is adrift. Conservatives have criticized the incoherent policies of the Clinton Administration. They have also resisted isolationist impulses from within their own ranks. But conservatives have not confidently advanced a strategic vision of America's role in the world. They have not set forth guiding principles for American foreign policy. They have allowed differences over tactics to obscure potential agreement on strategic objectives. And they have not fought for a defense budget that would maintain American security and advance American interests in the new century.

We aim to change this. We aim to make the case and rally support for American global leadership.


As the 20th century draws to a close, the United States stands as the world's preeminent power. Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faces an opportunity and a challenge: Does the United States have the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades? Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests?


We are in danger of squandering the opportunity and failing the challenge. We are living off the capital -- both the military investments and the foreign policy achievements -- built up by past administrations. Cuts in foreign affairs and defense spending, inattention to the tools of statecraft, and inconstant leadership are making it increasingly difficult to sustain American influence around the world. And the promise of short-term commercial benefits threatens to override strategic considerations. As a consequence, we are jeopardizing the nation's ability to meet present threats and to deal with potentially greater challenges that lie ahead.

We seem to have forgotten the essential elements of the Reagan Administration's success: a military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts the United States' global responsibilities.


Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership or the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of this century should have taught us to embrace the cause of American leadership.

Our aim is to remind Americans of these lessons and to draw their consequences for today. Here are four consequences:

• we need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global
responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;


• we need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;


• we need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad;


• we need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.

Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next.

Elliott Abrams Gary Bauer William J. Bennett Jeb Bush

Dick Cheney Eliot A. Cohen Midge Decter Paula Dobriansky Steve Forbes

Aaron Friedberg Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney Fred C. Ikle

Donald Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad I. Lewis Libby Norman Podhoretz

Dan Quayle Peter W. Rodman Stephen P. Rosen Henry S. Rowen

Donald Rumsfeld Vin Weber George Weigel Paul Wolfowitz



Some we now know are in the cabal government, some have been disgraced
and some like Schneider (poll reporter on CNN) are a surprise:
____________________________________________________________________

here's the letter where they tried to get Big Dawg to attack Iraq:


http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm



January 26, 1998



The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
Washington, DC


Dear Mr. President:

We are writing you because we are convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since the end of the Cold War. In your upcoming State of the Union Address, you have an opportunity to chart a clear and determined course for meeting this threat. We urge you to seize that opportunity, and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power. We stand ready to offer our full support in this difficult but necessary endeavor.

The policy of “containment” of Saddam Hussein has been steadily eroding over the past several months. As recent events have demonstrated, we can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War coalition to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections. Our ability to ensure that Saddam Hussein is not producing weapons of mass destruction, therefore, has substantially diminished. Even if full inspections were eventually to resume, which now seems highly unlikely, experience has shown that it is difficult if not impossible to monitor Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons production. The lengthy period during which the inspectors will have been unable to enter many Iraqi facilities has made it even less likely that they will be able to uncover all of Saddam’s secrets. As a result, in the not-too-distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons.


Such uncertainty will, by itself, have a seriously destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East. It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world’s supply of oil will all be put at hazard. As you have rightly declared, Mr. President, the security of the world in the first part of the 21st century will be determined largely by how we handle this threat.


Given the magnitude of the threat, the current policy, which depends for its success upon the steadfastness of our coalition partners and upon the cooperation of Saddam Hussein, is dangerously inadequate. The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. In the near term, this means a willingness to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy.

We urge you to articulate this aim, and to turn your Administration's attention to implementing a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power. This will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts. Although we are fully aware of the dangers and difficulties in implementing this policy, we believe the dangers of failing to do so are far greater. We believe the U.S. has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf. In any case, American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council.

We urge you to act decisively. If you act now to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or its allies, you will be acting in the most fundamental national security interests of the country. If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we put our interests and our future at risk.

Sincerely,

Elliott Abrams Richard L. Armitage William J. Bennett

Jeffrey Bergner John Bolton Paula Dobriansky

Francis Fukuyama Robert Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad

William Kristol Richard Perle Peter W. Rodman

Donald Rumsfeld William Schneider, Jr. Vin Weber

Paul Wolfowitz R. James Woolsey Robert B. Zoellick

[Pallas180]

39. And more on PNAC - Iraq plans

by Will Pitt

-snip-

Iraq, you see, has been on the PNAC menu for almost ten years.

The goals codified in 'Rebuilding America's Defenses,' the manifesto, can be boiled down to a few sentences: The invasion and occupation of Iraq, for reasons that had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein. The building of several permanent military bases in Iraq, the purpose of which are to telegraph force throughout the region.

The takeover by Western petroleum corporations of Iraq's nationalized oil industry.

The ultimate destabilization and overthrow of a variety of regimes in the Middle East, friend and foe alike, by military or economic means, or both.

"Indeed," it is written on page 14 of 'Rebuilding America's Defenses,' "the United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein."

[Occulus]

40. and on page 51

"This process of transformation will likely be a long one, absent some catalyzing and catastrophic evet- like a new Pearl Harbor."

I think that's almost the exact wording; I spouted it off the top of my head.

[Pallas180]

45. Pitt's full article on PNAC boyz

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2179155

[0007]

3. Does anyone know how Thomas Kean addressed the Sibel Edmonds Letter?

Open Letter To Thomas Kean – Chairman Of The 9/11 Commission - From FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds

August 1, 2004

Thomas Kean, Chairman
National Committee on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
301 7th Street, SW
Room 5125
Washington, DC 20407

Dear Chairman Kean:

It has been almost three years since the terrorist attacks on September 11; during which time we, the people, have been placed under a constant threat of terror and asked to exercise vigilance in our daily lives. Your commission, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, was created by law to investigate “facts and circumstances related to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001” and to “provide recommendations to safeguard against future acts of terrorism”, and has now issued its “9/11 Commission Report”. You are now asking us to pledge our support for this report, its recommendations, and implementation of these recommendations, with our trust and backing, our tax money, our security, and our lives. Unfortunately, I find your report seriously flawed in its failure to address serious intelligence issues that I am aware of, which have been confirmed, and which as a witness to the commission, I made you aware of. Thus, I must assume that other serious issues that I am not aware of were in the same manner omitted from your report. These omissions cast doubt on the validity of your report and therefore on its conclusions and recommendations. Considering what is at stake, our national security, we are entitled to demand answers to unanswered questions, and to ask for clarification of issues that were ignored and/or omitted from the report. I, Sibel Edmonds, a concerned American Citizen, a former FBI translator, a whistleblower, a witness for a United States Congressional investigation, a witness and a plaintiff for the Department of Justice Inspector General investigation, and a witness for your own 9/11 Commission investigation, request your answers to, and your public acknowledgement of, the following questions and issues:

After the terrorist attacks of September 11 we, the translators at the FBI’s largest and most important translation unit, were told to slow down, even stop, translation of critical information related to terrorist activities so that the FBI could present the United States Congress with a record of ‘extensive backlog of untranslated documents’, and justify its request for budget and staff increases. While FBI agents from various field offices were desperately seeking leads and suspects, and completely depending on FBI HQ and its language units to provide them with needed translated information, hundreds of translators were being told by their administrative supervisors not to translate and to let the work pile up ( please refer to the CBS-60 Minutes transcript dated October 2002, and provided to your investigators in January-February 2004). This issue has been confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee ( Please refer to Senator Grassley and Senator Leahy’s letters during the summer of 2002, provided to your investigators in January-February 2004). This confirmed report has been reported to be substantiated by the Department of Justice Inspector General Report (Please refer to DOJ-IG report Re: Sibel Edmonds and FBI Translation, provided to you prior to the completion of your report). I provided your investigators with a detailed and specific account of this issue and the names of other witnesses willing to corroborate this. ( Please refer to tape-recorded 3.5 hours testimony by Sibel Edmonds, provided to your investigators on February 11, 2004).

When is the media gonna pick this story up and run with it? More.......

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0408/S00012.htm

[Pallas180]

20. 00007 - I think when you send everyone in the media this:

http://s93118771.onlinehome.us/DU/letter.pd

[0007]

38. I think I got 'em all?

[Zan_of_Texas]

53. Edmonds will be on live radio tonight - 3 hours from now

I guess we'll find out if Kean has any response.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2179286

[Pallas180]

134. Thanks Zan - although

I didnt see your note til too late. (:

[teryang]

4. Interesting recap of proliferation info

Thanks.

[drfemoe]

7. Other resources >>

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/062504_grand_jury.shtml

June 25, 2004 1600 PDT (FTW) – Washington, DC. Well-placed U.S. government sources have revealed that the secret grand jury, led by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, will soon issue explosive indictments in the criminal investigation of who leaked the name of Valerie E. Plame, a CIA clandestine agent and wife of former U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson, to members of the media. On June 24, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald interviewed President Bush at the White House for 70 minutes, an indication that Fitzgerald's investigation is nearing completion and that indictments may be imminent. Bush was seated with his recently-hired criminal defense attorney, Jim Sharp, during the interview.
... more ...

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/index.html

[H2O Man]

12. Good morning!

We have been reminded that today is the 30-year anniversary of Richard Nixon resigning from the presidency. Can people remember what they were doing on that date?

[Occulus]

14. I think perhaps I was

very close to being conceived. Maybe I already had been; I don't remember. :silly:

:) Mornin', H20! Glad to have you back with us!

[proud patriot]

26. I was getting ready to start Kindergarten

:hi:

[Pallas180]

34. Good Morning H20 - glad to have you back online.

:hi:


:yourock:

[robertpaulsen]

48. Probably learning to walk!

It's great to have you back H20 Man!

[loudsue]

55. I had just gotten married 2 months before, and

was living in a new town where I didn't know a soul, except my hubbie.

I was SO glad to see ole tricky Dick waving from that plane when he left Washington.

But even then, I worried that the evil surrounding that episode wasn't really dead.

Now, 30 years hence, I realize that Nixon's departure was a convenient photo-op to allow the underlying slime an opportunity to recoup, regroup, "re-poop" on the Democratic ideals we, the American people, have been lured into taking for granted. We were lured into having a false sense of faith and comfort, by believing that criminality could not prevail in our government....that perps would surely be prosecuted.

Look at us now!

Ooops!!

BTW, Welcome back H20 Man! :hi: We all missed you!!! :hi:
:kick:

:kick::kick::kick:

[H2O Man]

59. Hello, Sue!

What? Huh? I thought you JUST got married? (grin) How are you? I am glad to be back and healing pretty well.

[loudsue]

71. LOL! Unfortunately, not everybody marries correctly the first time around!

Some of us have to learn the hard way! Yes....I DID just get married, after 25+ (unmarried) years of "lookin' for love in all the wrong places"! It's REALLY fun when you know what the ____ you're doing! This one's a keeper!

<loudsue, who finally got a clue!>

It didn't register that you were out having surgery!! I thought you were on VACATION!!! I hope you heal quickly and without discomfort!!

:bounce::hi: These threads are soooo energizing! :hi::bounce:

O8)They make me feel like we really CAN save this world, if we put our whole selves into it!O8)

:kick::kick:

[H2O Man]

74. I'm one of those

who had a previous life experience before marrying the correct individual. I have friends who have been happily married for decades, which is great, too. But, as you know, I was just teasing you .... because all recently married people should be teased.

[Pallas180]

99. H20 - were you out having surgery?

?

[lastknowngood]

18. Plame flame Plame flame Plame flame

n/t

[Pallas180]

21. TREASON as defined by the U.S. CONSTITUTION

TREASON as defined by the U. S. Constitution:


Article lll

"Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in
levying war against them, or in adhereing to their enemies, giving them aid and cofort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on
the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession
in open court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason , but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted."

[Pallas180]

23. 9/11 THEORY OF COINCIDENCE by Minstrel Boy

The Coincidence Theorist's Guide to 9/11

Since most of the arguments made here around the events of 9/11 are of the LIHOP/MIHOP variety, I thought I'd walk a mile in the coincidentalists' shoes, and lay out the argument for coincidence.
Happy coincidenting!

That intelligence agencies, politicians and terrorists have conducted criminal business together is well established, but BCCI and Iran/Contra were a long time ago, so there’s no need to rehash all that.

That Jonathan Bush’s Riggs Bank has been found guilty of laundering terrorist funds and fined a record setting $25 million is embarrassing, surely, but to draw sinister conclusions is foolish.

That Marvin Bush sat on the board of the Kuwaiti-owned company which provided electronic security to the World Trade Centre, Dulles Airport and United Airlines means nothing.

That George Bush found success as a businessman only after the investment of Osama’s brother Salem and Osama’s brother-in-law and al Qaeda financier Khalid bin Mahfouz is just a one-in-a-million fluke.

That Osama bin Laden is known to have been an asset of US foreign policy in no way implies he still is. That al Qaeda was active in Kosovo on the same side as NATO merely demonstrates that nothing is black and white.

The claims of Michael Springman, State Department veteran of the Jeddah visa bureau, that the CIA ran the office and issued visas to al Qaeda members to receive training in the United States, are merely sour grapes because he was fired for making such wild accusations.

That so many in the Bush White House had expressed the need for a "new Pearl Harbor" before their militarist ambitions could be fulfilled means nothing more than being in the right place at the right time.

That in May of 2001, Dick Cheney took upon himself the job of co-ordinating a response to domestic terror attacks even as he was crafting the administration’s energy policy, circumventing the established infrastructure and ignoring the recommendations of the Hart-Rudman report, merely shows the VP to be a “can do” sort of guy.

That the standing order for shooting down hijacked aircraft was altered on June 1, 2001, taking discretion away from field commanders and placing it solely in the hands of the Secretary of Defense, is simply poor planning and unfortunate timing. Fortunately the error has been corrected, since the order was reversed shortly after 9/11.

That Dave Frasca of the FBI’s Radical Fundamentalist Unit received a promotion after quashing multiple, urgent requests for investigations into al Qaeda assets training at flight schools in the summer of 2001 does appear odd, but I’m sure there must have been a good reason for it.

That over the summer of 2001 Washington received many urgent, senior-level warnings from foreign intelligence agencies of impending terror attacks using hijacked aircraft and did nothing, demonstrates the pressing need for a new Intelligence Czar.

That former lead counsel for the House David Schippers says he’d taken to John Ashcroft’s office specific warnings he’d learned from FBI agents in New York of an impending attack – even naming the proposed dates, names of the hijackers and the targets – and that the investigations had been stymied and the agents threatened, proves nothing but David Schipper’s need for attention.

That George Bush had plans to invade Afghanistan on his desk before 9/11 demonstrates only the value of being prepared.

The suggestion that securing a pipeline across Afghanistan figured into the White House’s calculations is as ludicrous as the assertion that oil played a part in determining war in Iraq.

That Afghanistan is once again the world’s principal heroin producer is an unfortunate reality, but to claim the CIA is still actively involved in the narcotics trade is to presume bad faith on the part of the agency.

Mahmood Ahmed, chief of Pakistan’s ISI, must not have authorized an al Qaeda payment of $100,000 to Mohammed Atta days before the attacks, and was not meeting with senior Washington officials over the week of 9/11, because I didn’t read anything about it in the official report.

George HW Bush and Dick Cheney spent the evening of September 10 in the Oval Office, it’s true, but they were just old colleagues catching up.

That FEMA arrived in New York on Sept 10 to prepare for a scheduled biowarfare drill is a lucky twist of fate.

Newsweek’s report that senior Pentagon officials cancelled flights on Sept 10 for the following day on account of security concerns is only newsworthy because of what happened the following morning.

That Mohamed Atta attended the International Officer's School at Maxwell Air Force Base, that Abdulaziz Alomari attended Brooks Air Force Base Aerospace Medical School, that Saeed Alghamdi attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey merely shows it’s a small world, after all.

That Mohammed Atta dressed like a Mafioso, had a stripper girlfriend, smuggled drugs, was already a licensed pilot when he entered the US, enjoyed pork chops, drank to excess and did cocaine, was closer to Europeans than Arabs in Florida, and included the names of defence contractors on his email list, proves how dangerous the radical fundamentalist Muslim can be.

That 43 lbs of heroin was found on board the Lear Jet owned by Wally Hilliard, the owner of Atta’s flight school, just three weeks after Atta enrolled – the biggest seizure ever in Central Florida – was just one of those things.

That Hilliard’s plane had made 30-round trips to Venezuela with the same passengers who always paid cash, that the plane had been supplied by a pair of drug smugglers who had also outfitted CIA drug runner Barry Seal, and that 9/11 commissioner Richard ben-Veniste had been Seal’s attorney before Seal’s murder, shows nothing but the lengths to which conspiracists will go to draw sinister conclusions.

Reports of insider trading on 9/11 are false, because the SEC investigated and found only respectable investors who will remain nameless involved, and no terrorists, so any profit-taking was merely coincidental.

That Hani Hanjour, the pilot of Flight 77, was so incompetent he could not fly a Cessna in August, but in September managed to fly a 767 at excessive speed into a spiraling, 270-degree descent and a level impact of the first floor of the Pentagon, on the only side that was virtually empty and had been hardened to withstand a terrorist attack, merely demonstrates that people can do almost anything once they set their minds to it.

That Mohammed Atta left a uniform, a will, his driver's license and a video "how to fly planes" in his rental car at the airport means he had other things on his mind.

The very mention of Israelis with links to military-intelligence having been arrested on Sept 11 videotaping and celebrating the attacks, and of a warning of impending attacks delivered to the Israeli company Odigo two hours before the first plane hit, is the vilest kind of anti-Semitism and should not be dignified with a response. That the stories were also reported in the Israeli media is a sad display of self-hatred among certain elements of the Jewish Left.

That multiple military wargames and simulations were underway the morning of 9/11 – one simulating the crash of a plane into a building; another, a life-fly simulation of multiple hijackings – and took many interceptors away from the eastern seaboard and confused field commanders as to which was a real hijacked aircraft and which was a hoax, was a tragic coincidence, but no less a coincidence.

That the National Military Command Center ops director asked a newly-qualified substitute to stand his watch at 8:30 am on Sept. 11 is nothing more than bad timing.

That the black boxes were either never found or were unrecoverable was a first for these particular boxes, but there's a first time for everything.

That a recording made Sept 11 of air traffic controllers’ detailing the events of the day, was destroyed by an FAA official who crushed it in his hand, cut the tape into little pieces and dropped them in different trash cans around the building, is just one of those things.

That the FBI knew precisely which Florida flight schools to descend upon hours after the attacks should make every American safer to know their federal agents are on the ball.

To insinuate evil motive from the mercy flights of bin Laden family members and Saudi royals after 9/11 shows the sickness of the conspiratorial mindset.
Le Figaro’s report in October 2001, known to have originated with French intelligence, that two CIA agents met Osama bin Laden in a Dubai hospital in July 2001, proves again the perfidy of the French.

That the tape in which bin Laden claims responsibility for the attacks was released by the State Department after having been found providentially by US forces in Afghanistan, and depicts a fattened Osama with a broader face and a flatter nose, proves Osama masterminded 9/11.

That the White House went on Cipro September 11 shows the foresightedness of America’s emergency response.

That the anthrax was mailed to perceived liberal media and the Democratic leadership demonstrates only the perversity of the terrorist psyche.

That the anthrax attacks appeared to silence opponents of the Patriot Act only shows that appearances can be deceiving.

That the Ames-strain anthrax was found to have originated at Fort Detrick, and was beyond the capability of all but a few labs to refine, underscores the importance of allowing the investigation to continue without the distraction of absurd conspiracy theories.

Sibel Edmonds is an attention-seeking nutcase. And since John Ashcroft has gagged her and classified her public testimony, we should speak no more of her.

But most of all, remember: there are no secrets, governments would never accept civilian casualties for geostrategic gain, and conspiracies are for the weak-minded and gullible.

[Pallas180]

25. If you want to repost important items such as Khan WMD ring, feel free

to do so...We had some important connections on Thread 16.

so go for it.

[Pallas180]

33. To us, I think this means

in order to stop the growth of Carlyle, and to confiscate its
billions for trading with the enemy, (and the same for Halliburton)

someone in Congress would have to bring criminal charges against
Bush 1 for giving China the W88 nuclear device, before he dies.

As I understand the treason statute once he dies, no one else could
be penalized for his "actions".

Well, thank goodness there's a Henry Waxman .

And if pappy stays alive into a democratic administration, we would still have to lobby lobby lobby to get him charged and stop the octopus and One World Govt.

Well. Nothing is impossible.

[Pallas180]

27. Rove - why am I not surprised?

posted by in -cog-nito on another thread

I was looking up some information on Prescott Bush and his Nazi connections and came across this ...

Fourth Reich?

The Bush-Rove-Schwarzenegger Nazi Nexus


By BOB FITRAKIS and HARVEY WASSERMAN

<snip>


Karl Rove has parallel ties. The shadowy Rove serves as "Bush's Brain" in the current White House. He is the political mastermind behind the California coup, and is now in the headlines for outing Valerie Plame, the CIA wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson. A consummate strategist, Rove may have outed Plame in retaliation for Wilson's failure to back up the Bush claim that Saddam Hussein was buying nuclear weapons materials in Africa. According to some published reports, as many as seventy CIA operatives have been put at risk by Rove's retaliatory strike.


According to Wilson, and to Retired U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Al Martin (www.almartinraw.com ), Rove's grandfather was Karl Heinz Roverer, the Gauleiter of Oldenburg. Roverer was Reich-Statthalter---Nazi State Party Chairman---for his region. He was also a partner and senior engineer in the Roverer Sud-Deutche Ingenieurburo A. G. engineering firm, which built the Birkenau death camp, at which tens of thousands of Jews, Gypsies, dissidents and other were slaughtered en masse.


Rove, who has been based in Utah and associated with the Mormon Church, is widely viewed as the chief engineer of the current Bush administration. He and Tom DeLay are attempting to force the Texas legislature to redistrict its Congressional delegations, adding seven sure seats to the Republican column. By controlling the state houses in New York, Florida, Texas and California, the GOP would have a lock on the four largest states in the union, and thus the ability to manipulate vote counts and strip voter registration rolls in the run-up to the 2004 election.
Rove is a prime behind-the-scenes mover in the Schwarzenegger campaign. On May 1, 1939, a year after the Nazis took control of Schwarzenegger's native Austria, his father Gustav, voluntarily joined Hilter's infamous Strumabteilung (SA), "brown shirt" stormtroopers. This was just six months after the brown shirts played a key role in the bloody Kristallnacht attacks on Germany's Jewish community.


The Vienna daily Der Standard noted recently that "Gustav, a high-ranking Nazi, brought up the bespectacled, rather frail boy with an iron fist and quite a few slaps in the face." Arnold's father favored a Hitler-style mustache in photos.
<snip>


http://www.geocities.com/bushfamilynazis/bnfreepress.ht...

[H2O Man]

28. Please read this:

If you want to see someone in a high position who has the balls to say what it is that we are up against, in an honest manner, I think that you will enjoy this quote from Robert Kennedy, Jr's "Crimes Against Nature" :

"Teddy Roosevelt often observed that American democracy is too sturdy to be destroyed by a foreign enemy. But, he warned, it could easily be destroyed by 'malefactors of great wealth' who would subvert our political institutions from within.

Roosevelt was no isolated Cassandra. Our greatest political icons from Thomas Jefferson onward have warned Americans against allowing corporate power to dominate our political landscape. In his most famous speech, President Dwight Eisenhower cautioned Americans about the grave danger of falling under control of 'the military-industrial complex.' In 1863, in the depths of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln is said to have lamented, 'I have the Confederacy before me and the bankers behind me, and for my country, I fear the bankers most.' Franklin Roosevelt echoed that sentiment when he warned that 'the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism.'

While communism is the control of business by government, fascism is the control of government by business. My American Heritage Dictionary defines fascism as 'a system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership together with belligerent nationalism.' Sound familiar?" (pg 193)

Kennedy's new book is fantastic, and I strongly urge people to buy -- and read -- "Crimes Against Nature." As I posted earlier on the Plame threads, he nails VP Dick Cheney for being the manipulative force behind much of the administration's policies .... including "punishing" people who oppose him.

[TacticalPeek]

35. Let those with ears hear.

From July 26, 2004 (I believe c-span has this session at its site, IIRC):

Kennedy appeared at a forum, "Books, Politics, and the Culture War," sponsored by the Harvard Book Store and the Progressive Book Club. A longtime environmentalist, he delivered an extended criticism of the Bush administration's environmental policies before alleging that the president has, in effect, created a fascist system of government in America.

"I was taught that Communism leads to dictatorship and that capitalism leads to democracy," Kennedy told the audience at the First Parish Church. "Well, it's not that simple." Free-market capitalism, Kennedy explained, does in fact lead to democracy, but "corporate, crony capitalism," which Kennedy said is practiced by the Bush administration, "is as antithetical to democracy in America as it is in Nigeria."

"You have to understand the difference between free-market capitalism...and the kind of corporate crony capitalism where you have large corporations running our government," Kennedy said. "There's a name for that, and the name is fascism."

The overwhelmingly left-leaning crowd, many of whom had come to Boston for the Democratic National Convention, began to cheer loudly. Kennedy finished his point by citing the American Heritage Dictionary, which he said "defines 'fascism' as the control of government by large corporations with right-wing ideology, driven by bellicose nationalism." That, Kennedy said, is the situation America is in today under the Bush administration. The crowd broke into even louder cheers - the most enthusiastic of the event.

http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.asp?ref=/york/york200407271021.asp


And the long form, December 2003, Rolling Stone article, Crimes Against Nature by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1120-01.htm

[Pallas180]

29. The administration

1) outed Plame who was involved in tracking illegal WMD

2) gagged Sibel Edmonds who had info on terrorist activity & finances

3) outed an Al Queda mole who had been turned to the US and was revealing Al Queda big wigs;

hmmmmm.


WHY?

[Pallas180]

32. AHA - Sen Schumer is asking for explanation of release of mole's name-

I would suggest our letters to the senators are getting somewhere.

[H2O Man]

36. Yes, you are right.....

I think that it is, at times, difficult to appreciate the effect of writing a letter. Especially if you do not get a response, or only get a form letter in return. But this is so important: it is the essence of "grass-roots" democracy. It is what inspired leaders from Jefferson to Robert Kennedy recognized as the most potent democratic weapon. Democracy is like freedom: it isn't something that someone else "grants" you. It's what is inside you, that motivates you to sit down in front of your key board, or with a pen & paper, and write that letter to an elected official, or to an editor.

Cesar Chavez was a great grass-roots leader. When someone pointed out how difficult it was to organize "the masses," because the media refused to carry the important news, and there were rich and powerful forces opposing his efforts, Chavez said that "what you do is tell one person, and then you tell the next person, and then the next." And that's it: we don't need Fox News. They couldn't report the truth if they wanted to. We can.

I've mentioned before the idea of the bee hive: what is alive, the individual bee, or the hive? Is the hive not a bee-conscious entity? Well, that's America, too. If we start to participate in the new wave of consciousness and bring an awareness of these issues to enough of the worker-bees in the American hive, pretty soon the hive becomes consciously aware .... and that is the power of the grass roots method of spreading the word.

[Me.]

37. Another Version of the Circle Game

or another take on six degrees of separation.


Kennedy given Northwoods by Lemnitzer > Lemnitzer fired by Kennedy > Kennedy assassinated > Hale Boggs on Warren Commission investigating assassination > Hale Boggs plane goes down in Alaska in "72, body never found > Though his daughter publicly has said he believed in the lone gunman theory our source (H20) has said that he told Jim Garrison "That Dog don't Hunt" > Jim Garrison investigating death of Kennedy > George * 41 at CIA sends * 43 to Alaska in summer '74 for reasons unknown > Lemnitzer sent by Ford to investigate CIA.

I know this is out there and I am going to the store for a box of Reynold aluminum, however it does fascinate me the way all these people do line up in the most obscure ways.

[Pallas180]

41. ME - I think we're finding out that nothing in this gang

is "by coincidence".

There has been a plan, a blueprint, and though interrupted at times,
they pick up and continue to follow it.

There is a continuing theme that bothers me.. Every time the republicans come in - there is a noticeable return to this "theme"

the CIA (and essentitally our military)in the late 40's and 50's was influenced and filled with Germans from the Nazi period.

Nixon, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Kissinger, Bush

Reagan, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, (Kissinger in the background)

Bush, cheney, Rumsfeld, (Kissinger in the background)

Why do I feel, like a Clancy or Ludlum novel, that the Third Reich
has been lying in wait, as has been written in many places over the years, to rise again.

And this is that time.

[shraby]

42. I noticed it in the Nixon administration

with Kissinger, but back then the internet wasn't available to investigate the buggers.

[Pallas180]

43. Hitler was "corporatism" with some added murderous rage -

so I guess it was called Nazism, when in truth it was fascism as
Robert Kennedy Jr has described

Mussolini had it right, fascism is just another name for corporatism


and the United States appears to be in the grip of both right now -
their dreams are on the edge of fulfillment.

[H2O Man]

46. Hale Boggs didn't believe

in the lone gunman any more than than he believed in the Easter Bunny. There was a period of time when many people in the federal government thought it was important to go along with the fiction. Keep in mind that the lone gunman depends entirely upon the "magic bullet theory" .... and that silly theory ONLY came late in the Warren Commission's "investigation" .... when there was definite proof that the first shot taken from at or about the book depository missed the limo's occupants and hit near the underpass. The commissioners denied that happened, until a photo of a fellow bloodied by a piece of concrete the bullet dislodged.

I've noted before in Tip O'Neill's wonderful book, "Man of the House," (see page 211) how two top Kennedy aides who were in the motorcade, Dave Powers and Kenny O'Donnell, both knew for certain that at least two shots came from the fence on the grassy knoll. In fact, they told the FBI investigators exactly that, but were pressured into lying to the Warren Commission "for the good of the country."

No one who looks closely at what happened in Dallas believes the fiction of the Warren Commission. Hale Boggs was a smart man, and by the time he died, he was fully aware of who Lee Harvey Oswald worked for. And he knew who killed the president.

[Me.]

51. I've often wondered

If people in the know were terrified about what could be done and passed onto their families incorrect or "safe" knowledge to protect them and save their lives. It's seems pretty clear that Jackie Kennedy was terrified for years after.

[H2O Man]

62. Exactly.

Just the same as today. Think about this as a foundation: Valerie Plame's family -- other than her husband-- had no idea what she did. Her best friends didn't know. Her neighbors didn't suspect.

There are agencies that are not known to most Americans. We think of CI as the top of intel, but the Dept of defense has assets that the congress has no oversight of, that operate at a security level as high as Plame .... and she was as "deep cover" as the CIA has.

These people do not talk about their work at the supper table. They do not engage in political debates that reveal their full knowledge at family reunions. They don't lossen up with a few beers, and tell their neighbors about the impressive new technologies they use at work.

This is because some information simply must remain unspoken. That goes way beyond the cultural concept of "secret."

Thus, we see that people can compartmentalize specific information, for a variety of reasons. Is Hale Boggs going to tell his little girl what he knows about Dallas? Give me a break. If we were to line up all the people on the planet, she would be at the end of the line as far as him revealing that. Jim Garrison was at the front of the line, for a variety of obvious reasons.

You mention Jackie. A perfect example. She knew what happened, and after the Moynihan report, she knew what would happen to RFK in 1968. It's hard to think of a mother removing her children to a more remote and "safe" place as an island.

[shraby]

64. And Jackie married a man with the

monetary means to protect them.

[Pallas180]

160. US accused of bungling revealing al Queda computer snitch spy Khan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3548678.stm

BBC News - Rice defends revelation

US denies bungling al-Qaeda case


Khan's arrest was kept under wraps - but not for long.
The US administration has hit back at critics who accuse it of compromising anti-terror efforts by leaking the name of a suspect arrested in Pakistan.
Computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan was detained in Lahore on 12 July.

He is said to have subsequently helped Pakistani police in secret operations against al-Qaeda - until his name surfaced in the US press last week.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice strongly denied that US officials were responsible for the leak.

QUICK GUIDE


What is al-Qaeda?

"We did not, of course, publicly disclose his name," Ms Rice told CNN television on Sunday.

She said Mr Khan's identity had been given "on background" - that is for the journalists' information, not publication.

Ms Rice did not say when or by whom the name was revealed.

Frances Fragos Townsend, a security adviser to President George W Bush, defended the administration's handling of information provided by Mr Khan about possible al-Qaeda attacks in the US.

"We obviously didn't want to go out with everything that we knew and indicate to the terrorists exactly what we knew," she told Fox News on Sunday.

She said a recent series of arrests in Pakistan and the UK had disrupted al-Qaeda plans to attack the US.

Aborted operation

Mr Khan's name first surfaced last Monday, when the New York Times said he had provided most of the information leading to security alerts in New York and other US cities on 1 August.

THE 'PAKISTAN CONNECTION'
12 July: Khan detained in Lahore
25 July: Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, wanted for the 1998 US embassy bombings in Africa, captured in central Pakistan
1 Aug: New York authorities warn residents and businesses of a possible new al-Qaeda attacks
3 Aug: 12 terror suspects arrested in raids across England


Al-Qaeda's 'computer expert'
US officials then confirmed the name to other US news organisations.

In recent days intelligence sources both in Pakistan and the UK have criticised the identification of the 25-year-old computer experts.

A Pakistani intelligence official told Reuters news agency that Mr Khan had been actively helping to catch al-Qaeda militants.

Another official in Islamabad quoted by the Associated Press said Mr Khan had agreed to send e-mails to al-Qaeda members as part of a sting operation - which was aborted as a result of his naming.

In Britain, police officers told Reuters they had been forced to arrest 12 terror suspects sooner than they had wanted last week.

The UK sweep occurred a day after Mr Khan was identified.

[Pallas180]

161. Here's the question again: US keeps revealing covert assetts- WHY ?

could it be that there is not even a safe "six degrees of separation"
between the government criminals in this country who have conspired
on 911 ?


The administration


1) outed Plame who was involved in tracking illegal WMD

2) gagged Sibel Edmonds who had info on terrorist activity & finances

3) outed an Al Queda mole who had been turned to the US and was revealing Al Queda big wigs;


WHY?

[Jose Diablo]

166. They are trying to erase the tracks that lead back to themselves n/t

[Pallas180]

176. Jelly Bean - agreed. Now

we need to start googling to find the tracks.

[robertpaulsen]

44. Good afternoon, everyone! Here it is: AMERICAN JUDAS 1st Edition

AMERICAN JUDAS
Selling the Security of America and the World for 30 Pieces of Silver
By
Robert Paulsen
Compiled From the Research by Posters on “The Plame Indictment Threads”
At democraticunderground.com
1st Edition


A. Introduction

This paper is intended as a supplement to The Waterman Paper and an exploration into Goal #3: Why Cheney Exposed Plame. It involves researching possible connections between businesses connected to Vice President Dick Cheney that may be associated with the sale of WMD components to countries in the Middle East and Asia.

In addition to reviewing known information regarding the “leaking” of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity and the nature of her work, there will be an overview of A.Q. Khan’s network of nuclear proliferation, a listing of compromising positions involving financial ties in Cheney’s past and finally an exploration into possible links connecting Cheney to nuclear proliferation markets for profit.

All evidence shall be cited in a source guide available upon request.

B. Valerie Plame’s “Sting Operation”

On July 14,2003, Robert Novak exposed Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA agent in his syndicated column. He sourced his story to two senior White House officials.(1) It is important to understand that, as Plame’s husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson says, “Compromising the officer means compromising a career, a network, and every person with who the officer might have ever worked. Slips of the tongue cost people their lives.”(2)

What was the nature of this career, this network that was compromised? Joe Klein hints at the broad outlines of this nature. “Furthermore, there is intense anger over the White House’s revealing the identity of Plame, who may have been active in a sting operation involving the trafficking of WMD components.”(3)

According to Wayne Madsen, the cover company that Plame was connected with was a CIA firm called Brewster, Jennings & Associates. “Active since 1994, Brewster-Jennings was instrumental in tracking the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and had agents or correspondents in a number of countries…Sensitive CIA operations that were compromised by the leak included companies, government officials, and individuals associated with the nuclear smuggling network of Pakistan’s chief nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.”(4)
Yet in spite of, or perhaps as a result of, the compromises resulting from the leak, the CIA helped expose Khan’s network, according to Newsweek.. It involves a CIA investigation into a company in Malaysia called Scomi connected with an A.Q. Khan “middleman” named Bukhari Sayed Abu Tahir. Last August, the company's name was found stamped in bold letters on five crates of centrifuge parts seized en route to Libya. Since then Scomi has been at the center of an international detective story that has uncovered an astonishing global nuclear-weapons "black market." All of it leads back to Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who fathered the underground network. In pursuit of both profits and a kind of Islamic nuclear parity, Khan passed on equipment and know-how to Iran and Libya, and made offers to Iraq and most recently Syria, officials say. Khan also helped North Korea's covert program.(5)

Is it possible that Plame’s “sting operation” directly tracked and helped expose the nuclear proliferation network of A.Q. Khan? If so, why was Plame’s operation exposed from the White House? Joe Klein says, “’Only a very high-ranking official could have had access to the knowledge that Plame was on the payroll’ of the CIA, an intelligence source told me.”(6) And Mohamed El Baradei says A.Q. Khan is just the tip of the nuclear iceberg. “Dr. Khan was not working alone,” International Atomic Energy Association chief Mohamed El Baradei told reporters, adding he had help from people in many countries.(7)

Could Cheney have had a financial relationship with the Nuclear Walmart, which would have provided a motive for exposing Plame’s operation? We shall explore this in sections D and E of this paper. First it is important to understand what is currently known about A.Q. Khan’s network before we uncover Cheney’s connection with it. The purpose of this examination is not intended as a comprehensive index of the network, but as an exploration into some of the more sinister elements of the network that led to relationships not only among state sponsors of terrorism, but to relationships with terrorist organizations themselves.

C. A.Q. Khan’s Nuclear Walmart

Nuclear experts are aghast at the size of the network, which extends from Switzerland to Japan to Dubai. Over 30 years, Khan put together what Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called "a veritable Wal-Mart" for nuclear-weapons buyers, a not-so-secret netherworld where proliferation meshed with globalization. Khan even held nuclear-related symposiums. "The horse is out of the barn. At this point, we can't stop the technology from spreading," says former Clinton official Gary Samore. One senior U.S. official told NEWSWEEK that Khan's role in destabilizing the 21st century will "loom up there" with Hitler's and Stalin's impact in the 20th. Even so, most of the A.Q. Khan network's key operatives will likely escape punishment, officials concede.(8)

Who were some of the people and organizations connected with A.Q. Khan?

1. B.S.A. Tahir - The recent investigations into the clandestine nuclear proliferation activities of A.Q.Khan, the so-called father of the Pakistan atom bomb, have revealed that Bukhary Seyed Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan Tamil Muslim of Indian origin, married in Malysia and with business interests in Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, was one of the external kingpins of Pakistan's clandestine nuclear procurement network. In a speech at the National Defence University of Washington DC in February last, President Bush had described this Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking Muslim as the "chief financial officer and money-launderer" of A.Q.Khan's clandestine operations.(9) As chief financial officer, B.S.A. Tahir played an important role in his connection with a Malaysian company called Scomi that will be explored in greater detail in section E of this paper.

2. Lashkar-e-Toiba - or LET is a terrorist group of Pakistan, consisting of Pakistani, Afghan and Arab cadres, headed by Pakistani office-bearers, with its headquarters at Muridke near Lahore. Its annual conventions at Muridke are attended, amongst others, by serving and retired officers of the Pakistani military and intelligence establishment, by serving and retired scientists of the Pakistani nuclear and missile establishment and by political leaders.

Amongst those, who regularly attend its annual conventions, are Lt. Gen. (retd) Hamid Gul and Lt.Gen.(retd) Javed Nasir, both former Directors-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan, the self-styled father of the Pakistani atom bomb, Dr.Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, the former scientist of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission who was recently detained by the Pakistani authorities under US pressure for being in contact with bin Laden and Mohd.Rafique Tarar, former President of Pakistan.(10)

To finance its day-to-day activities, the LeT leverages its contacts in Saudi Arabia as well as launches donation campaigns with overseas Pakistanis, especially middle class and wealthy Punjabis in Britain, Australia and the Middle East. According to Jane's Terrorism & Insurgency Centre, Osama bin Laden has also financed LeT activities until recently. The LeT, under its new name JuD, uses its outreach networks including schools, social service groups and religious publications to attract and brainwash recruits for jihad in Kashmir and other places.(11)

Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) has been showing increasing interest in taking jihad to the Muslims of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The LET is very close to the ISI and it would not have taken its initial moves to explore the possibility of using Sri Lanka as a clandestine base for its activties and for creating sleeper cells there without the knowledge and prior clearance of the ISI.(12) Since there is such a close relationship between ISI and this terrorist organization whose conventions ISI officials and A.Q. Khan attended, it is important to take a closer look at ISI, as well as another cited convention attendant, Dr. S.B. Mahmood, to uncover the relationship they share with al Qaeda and expose how their actions aided them.

a. Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) The ISI plays a much more significant role in the Pakistani government than do its counterparts in other countries. Time Magazine has noted, "Even by the shadowy standards of spy agencies, the ISI is notorious. It is commonly branded 'a state within the state,' or Pakistan's 'invisible government.'"

The ISI grew into its present form during the war between the Soviet Union and mujaheddin guerrillas in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The CIA thought the Afghan war could be Russia's own costly Vietnam War, and they funneled billions to the mujaheddin resistance to keep them a thorn in Russia's side. The strategy worked: Soviet soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, and the Soviet Union collapsed two years later, partly due to the costs of the war.

But the costs to keep the mujaheddin fighting were staggering, with estimates ranging between $6 billion and $40 billion. While a substantial portion of this amount came from the CIA and the Saudi Arabian government, who were both funneling the money through the ISI, much of the cost was deferred by Afghanistan's opium trade. Although the Afghan war has ended, the ISI has continued to profit from opium. In 1999, the United Nations Drug Control Programme estimated that the ISI was making around $2.5 billion annually from the sale of illegal drugs. The drug trade helped unite the ISI and Osama bin Laden, who was said to have taken a 15% cut of the Afghan drug trade money in exchange for protecting smugglers and laundering their profits. By 1994, the Taliban, a group of Muslim radicals studying in Pakistan, began conquering Afghanistan. The Taliban had been recruited by the ISI and molded into a fanatical force that conquered Afghanistan's capital by 1996. CNN reported, "The Taliban are widely alleged to be the creation of Pakistan's military intelligence . Experts say that explains the Taliban's swift military successes." The ISI didn't create the Taliban simply for strategic reasons; they shared the Taliban's extreme radical vision. As the Wall Street Journal remarked in November 2001, "Despite their clean chins and pressed uniforms, the ISI men are as deeply fundamentalist as any bearded fanatic; the ISI created the Taliban as their own instrument and still supports it."

The relationship between the US and the ISI is hard to fathom. On September 4, 2001, ISI Director Mahmood Ahmed arrived in Washington, D.C. On September 10, a Pakistani newspaper reported on the visit, saying that it had "triggered speculation about the agenda of his mysterious meetings at the Pentagon and National Security Council" as well as meetings with CIA Director George Tenet, unspecified officials at the White House and the Pentagon, and his "most important meeting" with Mark Grossman, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. In May 2001, both CIA Director George Tenet and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had visited South Asia. It's not known if they met with Mahmood or anyone else in the ISI, but according to credible news reports, Tenet had "unusually long" consultations with President Musharraf. It is also worth noting that Armitage is known for his "large circle of friends in the Pakistani military and ISI" as well as his connections to the Iran-Contra affair. On the morning of September 11, Lt. Gen. Mahmood was at a breakfast meeting at the Capitol with the chairmen of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Senator Bob Graham (D) and Representative Porter Goss (R). The meeting was said to have lasted at least until the second plane hit the World Trade Center. Goss is a self-admitted 10-year veteran of the CIA's clandestine operations wing. Goss and Graham were later the heads of the joint House-Senate investigation into the September 11 attacks, and Goss in particular made headlines for saying there was no "smoking gun" indicating that the government had sufficient foreknowledge to prevent the September 11 attacks. (13)

1) Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed - On October 7, 2001, Pakistani President Musharraf fired Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, the head of the ISI. The next day, some newspapers, mostly in India but also in Pakistan, shockingly said he was fired for his role in the 9/11 attacks. For instance, a Pakistani newspaper stated, "Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed has been replaced after the FBI investigators established credible links between him and Umar Sheikh, one of the three militants released in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999... Informed sources said there were enough indications with the US intelligence agencies that it was at Gen. Mahmood's instruction that Sheikh had transferred 100,000 US dollars into the account of Mohammed Atta..." In the US, surprisingly, the only mention was in a one short piece in the Wall Street Journal, mentioning that, "The US authorities ... confirm the fact that $100,000 wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the insistence of General Mahmood." (14)

2) Saeed Sheikh - He was born in Britain with the name Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. In 1993 he emerged in Pakistan as a member of a militant group fighting for the liberation of Kashmir from India. Pakistan has been fighting India for years over control of Kashmir, and it appears Saeed was put on the ISI payroll around this time, to help the Pakistani cause in Kashmir. In 1994, Saeed began training at a training camp in Afghanistan. He soon was teaching the classes. He developed close ties with al-Qaeda while training there. By the end of the year he was known as Osama bin Laden’s "favored son" or "my special son." Even more curiously, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review suggested in March 2002, "There are many in Musharraf's government who believe that Saeed Sheikh's power comes not from the ISI, but from his connections with our own CIA. The theory is that ... Saeed Sheikh was bought and paid for." (15)

While this exploration may seem like a diversion from finding the answer to why Valerie Plame had her cover blown as a CIA agent, it is intended to illustrate that the network was so vast that many relationships overlapped, and the CIA was no stranger to the network. Now, getting back to the focus of Plame’s operation, WMD trafficking, here is a seemingly altruistic organization created by a Lashkar-e-Toiba convention attendant whose actions are worth noting.

b.Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN) - Reconstruction of the Muslim Ummah, a non-governmental organization whose stated mission was to conduct relief work and investment in Afghanistan. It was established by two well-respected Pakistani nuclear scientists, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Chaudiri Abdul Majeed. Not much is known about Majeed. But Mahmood had a long career in Pakistan's nuclear program and held a variety of senior positions. The Associated Press reported on October 24, 2001 that officials in the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) said Mahmood had been a director for the nation's nuclear program and remained in key positions until his retirement. In publications, he is credited with playing a pioneering role in establishing the uranium enrichment project in Pakistan. Subsequently, Abdul Qadeer Khan took over and is known as the father of Pakistan's uranium enrichment program. He ended his career as Director for Nuclear Power at the PAEC. For his outstanding contributions to Pakistan's nuclear program, he was awarded the prestigious Sitara-e-Imtiaz award by the President of Pakistan in March 1999.

Mahmood is reported to have resigned from the PAEC in the spring of 1999 in protest of the government's willingness to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) after Pakistan conducted a series of underground tests in May 1998. There was also pressure put on Mahmood to resign. The New York Times reported that the United States wanted Mahmood removed after it learned that he had sympathies for Islamic militant groups, including the Taliban. Mahmood was often publicly supportive of the Taliban in Pakistan and in speeches at universities said that the Taliban was a model for Pakistan. Even after September 11th, Mahmood remained supportive of the Taliban, addressing a gathering of intellectuals in mid-October 2001 where he proposed a three-month cease-fire to resolve the situation in Afghanistan. Senior Pakistani officials reportedly were concerned because Mahmood had been vocally advocating extensive production of weapon-grade plutonium and uranium to help equip other Islamic nations with these materials.

According to the Washington Post, however, Mahmood and Majeed admitted that they had long discussions with al Qaeda officials in August 2001 about nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Pakistani intelligence officials told the Washington Post that they believe that the scientists used UTN partially as a cover to conduct secret talks with bin Laden. During repeated UTN visits to Afghanistan, UTN directors and members met with bin Laden, al Qaeda leaders, and Mullah Omar and discussed the development of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; UTN has been linked to WAFA Humanitarian Organization and Al Rashid Trust, two other NGOs with ties to al Qaeda that have been designated as supporters of terrorism under Executive Order 13224.

During 2001, Mahmood met with Mullah Omar and bin Laden. During a follow-up meeting where bin Laden's associate indicated he had nuclear material and wanted to know how to use it to make a weapon, Mahmood provided information about the infrastructure needed for a nuclear weapon program and the effects of nuclear weapons; and after the fall of the Taliban regime, searches of UTN locations in Kabul yielded documents setting out a plan to kidnap a U.S. attaché and outlining basic nuclear physics related to nuclear weapons.

In the August 2001 meeting, Mahmood and his colleagues appear to have provided al Qaeda a road map to building nuclear weapons. This information is typically very helpful in understanding the steps that must be accomplished in making a nuclear weapon, identifying the necessary equipment and technology, and locating suppliers of key equipment. In addition, Mahmood and his colleagues appear to have recruited other scientists with more direct knowledge of making nuclear weapons.

Transfer of sensitive nuclear weapons information could have happened in many ways. The scientists could have provided direct assistance to al Qaeda's nuclear weapons program, including nuclear weapons and RDD information. They may have obtained secret documents during the course of their career that they passed to the Taliban or al Qaeda. They also could have been a "funnel" through which Pakistani nuclear weapons experts provided sensitive assistance, including documents or technical advice. The transfer of sensitive information by UTN officials or their colleagues may have occurred either in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

UTN officials may have had another advantage. The success of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program depended on extensive illicit foreign procurement. Mahmood headed a large reactor project that also needed to import illicitly or secretly many items, including sensitive technology, materials, components, and manufacturing equipment. He and his colleagues must have had extensive information about procuring sensitive items for a nuclear weapons program.

Several UTN projects were aimed at reestablishing Afghanistan's manufacturing, scientific, and engineering capabilities in universities and industries. Projects focused on such reconstruction could have provided a convenient cover for importing sensitive items for WMD programs. Even if the procurement was illicit, a procurement effort is more likely to succeed if the exporting company believes it is sending items to a civil institution. Because many UTN projects were medical or humanitarian in nature, imports to these projects may have been exempt from the UN embargo on Afghanistan.

Some nuclear dual-use equipment, such as vacuum furnaces, would have been hard to procure, especially for al Qaeda. The involvement of the Pakistani scientists may significantly eased the task of obtaining such equipment.

In late January 2002, Pakistan officials said that Pakistan decided not to press criminal charges against Mahmood and Majeed, despite concluding that the scientists violated a secrecy oath during trips to Afghanistan. The main reasons reported in the media were Pakistan's concern that a trial would cause further international embarrassment and risk disclosure of nuclear secrets. (16)

3. B.C.C.I. - BCCI was the largest criminal corporate enterprise ever, the biggest Ponzi scheme, the most pervasive money-laundering operation in history, the only bank - so far as anyone knows - that ran a brisk sideline business in both conventional and nuclear weapons, gold, drugs, turnkey mercenary armies, intelligence and counterintelligence, shipping, and commodities from cement in the Middle East to Honduran coffee to Vietnamese beans.

Though it was fundamentally a financial fraud, BCCI itself was not a bank in any conventional sense. Or, more precisely, banking was only a part of the global organism, the ingeniously constructed platform from which its other lines of business were launched....

This "bank" possessed its very own diplomatic corps, intelligence network, and private army, its own shipping and commodities trading companies. And BCCI itself was so thoroughly enmeshed in the official affairs of Pakistan that it was often impossible to separate the two.

BCCI was bigger even than that: It was the unsettling next-stage evolution of the multinational corporation, the one the theorists had been predicting for years but which never seemed to be able to shed its sovereign boundaries. (General Motors and Mitsubishi are both good examples of this - huge companies with holdings and operations all over the world that nonetheless persist in being fundamentally American and Japanese entities.) In taking that step, BCCI became truly stateless and very nearly invisible to the authorities in each country where it did business.

{BCCI founder} Abedi had money to spare to underwrite the protocol department: In 1981 Ghulam Ishaq Khan granted BCCI a special tax-free status allowing Abedi to avoid tens of millions of dollars in taxes and to pour his huge Pakistan profits into one of his front companies and into Pakistan's atomic bomb project. Most of the millions that flowed through the foundation went to two uses: first, to investments - patently noncharitable - in a company called Attock Cement, owned by Abedi's associate and U.S. front man Ghaith Pharaon. The second beneficiary was something called the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology. According to its brochures, the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute trains young scientists and engineers. The reality is a little more ominous . . .

The director of the institute is Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the man most closely linked with Pakistan's efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Khan, a German-trained metallurgist, once worked as a classified enrichment plant in the Netherlands, where he gained access to key plans. So important is he to the Pakistani national interest that even his whereabouts are considered a national secret.(17)

Right from its inception, the clandestine nuclear and missile projects in Pakistan were treated as a top secret intel op of the ISI to ensure deniability. All payments to the foreign suppliers were made not from the accounts of the Govt of Pakistan, but from private accounts in the BCCI, which collapsed in 1991, and other Dubai and Geneva based banks. These accounts were opened by the Gokul brothers of Geneva, one of whom was jailed for cheating in the UK after the collapse of the BCCI; Shaukat Aziz, Pakistan’s present Finance Minister, who was working in the Gulf for the Citibank in the 1990s; Dawood Ibrahim, the mafia leader who was designated by the US as an intl terrorist in Oct; Dubai-based Pakistani smugglers, and AQ Khan and other trusted Pakistani scientists.(18) Given that A.Q. Khan began his network from such sinister and corrupt beginnings, this next relationship should come as no surprise.

4. Osama bin Laden – The following is an excerpt from an investigation by the Kashmir Herald into several of A.Q. Khan’s travels to Africa.

He had kept the Pakistani Foreign Office informed of his travels. The Foreign Office had instructed the Pakistani diplomatic missions in the countries visited by him to accord the due honours of protocol to him.
In all the countries, he was received by officers of the Pakistani diplomatic missions and entertained by the heads of missions.
In Sudan, he was accorded the honours of protocol generally given to a member of the Cabinet and called on the President of the country.
He was accompanied by senior serving scientists of Pakistan's nuclear establishment, who were among those responsible for Pakistan's military nuclear development. They could not have gone abroad and remained absent for days without the knowledge and clearance of the Government.
At least one Lt.Gen. belonging to the Pakistan Army's Medical Corps, who had headed it, and two Brigadiers had accompanied him. They could not have gone and remained away from the country without the knowledge and clearance of the Military Headquarters.
The uranium enriched at KRL, Kahuta, used to come from Africa, mainly Niger. This partly explains the frequent travels of A.Q.Khan to Africa. From the accounts given by the Pakistani author, two intriguing questions arise:

Why did Khan consider it necessary to visit the site of a factory in Sudan, which became the target of US Cruise missile attacks after the explosions outside the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam by Al Qaeda in August 1998? The Americans had alleged at that time that this factory belonged to Osama bin Laden and was producing chemicals for weaponisation purposes. Denying this, the Sudanese authorities had claimed that it was producing anti-malaria drugs.
Why was he visiting frequently Timbuktu, which has apparently no importance from the nuclear point of view? Pakistani officials have alleged that he had illegally constructed a hotel there ( Hotel La Colombe?) in the name of his wife. If he was going there to supervise the construction of the hotel, he should have been accompanied by experts in building construction and the hotel industry. No such person accompanied him. He was always accompanied by scientists and Army officers associated with KRL and Tahir Mian, who was helping him in the procurement of centrifuges.

It is reliably learnt from well-placed observers that it also came out during the recent interrogation of the associates of Khan in Pakistan's nuclear establishment that after Osama bin Laden shifted from Khartoum to Afghanistan in 1996, Dr.Khan was also looking after bin Laden's extensive investments in the mining industry in many African countries and that the money invested in the Timbuktu hotel had come from these investments of bin Laden. The Pakistani authorities have reportedly suppressed this information and not shared it with the US.(19)

This investigation has yielded some amazing information. In addition to widespread government cooperation with the network that has not been reported to the US, A.Q. Khan obtained uranium from Africa, mainly from Niger, where Valerie Plame’s husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, discovered the evidence that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium there was a forgery. Most frightening is the extent of Khan’s relationship with bin Laden, apparently trusted enough to look after bin Laden’s investments in Africa. Only time will tell how much bin Laden profited, both in monetary terms and in expanding al Qaeda’s WMD potential, from the generosity of Khan’s nuclear Walmart.

5. Unnamed U.S. Firm - More than 20 firms - including at least one American company - have supplied rogue nations seeking nuclear arms, marking the first time a U.S. company has been linked to the black market network.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who is heading a probe into the illicit sales, avoided specifics on the locations of the companies in an interview with The Associated Press Friday.

But a senior diplomat said at least one was in the United States - the first time in five months of investigations by the U.N. nuclear agency that an American company has been implicated in the black market network headed by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Kahn.(20)

What American company would possibly have had the means and the motive to risk potentially treasonous activity by profiting off black market nuclear proliferation to terrorist organizations and their state sponsors? In the next two sections, an examination into the motives of why Dick Cheney, through his association with Halliburton, would have wanted a sting operation focused on A.Q. Khan’s nuclear Walmart terminated will be conducted, as well as an exploration into how the profits from such a treacherous enterprise could possibly have been laundered.

D. Compromising Positions in Cheney's Past

1. Cheney helped cover-up Pakistani nuclear proliferation in 1989 so US could sell country fighter jets. - When Pakistan's clandestine program involving its top nuclear scientist selling rogue nations, such as Iran and North Korea, blueprints for building an atomic bomb was uncovered last month, the world's leaders waited, with baited breath to see what type of punishment George W. Bush would inflict upon Pakistan's President Pervez Musharaff. Bush has, after all, spent his entire term in office talking tough about countries and dictators that conceal weapons of mass destruction and even tougher on individuals who supply rogue nations and terrorists with the means to build WMD. For all intents and purposes, Pakistan and Musharraf fit that description.

Remember, Bush accused Iraq of harboring a cache of WMD, which was the primary reason he gave for the United States launching a preemptive strike on that country a year ago, and also claimed that Iraq may have given its WMD to al-Qaeda terrorists and/or Syria, weapons that, Bush said, could be used to attack the U.S. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and top members of the administration reacted with shock when they found out that Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, spent the past 15 years selling outlaw nations nuclear technology and equipment. So it was sort of a surprise when Bush, upon finding out about Khan's proliferation of nuclear technology, let Pakistan off with a slap on the wrist. But it was all an act. In fact, it was actually a coverup designed to shield Cheney because he knew about the proliferation for more than a decade and did nothing to stop it.

Like the terrorist attacks on 9-11, the Bush administration had mountains of evidence on Pakistan's sales of nuclear technology and equipment to nations vilified by the U.S. nations that are considered much more of a threat than Iraq but turned a blind eye to the threat and allowed it to happen. In 1989, the year Khan first started selling nuclear secrets on the black-market; Richard Barlow, a young intelligence analyst working for the Pentagon prepared a shocking report for Cheney, who was then secretary of defense under the Bush I administration: Pakistan built an atomic bomb and was selling its nuclear equipment to countries the U.S. said was sponsoring terrorism. But Barlow's findings, as reported in a January 2002 story in Mother Jones magazine, were "politically inconvenient."

"A finding that Pakistan possessed a nuclear bomb would have triggered a congressionally mandated cutoff of aid to the country, a key ally in the CIA's efforts to support Afghan rebels fighting a pro-Soviet government. It also would have killed a $1.4-billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad," Mother Jones reported. Ironically, Pakistan, critics say, was let off the hook last month so the U.S. could use its borders to hunt for al-Qaeda leader and alleged 9-11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. Cheney dismissed Barlow's report because he desperately wanted to sell Pakistan the F-16 fighter planes. Several months later, a Pentagon official was told by Cheney to downplay Pakistan's nuclear capabilities when he testified on the threat before Congress. Barlow complained to his bosses at the Pentagon and was fired. (21)

During the time that Barlow prepared his report on Pakistan, Bryan Siebert an Energy Department analyst, was looking into Saddam Hussein's nuclear program in Iraq. Siebert concluded that "Iraq has a major effort under way to produce nuclear weapons," and said that the National Security Council should investigate his findings. But the Bush administration—which had been supporting Iraq as a counterweight to the Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran—ignored the report, the magazine reported.

"This was not a failure of intelligence," Barlow told Mother Jones. "The intelligence was in the system."(22)

Cheney went to great lengths to cover-up Pakistan's nuclear weaponry. In a New Yorker article published on March 29, 1993, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh quoted Barlow as saying that some high-ranking members inside the CIA and the Pentagon lied to Congress about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal so as not to sacrifice the sale of the F-16 fighter planes to Islamabad, which was secretly equipped to deliver nuclear weapons. Pakistan's nuclear capabilities and had become so grave by the
spring of 1990 that then CIA deputy director Richard Kerr said the Pakistani nuclear threat was worse than the Cuban Missile crisis in the 1960s.

"It was the most dangerous nuclear situation we have ever faced since I've been in the U.S. government," Kerr said in an interview with Hersh. "It may be as close as we've come to a nuclear exchange. It was far more frightening than the Cuban missile crisis."

Still, in 1989 Cheney and others in the Pentagon and the CIA continued to hide the reality of Pakistan's nuclear threat from members of Congress. Hersh explained in his lengthy New Yorker article that reasons behind the cover-up "revolves around the fact . . . that the Reagan Administration had dramatically aided Pakistan in its pursuit of the bomb."(23)

In addition to these three sources that corroborate the fact that Cheney knew about A.Q. Khan’s network and rather than report it, chose to profit through sales to Pakistan of fighter jets that could deliver nuclear weapons, Cheney was caught on another case of nuclear proliferation.

2. Halliburton fined $1.2 million in 1995 for selling dual-use nuclear equipment to Libya. - Halliburton came under fire in the early '90s for supplying Libya and Iraq with oil drilling equipment which could be used to detonate nuclear weapons. Halliburton Logging Services, a former subsidiary, was charged with shipping six pulse neutron generators through Italy to Libya. In 1995, the company pled guilty to criminal charges that it violated the U.S. ban on exports to Libya. Halliburton was fined $1.2 million and will pay $2.61 million in civil penalties.

During his chairmanship of Halliburton, Cheney criticized U.S. sanctions against "rogue" nations such as Iran and Libya in a 1998 speech. According to a July 26, 2000, Washington Post story, Cheney complained the sanctions "are nearly always motivated by domestic political pressure, the need for Congress to appeal to some domestic constituency." (24)

3. Current criminal probe - - A grand jury issued a subpoena to oil field services company Halliburton Co. seeking information about its Cayman Islands unit's work in Iran, where it is illegal for U.S. companies to operate, Halliburton said on Monday.

The company, formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, said it understood the investigation of its subsidiary's work in Iran had been transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice from the Treasury Department, which first initiated an inquiry in 2001.(25)

4. Existing Halliburton ties to Vice President Dick Cheney – Rather than crack down on Halliburton, however, the Bush administration’s Energy Task Force, which was headed by Cheney, presented a draft report in April 2001 saying the United States should reevaluate the sanctions against Iran, Iraq, and Libya that prohibited U.S. oil companies from “some of the most important existing and ‘prospective’ petroleum-producing countries in the world.” Cheney asserted there was no conflict on his part because “Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush’s vice president, I’ve severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest.” Cheney neglected to mention that he was still due approximately $500,000 in deferred compensation from Halliburton and could potentially profit from his 433,333 shares of unexercised Halliburton stock options.

A Congressional Research Service report requested by Senate Democrats concluded that unexercised stock options in a private corporation, as well as deferred salary received from a private corporation, were “retained ties” or “linkages” to a former employer and should be reported as “financial interests.”(26)

Since Halliburton continues to engage in business practices with state sponsors of terrorism and Cheney continues to profit from it, all that is left to do is, in the words of Deep Throat, “Follow the money.” The proceeding section uses circumstantial evidence to show a relationship between several individuals and companies through which the unnamed US firm in Khan’s nuclear Walmart, presumably Halliburton, profited from nuclear proliferation.

E. Links in the Chain Connecting Cheney with Nuclear Proliferation

1. B.S.A. Tahir – Remember this man from Section C? This associate of A.Q. Khan who was identified by President Bush in a speech as the nuclear Walmart’s "chief financial officer and money launderer."(27) BSA TAHIR, a SRI LANKAN businessman based in DUBAI was a trusted and close confidante of A. Q. Khan and was actively involved in supplying centrifuge components for Libya's uranium-enrichment program. BSA TAHIR, who was involved in the business of SCOMI PRECISION ENGINEERING SDN BHD (SCOPE). He used the company to produce components for the centrifuge unit for the uranium enrichment program. However, investigations have revealed that the components, on their own, cannot form a complete centrifuge unit. In this context, it has to be noted that SCOPE is a subsidiary of SCOMI GROUP BHD, i.e. a company involved in the petroleum services industry. As a subsidiary, SCOPE is also involved in precision engineering services, which involves the production of components for a variety of equipments including parts for
cars, petroleum and gas. This makes evident that SCOPE could not be labeled
as a company directly involved in nuclear proliferation.

Furthermore, the supply of components by middlemen was carried out in a
discreet manner and involved suppliers from other countries to blur the
sources of the components. Some of the suppliers were believed to be aware
that these components could be for uranium enrichment centrifuges. Generally
these suppliers mostly from Europe were those who had dealings with the
nuclear expert since the 1980s, at a time when PAKISTAN was developing its
nuclear technology. There were a number of individuals and companies which
supplied the components but were unaware of the implications because some of
the components were similar to components used in oil drilling, water
treatment and equipment for several other general use.(28)

Which companies could possibly have been connected with the suppliers that helped blur the source of the components? Amazingly, a connection between Scomi and Halliburton can be established with only one other company serving as a buffer between the two: Cognis.

a. Cognis – Service specialist Scomi Group Bhd, is offering multinational oil and gas companies a special fluid to make offshore drilling friendlier to the sea and its inhabitants. Scomi, together with German chemicals specialist, Cognis Gmbh, offers ester-based drilling fluid derived from palm kernel oil. The agreement is between Scomi’s wholly-owned Kota Minerals & Chemicals Sdn Bhd (KMC) and Cognis’ 50%-owned unit, Cognis Oleochemicals (M) Sdn Bhd.(29)

Sounds like a perfectly benign, perhaps even altruistic enterprise. How is this company connected with Halliburton? It’s through collaboration with one of Halliburton’s subsidiary companies.

b. Baroid – The drilling fluids containing esters based on renewable natural resources are developed by Cognis in collaboration with Baroid, the drilling fluids service company within the Halliburton Energy Services Group.(30)

To reiterate the serpentine link, A.Q. Khan's financial officer (money launderer) was B.S.A. Tahir. Tahir used Scomi to produce components for the centrifuge unit for the uranium enrichment program. Scomi, through its company KMC, worked with Cognis Oleochemicals. Cognis is connected with Baroid (part of the Halliburton Group). But the extent of Halliburton/Cheney profiting from nuclear proliferation does not stop there. And Cheney is not the only member of the Bush administration to profit from it.

2. Donald Rumsfeld - Rumsfeld was on ABB board during deal with North Korea.
The Swiss-based ABB on Friday told swissinfo that Rumsfeld was involved with the company in early 2000, when it netted a $200 million (SFr270million) contract with Pyongyang. The ABB contract was to deliver equipment and services for two nuclear power stations at Kumho, on North Korea’s east coast. Rumsfeld – who is one of the Bush administration’s most strident “hardliners” on North Korea – was a member of ABB’s board between 1990 and February 2001, when he left to take up his current post. Wolfram Eberhardt, a spokesman for ABB, told swissinfo that Rumsfeld “was at nearly all the board meetings” during his decade-long involvement with the company.(31)

It's a well-known fact--oft detailed in this column--that the boys in the Bush Regime swing both ways. We speak, of course, of their proclivity--their apparently uncontrollable craving--for stuffing their trousers with loot from both sides of whatever war or military crisis is going at the moment.

That's why it came as no surprise to read last week that just before he joined the Regime's crusade against evildoers everywhere (especially rogue states that pursue the development of terrorist-ready weapons of mass destruction), Pentagon warlord Donald Rumsfeld was trousering the proceeds from a $200 million deal to send the latest nuclear technology--including plenty of terrorist-ready "dirty bomb" material--to the rogue state of North Korea, Neue Zurcher Zeitung reports.

In 1998, Rumsfeld was citizen chairman of the Congressional Ballistic Missile Threat Commission, charged with reducing nuclear proliferation. Rumsfeld and the Republican-heavy commission came down hard on the deal Bill Clinton had brokered with North Korea to avert a war in 1994: Pyongyang would give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for normalized relations with the United States, plus the construction of two non-weaponized nuclear plants to generate electricity. The plants were to be built by an international consortium of government-backed business interests called KEDO.

Whatever happened to Bush's much-trumpeted "era of responsibility?" These guys are not only chiselers, hustlers, hypocrites and war profiteers--they're a bunch of gutless wonders as well. So you'll pardon us if we are just the tiniest bit cynical about the "moral arguments for war" and other such buckets of warm spit this gang is now forcing down the world's throat.(32) It’s bad enough for Rumsfeld to profit off selling nuclear equipment to North Korea. But it doesn’t end there, the organizations involved in this transaction link back to Halliburton once again.

a. KEDO - ABB, which was already building eight nuclear reactors in South Korea, had an inside track on the $4 billion U.S.-sponsored North Korea project. The firm was told "our participation is essential," recalls Frank Murray, project manager for the reactors. (He plays the same role now at Westinghouse, which was acquired by Britain's BNFL in 1999, a year before it also bought ABB's nuclear power business.) The North Korean reactors are being primarily funded by South Korean and Japanese export-import banks and supervised by KEDO, a consortium based in New York. "It was not a matter of favoritism," says Desaix Anderson, who ran KEDO from 1997 to 2001. "It was just a practical matter."(33)

b. KNOC - The KEDO (Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization) is the official Korean government energy corporation. By reading their 2001 energy development summary one can make out all the myriad countries that contribute to KEDO. North Korea lacks necessary production facilities to drill and test for its oil. It is reaching out to many firms and countries to help them while the government attempts to develop some oil fields with as much capital as it can muster. A Singapore firm recently announced (August 29, 2002) significant oil and gas reserves in North Korea. Additionally, Halliburton has partnered with KNOC to develop offshore drilling platforms in South Korea.(34)

Yet another serpentine link through which money could be laundered into the willing hands of Halliburton. Rumsfeld-ABB-KEDO-KNOC-Halliburton. But were these links completely separate, or is it possible that there were any other companies besides Halliburton involved with both links of possible proliferation profits? One company not previously mentioned has relationships with companies on both links.

3. Goldman Sachs – a lucrative investment firm that is listed quite prominently as one of the main investors in Cognis on their website.(35) Also there is a link with Donald Rumsfeld to two organizations, Bilderberg and ABB through the chairman of Goldman Sachs, General Peter Sutherland from Ireland. Some of the Western world's leading financiers and foreign policy strategists attend Bilderberg. Rumsfeld is an active Bilderberger. So is General Peter Sutherland from Ireland, a former European Union commissioner and chairman of Goldman Sachs and of BP. Rumsfeld and Sutherland served together in 2000 on the board of the Swedish/Swiss energy company ABB.
(36)

These links are not in and of themselves direct proof of the laundering of nuclear proliferation profits. But they are proof of a relationship between these companies sharing common goals, through which individuals involved in nuclear proliferation, and there were many in these companies, could operate their network covertly.

F. Conclusions and Recommendations – To conclude, this paper asserts that Dick Cheney is directly responsible for the leaking of Valerie Plame’s name that resulted in sabotaging her CIA career and her cover company, Brewster, Jennings & Associates. CIA operations that were compromised by the leak were associated with A.Q. Khan’s network of nuclear smuggling. Khan’s network, vast enough to be dubbed by IAEA chief Mohamed El Baradei a “nuclear Walmart”, was examined here for the connections it has with terrorist organizations and state sponsors, as well as areas in which the CIA could have been following their activities.

It proves conclusively that Dick Cheney knew about A.Q. Khan’s nuclear Walmart as early as 1989, and chose not to expose the network but to profit from it, which gives him the strongest motive to blow Valerie Plame’s cover. State sponsors of terror that were proven recipients of Cheney’s nuclear proliferation include Pakistan, Libya and possibly Iran. The links between Khan and Cheney involved suppliers from other countries designed to blur the source of the components, but research concludes individuals affiliated with collaborative companies such as Cognis and their investor Goldman Sachs would be the most obvious links in the chain. Such links also exist in the case of Donald Rumsfeld profiting through ABB’s $200 million sale of nuclear equipment to North Korea, which would prove that Halliburton profited from this example of nuclear proliferation as well.

The main recommendation to all who read this is to spread the word. Anyone who reads this who is in a position to investigate this matter further, whether as an activist, investigative reporter or government official, should do so with care and thoroughness. The names and organizations listed in the paper should, with a proper investigation, lead to more damaging evidence that will help solve the crime and establish justice. That is perhaps the most important aspect of this case to remember, that regardless of the prestige and power connected with the parties involved, this is a criminal investigation. It is hoped that no matter what your political persuasion is, that as a law abiding citizen, you stand with us in condemnation of the exposure of Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA agent as a highly criminal act, and join us in the pursuit of justice for the perpetrators.

_____________________________________________________________________

[robertpaulsen]

47. Hey Pallas! Check your mail!

[Pallas180]

50. RP - done

.

[H2O Man]

49. This is GREAT!

You have done a fantastic job with this. I'm very proud of what you have done with this. It's a serious work of investigatory journalism. I think it will be moving our group's work beyond what we may have anticipated when we started.

[robertpaulsen]

54. I'm glad you like it!

I'm going to follow Pallas' advice and include the links on the paper. Hopefully I'll have that posted today.

But yes, this is investigative journalism that we can all take credit for and be proud of!

[Me.]

57. WOW!

and double wow.

[RebelYell]

58. A Masterpiece!

Thank you RP! Saving it to my hard drive for another massive email campaign.

H20 asked above where we were when Nixon resigned - I was 18, working at an insurance company, oblivious to current events. I remember my Dad saying that politicians were all crooks and Nixon's mistake was getting caught. I wondered how my Dad reached those conclusions, certainly he was incorrect. How I wish he were alive to see today's current events. I can almost hear him.

[robertpaulsen]

89. Thanks RebelYell!

If I haven't told you before, I think your posts are fantastic!

I was just a baby when Nixon resigned. But if I could remember the way my neighborhood reacted, it probably looked like this:

:toast:

I think Dean is right, this is truly Worse Than Watergate. Hopefully, this time there won't be any pardons!

[RebelYell]

94. Thank you for the kind words

Here's a rather lengthy article about Cheney/Halliburton/Nigeria/Bribe/Bandar/French Judge

Page 1
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multipage/documents/03633501.asp

Page 2
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multipage/documents/03633500.asp

This info needs to come out before the election, people need to know that Cheney's heart is just as crooked as his teeth.

[Pallas180]

98. MARK REB"S ABOVE POST for more on Cheney + bribery

thanks REB.

:yourock:

[robertpaulsen]

126. Thanks again RebelYell!

This cyborg doesn't commit enough dirty deeds, does he? More for the 2nd edition of Judas, to be sure.

:toast:

[PfcHammer]

60. Huge progress towards

exposing this disgusting story. :thumbsup:
Once links are added, I'll make an attempt at drawing the picture to go along with it.

[robertpaulsen]

63. AMERICAN JUDAS - links included!

AMERICAN JUDAS
Selling the Security of America and the World for 30 Pieces of Silver
By
Robert Paulsen
Compiled From the Research by Posters on “The Plame Indictment Threads”
At democraticunderground.com
1st Edition


A. Introduction

This paper is intended as a supplement to The Waterman Paper and an exploration into Goal #3: Why Cheney Exposed Plame. It involves researching possible connections between businesses connected to Vice President Dick Cheney that may be associated with the sale of WMD components to countries in the Middle East and Asia.

In addition to reviewing known information regarding the “leaking” of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity and the nature of her work, there will be an overview of A.Q. Khan’s network of nuclear proliferation, a listing of compromising positions involving financial ties in Cheney’s past and finally an exploration into possible links connecting Cheney to nuclear proliferation markets for profit.

All evidence shall be cited in a source guide available upon request.

B. Valerie Plame’s “Sting Operation”

On July 14,2003, Robert Novak exposed Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA agent in his syndicated column. He sourced his story to two senior White House officials.(http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0602/p08s02-comv.html) It is important to understand that, as Plame’s husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson says, “Compromising the officer means compromising a career, a network, and every person with who the officer might have ever worked. Slips of the tongue cost people their lives.”(The Politics of Truth by Joseph Wilson, p. 13.)

What was the nature of this career, this network that was compromised? Joe Klein hints at the broad outlines of this nature. “Furthermore, there is intense anger over the White House’s revealing the identity of Plame, who may have been active in a sting operation involving the trafficking of WMD components.”(http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1101040705-658343,00.html)

According to Wayne Madsen, the cover company that Plame was connected with was a CIA firm called Brewster, Jennings & Associates. “Active since 1994, Brewster-Jennings was instrumental in tracking the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and had agents or correspondents in a number of countries…Sensitive CIA operations that were compromised by the leak included companies, government officials, and individuals associated with the nuclear smuggling network of Pakistan’s chief nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.”(http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/062504_grand_jury.shtml)
Yet in spite of, or perhaps as a result of, the compromises resulting from the leak, the CIA helped expose Khan’s network, according to Newsweek.. It involves a CIA investigation into a company in Malaysia called Scomi connected with an A.Q. Khan “middleman” named Bukhari Sayed Abu Tahir. Last August, the company's name was found stamped in bold letters on five crates of centrifuge parts seized en route to Libya. Since then Scomi has been at the center of an international detective story that has uncovered an astonishing global nuclear-weapons "black market." All of it leads back to Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who fathered the underground network. In pursuit of both profits and a kind of Islamic nuclear parity, Khan passed on equipment and know-how to Iran and Libya, and made offers to Iraq and most recently Syria, officials say. Khan also helped North Korea's covert program.(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4270904)

Is it possible that Plame’s “sting operation” directly tracked and helped expose the nuclear proliferation network of A.Q. Khan? If so, why was Plame’s operation exposed from the White House? Joe Klein says, “’Only a very high-ranking official could have had access to the knowledge that Plame was on the payroll’ of the CIA, an intelligence source told me.”(http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1101040705-658343,00.html) And Mohamed El Baradei says A.Q. Khan is just the tip of the nuclear iceberg. “Dr. Khan was not working alone,” International Atomic Energy Association chief Mohamed El Baradei told reporters, adding he had help from people in many countries.(http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_7-2-2004_pg3_2)

Could Cheney have had a financial relationship with the Nuclear Walmart, which would have provided a motive for exposing Plame’s operation? We shall explore this in sections D and E of this paper. First it is important to understand what is currently known about A.Q. Khan’s network before we uncover Cheney’s connection with it. The purpose of this examination is not intended as a comprehensive index of the network, but as an exploration into some of the more sinister elements of the network that led to relationships not only among state sponsors of terrorism, but to relationships with terrorist organizations themselves.

C. A.Q. Khan’s Nuclear Walmart

Nuclear experts are aghast at the size of the network, which extends from Switzerland to Japan to Dubai. Over 30 years, Khan put together what Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called "a veritable Wal-Mart" for nuclear-weapons buyers, a not-so-secret netherworld where proliferation meshed with globalization. Khan even held nuclear-related symposiums. "The horse is out of the barn. At this point, we can't stop the technology from spreading," says former Clinton official Gary Samore. One senior U.S. official told NEWSWEEK that Khan's role in destabilizing the 21st century will "loom up there" with Hitler's and Stalin's impact in the 20th. Even so, most of the A.Q. Khan network's key operatives will likely escape punishment, officials concede.(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4270904)

Who were some of the people and organizations connected with A.Q. Khan?

1. B.S.A. Tahir - The recent investigations into the clandestine nuclear proliferation activities of A.Q.Khan, the so-called father of the Pakistan atom bomb, have revealed that Bukhary Seyed Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan Tamil Muslim of Indian origin, married in Malysia and with business interests in Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, was one of the external kingpins of Pakistan's clandestine nuclear procurement network. In a speech at the National Defence University of Washington DC in February last, President Bush had described this Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking Muslim as the "chief financial officer and money-launderer" of A.Q.Khan's clandestine operations.(http://www.saag.org/papers11/paper1026.html) As chief financial officer, B.S.A. Tahir played an important role in his connection with a Malaysian company called Scomi that will be explored in greater detail in section E of this paper.

2. Lashkar-e-Toiba - or LET is a terrorist group of Pakistan, consisting of Pakistani, Afghan and Arab cadres, headed by Pakistani office-bearers, with its headquarters at Muridke near Lahore. Its annual conventions at Muridke are attended, amongst others, by serving and retired officers of the Pakistani military and intelligence establishment, by serving and retired scientists of the Pakistani nuclear and missile establishment and by political leaders.

Amongst those, who regularly attend its annual conventions, are Lt. Gen. (retd) Hamid Gul and Lt.Gen.(retd) Javed Nasir, both former Directors-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan, the self-styled father of the Pakistani atom bomb, Dr.Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, the former scientist of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission who was recently detained by the Pakistani authorities under US pressure for being in contact with bin Laden and Mohd.Rafique Tarar, former President of Pakistan.(http://www.saag.org/papers4/paper381.html)

To finance its day-to-day activities, the LeT leverages its contacts in Saudi Arabia as well as launches donation campaigns with overseas Pakistanis, especially middle class and wealthy Punjabis in Britain, Australia and the Middle East. According to Jane's Terrorism & Insurgency Centre, Osama bin Laden has also financed LeT activities until recently. The LeT, under its new name JuD, uses its outreach networks including schools, social service groups and religious publications to attract and brainwash recruits for jihad in Kashmir and other places.(http://www.crikey.com.au/politics/2004/05/18-0003.html)

Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) has been showing increasing interest in taking jihad to the Muslims of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The LET is very close to the ISI and it would not have taken its initial moves to explore the possibility of using Sri Lanka as a clandestine base for its activties and for creating sleeper cells there without the knowledge and prior clearance of the ISI.(http://www.saag.org/papers11/paper1026.html) Since there is such a close relationship between ISI and this terrorist organization whose conventions ISI officials and A.Q. Khan attended, it is important to take a closer look at ISI, as well as another cited convention attendant, Dr. S.B. Mahmood, to uncover the relationship they share with al Qaeda and expose how their actions aided them.

a. Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) The ISI plays a much more significant role in the Pakistani government than do its counterparts in other countries. Time Magazine has noted, "Even by the shadowy standards of spy agencies, the ISI is notorious. It is commonly branded 'a state within the state,' or Pakistan's 'invisible government.'"

The ISI grew into its present form during the war between the Soviet Union and mujaheddin guerrillas in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The CIA thought the Afghan war could be Russia's own costly Vietnam War, and they funneled billions to the mujaheddin resistance to keep them a thorn in Russia's side. The strategy worked: Soviet soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, and the Soviet Union collapsed two years later, partly due to the costs of the war.

But the costs to keep the mujaheddin fighting were staggering, with estimates ranging between $6 billion and $40 billion. While a substantial portion of this amount came from the CIA and the Saudi Arabian government, who were both funneling the money through the ISI, much of the cost was deferred by Afghanistan's opium trade. Although the Afghan war has ended, the ISI has continued to profit from opium. In 1999, the United Nations Drug Control Programme estimated that the ISI was making around $2.5 billion annually from the sale of illegal drugs. The drug trade helped unite the ISI and Osama bin Laden, who was said to have taken a 15% cut of the Afghan drug trade money in exchange for protecting smugglers and laundering their profits. By 1994, the Taliban, a group of Muslim radicals studying in Pakistan, began conquering Afghanistan. The Taliban had been recruited by the ISI and molded into a fanatical force that conquered Afghanistan's capital by 1996. CNN reported, "The Taliban are widely alleged to be the creation of Pakistan's military intelligence . Experts say that explains the Taliban's swift military successes." The ISI didn't create the Taliban simply for strategic reasons; they shared the Taliban's extreme radical vision. As the Wall Street Journal remarked in November 2001, "Despite their clean chins and pressed uniforms, the ISI men are as deeply fundamentalist as any bearded fanatic; the ISI created the Taliban as their own instrument and still supports it."

The relationship between the US and the ISI is hard to fathom. On September 4, 2001, ISI Director Mahmood Ahmed arrived in Washington, D.C. On September 10, a Pakistani newspaper reported on the visit, saying that it had "triggered speculation about the agenda of his mysterious meetings at the Pentagon and National Security Council" as well as meetings with CIA Director George Tenet, unspecified officials at the White House and the Pentagon, and his "most important meeting" with Mark Grossman, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. In May 2001, both CIA Director George Tenet and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had visited South Asia. It's not known if they met with Mahmood or anyone else in the ISI, but according to credible news reports, Tenet had "unusually long" consultations with President Musharraf. It is also worth noting that Armitage is known for his "large circle of friends in the Pakistani military and ISI" as well as his connections to the Iran-Contra affair. On the morning of September 11, Lt. Gen. Mahmood was at a breakfast meeting at the Capitol with the chairmen of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Senator Bob Graham (D) and Representative Porter Goss (R). The meeting was said to have lasted at least until the second plane hit the World Trade Center. Goss is a self-admitted 10-year veteran of the CIA's clandestine operations wing. Goss and Graham were later the heads of the joint House-Senate investigation into the September 11 attacks, and Goss in particular made headlines for saying there was no "smoking gun" indicating that the government had sufficient foreknowledge to prevent the September 11 attacks. (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/essaysaeed.html)

1) Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed - On October 7, 2001, Pakistani President Musharraf fired Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, the head of the ISI. The next day, some newspapers, mostly in India but also in Pakistan, shockingly said he was fired for his role in the 9/11 attacks. For instance, a Pakistani newspaper stated, "Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed has been replaced after the FBI investigators established credible links between him and Umar Sheikh, one of the three militants released in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999... Informed sources said there were enough indications with the US intelligence agencies that it was at Gen. Mahmood's instruction that Sheikh had transferred 100,000 US dollars into the account of Mohammed Atta..." In the US, surprisingly, the only mention was in a one short piece in the Wall Street Journal, mentioning that, "The US authorities ... confirm the fact that $100,000 wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the insistence of General Mahmood." (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/essaysaeed.html)

2) Saeed Sheikh - He was born in Britain with the name Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. In 1993 he emerged in Pakistan as a member of a militant group fighting for the liberation of Kashmir from India. Pakistan has been fighting India for years over control of Kashmir, and it appears Saeed was put on the ISI payroll around this time, to help the Pakistani cause in Kashmir. In 1994, Saeed began training at a training camp in Afghanistan. He soon was teaching the classes. He developed close ties with al-Qaeda while training there. By the end of the year he was known as Osama bin Laden’s "favored son" or "my special son." Even more curiously, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review suggested in March 2002, "There are many in Musharraf's government who believe that Saeed Sheikh's power comes not from the ISI, but from his connections with our own CIA. The theory is that ... Saeed Sheikh was bought and paid for." (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/essaysaeed.html)

While this exploration may seem like a diversion from finding the answer to why Valerie Plame had her cover blown as a CIA agent, it is intended to illustrate that the network was so vast that many relationships overlapped, and the CIA was no stranger to the network. Now, getting back to the focus of Plame’s operation, WMD trafficking, here is a seemingly altruistic organization created by a Lashkar-e-Toiba convention attendant whose actions are worth noting.

b.Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN) - Reconstruction of the Muslim Ummah, a non-governmental organization whose stated mission was to conduct relief work and investment in Afghanistan. It was established by two well-respected Pakistani nuclear scientists, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Chaudiri Abdul Majeed. Not much is known about Majeed. But Mahmood had a long career in Pakistan's nuclear program and held a variety of senior positions. The Associated Press reported on October 24, 2001 that officials in the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) said Mahmood had been a director for the nation's nuclear program and remained in key positions until his retirement. In publications, he is credited with playing a pioneering role in establishing the uranium enrichment project in Pakistan. Subsequently, Abdul Qadeer Khan took over and is known as the father of Pakistan's uranium enrichment program. He ended his career as Director for Nuclear Power at the PAEC. For his outstanding contributions to Pakistan's nuclear program, he was awarded the prestigious Sitara-e-Imtiaz award by the President of Pakistan in March 1999.

Mahmood is reported to have resigned from the PAEC in the spring of 1999 in protest of the government's willingness to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) after Pakistan conducted a series of underground tests in May 1998. There was also pressure put on Mahmood to resign. The New York Times reported that the United States wanted Mahmood removed after it learned that he had sympathies for Islamic militant groups, including the Taliban. Mahmood was often publicly supportive of the Taliban in Pakistan and in speeches at universities said that the Taliban was a model for Pakistan. Even after September 11th, Mahmood remained supportive of the Taliban, addressing a gathering of intellectuals in mid-October 2001 where he proposed a three-month cease-fire to resolve the situation in Afghanistan. Senior Pakistani officials reportedly were concerned because Mahmood had been vocally advocating extensive production of weapon-grade plutonium and uranium to help equip other Islamic nations with these materials.

According to the Washington Post, however, Mahmood and Majeed admitted that they had long discussions with al Qaeda officials in August 2001 about nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Pakistani intelligence officials told the Washington Post that they believe that the scientists used UTN partially as a cover to conduct secret talks with bin Laden. During repeated UTN visits to Afghanistan, UTN directors and members met with bin Laden, al Qaeda leaders, and Mullah Omar and discussed the development of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; UTN has been linked to WAFA Humanitarian Organization and Al Rashid Trust, two other NGOs with ties to al Qaeda that have been designated as supporters of terrorism under Executive Order 13224.

During 2001, Mahmood met with Mullah Omar and bin Laden. During a follow-up meeting where bin Laden's associate indicated he had nuclear material and wanted to know how to use it to make a weapon, Mahmood provided information about the infrastructure needed for a nuclear weapon program and the effects of nuclear weapons; and after the fall of the Taliban regime, searches of UTN locations in Kabul yielded documents setting out a plan to kidnap a U.S. attaché and outlining basic nuclear physics related to nuclear weapons.

In the August 2001 meeting, Mahmood and his colleagues appear to have provided al Qaeda a road map to building nuclear weapons. This information is typically very helpful in understanding the steps that must be accomplished in making a nuclear weapon, identifying the necessary equipment and technology, and locating suppliers of key equipment. In addition, Mahmood and his colleagues appear to have recruited other scientists with more direct knowledge of making nuclear weapons.

Transfer of sensitive nuclear weapons information could have happened in many ways. The scientists could have provided direct assistance to al Qaeda's nuclear weapons program, including nuclear weapons and RDD information. They may have obtained secret documents during the course of their career that they passed to the Taliban or al Qaeda. They also could have been a "funnel" through which Pakistani nuclear weapons experts provided sensitive assistance, including documents or technical advice. The transfer of sensitive information by UTN officials or their colleagues may have occurred either in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

UTN officials may have had another advantage. The success of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program depended on extensive illicit foreign procurement. Mahmood headed a large reactor project that also needed to import illicitly or secretly many items, including sensitive technology, materials, components, and manufacturing equipment. He and his colleagues must have had extensive information about procuring sensitive items for a nuclear weapons program.

Several UTN projects were aimed at reestablishing Afghanistan's manufacturing, scientific, and engineering capabilities in universities and industries. Projects focused on such reconstruction could have provided a convenient cover for importing sensitive items for WMD programs. Even if the procurement was illicit, a procurement effort is more likely to succeed if the exporting company believes it is sending items to a civil institution. Because many UTN projects were medical or humanitarian in nature, imports to these projects may have been exempt from the UN embargo on Afghanistan.

Some nuclear dual-use equipment, such as vacuum furnaces, would have been hard to procure, especially for al Qaeda. The involvement of the Pakistani scientists may significantly eased the task of obtaining such equipment.

In late January 2002, Pakistan officials said that Pakistan decided not to press criminal charges against Mahmood and Majeed, despite concluding that the scientists violated a secrecy oath during trips to Afghanistan. The main reasons reported in the media were Pakistan's concern that a trial would cause further international embarrassment and risk disclosure of nuclear secrets. (http://www.exportcontrols.org/pakscientists.html)

3. B.C.C.I. - BCCI was the largest criminal corporate enterprise ever, the biggest Ponzi scheme, the most pervasive money-laundering operation in history, the only bank - so far as anyone knows - that ran a brisk sideline business in both conventional and nuclear weapons, gold, drugs, turnkey mercenary armies, intelligence and counterintelligence, shipping, and commodities from cement in the Middle East to Honduran coffee to Vietnamese beans.

Though it was fundamentally a financial fraud, BCCI itself was not a bank in any conventional sense. Or, more precisely, banking was only a part of the global organism, the ingeniously constructed platform from which its other lines of business were launched....

This "bank" possessed its very own diplomatic corps, intelligence network, and private army, its own shipping and commodities trading companies. And BCCI itself was so thoroughly enmeshed in the official affairs of Pakistan that it was often impossible to separate the two.

BCCI was bigger even than that: It was the unsettling next-stage evolution of the multinational corporation, the one the theorists had been predicting for years but which never seemed to be able to shed its sovereign boundaries. (General Motors and Mitsubishi are both good examples of this - huge companies with holdings and operations all over the world that nonetheless persist in being fundamentally American and Japanese entities.) In taking that step, BCCI became truly stateless and very nearly invisible to the authorities in each country where it did business.

{BCCI founder} Abedi had money to spare to underwrite the protocol department: In 1981 Ghulam Ishaq Khan granted BCCI a special tax-free status allowing Abedi to avoid tens of millions of dollars in taxes and to pour his huge Pakistan profits into one of his front companies and into Pakistan's atomic bomb project. Most of the millions that flowed through the foundation went to two uses: first, to investments - patently noncharitable - in a company called Attock Cement, owned by Abedi's associate and U.S. front man Ghaith Pharaon. The second beneficiary was something called the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology. According to its brochures, the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute trains young scientists and engineers. The reality is a little more ominous . . .

The director of the institute is Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the man most closely linked with Pakistan's efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Khan, a German-trained metallurgist, once worked as a classified enrichment plant in the Netherlands, where he gained access to key plans. So important is he to the Pakistani national interest that even his whereabouts are considered a national secret.(http://www.the-catbird-seat.net/BCCI.htm)

Right from its inception, the clandestine nuclear and missile projects in Pakistan were treated as a top secret intel op of the ISI to ensure deniability. All payments to the foreign suppliers were made not from the accounts of the Govt of Pakistan, but from private accounts in the BCCI, which collapsed in 1991, and other Dubai and Geneva based banks. These accounts were opened by the Gokul brothers of Geneva, one of whom was jailed for cheating in the UK after the collapse of the BCCI; Shaukat Aziz, Pakistan’s present Finance Minister, who was working in the Gulf for the Citibank in the 1990s; Dawood Ibrahim, the mafia leader who was designated by the US as an intl terrorist in Oct; Dubai-based Pakistani smugglers, and AQ Khan and other trusted Pakistani scientists.(http://www.kashmirherald.com/featuredarticle/nuclearjihad.html) Given that A.Q. Khan began his network from such sinister and corrupt beginnings, this next relationship should come as no surprise.

4. Osama bin Laden – The following is an excerpt from an investigation by the Kashmir Herald into several of A.Q. Khan’s travels to Africa.

He had kept the Pakistani Foreign Office informed of his travels. The Foreign Office had instructed the Pakistani diplomatic missions in the countries visited by him to accord the due honours of protocol to him.
In all the countries, he was received by officers of the Pakistani diplomatic missions and entertained by the heads of missions.
In Sudan, he was accorded the honours of protocol generally given to a member of the Cabinet and called on the President of the country.
He was accompanied by senior serving scientists of Pakistan's nuclear establishment, who were among those responsible for Pakistan's military nuclear development. They could not have gone abroad and remained absent for days without the knowledge and clearance of the Government.
At least one Lt.Gen. belonging to the Pakistan Army's Medical Corps, who had headed it, and two Brigadiers had accompanied him. They could not have gone and remained away from the country without the knowledge and clearance of the Military Headquarters.
The uranium enriched at KRL, Kahuta, used to come from Africa, mainly Niger. This partly explains the frequent travels of A.Q.Khan to Africa. From the accounts given by the Pakistani author, two intriguing questions arise:

Why did Khan consider it necessary to visit the site of a factory in Sudan, which became the target of US Cruise missile attacks after the explosions outside the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam by Al Qaeda in August 1998? The Americans had alleged at that time that this factory belonged to Osama bin Laden and was producing chemicals for weaponisation purposes. Denying this, the Sudanese authorities had claimed that it was producing anti-malaria drugs.
Why was he visiting frequently Timbuktu, which has apparently no importance from the nuclear point of view? Pakistani officials have alleged that he had illegally constructed a hotel there ( Hotel La Colombe?) in the name of his wife. If he was going there to supervise the construction of the hotel, he should have been accompanied by experts in building construction and the hotel industry. No such person accompanied him. He was always accompanied by scientists and Army officers associated with KRL and Tahir Mian, who was helping him in the procurement of centrifuges.

It is reliably learnt from well-placed observers that it also came out during the recent interrogation of the associates of Khan in Pakistan's nuclear establishment that after Osama bin Laden shifted from Khartoum to Afghanistan in 1996, Dr.Khan was also looking after bin Laden's extensive investments in the mining industry in many African countries and that the money invested in the Timbuktu hotel had come from these investments of bin Laden. The Pakistani authorities have reportedly suppressed this information and not shared it with the US.(http://www.kashmirherald.com/featuredarticle/khanandbinladen.html)

This investigation has yielded some amazing information. In addition to widespread government cooperation with the network that has not been reported to the US, A.Q. Khan obtained uranium from Africa, mainly from Niger, where Valerie Plame’s husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, discovered the evidence that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium there was a forgery. Most frightening is the extent of Khan’s relationship with bin Laden, apparently trusted enough to look after bin Laden’s investments in Africa. Only time will tell how much bin Laden profited, both in monetary terms and in expanding al Qaeda’s WMD potential, from the generosity of Khan’s nuclear Walmart.

5. Unnamed U.S. Firm - More than 20 firms - including at least one American company - have supplied rogue nations seeking nuclear arms, marking the first time a U.S. company has been linked to the black market network.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who is heading a probe into the illicit sales, avoided specifics on the locations of the companies in an interview with The Associated Press Friday.

But a senior diplomat said at least one was in the United States - the first time in five months of investigations by the U.N. nuclear agency that an American company has been implicated in the black market network headed by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Kahn.(http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/07/10/build/world/80-firm-arms.inc)

What American company would possibly have had the means and the motive to risk potentially treasonous activity by profiting off black market nuclear proliferation to terrorist organizations and their state sponsors? In the next two sections, an examination into the motives of why Dick Cheney, through his association with Halliburton, would have wanted a sting operation focused on A.Q. Khan’s nuclear Walmart terminated will be conducted, as well as an exploration into how the profits from such a treacherous enterprise could possibly have been laundered.

D. Compromising Positions in Cheney's Past

1. Cheney helped cover-up Pakistani nuclear proliferation in 1989 so US could sell country fighter jets. - When Pakistan's clandestine program involving its top nuclear scientist selling rogue nations, such as Iran and North Korea, blueprints for building an atomic bomb was uncovered last month, the world's leaders waited, with baited breath to see what type of punishment George W. Bush would inflict upon Pakistan's President Pervez Musharaff. Bush has, after all, spent his entire term in office talking tough about countries and dictators that conceal weapons of mass destruction and even tougher on individuals who supply rogue nations and terrorists with the means to build WMD. For all intents and purposes, Pakistan and Musharraf fit that description.

Remember, Bush accused Iraq of harboring a cache of WMD, which was the primary reason he gave for the United States launching a preemptive strike on that country a year ago, and also claimed that Iraq may have given its WMD to al-Qaeda terrorists and/or Syria, weapons that, Bush said, could be used to attack the U.S. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and top members of the administration reacted with shock when they found out that Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, spent the past 15 years selling outlaw nations nuclear technology and equipment. So it was sort of a surprise when Bush, upon finding out about Khan's proliferation of nuclear technology, let Pakistan off with a slap on the wrist. But it was all an act. In fact, it was actually a coverup designed to shield Cheney because he knew about the proliferation for more than a decade and did nothing to stop it.(emphasis added)

Like the terrorist attacks on 9-11, the Bush administration had mountains of evidence on Pakistan's sales of nuclear technology and equipment to nations vilified by the U.S. nations that are considered much more of a threat than Iraq but turned a blind eye to the threat and allowed it to happen. In 1989, the year Khan first started selling nuclear secrets on the black-market; Richard Barlow, a young intelligence analyst working for the Pentagon prepared a shocking report for Cheney, who was then secretary of defense under the Bush I administration: Pakistan built an atomic bomb and was selling its nuclear equipment to countries the U.S. said was sponsoring terrorism. But Barlow's findings, as reported in a January 2002 story in Mother Jones magazine, were "politically inconvenient."

"A finding that Pakistan possessed a nuclear bomb would have triggered a congressionally mandated cutoff of aid to the country, a key ally in the CIA's efforts to support Afghan rebels fighting a pro-Soviet government. It also would have killed a $1.4-billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad," Mother Jones reported. Ironically, Pakistan, critics say, was let off the hook last month so the U.S. could use its borders to hunt for al-Qaeda leader and alleged 9-11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. Cheney dismissed Barlow's report because he desperately wanted to sell Pakistan the F-16 fighter planes. Several months later, a Pentagon official was told by Cheney to downplay Pakistan's nuclear capabilities when he testified on the threat before Congress. Barlow complained to his bosses at the Pentagon and was fired. (http://www.pakistan-facts.com/article.php/2004031621042158)

During the time that Barlow prepared his report on Pakistan, Bryan Siebert an Energy Department analyst, was looking into Saddam Hussein's nuclear program in Iraq. Siebert concluded that "Iraq has a major effort under way to produce nuclear weapons," and said that the National Security Council should investigate his findings. But the Bush administration—which had been supporting Iraq as a counterweight to the Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran—ignored the report, the magazine reported.

"This was not a failure of intelligence," Barlow told Mother Jones. "The intelligence was in the system."(http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/031004Leopold/031004leopold.html)

Cheney went to great lengths to cover-up Pakistan's nuclear weaponry. In a New Yorker article published on March 29, 1993, investigative reporter Seymour Hersh quoted Barlow as saying that some high-ranking members inside the CIA and the Pentagon lied to Congress about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal so as not to sacrifice the sale of the F-16 fighter planes to Islamabad, which was secretly equipped to deliver nuclear weapons. Pakistan's nuclear capabilities and had become so grave by the
spring of 1990 that then CIA deputy director Richard Kerr said the Pakistani nuclear threat was worse than the Cuban Missile crisis in the 1960s.

"It was the most dangerous nuclear situation we have ever faced since I've been in the U.S. government," Kerr said in an interview with Hersh. "It may be as close as we've come to a nuclear exchange. It was far more frightening than the Cuban missile crisis."

Still, in 1989 Cheney and others in the Pentagon and the CIA continued to hide the reality of Pakistan's nuclear threat from members of Congress. Hersh explained in his lengthy New Yorker article that reasons behind the cover-up "revolves around the fact . . . that the Reagan Administration had dramatically aided Pakistan in its pursuit of the bomb."(http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/?040119fr_archive02)

In addition to these three sources that corroborate the fact that Cheney knew about A.Q. Khan’s network and rather than report it, chose to profit through sales to Pakistan of fighter jets that could deliver nuclear weapons, Cheney was caught on another case of nuclear proliferation.

2. Halliburton fined $1.2 million in 1995 for selling dual-use nuclear equipment to Libya. - Halliburton came under fire in the early '90s for supplying Libya and Iraq with oil drilling equipment which could be used to detonate nuclear weapons. Halliburton Logging Services, a former subsidiary, was charged with shipping six pulse neutron generators through Italy to Libya. In 1995, the company pled guilty to criminal charges that it violated the U.S. ban on exports to Libya. Halliburton was fined $1.2 million and will pay $2.61 million in civil penalties.

During his chairmanship of Halliburton, Cheney criticized U.S. sanctions against "rogue" nations such as Iran and Libya in a 1998 speech. According to a July 26, 2000, Washington Post story, Cheney complained the sanctions "are nearly always motivated by domestic political pressure, the need for Congress to appeal to some domestic constituency." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/articles/halliburtonprimer.html)

3. Current criminal probe - - A grand jury issued a subpoena to oil field services company Halliburton Co. seeking information about its Cayman Islands unit's work in Iran, where it is illegal for U.S. companies to operate, Halliburton said on Monday.

The company, formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, said it understood the investigation of its subsidiary's work in Iran had been transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice from the Treasury Department, which first initiated an inquiry in 2001.(http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5709973)

4. Existing Halliburton ties to Vice President Dick Cheney – Rather than crack down on Halliburton, however, the Bush administration’s Energy Task Force, which was headed by Cheney, presented a draft report in April 2001 saying the United States should reevaluate the sanctions against Iran, Iraq, and Libya that prohibited U.S. oil companies from “some of the most important existing and ‘prospective’ petroleum-producing countries in the world.” Cheney asserted there was no conflict on his part because “Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush’s vice president, I’ve severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest.” Cheney neglected to mention that he was still due approximately $500,000 in deferred compensation from Halliburton and could potentially profit from his 433,333 shares of unexercised Halliburton stock options.

A Congressional Research Service report requested by Senate Democrats concluded that unexercised stock options in a private corporation, as well as deferred salary received from a private corporation, were “retained ties” or “linkages” to a former employer and should be reported as “financial interests.”(House of Bush House of Saud by Craig Unger, p. 225.)

Since Halliburton continues to engage in business practices with state sponsors of terrorism and Cheney continues to profit from it, all that is left to do is, in the words of Deep Throat, “Follow the money.” The proceeding section uses circumstantial evidence to show a relationship between several individuals and companies through which the unnamed US firm in Khan’s nuclear Walmart, presumably Halliburton, profited from nuclear proliferation.

E. Links in the Chain Connecting Cheney with Nuclear Proliferation

1. B.S.A. Tahir – Remember this man from Section C? This associate of A.Q. Khan who was identified by President Bush in a speech as the nuclear Walmart’s "chief financial officer and money launderer."(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4270904) BSA TAHIR, a SRI LANKAN businessman based in DUBAI was a trusted and close confidante of A. Q. Khan and was actively involved in supplying centrifuge components for Libya's uranium-enrichment program. BSA TAHIR, who was involved in the business of SCOMI PRECISION ENGINEERING SDN BHD (SCOPE). He used the company to produce components for the centrifuge unit for the uranium enrichment program. However, investigations have revealed that the components, on their own, cannot form a complete centrifuge unit. In this context, it has to be noted that SCOPE is a subsidiary of SCOMI GROUP BHD, i.e. a company involved in the petroleum services industry. As a subsidiary, SCOPE is also involved in precision engineering services, which involves the production of components for a variety of equipments including parts for
cars, petroleum and gas. This makes evident that SCOPE could not be labeled
as a company directly involved in nuclear proliferation.

Furthermore, the supply of components by middlemen was carried out in a
discreet manner and involved suppliers from other countries to blur the
sources of the components. Some of the suppliers were believed to be aware
that these components could be for uranium enrichment centrifuges. Generally
these suppliers mostly from Europe were those who had dealings with the
nuclear expert since the 1980s, at a time when PAKISTAN was developing its
nuclear technology. There were a number of individuals and companies which
supplied the components but were unaware of the implications because some of
the components were similar to components used in oil drilling, water
treatment and equipment for several other general use.(http://icssa.org/Nuclear_Malaysia.htm)

Which companies could possibly have been connected with the suppliers that helped blur the source of the components? Amazingly, a connection between Scomi and Halliburton can be established with only one other company serving as a buffer between the two: Cognis.

a. Cognis – Service specialist Scomi Group Bhd, is offering multinational oil and gas companies a special fluid to make offshore drilling friendlier to the sea and its inhabitants. Scomi, together with German chemicals specialist, Cognis Gmbh, offers ester-based drilling fluid derived from palm kernel oil. The agreement is between Scomi’s wholly-owned Kota Minerals & Chemicals Sdn Bhd (KMC) and Cognis’ 50%-owned unit, Cognis Oleochemicals (M) Sdn Bhd.(http://www.mida.gov.my/beta/news/view_news.php?id=398)

Sounds like a perfectly benign, perhaps even altruistic enterprise. How is this company connected with Halliburton? It’s through collaboration with one of Halliburton’s subsidiary companies.

b. Baroid – The drilling fluids containing esters based on renewable natural resources are developed by Cognis in collaboration with Baroid, the drilling fluids service company within the Halliburton Energy Services Group.(http://bbriefings.com/cdps/cditem.cfm?NID=252&CID=10&CFID=2672003&CFTOKEN=45285354)

To reiterate the serpentine link:
A.Q. Khan's financial officer (money launderer) was B.S.A. Tahir.(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4270904 )
Tahir used Scomi to produce components for the centrifuge unit for the uranium enrichment program.(http://icssa.org/Nuclear_Malaysia.htm)
Scomi, through its company KMC, worked with Cognis Oleochemicals.(http://www.mida.gov.my/beta/news/view_news.php?id=398)
Cognis is connected with Baroid (part of the Halliburton Group).( http://bbriefings.com/cdps/cditem.cfm?NID=252&CID=10&CFID=2672003&CFTOKEN=45285354)

But the extent of Halliburton/Cheney profiting from nuclear proliferation does not stop there. And Cheney is not the only member of the Bush administration to profit from it.

2. Donald Rumsfeld - Rumsfeld was on ABB board during deal with North Korea.
The Swiss-based ABB on Friday told swissinfo that Rumsfeld was involved with the company in early 2000, when it netted a $200 million (SFr270million) contract with Pyongyang. The ABB contract was to deliver equipment and services for two nuclear power stations at Kumho, on North Korea’s east coast. Rumsfeld – who is one of the Bush administration’s most strident “hardliners” on North Korea – was a member of ABB’s board between 1990 and February 2001, when he left to take up his current post. Wolfram Eberhardt, a spokesman for ABB, told swissinfo that Rumsfeld “was at nearly all the board meetings” during his decade-long involvement with the company.(http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=1648385)

It's a well-known fact--oft detailed in this column--that the boys in the Bush Regime swing both ways. We speak, of course, of their proclivity--their apparently uncontrollable craving--for stuffing their trousers with loot from both sides of whatever war or military crisis is going at the moment.

That's why it came as no surprise to read last week that just before he joined the Regime's crusade against evildoers everywhere (especially rogue states that pursue the development of terrorist-ready weapons of mass destruction), Pentagon warlord Donald Rumsfeld was trousering the proceeds from a $200 million deal to send the latest nuclear technology--including plenty of terrorist-ready "dirty bomb" material--to the rogue state of North Korea, Neue Zurcher Zeitung reports.

In 1998, Rumsfeld was citizen chairman of the Congressional Ballistic Missile Threat Commission, charged with reducing nuclear proliferation. Rumsfeld and the Republican-heavy commission came down hard on the deal Bill Clinton had brokered with North Korea to avert a war in 1994: Pyongyang would give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for normalized relations with the United States, plus the construction of two non-weaponized nuclear plants to generate electricity. The plants were to be built by an international consortium of government-backed business interests called KEDO.

Whatever happened to Bush's much-trumpeted "era of responsibility?" These guys are not only chiselers, hustlers, hypocrites and war profiteers--they're a bunch of gutless wonders as well. So you'll pardon us if we are just the tiniest bit cynical about the "moral arguments for war" and other such buckets of warm spit this gang is now forcing down the world's throat.(http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd03042003.html) It’s bad enough for Rumsfeld to profit off selling nuclear equipment to North Korea. But it doesn’t end there, the organizations involved in this transaction link back to Halliburton once again.

a. KEDO - ABB, which was already building eight nuclear reactors in South Korea, had an inside track on the $4 billion U.S.-sponsored North Korea project. The firm was told "our participation is essential," recalls Frank Murray, project manager for the reactors. (He plays the same role now at Westinghouse, which was acquired by Britain's BNFL in 1999, a year before it also bought ABB's nuclear power business.) The North Korean reactors are being primarily funded by South Korean and Japanese export-import banks and supervised by KEDO, a consortium based in New York. "It was not a matter of favoritism," says Desaix Anderson, who ran KEDO from 1997 to 2001. "It was just a practical matter."(www.worldmessenger.20m.com/news4.html)

b. KNOC - The KEDO (Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization) is the official Korean government energy corporation. By reading their 2001 energy development summary one can make out all the myriad countries that contribute to KEDO. North Korea lacks necessary production facilities to drill and test for its oil. It is reaching out to many firms and countries to help them while the government attempts to develop some oil fields with as much capital as it can muster. A Singapore firm recently announced (August 29, 2002) significant oil and gas reserves in North Korea. Additionally, Halliburton has partnered with KNOC to develop offshore drilling platforms in South Korea.(www.rmfdevelopment.com/political/NorthKoreaOil.htm)

Yet another serpentine link through which money could be laundered into the willing hands of Halliburton:
Rumsfeld-ABB(http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=1648385)
ABB-KEDO (www.worldmessenger.20m.com/news4.html)
KEDO-KNOC-Halliburton (www.rmfdevelopment.com/political/NorthKoreaOil.htm)

But were these links completely separate, or is it possible that there were any other companies besides Halliburton involved with both links of possible proliferation profits? One company not previously mentioned has relationships with companies on both links.

3. Goldman Sachs – a lucrative investment firm that is listed quite prominently as one of the main investors in Cognis on their website.(http://www.cognis.com/framescout.html?/company/company.html) Also there is a link with Donald Rumsfeld to two organizations, Bilderberg and ABB through the chairman of Goldman Sachs, General Peter Sutherland from Ireland. Some of the Western world's leading financiers and foreign policy strategists attend Bilderberg. Rumsfeld is an active Bilderberger. So is General Peter Sutherland from Ireland, a former European Union commissioner and chairman of Goldman Sachs and of BP. Rumsfeld and Sutherland served together in 2000 on the board of the Swedish/Swiss energy company ABB. ( http://www.fact-index.com/b/bi/bilderberg_group.html)


These links are not in and of themselves direct proof of the laundering of nuclear proliferation profits. But they are proof of a relationship between these companies sharing common goals, through which individuals involved in nuclear proliferation, and there were many in these companies, could operate their network covertly.

F. Conclusions and Recommendations – To conclude, this paper asserts that Dick Cheney is directly responsible for the leaking of Valerie Plame’s name that resulted in sabotaging her CIA career and her cover company, Brewster, Jennings & Associates. CIA operations that were compromised by the leak were associated with A.Q. Khan’s network of nuclear smuggling. Khan’s network, vast enough to be dubbed by IAEA chief Mohamed El Baradei a “nuclear Walmart”, was examined here for the connections it has with terrorist organizations and state sponsors, as well as areas in which the CIA could have been following their activities.

It proves conclusively that Dick Cheney knew about A.Q. Khan’s nuclear Walmart as early as 1989, and chose not to expose the network but to profit from it, which gives him the strongest motive to blow Valerie Plame’s cover. State sponsors of terror that were proven recipients of Cheney’s nuclear proliferation include Pakistan, Libya and possibly Iran. The links between Khan and Cheney involved suppliers from other countries designed to blur the source of the components, but research concludes individuals affiliated with collaborative companies such as Cognis and their investor Goldman Sachs would be the most obvious links in the chain. Such links also exist in the case of Donald Rumsfeld profiting through ABB’s $200 million sale of nuclear equipment to North Korea, which would prove that Halliburton profited from this example of nuclear proliferation as well.

The main recommendation to all who read this is to spread the word. Anyone who reads this who is in a position to investigate this matter further, whether as an activist, investigative reporter or government official, should do so with care and thoroughness. The names and organizations listed in the paper should, with a proper investigation, lead to more damaging evidence that will help solve the crime and establish justice. That is perhaps the most important aspect of this case to remember, that regardless of the prestige and power connected with the parties involved, this is a criminal investigation. It is hoped that no matter what your political persuasion is, that as a law abiding citizen, you stand with us in condemnation of the exposure of Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA agent as a highly criminal act, and join us in the pursuit of justice for the perpetrators.

______________________________________________________________________

Edited to include the serpentine links and added emphasis that Cheney knew!

[robertpaulsen]

66. Be sure to let me know if everything works here!

I tried all the links and I think they work OK. Pallas and KleverKittie, let me know if I need to do anything else for this to fit in the computer program.

If everything is cool, I'm going to put this in the editorial section here. Not to sound selfish, but let's nominate this for home page!

[Pallas180]

70. RP HOT STUFF!! HOT STUFF I SAY WITH LINKS INCLUDED!!!

:yourock:

[PfcHammer]

72. Can't live without the

PDF !

http://s93118771.onlinehome.us/DU/AMERICANJUDAS.pdf

[robertpaulsen]

73. Thanks! I just put it in Editorials on DU.

Your PDF looks fantastic. I just edited my paper to clarify the serpentine links and add emphasis to the fact that Cheney knew! if you want to include that.

Thanks again!

[Pallas180]

80. KLEVER KITTIE-so subtle - AMERICAN JUDAS IN PDF HERE

with gratitude to Klever Kit's professional talents:


http://s93118771.onlinehome.us/DU/AMERICANJUDAS.pdf

[Pallas180]

82. RP & Klever Kittie -I just gave it a separate thread on General Discuss

in Klever Kit's PDF and nominated from there.

Is there any way to print it out from the PDF on line ?

--cause once again Klever Kit's magic gives the papers a very professional look.

[robertpaulsen]

86. Thanks! And thanks for the title idea, Pallas!

:toast:

[Pallas180]

90. It's an eye catcher isn't it! :)

:yourock:

[Me.]

75. Five Stars

2 Thumbs up. a home run and so on!

[robertpaulsen]

77. Thanks Me!

I appreciate the encouragement. And give yourself a pat on the back! Many of your posts were extremely helpful to me when I put this thing together.

Many thanks!

[kohodog]

76. RP, This is amazing!

Back from vacation and have some serious catching up to do, but what a fantastic compilation of the info I had so much trouble making sense out of thread by thread.

Thank you, thank you!

I'll really dig into it later tonight.

[robertpaulsen]

83. Dig in! There's a lot of meat there!

And thanks for all your help on these threads, kohodog!

[Jose Diablo]

85. Well done Mr. Paulson

I would say this should cook Cheney.

[robertpaulsen]

88. JellyBean1! Good to see you!

I remember you helped out a great deal uncovering the links that Reagan/Bush was responsible for the W88 China nuke. I was hoping it would fit into American Judas, but I didn't want something that explosive to distract from the focus on indicting Cheney. But if I didn't mention it before, great work on that!

Thanks!

:toast:

[Pallas180]

91. RP - Part 2 - we have to tie the W88 cheney-bush1 in together

so don;t think you're going to get to rest for an extended period.

This is an octopus...you've got Cheney-Rumsfeld...but we can;t let
pappy and his carlyle and his treason as president off the hook!

And remember, if Pappy dies before he could be "charged" all revenues
remain with the family.....but if this were exposed that he gave W 88
to China, and treason charge was brought....then the family fotune
and Carlyle could not keep their dirty money.....

read the definition of Treason above.

[robertpaulsen]

100. Agreed - sounds like a challenge I'm up for!

The deeper we dig, the more dirt we find! It wouldn't surprise me if we found a Cheney connection with this at all.

[robertpaulsen]

111. Re-read: we've got to get Kerry in office.

Once Kerry is inaugurated January 20, 2005, we will have a receptive administration that will allow us to break the case wide open. You're right - this is TREASON!

Pappy won't be jumping out of airplanes soon if Kerry has his way.

[shraby]

291. Here is some info on the W88

I'm going to google Wen Ho Lee

[shraby]

299. This may help with yer link on W 88

By Robert Parry September 18, 2000

(snip)

Yet, ignored amid the dark suspicions about the Clinton-Gore administration and the embarrassing collapse of the Lee case was another startling set of facts pointing in a very different direction: to illegal U.S.-Chinese intelligence collaboration implicating the Reagan-Bush administration.

Little-noticed evidence from the Iran-contra files reveals that it was the Reagan-Bush administration that opened the door to sharing sensitive national security secrets with communist China in the 1980s.

This clandestine relationship evolved from China's agreement to supply sophisticated weapons to the Nicaraguan contras beginning in 1984, a deal with the White House that entrusted China with one of the government's most sensitive intelligence secrets, the existence of Oliver North's contra supply network.

In the years after that secretly brokered deal, the Republican administration permitted trips in which U.S. nuclear scientists, including physicist Wen Ho Lee, visited China in scientific exchange programs. Those visits corresponded with China's rapid development of sophisticated nuclear weapons, culminating in the apparent compromise of sensitive U.S. nuclear secrets by 1988.

(much more)

<http://liberaleagle.tripod.com/eagle62.html>

[shraby]

300. A little more on the W 88

Seven years later, in 1995, a purported Chinese defector walked into the U.S. Embassy in Taiwan and turned over a document. Dated 1988, the document contained detailed information about U.S.-designed nuclear warheads.

The document showed that Chinese intelligence possessed the secrets of the W-88 miniaturized nuclear bomb by the last year of Ronald Reagan's presidency. China's first test of a light warhead similar to the W-88 was conducted in 1992, the last year of George H.W. Bush's presidency.

In other words, the secrets of the W-88 the central concern about Chinese nuclear espionage had been compromised before the Clinton-Gore administration began. Logic would dictate then that any serious investigation into how Chinese intelligence maneuvered into a position to glean U.S. nuclear secrets should focus on the Reagan-Bush years when the secrets were lost, not the Clinton-Gore years.

China's Missile Shipment

An examination of the Reagan-Bush time frame and particularly the Iran-contra files reveal how Chinese military intelligence ingratiated itself with the U.S. government. In 1984, the Reagan-Bush administration was desperately seeking a source of anti-aircraft missiles that could be smuggled to the Nicaraguan contras, a CIA-backed operation that was seeking to overthrow the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua.

(more)

<http://liberaleagle.tripod.com/eagle62.html>

[shraby]

302. Indictment of WEN HO LEE

This doesn't even cover back as far as the 1980s. Only 1993-1994.


<http://www.fas.org/irp/ops/ci/docs/lee_indict.html>

[robertpaulsen]

303. Good work shraby.

This is going in a file for Judas part 2. I tried googling Wen Ho Lee with Cheney, but not much. We'll have to come up with a connection through other means.

[shraby]

304. There is a lot of Wen Ho Lee stuff

on Findlaw. I didn't dig into it though.

<http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/lit/lee/>

[shraby]

305. There is an interesting paragraph

on this site. The rest of it isn't much good.

"Of course, there are also the apparent comparisons between Dr. Lee's offenses and the national security breaches committed by former Central Intelligence Agency director, Dr. John Deutsch. As in Lee's case, Deutsch deleted classified information from his computer upon learning that he was under investigation. However, in the Deutsch case, investigators found only 17,000 pages of top-secret files related to government's most sensitive covert operations in his unsecured computer, as opposed to the undefined 'massive' amount of nuclear secrets which Lee downloaded (although admittedly, it wasn't actually classified as secret until after Lee had downloaded it)."

<http://unquietmind.com/wenholee.html>

[robertpaulsen]

309. Well, at least he has a sense of humor about it. I think.

When was John Deutsch head of CIA?

[Jose Diablo]

92. To carry it full circle

Now wouldn't you say that Mr. Goss of the CIA and soon to be ex. Senator Graham (who I must say gave a pretty fucking lame speech at our convention) should be explaining to us all what exactly they were doing meeting with a representative of the ISI on Sept. 11, 2001. The same representative that wired $100,000 to one Mohammed Atta. Could it be that Atta, rather than being Al Qaeda, was in fact ISI.

And would it be too speculative to suggest that Daniel Pearl was snuffed because he found the tie-in between 911 and ISI. Perhaps OBL was telling the truth when he said he did not do 911, but he did know who did it. Follow the dots.

[Pallas180]

93. Jelly Bean - or Atta could have been CIA connected, apparently

a CIA drug smuggler using air transport continually to the same
place in Venice, Fla where the "hijackers" took flying lessons.

but whatever, the meetings and the $100,000 has to be included and tied in.

This whole thing has the worst smell anyone has ever come across.

Has there ever been a bigger betrayal ?

[Jose Diablo]

96. ISI is CIA

just different letters.

[Me.]

97. This is a fascinating idea!

The only question that occurred to me after reading was would an agent agree to sacrifice himself as Atta did, and why would he?

I'm not saying it's out of the realm of possibility, especially given what we've read here in the last 16 threads, for we know that the unimaginable has already happened and the scheming and twisting that has gone on is world class. It's possible someone could have a hold on another that would make him give up his life, he could have been a true Islamist at heart (though strippers etc. seem to preclude that) and this fit in with his beliefs, he went rogue or, was somehow tricked. What do you think?

[Jose Diablo]

102. ISI agents are every bit as fundementalist as the Taliban

just more corrupt into western ways. They like there wine and women too. Al Qaeda seem to be more conservative in the actual religious precepts from what I have heard.

ISI are what one could say determined, but not to much about moral scrupples like tobacco, alcohol and prostitutes.

Think of the ISI agents as being like a christian preacher that likes to dip his wick into those young things at revival meetings.

Edit to add: Thinking about it, I imagine it would be a "spiritual" experience. I can almost hear the preacher explaining this to a young lady as he disrobes her.

[robertpaulsen]

112. Didn't someone have a recent post here about Atta's girlfriend?

I thought I read something here about how she was interviewed in the proceeding months after 9/11, but has now totally disappeared.

Why would Atta do it? And why did his passport out of all of them get found at ground zero?

[kohodog]

117. Didn't some of the hijackers get drunk at a strip club on 9/10?

I may be confusing a couple of events, but remember that some of their actions seemed antithetical to fumdamentalist Muslim principles. It didn't seem to fit. ISI/CIA seems more plausible in that context.

[robertpaulsen]

120. You're right. I remember that.

And I'm pretty sure I remember reading Atta's girlfriend was a German stripper. But I might have my details confused on that.

[RebelYell]

139. Top Ten Things You Don't Know About Atta

by Daniel Hopsicker:

http://www.madcowprod.com/mc6022004.html

Look at his other articles when you have time. I have both of his books, which were instrumental in opening my eyes. His book on Atta blows the entire official 9/11 story out of the water.

[Pallas180]

168. THINK TANK - start googling - Atta & Defense Contractors named

here:

NUMBER 5. Mohamed Atta's email list included people working for U.S. Defense contractors.

One, for instance, worked for Canadian firm Virtual Prototypes, which helped develop the avionics for F-15, F-22 and B-2.. Mohamed Atta’s kept an email list, showing him to have been in contact with employee's of US Defense contractors.

Atta’s emails are reprinted in "Welcome to Terrorland's 40-page Appendix, filled with never before seen photos and documents about the terrorist conspiracy.


NUMBER 4. Mohamed Atta attended the International Officer’s School at Maxwell Air force Base, in Montgomery, Alabama. (Google Atta + McVeigh ) or Atta + Nichols, just for curiosity.

Witnesses there recall him having been introduced around at an officers' club party. Mohamed Atta and at least five other of the nineteen terrorists participated in military training at secure military facilities in the United States. A 'Mohamed Atta' attended International Officers School at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. Others of the terrorists studied in exchange programs at US Defense installations like the Defense Language Institute in Monterrey, CA.

google Rudi Dekkers, and then Dekkers + Atta

Mahmoud Sheikh + Atta

Gen. Mahmud Ahmed, + Atta

Mahmoud Sheikh + Mahmud Ahmed




Does anyone have DAniel Hopsicker's book "Welcome To Terrorland" ?

Hopsicker was on Catherine Crier show. Is there a transcript?

[Pallas180]

172. SCHRABY - that NEWSMINE is a GOLDMINE of Info for GOOGLING

http://newsmine.org/archive/9-11/questions/pakistan/fbi-established-is-100k-atta.txt

“Sheikh is a vital key that can open all the doors to the Al- Qaida network, to the links between the Pakistani military intelligence establishment and the terror groups, and can destroy Musharraf’s credibility with Washington.”

Is Musharraf's ISI the one who bombed WTC?

on their own? and if so WHY? because we wouldn't sell them F 16's? but I thought we did.

Or is Musharraf's DC connection who MIHOP?

Where is Sheikh?

and what else does the publisher who fled Pakistan to England
Shaheen Sehbai know? and where is he?

[Pallas180]

174. Pakistan $ 100,000 to 2 Atta BANKS IN FLORIDA - FLORIDA

home of Jebby, and sometimes pappy...

okay. why is there no more information on the money and the banks
that went to Atta in Florida.

What banks? names?

where did the money go after that?

He took down two WTC buildings, hijacked three planes, and killed 3000 people for $100,000 ?

nahh, someone who wears a rolex knows the value of money...

_____________________________________

http://us.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/25us.htm
http://www.prisonplanet.com/092603isi.html

'US ignored its own agency's reports on ISI backing Al Qaeda'
September 25, 2003 17:08 IST

America's Defence Intelligence Agency was aware that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was sponsoring the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but the Bush Administration chose to ignore its findings, a former top Indian intelligence officer has said.

B Raman, former additional secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, analysed three recently de-classified DIA documents of 2001 relating to the Taliban and Al Qaeda and said, "From these documents, it is clear that the DIA knew of the ISI's role in sponsoring not only the Taliban, but also the Al Qaeda."

"Yet the Bush Administration has for over two years chosen to close its eyes to the complicity of Pakistan and to project President General Pervez Musharraf to its own public as well as to the international community as a frontline ally in the war against terrorism. Why? A question to which there has been no convincing answer," he said in an article in Hong Kong-based weekly Asia Times.

[robertpaulsen]

177. Good morning! I like where this thread is going.

We've got googling to do today! It seems to me that ISI is at the nexus of a lot of intrigue. A lot of this goes back to the Reagan administration, so let's keep that in mind.

[Pallas180]

175. India accuses Pakistan behind 911 - Powell denies

News and Document archive source
copyrighted material disclaimer at bottom of page

NewsMine : 9 11 : questions : pakistan : pakistan isi play role.txt

100k from pakistan banks to florida hijackers.txt
Ahmed Sheikh wires atta 100k.txt
dia report isi backs al qaeda.txt
fbi established is 100k atta.txt
india helped fbi pakistani isi links.txt
india helped fbi trace isi links.txt
pakistan helped alqaeda setup afghanistan.txt
pakistan isi link.txt
pakistan isi play role.txt
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26249
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26249

Wednesday, January 30, 2002

WAR ON TERROR
Did ally Pakistan play role in 9-11?
Indian intelligence finds more links
to terrorist attacks in U.S., Delhi

By Paul Sperry

© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON -- India's Central Bureau of Investigation is turning up evidence that is proving inconvenient for the Bush administration as it tries to maintain its shaky alliance with Pakistan.

As administration officials, led by State Secretary Colin Powell, praise Pakistan for its help in the war on terrorism, FBI agents responding to Indian leads are quietly investigating Pakistan-based terrorist groups connected to al-Qaida and the Sept. 11 hijackings.

While the American press has largely ignored the Pakistan angle, the Indian press has been putting together pieces to a puzzle that makes Islamabad look more like a willing sponsor of terrorism than a trusted ally in the fight against terrorism.

The Pakistani connection

First, rewind to 1999. On Dec. 24, five Pakistani nationals armed with knives hijacked Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 from Katmandu to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Led by Sunny Ahmed Qazi, alias "Burger," the hijackers slashed the throat of one of the 178 passengers, a honeymooner, and forced pilots to open the cockpit door.

On Sept. 11, of course, five al-Qaida terrorists armed with knives hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 and steered it into the first World Trade Center tower. Led by Mohamed Atta, the hijackers slit the throats of at least two flight attendants and forced pilots to open the cockpit door. Their confederates, also operating in groups of five and wielding knives, hijacked two other jetliners. Another group of four, reportedly one man short, hijacked a fourth plane.

What's the connection, besides the mode of operation? Plenty.

Burger demanded the Indian government release three Pakistani terrorists from prison in exchange for the airline hostages. After an eight-day stand-off, New Delhi agreed to free Ahmed Omar Sayeed Sheikh among the three.

Sheikh turns out to be one of Osama bin Laden's chief money men. About a year before the Sept. 11 attacks, Sheikh wired $100,000 from Pakistan to Atta from an account in the United Arab Emirates capital of Dubai. Sheikh was spotted in Islamabad at the time the money was transferred.

The $100,000 covered the hijackers' flight-school tuition and airfare, as well as living expenses. Sheikh picked up an unspent residual of more than $25,000 from Atta and three other hijackers in Dubai right before the attacks, then fled back to Karachi, Pakistan.

The 28-year-old Sheikh is a leader in Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (J-e-M), an Islamic militant group. Its founder, Mohammad Masood Azhar, aka Maulana Masood, is closely linked to bin Laden.

In fact, bin Laden is understood to have helped fund the well-financed, well-organized J-e-M, making it al-Qaida's arm in Pakistan. J-e-M also runs terrorist training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

But don't stop there.

Azhar was freed along with Sheikh in the 1999 India Airlines hostages-for-prisoners deal.

Delhi's capitulation proved a fatal error, as Azhar is now accused of masterminding the J-e-M's Dec. 13 suicide attack on India's Parliament House in which 14 were killed, including five J-e-M terrorists.

And there's more: Delhi police believe that the leader of the suicide squad was none other than Burger, the lead hijacker of the India Airlines flight.

'Pampered' terrorist

The Indian government thinks Pakistan's military spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has sponsored and protected Azhar and his protégé, Sheikh. And it accuses ISI of sponsoring the Dec. 13 suicide attack on the Indian Parliament. What's more, it suspects ISI was tied to the 1999 hijacking.

"Azhar is considered to be a pampered terrorist of Pakistan's ISI," said The Press Trust of India.

India Abroad says ISI has been "instrumental" in recruiting terrorists for training camps in Kashmir.

But here's what's really disturbing.

According to accounts in both The Times of India and India Today, former ISI chief Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmad instructed Sheikh to send the $100,000 to Atta.

"A direct link between the ISI and the WTC attack could have enormous repercussions," the Times article said. "The U.S. cannot but suspect whether there were other senior Pakistani Army commanders who were in the know of things."

It added: "Evidence of a larger conspiracy could shake U.S. confidence in Pakistan's ability to participate in the anti-terrorism coalition."

The Times says Ahmad lost his job only after India shared with the FBI evidence showing a link between the general and Sheikh's wiring of funds to Atta.

Dennis M. Lormel, director of FBI's financial crimes unit, confirmed the transaction. Not long after, J-e-M's accounts were frozen.

The Bush administration has said the money trail is a crucial link in uncovering the support network for the 19 hijackers, and then destroying that network.

However, a major hub of that network is in Pakistan, and it's still active, as India learned, tragically, last month.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has banned J-e-M and arrested Azhar. But Azhar is not the only terrorist on India's list of wanted terrorists from Pakistan.

Sheikh reportedly now lives near the Binori mosque in Karachi, on the Pakistani coast. And the four remaining hijackers of Indian Airlines Flight 814 are still hiding in Pakistan.

The FBI has trusted Pakistani authorities to question Azhar.

But according to the Gulf News, the FBI earlier this month asked the Pakistani government for permission to question Azhar. U.S. officials are reportedly interested in his links to bin Laden, Sheikh and the Sept. 11 attacks. They also want to ask him about bin Laden's whereabouts.

Asked about the request, an FBI spokesman demurred.

"I can't answer that question at this point because of the diplomatic issues involved," FBI's Jay Spadafore told WorldNetDaily, referring to the administration's tender alliance with Pakistan.

Have any FBI agents traveled to Islamabad recently?

Spadafore put down the phone and checked with a superior before returning to the line.

"I can't comment on where we've deployed agents," he said.

It's become increasingly clear that Pakistan is the epicenter of terrorism, and is most likely sheltering bin Laden.

Yet, at least publicly, the Bush administration continues to trust the Pakistani government to help capture bin Laden and other anti-American terrorists.

At a Jan. 16 press conference in Pakistan, for example, Powell stubbornly insisted that Pakistan is not running a base for terrorism, or sponsoring and harboring terrorists linked to al-Qaida. He suggested the terrorists there are nothing more than free radicals.

Asked by an Indian reporter about the seemingly well-organized network of terrorists still operating there, he said that no country is immune from terrorism. Even America has its own "home-grown" terrorists, Powell said dismissively.


Paul Sperry is Washington bureau chief for WorldNetDaily.

[RebelYell]

180. I have both of Hopsicker's books

"Barry & The Boys" and "Welcome to Terrorland". Definite recommended reading. His first book deals with Barry Seal, a CIA operative pilot involved with the Medellin cartel. BTW, did any of you here know that Carlos Lehder has disappeared from the federal prison system? Lehder was involved with GWHB during his CIA chief stint. Lehder's two life sentences were reduced to 55 years, thanks to Poppy, and Lehder played dumb about the Bush/Noreiga connection during Noriega's trial. Chandra Levy uncovered details of Lehder's disappearance when she worked for the Bureau of Prisons. Condit had the highest security clearance.

I think everything that has happened in the past 40 years has a Bush imprint on it somewhere in the details.

I've had the Atta book for about a month, but haven't found time to read past the first chapter - I've been taking care of my sick Mom, working part time and I have a husband and 3 dogs to tend to as well. There are a lot of Hopsicker's articles on his website relating to 9/11. I'll try to make time to read more of the book this week.

[Pallas180]

187. REBEL YELL - WOW - just the first paragraph

is a chock full shocker.

whatever and whenever you can post from Hopsicker I'm sure will
be eye openers.

I can commiserate with trying to keep up here and finding time
to take care of family . lol

[Pallas180]

101. JELLY BEAN - when did OBL say he didn't but knew who did- do

you have a link to that?

cause later he bragged he was behind it, no?

[Pallas180]

103. ROBERTPAULSEN -read #91 again pls, edited now-thanks

:hi:

[Jose Diablo]

106. Right after 911

His first taped message played after 911 on al Jezerra(?). It should be archived on the news media's archives. Say about 9/18/01 or so.

[Jose Diablo]

116. The later tape was a forgery

The later tape had a OBL that didn't look like OBL. The guy has a fat flared nose and was short and dumpy. The first OBL is a tall skinny drink of water with a thin hooked nose.

They ain't the same persons.

[Pallas180]

125. Jelly Bean - yes I recently read something about OBL not looking

like OBL - but the guy in the wheelchair who just surrendered
to Saudi Arabia? was part of that video ----- wonder what
has happened to him?

I think we need that news article for his name...

Jeez- what a farce - what a convoluted CIA smelling charade.

And I suspect pappy is still running the CIA, or at least the bad
CIA.

[robertpaulsen]

107. Now you're cookin'!

I remember in Dude, Where's My Country, Michael Moore theorized that the 9/11 pilots had military training, mostly because the pilot (the name escapes me) who crashed into the Pentagon was going full speed into a target of limited height. Moore believed there was no way he could have learned a maneuver like that in a Florida flight training school and I agree with him.

ISI pretty much invented the mujahadeen which later evolved into al Qaeda. So I think you're theory that they were ISI might be closer to the mark.

Let's explore, shall we?
:)

[Jose Diablo]

108. Lead on McDuff n/t

[H2O Man]

109. the pilots you mention

were from the Saudi Royal Air Force. You don't learn to fly like that playing video games.

[Pallas180]

113. 2 problems: 1-it is said some of the accused hijackers are still alive -

and well and working in the Middle East -someone else was using their stolen identities, it is claimed...

and 2- it would be interesting to find out about the financial well
being of the Saudi and Egyptian families of the ones who were not the pilots but who did die on the planes.....

and by the way, it's very funny that every Middle East country has
been mentioned in all of this mess.....but glaringly missing is any
mention of Egypt.

Could the flyers have been Egyptian pilots?

The Mossad is the one who would know.

Has anyone checked out Debka on these things? I didnt think of it
at the time.

[robertpaulsen]

118. Have you read this Time article on the Saudi-ISI-OBL connection?

I never thought I'd trust Gerald Posner, but seeing as how he has spent so much time trying to debunk JFK's assassination as a conspiracy, he is the last person I would suspect believing in a conspiracy where 9/11 is concerned.

NEW BOOK SAYS ABU ZUBAYDAH HAS MADE STARTLING REVELATIONS ABOUT SECRET CONNECTIONS LINKING SAUDI ARABIA, PAKISTAN AND OSAMA BIN LADEN
“Why America Slept,” by Gerald Posner, Appears to be First Description of Repeated, Explicit Quid Pro Quo Between bin Laden and a Saudi Official

Sunday, Aug. 31, 2003
New York - A new book by Gerald Posner says Abu Zubaydah has made startling revelations about secret connections linking Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Osama bin Laden. The book, Why America Slept (Random House) is reviewed exclusively in this week’s issue of TIME. "Most of his new book is a lean, lucid retelling of how the CIA, FBI and U.S. leaders missed a decade’s worth of clues and opportunities that if heeded, Posner argues, might have forestalled the 9/11 terrorist attacks," TIME’s Johanna McGeary writes in the review.

Posner elaborates in startling detail how U.S. interrogators used drugs - an unnamed "quick-on, quick-off" painkiller and Sodium Pentothal, the old movie truth serum - in a chemical version of reward and punishment to make Zubaydah talk. When questioning stalled, according to Posner, CIA men flew Zubaydah to an Afghan complex fitted out as a fake Saudi jail chamber, where "two Arab-Americans, now with Special Forces," pretending to be Saudi inquisitors, used drugs and threats to scare him into more confessions.

Yet when Zubaydah was confronted by the false Saudis, writes Posner, "his reaction was not fear, but utter relief." Happy to see them, he reeled off telephone numbers for a senior member of the royal family who would, said Zubaydah, "tell you what to do."The man at the other end would be Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, a Westernized nephew of King Fahd and a publisher better known as a racehorse owner. His horse War Emblem won the Kentucky Derby in 2002). To the amazement of the U.S., the numbers proved valid. When the fake inquisitors accused Zubaydah of lying, he responded with a 10-minute monologue laying out the Saudi-Pakistani-Osama triangle, according to the book.

Zubaydah, writes Posner, said the Saudi connection ran through Prince Turki al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom’s longtime intelligence chief. Zubaydah said bin Laden "personally" told him of a 1991 meeting at which Turki agreed to let bin Laden leave Saudi Arabia and to provide him with secret funds as long as al-Qaeda refrained from promoting jihad in the kingdom. The Pakistani contact, high - ranking air force officer Mushaf Ali Mir, entered the equation, Zubaydah said, at a 1996 meeting in Pakistan also attended by Zubaydah. Bin Laden struck a deal with Mir, then in the military but tied closely to Islamists in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to get protection, arms and supplies for al-Qaeda. Zubaydah told interrogators bin Laden said the arrangement was "blessed by the Saudis," according to Posner.

Zubaydah said he attended a third meeting in Kandahar in 1998 with Turki, senior ISI agents and Taliban officials. There Turki promised, writes Posner, that "more Saudi aid would flow to the Taliban, and the Saudis would never ask for bin Laden’s extradition, so long as al-Qaeda kept its long-standing promise to direct fundamentalism away from the kingdom." In Posner’s stark judgment, the Saudis "effectively had (bin Laden) on their payroll since the start of the decade." Abu Zubaydah told the interrogators that the Saudis regularly sent the funds through three royal-prince intermediaries he named, according to the book.

The last eight paragraphs of the book set up a final startling development, McGeary writes. Those three Saudi princes all perished within days of one another. On July 22, 2002, Prince Ahmed was felled by a heart attack at age 43. One day later Prince Sultan bin Faisal bin Turki al-Saud, 41, was killed in what was called a high-speed car accident. The last member of the trio, Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Saud al-Kabir, officially "died of thirst" while traveling east of Riyadh one week later. And seven months after that, Mushaf Ali Mir, by then Pakistan’s Air Marshal, perished in a plane crash in clear weather over the unruly North-West Frontier Province, along with his wife and closest confidants, Posner writes.

Without charging any skulduggery (Posner told TIME they "may in fact be coincidences"), the author notes that these deaths occurred after CIA officials passed along Zubaydah’s accusations to Riyadh and Islamabad. Washington, reports Posner, was shocked when Zubaydah claimed that “9/11 changed nothing” about the clandestine marriage of terrorism and Saudi and Pakistani interests, "because both Prince Ahmed and Mir knew that an attack was scheduled for American soil on that day." They couldn’t stop it or warn the U.S. in advance, Zubaydah said, because they didn’t know what or where the attack would be. And they couldn’t turn on bin Laden afterward because he could expose their prior knowledge. Both capitals swiftly assured Washington that "they had thoroughly investigated the claims and they were false and malicious." The Bush Administration, writes Posner, decided that "creating an international incident and straining relations with those regional allies when they were critical to the war in Afghanistan and the buildup for possible war with Iraq, was out of the question."

The book seems certain to kick up a political and diplomatic firestorm, McGeary writes. The first question everyone will ask is, Is it true? And many will wonder if these matters were addressed in the 28 pages censored from Washington’s official report on 9/11. It has long been suggested that Saudi Arabia probably had some kind of secret arrangement to stave off fundamentalists within the kingdom. But, McGeary writes, this appears to be the first description of a repeated, explicit quid pro quo between bin Laden and a Saudi official. Posner told TIME he got the details of Zubaydah’s interrogation and revelations from a U.S. official outside the CIA at a "very senior Executive Branch level" whose name we would probably know if he told it to us, McGeary writes. He did not. The second source, Posner said, was from the CIA, and he gave what Posner viewed as general confirmation of the story but did not repeat the details. There are top Bush Administration officials who have long taken a hostile view of Saudi behavior regarding terrorism and might want to leak Zubaydah’s claims. Prince Turki, now Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Britain, did not respond to Posner’s letters and faxes.

Finally, the details of Zubaydah’s drug-induced confessions might bring on charges that the U.S. is using torture on terror suspects. According to Posner, the Administration decided shortly after 9/11 to permit the use of Sodium Pentothal on prisoners. The Administration, he writes, "privately believes that the Supreme Court has implicitly approved using such drugs in matters where public safety is at risk," citing a 1963 opinion.

TIME’s review of Why America Slept is available on TIME.com at: http://www.time.com

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,480240,00.html

I'm going to see if I can find out any more info on Mushaf Ali Mir.

Boy, am I glad to be here on the Plame thread!

[H2O Man]

122. When you look very closely at how the game is played

at the "upper levels," you find that a lack of character often requires shifting alliances. It's that way in congress and in intel agencies. I think it's similar to the "office politics" that can make life in business, in education, and in human services unpleasant at times. While many, even most people have a personal code of honor, not everyone does.

Hence, while we know that Posner will say with a straight face that Lee Harvey Oddball alone killed JFK, and that James Earl Ray killed King, and will lie like hell to support these fictions .... to protect the office he is part of! .... it doesn't mean that everything he says is a lie. Or that he, and the people in his office, aren't really upset by the administration's "office politics." Posner's noting a dangerous shift. Question everything he says, for sure. But don't simply ignore him.

[robertpaulsen]

200. Question, but don't ignore.

That's a great antidote to the Raygun dictum: Trust, but verify.

And certainly appropriate for Posner. He's actually using this 9/11 revelation as a justification for blaming it all on, you guessed it, Clinton!

Posner: Clinton’s Negligence Led to 9/11
Dave Eberhart and NewsMax.com Staff
Thursday, Sept. 4, 2003
Best-selling author Gerald Posner says much of the blame for 9/11 and the U.S. government’s negligence falls squarely on the shoulders of Bill Clinton and his administration.
In a stunning revelation made in his just released “Why America Slept: the Failure to Prevent 9/11” – Posner asserts the disaster of Sept. 11 could have been prevented and that President Clinton passed on more than one opportunity to arrest or kill Osama bin Laden.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/9/4/03534.shtml

What a short-sighted imbecile. He discovers massive conspiracy involving the Saudis, but rather than go after the dimson who coddles up to them to the tune of billions of dollars, he fobs it all off on the Clenis. Absolutely transparent BS.

[H2O Man]

209. His "conclusions" are always soft ....

and at least 50% of his evidence is twisted (by him). But a few of the things he says and writes may be of some value.

[Pallas180]

127. Blockbuster. An indication of what was on blacked outpages in all those

top secret reports that couldn't be shown to the American public
concerning Saudi Arabia.

[robertpaulsen]

129. And what did the "independent" 9/11 Comish have to say about Saudi Arabia?

Not a bloody word that I know of. Plenty of scare about terrorists walking through Iran, but not a peep about where the money originated!

Sibel Edmonds was right. Whitewash!

[Pallas180]

130. RP those were the blacked out pages-they weren't allowed to show

---remember their saying they thought these were not National
Security issues, but to save embarrassment to the administration?

[robertpaulsen]

198. Follow-up on Mushaf Ali Mir - killed in plane crash Feb 20, 2003

Pakistan air force chief killed
Thursday, February 20, 2003 Posted: 8:37 AM EST (1337 GMT)



ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A plane has crashed into a mountainside in a remote region west of Islamabad, killing Pakistan's air force chief and all 16 others on board.

Air force chief Mushaf Ali Mir, his wife Bilqees, and several other top-ranking officials were killed in the crash in northwestern Pakistan, officials said.

The Fokker turboprop went down around 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday west of Islamabad, the sources said. It is not clear what caused the crash.

"It was absolutely a routine flight for a routine activity. The weather was fit for flying," air force spokesman Air Commodore Sarfraz Ahmed Khan told Reuters news agency.

The plane was en route to Kohat -- the site of a Pakistani air force base -- to inspect aircraft that Pakistan recently received from another country.

Surrounded by mountains, Kohat, a town of about 100,000 people, is near the Afghan border.

It is an area where many Taliban fighters fled when U.S. and allied forces took control of Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks on America.

But, for now, Pakistan officials are playing down the possibility the plane was sabotaged or shot down.

The air force plane took off from Islamabad at 8 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) and was last heard from 27 minutes after takeoff.

The plane lost contact with the control tower at the Kohat Air Base shortly before it was to land there and there were no distress calls, Pakistani officials said.

Weather is not believed to have been a contributing factor to the accident, with skies overcast but not unusual in the area.

State-run Pakistan Television said "technical reasons" caused the crash but did not elaborate.

A board of inquiry is investigating the accident.

'A bang'

Surrounded by mountains, Kohat is close to the Afghan border
Villager Zarmast Khan said he heard explosions as the plane hit the ground.

"I heard a bang, followed by another big bang, and then I saw flames and smoke on the hills," he told Reuters.

A large piece of the plane's tail hugged the side of a 3,000-foot mountain, and pieces of the aircraft were strewn across the slope, witnesses said.

Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has canceled other engagements to head to Islamabad.

The vice chief of the Pakistan Air Force Syed Qaiser Hussain has been appointed acting chief of the air force, according to news agency reports.

Mir, 57, was born in the eastern city of Lahore and joined the air force in 1967.

A decorated former fighter pilot who took part in Pakistan's 1971 war against India, Mir took command of the air force in November 2000. He had two sons and a daughter.

"He was an excellent commander, and a hard core professional," The Associated Press quoted Air Commodore Tahir Butt as saying of Mir.

"He was very considerate. At times he would be very informal in wanting to know about the problems of his men."

Pakistan's air force, which has a strength of some 40,000 service personnel, has more than 10 air vice marshals and many more air commodores.

In 1988, Pakistan's then-president, General Mohammad Zia- ul-Haq, died in a mysterious crash of a military plane in the Punjab province.

The cause of the crash was never established.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/02/20/pak.crash/

Wow. The 9/11 conspiracy death toll is piling up faster than 11/22!

[shraby]

140. Found an article on Prince Ahmed bin Salman

The guy in the article by Posner. Here is an interesting paragraph in it. The article confirms his death. Maybe the Saudis are keeping their enemy (al Queda) close?

<http://www.saudi-american-forum.org/Newsletters2004/SAF_Item_Of_Interest_2004_06_09.htm>

One time his presence caused a stir, Lukas said, was when Sharp Cat ran in the Breeders' Cup in Toronto in 1996.

"The FBI came to the barn and said there had been some threats made on his life," Lukas said. "They briefed us on their policy and told us where they would station guys, and they made us walk the route we were going . All I told the prince was, 'I'll take a bullet in the leg but not in the chest.'"

[shraby]

141. Mohammed Atta and ISI link

India helped FBI trace ISI-terrorist links
TIMES NEWS NETWORK < TUESDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2001 11:08:55 PM >

NEW DELHI: While the Pakistani Inter Services Public Relations claimed that former ISI director-general Lt-Gen Mahmud Ahmad sought retirement after being superseded on Monday, the truth is more shocking.

Top sources confirmed here on Tuesday, that the general lost his job because of the "evidence" India produced to show his links to one of the suicide bombers that wrecked the World Trade Centre. The US authorities sought his removal after confirming the fact that $100,000 were wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the instance of Gen Mahumd.

Senior government sources have confirmed that India contributed significantly to establishing the link between the money transfer and the role played by the dismissed ISI chief. While they did not provide details, they said that Indian inputs, including Sheikh’s mobile phone number, helped the FBI in tracing and establishing the link.

A direct link between the ISI and the WTC attack could have enormous repercussions. The US cannot but suspect whether or not there were other senior Pakistani Army commanders who were in the know of things. Evidence of a larger conspiracy could shake US confidence in Pakistan’s ability to participate in the anti-terrorism coalition.

Indian officials say they are vitally interested in the unravelling of the case since it could link the ISI directly to the hijacking of the Indian Airlines Kathmandu-Delhi flight to Kandahar last December. Ahmad Umar Sayeed Sheikh is a British national and a London School of Economics graduate who was arrested by the police in Delhi following a bungled 1994 kidnapping of four westerners, including an American citizen.

http://www1.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?catkey=-2128936835&art_id=1454238160&sType=1]

Here is some more. Who is Osama 2 and bin Laden 1? There are some links on this page too. This excerpt is not good.
2004: March 10th Pakistan test fires its two stage Shaheen-2 ballistic missile for the first time.

The next Osama bin Laden may soon have his hands on three Agosta 90B next-generation stealth submarines capable of carrying sixteen sea-to-land cruise missiles each. Those missiles can deliver atomic warheads. And Osama 2, I suspect, will have access to the forty nuclear warheads constructed by Pakistan.

According to Defence Journal, Pakistan's subs have a range of close to twelve thousand miles.

The United States operates a network of hydrophones scattered all over the Atlantic and Pacific seabed. We are listening for subs like these. But we may not be able to hear them. The Pakistani subs use a methanol-and-liquid-oxygen engine bedded on a suspension system that quiets its purr to a whisper. We may not be able to detect their silent running beneath the sounds of zebrafish fanning their tails.


<http://www.melbourne.indymedia.org/mail.php?id=74956>

[shraby]

142. I have a question....

If Atta was sent $100,000 just before crashing a plane into the WTC, what was he going to do with it if he was going to die. He wouldn't need any money. The plane ticket would only have been a couple hundred dollars. There is a lot of hoopla about the money transfer but no reason for a transfer as far as I can see.

[shraby]

144. There is a sentence in here that

puzzles me. Wasn't stuff pretty much destroyed in all the planes?

Because the flight from Portland to Boston had been delayed, his bags did not make it onto Flight 11. When later found by US authorities, they contained airline uniforms, flight manuals and a four-page document in Arabic, copies of which were also found with the terrorists of the other three planes. It contains a list of instructions, such as "make an oath to die and renew your intentions", "you should feel complete tranquility, because the time between you and your marriage in heaven is very short", "check your weapon before you leave and long before you leave. You must make your knife sharp and you must not discomfort your animal during the slaughter". The writer of this document is now believed to have been Abdulaziz al-Omari.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Atta>

[shraby]

145. Here's some more on the meetings

between General Ahmad and Washington persona. Some of which has gone down the memory hole.

911 Terrorist Links to Congress & White House
Friday, 9 August 2002, 10:51 am

<http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0208/S00045.htm>

[Pallas180]

238. SHRABY - You're HOT tonite! :)

:hi:

[shraby]

240. Thanks Palla

just sorta getting lucky, but my mind is getting boggled. :crazy:

[Pallas180]

178. Schraby - Atta was from EGYPT - not Saudi - wealth of info here

Mohammed Atta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from Mohammad Atta)

This photograph of Mohammed Atta was released by the FBI in the days following the attack.Mohammed Atta al Sayed (September 1, 1968 - September 11, 2001), was named by the FBI as the suicide pilot of the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. He is now believed to have been the leader of the attacks. He has used several aliases and alternate spellings, including Mehan Atta, Mohamed Atta, Mohammad El Amir, Mohamed El Sayed, Muhammad Muhammad Al Amir Awag Al Sayyid Atta, and Muhammad Muhammad Al-Amir Awad Al Sayad.

(More is known about Mohammed Atta than any of the other 9/11 hijackers. However there are reports that seem to contradict others, indicating that he was in two places at the same time. Some reports may be unreliable, and it is possible that more than one person used Atta's identity at various times.)

Table of contents
1 Early history

2 Al-Qaida involvement

3 In the United States

4 The attacks

5 Mistaken identity

6 External links and references


Early history
Atta was born September 1, 1968 in Kafr El Sheikh, a city in the Nile Delta in Egypt and also carried a Saudi passport. He grew up in Cairo, Egypt and graduated with a degree in architecture from Cairo University. He apparently was not particularly religious at this time. He then moved to Germany, where he was registered as a student of urban planning at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg in Hamburg from 1993 to 1999. (There are other reports that Atta attended Valencia School of Medicine in Spain during this period. This may be a case of mistaken identity.<1> (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/elmundo093001.html))

In Hamburg Atta worked on a thesis exploring the history of Aleppo's urban landscapes. It exploring the general themes of the conflict between Arab civilization and modernity. Atta criticized how the modern skyscrapers and development projects in Aleppo were disrupting the fabric of that city by blocking community streets and altering the skyline. He received a high mark on his report from his German supervisor.

In Germany, Atta was registered as a citizen of the United Arab Emirates. His German friends describe him as an intelligent man with religious beliefs who grew angry over the Western policy toward the Middle East, including the Oslo Process and the Gulf War. MSNBC in its special "The Making of the Death Pilots" interviewed German friend Ralph Bodenstein who traveled, worked and talked a lot with Mohammed Atta. Ralph said, "He (Atta) was most imbued actually about Israeli politics in the region and about US protection of these Israeli politics in the region. And he was to a degree personally suffering from that."

While in Germany, Mohammed Atta became more and more religious, especially after a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1995. A German terrorist of Syrian origin, Mohammed Haydar Zammar, claims he met Atta at this time and recruited him into al-Qaida.<2> (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A7829-2002Jun18¬Found=true) (Zammar had al-Qaeda contacts going back a decade, and knew Osama bin Laden personally.) Atta started attending an Islamic prayer group at the university, and is thought to have recruited for fundamentalist causes there. Other students remember him making strident anti-American and anti-Semitic statements. In a visit home to Egypt in 1998, his former friends noticed that he had become much more of a religious fundamentalist than he had been before.


Al-Qaida involvement
On November 1, 1998, Atta moved into an apartment in Germany with terrorists Said Bahaji and Ramzi Binalshibh. The Hamburg cell was born at this apartment.<3> (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/la-012702atta.story)<4> (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/national/10PLOT.html?ex=1090987200&en=00e7941222956576&ei=5070) They met three or four times a week to discuss their anti-American feelings and plot possible attacks. Many al-Qaida members lived in this apartment at various times, including hijacker Marwan al-Shehhi, Zakariya Essabar, hijacker Waleed al-Shehri, and others. In all, 29 men listed the apartment as their home address while Atta's name was the lease. The 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed visited the apartment repeatedly.

In late 1999, Atta, al-Shehhi, Jarrah, Bahaji, and Binalshibh decided to travel to Chechnya to fight against the Russians, but were convinced by Khalid al-Masri and Mohamedou Ould Slahi at the last minute to change their plans. They instead traveled to Afghanistan to meet with Osama bin Laden and train for terrorist attacks. In addition, Atta was trained in passport alteration. Immediately afterwards, Atta, al-Shehhi, and Jerrah reported their passports stolen, possibly to erase travel visas to Afghanistan.

Atta is then reported to have been living in the Philippines, but is also reported to be living back in Germany. He may have traveled often between locations, or there may be some confusion between two different people. Some have speculated that another person was using Atta's passport in the Philippines at this time.<5> (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-worldtrade-suspectprofiles.story)

Atta and the other hijackers began to work at appearing normal, shaving their beards and avoiding known radicals. Starting in 2000, the CIA put Atta under surveillance in Germany. He was trailed by CIA agents, and was observed buying large quantities of chemicals.<6> (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/afp092201.html)<7> (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/focus092401.html)<8> (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/2001/berlinerzeitung092401.html) When Atta entered the United States in June, the CIA says its surveillance of Atta ended. It is unclear whether the FBI monitored Atta's activities in the U.S.


In the United States
In March, while still in Germany, Atta contacted 31 different U.S. flight schools to discuss training to fly planes. Upon entering the U.S. on June 3, 2000, Atta and other hijackers opened at least 35 bank accounts with fake social security numbers, but none of the accounts were checked by the banks. In July, Atta enrolled at Huffman Aviation International in Venice, Florida. He was always accompanied by Marwan al-Shehhi, a hijacker of United Airlines flight 175; Atta claimed to be of royal Saudi descent and presented al-Shehhi as his bodyguard. Both earned their instrument certificates from the FAA in November, and received their licenses the next month.

In December of 2000, Atta went to the Miami area to practice on a Boeing 727 simulator. He returned to Germany to coordinate with Binalshib, returning on January 10, 2001. He traveled to Georgia for unknown reasons, and then moved into an apartment in Coral Springs, Florida. He assisted with the arrival of the "muscle" hijackers in April. In May, he began to take "surveillance flights", rehearsing how the 9/11 attacks would be carried out.

Atta left again in May 2001 for Spain to meet with Binalshibh for the last time. They coordinated the details of the attacks, but did not reach a firm agreement on all the targets or the date. They did decide that the World Trade Center would be hit, and they ruled out a strike on a nuclear plant. They also discussed the personal difficulties Atta was having with fellow-hijacker Ziad Jarrah. Binalshibh was worried that Jarrah might even abandon the plan. The 9/11 Commission Report speculates that Zacarias Moussaoui was being trained as a possible replacement for Jarrah.

US investigators claim that Atta sent a package to Mustafa Ahmed in the United Arab Emirates on September 4. Mustafa Ahmed is central to the funding of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's terror organization.

Atta, along with at least five other future hijackers, traveled to Las Vegas at least six times in the Summer of 2001. They reportedly drank alcohol, gambled, and paid strippers to perform lap dances for them.<9> (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/10/04/MN102970.DTL) In the week before the attack, Atta was seen drinking and playing video games in a Florida sports bar. He also apparently visited each of the hijacking teams to ensure that everything was in place for the hijackings.


The attacks

Atta (blue shirt) and Abdulaziz al-Omari boarding a Colgan Air flight from Portland, Maine, to Boston on the morning of 9/11. Note that this is a non-hijacked flight.Atta spent the day before the attack with another hijacker, Abdulaziz al-Omari, in South Portland and Scarborough, Maine. In the morning of September 11, they drove to the Portland International Jetport (PWM), flew on Colgan Air (US Airways Express) to Logan International Airport in Boston and boarded American Airlines Flight 11. At 6:45 am, while at the Boston airport, Mohammed Atta took a call from Marwan al-Shehhi, another hijacker. This call was apparently to confirm the attacks were ready to begin.

At 7:59, the plane departed from Boston, carrying 81 passengers. At 8:24, a voice believed to be Atta's said, "Nobody move. Everything will be OK. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet." Atta is believed to have been the pilot of the plane when it crashed into the World Trade Center.

Because the flight from Portland to Boston had been delayed, his bags did not make it onto Flight 11. When later found by US authorities, they contained airline uniforms, flight manuals and a four-page document in Arabic, copies of which were also found with the terrorists of the other three planes. It contains a list of instructions, such as "make an oath to die and renew your intentions", "you should feel complete tranquility, because the time between you and your marriage in heaven is very short", "check your weapon before you leave and long before you leave. You must make your knife sharp and you must not discomfort your animal during the slaughter". The writer of this document is now believed to have been Abdulaziz al-Omari.


Mistaken identity
Initially, Mohammed Atta's identity was confused with that of a native Jordanian, Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta, who bombed a bus in 1986 on the Israel-controlled West Bank, killing one and severely injuring three. Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta, a naturalized US citizen, was subsequently deported from Venezuela to the United States, extradited to Israel, tried and sentenced to life in prison. The Israeli supreme court later invalidated his extradition and set him free; his whereabouts are unknown. He is 14 years older than Mohammed Atta. After the September 11 attacks, a general furor arose over the supposed failure of immigration authorities and the US intelligence community to stop a known terrorist from entering the country under his true name. Eventually, the Boston Globe factually reported details from records at the US Circuit Court of Appeals detailing the detention and subsequent extradition of Mahmoud Mahmoud Atta from the US.

It is believed that Atta was a ringleader among the hijackers. In a video released by the US government, Osama bin Laden points to Atta as the leader of the attacks (see videos of bin Laden). Atta's father, a retired lawyer in Egypt, characterized this accusation in an interview as ridiculous, calling his son gentle and shy.

[Pallas180]

179. and this name should also be googled

Abdulaziz al-Omari

the one who wrote the instructions

googling could be difficult when they all have 15 aliases

[Jose Diablo]

152. Because 911 was not all that was planned at that time

there must be other cells that needed funding but their activity was not scheduled for 911.

With Atta's demise on 911, linkages to those other cells would die with him, leaving them 'independent' and awaiting a one-way communication (say a public communication in the form of a 'personal' in some paper) to activate those plans.

If this were true, then Atta must have been able to extract those funds and delivered them in some form of untracable transaction. Say like convert the cash to gold or diamonds for example. These forms of 'money' are very transportable and can readily be converted back to cash quite easily. Money can take many forms.

His girlfriend 'disappeared' huh? Could she have been the financial 'pipe'? Were was Atta leading up to 911, and who did he meet?

[Pallas180]

188. Jelly Bean - Maine. What was he doing in Maine the night

before 911....

who do we know who lives in Maine?

getting final instructions?

rental car. Didn't anybody take the mileage of the rental car to
see the radius to and fro car rental buisness.

Wouldn't it be a surprise if it was close to Kennebunkport, and back?

No. It wouldn't be.

[Pallas180]

171. Wire it to the families of the hijackers who were going to die?

how come the US hasn't traced that money?

sent it to his father who insists Atta is still alive?

the US could very well and very easily trace that money and
probably already has.

[Pallas180]

170. Pakistan Lt-Gen Mahmud Ahmad

needs googling with

Rumsfeld

Cheney

Halliburton

Al Queda

bin laden

U.S. State Dept.

Mohammed Atta

Carlyle

Bush

Saudi Arabia

Nuke Scientist Khan and those companies

Cheney

Rumsfeld

and whatever else can be turned up under his name

[robertpaulsen]

189. Additions to the googling list.

Mushaf Ali Mir - ISI

Prince Turki al-Faisal - intel chief

as well as the three mysterious deaths of:

Prince Ahmed bin Salman
Prince Sultan bin Faisal
Prince Fahd bin Turki

[Jose Diablo]

119. Check message 116

If Atta and Hajour were ISI then they would have trained on 116's in Pakistan itself.

[Jose Diablo]

124. Or 116's in the USA on a military base

Didn't Atta attend some military training here in the states too? I seem to remember something about this.

Somehow it seems hard for me to believe our military would train Al Qaeda after the Cole bombing. But ISI, you bet. Seeing how Cheney sold 116's to Pakistan such a delivery would naturally include pilot training also.

[Pallas180]

128. The US govt does train foreign pilots in this country and that

may have been where McVeigh came into contact with Jihadi or
Mujahadeen thought.

[Pallas180]

136. BINGO!

" Seeing how Cheney sold 116's to Pakistan such a delivery would naturally include pilot training also." Jelly Bean said.

Were those Pakistani's flying into the WTC??

Why would they obviously be showing Saudi passports if they were
Saudi? They had forged everything else.

waaao. To point the finger at Saudi Arabia.

But they could have been Pakistani's already trained on the F116's
Paks with ISI who had gone " Fallwell" or Taliban who were the ISI, or trained pilot Paks who were with Queda .


But they were probably Pakistani's - that makes sense now.

[shraby]

143. Here is a bit about Pearl and his

captors.

Probe reveals Omar ‘dealt with Pearl at ISI bidding’
WSJ scribe knew of ISI-jehadi link

London, April 21
A new investigation has revealed detailed links between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Omar Sheikh, prime suspect in Wall Street Journal Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and murder case.

The report in The Sunday Times, after a lengthy investigation, presents the fullest profile of Sheikh, yet points to vital clues that show the involvement of the ISI in terrorist actions carried out by him.

Britain-born Sheikh knows too much about this connection to ever be allowed to leave Pakistan alive, the report says. The report says President Pervez Musharraf is reported to have told U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Wendy Chamberlain that “I would rather hang Sheikh myself than have him extradited.”

One “bizarre clue” the report mentions is the demand by Pearl’s kidnappers to honour an agreement to sell F-16 fighter aircraft to Pakistan. “This hardly squared with the outlook of a militant Muslim organisation fighting a jehad in Afghanistan and Kashmir,” the report says.

<http://newsmine.org/archive/9-11/questions/pakistan/fbi-established-is-100k-atta.txt>

[shraby]

150. The 911 Omar Sheikh Files

This guy has collected a lot about Omar.

<http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/WATomarsheikhgate.htm>

[Pallas180]

190. Well, I guess we now know what happened to Omar Sheikh-

"they" are certainly permanently closing off any linkage
to themselves.


fromScraby's link:

New York Times, 15 November 2002

"News that a British-born Islamic militant has been found guilty of the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl has been welcomed by the Foreign Office. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh has been sentenced to death for abducting and murdering the Wall Street Journal reporter ."
UK welcomes Pearl murder verdicts
BBC Online, 15 July 2002

"Throughout the trial, Omar maintained that -- although he knew how and by who Pearl had been killed -- he was not himself responsible. Subsequently, there were reports that four other men had also been arrested by Pakistani police in connection with the murder. But Pakistani security officials told UPI that in order for the new suspects to be put on trial, the four convicted men would also have to be tried again, because evidence against the new suspects undermined the case against Omar and his accomplices....The director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, Josef Bodansky, told UPI emphatically, 'Mohammed was Pearl's killer'....."
UPI Exclusive: Pearl tracked al Qaida
United Press International, 30 September 2002

"..... it is precisely the same man used by General Mahmoud to wire money to 911 hijacker Mohammed Atta who has now been detained and tried for the murder of Pearl.....why is Sheikh still not being charged for his alleged involvement in the 911 attacks now that he is finally detained?.... the execution of Sheikh would certainly be useful in dealing with the CIA's problem of how to limit further investigation into any wider role it may have played in the events surrounding 911 via its involvement with the ISI...... In this respect the clamour from the Bush administration to spare Sheikh's life so that he can give evidence as to General Mahmoud's and his own involvement in the transfer of 911 money to Mohammed Atta is deafening by virtue of its total absence... Sheikh is a British born and educated Pakistani. He is a British Citizen. But this has not resulted in the British government securing an open trial for him....The possibility that Sheikh has been framed (certainly he is an ideal candidate given his previous involvement with militant groups) in order to engineer his execution cannot be discounted.... Given the widespread culture of deception and lying uncovered within the British Foreign Office during the Scott inquiry into the UK's illegal supply of arms to Saddam Hussein, the omens do not look good."
What Did Britain Know About 911?
'Fight Smart', 28 Aug 2002

[robertpaulsen]

212. More on Daniel Pearl

Author Bernard-Henri Lévy says that Daniel Pearl was killed because he knew about "the great taboo" -- that Pakistan's atomic bomb was built and is controlled by radical Islamists who are hell bent on using it. "Everyone knows that Pakistan is a nuclear power but Daniel discovered that the nuclear weapons were less controlled than Mr. Musharraf pretends and less under control than the secret services of occidental powers believe," Levy told the BBC in April.

In a recent New Yorker article, he elaborated even further. "I opposed the war in Iraq, because of what I'd seen in Pakistan," Lévy said. "Iraq was a false target, a mistaken target. Saddam, yes, is a terrible butcher, and we can only be glad that he is gone. But he is a twentieth-century butcher-an old-fashioned secular tyrant, who made an easy but irrelevant target. His boasting about having weapons of mass destruction and then being unable to really build them or keep them is typical-he's just a gangster, who lived by fear and for money. Saddam has almost nothing to do with the real threat. We were attacking an Iraq that was already largely disarmed. Meanwhile, in some Pakistani bazaar someone, as we speak, is trading a Russian miniaturized nuclear weapon."

Feel safe yet?

http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/03/09/10.html

Plus the two links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2989053.stm
http://www.newyorker.com/printable/?fact/030901fa_fact1

[shraby]

146. Here's some about the F-16s to Pakistan

In December 1981, the government of Pakistan signed a letter of agreement for the purchase of 40 F-16A/B (28 F-16A and 12 F-16B) fighters for the Pakistan Air Force. The first aircraft were accepted in October 1982. The Pakistani F-16s are all Block 15 aircraft, the final version of the F-16A production run. They are powered by the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-200 turbofan engine. All 40 aircraft were delivered between 1983 and 1987. Pakistan ordered 71 additional Block 15 F-16 aircraft, 11 in December 1988 and 60 in November 1989. However, due to the U.S. embargo of military equipment, only 28 of these aircraft were built, and they were placed in storage at the U.S. Air Force Aircraft Maintenance and Regeneration Center in Tucson, Ariz.

<http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-16-fms.htm>

Has a lot more on who we sold them to.

[shraby]

147. Some more about the F-16s

Monday August 18, 2003

Pakistan asks formally for F-16 fighter planes
By Zia Iqbal Shahid
(Updated at 2130 PST)
Brussels: Belgium officially confirmed on Monday, saying Pakistan has made a formal request to the Belgian government to provide up to two squadrons of F-16 fighter planes and the Belgian defence ministry, in its initial response to the Pakistani request, seems "inclined to oblige Pakistan by providing the required number of F-16 fighter planes".

Belgium defence minister, André Flahaut, has reportedly expressed his optimism that there will be no problem in selling F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. Belgium had bought the F-16 planes from the US and the contract stipulated that Belgium could only sell them with the approval of the US. "The dossier (F-16) has not yet been examined, therefore, we have not initiated consultation with the US as yet", Belgian defence minister is reported as saying.

Belgian defence minister confirmed that the government of Pakistan had made a formal request to the Belgian government to provide F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan and the "Pakistani request is under active consideration of the Belgian defence authorities".

<http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/aug2003-daily/18-08-2003/main/update.shtml>

[shraby]

148. How much money does Pakistan need to

bleed from us??

Re: US to sell F-16 aircrafts to Pakistan (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Jun 19, 2003 - 10:20 AM
Pakistan is likely to get at least 28 F-16 fighter jets, a write-off of about $1.8 billion in debt owed to Washington in return for allowing greater operational freedom to US forces in capturing terrorists belonging to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban that may be hiding in Pakistan.


The two delegations discussed the possibility of Pakistani troops helping stabilize Iraq. They also conducted initial discussions on the military sales component of the U.S. $3 billion multi-year assistance program for Pakistan announced by the two presidents -- George Bush and Pervez Musharraf -- at Camp David in June 2003.


Monday August 18, 2003
US gives Pakistan 116 million dollar health grant
(Updated at 1340 PST)
ISLAMABAD: The United States on Monday announced a new health grant of 116 million dollars to key ally Pakistan. US ambassador Nancy Powell signed an agreement for the grant, to be disbursed over five years, with Pakistan's top economic affairs official Waqar Masood Khan.
The funds will target Pakistan's health, population ministries, provincial and local governments and private sector with the aim of boosting healthcare for women and children.

[Pallas180]

191. Blackmail money to Pakistan - don't reveal

CIA role in 911 ------------and who is Nancy Powell?

any relation to Colin?

[never cry wolf]

196. Not likely

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/12860.htm

[Pallas180]

197. Thanks Steviet :) - another April Clasby in Iraq - an easy

mark to be set-up but unaware of what's going on .

A former social studies teacher.

[Pallas180]

207. How stupid of me = Musharraf is our Saddamm in Pakistan -

no wonder he's involved in 911 ----get us before our govt can turn
on him......

[NewJeffCT]

154. Impressive, most impressive

Is this something we can send to local newspapers and the like?

[Pallas180]

155. Why not? Editorial - it might be shortened or you might shorten

it and contribute it to the papers.

Good idea.

[H2O Man]

158. Great idea.

Use it for a letter, a "guest editorial," and/or send it to a local editor/reporter for their interest.

[Pallas180]

162. H20 - could you shorten it up for us with salient points so we can get

the newspapers to use it?

[Pallas180]

163. H20 & DU'ers- Good Monday August 9 Morning to you. :) My

focus this morning/next few days is again WHY.

Why is the US revealing assetts?

(we can assume why, but what we need to do is google these names and
see if we can connect them to our villains in US government)

[H2O Man]

167. A couple thoughts:

(1) I think the author might be the best person to make a shortened version. That might be the best option.

(2) It is always possible that an editor or editorial board would contact anyone who sends a letter with the degree of detail that this article contains. Thus, I would suggest people take one or two points that they are familiar and comfortable with, and use them.

(3) The number one goal is to catch people's attention, not to immediately "convert" them. I suspect that most of the Plame Threads crew leaned in this direction to begin with, but a review of thread #1 will show that people stuck with this thread initially because it caught their attention.

(4) Once you catch their attention, and they become interested, a letter/article/editorial should direct them to the Plame threads for more information.

(5) If anyone is interested in using any of the Waterman Paper along with the American Judas, please feel free.

(6) Others on these threads should feel encouraged to find some aspect of the on-going conversations that they are particularly drawn to, and work on a paper to contribute here. I think that people are likely to think,"Yikes! I can't compete with the American Judas paper!" And I have to take my hat off to the author of it, because it is indeed awesome! But we're not about competing; this is a cooperative effort. We all have different talents. Let's keep building this effort.

[robertpaulsen]

185. Let's see some well-edited abridged versions here!

Anyone who wants to send shortened versions of Waterman Paper or American Judas to editorial boards should post them here!

I'm sure we'd all love to see how the information in these papers can be focused in a manner that is concise and as H20 Man says, catches people's attention. Perhaps this will help to lure them over here at DU to check out the unabridged versions as well.

I agree with all your points H20 Man. This is a cooperative effort here. I can't wait to see what each person's take on our papers focuses on. Every effort helps our cause. I'll try to do what I can to condense it.

[Pallas180]

193. Ahem- Please check some previous thread headers & "Cover Up-Treason

you will find that I have taken the "liberty" of shortening and
making slight changes to H20's "papers" previously.

As we all know, it is the collaborative effort of the many here on Plame Indictments threads who have searched the internet and contributed posting their findings that has resulted in the facts and theories put forth in "American Judas".

Without the effort of all those who post bits and tidbits and tremendous amounts, I daresey there would be no "papers" to put together.

Klever Kittie now has a program that can outline all that we put in.

It just has to be assembled in some kind of date formation, and the URL where the info was found to be given.

To my way of thinking, our purpose no longer is only to form the
grassroots and have them inform and distribute "Cover-Up Treason"
Waterman Paper on Plame affair......but if we want convictions and
cleaning out of government - American Judas and our current investigation of the obstruction of Sibel Edmonds,Plame and 911, has to go to Congress.

Maybe it's time to talk about Calimary's suggestion of a lobbyist..
one person or two to go around to each SEnator and Congressman and
shove our papers under their nose.

Democratic Underground itself is in Washington. Maybe they have staff
that would lobby for us or reccomendations.

[robertpaulsen]

195. The mods should read your post. You're right on the money, Pallas.

Spreading the word throughout the media is good, but I agree that pursuing like-minded people in Congress is the way to go. I see you mentioned Grassley below. How about Senators Byrd and Kennedy?

Oh! Let's go with FrustratedDeminNC's suggestion and send all our stuff to the Black Caucus. If we go with calimary's suggestion and have a DU lobbyist presenting our case to them, our work will go mainstream and with indictments on the way, should give us legitimacy in seeking a Congressional investigation.

Going after Waxman is a great idea too.

Anyone on this thread live in DC?

[Pallas180]

199. Okay RP - I e mailed owners of DU.

for suggestions.

[Me.]

257. Sent Waterman to Kennedy

Just after convention

[Pallas180]

259. ME - how about to Dean & Edwards + American Judas?

:toast:

[never cry wolf]

192. Great job, RP!!.........n/t

[alfredo]

52. A note

This paragraph needs work.


If what Sibel Edmonds says is accurate, then
all of those who have been involved in keeping this
information from reaching the public are complicit
in cover-up and this TREASON. The same crime
that brought Nixon down.

Wouldn't it be better to say something like:

If what Sibel Edmonds says is accurate, then everyone involved in the coverup are complicit to* an act of treason. Remember, it wasn't the robbery of the Watergate that brought Nixon down, it was the coverup.

*used the word "to", because I wasn't sure about whether to use to or in. Hey, I just woke from a nap. It's not my fault.

[shraby]

56. You did a superb job RP

wish I had those capabilities. WOW

[Pallas180]

61. If you ever have knots in a "fine jewelry chain" RP is the one

who has the patience to un-knot them.

[H2O Man]

67. It's fantastic!

I find myself reading and re-reading it, almost to the exclusion of anything else. The rest of us have to make real sure that the moderators take note of it .... though I'm sure they already have. A few of us need to make notice of it on the other threads during the next few days.

It is a heck of a great article to enjoy on this 30th anniversary of Nixon's resignation.

[Pallas180]

69. H20, Robert & KleverKittie plan to make it even better - even more

clarified.

Check yr mail RP.

And KleverKittie when RP has the links in, you'll be the second to
have it.

This is one talented think tank, I will tell you all!!

[robertpaulsen]

78. Check! I think I made it just a little better.

I clarified the serpentine links so that Cheney's involvement is crystal clear. Also I added emphasis to a particular article so everyone could see in bold that Cheney knew!

Thank you so much for all your help on this, Pallas! You were one of the first people on this thread to harp on Cheney's past fines over nuclear proliferation, so take a bow!

[robertpaulsen]

81. Thank you H20 Man for all your inspiration!

You really piqued my interest on the first thread by pointing out that Plame was conducting a "sting operation". Whether we're discussing history or reading poetry, you are always a pleasure to read because you bring out the best in us here.

You're fantastic H20 Man! Thank you for all your contributions. After all, this paper is intended as a supplement to your Waterman Paper. Thank you for everything!

[robertpaulsen]

79. Thank you for starting it all shraby!

Not only did you kickstart everything 17 threads ago, but you were one of the first to explore the idea that maybe the outing of Valerie Plame had some connection with A.Q. Khan's Nuclear Walmart. You inspired me and look where we are now!

Thank you so much for helping make this paper as strong as it is!

[shraby]

149. Yer welcome but it took the rest

of youse guys to put it together.

[truth2power]

235. Not to nit-pick, but....

Everyone "is". Everyone is singular -- needs singular verb. :-)

[loudsue]

65. This is one kick-ass thread! Thanks, robertpaulsen!

Thanks to all!!! :hi:

Kicking back to the top!!

:kick::kick::kick:

[Pallas180]

68. whisper to Sue - some few of us might say Sue is repeating a

28 to 30 year cycle also ---hopefully much lovelier than Nixon's :)

wink - wink

[Pallas180]

84. Sibel Edmonds

was on 60 minutes tonite.

I missed it, but this is from their website.

Is there a transcript of 60 minutes anywhere?


• Section Front


E-mail This Story Printable Version

Lost In Translation

Aug. 8, 2004



Sibel Edmonds was hired as a translator of Turkish and other Middle Eastern languages by the FBI after the Sept. 11 attack. (Photo: CBS)



"We were told by our supervisors that this was the great opportunity for asking for increased budget and asking for more translators."
Sibel Edmonds



(CBS) This is the story of hundreds, if not thousands, of foreign language documents that the FBI neglected to translate before and after the Sept. 11 attacks -- documents that detailed what the FBI heard on wiretaps and learned during interrogations of suspected terrorists.

Sibel Edmonds, a translator who worked at the FBI's language division, says the documents weren't translated because the division was riddled with incompetence and corruption.

Edmonds was fired after reporting her concerns to FBI officials. She told her story behind closed doors to investigators in Congress and to the Justice Department. Most recently, she spoke with the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks.

She first told Correspondent Ed Bradley her story a year after Sept. 11.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Because she is fluent in Turkish and other Middle Eastern languages, Edmonds, a Turkish-American, was hired by the FBI soon after Sept. 11 and given top-secret security clearance to translate some of the reams of documents seized by FBI agents who have been rounding up suspected terrorists across the United States and abroad.

Edmonds says that to her amazement, from the day she started the job, she was told repeatedly by one of her supervisors that there was no urgency,- that she should take longer to translate documents so that the department would appear overworked and understaffed. That way, it would receive a larger budget for the next year.

“We were told by our supervisors that this was the great opportunity for asking for increased budget and asking for more translators,” says Edmonds. “And in order to do that, don't do the work and let the documents pile up so we can show it and say that we need more translators and expand the department.”

Edmonds says that the supervisor, in an effort to slow her down, went so far as to erase completed translations from her FBI computer after she'd left work for the day.

“The next day, I would come to work, turn on my computer, and the work would be gone. The translation would be gone,” she says. “Then I had to start all over again and retranslate the same document. And I went to my supervisor and he said, ‘Consider it a lesson and don't talk about it to anybody else and don't mention it.’

"The lesson was don’t work, and don’t do the translations. ...Don't do the work because -- and this is our chance to increase the number of people here in this department."

Edmonds put her concerns about the FBI's language department in writing to her immediate superiors and to a top official at the FBI. For months, she said she received no response. Then, she turned for help to the Justice Department's inspector general and to Sen. Charles Grassley, whose committee, the Judiciary Committee, has direct oversight of the FBI.

“She's credible,” says Grassley. “And the reason I feel she's very credible is because people within the FBI have corroborated a lot of her story.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FBI has conceded that some people in the language department are unable to adequately speak English or the language they're supposed to be translating. Kevin Taskasen was assigned to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to translate interrogations of Turkish-speaking al Qaeda members who had been captured after Sept. 11. The FBI admits that he was not fully qualified to do the job.

“He neither passed the English nor the Turkish side of the language proficiency test,” says Edmonds.

Critical shortages of experienced Middle Eastern language translators have plagued the FBI and the rest of the U.S. intelligence community for years.

Months before the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, one of the plotters of the attack was heard on tape having a discussion in Arabic that no one at the time knew was about how to make explosives - and he had a manual that no one at the time knew was about how to blow up buildings. None of it was translated until well after the bombing, and while the FBI has hired more translators since then, officials concede that problems in the language division have hampered the country's efforts to battle terrorism.

According to congressional investigators, this may have played a role in the inability to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks. The General Accounting Office reported that the FBI had expressed concern over the thousands of hours of audiotapes and pages of written material that have not been reviewed or translated because of a lack of qualified linguists.

“If they got word today that within, in a little while, the Hoover Dam was going to be blown up, and it takes a week or two to get it translated, as was one of the problems in this department, you know, you couldn't intervene to prevent that from happening,” says Grassley.

In its rush to hire more foreign language translators after Sept. 11, the FBI admits it has had difficulty performing background checks to detect translators who may have loyalties to other governments, which could pose a threat to U.S. national security.

Take the case of Jan Dickerson, a Turkish translator who worked with Edmonds. The FBI has admitted that when Dickerson was hired, the bureau didn't know that she had worked for a Turkish organization being investigated by the FBI's own counter-intelligence unit.

They also didn't know she'd had a relationship with a Turkish intelligence officer stationed in Washington who was the target of that investigation. According to Edmonds, Dickerson tried to recruit her into that organization, and insisted that Dickerson be the only one to translate the FBI's wiretaps of that Turkish official.

“She got very angry, and later she threatened me and my family's life,” says Edmonds, when she decided not to go along with the plan. “She said, ‘Why would you want to place your life and your family's life in danger by translating these tapes?’”

Edmonds says that when she reviewed Dickerson's translations of those tapes, she found that Dickerson had left out information crucial to the FBI's investigation - information that Edmonds says would have revealed that the Turkish intelligence officer had spies working for him inside the U.S. State Department and at the Pentagon.

“We came across at least 17, 18 translations, communications that were extremely important for the ongoing investigations of these individuals,” says Edmonds. “She had marked it as 'not important to be translated.'"

What kind of information did she leave out of her translation?

“Activities to obtain the United States military and intelligence secrets,” says Edmonds.

She says she complained repeatedly to her bosses about what she'd found on the wiretaps and about Dickerson's conduct, but that nobody at the FBI wanted to hear about it, not even the assistant special agent in charge.

“He said ‘Do you realize what you are saying here in your allegations? Are you telling me that our security people are not doing their jobs? Is that what you're telling me? If you insist on this investigation, I'll make sure in no time it will turn around and become an investigation about you,’” says Edmonds.

Sibel Edmonds was fired. The FBI offered no explanation, saying in the letter only that her contract was terminated completely for the government's convenience.

But three months later, the FBI conceded that on at least two occasions, Dickerson had, in fact, left out significant information from her translations. They say it was due to a lack of experience and was not malicious.

Dickerson quit the FBI and now lives in Belgium. She declined to be interviewed, but she told The Chicago Tribune that the allegations against her are preposterous and ludicrous. Grassley says he's disturbed by what the Dickerson incident says about internal security at the FBI.

"You shouldn't have somebody in your organization that's compromising our national security by not doing the job right, whether it's lack of skills or whether it's intentional," says Grassley.

Does the Sibel Edmonds case fall into any pattern of behavior, pattern of conduct, on the part of the FBI?

“The usual pattern,” says Grassley. “Let me tell you, first of all, the embarrassing information comes out, the FBI reaction is to sweep it under the rug, and then eventually they shoot the messenger.”

Special agent John Roberts, recently retired as a chief of the FBI's Internal Affairs Department, agrees. And while he is not permitted to discuss the Edmonds case, for the last 10 years, he has been investigating misconduct by FBI employees. He says he is outraged by how little is ever done about it.

“I don't know of another person in the FBI who has done the internal investigations that I have and has seen what I have, and that knows what has occurred and what has been glossed over and what has, frankly, just disappeared, just vaporized, and no one disciplined for it,” says Roberts.

Despite a pledge from FBI Director Robert Mueller to overhaul the culture of the FBI in light of 9/11, and encourage bureau employees to come forward to report wrongdoing, Roberts says that in the rare instances when employees are disciplined, it's usually low-level employees like Edmonds who get punished and not their bosses.

“I think the double standard of discipline will continue no matter who comes in, no matter who tries to change,” says Roberts. “You, you have a certain, certain group that, that will continue to protect itself. That's just how it is.”

Has he found cases since Sept. 11 where people were involved in misconduct and were not, let alone reprimanded, but were even promoted? Roberts says yes.

"That's astonishing," Bradley told Roberts. "You would think that after 9/11, that's a big slap in the face. 'This is a wake-up call here.'"

"Depends on who you are," says Roberts. "If you're in the senior executive level, it may not hurt you. You will be promoted."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last month, the FBI took the highly unusual step of retroactively classifying information it gave to Congress two years ago about the Sibel Edmonds case.

As for the FBI's language division, the bureau says it has dramatically beefed up its translation capabilities.

[shraby]

87. Off the beaten path, but

here's a link to the photos from the beatings reported in the Oregonlive that occurred on June 29 at the handover.

<http://www.oregonlive.com/galleries/news/index.ssf?iraq>

[robertpaulsen]

95. When will Rumsfeld finally resign?

Doesn't he understand that taking responsibility requires being held accountable? It's time for him to go...TO JAIL!

[Pallas180]

123. Speaking of the unclean rummy:

This also has to do with Turkey.....wonder if it passed through
Sibel Edmonds' desk....The war is for freedom, right?
If you even slightly believe that you have to read Will Pitt's article
on what the U.S. Army's job in Iraq is.


http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=549389

Rumsfeld intervention rescues $3bn BP pipeline
By Saeed Shah 09 August 2004


Construction of BP's controversial $3bn (£1.6bn) oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to Turkey resumed only after the intervention of Donald Rumsfeld, the US Secretary of Defense, and other senior members of the Bush administration, it has emerged.

Work on the strategically important scheme, led by BP, was halted in a region of Georgia in July while the government there sought assurances on "security" concerns. The underground "BTC" pipeline will take oil from Baku, in Azerbaijan, through the Georgian capital Tbilisi, to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey, from where it can be shipped to Western markets.

The US government has backed the 1,760km project as a way of accessing oil from important reserves under the Caspian Sea without it having to pass through Iran or Russia. The US has long sought to lessen the world's dependence on oil from the politically unstable Middle East.

Construction along a 17.6km section of the pipeline that passes through the Borjomi region of Georgia was halted abruptly by the country's environment ministry on 19 July. Work started again on Friday. BP, the single largest investor in the pipeline, is racing to complete the project during the first half of next year. Construction was only resumed after talks between Georgian leaders and high-ranking US officials, includingthe US Assistant Secretary of State, Elizabeth Jones, who visited Georgia unexpectedly last month.

The issue of the pipeline was a major topic in talks in Washington last week between Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, and Mr Rumsfeld. Following his meeting with Mr Rumsfeld, the Georgian president said BP had "taken the first steps to satisfy the demands of the Georgian side".

-more-

[robertpaulsen]

131. BP, wow, what a coincidence!

http://www.fact-index.com/b/bi/bilderberg_group.html

General Peter Sutherland, the head of BP, is also on ABB and Bilderberg with his dear friend Rummy. Not to mention Goldman Sachs funding Cognis in their quest to launder nuclear proliferation profits. How lovely!

Oil's well that ends well!

[shraby]

151. A little more about Peter Sutherland

Peter Sutherland is Chairman of BP plc (1997 - current). He is also Chairman of Goldman Sachs International (1995 - current). Before these appointments he was the founding Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. He had previously served as Director General of GATT since July 1993 and was instrumental in concluding the Uruguay GATT Round Negotiations. Prior to this position, he was Chairman of Allied Irish Banks from 1989 and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the European Institute of Public Administration (Maastricht). Educated at Gonzaga College, University College Dublin and at the Honorable Society of the King's Inns, from 1969 to 1971 Mr. Sutherland was a Tutor in Law at University College Dublin. From 1981 until early 1982 he was Attorney General of Ireland and was a Member of the Council of State. He was reappointed in 1982 until 1984 when he was nominated by the Government of Ireland as a Member of the Commission of the European Communities in charge of Competition Policy. During his first year at the Commission he was also responsible for Social Affairs, Health and Education and thereafter for Relations with the European Parliament. Peter Sutherland is a Member of the Board of Investor AB, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson. He has published numerous articles and the book "Premier Janvier 1993, ce qui va changer en Europe" (Paris). He was presented with the Robert Schuman Medal for his work on European Integration and the David Rockefeller Award of the Trilateral Commission. Mr. Sutherland was a Trilateral Commission author on 21st Century Strategies of the Trilateral Countries: In Concert or Conflict? (1999, with Robert B. Zoellick and Hisashi Owada) and was elected its European Chairman to serve in the 2001-2003 triennium.

<http://www.trilateral.org/membship/bios/ps.htm>

[Pallas180]

159. Rumsfeld & Cheney's" chosen ones " -counterfeiting & murder

http://www.iht.com/articles/533160.html

International Herald Tribune -

Iraq orders arrest of one-time U.S. favorite
John F. Burns and Dexter Filkins The New York Times Monday, August 9, 2004
BAGHDAD Ahmad Chalabi, the exiled leader who returned to Iraq last year hoping to run the country with U.S. support, was ordered arrested on counterfeiting charges, Iraqi officials said.
.
Chalabi told Agence-France Press in Tehran on Monday that he would return to Baghdad "in a few days" to challenge fraud charges, which he called "outrageous, ridiculous and politically motivated lies."
.
At the same time, Chalabi's nephew, Salem Chalabi, was also ordered arrested on a separate charge relating to the murder of an Iraqi official.
.
The younger Chalabi is spearheading the prosecution of Saddam Hussein. He was on a visit to London, and denied the charges against him.
.
Francis Brooke, a Washington adviser to Chalabi, said the charges against both men were categorically untrue and said both would return to Iraq to defend themselves.
.
He said that the elder Chalabi would leave a vacation cabin in the mountains outside Tehran immediately and that the younger man would return to Iraq later from his home in London. Brooke assailed the magistrate who had issued the charges, calling him an unqualified political appointee of L. Paul Bremer 3rd, the former chief administrator of Iraq.
.
"I see him, personally, as acting as an agent of the U.S. government," Brooke said of the magistrate, Zuhair al-Maliky.
.
Details were sketchy on Sunday night, but Iraqi officials said they suspected that Chalabi had been counterfeiting old Iraqi dinar notes used during the reign of Saddam Hussein and exchanging them for newly minted notes, which came into circulation earlier this year.
.
The charges against the younger Chalabi, Salem, appear to be more serious, alleging involvement in the killing of Haithem Fadhil, a director general of the Iraqi Finance Ministry, in June.
.
"They should be arrested and then questioned," Maliky told The Associated Press. "If there is enough evidence, they will be sent to trial."
.
If tried and convicted, Salem Chalabi, 41, could face the death penalty, the judge said. Capital punishment was restored by Iraqi officials on Sunday. His uncle, if tried and convicted, would face a sentence to be determined by the judges.
.
One Iraqi newspaper, Al Ghad, reported that the case against the senior Chalabi had begun with a complaint by the central bank, and that the other case followed a suit lodged by an unidentified individual. The newspaper said that Fadhil had been auditing the Chalabi family's financial holdings and real estate in Iraq.
.
The criminal charges against the senior Chalabi marked a personal nadir; as recently as six months ago he was the Bush administration's favored leader in Iraq; Pentagon officials favored him once saw him as a likely successor to Saddam.
.
The relationship between the administration and Chalabi deteriorated markedly in recent months, as prewar intelligence provided by him about the military abilities of Saddam's government and its relationship to the terrorists of Al Qaeda was largely discredited. That intelligence was instrumental in justifying the case the Bush administration put forward for the invasion.
.
But the charges also point to the first signs of full-scale political strife in Iraq, less than seven weeks after the U.S. occupation formally ended and the Americans relinquished the most apparent trappings of power in Iraq.
.
The man presiding over the new government, the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is a longtime rival of Chalabi in Iraq and also in the corridors of the U.S. government. The move to arrest the two Chalabis, justified or not, will no doubt give rise to fears that Allawi is carrying out a political vendetta before elections scheduled for next year.
.
Chalabi's first fall came in May, when the Iraqi police, backed by U.S. forces, raided his home and headquarters in Baghdad. U.S. officials said later that he might have passed classified U.S. information to Iranian agents.
.
While Allawi emerged as the new U.S. ally here in June, Chalabi and his group, the Iraqi National Congress, were all but excluded from the new government.
.
The counterfeiting charge is not the first accusation of financial wrongdoing against Chalabi. In 1991, a Jordanian court convicted him in absentia for bank fraud and sentenced him to 22 years in jail. Chalabi has said that the fraud prosecution was backed by Saddam.
.
In Washington, the Bush administration said it had no comment about the charges against the Chalabis.
.



See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
< < Back to Start of Article BAGHDAD Ahmad Chalabi, the exiled leader who returned to Iraq last year hoping to run the country with U.S. support, was ordered arrested on counterfeiting charges, Iraqi officials said.
.
Chalabi told Agence-France Press in Tehran on Monday that he would return to Baghdad "in a few days" to challenge fraud charges, which he called "outrageous, ridiculous and politically motivated lies."
.
At the same time, Chalabi's nephew, Salem Chalabi, was also ordered arrested on a separate charge relating to the murder of an Iraqi official.
.
The younger Chalabi is spearheading the prosecution of Saddam Hussein. He was on a visit to London, and denied the charges against him.
.
Francis Brooke, a Washington adviser to Chalabi, said the charges against both men were categorically untrue and said both would return to Iraq to defend themselves.
.
He said that the elder Chalabi would leave a vacation cabin in the mountains outside Tehran immediately and that the younger man would return to Iraq later from his home in London. Brooke assailed the magistrate who had issued the charges, calling him an unqualified political appointee of L. Paul Bremer 3rd, the former chief administrator of Iraq.
.
"I see him, personally, as acting as an agent of the U.S. government," Brooke said of the magistrate, Zuhair al-Maliky.
.
Details were sketchy on Sunday night, but Iraqi officials said they suspected that Chalabi had been counterfeiting old Iraqi dinar notes used during the reign of Saddam Hussein and exchanging them for newly minted notes, which came into circulation earlier this year.
.
The charges against the younger Chalabi, Salem, appear to be more serious, alleging involvement in the killing of Haithem Fadhil, a director general of the Iraqi Finance Ministry, in June.
.
"They should be arrested and then questioned," Maliky told The Associated Press. "If there is enough evidence, they will be sent to trial."
.
If tried and convicted, Salem Chalabi, 41, could face the death penalty, the judge said. Capital punishment was restored by Iraqi officials on Sunday. His uncle, if tried and convicted, would face a sentence to be determined by the judges.
.
One Iraqi newspaper, Al Ghad, reported that the case against the senior Chalabi had begun with a complaint by the central bank, and that the other case followed a suit lodged by an unidentified individual. The newspaper said that Fadhil had been auditing the Chalabi family's financial holdings and real estate in Iraq.
.
The criminal charges against the senior Chalabi marked a personal nadir; as recently as six months ago he was the Bush administration's favored leader in Iraq; Pentagon officials favored him once saw him as a likely successor to Saddam.
.
The relationship between the administration and Chalabi deteriorated markedly in recent months, as prewar intelligence provided by him about the military abilities of Saddam's government and its relationship to the terrorists of Al Qaeda was largely discredited. That intelligence was instrumental in justifying the case the Bush administration put forward for the invasion.
.
But the charges also point to the first signs of full-scale political strife in Iraq, less than seven weeks after the U.S. occupation formally ended and the Americans relinquished the most apparent trappings of power in Iraq.
.
The man presiding over the new government, the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is a longtime rival of Chalabi in Iraq and also in the corridors of the U.S. government. The move to arrest the two Chalabis, justified or not, will no doubt give rise to fears that Allawi is carrying out a political vendetta before elections scheduled for next year.
.
Chalabi's first fall came in May, when the Iraqi police, backed by U.S. forces, raided his home and headquarters in Baghdad. U.S. officials said later that he might have passed classified U.S. information to Iranian agents.
.
While Allawi emerged as the new U.S. ally here in June, Chalabi and his group, the Iraqi National Congress, were all but excluded from the new government.
.
The counterfeiting charge is not the first accusation of financial wrongdoing against Chalabi. In 1991, a Jordanian court convicted him in absentia for bank fraud and sentenced him to 22 years in jail. Chalabi has said that the fraud prosecution was backed by Saddam.
.
In Washington, the Bush administration said it had no comment about the charges against the Chalabis.
.BAGHDAD Ahmad Chalabi, the exiled leader who returned to Iraq last year hoping to run the country with U.S. support, was ordered arrested on counterfeiting charges, Iraqi officials said.
.
Chalabi told Agence-France Press in Tehran on Monday that he would return to Baghdad "in a few days" to challenge fraud charges, which he called "outrageous, ridiculous and politically motivated lies."
.
At the same time, Chalabi's nephew, Salem Chalabi, was also ordered arrested on a separate charge relating to the murder of an Iraqi official.
.
The younger Chalabi is spearheading the prosecution of Saddam Hussein. He was on a visit to London, and denied the charges against him.
.
Francis Brooke, a Washington adviser to Chalabi, said the charges against both men were categorically untrue and said both would return to Iraq to defend themselves.
.
He said that the elder Chalabi would leave a vacation cabin in the mountains outside Tehran immediately and that the younger man would return to Iraq later from his home in London. Brooke assailed the magistrate who had issued the charges, calling him an unqualified political appointee of L. Paul Bremer 3rd, the former chief administrator of Iraq.
.
"I see him, personally, as acting as an agent of the U.S. government," Brooke said of the magistrate, Zuhair al-Maliky.
.
Details were sketchy on Sunday night, but Iraqi officials said they suspected that Chalabi had been counterfeiting old Iraqi dinar notes used during the reign of Saddam Hussein and exchanging them for newly minted notes, which came into circulation earlier this year.
.
The charges against the younger Chalabi, Salem, appear to be more serious, alleging involvement in the killing of Haithem Fadhil, a director general of the Iraqi Finance Ministry, in June.
.
"They should be arrested and then questioned," Maliky told The Associated Press. "If there is enough evidence, they will be sent to trial."
.
If tried and convicted, Salem Chalabi, 41, could face the death penalty, the judge said. Capital punishment was restored by Iraqi officials on Sunday. His uncle, if tried and convicted, would face a sentence to be determined by the judges.
.
One Iraqi newspaper, Al Ghad, reported that the case against the senior Chalabi had begun with a complaint by the central bank, and that the other case followed a suit lodged by an unidentified individual. The newspaper said that Fadhil had been auditing the Chalabi family's financial holdings and real estate in Iraq.
.
The criminal charges against the senior Chalabi marked a personal nadir; as recently as six months ago he was the Bush administration's favored leader in Iraq; Pentagon officials favored him once saw him as a likely successor to Saddam.
.
The relationship between the administration and Chalabi deteriorated markedly in recent months, as prewar intelligence provided by him about the military abilities of Saddam's government and its relationship to the terrorists of Al Qaeda was largely discredited. That intelligence was instrumental in justifying the case the Bush administration put forward for the invasion.
.
But the charges also point to the first signs of full-scale political strife in Iraq, less than seven weeks after the U.S. occupation formally ended and the Americans relinquished the most apparent trappings of power in Iraq.
.
The man presiding over the new government, the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is a longtime rival of Chalabi in Iraq and also in the corridors of the U.S. government. The move to arrest the two Chalabis, justified or not, will no doubt give rise to fears that Allawi is carrying out a political vendetta before elections scheduled for next year.
.
Chalabi's first fall came in May, when the Iraqi police, backed by U.S. forces, raided his home and headquarters in Baghdad. U.S. officials said later that he might have passed classified U.S. information to Iranian agents.
.
While Allawi emerged as the new U.S. ally here in June, Chalabi and his group, the Iraqi National Congress, were all but excluded from the new government.
.
The counterfeiting charge is not the first accusation of financial wrongdoing against Chalabi. In 1991, a Jordanian court convicted him in absentia for bank fraud and sentenced him to 22 years in jail. Chalabi has said that the fraud prosecution was backed by Saddam.
.
In Washington, the Bush administration said it had no comment about the charges against the Chalabis.
.BAGHDAD Ahmad Chalabi, the exiled leader who returned to Iraq last year hoping to run the country with U.S. support, was ordered arrested on counterfeiting charges, Iraqi officials said.
.
Chalabi told Agence-France Press in Tehran on Monday that he would return to Baghdad "in a few days" to challenge fraud charges, which he called "outrageous, ridiculous and politically motivated lies."
.
At the same time, Chalabi's nephew, Salem Chalabi, was also ordered arrested on a separate charge relating to the murder of an Iraqi official.
.
The younger Chalabi is spearheading the prosecution of Saddam Hussein. He was on a visit to London, and denied the charges against him.
.
Francis Brooke, a Washington adviser to Chalabi, said the charges against both men were categorically untrue and said both would return to Iraq to defend themselves.
.
He said that the elder Chalabi would leave a vacation cabin in the mountains outside Tehran immediately and that the younger man would return to Iraq later from his home in London. Brooke assailed the magistrate who had issued the charges, calling him an unqualified political appointee of L. Paul Bremer 3rd, the former chief administrator of Iraq.
.
"I see him, personally, as acting as an agent of the U.S. government," Brooke said of the magistrate, Zuhair al-Maliky.
.
Details were sketchy on Sunday night, but Iraqi officials said they suspected that Chalabi had been counterfeiting old Iraqi dinar notes used during the reign of Saddam Hussein and exchanging them for newly minted notes, which came into circulation earlier this year.
.
The charges against the younger Chalabi, Salem, appear to be more serious, alleging involvement in the killing of Haithem Fadhil, a director general of the Iraqi Finance Ministry, in June.
.
"They should be arrested and then questioned," Maliky told The Associated Press. "If there is enough evidence, they will be sent to trial."
.
If tried and convicted, Salem Chalabi, 41, could face the death penalty, the judge said. Capital punishment was restored by Iraqi officials on Sunday. His uncle, if tried and convicted, would face a sentence to be determined by the judges.
.
One Iraqi newspaper, Al Ghad, reported that the case against the senior Chalabi had begun with a complaint by the central bank, and that the other case followed a suit lodged by an unidentified individual. The newspaper said that Fadhil had been auditing the Chalabi family's financial holdings and real estate in Iraq.
.
The criminal charges against the senior Chalabi marked a personal nadir; as recently as six months ago he was the Bush administration's favored leader in Iraq; Pentagon officials favored him once saw him as a likely successor to Saddam.
.
The relationship between the administration and Chalabi deteriorated markedly in recent months, as prewar intelligence provided by him about the military abilities of Saddam's government and its relationship to the terrorists of Al Qaeda was largely discredited. That intelligence was instrumental in justifying the case the Bush administration put forward for the invasion.
.
But the charges also point to the first signs of full-scale political strife in Iraq, less than seven weeks after the U.S. occupation formally ended and the Americans relinquished the most apparent trappings of power in Iraq.
.
The man presiding over the new government, the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is a longtime rival of Chalabi in Iraq and also in the corridors of the U.S. government. The move to arrest the two Chalabis, justified or not, will no doubt give rise to fears that Allawi is carrying out a political vendetta before elections scheduled for next year.
.
Chalabi's first fall came in May, when the Iraqi police, backed by U.S. forces, raided his home and headquarters in Baghdad. U.S. officials said later that he might have passed classified U.S. information to Iranian agents.
.
While Allawi emerged as the new U.S. ally here in June, Chalabi and his group, the Iraqi National Congress, were all but excluded from the new government.
.
The counterfeiting charge is not the first accusation of financial wrongdoing against Chalabi. In 1991, a Jordanian court convicted him in absentia for bank fraud and sentenced him to 22 years in jail. Chalabi has said that the fraud prosecution was backed by Saddam.
.
In Washington, the Bush administration said it had no comment about the charges against the Chalabis.
.

-more- click on URL

[kohodog]

104. Was this the show that was to be on when Raygun died?

There was a show scheduled prior to Reagan's death, but was userped by the 24/7 fest. It seemed like older news, nothing about her recent letter. And Grassley has backed off, not pushing anything anymore. We need some reps and sens with backbone!

[Pallas180]

114. NO KOHO - we need to remind Grassley - lots of letters and

this report would be a good reminder.

Yes I think this is the one that was supposed to air..but as usual
republicans diverted attention.

[wiggs]

132. Unclear

From the beginning of the broadcast, I thought I heard that the interview was older. Certainly not current.

I'm thinking that her recent letter to Kean contained much more interesting and damaging information than was discussed on 60 minutes. I'm guessing that this may have been one reason why the interview was aired...because the archived interview was less challenging. This was released to relieve pressure building up from last weeks Edmonds letter to Kean.

For casual viewers who may didn't read the Kean letter but heard about it, now the softer more general story aired tonight will be the story they associate with Edmonds. The softer story is about FBI translation department mis-management. This is not the story that Sibel earned her gag order for.

The deeper, more interesting story is about the subject of the translations, the Pakistan connections, underworld involvement, and money trails. Any recent interview conducted by a bonafide reporter would have gone into these areas.

Therefore, I'm glad some interview got out there, but I hope it stimulates the public's thirst for more Sibel info and doesn't quench it.

[Pallas180]

133. Now the money trails become interesting. And I suspect

since she was doing Turkey, they lead to Rummy and BP and State.

[Pallas180]

164. WIGGS, you said:

"The deeper, more interesting story is about the subject of the translations, the Pakistan connections, underworld involvement, and money trails. Any recent interview conducted by a bonafide reporter would have gone into these areas."


You're right.

The Pakistan connections,

money trails

who is being covered up.

Once again, in order to find the trail, we need to go to WHY?

the motivation for the US actions.


And if Edmonds can finger point at US officials, then Assscroft
in gagging and classifying her information has indulged in
Obstruction of Justice.

[Pallas180]

165. Ashcroft participating in Obstruction of Justice ??

Once again, in order to find the trail, we need to go to WHY?

the motivation for the US actions.


If Edmonds can finger point at US officials, then Assscroft
in gagging and classifying her information has indulged in
Obstruction of Justice.

[Me.]

135. Grassley is Currently Giving Grief To

*sscroft

WASHINGTON -- In blunt, private letters, the Senate Finance Committee chairman has told Attorney General John Ashcroft he believes the Justice Department has retaliated against prosecutors in a Detroit terror trial because they cooperated with Congress.
ADVERTISEMENT

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has written Ashcroft or his deputies at least three times to accuse department officials of taking "hostile actions" and "reprisals" against the trial prosecutors.

In one letter, Grassley demanded that Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino and his colleagues in Detroit "be made whole and not suffer reprisals." The senator asked Ashcroft to rectify the matter before it begins "exposing the department to public criticisms."

\snip

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/08/08/gop_sen_comes_to_us_attorneys_defense/

Maybe he'll follow up with Ms. Edmonds

[Pallas180]

137. We need to write Grassley ALOT. send em Waterman and RP

and everybody on his committee.

Then Grassley under grief will give Ashcroft more grief

and maybe the American public will get somewhwere.

maybe we should send copies to US Attorney Richard Convertino in
Detroit - so he can give Asscroft grief.

[Pallas180]

138. Can Asscroft be impeached for failing to do his job?obstructing

justice?


Wow - I guess he could even be arrested, because look at John Mitchell
of Watergate.

Waoooo. Lightbulb - this isn't just the anniversary of Nixon's downfall ---

It's all the president's men AGAIN.

Wahoo.

this is going to be rather good.

hopefully

depending on how many letters you guys help get out to committees -- :)

[H2O Man]

105. Watching Nixon resign on C-SPAN

is wonderful.

[kohodog]

110. Hopefully there will be a sequel!

Gives me hope! I was 20 and living in Canada (Ottawa), watching with amazement with a different perspective. Nobody there seemed sad, but there was a distance. I was rejoicing!

I wonder if * is wandering around the Whitehouse listening to the portraits too.

[H2O Man]

121. I remember my brother and I making

a cassette recording of the speech to send to my friend Rubin Carter. It was a heady time. Within a six week period, the NY Times would be printing front page stories on the Hurricane's case, documenting a level of police corruption that shocked those unfamiliar with his case. The police had taken bullets from another crime scene, and filed them a week after "searching" Carter's car; two "witnesses" facing 80 to 90 years in prison were offered a $10,500 reward to "identify" Carter, even though a tape the prosecutors hid from the defense proved that for over four months, they told the police it was not Carter; one of the victims actually identified the gunmen, clearing Carter; the two witnesses pressured into IDing Carter recanted; and on and on.

I mention that for two reasons: first, because it was what I was doing 30 years ago tonight! (grin); and second, I learned that even when your side wins a big victory -- No! ESPECIALLY when you do! -- the "other side" will always come back with some under-handed, dirty shit.

[Pallas180]

115. I saw some - just couldn't watch that awful man. Matter of

fact when dimson appears on television I have such a
visceral dislike I actually yell at his image on the television...(:

You don't want to know the names I call him.

[H2O Man]

153. Good morning!

We are getting closer to "election day," when a new democratic administration will be elected to represent the American public. Between November and January,'05, it is possible that we will witness another struggle for power, and that a part of that will include presidential pardons for many of the criminal elements in the current administration. That will likely be the least of the problems our nation will face in that brief period, although it creates a potential long-term untreated malignancy in the system.

The most obvious and extreme examples of this are the Nixon resignation, and the defeat of Bush #1. When Nixon left in disgrace, and a few of the obvious crooks went to prison, the public believed that the problem was solved. Yet it wasn't; the disease spread to other areas, and in time we had the Reagan/Bush era. Many of the same symptoms, many of the same players. Clinton humiliated Bush#1, and a rapid series of pardons allowed felons to remain in public life. And, as John Dean's book shows, they've returned in a manner which by all definitions is "Worse Than Watergate."

Winning the election is a primary goal. If Kerry does not take the White House back, there will be NO JUSTICE, because -- as we have seen -- the concepts of a constitutional democracy, with the separation of powers and the implied system of checks and balances , has been compromised.

Yet, even as it becomes clearer that Kerry will win, our work will be equally important. We cannot afford to be satisfied by a victory in November. It must be seen as the first big step towards healing democracy, but not the last.

"But let justice flow like a river, and mercy like an unfailing stream." - Amos 5:24

[Jose Diablo]

156. I don't think a departing president can pardon himself

Thus it IS most important that a cloud criminal procedings be started prior to Bu$h leaving.

He can indeed issue pardons, but I think if he pardons someone that is a material witness to his own criminal activity, then that pardon can be set aside as an effort to impead justice, itself a felony.

A sitting President cannot pardon himself, and I doubt Kerry will pardon Bu$h.

[H2O Man]

157. I think he is likely to pardon

Rove above and beyond all others. Especially because the Pilsbury Dough Boy has "cooperated" with the investigation. Will he pardon Libby and Abrams? I'd say count on it, because he knows that if they go to trial, the odds are one of them will sing. (If you saw M. Dowd on C-SPAN yesterday, you know that Libby fancies himself a "James Bond" character....he can drink 10 shots and not show it. Wow! There's a true sign of manhood! Rigid material often breaks under pressure: Libby will not take the weight by himself. And Abrams! Think of the information he has on these characters. He has no sense of morality - obviously - and would be a loose cannon at trial.)

I suspect that the first round of indictments from the federal grand jury will involve these three men. It seems unlikely that Cheney and/or Bush would be charged before November. However, the serious information that is made public will compromise Cheney's ability to help the administration.

[bobbieinok]

169. Gigantic thanks to all of you who have worked on this

Thanks especially to those who have summarized the findings on various topics.

I simply have not have the patience to follow all the threads; however, I think this info is vitally important for all citizens.

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH.


:toast: :bounce: :toast:

[Me.]

173. A Dandy Little Article

by Justin Raimondo from Oct. It talks about Plame, Atta, OSP & Mossad etc. There is even a finger pointed at Mossad as possible source of Niger forgeries. Lots of links.

L'AFFAIRE PLAME
It's about more than 'outing' a CIA officer. It's about treason…

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j100303.html

[Pallas180]

211. ME - interesting but I wouldn't give Raimondo a cigar - cause

he pins the false Niger docs on the Mossad.

If there's one thing the Mossad is not is stupid.
Whoever falisfied the Niger docs didn't even check to
see who was the head of the Niger office the particular
year they dated the false doc. They signed the wrong name.

A pro wouldn't do that.

The other thing that is interesting is this Schulsky.

I dont think we have heard of him before as being the head of OSP

here's his background...guess we could google him; - he's been there
a good 30 years - Nixon, REagan Ford

Abram N. Shulsky

Abram N. Shulsky, described as "a leading intelligence scholar,"<1> is Director of the Office of Special Plans.

According to Seymour M. Hersh's "Selective Intelligence" article published May 12, 2003 in The New Yorker:


"The director of the Special Plans operation is Abram Shulsky, a scholarly expert in the works of the political philosopher Leo Strauss. Shulsky has been quietly working on intelligence and foreign-policy issues for three decades; he was on the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the early nineteen-eighties and served in the Pentagon under Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard N. Perle during the Ronald Reagan Administration, after which he joined the RAND Corporation."

[Pallas180]

216. ME - for the second part, I recall reading that Feith & Co presented

a PNAC type paper or what is called "Clean Break" paper to Netanheyu.

and that even Netanheyu, who is as far right as our wackos, turned it
down at the time.. This had to be 10/12 years ago because Netanheyu has been out of power for that long, hasn't he?

[Pallas180]

202. Bobbieinok, thanks, your saying so helps us all to know our work

does mean something to those who read or lurk and rarely say
much.

Hope you'll spread our "papers" around

especially our Dropaganda sheet "Cover-Up of Treason" on separate
thread in General Discussion.

[KoKo]

182. You all have been very busy and your research is incredible! I was

out of town with funeral and other things, so only checking and posting on DU sporadically the last several weeks. Have just now been able to get into reading this thread, and need to go back to the others before this one that I missed for lack of time while on the road.

I'm still reading, but wanted to commend all of you here, and Pallas for keeping the interest in this thread going these many weeks. The "Waterman Paper" and "American Judas" are just amazing reads. To see "dots connected" that make sense out of many of our suspicions that something so huge and dark has been going on in our "Military/Industrial Complex" that the coverup had to be defended at gravest cost to the financial health of our country that we had to start illegal immoral wars to keep it buried, is evident.

The tentacles of this go into every corner of our government, congress, legal system and press. No wonder we don't have any decent TV media today. The hands are covered with blood money everywhere.

A :toast: to you all, although "toast" is too happy a salute for this mess we are in. And...figuring out how this info can be revealed and folks brought to justice is beyond comprehension. It's just so massive but goes back to Nixon, imho...and it's time that this comes out and we try to start from the ashes with new ideas and controls over the Imperial Government which has taken hold of America.

[proud patriot]

183. Hi Koko01

good to see you :hi:

[KoKo]

184. Thanks.....this work is the best of "DU...the Think Tank" trying to bring

honesty and accountability to our American political process and make sense out of scraps of information when those who should be doing this
don't have the time, the resources or the will to do it. I wish I could have helped more on this project with some research but will stay reading and help when I can. :hi: proud patriot!

[kohodog]

236. koko, well said.

I'm still catching up too, and kudo's to Pallas and RP, Shraby, H20, me, and many more who have spent so much time diggng and keepimg things going!

And we're not done yet, by a longshot.

[coeur_de_lion]

194. Judge Upholds Media Subpoenas in CIA Leak Case

<<snip>>
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday upheld subpoenas to compel testimony of journalists at NBC News and Time magazine in a special prosecutor's probe into whether Bush administration officials illegally leaked a covert CIA (news - web sites) officer's name to the news media.

U.S. District Chief Judge Thomas Hogan rejected requests to quash subpoenas issued to Tim Russert of NBC's "Meet the Press" and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine on the grounds they violate the reporters' privilege under the Constitution's First Amendment.

The subpoenas were issued by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and seek to require Russert and Cooper to appear before a federal grand jury to testify about conversations they had with an unidentified government official.

"To be clear, this court holds that Cooper and Russert have no privilege, qualified or otherwise, excusing them from testifying before the grand jury in this matter," Hogan ruled in the 11-page opinion.
<<snip>>

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040809/ts_nm/bush_leak_dc_1

[never cry wolf]

203. From LBN: Court Holds Reporter in Contempt in Leak Case

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52148-2004Aug9.html

A reporter is being held in contempt of court and faces possible jail time, and another was earlier threatened by a federal judge with the same fate, after they refused to answer questions from a special prosecutor investigating whether administration officials illegally disclosed the name of a covert CIA officer last year.

snip----------

Cooper still refused to answer questions after Hogan's July 20 order, and on Aug. 6 Hogan held him in contempt of court and ordered that he go to jail. Cooper has been released on bond pending his emergency appeal to a federal appeals court. Hogan has ordered that Time pay a $1,000 fine for each day Cooper does not appear before the grand jury.

Sources close to the investigation said they believe Russert was not held in contempt Aug. 6 because he agreed to answer the questions after Hogan's July 20 ruling.

snip-----------

Hogan wrote in his just-unsealed order that the information requested from Cooper and Russert is "very limited" and that "all available alternative means of obtaining the information have been exhausted." He added that "the testimony sought is expected to constitute direct evidence of innocence or guilt."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x738579

[Me.]

210. Cnn Has Just Reported....

That Russert gave limited testimony on Saturday about a phone conversation he had with Scooter L.

[robertpaulsen]

213. Saturday as in two days ago? That's huge! Buh-bye Scooter!

Unless Scooter spills the beans and gives them the big fish.

If anyone finds a link to this, please post it!

[H2O Man]

215. if you go to

news.google and type in "Plame," you'll get a growing list of articles on this. The shit is starting to hit the fan. The judge has sentenced the Time reporter to jail....he's out on bail while appealing. Though the news reports are coming out a little late, things really picked up last week in the court.

[robertpaulsen]

Here's a couple links.

Sources close to the investigation said they believe Russert was not held in contempt Aug. 6 because he agreed to answer the questions after Hogan's July 20 ruling.

Sources close to the case say that Fitzgerald's investigation is reaching the critical stage of questioning reporters under oath before the grand jury. His team has already questioned several high-ranking administration officials or received their statements. Among those who have been interviewed is President Bush.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52148-2004Aug9.html

And atrios

Russert Squeals

Depending on what Russert actually knew, I actually thinking squealing is the right thing to do here, and doing so is not a violation of any reasonable journalistic code of ethics.

But, here we have what appears to be a case of Russert standing on what he perceived as principle -- until faced with the possibility of jail time. If so -- coward.

A reporter is being held in contempt of court and faces possible jail time, and another was earlier threatened by a federal judge with the same fate, after they refused to answer questions from a special prosecutor investigating whether administration officials illegally disclosed the name of a covert CIA officer last year.

Newly-released court orders show U.S. District Court Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan two weeks ago ordered Matt Cooper of Time magazine and Tim Russert of NBC to appear before a grand jury and tell whether they knew that White House sources provided the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame to the media.The Justice Department probe is trying to determine whether this information was provided knowingly, in violation of the law. Hogan's orders show that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald believes Cooper and Russert know the answer.

Cooper still refused to answer questions after Hogan's July 20 order, and on Aug. 6 Hogan held him in contempt of court and ordered that he go to jail. Cooper has been released on bond pending his emergency appeal to a federal appeals court. Hogan has ordered that Time pay a $1,000 fine for each day Cooper does not appear before the grand jury.

Sources close to the investigation said they believe Russert was not held in contempt Aug. 6 because he agreed to answer the questions after Hogan's July 20 ruling.

http://atrios.blogspot.com/

Doesn't definitively state he testified Saturday, but I don't doubt it. Sounds like Fitzgerald is making headway if reporters are being sent to jail. How about Novakula? He was born to do time!

[coeur_de_lion]

217. here's the link

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040809/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cia_leak_6
<<snip>>
NBC News issued a statement saying that Russert already had been interviewed under oath by prosecutors on Saturday under an agreement to avoid a protracted court fight. The interview concerned a July 2003 phone conversation he had with Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
<<snip>>

[robertpaulsen]

220. Rate that a 5

Important story, though they did their best to spin it as an exoneration. I'm sure it was limited questioning.

FITZGERALD: Did Libby say Wilson's wife was a CIA agent?

RUSSERT: Yes.

FITZGERALD: Thank you. No further questions.

Joking of course, but once the traitor who verbally leaked Plame is verified, then we can get to the serious questioning. Who told you to do this? Why?

[Pallas180]

221. Waaal-why did Cheney and dimson lawyer up? If it's

Just baby snookums "scooter".

Imagine a grown man calling himself scooter..

just call me baby snookums from now on.

[robertpaulsen]

224. LOL! Wasn't Scooter the name of a Muppet?

I'll call him Muppet Libby. But I like Baby Snookums.

Baby Snookums is going to have to change his diaper when Fitz is through with him.

[Me.]

218. Exactly RP

ain't it great. Waiting to hear the outcome of the appeal by Time

[Pallas180]

219. Hmm. I'd agree with you, but here is a statement from WAPO

reporter Glenn Kessler. Is it possible Libby did not inform Kessler
but did inform the others?

Statement by The Post's Glenn Kessler

Tuesday, June 22, 2004; 11:47 PM


Washington Post staff writer Glenn Kessler made the following statement before testifying today before special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who is investigating whether Bush administration officials illegally disclosed the name of a covert CIA officer last summer:



"It is important to me to explain why I am testifying.

"As a reporter for more than 20 years, I have always lived up to promises of confidentiality to my sources. Government officials and others have known they can rely on me to keep confidential any sensitive information they have provided to me under condition of anonymity. This trust is crucial to my ability to do my job. I will honor those confidences even if served with a grand jury subpoena.

"In this case, I face an unusual situation. Mr. Libby signed a waiver in which he asked me to discuss with the Special Counsel whether the Wilson matter was raised in two conversations that I had with him in 2003. Under these circumstances, at the request of my source, I am giving a deposition regarding these questions."


© 2004 The Washington Post Company

[robertpaulsen]

222. Exactly. To create the charade of plausible deniability.

Kesslar exonerates him, that's a given. But Russert might not.

Have they called in Chris Matthews, who promised to Joseph Wilson he would testify that Rove said, "Wilson's wife is fair game"? If not, then that proves Rove is the rat that Dean spoke of. And confidentiality or no confidentiality, Libby is going down.

[shraby]

223. Have they questioned Novak?

And if not, why not?

[robertpaulsen]

226. If they haven't, indictments might not come til after Rethug convention.

Novakula will do everything in his power to delay admitting his source. I'd love to see him in chains! But unfortunately his procrastination may delay issuing the indictments.

I'm sure Novak's hoping they'll have to come to him so he'll try to delay until after the election. But with the progress the grand jury is making, I don't think they'll be delayed that long.

[Me.]

232. Maybe Doesn't Want Nofact's Testimony

Could be he considered it tainted and would rather do it without him!

Or what if, in a best case scenario he is going to try and indict Nofacts. After all if he knew what he was doing and did it with malicious intent his neck might be in a noose. Of course proving it may be the rub.

[Pallas180]

245. ME that sounds right. Maybe Novak target also for telling after

being asked not to by CIA.

That would be VERRRRRYvery nice.

How come he wasn't asked, refused, and is sitting in jail til he tells?

(because he's got connections to thug judges and thuglicans, Ibet)

[Pallas180]

244. Yeah. Why not? Novak is too connected to trouble????

grrrr.

[Snazzy]

204. Order and opinion pdfs

http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/04ms296a.pdf
http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/04ms296.pdf

Apparently the transcript and briefs also unsealed on Cooper, but not online for not lawyer types (need p/w).

[Pallas180]

206. Cool. Snazzy. thanks n/t

.

[Snazzy]

294. Based on: BRANZBURG v. HAYES

Hash, reporters, Black Panthers, grand juries in '72.

(Throw in some fear and loathing).

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=408&invol=665

[TacticalPeek]

250. More detail in NYT article 8/10/04.

Reporter From Time Is Held in Contempt in C.I.A. Leak Case
By ADAM LIPTAK

Published: August 10, 2004

A federal judge in Washington held a reporter for Time magazine in contempt of court yesterday and ordered him jailed for refusing to name the government officials who disclosed the identity of an undercover C.I.A. officer to him. The magazine was also held in contempt and ordered to pay a fine of $1,000 a day.

snip

It is not known whether Mr. Novak has received a subpoena or, if he did, how he responded. His lawyer, James Hamilton, declined to comment yesterday.

snip

A second Post reporter, Walter Pincus, said he received a subpoena yesterday. He referred questions about whether The Post would challenge the subpoena to the paper's lawyers. Neither The Post's in-house lawyers nor its outside lawyer, Seth P. Waxman, responded to messages seeking comment.

Legal experts, including some sympathetic to the arguments by Mr. Cooper and Time, said the appeals court was unlikely to reverse Judge Hogan's decision.

"I think we're going to have a head-on confrontation here," said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "I think Matt Cooper is going to jail."

more
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/10/politics/10leak.html

DU threads on leak info and court:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x738579#739416

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=739432#739461

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x738490#739427

[Pallas180]

260. Thanks TACTICAL. there's a problem looming if they go Supreme Court

again and give the turncoat supremes a chance to undermine the 1972
Branzburg, is the way I see it going.

[Pallas180]

201. YO! Does anybody here live around DC, Maryland, Virgiania?

and would like to visit the Halls of Congress?

Please private mail me. Thanks.




Funny, I knew a lawyer who use to say"

In the halls of justice, justice is made in the halls.


now we know what that means.

[Pallas180]

208. Hey Guys, would you please keep "Cover Up" here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2161603&mesg_id=2161603


kicked?

That's the flyer.

Thanks.

[shraby]

214. Maybe General Musharraf of Pakistan

should be googled. I've been working on it. Here is an interesting line from an article:

"The pivotal moment in General Musharraf's presidency was 11 September, 2001."

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1742997.stm>

More on Musharraf:

(snip)
1979-1985: Musharraf catches the eye of General Zia-ul-Haq (who is also a Mohajir) and Lt. General Mirza Aslam Beg (also a Mohajir with family ties to Central Asia and Afghanistan). It is said that General Zia-ul-Haq chose Musharraf for advancement as he was a devout Deobandi and was strongly recommended by other religious parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami.

General Zia set up a series of martial law administration offices in the various sub-units of Pakistan. Musharraf served in a District Martial Law Administration HQ.

Musharraf became closely involved in the job of preparing the `Mujaheddin' for the Anti-Soviet Jihad in Afghanistan. In this effort he worked closely with Mahmud Ali Durrani, Mohammed Aziz Khan, and officers of the CIA. At the Pakistani end the process involved identifying madrassahs for indoctrination, military training, and planning the logistics of the covert war. It is in this period that the Binori Madrassa (Karachi), the Darul Uloom Haqqania (Akora Khattak), and the Jamiya Ashrafiya (Lahore) began their meteoric rise. It is during this time that Musharraf came into contact with the Harakat ul Mujaheedin (HuM). The HuM developed as nodal body in the Afghan Jihad. There are also reports of contact with narcotics smugglers.

It is also suggested that Musharraf secretly attended at least one course at the Green Berets training school at Fort Bragg. Accounts indicate Musharraf's performance in these courses was above average. Some regarded him as a `natural' in the field of Psywar techniques.

(snip)

During these operations in the Siachen area and in the Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan), Musharraf developed a close personal friendship with Lt.General Javed Nasir, who was then Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He currently serves as Musharraf's Advisor on intelligence matters. Musharraf also befriended Major General Zaheer-ul-Islam Abbasi (then a Brigadier). Major General Abbasi was later arrested and jailed during Benazir Bhutto's time for conspiring to overthrow her and establish an Islamic state. Musharraf also build strong ties to Lt.General Mohammed Aziz Khan and Mohammed Rafique Tarar. It is interesting to note that eventually Lt. General Mohammed Aziz and President Tarar helped Musharraf conduct and `legalize? his coup against the Nawaz Sharif government. President Tarar however was later `retired' from post of the President of Pakistan .

(snip)

(year 2000)
Musharraf set up a secret task force in the ISI headed by Lt.GeneralMahmood Ahmed, the DG, and consisting of Lt.General (r) Moinuddin Haider, Interior Minister, and Lt.General Muzaffar Usmani, Deputy Chief of the Army Staff, to break the PPP, the MQM and the Sindhi nationalists.

June 20, 2001: He appointed himself President of Pakistan.

<http://www.pakistan-facts.com/staticpages/index.php/20021121101525217>

this is a comprehensive history of him. Question I have..is he a CIA agent?
The coup was in 1999..from another source.

[shraby]

225. MUSHARRAF VS LT.GEN. MOHAMMED AZIZ

20. 08. 2001

There are indications of fresh tension in the relations between Gen.Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's self-reinstated Chief of the Army Staff, self-styled Chief Executive and self-promoted President, and Lt.Gen.Mohammed Aziz, a Corps Commander at Lahore, who is also the clandestine Chief of Staff of Pakistan's Army of Islam consisting of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM), the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) and the Al Badr.

The tension has arisen over what Lt.Gen.Aziz, a member of the Sudhan tribe from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), and some of the Punjabi and Pakhtoon Generals view as Musharraf's amenability to pressure from the US on issues such as:

* the easing out from the nuclear establishment of scientists suspected by the US to be in touch with and helping states of concern such as North Korea, Iraq and Libya in nuclear and missile matters;
* co-ordinated action against bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omer, the Kandahar-based Amir of the Taliban;

(more)

<http://www.saag.org/papers3/paper298.html>

note that this was written Aug. 20, 2001.

[robertpaulsen]

227. Good find, shraby!

I'm adding Lt. Gen Mohammed Aziz to my google list.

What is he up to today? Any connection with A.Q. Khan or the Saudis? Of course, Khan attended Lashkar-e-Toiba convention meetings, so that's a connection right there.

I'd love to link him with the misadministration. Wouldn't surprise me at all.

[robertpaulsen]

229. Here's more: Aziz was Deputy Director-General of ISI til Feb 1999.

Found this looking for links to Khan:

Is the General destined to last or would he be eased out after some time by another General, as Ayub Khan eased out Iskander Mirza? Why did he move Lt.Gen.Mohammed Aziz, hitherto his most trusted aide, from his vantage position as the Chief of the General Staff (CGS), which gave him an overseeing role over all the Corps Commanders, to head the 10 Corps at Rawalpindi? Does he fear a possible threat from Lt.Gen.Aziz, who, in fact, had orchestrated the anti-Nawaz Sharif coup even before the COAS' plane from Colombo had landed in Karachi?

http://www.saag.org/notes/note48.html

[shraby]

230. If Musharraf is

CIA as it is hinted at in my post #214, that in itself would explain a whole bunch.

[robertpaulsen]

233. If he's tight with Mahmood, then Musharraf has to be CIA

ISI Director Mahmood Ahmed


by Paul Thompson


Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, Director of Pakistan's secret service, the ISI, is quite possibly the most taboo suspect of all 9/11 suspects. It was reported in early October 2001 that Mahmood ordered Saeed Sheikh to send $100,000 to hijacker Mohamed Atta. Since then hardly a word has been said about this stunning report, and in fact this once very powerful man appears to have completely disappeared from view.

In December 2002, Senator Bob Graham, head of the Congressional 9/11 inquiry and thus privy to much information still not publicly released, said he was "surprised at the evidence that there were foreign governments involved in facilitating the activities of at least some of the <9/11> terrorists in the United States. ... It will become public at some point when it's turned over to the archives, but that's 20 or 30 years from now." Is he referring to Pakistan and the role of Mahmood, a man Graham just happened to be discussing bin Laden with in Washington DC as the 9/11 attacks were happening?

If Mahmood had a role in 9/11, this would not only strongly suggest that the rest of the Pakistani government had foreknowledge, but it would also raise curious questions about who else knew, in the US, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere. Mahmood seems to be involved in a number of important but obscure meetings before, during and after 9/11.

For more on Mahmood's possible connection with the 9/11 hijackers, see the entries about middleman Saeed Sheikh (also in narrative form). See also the section on the ISI generally. It is possible that the story of Mahmood's involvement in 9/11 is only Indian propaganda, but no Western reporter seems curious to find out.




Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf.

October 12, 1999: General Musharraf becomes leader of Pakistan in a coup. One major reason for the coup is the ISI felt the previous ruler had to go "out of fear that he might buckle to American pressure and reverse Pakistan's policy the Taliban." Shortly thereafter Musharraf replaces the leader of the ISI, Brig Imtiaz, because of his close ties to the previous leader. Imtiaz is arrested and convicted of "having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income." It comes out that he was keeping tens of millions of dollars earned from heroin smuggling in a Deutschebank account. This is interesting because insider trading just prior to 9/11 will later connect to a branch of Deutschebank recently run by "Buzzy" Krongard, now Executive Director of the CIA (see September 6-10, 2001). The new Director of the ISI is Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, a close ally of Musharraf who is instrumental in the success of the coup. Mahmood will later be fired after suggestions that he helped fund the 9/11 attacks (see October 7, 2001 (B)).

more...

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/mahmoodahmed.html

There's also a cooperativeresearch link on American Judas that indicates Saeed Sheikh was on the payroll of the CIA. I'll try to bring it here.

[robertpaulsen]

234. Another serpentine link: Musharraf-Mahmood-Sheikh-CIA

Sept. 11's Smoking Gun: The Many Faces of Saeed Sheikh


By Paul Thompson
September 4, 2002, updated February 25, 2003

excerpts

Saeed Sheikh was arrested in India in 1994 while on a kidnapping mission designed to trade Western tourists for Kashmiri separatists. The ISI paid his legal fees, but he was nonetheless sentenced to a long prison term in an Indian jail. While in prison, his natural abilities soon allowed him to become the leader of the jail’s large Muslim population. By his own admission, he "lived practically like a Mafia don." It has been claimed that in 1999, British intelligence secretly offered Saeed an amnesty and the ability to "live in London a free man" if he would reveal his links to al-Qaeda. He apparently refused. Even more curiously, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review suggested in March 2002, "There are many in Musharraf's government who believe that Saeed Sheikh's power comes not from the ISI, but from his connections with our own CIA. The theory is that ... Saeed Sheikh was bought and paid for."

Could the thread unravel in other directions as well? For instance, what about the suggestion that Saeed was a CIA agent? A long time regional expert with extensive CIA ties stated publicly in March 2001 that "the CIA still has close links with the ISI," and repeated the claim to CNN in February 2002. An anonymous former senior ISI official has stated, "The biggest problem we have are the rogue elements in the intelligence agencies, especially those who at some time became involved with the CIA." At the very least, the ISI may know very embarrassing facts about the US. For instance, they may know a thing or two about CIA involvement in drug smuggling and/or support of bin Laden in the 1980s. Unfortunately, Daniel Pearl was killed before he could investigate the connections between the US and the ISI, and no journalist seems willing to explore such dangerous subjects since his death.

What would the American public think of the motives for war in Iraq if they knew a country with much deeper ties to al-Qaeda that was also proliferating weapons of mass destruction was being so ignored?

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/main/essaysaeed.html

Read the whole thing, it's very enlightening!

[robertpaulsen]

231. After US invasion of Afghanistan, Aziz was kicked upstairs.

The second development relates to General Mohammed Aziz, a Kashmiri officer belonging to the Sudan tribe of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), who is very close to the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) of Qazi Hussain Ahmed. Coinciding with the beginning of the US air strikes in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, Musharraf removed Aziz, then a lieutenant-general, from the post of commanding officer of one of the two Corps in Lahore. He kicked him upstairs by appointing him as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, a post without real power, and promoting him as a general. It was alleged in Pakistan that Musharraf took this action at the instance of the US, which was nervous over Aziz's links with the JEI and other fundamentalist parties.

Aziz, who remained low all these months, has, of late, become active again. Accompanied by Major General (retd) Mohd Anwar Khan, the president of the POK, who is related to him, he has been travelling in the POK and the NWFP, addressing military officers and the people in remote villages in the tribal belt. His speeches have been virulently critical of India and Hinduism, and also give hints of his disapproval of Musharraf's refusal to shed the post of COAS and of the army continuing to play a political role. This has given rise to speculation that it was he who has been egging on the MMA not to relent in its opposition to Musharraf. If Musharraf had not given himself an extended tenure, Aziz would, most probably, have been the COAS by now.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EF27Df03.html

I have to ask, do you think this "tension" between Musharraf and Aziz is nothing more than a case of good cop/bad cop?

[shraby]

237. RP...get a load of these

I'm just reading them now.

CRITICAL ASIAN STUDIES
<http://csf.colorado.edu/bcas/contents/cont35-2.htm>


THE CIA'S SECRET POWERS: AFGHANISTAN, 9/11 AND AMERICA'S MOST DANGEROUS ENEMY
<http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~pdscott/d294.html>

[shraby]

239. I googled Mustafa Ahmad Hawsawi

and came up with this. If you want your mind boggled, read it.

<http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a020602named>

[Pallas180]

241. SHRABY - This about says it all

" The most conspicuous deep political consequence of these policies in Pakistan and Afghanistan has been the indirect training and arming of cadres who eventually participated in the specific events of 9/11: the culmination of a series of terrorist attacks against the territorial United States for which the CIA itself had already, in 1998, secretly admitted partial responsibility. This responsibility is reflected in the present inability of the U.S. government and media to report honestly on what actually happened in the 9/11 attacks. "

[RebelYell]

228. Hopsicker interview

http://www.breakfornews.com/

About half way down the page

"Leading 9/11 investigative journalist, Daniel Hopsicker speaks to Fintan Dunne in a BreakForNews exclusive.
Interview covers: the 9/11 Commission Report, the Sibel Edmonds case and the international drug network linked to the terror plot; the funding of a leading 9/11 campaign group; and where we go from here to get the full truth."

50 min. long
I can't listen to it - I have dial up :(

[shraby]

243. Saddam, Osama and me (Prince Turki al-Faisal)

(Filed: 03/08/2003) an interview

One of the main reasons, of course, that Saudi Arabia's conduct is under such intense scrutiny is that bin Laden was in many respects a creation of the Saudi intelligence community when the Saudis were actively supporting Islamic fighters during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s. As the head of Saudi intelligence during that period, Prince Turki had several meetings with bin Laden, although he firmly rejects any suggestion that he has had dealings with the al-Qa'eda leader since he founded the terror group in the early 1990s.

(snip)

Although Prince Turki stepped down as Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief on September 1, 2001, just 10 days before the World Trade Center attacks, he remains deeply sceptical about Saddam's alleged links with both weapons of mass destruction and bin Laden's al-Qa'eda network.

(more)

<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/08/03/wbin03.xml>

these are the only two paragraphs that might be of interest. It says that the Saudis were responsible for al Queda not that our gov't had anything to do with it, and that this guy stepped down just before 9/11

[Pallas180]

249. REB - here are some people who question Hopsicker's view:

and reading some of his recent stuff, he does seem a little toward
the "UFO's are coming to get us"

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0405/S00076.htm


UQ Wire: Re. Daniel Hopsicker On The 911 Inquiry
Monday, 10 May 2004, 1:24 pm
Opinion: www.UnansweredQuestions.org

Distribution via the Unanswered Questions Wire
Sign up for the wire at:
http://www.unansweredquestions.org/headlines.php
Unanswered Questions : Thinking for ourselves.

Re. Daniel Hopsicker On The 911 Inquiry

Sent as a Letter To The Editor of Scoop.co.nz in response to Daniel Hopsicker's The Red Herrings Of 9/11
(http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0405/S00066.htm)

From Carol Brouillet
To The Scoop Editor,

Since I organized the San Francisco International Inquiry into 9-11, I took offense to the article posted by Daniel Hopsicker blasting our inquiry, as well as the upcoming inquiry in Toronto.

If you look at the Final Program posted on my website at http://www.communitycurrency.org/InquiryProgram.html , you will discover that many of the allegations and references, derogatory remarks, are completely offbase, and unsubstantiated. There are links to the texts of the actual Inquiry speeches, videos of presentations, and the audio portions/radio programs which are available on the internet.

Daniel Hopsicker did complain, at the time of the Inquiry, that he did not share the views of most of the other registered participants who otherwise unanimously agreed that the official narrative of 9-11 is unsubstantiated, that evidence has been destroyed, that a massive cover-up is underway. Daniel seems to buy into the 19 hijackers story, although news reports suggest that several of the "alleged hijackers" are still alive and well. The F.B.I. has come up with no paper trail, and frankly- I do not know the truth about what happened on those planes.

What we tried to do at the Inquiry was present the best historical evidence that suggests that this would not be the first time the U.S. has "staged an incident" to get public support for war, describe what "special operations are and some history of recent special operations." The biggest fingerprints of a special operation, besides the "false cover story" is often what doesn't happen- the failure of "standard operating procedures," in the case of 9-11- the failure of the U.S. military to scramble any planes until after the attack on the Pentagon.

We also looked at the links between the I.S.I, Pakistan, Mohamed Atta, and top U.S. government officials. Why was head of Pakistan's I.S.I., Lt. General Mahmoud Ahmad, the "money man behind 9-11," who had $100,000 wired to Mohamed Atta meeting with top U.S. officials from September 4th- the 13th? When we marched on our Senators demanding an investigation of 9-11, this was one of the questions we raised, only to have Bush and Cheney ask to have the Inquiry limited and overseen by the CI,A and the very men who breakfasted with Lt. Gen. Mahoud Ahmad, Pakistani's I.S.I. chief, on the morning of September 11th (Rep. Porter Goss and Senator Bob Graham- headed the House/Senate Intelligence Oversight Committee which conducted the official Inquiry into 9-11).

We looked at who was on the Commission, their conflicts of interest, their history of covering up government scandals.

We looked at who profited from "The War on Terrorism," the geopolitical interests, who wanted access to the oil and drug producing regions.

There were no public presentations in the main Theatre on "missiles hidden in the undercarriage of the airliners,""voodoo hex placed on the WTC by the Spiders from Mars" "plaster molds of alien footprints to literature written by alien abductees to presentations on "The Reptilian Perspective: Serpents of Wisdom or Snakes in the Grass" "witnesses who could testify to seeing Mohamed Atta and Ollie North talking together in low voices under a street lamp on a drizzly night in D.C."

Daniel Hopsicker quotes John Kaminski (who did not attend the SF Inquiry) "The unknown men who played the roles of the so-called Arab terrorist hijackers were really recruited by either American and/or Israeli intelligence services in a scheme set up as a diversion to inflame dumb Westerners against the Islamic world." which is probably not actually a quote, and he calls Kaminski a "remote controller." Then Hopsicker attacks the film "Aftermath- Unanswered Questions from 9-11" because George Soros is in it. I'm not a fan of Soros, but all he says in the opening is that we should be questioning the Bush Administration- in a healthy society- people don't blindly accept the self-serving pronouncements of the powerful.

Daniel Hopsicker is peddling the same Saudi connections that Michael Moore is focusing on. I agree that there is a Saudi connection, after all Al Qaeda was created with C.I.A. and Saudi money to the tune of 8 billion, the largest covert operation in American history. There are financial links between the Bushes and the Saudis; the Bin Laden family was flown out in the wake of 9-11 when other planes were grounded. This deserves to be investigated which was one of the reasons Hopsicker was invited to speak on what he had learned from his investigation of Mohamed Atta, who was part of the official story. However, to think that this particular aspect of 9-11 will lead to unravelling the whole truth is shortsided in my opinion.

Many feel by narrowly focusing on the Saudi connections, a limited hangout would condemn Bush and a few others, be used to justify a war on Saudi Arabia and maintain a "War on Terrorism." For the most part, at the Inquiry, the consensus was that "The War on Terrorism" is a "War of Terrorism" against the American people and the world, and we would like to see the "War Game" busted once and for all.

There is evidence that a handful of highjackers wielding boxcutters could not have been solely responsible for the collapse of the World Trade Center Complex on September 11th. Building number 7 wasn't hit by a plane or any significant debris and had only a minor fire in it. It collapsed in the manner of a controlled demolition and the government cannot explain it. The parameters of the Commission are basically to reinforce the official story and justify the construction of the National Security State. They simply are not interested in pursuing the truth about 9-11.

At least at our Inquiry, people were genuinely interested in the truth and discovering the who, what, why, how of 9-11. We did want to create space for witnesses to come forward. Ellen Mariani, the brave widow who launched the RICO suit against Bush, and other officials for their role in 9-11, spoke, as well as her attorney, Phil Berg, and they did gather information, testimony that will be useful to them in their court case. I don't think witnesses are as likely to speak to the "National Commission." At the Inquiry, anyone who registered, could propose any 'avenue of discussion, topic of research' that they wanted to- but if it was something truly bizarre and unrelated to the truth about 9-11, no one would probably attend the session. A law of Two Feet prevailed- "If you aren't learning or contributing, go somewhere else."

The main presentations were held in the Herbst Theatre which could hold 970 people. We also had meeting rooms on the second floor where the Inquiry was more or less "self organizing" according to Open Space principles. There was room for dialogue, discussion, networking, organizing. The day following the Inquiry, twenty-six people met and decided to form an a real international organization to nurture and assist the 9-11 movement. A series of documentaries are currently being produced through the collaborative effort of the many, many documentary film-makers who came to the Inquiry and feel that the information is vitally important and needs to reach a much wider audience.

Besides being attacked and ignored by some of the press, the movement has made considerable gains in the press and within the Peace Movement and within the Green Party. I imagine that the attacks and attempts to marginalize the movement will increase as we become a genuine threat to the Bush Administration and the many entrenched Democrats who are also deeply involved in 9-11 and the cover-up.

Carol Brouillet
http://www.911inquiry.org

[RebelYell]

268. Here's what Hopsicker said about the SF 9/11 conference:

"What the search for the truth about September 11 desperately needs right now is a zealous prosecutor somewhere in America—someone like New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison, who appears to have been right on the money—willing to investigate and indict the 19 suspected hijackers as well as their still-living associates to compel federal investigative agencies like the FBI to present at trial the evidence they have been sitting on.

Instead, what we got was the recent 9/11 Conference in San Francisco, where you could hear all about the Bush’s links to the Nazis, learn everything you ever need to know about “Peak Oil,” and find out that the hijacked planes were operated—Look Ma! No hands!—by Remote Control.

The “No Arabs aboard” attack was fail-safed and backstopped with missiles hidden in the undercarriage of the airliners, explosive charges secreted inside WTC7, and a voodoo hex placed on the WTC by the Spiders from Mars. If it weren’t so serious it would have been funny.

The 9/11 attack is an open homicide investigation involving the murders of 3000 people. We need to demand that it be treated as such."

More here in left column:
http://www.madcowprod.com/mc532004.html

He is very critical of the tin foil theories presented at that conference.

[RebelYell]

275. Pallas:

Your link to this website:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0405/S00076.htm

posts an article from the organizer of the SF disagreeing with Hopsicker about the content, which is also in your post. I'll deal with this further down.

Your link to this website:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/archive/scoop/stories/b1/e9/200407271312.de441eb7.html

is merely reposting of a story on Hopsicker's website. Can you point me to where Hopsicker says or is quoted about UFO's? I don't see it.

What Hopsicker's article does say is this:

"The horror.

They’re holding another International 9/11 Conference later this month in Toronto.

We won’t be going.

This one features Dr. John Gray, author of Men Are From Mars, Women are from Venus, one of the world's bestselling authors.

Perhaps Dr Gray has discovered that Terrorists are from Jupiter."

Hopsicker is blatantly sarcastic.

Notice this comment from the SF organizer:

"There were no public presentations in the main Theatre on "missiles hidden in the undercarriage of the airliners,""voodoo hex placed on the WTC by the Spiders from Mars" "plaster molds of alien footprints to literature written by alien abductees to presentations on "The Reptilian Perspective: Serpents of Wisdom or Snakes in the Grass" "witnesses who could testify to seeing Mohamed Atta and Ollie North talking together in low voices under a street lamp on a drizzly night in D.C."

The operative phrase here is "in the "main" Theatre".

Your statement "reading some of his recent stuff, he does seem a little toward the "UFO's are coming to get us" is curious. Please point me to where Hopsicker says this? I've not read anything of the kind about him and if you have proof, I'd love to see it. IMO, he's quite the opposite. Thanks, Pallas.

[Pallas180]

278. REB

my statement: " he does seem a little toward the "UFO's are coming to get us"

is meant to imply he's getting a little off the wall with his conspiracy theories.

We know that it's bad enough.

As I read - he mentioned another Arab in Sarasota who Atta had puchased his cell phone from - who had a grudge againt someone, and
hired a hit man to chop the man into little pieces while the man
was still living....this Hopsicker gave as proof that the terra-ists
were still operating in Venice/Sarasota.

A conclusion that was a lil far afield for me.

[RebelYell]

282. I can't judge his conclusions

on terrorists in FL until I'm done with his book. FL seems to be a safe haven though and it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

I don't know any more about what happened on 9/11 than I did on 9/11. The one piece of evidence that haunts me is the lack of military coverage on that day. All off-course planes before and after 9/11 were escorted until they landed or crashed. The people in charge that day weren't fired for their incompetence, and some were even promoted. Curious. I'm skeptical about any theories until I see definitive proof. Common sense tells me to follow the money, and not theories and to ask who benefits.

We Americans are way too passive, brainwashed about freedom of speech and freedom of the press. I find it so hard to believe that *ush has 47% of the vote. Are there really that many ignorant people in this country that would support him after the failure on 9/11, his economic disasters, just to name a few?

I won't stop blabbing about this stuff until I have definitive answers. That is why I find these threads compelling. People are waking up. This Plame matter is a ray of hope that our justice system will work and remove the criminals occupying our White House.

[Pallas180]

242. Has anybody sent Waterman Paper & Judas to

Woodward personally at Wash Post

and

Carl Bernstein (address has to be googled) ?

[Pallas180]

246. Has anybody thought of sending our "Papers" to the 911 Widows???

they have some pull - as a matter of fact quite a bit.

[Pallas180]

273. Here are the widows' names - but no url/e mail addy ?

Mindy Kleinberg
Kristen Breitweiser
Patty Casazza
Lori Van Auken
Ellen Mariani, Attorney Philip Berg
Monica Gabrielle

September 11th Advocates
Citizen's Watch
9/11 Visibility Project

Gail Sheehy writes about them - e mail?

[shraby]

247. Dark heart of the American Dream

Sunday June 16, 2002

This is one damning indictment of shrub and pollution. Lots of info in it too.

(snip)

'We don't see ourselves as a dynasty,' said George Bush Sr as his son launched the election campaign that won him the current presidency, raiding father's Rolodex to do so. 'We don't feel entitled to anything.' And yet at no point in the past 50 years - the half-century since 1952 which defines the modern age - has there not been a Bush in a governor's mansion (in Texas or Florida), on Capitol Hill or in the White House - and usually more than one of those at a time. The 'vending machine' is a single family whose tango with the powers which illuminate this endless horizon of light and flame is a dance around every corner in the labyrinth of Texan and now national - indeed global - politics. 'Everything they learned when they started out in west Texas,' says Dr Neil Carman, once a regulator of pollution in the state, 'they applied to the governor's mansion, the nation and the world... Power in America is not so much about George W Bush, it's about the people from Texas who put him there.'

(snip)

On Carlucci's other flank is the ubiquitous James Baker III. Chairman of Carlyle Europe is John Major. The group's new asset management is headed by Afsaneh Beschloss, former treasurer of the World Bank. Carlyle has grown quickly to be worth some $12bn, specialising in energy and defence, with particular attention to the oil-producing Gulf states. Among its most eager investors is Prince Bandar, Saudi ambassador to Washington and his father Prince Sultan, the kingdom's defence minister. The group's most spectacular recent coup was to reap $400m in a stock sale of its subsidiary United Defence Industries, maker of the Crusader artillery system which most military experts argued was redundant, but which won $470m in development money from the Pentagon and whose future in the US arsenal still hangs in the balance after a series of recent meetings between Carlucci and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Within a month of 11 September last year, Carlucci was meeting with Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz, and 10 days later offered an assessment which exactly predicted the endless-war scenario: 'We as Americans,' he said, 'have to recognise that terrorism is more or less a permanent situation.'

(snip)

On 11 September, while Al-Qaeda's planes slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Carlyle Group hosted a conference at a Washington hotel. Among the guests of honour was a valued investor: Shafig bin Laden, brother to Osama.

<http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,738196,00.html>

[shraby]

248. A Revamp of Pakistani Intelligence Community is underway

Date: 18 December 1998

This might give a hint as to where bin Ladin is right now. It's an old article with a lot of info in. This is the last paragraph.

"Pakistani authorities, therefore, seem to be trying to explore the possibility of helping Bin Laden to escape to the Southern Philippines where the Abu Sayaaf group might give him shelter in the territory under its control or to Chechnya. No Government of any Islamic State would accept him lest they fall foul of the US. The only way out, in Pakistani calculation, is to help him flee to a country where Muslim insurgent elements control some territory."

<http://www.afghanistan.org/news_detail.asp?10392>

[shraby]

251. A little more damning stuff

SUPPRESSED DETAILS OF CRIMINAL INSIDER TRADING LEAD DIRECTLY INTO THE CIA's HIGHEST RANKS

CIA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR "BUZZY" KRONGARD MANAGED FIRM THAT HANDLED "PUT" OPTIONS ON UAL

FTW, October 9, 2001 - Although uniformly ignored by the mainstream U.S. media, there is abundant and clear evidence that a number of transactions in financial markets indicated specific (criminal) foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In the case of at least one of these trades -- which has left a $2.5 million prize unclaimed -- the firm used to place the "put options" on United Airlines stock was, until 1998, managed by the man who is now in the number three Executive Director position at the Central Intelligence Agency. Until 1997 A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard had been Chairman of the investment bank A.B. Brown. A.B. Brown was acquired by Banker's Trust in 1997. Krongard then became, as part of the merger, Vice Chairman of Banker's Trust-AB Brown, one of 20 major U.S. banks named by Senator Carl Levin this year as being connected to money laundering. Krongard's last position at Banker's Trust (BT) was to oversee "private client relations." In this capacity he had direct hands-on relations with some of the wealthiest people in the world in a kind of specialized banking operation that has been identified by the U.S. Senate and other investigators as being closely connected to the laundering of drug money.

Krongard (re?) joined the CIA in 1998 as counsel to CIA Director George Tenet. He was promoted to CIA Executive Director by President Bush in March of this year. BT was acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. The combined firm is the single largest bank in Europe. And, as we shall see, Deutsche Bank played several key roles in events connected to the September 11 attacks.

(snip)

As reported in other news stories, Deutsche Bank was also the hub of insider trading activity connected to Munich Re. just before the attacks.

CIA, THE BANKS AND THE BROKERS

Understanding the interrelationships between CIA and the banking and brokerage world is critical to grasping the already frightening implications of the above revelations. Let's look at the history of CIA, Wall Street and the big banks by looking at some of the key players in CIA's history.

(more)

<http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/10_09_01_krongard.html>

goes on to name CIA people.

[shraby]

252. RP and Pallas, take a look

Read all the headings clear to the bottom. Interesting stuff.

<http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:4viY-rKpZdYJ:www.cooperativeresearch.org/wot/sept11/911alexbrown.html+%22Buzzy%22+Krongard&hl=en>

[Pallas180]

255. Shraby - you should print the whole Krongard-Brown out here

seems to me Shattuck must have known or suspected and been so
disgusted distressed he quit.

Seems to me he'd be someone the commission should have talked to
but didnt

[Pallas180]

272. 911.The CIA, & The Banks

911_and_Alex._Brown,_Inc.

Summary: This section chronicles the numerous warnings that were relayed to the U.S. Intelligence Community by outside sources. In reviewing what follows, it is important to note that in most cases, it is not clear precisely who received the warnings and what was subsequently done with the information.

Related Outlines: U.S. Intelligence and the Terrorists
Explicit warnings of imminent terrorist attacks
U.S. Intelligence pre-9/11 investigations
Knowledge that planes might be used as missiles
Suspicious pre-9/11 Trading Activity
Evidence suggesting CIA likely had penetrated al Qaeda
Hijackers who were under surveillance before 9/11
Impediments to investigating al Qaeda prior to 9/11
What US officials claimed to have known pre-9/11
Acknowledgments that US had significant pre-9/11 intel.
What was the government doing on 9-11?
Unresolved issues that need to be explained
Did Bin Laden meet with CIA agents in July of 2001?
911 and D.B. Alex. Brown, Inc.
Possible Israeli foreknowledge of Sept. 11 attacks
Pre-9/11 foreshadowing of war in Afghanistan
Pakistani ISI, the CIA and 911
Previous Cases of Fabricated Evidence
Reluctance to Investigate
Independent Commission
Criticisms of 'Conspiracy Theories'
Mainstream Skepticism

Table of Contents

1 Alex. Brown, Inc. has some interesting connections.

2 The NYSE and SEC investigations into the suspicious “insider trading” prior to 9-11 at Deutsche Bank are problematic

3 A Deutsche Bank executive was convicted for money laundering shortly before 9-11

4 Head of the bank resigned under suspicious circumstances

5 Deutsche Bank had connections to Enron.

Last Revised: 10/15/2002

1 Alex. Brown, Inc. has some interesting connections.
a The current executive director of the CIA is a former chairman of Alex. Brown & Sons.

i Summary.

(A) The current executive director of the Central Intelligence Agency, A.B. ‘Buzzy Krongard,’ was Chairman and CEO of Alex. Brown & Sons from 1991-1997.

ii Background of A.B. ‘Buzzy’ Krongard.

(A) Chronology.

(1) 1937. A.B. ‘Buzzy’ Krongard was born.

(2) 1958. Krongard graduated with an A.B. degree from Princeton University.

(3) 1971. Krongard joined Alex. Brown & Sons as a finance associate.

(4) 1975. Krongard received a Juris Doctor degree with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1975.

(5) 1991. Krongard became Chief Executive Officer at Alex. Brown & Sons, the oldest investment banking firm in the U.S.

(6) 1994. In addition to continuing his position as CEO of the company, he was elected Chairman of the Board.

(7) 1996. While at Alex. Brown & Sons, Krongard served as Chairman of the Securities Industry Association.

(8) In Sept. 1997, Alex. Brown merged with Bankers Trust Corporation where Krongard became the VP of its board.

(9) In Feb. 1998, Krongard became Counsel to the Director of the CIA.

(10) On March 26, 2001, Krongard was appointed Executive Director of the CIA, the third highest position in the CIA.

(B) Other.

(1) He enjoys fox hunting and scuba diving and has a black belt in martial arts.

(C) Note:

(1) There is no evidence to suggest that Krongard was in anyway involved in the attacks of Sept. 11. He is mentioned here for the sole purpose of establishing a CIA/Alex. Brown link, which upon further investigation may, or may not, prove to be significant.

iii Other

(A) CIA/Wall Street historical connections.

(1) Michael Ruppert (has illustrated the historical connections between Wall Street and the CIA.

(2) Krongard, current executive director of the CIA told The Washington Post, that the CIA’s precursor, the Office of Strategic Services, “was really nothing but Wall Street bankers and lawyers.”

b The bin Laden family had money in Deutsche Bank.

i The bin Laden family had money in Deutsche Bank.

(A) The bin Laden family had accounts worth some $100 million in Deutsche Bank.

ii The bin Laden family was close to the Bush family.

(A) The bin Laden family was connected to the Bush family through their mutual investments in The Carlyle Group private investment firm and indirectly through George W. Bush’s former company, Arbusto.

(B) Bush’s family and many of Bush’s associates within and outside of his administration have friendly relations with the bin Laden family.

iii Observations.

(A) This by itself proves nothing, but is nonetheless noteworthy.

c Heroin money linked to the CIA was laundered through this bank.

i Summary.

(A) The Financial Times (Asian edition) reported that retired Pakistani ISI chief Brig. Imtiaz “was convicted by a court on July 31,2001, and jailed for eight years. According to evidence produced in the court by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB),” explained the magazine, “Brig. Imtiaz had foreign exchange bearer certificates worth US $20.08 million, a Pakistani rupee account in the Union Bank with a balance of Rs.2.13 billion, a US $ account in the Deutsch Bank with a balance of US $ 19.1 million, five residential houses, five commercial units and three shops. This huge wealth was allegedly accumulated by him through heroin smuggling.” The same author, writing in a different publication the previous year, had noted that in “the 1980s, at the instance of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),” the ISI, under Brig. Imtiaz, had “started a special cell for the use of heroin for covert actions.”


2 The NYSE and SEC investigations into the suspicious “insider trading” prior to 9-11 at Deutsche Bank are problematic. (See section on Investigations below)
a Summary.

i “European reporters found that most of the suspicious pre-attack trades passed through Deutsche Bank and especially via CIA Executive Director A.B. Krongard’s former Alex Brown investment division by means of a procedure called portage, which assures the anonymity of individuals making the transactions.” (Flocco 7-16-2002) Read More . . .

3 A Deutsche Bank executive was convicted for money laundering shortly before 9-11
e The defendant, Kevin Ingram.

i Biographical information

(A) He worked at Goldman Sachs from 1988 – 1996 overseeing the trading of mortgage and asset-backed securities.

(B) He began working for Deutsche Bank in 1996, first as the head of their mortgage-backed securities department and then for their global securities division. In 1999, he resigned under pressure after his department suffered serious losses.

(C) His clients were high net worth individuals.

(D) He was a protégé of Jon Corzine.

(1) Biographical information

(a) Corzine is a former CEO of Goldman Sachs

(b) Corzine is New Jersey senator who sits on the Senate Banking Committee. The Senate Banking Committee is the committee that should be investigating the suspicious trading of put options prior to 9-11.

(E) He was a former associate of Robert Rubin

(1) Former CEO of Goldman Sachs

(2) Former Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton.

(3) Currently on the Citigroup Board of Directors.

(a) Also sitting on the board is the former CIA director John Deutch.

ii Description his crimes.

(A) 1999 money laundering.

(1) In 1999, Kevin Ingram and Diaa Mohsen, an Egyptian National from Jersey City, had laundered money via two wire transactions – one for $100,000 and the other for $200,000 - from the United States to an account in London, each time taking a 9% cut.

(B) 2001 agreement to launder money as part of an arms sale.

(1) Money laundering.

(a) On June 12, 2001, Kevin Ingram and Walter Kapij were arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on charges of money laundering. Ingram was busted by undercover agents after agreeing to launder $2.2 million in proceeds that he had been told would come from the sale of night vision goggles, Beretta machine pistols, M-16 machine guns with silencers, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortars, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), TOW anti-tank missiles, and Stinger missiles to an unnamed foreign buyer. Ingram had arranged for a pilot, Walter Kapij, of Weathersfield, Conn., to take the money to Amsterdam via a chartered Lear jet. The two men were told that they would receive a 25% cut of the total transaction. Also arrested in the bust, were two men from Jersey City, Diaa Mohsen, an Egyptian national, and Mohammed R. Malik, a native of Pakistan, who were to buy the aforementioned weapons on behalf of an unnamed former military official in an undisclosed foreign country.

Head of the bank resigned under suspicious circumstances
Summary.

September 15, 2001. The New York Times reported that Mayo Shattuck III had resigned on September 12, ‘effective immediately’, from a 3-year $30 million contract as head of the Alex (A.B) Brown unit of Deutsche Bank.

c Background information on Mayo Shattuck III

i Chronology.

(A) He was born in 1954 in Massachusetts.

(B) 1985 – 1991. Mayo Shattuck was co-head of Alex. Brown & Sons’ corporate finance division. He had an office in San Francisco.

(C) 1991-1997. Mayo Shattuck III was president and Chief Operating Officer of Alex. Brown & Sons.

(D) 1997. Alex. Brown & Sons merged with Bankers Trust Corporation where Shattuck became “Vice Chairman as well as Co-Chairman and Co-CEO of BT Alex. Brown, the bank's investment banking and capital markets subsidiary.”

(E) 1999. Bankers Trust merged with Deutsche Bank and Shattuck and Shattuck became Chairman of Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. While there he was also CEO of the Americas for the bank's Private Client and Asset Management Group and had numerous responsibilities at the bank, including Global Head of Investment Banking and Global Head of Private Banking.

(F) Sept. 12, 2001. Shattuck ended his decade-long career with Alex. Brown.

(G) October 26, 2001. Shattuck was elected President and CEO of Constellation Energy Group.

(H) November 1, 2001. Shattuck assumed his position as President and CEO of Constellation Energy Group.

ii Other.

(A) Shattuck received an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business as an Arjay Miller Scholar.

iii Note:

(A) While the above information may raise suspicions about Shattuck and a possible association between him and the unclaimed UAL put options that were placed through DB Alex. Brown, Inc., it does not indicate that he was involved in or that he had foreknowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks. The information is mentioned here for the sole purpose of establishing a base for further investigation.

5 Deutsche Bank had connections to Enron.
a Summary.

iii According to CFO.COM, an online resource for business executives, “Deutsche Bank was a limited partner in either LJM or Chewco,” two of the Special Purpose Entities (SPE) that Enron used to conceal its debt and inflate its earnings. CFO.COM also explained, “A former Enron employee who claims to have helped prepare . . . SEC filing told CFO.com that General Electric Capital Corp., Deutsche Bank, and Dresdner Bank had been identified in an early draft of the document. The source asserts that the names of those three investors were deleted from the version sent to the commission. That deletion, the ex-employee alleges, was made at the behest of William McLucas. McLucas, a former director of the SEC's enforcement division, was hired by the Houston-based energy trader on October 31 to help an Enron special board committee comply with an inquiry launched by the commission into the company's finances. McLucas is now a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. The former employee also claims to have received instructions to destroy the draft of the filing containing the names of the three companies.”

[Pallas180]

253. Thanks Schraby, I read that way way back, it's very important clue

but couldn't find it again.

Thanks.

[Pallas180]

254. this goes along with your damning too:

"Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said that in the weeks before the attacks, the Egyptian intelligence service warned U.S. officials of a possible attack by the bin Laden terrorist network, according to The New York Times.

The White House, however, responded that the United States had no warnings at all. "


there just can't be any doubt of LIHOP

and what we are doing as well as many many other groups is trying
to confirm MIHOP.

[Pallas180]

256. the next title : REAL AMERICANS WONT BE SILENCED

OUTSIDE THE U.S.

Non-American audiences are finding it a lot easier to imagine the worst. Many Europeans pride themselves on their more critical views U.S. policy, and are quick to point out that the same figures who participated in the Iran/Contra scandal (Colin Powell, Dick Armitage, Elliot Abrams and Dick Cheney) are back in the saddle in this White House.


"Sept. 11 was so overwhelming," he says, "that people who are functionaries for that secret government are still human, like you and I. It's compelled some of them to break ranks."

"What I saw, after a number of people talked about the FBI silencing them, was that American streak that won't let that happen," he continues. "Real Americans won't be silenced."

[shraby]

258. Here's the rest of the damning stuff

CIA, THE BANKS AND THE BROKERS

Understanding the interrelationships between CIA and the banking and brokerage world is critical to grasping the already frightening implications of the above revelations. Let's look at the history of CIA, Wall Street and the big banks by looking at some of the key players in CIA's history.

Clark Clifford - The National Security Act of 1947 was written by Clark Clifford, a Democratic Party powerhouse, former Secretary of Defense, and one-time advisor to President Harry Truman. In the 1980s, as Chairman of First American Bancshares, Clifford was instrumental in getting the corrupt CIA drug bank BCCI a license to operate on American shores. His profession: Wall Street lawyer and banker.

John Foster and Allen Dulles - These two brothers "designed" the CIA for Clifford. Both were active in intelligence operations during WW II. Allen Dulles was OSS station chief in Berne, Switzerland, where he met frequently with Nazi leaders and looked after U.S. investments in Germany. John Foster went on to become Secretary of State under Dwight Eisenhower and Allen went on to serve as CIA Director under Eisenhower and was later fired by JFK. Their professions: partners in the most powerful - to this day - Wall Street law firm of Sullivan, Cromwell.

Bill Casey - Ronald Reagan's CIA Director and OSS veteran who served as chief wrangler during the Iran-Contra years was, under President Richard Nixon, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. His profession: Wall Street lawyer and stockbroker.

David Doherty - The current Vice President of the New York Stock Exchange for enforcement is the retired General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency.

George Herbert Walker Bush - President from 1989 to January 1993, also served as CIA Director for 13 months from 1976-7. He is now a paid consultant to the Carlyle Group, the 11th largest defense contractor in the nation, which also shares joint investments with the bin Laden family.

A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard - The current Executive Director of the Central Intelligence Agency is the former Chairman of the investment bank A.B. Brown and former Vice Chairman of Banker's Trust.

John Deutch - This retired CIA Director from the Clinton Administration currently sits on the board at Citigroup, the nation's second largest bank, which has been repeatedly and overtly involved in the documented laundering of drug money. This includes Citigroup's 2001 purchase of a Mexican bank known to launder drug money, Banamex.

Nora Slatkin - This retired CIA Executive Director also sits on Citibank's board.

Maurice "Hank" Greenburg - The CEO of AIG insurance, manager of the third largest capital investment pool in the world, was floated as a possible CIA Director in 1995. FTW exposed Greenberg's and AIG's long connection to CIA drug trafficking and covert operations in a two-part series that was interrupted just prior to the attacks of September 11. AIG's stock has bounced back remarkably well since the attacks. To read that story, please go to <http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ciadrugs/part_2.html>

[H2O Man]

261. good morning!

To read the legal decision from last week, which resulted in Mr. Russert's speaking to investigators about the Plame incident, see:

http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/04ms296a.pdf

[H2O Man]

263. articles:

A few articles regarding the court decision include:

http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfld=3842969

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3551268.stm

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/08/10/reporter_in_contempt_of_court/

[H2O Man]

264. also see:

An article in this morning's Texas City Sun, by Richard Kirkpatrick, which questions if the administration is manipulating the "terror alert" information to cover up the pending news on the Plame indictments.

http://texascitysun.com/story.lasso?wcd=6309

[H2O Man]

265. As well as ....

5 Tough Questions for Mr. Bush, Mr. Hamilton (#3 on how the Plame exposure has impacted the CIA):

http://www.opednews.com/hamilton_080704_five_tough_questions.htm

[H2O Man]

266. and then:

An open letter to CNN, by Sheila Samples, which asks where CNN stands on the Plame case:

http://www.opednews.com/samples_0080904_CNN.htm

[Pallas180]

269. Good Morning. noticed no one mentions its a matter of treason n/t

.

[H2O Man]

271. Pallas, Pallas, Pallas!

My friend! My "no-nonsense" friend! You like to cut straight to the core of the issue, don't you? You take the direct approach. And so I hope you will not mind if I take a moment to answer your most important observation, because that is what a brother is for! And a number of us have formed just such a group that I feel comfortable in saying that ..... and, by no coincidence, I said THAT so I can say THIS:

No major media is going to tell the truth about the Plame case .... at least not yet! It's not because they don't know .... many do. When I see our wonderful brothers and sisters sending the Waterman Paper and now the American Judas, it's SO IMPORTANT. But not because these politicians and reporters are not aware ..... but let me try to explain.

Do you remember in my little paper about the Constitution, etc, I wrote about the "upper class"? And there was some sincere confusion about what I meant? (Is that Waterman a communist?socialist?black militant?etecetcetc??? Does he hate rich people? Dine on their children with his friend Mike Tyson?) I'll try to detail it in a different manner .... and hope that some of you have a good understanding of Irish history .... because what is happening in America today, is very similar indeed to what happened in Ireland not that long ago.

I'm going to use Robert Kennedy, Jr as a vehicle in this example. In our correspondences, he often refers to our families as "comrades in arms," NOT in any silly marxist nonsense, but in the context of Irish history. As I say, there are no coincidences. I've promoted his new book, "Crimes Against Nature" on this thread and others. It tells the truth, perhaps more so than ANY SINGLE OTHER SOURCE in the mainstream media. He does this at great risk to himself. In fact, he details some of the VERY REAL physical dangers confronting him from the dark side .... the guy has incredible bravery .... and, believe me, before I became a cripple, I saw it first hand .... the intensity of a small but real group who appear at his public presentations. (I'm an old man, and I don't have "heroes," but I respect this man fully!)

Further, by going farther in telling the truth, Robert has been "restricted" in promoting his book. See pages 183-186 of his book. For example: "Fox TV host Bill O'Reilly agreed to schedule me, but only with the explicit proviso that I wouldn't say critical things about George W. Bush ..... Later, Fox decided that even this was too risky..." Also: "I was most disappointed by Aaron Brown of CNN." Brown had scheduled RFK, but had a producer call at the last minute to "cancel" because he didn't want Robert to discuss Bush's environmental record on his show. Aaron substituted a segment on Michael Jackson instead.

Do you remember, my good friend Pallas, when I said that the upper level knows the truth, but dares not say it in public? It's not that Aaron Brown supports Bush in his heart. Aaron Brown and Bill O'Reilly are not in favor of children being poisoned by toxic chemical wastes being dumped without any regulations to insure public safety. But they are scared little men, cowards to be sure. To compare Aaron Brown with RFK would be like setting a glass of filthy, polluted water next to a glass of sparkling clean water.

In the 17th and 18th century, when the British power elite were exploiting Ireland for its wealth of natural resources, and had imposed the most cruel and un-natural penal system upon the native people -- much like this administration does to our own population today! -- two of the things were to deny education to the Irish, and to distort and manipulate the international media reports regarding what was actually occuring in Ireland. I'll deal with the education factor in a moment .... but, in regard to the media: they knew what dictators have always known -- that if you can unite a population in hatred (the attempt to make the rest of the empire hate the Irish), then you can fool them into forgetting their own miserable low level of being!

Now, as for education: the Irish never were reduced to ignorance. They created a system of education known as the "hedge schools," where the educated "united Irishmen" taught informal groups of students things like language, history, math, and political science. These classes were by necessity hidden, usually in remote places along the public highways, behind stone walls or hedges.

Do you remember me talking about Robert Emmett? He spoke publicly about the things that were being taught in the hedge schools ... and was hung for this.

So this is where were at today: the Plame Threads are a hedge classroom along the information highway. The things we're saying here are not going to be said on CNN .... not yet, anyhow. (grin) Are you familiar with the terms "shanty Irish" and "lace curtain"? Well, the real insult was to be called a "souper": these were the Irish who would put their tail between their legs, and renounce all that was sacred to their people, in order to get a free bowl of soup from the British "land-lords." Aaron Brown is a "souper."

Don't look for the truth from the bought & paid for media. Expand the hedge school. Share our curriculum with other classes along the highway.

[Pallas180]

274. H20, yes you have my number. Infinite patience but not for cowards. &

very direct, no-nonsense when I've run out of patience.

No one has ever accused me of being excessively diplomatic :)

Then maybe we better start bombarding Air America with out papers
and let them know they should be reading this thread.

I don't want to see another Kennedy injured - God knows...but
there has to be some one in government with credibility who can
stand up and tell the truth.

I think old Robert Byrd is, but no one pays attention to him anymore.
He has said hinted at much of what we know on programs like Charlie Rose.

There have to be others.

I hope you don't mind if I reprint your news about Aaron Brown and
O'Lielly.

[Pallas180]

276. H20 - thought you and RFK would enjoy this response to

my post about Aaron Brown and O'lielly censoring him:


"mharris660 (1000+ posts) Tue Aug-10-04 12:05 PM
Response to Reply #2

5. and with that


you get all 40,000 DUers to email O'Gagly and demand a response to Robert Kennedy's book. Nothing will kill his career faster than calling Bobby Kennedy's son a liar. I say we do it. Yeeaaaaahawwww

[Pallas180]

277. Here's Aaron Brown's e mail

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/aaron.brown

[Pallas180]

292. And here's O'Lielly's e mail

http://[e-mail]/

There's a gal Catherine over on Media thread here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=109x11877

who also has a great site.

Lookin for help lambasting Fox news.

[H2O Man]

288. Okay, Pallas, then it's no use....

trying to convince you to stop with the Plame threads, and wait until FLIX tv broadcasts a re-run of the explosive 1979 thriller, "Last Embrace," in which Roy Scheider plays a rattled CIA agent trying to break a secret code written in ancient Hebrew in a threatening manner. It's almost real life, just different in a fake sort of way. But no, your mind is made up. (grin)

[Pallas180]

290. H20 - I'm always open to

rational discussion.

After all Pallas 180 represents the fact that I'm Libra, the 180th
degree of the Zodiac and Pallas Athena was a warrior for Justice.

Okay. I'll bite. :)

When is the 1979 thriller going to be on and where is channel
FLIX?

BTW, I'm reminded that 30 years ago, I was newly married and had just
gotten involved in local politics. I obtained the steps of City Hall
for a rally against Nixon's refusal to impose rent freezes.

Here it is 30 years later, and I'm involved once again in opposing the
policies of a White House gone mad.

History runs in cycles.

[robertpaulsen]

296. Thanks for coming up with another great book recommendation!

The books you recommend that I have read are great and those that I haven't read are on a list for future reference. I've always been impressed by RFK Jr's knowledge and compassion whenever I do see him on TV, which is rare. Certainly someone who's not afraid to stand up for the truth. I can't wait to read what he has to say.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I just bought Politics of Truth and have not read it yet. But it's going good so far. Wilson sure was smart about making Rove the focus of his "frog march" comment. I'll bet Rove cracked last winter.

I'm working on an abridged American Judas so the mods will put it on the home page. I'll be in and out but hopefully get it posted today.

[LeftHander]

262. Scooter Libby did the talking....

Cooper of Time magazine in contempt for refusing to testify.


NBC News issued a statement saying Russert already had been interviewed under oath by prosecutors on Saturday under a deal to avoid a protracted court fight. The interview concerned a July 2003 phone conversation he had with Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/national/20040810001807.shtml

If Scooter Knew...so did Cheney.

[H2O Man]

267. While that's possible.....

it would contradict the court order, which specified that the grand jury had exhausted other methods of obtaining the information. Actually, Rove has provided information. Libby invoked the 5th. Thus the need to have Tim R. confirm the "co-conspirator's" accusation.

[Pallas180]

270. LOL - read Russert's statement carefully:

read this statement carefully cause it's purposely backwards to make
it look like Russert is not a tattle tale:

NBC said in its statement that Russert told Fitzgerald in the interview that he did not know Plame’s name or her identity as a CIA officer, and that he did not provide that information to Libby. The statement said that Libby had told the FBI about his conversation with Russert and requested that it be disclosed.

Of course Russert did not know Plame's name or identity AND DID NOT
PROVIDE THAT INFO TO LIBBY - (parsing words)

Libby PROVIDED THAT INFO to Russert.

[shraby]

280. LOL!! I noticed that and

reread it a couple of times to make sure that it was bassackward..and yup, it was!

By the way Pallas, if you click control F, you will get the window for the find feature to put the number of the thread into. Make sure when you put the number in you put a . after it.

[Me.]

279. So Is Rove the One Who Turned?

Also. I'll take on the 911 wives if no one else has.

[H2O Man]

285. I think

that by the 2nd Plame Thread I had made clear Rove had turned.

I think the 9-11 wives are inspirational. There are brave and honorable people in America today. They should serve as role models to young people, especially girls, today. They certainly didn't ask to be put in the terrible position that they find themselves in. But they have found something deep inside them that allows them to make the best of this circumstance not because of what has happened, but rather despite what has happened.

Yesterday, there was a disturbing thread about "when is violent revolution okay?" and I responded with a "when is non-violent revolution okay?" thread. Not surprisingly, mine didn't get the response the violent one got. That's sad.

But my purpose was to bring up two books about revolution. And neither have anything to do with changing political/cultural/economic systems per say .... (though, as John Lennon was want to say, everything is the exact opposite of what it really is) .... but the books are: "Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning," by Viktor E. Frankl; and "Meeting Life: Writings and Talks on Finding Your Path Without Retreating From Society," by J. Krishnamurti. Are any of you familiar with these books?

[lancdem]

293. Here's the link to the WaPo story

about the likelihood that Novak will be subpoenaed now that Fitzgerald has the court ruling he wants. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52895-2004Aug9.html

[robertpaulsen]

301. Wow. Pincus got subpoenaed yesterday! Didn't know that.

Lawyers involved in the case said it appears that Fitzgerald is now armed with a strong and unambiguous court ruling to demand the testimony of two journalists -- syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak, who first disclosed the CIA officer's name, and Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus, who has written that a Post reporter received information about her from a Bush administration official.

Pincus was served with a subpoena yesterday after Hogan's order was unsealed.

Pincus co-wrote a story last October that said an administration official gave similar information to a Post reporter on July 12, 2003 -- before Novak's column appeared -- though Plame's name was not disclosed at the time. Washington Post counsel Mary Ann Werner confirmed yesterday that Fitzgerald has demanded testimony from Pincus.

"We intend to file a motion to quash the subpoena," she said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52895-2004Aug9.html

Did Pincus ask Mary Ann Werner to do that, or was it a request from the top? In any case, I think we'll get more out of Pincus than Novak. Novak is going to do time. I hope.

[Pallas180]

306. Lancdem - 2 items of interest in your WaPo post:

1) " Both reporters have said they told Fitzgerald's staff that Libby did not disclose the identity of the CIA employee, Valerie Plame, to them."

That is not what Russert said. there's a parsing of words going ol

2) and they mention, as I thought, they'll take it all the way to
the Supreme Court, to get Rehnquist's court to overturn Branzberg
citation and decision.....whose court was that? Warren's? who the
ultra conservatives hated?

[Pallas180]

286. ME - you're a super ME. thanks-the wives can be forceful I think.

:bounce:

[Jose Diablo]

281. Well well well, it seems our Mr. Goss of the CIA

Has been appointed as head of CIA by Bu$h. This is detailed in LBN and other links in GP.

Mentions of Senator Bob Grahams involvement in Florida swindles are being published also.

With Goss at the head of intell, he should have a clean shot at shredding evidence within CIA of involvement in ...whatever.

Edit: They are indeed erasing tracks. But I think Tonto will still be able to pick-up their trail.

[shraby]

283. Doesn't he have to be confirmed?

That can drag on if the Dems play their cards right.

[Jose Diablo]

284. The risk would be high

to attempt to block confirmation via filibuster and prevent a cloture vote.

What would Billy Bob say if a attack came and repubs said the lack of leadership by confirming appointment caused some breakdown in intell flow.

No, I think it should be allowed to go. Then maybe hamstring him somehow through committee oversight. It takes a lot of effort to plan for meetings, so much so that maybe he would need to 'delegate' certain, shall we say, marginal activities. Ya never know who you can trust these days. I wonder what Ray is up to these days.

[Pallas180]

287. Graham? disinformation? or real? sterling reputation so

that would be shocking.

Maybe Graham is gonna spill the beans, so they're doing the politics
of destruction?

[Jose Diablo]

289. I wonder about our Senator Graham sometimes

From LBN IThinkThereIAM:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x739904#740171

And this:

http://www.communitycurrency.org/Prime.html

Says this:

" According to Al Martin, in 1983 Goss was involved in Iran-Contra profiteering with Jeb and Neil Bush’s Destin Country Club development fraud – a fraud out of which he made about $3 million illegally. He then became involved with Carlos Cardoen and Swissco Management, and the fraud that Swissco Management committed, not only in Florida, but throughout the United States, in those so-called illicit 'tax-swap deals,' which Senator Bob Graham of Florida also profited in.

"You could compare it to the crime family where the soldier rises from the street to become the capo, which has taken the hits over the years for his superiors in the organization," Martin continues. "Of course, unlike an organized crime family, the difference between the Bushonian Cabal and your average, run-of-the-mill organized crime family is that the Cabal controls, not only the entire nation, but influences policy throughout the planet. They are above all laws and impervious to any action.” <4>

More ominous is the concern that the Bush Cabal is scared and just might try to pull another 9/11<5> to further their dark agenda and nullify even a remote hope for an election. The psychological operations are underway, scaring the country into bracing itself for the next attack. In true fascist fashion, a new coalition of corporate/government/media leaders have launched a website that boldly asserts- “The America Prepared Campaign …utilizes the expertise and energy of national leaders in emergency preparedness, media, marketing, government, and business to support.. the work already begun by the Department of Homeland Security Ready Campaign … to give Americans useful recommendations for preparing… for a terrorist attack.”<6>

Goss has warned publicly that the F.B.I. isn’t capable of preventing more attacks, and has alluded to the value of the Madrid attacks to promote a more favorable climate for the international cooperation against “terrorist threats.” Just who benefits from these threats and attacks, besides arms dealers, the transnational elite, and the architects of the “global security state”? Certainly not your average American, nor the vast majority of people worldwide, but Goss is most likely not terribly concerned about them."

Edit: I doubt Graham will 'spill' anything, except maybe a little Pina Colada as he sits on the deck of his yaght off Jupiter Island.

[H2O Man]

295. Pallas:

Do you think it would be possible to start a new Plame thread? Perhaps with the American Judas and a few of the new links regarding the court decision? There are a couple great new threads going, which are about the court decision and how it will impact the Plame case ..... and perhaps result in the constitutional crisis that we discussed way back on Plame Thread #1 !!!!

[Pallas180]

307. Okay H20 - takes about 1/2 hour...hold on, & keep posting here til

I get it up.

Thanks.

[FizzFuzz]

297. Thanks! Printing now. Already have a few places in mind that need to have

this flyer dropped on them.

[FizzFuzz]

298. another thought--any flyers explaining the politically motivated Terror

Alert meant to junk up the Dem convention, that revealed the one mole we had in Al Qaeda, and that cost us and NYC I-don't-know-how-much $$$$? I really would love to have help explaining that in a brief hard hitting way to the ditto heads at work.

[RebelYell]

308. Porter Goss on Plame

(from 10/3/03)

Goss says CIA leak not worthy of committee action

BY CORY REISS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Porter Goss said Thursday that the uproar over allegations that White House officials purposely identified a covert CIA agent appears largely political and doesn't yet merit an investigation by the House Select Committee on Intelligence, which he chairs.

Goss, who was a CIA agent himself from the early 1960s to 1971, said he takes such leaks seriously, but he distinguished between a willful violation of federal law and an inadvertent disclosure.

~~~~~~~~

"Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation," Goss said.

More here:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2003310030460

[robertpaulsen]

310. POS!

The hypocrisy inherent in his reactions is mind-boggling. Investigating the blown cover of a CIA agent is political, but investigating a semen stain on a dress is of top national importance. What a sick bastard. Every Dem in Congress should be reminded of his double standard.

[RebelYell]

311. That quote will come back to bite him

Another tinfoil thought - Isn't Venice, FL in his district?

[robertpaulsen]

312. There's an ad on your link promoting a restaurant in Venice, FL

Wouldn't surprise me. I'll try googling to see if I can confirm.

Good thought!
:tinfoilhat:

[RebelYell]

313. Here's his bio

http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=H0846103

District 14 in Florida, home city is Sanibel, which is about 85 miles from Venice. I'm not sure what district Venice is in, but it sure is close enough. Heh.

[robertpaulsen]

314. Tinfoil confirmation: Goss is Rep for Venice, FL!

Check out this map of the 14th Congressional District of Florida:

http://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd108_named/ind_loc_pdf/FL_CD14loc.pdf

Then this map of cities in that area:

http://www.flausa.com/destinations/southwest2003.pdf

We have a match!
:tinfoilhat:

[robertpaulsen]

315. Looking again, I think its right outside his district.

Here's the map of the cities again:

http://www.flausa.com/destinations/southwest2003.pdf

And a different map of 14th district:

http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/congress/cong14.htm

Venice looks like it falls just outside. But close enough to pay a visit when necessary.

[Pallas180]

316. REB, can I suggest you repost yr Goss-Plame on #18 cause

closing this up now.

[Pallas180]

317. CLOSING THIS THREAD , PLS GO TO PLAME # 18

and any posts you'd like on 18, please copy and post them there.

Thanks.

[shraby]

318. RP...Deutch was

the Clinton admin.