I think it's officially no longer PLAMEGATE. It's PLAME/AIPACGATE!

[robertpaulsen]

Or the Plame/AIPAC scandal, depending on your preference, but like Iran/Contra this case is definitely worthy of a hyphenate. Just read between the lines of this great article:

The Most Important Criminal Case in American History
by James Moore

snip

We may stand witness to a definitive American moment of democracy. The son of a New York doorman probably has in his hands, in many ways, the fate of the republic. Because far too many of us know and are aware of the crimes committed by our government in our name, we are unlikely to settle for a handful of minor indictments of bureaucrats. The last thing most of us believe in is the rule of law. We do not trust our government or the people we have elected but our constitution is still very much alive and we choose to believe that destiny has placed Patrick Fitzgerald at this time and this place in our history to save us from the people we elected. If the law cannot get to the truth of what has happened to the American people under the Bush administration, then we all may begin to hear the early death rattles of history’s greatest democracy.

Fortunately, there are good signs. Fitzgerald has reportedly asked for a copy of the Italian government’s investigation into the break-in of the Niger embassy in Rome and the source of the forged documents. The blatantly fake papers, which purported to show that Saddam Hussein had cut a deal to get yellowcake uranium from Niger, turned up after a December 2001 meeting in Rome involving neo-con Michael Ledeen, Larry Franklin, Harold Rhodes, and Niccolo Pollari, the head of Italy’s intelligence agency SISMI, and Antonio Martino, the Italian defense minister.

snip

The other American attendees at Ledeen’s Roman Holiday are also worthy of scrutiny. Larry Franklin was recently arrested for leaking classified US government information to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Ledeen sprang quickly to his defense but Franklin faces prosecution next year and is most probably cooperating with prosecutor Fitzgerald. Harold Rhode, the other American actor in this tragicomic affair, worked the Office of Special Plans (OSP) at the Department of Defense for Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Characterized as a “counter-intelligence shop,” OSP simply interpreted intelligence in a manner that fit the need for evidence that Iraq had WMD. If the CIA gathered data that said otherwise, OSP analyzed it differently or ignored the facts and then reported to the vice president precisely what he wanted to hear. Rhode also was the liaison between Ahmed Chalabi, the convicted embezzler the Bush administration was using to feed information to them and Judy Miller about the distortions and lies required to fuel the rush to war.

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/the-most-important-crimin_b_9183.html

Thanks to stevendsmith for finding this! If this is correct that mean Fitz has flipped three people that we know of: Hannah, Wurmser and now Franklin!

James Moore: Fitzgerald has reportedly asked for Niger Forgery Info
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5115699


:bounce::woohoo:

edited to add link to Stevendsmith's thread.

[aquart]

1. And this makes you happy, why?

Because I find your focus just fascinating.

[robertpaulsen]

4. This widens the criminal scope of Fitz's probe considerably.

AIPAC, if explored thoroughly, would expose the evil deeds of career criminals like Ledeen, Luti and Doug Feith. I think together with Plame this will help expose the "stovepiping" network Seymour Hersh wrote about in New Yorker with OSP/WHIG.

That's just for starters. My hope is that this will break open the PNAC connections with the Nuclear Walmart run by A.Q. Khan. I may be dreaming, but we shall see.

[starroute]

45. I want to know where Abramoff and DeLay come into it

http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=922

Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist at the center of a federal corruption investigation, led a Congressional delegation to Pakistan in 1997 but failed to tell the group's sponsor or the lawmakers that he was a registered lobbyist for the Pakistani government, according to the sponsor and the two House members on the trip.

<snip>

Later disclosure forms show that Mr. Abramoff and the firm lobbied aggressively on Pakistan's behalf, including repeated contacts with the offices of Mr. DeLay, a close friend of Mr. Abramoff. Mr. DeLay, now the House majority leader, has asked the House ethics committee to resolve accusations involving his overseas travels with Mr. Abramoff.

http://www.iacfpa.org/p_news/nit/iacpa-archieve/2005/05/20/investigation-cap-200505.html

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff is being investigated for taking a group of legislators to Islamabad without telling them he was a registered lobbyist for the Pakistan government.

According to a recent (May 7) New York Times article, Abramoff went to Pakistan with a number of Congressmen in early 1997, who now say that they were not informed of the possible conflict-of-interest.

Meanwhile, he had allegedly been lobbying for the revocation of sanctions in place against Pakistan for pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

[robertpaulsen]

69. Flanigan, Abramoff, Libby, Marc Rich & Khan. Connect those dots.

Very special thanks to DU's Carolab for this find:

Carolab (1000+ posts) Sat Oct-08-05 02:21 AM
Response to Original message
11. Flanigan, Abramoff, Libby, Marc Rich & Khan. Connect those dots.
Edited on Sat Oct-08-05 03:00 AM by Carolab

Right here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cea-usa/message/8768

{snip}

Plame leak damaged a major CIA investigation linking senior Bush administration officials to WMD proliferation.

U.S. intelligence insiders have pointed out that the White House is using "Rovegate" and "Who in the White House said what to whom?" as a smoke screen to divert attention away from the actual counter-proliferation work Mrs. Wilson and her Brewster Jennings & Associates team were engaged in. The arrival of Timothy Flanigan as Patrick J. Fitzgerald's boss is likely related to the mountains of evidence Fitzgerald has now collected to indict senior White House officials, particularly, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, for criminal conspiracy in exposing a sensitive U.S. intelligence operation that was targeting some of their closest political and business associates. Libby, it will be recalled, was the attorney for fugitive global smuggler and multi-bilionaire Marc Rich, someone who has close ties to the Sharon government and Israeli intelligence. It is no coincidence that FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds uncovered nuclear material and narcotics trafficking involving Turkish intermediaries with ties to Israel at the same time Brewster Jennings and the CIA's Counter Proliferation Division was hot on the trail of nuclear proliferators tied to the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon and the A. Q. Khan network of Pakistan.

{snip}

An arrest in early 2004 points to the links between Israeli agents and Islamist groups bent on producing weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. According to intelligence sources, this was a network that was a major focus of Edmonds' and Valerie Plame Wilson's work.

{snip}

It was during the summer of 2003, when Valerie Plame and her team -- at a critical stage of their investigation of the A. Q. Khan network -- were outed by White House officials Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and at least one other individual (possibly Elliot Abrams), that Karni received an e-mail from his long time Pakistani associate Humayun Khan (no relation to A. Q. Khan) asking for 200 triggers to be sent to his Islamabad-based company, Pakland PME.

{snip}

However, what is clear is that an Israeli-based network, involving key neo-conservatives in the Bush adminstration, were attempting to speed up the clock on the delivery by the A. Q. Khan network of prohibited nuclear material to countries like Iran, thereby justifying a pre-emptive U.S. (and Israeli-supported) attack on Iranian nuclear installations. It was this network that attracted the attention of the CIA and when it realized some of the "men behind the curtain" were in the Pentagon, they had their smoking gun evidence of double dealing by Bush administration officials and their compatriots in the Sharon government.


{MORE AT LINK}

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1835034#1836160



Good Lord, how many tentacles does this Octopus have? If Fitzgerald hopes to cut them all off, he's got to talk to Sibel Edmonds. Wasn't she supposed to have her case heard before SCOTUS this month? I can't seem to find any news on her.

[MisterP]

7. and why shouldn't it?

[Roland99]

11. Because this could lead to the PNAC's undoing.

The PNAC and AIPAC are very tightly-woven.

[AntiFascist]

18. It also establishes the broader connections....

to the administration being dishonest about the need for war in general. Next, Congress, or someone, should push for investigating the Downing Street memos!

[countryjake]

20. Check the letter in this topic...

Rep Nadler calls for expansion of Fitzgerald's investigation - WMD lies
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5117143&mesg_id=5117143

[AntiFascist]

23. Wow, this is important...

when I first forwarded one of those letters to my Congressperson calling for the impeachment of Bush I received a response basically brushing it off and making it sound stupid. Now I have heard that she is turning around on the issue of investigating why we are at war:

You may also be interested to know that a growing number of like-minded colleagues and I -- who feel strongly that it is time to end our presence in Iraq – have begun to meet regularly. I recently attended briefings which featured former Senator Max Cleland, General Wesley Clark and other military experts...

We need to make our representatives know that we take Rep. Nadler's reasons for calling for expansion of this investigation very seriously!

[cry baby]

54. It is nice that you get something other than a form letter from your rep.

Who is your rep? I only get form letters from mine, rep and senators are Rs and are obviously brushing me off.

[AntiFascist]

65. Lois Capps....

but her popularity may suffer if CA gets redistricted and her district ends up getting spread into freeperland.

[countryjake]

62. I do the same thing when it's really an outstanding position...

like back when Kucinich demanded an accounting of all the evidence existing that Iraq had WMDs, in the months leading up to the Invasion. We sent that to every one of our state's Congresspeople, snail mail! When any one of them has the nerve to make a stand, the rest need to be informed how much we admire that and urged to also take action.

I always ask lots of sincere questions in my letters, cause that usually guarantees an authentic response from our reps, rather than the usual form letters they like to dash off to us. With Nadler's letter, I question whether they agree that investigating this mess thoroughly is vital to the stability of Democracy in our nation!

[Jacobin]

26. Is it still illegal to criticize zionists?

just askin'

[AntiFascist]

28. I like to call it "radical Zionism," it raises less hair on necks nt

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[countryjake]

49. So if the Neocon plan for regime change in Iran goes forward...

it would be wrong for us here to talk about WHY? Look at how Ms. Rice was beating around the bush Wednesday at that hearing, when she was questioned about this administration's plans for military action against Iran and she wouldn't even rule out an attack on Syria! Her "prez" has lots of "options", she says! (And he knows how to use them!)

You'd think with spies dropping like flies out of the Pentagon, swarming all over our occupation in Iraq, sitting on "special committees" at the Capitol building and treasonous warmongers having tea-parties in the White House as their "group" decides who next to smear, destroy, or invade, that this should be exactly what we discuss!

Listening to Condi scared the crap outta me the other day! They ARE gonna do this, they think NOTHING can stop them, and they damn well may be right, if we all just sit on our thumbs!


I don't know how anyone can ignore info such as this:

Cloak and Swagger
The Larry Franklin spy probe reveals an escalating fight over control of Iran policy.
By Laura Rozen and Jason Vest
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=8764

[rman]

57. this'll probably stay,

just to prove you wrong :)

Nevertheless, points well taken.

The requirement for I/P posts to be based on new or recent op-ed articles (apparently news articles aren't good enough) means that the I/P issue as such can in fact not be freely discussed on DU.

[cascadiance]

58. anti-war.com article posts also. Suspect censorship as AIPAC broke...

When Larry Franklin was first charged publicly and made the major news outlets, I also noticed something else that happened about the same time, that I'll keep repeating here, since I think the more we hear newer news on it, it seems more suspicious.

Up until that point, googling for news articles on Sibel Edmonds would yield hits just about every day. The day after this news came out, there was a sudden dearth of articles about her for weeks. I mean ZILCH articles during that period! Now we hear a lot of her subsequent articles and interviews point to how what she knows ties all of these scandals together, and that it sounds like she's a nucleus for knowledge of this. I really would like to know if Google was complicit in editing their indexes to remove references to such articles or if there was a more wide-spread effort to shut this sort of news down at that time to keep things "quiet" and not have them connected then.

Now, I'm not for anti-semitic crap either. And there is a lot of that out there too. But many of these articles get thrown in the same heap with ones that actually have information that would be worth looking at.

Just like I find many articles on the Armenian genocide a little distorting of the truth, and some might call anti-Turkish, I still would like to have access to all of them about what happened to the Hastert vote. They probably have FAR MORE documentation about what happened to that time in question which could get him up on charges of bribery and violation of campaign finance laws.

I think whereever one sees pieces in articles that are obviously racist or have other discriminatory tones, it is a good practice to note that when referencing them, but I think it's dangerous just to censor them completely.

---------

"Talk to Sibel Edmonds, Fitzgerald" (soon hopefully a cover of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" with new lyrics to be heard on various radio streams)

[countryjake]

60. Good idea about noting the off tones in articles...

and nothing wrong with pointing out bigotry in another's posted story, but it seems we might do better at hashing out why that bigotry is there and understanding it, get to the bottom of it, rather than eliminating entire discussions and ignoring vital information that has nothing whatsoever to do with discrimination and everything to do with the direction our leaders wish to take us!

Members of my family are just as worried about anti-semitism as anyone, but they are far more worried about the rise of NeoFascism in this world, in which absolutely no minority would be safe!

[cascadiance]

63. I think some people let anti-semitism go too far just like

many let their fear of terrorism translate into hating all Muslims and Arabs as well. It's definitely something to keep in check.

Unfortunately, sites like anti-war.com have been noted to carry some articles that are said to be anti-semitic (the ones I've read on anti-war.com mostly haven't seemed that way to me, but I'll take others word for it that there might be some of that content there), whereas they have just as many that have very healthy criticism of what is going in places (both Israeli and other places) that should be heard. My gut feeling is that you have quite a mixture of personalities writing for them, and they aren't as strict in exercising editorial control over what gets published on their site. That can be good for some reasons and bad for others.

If the mainstream media were to do their real jobs and cover a lot of the news that is getting censored out there now, there wouldn't be as much of a need to look at sites like these for very important info that's given way too little coverage now. Unfortunately, that means we ourselves as readers have to function more as judicious editors in ignoring those sites that overly censor things too much, and having to do our own "editorial censorship" to separate real unreported news from opinionated rumors.

Unfortunately we can't have a session talking about editorial standards every time we publish a link to a controversial news site. If we did, people would never get to talking about the real important content that might be being discussed, and we'd be distracted from it each time. I've seen that happen a number of times in the 9/11 forum. I would think just a quick note if we feel bias is there, and perhaps someplace we can point to about a given site that has more at-length discussions on their editorial practices for those concerned about them. Hopefully that way we can have important and relevant discussions about uncovered topics, and yet do it fairly without giving license to anyone to be racist or exercise other unfair criticism on others.

[AntiFascist]

64. A lot of it is probably due to Pat Buchanan and his paleo-conservative...

following. They seem pretty blatant about being anti-Semitic.

Two other factors to consider are 1.) the extreme "radical" Zionists who don't seem to realize that not only are they feeding radical Islam, but are also stirring up the neo-Nazi movement! and 2.) Neoconservatives who keep playing the anti-Semitic card. Since neoconservatism has now pretty much been given a bad rep, they being associated with the anti-defamation movement cannot be good. Oh, I almost forgot 3.) the fundies, conservative evangelicals, Dominionists, rapturists, and what-have-you who keep visiting the Holy Land and desecrating it with their presence!

[robertpaulsen]

72. I feel the same way. When will SCOTUS take away Sibel Edmonds' gag?

I seem to recall reading in a number of places that SCOTUS would be hearing her case this month. Now everything Sibel seems to be frozen, which is really unnerving.

Anyone have any recent info on what's happening with Sibel Edmonds?

[The Backlash Cometh]

37. Because it means someone is finally paying attention.

How does that go? In order for evil to prevail, the good only need do nothing.

[No Exit]

40. It makes me happy, too, pal.

Because the combination of the two investigations brings us ever closer to the truth of how our government has been hijacked by neocon criminals. When that truth is splashed across every front page, both internet and newspaper, in America, I will be even happier.

[rman]

52. focus on criminal wrongdoing.

what do you find fascinating about it?

[rucky]

53. this supplies a motive for this madness

beyond dollars and cents, but the ideological basis that would twist the Neocons into fanaticism and allow them to take these immense risks they have taken- without conscience. Money only takes you so far with big plans like world domination... it shows that they are ideologicaly driven as well.

AIPAC's public agenda is radical, if you really look at it. Maybe this shows how far some people within the organization are willing to take it behind closed doors?

[understandinglife]

2. A related DU thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5109514


Peace.

[robertpaulsen]

3. Thanks understandinglife!

Sorry I missed yours before, I'll be sure to respond. Funny, seemslikeadream just sent me a thread on the same topic:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x166396

Great minds think alike, eh? This is exploding like crazy!

[understandinglife]

9. "This is exploding like crazy!" -- sure is!!! Thank you.

Peace.

[understandinglife]

10. dupe

Peace.

[texpatriot2004]

5. I suspected that for some time now. It seems AIPAC is under it all

you know, it's percolating there beneath the surface all the while.

[countryjake]

6. Can we now get our hopes back up...

that some of the charges handed down will be treason? I couldn't fathom why Franklin would accept that guilty plea, unless he was intent on taking the whole mess down with him.

On another note, think Fitz's focus on that Rome break-in may explain the position taken by our government last year, against Chalabi? When we went in and searched his offices, would they have been "cleaning up" whatever evidence I'm sure that rat-bastard probably held as protection in case of his own exposure?


And here's one more related link to this case:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4982454&mesg_id=4982454

[Me.]

8. Smokin' RP!

Love to see Ledeen and Rohdes go down too.

[robertpaulsen]

13. Here, here! Time for a scumbag profile.

Who is Michael Ledeen?

By William O. Beeman, Pacific News Service. Posted May 8, 2003.


Most Americans have never heard of Michael Ledeen, but if the United States ends up in an extended shooting war throughout the Middle East, it will be largely due to his inspiration.

A fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Ledeen holds a Ph.D. in History and Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin. He is a former employee of the Pentagon, the State Department and the National Security Council. As a consultant working with NSC head Robert McFarlane, he was involved in the transfer of arms to Iran during the Iran-Contra affair -- an adventure that he documented in the book "Perilous Statecraft: An Insider's Account of the Iran-Contra Affair." His most influential book is last year's "The War Against the Terror Masters: Why It Happened. Where We Are Now. How We'll Win."

Ledeen's ideas are repeated daily by such figures as Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. His views virtually define the stark departure from American foreign policy philosophy that existed before the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. He basically believes that violence in the service of the spread of democracy is America's manifest destiny. Consequently, he has become the philosophical legitimator of the American occupation of Iraq.

Now Michael Ledeen is calling for regime change beyond Iraq. In an address entitled "Time to Focus on Iran -- The Mother of Modern Terrorism," for the policy forum of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) on April 30, he declared, "the time for diplomacy is at an end; it is time for a free Iran, free Syria and free Lebanon."

more...

http://www.alternet.org/story/15860/

Michael Ledeen

snip

Ledeen was a major figure in the biggest foreign policy scandal of the Ronald Reagan administration. As a secret agent of National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane, Ledeen vouched for Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar, and along with Oliver North, met with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, and officers of Mossad and the CIA to arrange the illegal weapons-for-hostages deal with Iran that would become known as the Iran-Contra scandal.1

snip

Earlier in his career, Ledeen authored Universal Fascism: The Theory and Practice of the Fascist International, 1928-1936, published in 1972 and now out of print. The book critiqued European fascism, particularly Italian fascism; Ledeen attempted to differentiate between the an ideal, revolutionary "fascist movement," which he views in a positive light, and the failed, under-reaching "fascist regime."

In 2005, Vincent Cannistraro, former head of counterterrorism operations at the CIA and the intelligence director at the National Security Council under Ronald Reagan, implicated Michael Ledeen as the possible source of the forged memo that claimed that Iraq had sought to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger.<2>

In an interview on July 26, 2005, Cannistraro's business partner and columnist for the American Conservative magazine, former CIA counter terrorism officer Philip Giraldi, confirmed to Scott Horton that the forgeries were produced by "a couple of former CIA officers who are familiar with that part of the world who are associated with a certain well-known neoconservative who has close connections with Italy." When Horton guessed whether that was Ledeen, Giraldi chuckled and replied "you'd be very close." Giraldi added that the ex-CIA officers, "also had some equity interests, shall we say, with the operation. A lot of these people are in consulting positions, and they get various, shall we say, emoluments in overseas accounts, and that kind of thing."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ledeen


Harold Rhode

Harold Rhode is a Foreign Affairs Specialist in the Office of Net Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense.<1> (http://www.ndu.edu/sdcfp/OrientationAgenda03RO.doc)

According to Jason Vest's September 2, 2002, article (http://www.rescuemideastpolicy.com/bk/vest.html) "The Men From JINSA and CSP," Harold Rhode and Andrew Marshall, from the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, "actively tinker with ways to re-engineer both the Iranian and Saudi Arabian governments."

In their January 26, 2004, Mother Jones article "The Lie Factory" (http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/iraq/1448.html), Robert Dreyfuss and Jason Vest write:

"Called in to help organize the Iraq war-planning team was a longtime Pentagon official, Harold Rhode, a specialist on Islam who speaks Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, and Farsi. Though Douglas Feith would not be officially confirmed until July 2001, career military and civilian officials in NESA began to watch his office with concern after Rhode set up shop in Feith's office in early January. Rhode, seen by many veteran staffers as an ideological gadfly, was officially assigned to the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, an in-house Pentagon think tank headed by fellow neocon Andrew Marshall. Rhode helped Feith lay down the law about the department's new anti-Iraq, and broadly anti-Arab, orientation. In one telling incident, Rhode accosted and harangued a visiting senior Arab diplomat, telling him that there would be no 'bartering in the bazaar anymore.... You're going to have to sit up and pay attention when we say so.'

"Rhode refused to be interviewed for this story, saying cryptically, 'Those who speak, pay.'

"According to insiders, Rhode worked with Feith to purge career Defense officials who weren't sufficiently enthusiastic about the muscular anti-Iraq crusade that Paul D. Wolfowitz and Feith wanted. Rhode appeared to be 'pulling people out of nooks and crannies of the Defense Intelligence Agency and other places to replace us with,' says a former analyst. 'They wanted nothing to do with the professional staff. And they wanted us the fuck out of there.'

more...

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Harold_Rhode

[countryjake]

15. Your link to the Vest article about Rhode is broken...

Here's a working link:



http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020902/vest


Hope this is the correct story you were referencing!

[robertpaulsen]

21. That's the one. Thanks countryjake!

All the stories on those links are pretty juicy.

[countryjake]

46. Especially liked "The Lie Factory"...

from Mother Jones and their purging of the Pentagon!

Thank YOU for collecting all of this good information!

[Me.]

17. They All Deserved To Be Put Down

for the lives they played with and allowed to be so wantonly destroyed, not to mention the country they betrayed. And what do you think of the notion of Ghorbanifar being a Mossad agent?

[robertpaulsen]

25. Ghorbanifar in Mossad? About as plausible as Chalabi being an Iranian spy.

Makes sense in the context of the deal, he was serving two masters.

Here's an interesting story on the subject:

Niger Yellowcake and The Man Who Forged Too Much
by Pen
Fri Jul 22, 2005 at 04:56:03 AM PDT
They say all roads lead to Rome. Well, this one certainly does. It's a road that starts in Paris, at the door of Iranian arms dealer and Mossad double agent Manucher Ghorbanifar, a man known to the CIA as an "intelligence fabricator". It's a road that runs through Niger uranium mines, past a Genoan fascist organization operating as a parallel Italian intelligence network with ties to Rocco Martino, and down the streets of Milan, where a CIA operative, now considered a fugitive at large by Italian authorities, once operated.

Ultimately, however, it is a road that does not end in Rome. It runs past that ancient icon of Imperial corruption and leads us to Washington D.C., past a Federal Investigation into Israeli espionage and right up to the steps of the White House and Dick Cheney's Office of Special Plans.

All signs along this road point to the answer to the question: Who forged the Niger Uranium Documents?

more...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/22/7563/12283

[davidlynch]

34. Scott Horton Didn't Guess--It was Ian Masters

Ian Masters was interviewing Vincent Cannistraro, and this is where the famous "you'd be very close" came from, resulting in a Ledeen filing a defamation lawsuit against Masters and Cannistraro.

[seemslikeadream]

12. Judith Miller is Unnamed Woman in AIPAC Spy Ring Indictment

http://www.sw-asia.com/People/Judith_Miller_Naor_Gilon_Franklin_AIPAC.htm

Judith Miller is Unnamed Woman in AIPAC Spy Ring Indictment
More Notes by Barry O'Connell
www.SW-Asia.com

Page 24 Paragraph numbered 7of the AIPAC Spy Ring Indictment (see below)
http://news.findlaw.com/nytimes/docs/dod/usfrnklin...

This is in reference to a meeting between FRANKLIN (Larry Franklin) and FO-3 (Naor Gilon) at the Pentagon Officers Athletic Club. The woman referenced is Judith Miller. Miller is a reporter for the New York Times who is as I write held in a Federal Facility in contempt of court. She wrote many now discredited stories on WMDs for the Times. The Charitable work was The Iraqi Jewish Archive which Judith Miller and Harold Rhode cooperated on with Ahmad Chalabi.

I have reason to believe that the conversation between Larry Franklin and Naor Gilon about Judith Miller included a reference to Valerie Plame. This case becomes a time bomb if it is revealed that Mossad had a part in the outing of CIA agent Plame.

[robertpaulsen]

14. Heavy! Another Plame/AIPAC crossover.

This is definitely a "time bomb" that raises some interesting questions. If they are referencing Judy Miller as someone who is "not in the United States government", that would seem to clear up those rumors about Judy being some kind of secret agent when she's not busy "reporting". Or does it? Is Miller a NOC herself? How the hell does someone not in the US government get a DOD security clearance? Or is she an even bigger liar than Rove?

Boy, this is fun!

:popcorn::beer:

[Me.]

19. Nuke Level

I don't think Miller is a NOC, but rather an "asset" on the neo side. Many journalists, including Woodward have been (not noe of course), and she has been too much of an advocate not to be. I also wonder if, when all is said and done, Fitz can go back to the Islamic charity case, which died an early death when the judge denied him access to Miller's phone records. I wonder if that judge is having second thoughts now.

[DemReadingDU]

16. Just WOW, Recommended!

my brain is exploding with all this info to process

[hang a left]

22. You know I have just read Murray Waas's article from today regarding

Secret Service logs that were shown to Miller during her first appearance before the GJ which prompted Miller to go find her notebook. And I started thinking. Do you think it is possible that this "Shield Law" for reporters that they are trying to pass is so that they can keep any information that Miller might have regarding dealings with AIPAC and the Mossad a secret?

[robertpaulsen]

30. God that makes me sick. Probably explains Miller's grin.

But the problem she faces is the indictments. I pray that Miller is indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice. This would effectively turn to mud any chance she has of pushing a new law through Congress, who would not want to draw any attention to themselves as being seen as enabling a criminal. If indicted, Miller's status as 1st Amendment martyr would be effectively annihilated.

[hang a left]

32. Me too.

But whats with all the talk from her attorney that she is not going to be indicted? Oh, nevermind, I lost touch with reality for a minute; I am back now.

[robertpaulsen]

36. Hey, here's a good thread on the subject!

BREAKING: JUDY LIED TO GRAND JURY (Scooter meeting on June 23)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5117916

[emulatorloo]

24. Wacky Pat Buchanan thinks so too --

,snip>

My own sense, from hearing and reading about Fitzgerald is that he may be going after much larger game, that he may have what Bob Bennett calls a "big case," that he may be going after the White House and WHIG for fabricating the case for war, that he is roaming afield, looking into who forged the Niger documents and passed them on to U.S. intelligence and whether the case for war was shot through with deceit and lies. (But if lying us into war is a crime, we would have to have a second look at that FDR memorial on the trail to Haynes Point.)

An interesting question is whether Fitzgerald is now working with McNulty, who got Larry Franklin to plead and is now going after AIPAC and the Israelis and has the fruits of five years of FBI investigations going back into the 1990s. Are the two Irish prosecutors collaborating?

<snip>

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9601200/#051019a

[hang a left]

27. I read somewhere yesterday that Fitzgerald and McNulty were

sharing information.

[hang a left]

29. I found it

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=7681




snip>

No wonder my source tells me that "Fitzgerald asked the Italians if he could share the report with Paul McNulty," the prosecutor in the AIPAC case. There are plenty of links between the two investigations: they are, in a sense, the same investigation, since many of the same people are involved. McNulty is delving into a single aspect of the cabal's activities, while Fitzgerald seems to have broadened his probe to include not only the outing of Plame, but also the origin of the Niger uranium forgeries and other instances of classified information leakage via the vice president's office.

snip>

[robertpaulsen]

33. I read that too.

That makes sense, they're sharing witnesses. I'm sure they also shared the Niger forgeries.

[emulatorloo]

43. wow . . . . . thanks . . . . .this is getting real interesting n/t

[Tom Joad]

31. AIPAC? All the liberals love AIPAC...

They go to the AIPAC dinners and extol the virtues of AIPAC and Israeli policies. See for example the write-up on Pelosi here
http://www.tomjoad.org/Pelosi.htm

But these "liberals" sure don't support liberation. They say the Israeli occupation is good, Palestinians must "behave" and then they will be "given" something that will be called a "state", if it is ok with Israel.

Human rights? Does not apply for these "liberals".

These kind of so-called liberals (which Pelosi is a shining example), oppose real liberation, real social justice, a real peace.

Contrast these folks to people like Cynthia McKinney, Barbara Lee and others who have dared to say no (at least sometimes) to AIPAC.

We must oppose military occupation. It is wrong in Iraq, It is wrong in Palestine.

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[robertpaulsen]

38. Hey, hey hey!

Before we start a non-sequitor flame war, let's get it straight: We should be supporting the prosecution of criminal acts regardless of race, religion or partisan affiliation. That's my position and I think most on this thread support it.

[Tom Joad]

39. Yes, i certainly agree. nt

[petgoat]

41. Let's just call it PNAC or neoconservatism and leave out the

nations and ethnic groups involved.

I want it to include 9/11 and all the warnings that were ignored.
Dealing with that is essential to recovering respect in the world.

Another reason is that it will delay action on the issue until next
year, so we needn't worry about the momentum on all this peaking too
early and possibly being deflected by appointing McCain as VP before the
Dems have a chance to regain control of the House and Senate.

[H2O Man]

42. Certain topics

tend to get some visitors to want to disrupt a nice conversation. This topic, as RP knows, is likely to upset some folks. Now, this is just speculation on my part, but I don't think that it is because of some racial, ethnic, or religious bias. Let's drop those "issues" from any further discussion. Let's focus on politics. Now, it would seem to me that RP is talking about Fitzgerald and McNulty delivering a message in the form of a three-leaf clover: Plame, neocon/AIPAC spy, and yellow cake forgery scandals. But let's lets leave the Irish business out of this. There's no need to point out that the administration should know better than to try to lie to a couple Irish cops. It goes without saying. So don't ask. Just drink your Guinness and sing Irish ballads.

[robertpaulsen]

73. Perhaps instead of champagne, we should toast indictments w/ Guinness!

Ah, the Irish. God bless those troublemakers!

:rofl::toast::beer:

Thanks for mentioning the three leaf clover. The more people realize that Fitz has been on top of this connection, the more they'll realize this whole scandal is so much bigger than little Donald Segretti's pupil. We don't want to miss the overall picture.

[H2O Man]

75. The implications

of this are fascinating. What you and I and others on DU knew yesterday, is now known by a larger group today, and can become "common knowledge" tomorrow. First, it is fantastic, because when the public recognizes that they have been had -- and damn it, they have been had! -- then they will be willing to consider change. And that is the power of "potential" .... which is too often not fully appreciated in America.

More, it demonstrates the power of ideas .... something that has become lost to a large degree in this culture. Our educational system is no longer geared towards stressing the power of ideas .... in fact, it is quite the opposite as an institution .... though most schools have a few teachers who are still invested in teaching how to think, not what to think, they are not appreciated. Because "the system" - from factories to offices - requires the unconscious contributions of machines, not the conscious thinking of individuals. This, of course, is why a crop of republicans will more easily find full employment than DUers!

But, we had an idea, quite a while back, which at the time would have been viewed as outrageous -- crazy conspiracies of the far left -- by the mainstream corporate media. But now, these ideas, which were nurtured on DU among other places, are knocking at the administration's door.

It is a pleasure doing business with you, RP. And while as a rule I do not consume alcohol, my wife usually has a supply of good wine, and my son always has a supply of Guinness .... and so I think we will be enjoying a toast or two very soon.

[robertpaulsen]

77. I was talking about the same phenomenon w/ Octafish on another thread.

What a difference a year makes. Last summer, when we were doing intensive research here on all things Plame, there were many close friends and relatives who were not too familiar with the situation, and had no idea who the characters involved were. Now, everyone knows the situation, Valerie Plame, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Judy Miller and Patrick Fitzgerald are all well known names, and everyone seems to agree that something is rotten.

Spreading the truth does make a difference!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5141875

Pleasure doing business with you too. Toasting is just around the corner!

[rucky]

56. Not THIS liberal Jew:

www.peacenow.org

[fearnobush]

44. Lt Col Karen Kwiatkowski, Saw the creation of the O.S.P.

She was assigned to the NESA from May 2002 through February 2003. She is one who witnessed the dis-info media manipulation campaign and the lies that led us to war and the ultimate exposure of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson to do harm to Amb. Joe Wilson, who exposed uranium from Niger falsehood.

''They would draw up 'talking points' they would use and distribute to their friends'', said Kwiatkowski. ''But the talking points would be changed continually, not because of new intel (intelligence), but because the press was poking holes in what was in the memos''.

Wilson poked big battle ship sized holes in uranium from Niger

"Rather than working with the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, its Near Eastern Affairs bureau, or even its Iraq desk, for example, they preferred to work through Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security (and former AEI executive vice president) John Bolton; Michael Wurmser (another Perle protégé at AEI who staffed the predecessor to OSP)"

"In some cases, NESA and OSP even prepared memos specifically for Cheney and Libby, something unheard of in previous administration because the lines of authority in the Vice President's office and the Pentagon are entirely separate. ''Luti sometimes would say, 'I've got to do this for Scooter' '', said Kwiatkowski. ''It looked like Cheney's office was pulling the strings'"

Here it looks like they pulled some strings all right! Valerie's CIA status must have come from Chaney's office, most likely from Chaney to Libby to Rove to the press.

<http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0807-02.htm>

[countryjake]

47. Kick!

[entanglement]

50. This is getting very interesting!

:kick:

[Karenina]

51. Documenting the obvious!

:popcorn:

[realFedUp]

55. Can he tie in Norquist to all this also?

It would be so cost effective to round them up
at one time.

[robertpaulsen]

74. Norquist is tied to Arab corruption as well as Abramoff/Delay scandal.

The Republican Party, particularly the Bush family, has the closest links to the oil sheikhs. In 1990, George W. Bush made almost a million dollars in a deal bankrolled by the emirate of Bahrain. Harken, a tiny Texas company that had Bush on its board won a contract in Bahrain against the giant Amaco, mainly because of Bush's contacts with his father, the then President. On the board of Harken, beside Bush, was Talat Othman, recently under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department for his role with Islamic charities. Othman, who offered the benediction at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in 2000, joined with Republican strategists Grover Norquist and Khaled Saffuri to create the Islamic Institute and to draw Muslims to the Republican Party. The Bush administration also elevated the first Arab American, Spencer Abraham, to the post of Energy Secretary. So why should a government so eager to please its Gulf allies, particularly the Saudis, go out of its way to take the side of Ariel Sharon's Israel?

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2020/stories/20031010000906000.htm


If I find a Norquist connection to Plame/AIPACgate, I'll let you know.
Abramoff and Friends
Abramoff and business partner Adam Kidan were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale on August 11 on several counts of wire fraud and conspiracy related to their purchase of a Florida-based gambling boats business. Already at the center of a growing controversy over money he received while representing Indian casino interests, Abramoff’s latest legal troubles involve allegedly fraudulent wire transfers he and Kidan used to purchase the SunCruz gambling business from Florida businessman Konstantinos Boulis. Boulis, who made millions on a chain of Florida sandwich shops, was shot to death in February 2001, shortly after his relations with Kidan and Abramoff soured. According to the Washington Post (August 12, 2005), Kidan hired Anthony Moscatiello, an associate of the Gambino crime family, in late 2000, just a few months before Boulis was shot three times in the chest with hollow-point bullets.

To help seal the SunCruz deal, reports the Post, Abramoff “leveraged his connections with members of Congress,” including Rep. Tom Delay (R-Texas), who reportedly gave Boulis a flag that had once flown over the Capitol. Abramoff also took his lead financier for the deal to a Delay fundraising event, listed Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) as a reference on his loan application, and wined and dined Delay aides on SunCruz jets and gambling boats. Also chipping in was Rep. Robert Ney who, at the urging of Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon, criticized Boulis and praised Kidan in the Congressional Record.

Both Ney and Delay—as well Senators David Vitters and Conrad Burns—have been mentioned in connection with the Abramoff-Indian casinos scandal, which is the focus of congressional and federal investigations. Abramoff (along with erstwhile partner Scanlon, a former Delay aide) is accused of misusing tens of millions of dollars in lobbying fees from Indian clients, who Abramoff once described as “morons” and “monkeys.”

Although the Abramoff scandals don’t appear to touch administration insiders, his shady dealings have brought unwanted attention to a number of influential Bush supporters and Christian conservatives. Reported the Boston Globe in early June: “Among the prominent figures who have come under the scrutiny of Senate and federal investigators are (Grover) Norquist, whose organization received $1.5 million from tribes and fought a tax on Indian casinos (and) Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition who allegedly used some money from Indian gaming tribes to fund his efforts to close down rival casinos and lotteries.”

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/rw/358

[buzzard]

59. Robert have you seen this site I posted it elsewhere but it got lost. It

is a little hard to navigate but contains much information on Plamegate AIPAC Franklin and connections going back years. My head is spinning trying to keep all the players and connections straight. Let me know what you think or if you have any other comprehensive links I would like to read them.

http://www.franklingate.com/index.htm

http://www.franklingate.com/summary.htm#Ledeen

[robertpaulsen]

71. Thank you very much buzzard!

A couple people had asked for a good AIPAC site. Those timelines are very comprehensive!

I believe seemslikeadream also has a number of excellent AIPAC links.

[Chicago Democrat]

61. Let's not call it "Gate" or even "Crime" or even "Federal Crime"

Let's call it what is ....


TREASON!


ITS TREASON!!!! To invade a sovereign nation on lies.



TREASON....(see Constitution)

Section. 3.
Clause 1: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. 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.

Clause 2: 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.



(they get a blindfold)

[Generic Other]

66. Is there a one-stop primer to help us all get up to speed on this topic?

I don't have enough info to make connections.

[countryjake]

67. Before robertpaulsen gets in here to help...

here's another good DU topic with a bit more explanation of things...Holly Hobby's reply "This is SO important" towards the bottom has more links that give history of the Franklin spy affair.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4982454&mesg_id=4982454


And here at indymedia you'll find lots of links connecting so many of the dots between Judith Miller, Larry Franklin, Office of Special Plans, PNAC & WMDs:

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/10/136703.php


It's pretty hard to find a whole lot on the subject; even when Franklin's plea came out, there was somewhat of a newsblock on it which I have no doubt was intentional. Back when all the spying was first uncovered, the media only gave us tiny little articles about it.

[Generic Other]

68. Thanks, interesting to see the connections between all these sticky webs

of deceit and intrigue, but they entangle the average reader as well. Too many threads, too many crimes...appreciate the links.

[robertpaulsen]

70. See buzzard's post 59 on this thread. n/t

[Karenina]

76. Kick!

:kick: