Docs: Bush Official, Kucinich Offered To Help Qaddafi Regime On Ending U.S. Involvement In Libya

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: TPM Muckraker

Former Bush administration official David Welch and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) are singled out as allies of the now-deposed Libyan regime of Muammar Qaddafi, in documents found in the building that used to house Libya's intelligence headquarters, Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal reports.

The documents allegedly show that Welch, now an executive at the multinational company Bechtel, met with senior Libyan officials Abubakr Alzleitny and Mohammed Ahmed Ismai on Aug. 2, 2011. According to the files, Welch met with the officials at the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo, where he advised Gaddafi's team of propaganda measures, AJE reported. TPM was unable to reach Welch at his office in London.

Another document Elshayyal found in the compound appeared to indicate that two Libyan officials talked with Kucinich. The document included the web address of a May 27 story by the Washington Post's Felicia Sonmez about the House vote on ending U.S. involvement in Libya.

The document suggests that Kucinich wanted any evidence of corruption at the Libyan National Transitional Council, any possible links within rebel ranks to al-Qaeda, and any evidence "that The Leader had already planned to step down before the uprisings." The information would be used in a "lawsuit against NATO/UN/USA," to publicity reform the image of the regime and to help negotiating positions, according to a document.

Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/08/docs_bush_official_kucinich_offered_to_help_qaddafi_regime_on_ending_us_involvement_in_libya.php

[snagglepuss]

1. I'm stunned by Kucinich's actions. Utterly reprensible for him to support

a despicable piece of crap.

[brooklynite]

2. But it was all about the oil...

I read it here!

[jaxx]

4. Very serious for a US Congressman to do that.

Not good.

[girl gone mad]

21. The facts presented do not match the narrative being promoted.

[Telly Savalas]

23. That's par for the course here

So as usual the best course of action is to ignore the narrative until the unlikely event that facts emerge supporting it.

[Luminous Animal]

28. Yep.

"I think we overvalue passionate feeling in this country as some form of cleansing sincerity. Feeling something has the sensation of actual knowledge, bypassing mental work, the necessity of thought and the application of reason, not to mention actual information. I think it is significant that among people suffering from dementia, the last thing to go is the ability to have a strident opinion. It is the easiest thing to generate."

Mick LaSalle - San Francisco Chronicle 8/28/11.

[Zorra]

32. This is DK we're talking about here.

The Third Way probably has a special investigative commitee digging through his ancestry to find out if he might be descended from a communist anywhere along the line.

The Third Way hates Dennis and his anti-corporate, pro-human being, pro democracy platform even more than the GOP does.

[Tarheel_Dem]

3. Well, well. I suspect whatever threads were left of his political career,

this will surely put undue stress on the final shreds. Kooch, we hardly knew ye! :eyes:

[dionysus]

6. why thems fightin' woids!!11!! whatchu got against space aliens?

PUT UP YER DUKES!11!





:hi:

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. ZOMG!!!! Daayyyuuummm.....

Quit it, or I'll have Kooch contact you! :rofl:

[dionysus]

17. i aint satisfied till someone pees their britches laughin'

;)

[Ikonoklast]

5. Dennis running his own diplomacy effort contrary to official U.S. State Dept. policy.

Smells like trouble for St. Dennis.


Didn't Cheney do the same thing?

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

7. So a Libyan document, written by Gaddafi minions...

... includes THE LIBYAN/GADDAFI point of, "The information would be used in a "lawsuit against NATO/UN/USA," to publicity reform the image of the regime and to help negotiating positions, according to a document. This is the last sentence, outside the quotation marks in the previous sentence/full paragraph of:

<snip>
The document suggests that Kucinich wanted any evidence of corruption at the Libyan National Transitional Council, any possible links within rebel ranks to al-Qaeda, and any evidence "that The Leader had already planned to step down before the uprisings." The information would be used in a "lawsuit against NATO/UN/USA," to publicity reform the image of the regime and to help negotiating positions, according to a document.
<snip>

So outside of Kucinich asking for any evidence of corruption in the LNTC and any links to Al-Aaeda and the goings on within the LNTC, what is the problem? Kucinich has/had valid reasons to ask for such information. It is part of good government and foreign policy.

I see Kucinich asking for information so he can make an informed decision having to do with his office. Much the same can be said for Mr. Welch, now working for Bechtel, that huge international construction/security behemoth. Things are going to need to be rebuilt in Libya, ie... oil projects of whatever shape or form. One of them was asking outright in the name of representing American citizens. The other no doubt was looking into business opportunities.

Just my two cents.

[BeFree]

10. Wrong way, thinker

You are supposed to do like the other posters here and jerk your knee at Kucinich.
Instead, what do you do? You examine the situation and give it some thought.

Who the heck do you think you are, coming on here and thinking first and asking questions?
<grinning>

[jbnow]

33. Could be even more benign. If they saw his speech and

approached Dennis asking for help and claiming that the Libyan National Transitional Council was corrupt and al-Qaeda was instigating rebels and so on the obvious thing to say would be "Well I'd need evidence of that". Hell he knows they tell tall tales
Asking for evidence before he could do anything would be a more appropriate response than saying "Out of my office you devils"

Something they wrote up is not the same as finding a letter from Dennis asking for those things. He can be against out activities in Libya without being on the side of the dictator

I'm not a big fan of his but we can't jump to conclusions here.

[MilesColtrane]

8. It appears that Gaddafi was prepared to make a "useful fool" out of Dennis.

He just ran out of time.

[Ian David]

9. This is like when Newt Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi made that Global Warming commercial together. n/t

[fujiyama]

12. What is it with this idiot and nasty middle eastern dictators?

Wow, I thought being a shill for Assad was bad!

[banned from Kos]

13. Ron Paul - Dennis Kucinich 2012!

(Full Snark On)

Two clowns who agree a lot are just two clowns.

[bbgrunt]

14. all I see is him asking for info to support his position.

[DFab420]

15. You dont see any issue that he made an opinion then tried to make evidence match that opinion?

Like Bush with WMDs in Iraq??

I mean you aren't supposed to make the answer match your opinion right?

[bbgrunt]

22. no. he is not negotiating foreign policy. He is asking them

for information that they would have about evidence of corruption on the rebel side. Why would he ask them for information about their own corruption?

[joshcryer]

26. He could've asked the rebels for evidence of corruption on Gaddafi's side, etc.

I mean, hell, the earliest defections claimed that they had proof Gaddafi ordered Lockerbie, and that didn't even come up on his radar?

[Luminous Animal]

29. Aren't the government, the UN, NATO, the corporate media, and the Rendon Group already doing that?

[DFab420]

16. K&R

[mrdmk]

18. Looks like the Pro-War Wing of DU is out in force today

He is the Kucinich thing in a nut-shell: Person A calls person B and informs them they have some information about group C. Person B replies, "Send me the info, and I will read it!"

Snip from Al Jazeera:

It appears Welch was not the only prominent American giving help to Gaddafi as NATO and the rebel army were locked in battle with his regime.

On the floor of the intelligence chief's office lay an envelope addressed to Gaddafi's son Saif Al-Islam. Inside, I found what appears to be a summary of a conversation between US congressman Denis Kucinich, who publicly opposed US policy on Libya, and an intermediary for the Libyan leader's son.

It details a request by the congressman for information he needed to lobby US lawmakers to suspend their support for the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) and to put an end to NATO airstrikes.

According to the document, Kucinich wanted evidence of corruption within the NTC and, like Welch, any possible links within rebel ranks to al-Qaeda.

link: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/08/2011831151258728747.html


This is the document (in its entirety) that is referred to in both stories:

Good Morning Gentlemen.
This is the Congressman you both spoke with. He is going to fight for us but he has
asked us for evidence.
I can bring need whatever we can gather. If it is sensitive I
will carry it, otherwise we can email it.
House to vote next week on ending US involvement in Libya


1. Any corrupt (verifiable) acts by the Opposition leaders. Include any personal motives for instance
to make money or gain certain types of power.

2. Any known Al-Qaeda operating in the Opposition.

3. Any evidence of atrocities committed by the Rebel soldiers.

4. Any evidence of Civilian deaths by NATO.

5. Any evidence of arms sales to the Opposition in Benghazi or Misrata, including dates, who sold
the weapons, what type and the cost ofthe deals.

6. Any evidence of weapons being smuggled on boats to Misrata, with dates. and type of weapons.

7. Any evidence that the uprising was a planned event prior to February 1'/th. lnclude intercepted
communications, names, dates.

8. Evidence supporting that the Regime has a regular practice of hiring African military in its Pan-
African units and this was not a new (mercenaries) thingjust for the uprising.

9. Communications with the UK and USA prior to the UN bombings to show Regime was
trying to negotiate peacefully.

10. Evidence of cease fires by the Regime or withdrawals of troops. Dates, location, description
(including why cease fire broke down).

1l. Evidence that before the uprising started, there were democratic projects under way, for
instance a plan for elections and so forth. This shows that they were already going this way and
aren't just saying that now.

l2. Evidence that The Leader had already planned to step down before the uprisings. This shows
there was already a transition going on. It also helps him save face for when he does step down
because it will look like that was the plan all along.

l3. A list of tribes and location known to be loyal to Regime, those pledging loyalty to Opposition,
and the remaining ones that have not pledged either way. The population of each group as well,
This shows that the Rebels don't have the full support of the country.

l4. A list and description (including date and location) of humanitarian efforts by Regime since this
started, or their attempts to aid the civilian population, and any efforts blocked by NATO or the
Rebels.

It will be used for:

A) A lawsuit against

B) Defending Saif in the ICC

C) Publicity to reform the image of Regime.

D) To help negotiation positions

<end of letter>


Just for the sake of making a good decision, people need information, unlike another party I know of who only need talking points!

:wtf:


btw: In the Al Jazeera article, these are the only (four total, one sentence) paragraphs out of twenty-seven that have anything to do with Kucinich.

[Scurrilous]

19. K & R

:thumbsup:

[flvegan]

20. Kucinich haters will spin hard enough to knock the earth of her axis it seems.

Keep on trying, FS!

[ecstatic]

25. and rightfully so. He hasn't accomplished anything in

his decades in office; and, on his way out, he spends all his time on.... Khaddafy?? :wtf:

By the way, I'm against our involvement in Libya, but his decision to work with Khaddafy is over the top!

[ecstatic]

24. THIS is the hill Kucinich chose to die on? Not jobs, not unions...

Not even aliens... but Khaddafy??!

[Luminous Animal]

27. No. But rather, anti-war. Anti-imprerial war. Anti-illegal war.

[Tarheel_Dem]

30. Great article by Alex Koppelman re: Kooch's "ineffectiveness".

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x218791

"...according to the Web site GovTrack, of the 97 bills Kucinich has sponsored since taking office in 1997, only three have become law. Ninety-three didn't even make it out of committee

The three that were enacted are, in chronological order from first to last: A bill "to make available to the Ukranian Museum and Archives the USIA television program 'Window on America,'" a bill "to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 14500 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio as the 'John P. Gallagher Post Office Building" and a bill "proclaiming Casimir Pulaski to be an honorary citizen of the United States posthumously."

:rofl:

Is there any wonder Kooch is seen, largely, as a clown in space gear? :shrug:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

31. Good for him. As a congressman he's supposed to keep an eye on what our money is being spent on.

And, as it is only congress that can declare war, he should look into the executive's efforts to sidestep the constitution.

[Broderick]

34. I think if he did ask for information

it falls in line with him being consistent, and a consistent voice of opposition to war. This place used to be anti-war. Not so much anymore. It all depends on who is sitting in the oval office as to whether war is justified, prison camps are appropriate, etc. etc.

[mkultra]

35. Its not his job to defend Ghaddafis son in International Criminal Court

[Desertrose]

36. I agree. I don't see the uproar here.

He was looking for information.