Rep Conyers: Who is going to ask Berlusconi about forged Niger documents?

[understandinglife]

When the Italian Prime Minister visits the White House tomorrow, who will be asking about the white elephant in the room? Which reporter will ask about Italy's unique contribution to the rush to war?

In the report that my Judiciary Committee staff completed late last year, The Constitution in Crisis, we found that, "shortly after September 11, 2001, U.S. and British governments received, at the behest of the Italian Premier, information from Italy's Military and Intelligence and Security Service (SISMI) suggesting that an Iraqi Ambassador had sought to acquire uranium from Niger."

More at the link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-conyers/who-is-going-to-ask-berlu_b_16525.html

Always the leader, always on top of the facts, always searching for the truth == Congressman John Conyers.


Peace.

[stop the bleeding]

1. question is - will we get an answer n/t

[understandinglife]

2. Important background information provided by eriposte at The Left Coaster

Uranium from Africa and the Niger Forgeries: When did the CIA (in the U.S.) first receive copies of the Niger uranium forgeries? - Part 1: The Curious Incident of the CIA in the Daytime

Link:
http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/006968.php

Uranium from Africa and the Valerie Plame expose (Treasongate): A Synopsis

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/005211.php

Last updated, February, 2006

Peace.

[LynneSin]

3. I don't know if anyone noticed this but Berlusconi was pretty much...

...invisible at the Olympics in his home country of Italy. Sure, Italy has it setup with a Prime Minister that does all the work and the president which is more of a 'for show' position. But when they showed the president of Italy at the Olympics they said that Berlusconi was not there because of upcoming Olympics.

Of course at the opening ceremony they did plenty of 'peace' activities including having Yoko Ono read one of John Lennnon's poems, Peter Gabriel sing 'Imagine' and Susan Saradon, a very notable anti-war activist, was one of the 8 women who carried in the Olympic flag (Isabel Allende also was part of that ceremony and she too is against the war)

[kenny blankenship]

4. I'm positive Sil could get one of his thousands of employees

in Italy's tv journalism industry to pose the question appropriately, and then he could answer it appropriately... Con tutto rispetto...

[Catrina]

5. Berlusconi seems to be flip-flopping all over the place lately. He said

recently that he was 'never in favor of the War in Iraq in the first place'. I may be wrong, but I understood that the Italian people were against the war, but that Berlusconi ignored them and committed Italy to the war, supplying troops and support for the Bush administration.

What apparently changed his mind was the murder of one of Italy's heroes, the agent who went to rescue Sgrena (sp?) the reporter who was shot also. That incident enraged his own people, and as I recall, he was on the phone himself with the agent, at the time of the shooting. The last I heard was that Italy was asking for the extradition of US troops involved in the shooting and that they weren't buying the Bush administration story about it.

[understandinglife]

6. abc News: "Italian Party Nominates Agent's Widow"

ROME Feb 1, 2006 (AP)— Italy's largest opposition party has proposed as a candidate for the Senate the widow of an intelligence agent shot at a U.S. checkpoint in Iraq.

Rosa Calipari was one of two names put forward Tuesday by the Democrats of the Left to top their list of candidates for the Senate from the southern region of Calabria. The nomination must be approved by the party's regional office.

General elections are scheduled for April 9.

Agent Nicola Calipari was killed in March at a U.S. checkpoint on the road to Baghdad airport, shortly after he had helped secure the release of an Italian hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena.

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Italian Journalist and former hostage Giuliana Sgrena, left, embraces Rosa Maria Calipari, wife of slain Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari, during an awarding ceremony in memory of Nicola, in Florence, Italy in this Nov. 26, 2005 file photo. Rosa Calipari was one of two names put forward Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006, by the Democrats of the Left to top their list of candidates for the Senate from the southern region of Calabria. The nomination must be approved by the party's regional office. General elections are scheduled for April 9.(AP Photo/Fabrizio Giovannozzi/files)

Link:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1566003

I'm sure both Rosa Calipari and Giuliana Sgrena have lots of important, unanswered questions ...


Peace.

[Catrina]

7. Thank you USL~ there is a striking difference in how Europeans treat their

returning soldiers who have lost their lives in this war, regardless of whether they support the war itself, and how the American government treats its own dead.

I remember Spain (a country whose population overwhelmingly opposed the war) welcoming home one of their dead soldiers a while ago. He was given all the honors given to any hero with what seemed to be a state funeral ~

Italy also was grief-stricken by the death of Agent Calipari ~ and apparently have not forgotten him.

I also remember the grief of Canadians, as a nation, when so-called 'friendly fire' from US pilots, killed several of their troops in Afghanistan ~

Contrast that to the treatment of America's fallen heroes ~ they are spirited into the country in the dark of night, hidden from the public. Photos of their returning caskets are forbidden. As though the country was ashamed of them ~ when photos were released on the internet, those responsible lost their jobs. Why has America tolerated this treatment?

While all these countries still grieve over those who have fallen, this country barely remembers theirs, and are completely unaware of the anger and grief of the citizens in other countries for their lost soldiers. I doubt many Americans even remember the death of Agent Calipari ~ but Italy not only has not forgotten, they are demanding justice for him.

Maybe the emotionalism of the Italian people over the deaths of their soldiers, particularly that of Calipary, finally awakened some spark of humanity in Berlusconi causing him to regret his association with the sociopaths in the US who started all of this. He will never live it down, imo.

As for the Niger Documents, it might be better to talk to Michael Ledeen eg, or Larry Franklin who has entered a guilty plea in the Spies in the Pentagon scandal and who was present in Italy, with Ledeen when the Niger Forgeries surfaced, as I recall ~

[understandinglife]

9. Let me respond by sharing a few items with you:

One is a link to 18 y/o DUer "Ava" whom has captured, in several animations, what I think many Americans anguish in their recognition of the horrors inflicted by Bush and his neoconster minions:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x530552

Josh Marshall quoted Peter Galbraith today:

"In his State of the Union address, President Bush told his Iraq critics, 'Hindsight is not wisdom and second-guessing is not a strategy.' His comments are understandable. Much of the Iraq fiasco can be directly attributed to Bush's shortcomings as a leader. Having decided to invade Iraq, he failed to make sure there was adequate planning for the postwar period. He never settled bitter policy disputes among his principal aides over how postwar Iraq would be governed; and he allowed competing elements of his administration to pursue diametrically opposed policies at nearly the same time. He used jobs in the Coalition Provisional Authority to reward political loyalists who lacked professional competence, regional expertise, language skills, and, in some cases, common sense. Most serious of all, he conducted his Iraq policy with an arrogance not matched by political will or military power."

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007756.php

As Josh notes:

A pretty crisp and concise description of a man who has been an utter failure as a leader, in almost every respect unimaginable. Hubris, ignorance, inability to lead or make hard decisions. The list is as bleak as it is long.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007756.php

Simply, until "We the People ..." begin to be our government, instead of being willing to be governed, the totalitarian corporatists will never be held accountable and the honor and respect and care for all those whom they've harmed will not be a National priority.

Until the accounting starts, we will have to depend on the individual bravery, compassion and creativity of citizens like "Ava" to demonstrate our grief and our respect for those who have served honorably even while they were being thrown to their deaths by the actions of an arrogant, thoughtless war criminal.


Peace.

[phoebe]

8. who is going to ask Berlusconi about the new bribe scandal involving

British politician's husband who made up a story to get Berlusconi out of trouble..

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4728804.stm

wish I could find original story I posted which had Mr. Mills saying some very incriminating things about Berlusconi - seems to have gone "missing"..

[understandinglife]

10. Is this the story ?

Berlusconi hits out at Tessa Jowell's husband

· Italian prime minister denies providing 'gift'
· I'm innocent, says lawyer facing corruption inquiry

John Hooper in Rome
Monday February 20, 2006
The Guardian

David Mills, the husband of the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, came under attack at the weekend from the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, over an alleged "hush money" scandal in which both men risk being tried for corruption.
Mr Mills said the affair, which is threatening to dominate the Italian elections, had become "hideously embarrassing". But he insisted "I know I am innocent of these charges".

In the first sign of a rift between the two co-accused, Mr Berlusconi told a rally in Verona: "Someone has taken advantage of my name." He did not name anyone, but his remarks clearly referred to the publication on Saturday of a letter written by Mr Mills in which he said court testimony he gave in Italy had "kept Mr B out of a great deal of trouble".

Mr Mills, an international corporate lawyer, wrote that $600,000 was later put into a fund for him with help from a "person connected to the B organisation". He added: "It needed to be done discreetly. And this was a roundabout way." Mr Mills has since changed his position and says he invented the story about Mr Berlusconi to get tax advice without revealing the identity of another Italian client.
Mr Mills helped Mr Berlusconi set up a network of offshore companies before the Italian magnate entered politics. Italian prosecutors later claimed it was used for illegal activities, including tax evasion, clandestine political funding and the bribing of judges. Mr Mills's corporate creations have figured in some of Italy's most high-profile recent political controversies.

The British lawyer has always maintained his role was strictly that of a professional adviser, and the use Mr Berlusconi made of the companies was his affair. He has testified for the prosecution against Mr Berlusconi in two trials. Neither they, nor any other involving his offshore empire, has led to a conviction.

<clip>

Link:

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,,1713489,00.html

Peace.

[phoebe]

11. thanks - the article was the one in which larger excerpts from the letter

were shown - Mills admitted to some pretty darn shady dealings..

Berlusconi's re-election is highly unlikely. Methinks the Italian people will choose their next prime minister very carefully..