| Author | Message | | Alpha | | Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2004 7:16 pm Post subject: Clarke and Israel |
| Subj: Clarke and Israel
Date: 4/3/04 6:20:37 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: hectorpv@comcast.net
To: hectorpv@comcast.net
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Friends,
Clarke and Israel
Never did I imagine that Richard Clarke was some type of altruistic hero devoted solely to the pursuit of truth. Obviously, he had to toe the party line to get the important positions he’s had. Truly honest intelligent people can’t go far in the US government. As a friend astutely observed, the only government that would advance the thoroughly honest person would be the Kingdom of God.
So with all Clarke’s significant revelations, he has shied away from making any connection to Israel. He does not explain Wolfowitz and company’s obsession with Iraq.
But, of course, it could be said that Clarke has simply been prudent—what he has said so far has brought considerable retaliation from the administration’s defenders; any mention of Israel would be the kiss of death, as the Zionist lobby would then pile on. The following article points out, however, that Clarke has been a strong supporter of Israeli interests, even when illegality is involved.
The following article is by Michael Saba, an Arab American, who is the author of _The Armageddon Network_, which describes his personal participation in efforts to unmask Israeli efforts to obtain secret U.S. military and scientific information and classified U.S. technology. And as his article points out, Clarke has actually been a strong defender of Israeli interests inside the US government regarding the transfer of military technology to Israel. It is perhaps for this reason that Clarke rose as high as he did. And it was perhaps because of his pro-Israeli bona fides that the neocon-controlled Bush administration did not jettison him immediately. While not exactly a close comrade, he was probably not seen as one who would reveal their pro-Israel machinations.
Saba writes: "Clarke, although he was taking on the neoconservatives, normally ardent supporters of Israel, seemed to be avoiding the mention of the Jewish state like the plague."
And his article describes how Clarke served Israeli interests while in the government:
"From 1989 to 1992 during Bush 1, Clarke served as the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs overseeing sensitive US technology transfers. In a March 1992 report, State Department Inspector General Sherman Funk stated ‘alleged Israeli violations of US laws cited and supported by reliable intelligence information show a systematic and growing pattern of unauthorized transfers...dating back to about 1982.’ According to other US officials at that time, those Israeli violations date back to the early 1970s. Many of those alleged violations during the Reagan era include Israel’s illegal transfers of American technology to China.
"The Funk Report heavily criticized State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs for ignoring scores of intelligence reports on apparent violations of retransfer restrictions and other restrictions and for not reporting them to senior officials and Congress, as required by law.
"The report also recommended that the then Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Richard Clarke be disciplined for his lack of oversight on Israel. Clarke was reprimanded and eventually lost his job. However Clarke, a consummate bureaucratic survivor, reappeared shortly after that on the National Security Council staff in the Clinton administration."
Significantly, Clarke was defended by pro-Zionists and neocons.
"The Jerusalem Post goes on to quote a pro-Israeli activist as saying, ‘Clarke was a friend of Israel in an administration where they do not necessarily grow on trees. Somebody was out there to get him.’
"Also defending Clarke at that time in the Jerusalem Post were neoconservative, pro-Israeli advocates Michael Ledeen and Stephen Bryen claiming that there was ‘lack of proof that Israel had violated any agreements.’"
Other evidence of Clarke’s pro-Israel sympathies.
"Clarke himself was quoted in a 1990 article in the Syracuse(NY) Post-Standard as saying, ‘The US benefits in a lot of ways from its strategic relationship with Israel’ and went on to say that Israel could serve as a ‘war reserve stockpile’ in expanding American military capabilities.
"In Clarke’s book, he makes positive references to his friend, Richard Perle. The pro-Israeli Perle, known as the ‘Prince of Darkness’ is widely credited as one of the architects of Bush’s attack Iraq policy."
___________
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=42001&d=27&m=3&y=2004
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
Saturday, 27, March, 2004 (06, Safar, 1425)
The 10,000-Pound Elephant in the Room
Michael Saba, Arab News —
WASHINGTON, 27 March 2004 — Richard Clarke is all over the news these days. The author of "Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror" had his book released this week, the same week that he appeared as a key witness at the blue ribbon Sept. 11 Commission meeting which focused on what went wrong with America’s intelligence leading up to that fateful day.
Clarke, who retired from government service about a year ago, served 30 years under 7 US presidents, 5 of them Republican, as a national security expert.
Clarke has made all the major TV talk shows and appeared on all of the TV networks chastizing Bush and his administration for mistakes prior to Sept. 11 and criticizing President Bush and his key officials for their obsession to go to war with Iraq rather than focusing on Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.
Yet with all of this talk and criticism, something was missing. There was a 10,000-pound elephant in the room and, although everybody could see it, nobody wanted to mention it. That 10,000-pound elephant is Israel.
Clarke laid the blame and the Bush administration fought back. The Sept. 11Commission also got into the act when Clarke testified. Everyone was blaming everyone else but no one mentioned Israel as a possible participant in the equation. And Clarke, although he was taking on the neoconservatives, normally ardent supporters of Israel, seemed to be avoiding the mention of the Jewish state like the plague. Some courageous political pundits such as Pat Buchanan, have consistently pointed out the role of Israel and the pro-Israeli lobby in driving the United States toward war with Iraq. Then recollections of Clarke’s earlier career came to mind.
Clarke served in both the Bush 1 and Clinton administrations. From 1989 to 1992 during Bush 1, Clarke served as the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs overseeing sensitive US technology transfers. In a March 1992 report, State Department Inspector General Sherman Funk stated "alleged Israeli violations of US laws cited and supported by reliable intelligence information show a systematic and growing pattern of unauthorized transfers...dating back to about 1982." According to other US officials at that time, those Israeli violations date back to the early 1970s. Many of those alleged violations during the Reagan era include Israel’s illegal transfers of American technology to China.
The Funk Report heavily criticized State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs for ignoring scores of intelligence reports on apparent violations of retransfer restrictions and other restrictions and for not reporting them to senior officials and Congress, as required by law.
The report also recommended that the then Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Richard Clarke be disciplined for his lack of oversight on Israel. Clarke was reprimanded and eventually lost his job. However Clarke, a consummate bureaucratic survivor, reappeared shortly after that on the National Security Council staff in the Clinton administration.
When the Funk Report was issued and Clarke was removed from his State Department position, Funk allegedly received threatening phone calls at his home. Funk was summoned to closed-door hearings in the US House of Representatives and was allegedly accused by Representative Tom Lantos of California of harming Israel while others reportedly joined in a verbal assault of Funk’s positions on Israel.
At that same time the Jerusalem Post reported, "It appears the bureaucratic target (of the Funk Report) was Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Richard Clarke. US officials reportedly say Clarke is being removed from his position for negligence." The Jerusalem Post goes on to quote a pro-Israeli activist as saying, "Clarke was a friend of Israel in an administration where they do not necessarily grow on trees. Somebody was out there to get him."
Also defending Clarke at that time in the Jerusalem Post were neoconservative, pro-Israeli advocates Michael Ledeen and Stephen Bryen claiming that there was "lack of proof that Israel had violated any agreements." Interestingly, both Ledeen and Bryen served in the Reagan administration at the same time as Clarke. Bryen was also reprimanded during that period for alleged improprieties regarding technology transfer to Israel. Bryen and Ledeen now serve on the US China Commission which oversees American technology transfers to China.
Clarke himself was quoted in a 1990 article in the Syracuse(NY) Post-Standard as saying, "The US benefits in a lot of ways from its strategic relationship with Israel" and went on to say that Israel could serve as a "war reserve stockpile" in expanding American military capabilities.
In Clarke’s book, he makes positive references to his friend, Richard Perle. The pro-Israeli Perle, known as the "Prince of Darkness" is widely credited as one of the architects of Bush’s attack Iraq policy.
And Clarke is quoted in the official biography of Steven Emerson as saying, "I think of Steve as the Paul Revere of terrorism...(Clarke) credits Emerson with repeatedly warning of Al-Qaeda sleeper cells in the United States. He adds that he would attend Emerson’s speeches whenever possible because ‘we’d always learn things we weren’t hearing from the FBI or CIA, things which almost always proved to be true." Emerson is one of the strongest pro-Likud, pro-Israeli advocates in the United States and is often cited for blaming the Arabs and Muslims for most of the acts of terrorism around the world.
Responding to Clarke’s interview on "60 Minutes" last Sunday night, White House spokesman Dan Bartlett referred to Clarke’s charges as a "red herring", something designed to draw attention from the real issue.
That "red herring", however, is quite different from the 10,000-pound elephant in the room. During an election year with friends of Israel, and especially close friends like Richard Clarke, permeating both political parties, nobody wants to mention that the elephant is in the room.
— Dr. Michael Saba is the author of "The Armageddon Network" and is an international relations consultant. | |  | | Alpha | | Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2004 10:15 pm Post subject: FBI agent confirms Clarke's charges |
| Subj: FBI agent confirms Clarke's charges
Date: 4/3/04 1:24:03 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: LAdams727
Subj: Sibel Edmonds of the FBI confirms key Clarke charges
Date: 4/3/04 7:54:11 AM Central Standard Time
Democracy Now! first broke this story on Tuesday mornig. Yesterday, Amy Goodman, host of DN! reported that the story had been picked up by world-wide newspapers as well as the Drudge report. I would never accuse Amy of "gloating," but IF she ever were to gloat, she gloated Friday morning as she replayed a part of her interview. How nice that Sibel Edmonds has already testified for three hours before the 9/11 Commission. Remember at the beginning of the public hearing, the woman whose name I have forgotten mentioned that some of the information which they had already heard "would make your hair rise?" I can only assume that Sible Edmonds's testamony was part of that. [My alarm clock goes off at 6:00 a.m. I get up wondering to myself, "What is Amy going to be telling me today?" She is an awesome reporter. She and her staff troll the back pages of the NY Times and the Washington Post where they find most of the stories that they have to report. Then they go after the persons in the stories to interview them. It is looking as if the World News is beginning to watch her. I am not surprised.]
I am looking forward to Thursday when Condeleeza Rice has to come before the US Public and the Commission and try to spin this story. That is going to take some doing!
Cheryl
Sibel Edmonds of the FBI confirms key Clarke charges
Sibel Edmonds, a trilingual translator for the FBI, has dramatically confirmed keycharges of Richard Clarke who has caused an uproar in America by revealing that the Bush White House ignored repeated warnings about terrorist threats to launch attacks against major US buildings using hijacked airliners as guided missiles.
Hired two days after 9-11, Edmonds was privy to a great deal of top secret files at the FBI.
She has testified before in camera sessions of the 9-11 Commission, and she has refuted Condoleezza Rice's claims of ignorance of the specifics of the terrorist threat as, "an outrageous lie". (See below).
The explosiveness of Edmonds' revelations will accelerate the mushrooming scandal which is now being compared to Watergate in the immensity of the deception and subterfuge by members of the Bush White House.
Edmonds is the latest in what is a rapidly growing stream of whistleblowers that includes: Katherine Gun (of GCHQ Britain); Joseph Wilson (ex-CIA) and Richard Clarke, himself the former Counter Terrorism Czar of the Bush administration, Vincent Cannistero and others.
In her exclusive interview with The Independent of London, Edmonds described hundreds of top secret documents and the culture of disbelief that permeates the FBI about the White House propaganda line .
Methinks this development bodes ill for the present occupant of the West Wing and his coterie of neoconservatives.
Michael Carmichael
The Oxford Centre for Public Affairs
64 Kingston Road
Oxford OX2 6RJ
United Kingdom
Telephone +44 1865 553195
_________________________
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=507514
'I saw papers that show US knew al-Qa'ida would attack cities with aeroplanes'
Whistleblower the White House wants to silence speaks to The Independent
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
02 April 2004
A former translator for the FBI with top-secret security clearance says she has provided information to the panel investigating the 11 September attacks which proves senior officials knew of al-Qa'ida's plans to attack the US with aircraft months before the strikes happened.
She said the claim by the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, that there was no such information was "an outrageous lie".
Sibel Edmonds said she spent more than three hours in a closed session with the commission's investigators providing information that was circulating within the FBI in the spring and summer of 2001 suggesting that an attack using aircraft was just months away and the terrorists were in place. The Bush administration, meanwhile, has sought to silence her and has obtained a gagging order from a court by citing the rarely used "state secrets privilege".
She told The Independent yesterday: "I gave [the commission] details of specific investigation files, the specific dates, specific target information, specific managers in charge of the investigation. I gave them everything so that they could go back and follow up. This is not hearsay. These are things that are documented. These things can be established very easily."
She added: "There was general information about the time-frame, about methods to be used but not specifically about how they would be used and about people being in place and who was ordering these sorts of terror attacks. There were other cities that were mentioned. Major cities with skyscrapers."
The accusations from Mrs Edmonds, 33, a Turkish-American who speaks Azerbaijani, Farsi, Turkish and English, will reignite the controversy over whether the administration ignored warnings about al-Qa'ida. That controversy was sparked most recently by Richard Clarke, a former counter-terrorism official, who has accused the administration of ignoring his warnings.
The issue what the administration knew and when is central to the investigation by the 9/11 Commission, which has been hearing testimony in public and private from government officials, intelligence officials and secret sources. Earlier this week, the White House made a U-turn when it said that Ms Rice would appear in public before the commission to answer questions. Mr Bush and his deputy, Dick Cheney, will also be questioned in a closed-door session.
Mrs Edmonds, 33, says she gave her evidence to the commission in a specially constructed "secure" room at its offices in Washington on 11 February. She was hired as a translator for the FBI's Washington field office on 13 September 2001, just two days after the al-Qa'ida attacks. Her job was to translate documents and recordings from FBI wire-taps.
She said said it was clear there was sufficient information during the spring and summer of 2001 to indicate terrorists were planning an attack. "Most of what I told the commission 90 per cent of it related to the investigations that I was involved in or just from working in the department. Two hundred translators side by side, you get to see and hear a lot of other things as well."
"President Bush said they had no specific information about 11 September and that is accurate but only because he said 11 September," she said. There was, however, general information about the use of airplanes and that an attack was just months away.
To try to refute Mr Clarke's accusations, Ms Rice said the administration did take steps to counter al-Qa'ida. But in an opinion piece in The Washington Post on 22 March, Ms Rice wrote: "Despite what some have suggested, we received no intelligence that terrorists were preparing to attack the homeland using airplanes as missiles, though some analysts speculated that terrorists might hijack planes to try and free US-held terrorists."
Mrs Edmonds said that by using the word "we", Ms Rice told an "outrageous lie". She said: "Rice says 'we' not 'I'. That would include all people from the FBI, the CIA and DIA [Defence Intelligence Agency]. I am saying that is impossible."
It is impossible at this stage to verify Mrs Edmonds' claims. However, some senior US senators testified to her credibility in 2002 when she went public with separate allegations relating to alleged incompetence and corruption within the FBI's translation department.
2 April 2004 18:32
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