Asia Times: The US's gift to al-Qaeda
by Pepe Escobar
Al-Qaeda and all the other components of the Salafi-jihadi (or Islamist) front are on the verge of scoring a major double blow. Unlike September 11, now their fight not only is being recognized by top Islamic scholars as legitimate, but they have also managed to capitalize on major blunders in the "war on terror" to strengthen the anti-imperialist, anti-US impulse among global, moderate Muslims. How did that happen?
Saturday, May 21, 2005
IRAQ: LIES
Juan Cole: The lies that led to war
A leaked British memo, and other documents, make it clear that Bush intended all along to invade Iraq -- and lied about it to the American people. The full gravity of his offense has not yet sunk in.
CHECK IT
A leaked British memo, and other documents, make it clear that Bush intended all along to invade Iraq -- and lied about it to the American people. The full gravity of his offense has not yet sunk in.
CHECK IT
Friday, May 20, 2005
IRAQ: US BEHIND TERROR?
Globalresearch: A warning to car drivers (in Arabic) May 11, 2005
“A few days ago, an American manned check point confiscated the driver license of a driver and told him to report to an American military camp near Baghdad airport for interrogation and in order to retrieve his license. The next day, the driver did visit the camp and he was allowed in the camp with his car. He was admitted to a room for an interrogation that lasted half an hour. At the end of the session, the American interrogator told him: ‘OK, there is nothing against you, but you do know that Iraq is now sovereign and is in charge of its own affairs. Hence, we have forwarded your papers and license to al-Kadhimia police station for processing. Therefore, go there with this clearance to reclaim your license. At the police station, ask for Lt. Hussain Mohammed who is waiting for you now. Go there now quickly, before he leaves his shift work”.
The driver did leave in a hurry, but was soon alarmed with a feeling that his car was driving as if carrying a heavy load, and he also became suspicious of a low flying helicopter that kept hovering overhead, as if trailing him. He stopped the car and inspected it carefully. He found nearly 100 kilograms of explosives hidden in the back seat and along the two back doors
“A few days ago, an American manned check point confiscated the driver license of a driver and told him to report to an American military camp near Baghdad airport for interrogation and in order to retrieve his license. The next day, the driver did visit the camp and he was allowed in the camp with his car. He was admitted to a room for an interrogation that lasted half an hour. At the end of the session, the American interrogator told him: ‘OK, there is nothing against you, but you do know that Iraq is now sovereign and is in charge of its own affairs. Hence, we have forwarded your papers and license to al-Kadhimia police station for processing. Therefore, go there with this clearance to reclaim your license. At the police station, ask for Lt. Hussain Mohammed who is waiting for you now. Go there now quickly, before he leaves his shift work”.
The driver did leave in a hurry, but was soon alarmed with a feeling that his car was driving as if carrying a heavy load, and he also became suspicious of a low flying helicopter that kept hovering overhead, as if trailing him. He stopped the car and inspected it carefully. He found nearly 100 kilograms of explosives hidden in the back seat and along the two back doors
WEAPONIZATION OF SPACE
Finacial Times: Russia urges US to avoid space arms race
Russia would consider using force if necessary to respond if the US put a combat weapon into space, according to a senior Russian official.
According to a New York Times report yesterday, the Bush administration was moving towards implementing a new space policy that would move the US closer to placing offensive and defensive weapons in space. Russia, China and many US allies oppose any weaponisation of space, partly out of concerns that it would lead to an extremely expensive post-cold war arms race.
NY Times: Air Force Seeks Approval for Space Weapons Programs
The Air Force, saying it must secure space to protect the nation from attack, is seeking President Bush's approval of a national-security directive that could move the United States closer to fielding offensive and defensive space weapons, according to White House and Air Force officials.
The proposed change would be a substantial shift in American policy. It would almost certainly be opposed by many American allies and potential enemies, who have said it may create an arms race in space.
Russia would consider using force if necessary to respond if the US put a combat weapon into space, according to a senior Russian official.
According to a New York Times report yesterday, the Bush administration was moving towards implementing a new space policy that would move the US closer to placing offensive and defensive weapons in space. Russia, China and many US allies oppose any weaponisation of space, partly out of concerns that it would lead to an extremely expensive post-cold war arms race.
NY Times: Air Force Seeks Approval for Space Weapons Programs
The Air Force, saying it must secure space to protect the nation from attack, is seeking President Bush's approval of a national-security directive that could move the United States closer to fielding offensive and defensive space weapons, according to White House and Air Force officials.
The proposed change would be a substantial shift in American policy. It would almost certainly be opposed by many American allies and potential enemies, who have said it may create an arms race in space.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
NEW STAR WARS MOVIE ONLINE
BoingBoing.net: Star Wars III online
according to Boingboing.net the first copy of Stars Wars Episode III was leaked as a workprint to the internet. It has a timecode and watermarks ans should be watchable.
"i will not post any links because the film will be all over the internet by now"
according to Boingboing.net the first copy of Stars Wars Episode III was leaked as a workprint to the internet. It has a timecode and watermarks ans should be watchable.
"i will not post any links because the film will be all over the internet by now"
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
SYRIA
Daily Star: Rice warns Syria to close its borders to terrorists
.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sharply criticized Syria on Monday for what she called unwillingness to close its borders to terrorists she said are to blame for some of the violence in Iraq. "Their unwillingness to deal with the crossings of their border into Iraq is frustrating the will of the Iraqi people," and leading to the deaths of innocent Iraqis, Rice said en route home from a surprise trip to see Iraq's new leaders.
Turkish Press: Syria demands US prove Iraq insurgent claims
DAMASCUS - Syria on Tuesday demanded that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice provided proof of her renewed allegations that Damascus is supporting insurgents fighting in neighbouring Iraq.
"Who are these terrorists and where is Rice's proof for repeating these accusations against Syria? No one will say," the official Tishrin newspaper said.
"What is important (for Washington) is that Syria remain under pressure in order to satisfy American neoconservatives and Israelis
.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sharply criticized Syria on Monday for what she called unwillingness to close its borders to terrorists she said are to blame for some of the violence in Iraq. "Their unwillingness to deal with the crossings of their border into Iraq is frustrating the will of the Iraqi people," and leading to the deaths of innocent Iraqis, Rice said en route home from a surprise trip to see Iraq's new leaders.
Turkish Press: Syria demands US prove Iraq insurgent claims
DAMASCUS - Syria on Tuesday demanded that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice provided proof of her renewed allegations that Damascus is supporting insurgents fighting in neighbouring Iraq.
"Who are these terrorists and where is Rice's proof for repeating these accusations against Syria? No one will say," the official Tishrin newspaper said.
"What is important (for Washington) is that Syria remain under pressure in order to satisfy American neoconservatives and Israelis
UZBEKISTAN
Some Facts: In 2002, the United States gave Uzbekistan $500m (€396m) in aid (as opposed to $36m (€28.5m) four years earlier) of which $120m (€95.1) went to the army and $79m (€62.5m) to the notorious SNB, Karimov's secret police. It was the SNB who boiled Muzafar Avazov, an Islamist activist, to death, having already beaten him severely and ripped his fingernails out.
UZBEKISTAN
Irish Independent: Boiling butcher's bill is paid for by Bush
ISLAM KARIMOV, President of Uzbekistan, boils people alive. Why? For the same reason Saddam Hussein put his enemies in a shredder: because, at the time, he could.
When the West is your pal you are able, quite literally, to get away with murder. And what murder!
It is a surprise Karimov has time for governing at all, once he has spent the morning formulating new ways to poach, grill, tenderise, smoke and flambe his citizens to death. Boiling water, electrocution, chlorine-filled gas masks, drowning, rape, shooting, savage beatings, Karimov's Uzbekistan is the absolute market leader in torture right now.
The CIA would not shop anywhere else, which is why a mysterious Gulfstream 5 executive jet routinely delivers terrorist subjects from Afghanistan there for interrogation and, perhaps, percolation.
Craig Murray, the former British Ambassador, drew attention to this last year, and the noted socialist Tony Blair acted immediately. He sacked him.
ISLAM KARIMOV, President of Uzbekistan, boils people alive. Why? For the same reason Saddam Hussein put his enemies in a shredder: because, at the time, he could.
When the West is your pal you are able, quite literally, to get away with murder. And what murder!
It is a surprise Karimov has time for governing at all, once he has spent the morning formulating new ways to poach, grill, tenderise, smoke and flambe his citizens to death. Boiling water, electrocution, chlorine-filled gas masks, drowning, rape, shooting, savage beatings, Karimov's Uzbekistan is the absolute market leader in torture right now.
The CIA would not shop anywhere else, which is why a mysterious Gulfstream 5 executive jet routinely delivers terrorist subjects from Afghanistan there for interrogation and, perhaps, percolation.
Craig Murray, the former British Ambassador, drew attention to this last year, and the noted socialist Tony Blair acted immediately. He sacked him.
UZBEKISTAN
Telegraph: Refugees Put Uzbek Dead In Thousands
Refugees who fled from the massacre committed by Uzbek security forces agreed on one thing yesterday: the number of dead is not 500 - the most common reported figure - but could be in the thousands.
As reports continued to come in of clashes spreading outside the town of Andizhan, a sergeant in charge of the bridge at the border village of Kara Suu said he believed that 2,000 had been massacred during three days.
There is no way to confirm numbers offered by refugees, but it seemed likely that when the truth emerges, the massacre in Uzbekistan, an American ally in the fight against terrorism, could become the deadliest assault on civilians since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
Rakhmat, a trader who crossed the hastily rebuilt Kara-Suu river bridge, said he saw desperate refugees drown in the river swollen by spring rains. "President Islam Karimov took that bridge down in 1999 because he didn't want us trading in Kyrgyzstan, that's half the reason why there were protests in Andizhan, it was poverty not politics that drove people on to the streets.
"It was chaotic. I saw several people drown as they tried to cross the bridge. Anyone who says the protest was the work of militant Islamists is lying. It was the people, tired, poor, hungry people, not extremists, who took to the street. Anything else is Karimov's propaganda," he added.
* Alec Russell, in Washington, writes: The Bush administration yesterday toughened its stance towards President Karimov, calling on him to ease his repressive control over the country. In the strongest language to date, the State Department said yesterday it was "deeply disturbed" by reports that soldiers in Uzbekistan fired on unarmed civilians.
Dmitry Solovyov in Andizhan: Uzbekistan 'Crackdown' Death Total Now Over 600
least 600 people were killed in a military crackdown following protests in the Uzbek city of Andijan, the head of a local non-governmental organisation who saw the bodies said today.
Families of hundreds have buried their dead as witnesses told of bloody mayhem in which women and children were shot "like rabbits".
Five hundred bodies lay stored yesterday in one of the eastern city's schools, said the head of the Animokur organisation, Gulbahor Turdiyeva. Another 100 were packed in a nearby construction college, she added in a telephone interview.
In the last few decades of american foreign-policy the americans always prefered undemocratic pro-western strongmen to real democracy as long as they could provide "stability" for american business interests . No one should wonder why there's no cia-backed velvet revolution in Uzbekistan. America still has this "He's a son of a bitch but at least he's our son of a bitch" mentality. But at least the State Department is " "deeply disturbed" by the fact that the neo-stalinist regime of Azimov is killing unarmed civilian protesters in their thousends. This is another proof that the whole democracy-this democracy-that talk is all Propaganda
Refugees who fled from the massacre committed by Uzbek security forces agreed on one thing yesterday: the number of dead is not 500 - the most common reported figure - but could be in the thousands.
As reports continued to come in of clashes spreading outside the town of Andizhan, a sergeant in charge of the bridge at the border village of Kara Suu said he believed that 2,000 had been massacred during three days.
There is no way to confirm numbers offered by refugees, but it seemed likely that when the truth emerges, the massacre in Uzbekistan, an American ally in the fight against terrorism, could become the deadliest assault on civilians since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
Rakhmat, a trader who crossed the hastily rebuilt Kara-Suu river bridge, said he saw desperate refugees drown in the river swollen by spring rains. "President Islam Karimov took that bridge down in 1999 because he didn't want us trading in Kyrgyzstan, that's half the reason why there were protests in Andizhan, it was poverty not politics that drove people on to the streets.
"It was chaotic. I saw several people drown as they tried to cross the bridge. Anyone who says the protest was the work of militant Islamists is lying. It was the people, tired, poor, hungry people, not extremists, who took to the street. Anything else is Karimov's propaganda," he added.
* Alec Russell, in Washington, writes: The Bush administration yesterday toughened its stance towards President Karimov, calling on him to ease his repressive control over the country. In the strongest language to date, the State Department said yesterday it was "deeply disturbed" by reports that soldiers in Uzbekistan fired on unarmed civilians.
Dmitry Solovyov in Andizhan: Uzbekistan 'Crackdown' Death Total Now Over 600
least 600 people were killed in a military crackdown following protests in the Uzbek city of Andijan, the head of a local non-governmental organisation who saw the bodies said today.
Families of hundreds have buried their dead as witnesses told of bloody mayhem in which women and children were shot "like rabbits".
Five hundred bodies lay stored yesterday in one of the eastern city's schools, said the head of the Animokur organisation, Gulbahor Turdiyeva. Another 100 were packed in a nearby construction college, she added in a telephone interview.
In the last few decades of american foreign-policy the americans always prefered undemocratic pro-western strongmen to real democracy as long as they could provide "stability" for american business interests . No one should wonder why there's no cia-backed velvet revolution in Uzbekistan. America still has this "He's a son of a bitch but at least he's our son of a bitch" mentality. But at least the State Department is " "deeply disturbed" by the fact that the neo-stalinist regime of Azimov is killing unarmed civilian protesters in their thousends. This is another proof that the whole democracy-this democracy-that talk is all Propaganda
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: NUCLEAR WASTE
IPC: Minister of Health Asserts Israel Buried 80 Tons of Nuclear Waste in oPt
GAZA, Palestine, May 16, 2005 (IPC) - - The Minister of Health, Dr. Thohni Al Wuheidi, asserted that the Israeli authorities have buried 80 tons of Nuclear waste near the city of Nablus.
The Minister added that the waste were buried 300 meters away from Nablus, while the burial of more nuclear waste was still being completed around the rest of Gaza Strip and West Bank cities, especially those with high population intensity such as Nablus, Hebron and Gaza.
GAZA, Palestine, May 16, 2005 (IPC) - - The Minister of Health, Dr. Thohni Al Wuheidi, asserted that the Israeli authorities have buried 80 tons of Nuclear waste near the city of Nablus.
The Minister added that the waste were buried 300 meters away from Nablus, while the burial of more nuclear waste was still being completed around the rest of Gaza Strip and West Bank cities, especially those with high population intensity such as Nablus, Hebron and Gaza.
GALLOWAY ON CAPITOL HILL
Telegraph: Galloway Assault OnCapitol Hill
George Galloway confronted the American senators who have accused him of accepting oil allocations from Saddam Hussein yesterday in one of the most extraordinary and ill-tempered exchanges seen on Capitol Hill.
At one point the newly elected MP for Bethnal Green and Bow was accused of "evasion" and of choosing to ignore the questions that were being put to him.
Mr Galloway told the hearing room packed with 300 people: "You have nothing on me Ö other than my name on lists." Many of the lists had been "drawn up after the installation of your puppet government in Baghdad", he said.
In a bass voice rising with indignation to fill the august chamber, Mr Galloway insisted that he had been "an opponent of Saddam when British and American governments and businessmen were selling him guns and gas".
George Galloway confronted the American senators who have accused him of accepting oil allocations from Saddam Hussein yesterday in one of the most extraordinary and ill-tempered exchanges seen on Capitol Hill.
At one point the newly elected MP for Bethnal Green and Bow was accused of "evasion" and of choosing to ignore the questions that were being put to him.
Mr Galloway told the hearing room packed with 300 people: "You have nothing on me Ö other than my name on lists." Many of the lists had been "drawn up after the installation of your puppet government in Baghdad", he said.
In a bass voice rising with indignation to fill the august chamber, Mr Galloway insisted that he had been "an opponent of Saddam when British and American governments and businessmen were selling him guns and gas".
MEDIA WATCH: NEWSWEEK
Mediachannel: Newsweek Got it Right
CAMBRIDGE, MA, May 15, 2005 — Contrary to White House spin, the allegations of religious desecration at Guantanamo published by Newsweek on May 9, 2005, are common among ex-prisoners and have been widely reported outside the United States. Several former detainees at the Guantanamo and Bagram prisons have reported instances of their handlers sitting or standing on the Quran, throwing or kicking it in toilets, and urinating on it. Prior to the Newsweek article, the New York Times reported a Guantanamo insider asserting that the commander of the facility was compelled by prisoner protests to address the problem and issue an apology
Juan Cole: Has Newsweek Retracted?
Update: Riverbend weighs in with an Iraqi nationalist point of view on the allegations of Koran desecration in US military prisons. She points out that many Iraqis will find them plausible, given that we know that the interrogators have not shown respect for basic human dignity. Occasional US mosque invasions likewise lend credence to the charges, especially to Sunni Iraqis.
It is being yet again alleged that Newsweek has formally retracted the Guantanamo Koran desecration story, under enormous pressure from the White House. But here is what exactly the magazine's statement said:
"Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Koran abuse at Guantanamo Bay," Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker said in a statement issued here.'
CAMBRIDGE, MA, May 15, 2005 — Contrary to White House spin, the allegations of religious desecration at Guantanamo published by Newsweek on May 9, 2005, are common among ex-prisoners and have been widely reported outside the United States. Several former detainees at the Guantanamo and Bagram prisons have reported instances of their handlers sitting or standing on the Quran, throwing or kicking it in toilets, and urinating on it. Prior to the Newsweek article, the New York Times reported a Guantanamo insider asserting that the commander of the facility was compelled by prisoner protests to address the problem and issue an apology
Juan Cole: Has Newsweek Retracted?
Update: Riverbend weighs in with an Iraqi nationalist point of view on the allegations of Koran desecration in US military prisons. She points out that many Iraqis will find them plausible, given that we know that the interrogators have not shown respect for basic human dignity. Occasional US mosque invasions likewise lend credence to the charges, especially to Sunni Iraqis.
It is being yet again alleged that Newsweek has formally retracted the Guantanamo Koran desecration story, under enormous pressure from the White House. But here is what exactly the magazine's statement said:
"Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Koran abuse at Guantanamo Bay," Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker said in a statement issued here.'
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
IRAQ: CRIME OF THE CENTURY
Axis of Logic: Stop the Crime of the Century
In Iraq, there is a crime of breathtaking proportions taking place. Breathtaking, but not necessarily surprising. We know from the historical record that governments will lie and deceive, and we've rarely seen one as immoral and venal as the Bush administration
.
What has turned this crime into an astonishing demonstration of the depth of American democracy's decay is the complicity of the media establishment in hiding the original crime, and in thus doing so, ripping a gaping hole in the fabric of our political system.
Did you know that there now exists in the public domain a 'smoking gun' memo, which proves that everything the Bush administration said about the Iraq invasion was a lie? If you live in Britain you probably do, but if you live in the United States, chances are minuscule that you would be aware of this.
In Iraq, there is a crime of breathtaking proportions taking place. Breathtaking, but not necessarily surprising. We know from the historical record that governments will lie and deceive, and we've rarely seen one as immoral and venal as the Bush administration
.
What has turned this crime into an astonishing demonstration of the depth of American democracy's decay is the complicity of the media establishment in hiding the original crime, and in thus doing so, ripping a gaping hole in the fabric of our political system.
Did you know that there now exists in the public domain a 'smoking gun' memo, which proves that everything the Bush administration said about the Iraq invasion was a lie? If you live in Britain you probably do, but if you live in the United States, chances are minuscule that you would be aware of this.
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Free Arab Voice: Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Sunday, 15 May 2005.
Iraqi Resistance hails victory as US ends “operation matador” retreats from battle zone.
US forces announced the end on Sunday of their so-called “operation matador” against Iraqi Resistance forces in the area of al-Qa’im on the border with Syria. The announcement followed seven days of bitter fighting and grueling combat acknowledged for its difficulty by the occupation forces in several of their official press conferences – designed to put as positive a face on the American operations as possible.
Resistance fighters confirmed that the US forces withdrew from the area around the city after failing to break in. It was a battle that the people are still talking about because the greatest army in the world was unable to take a city of 50,000 people even after seven days of concerted efforts to do so. In the end all the invaders could do was announce their “victory” and leave.
Iraqi Resistance hails victory as US ends “operation matador” retreats from battle zone.
US forces announced the end on Sunday of their so-called “operation matador” against Iraqi Resistance forces in the area of al-Qa’im on the border with Syria. The announcement followed seven days of bitter fighting and grueling combat acknowledged for its difficulty by the occupation forces in several of their official press conferences – designed to put as positive a face on the American operations as possible.
Resistance fighters confirmed that the US forces withdrew from the area around the city after failing to break in. It was a battle that the people are still talking about because the greatest army in the world was unable to take a city of 50,000 people even after seven days of concerted efforts to do so. In the end all the invaders could do was announce their “victory” and leave.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
PROPAGANDA WATCH
New Statesman: Let's face it - the state has lost its mind by John Pilger
In 1987, the sociologist Alex Carey, a second Orwell in his prophesies, wrote "Managing Public Opinion: the corporate offensive". He described how in the United States "great progress [had been] made towards the ideal of a propaganda-managed democracy", whose principal aim was to identify a rapacious business state "with every cherished human value". The power and meaning of true democracy, of the franchise itself, would be "transferred" to the propaganda of advertising, public relations and corporate-run news. This "model of ideological control", he predicted, would be adopted by other countries, such as Britain.
"a must read"
In 1987, the sociologist Alex Carey, a second Orwell in his prophesies, wrote "Managing Public Opinion: the corporate offensive". He described how in the United States "great progress [had been] made towards the ideal of a propaganda-managed democracy", whose principal aim was to identify a rapacious business state "with every cherished human value". The power and meaning of true democracy, of the franchise itself, would be "transferred" to the propaganda of advertising, public relations and corporate-run news. This "model of ideological control", he predicted, would be adopted by other countries, such as Britain.
"a must read"
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
NORTH KOREA
Intervention Magazine: On the Edge With Nuclear North Korea
By distorting intelligence information (once again) the Bush administration has created an unnecessary crisis with North Korea, and the risk of plutonium proliferation to terrorist organizations has never been greater.
By distorting intelligence information (once again) the Bush administration has created an unnecessary crisis with North Korea, and the risk of plutonium proliferation to terrorist organizations has never been greater.
IRAN
Globalresearch: Planned US-Israeli Attack on Iran
At the outset of Bush's second term, Vice President Dick Cheney dropped a bombshell. He hinted, in no uncertain terms, that Iran was "right at the top of the list" of the rogue enemies of America, and that Israel would, so to speak, "be doing the bombing for us", without US military involvement and without us putting pressure on them "to do it":
"One of the concerns people have is that Israel might do it without being asked... Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards," (quoted from an MSNBC Interview Jan 2005)
At the outset of Bush's second term, Vice President Dick Cheney dropped a bombshell. He hinted, in no uncertain terms, that Iran was "right at the top of the list" of the rogue enemies of America, and that Israel would, so to speak, "be doing the bombing for us", without US military involvement and without us putting pressure on them "to do it":
"One of the concerns people have is that Israel might do it without being asked... Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards," (quoted from an MSNBC Interview Jan 2005)
PANDEMIC
Rense: WHO Says Pandemic Of 2005 May Have Begun
Today's New England Journal of Medicine commentary indicated the world was unprepared for a flu pandemic, and the outcome could rival 1918. WHO has acknowledged that the H5N1 bird flu pandemic of 2005 may have begun
Today's New England Journal of Medicine commentary indicated the world was unprepared for a flu pandemic, and the outcome could rival 1918. WHO has acknowledged that the H5N1 bird flu pandemic of 2005 may have begun
Friday, May 06, 2005
ISRAEL SPYING ON USA
Juan Cole: Franklin Arrested
Pentagon official Lawrence Franklin has been arrested and charged by the FBI with having shown classified documents to two officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Steven Rosen, AIPAC director of foreign policy issues, and Keith Weissman, high-level Middle East analyst--both of them only recently fired). Rosen is alleged once to have written in an internal AIPAC memo, "A lobby is like a night flower. It thrives in the dark and dies in the sun."Franklin was implicated last summer, but it has taken nearly a year to arrest him. In the meantime, he was, amazingly enough, still working at the Department of Defense on Persian Gulf security issues. (I know this for a fact).
New York Times: Pentagon Analyst Charged With Disclosing Military Secrets
Federal agents arrested a Pentagon analyst on Wednesday, accusing him of illegally disclosing highly classified information about possible attacks on American forces in Iraq to two employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group.
Pentagon official Lawrence Franklin has been arrested and charged by the FBI with having shown classified documents to two officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Steven Rosen, AIPAC director of foreign policy issues, and Keith Weissman, high-level Middle East analyst--both of them only recently fired). Rosen is alleged once to have written in an internal AIPAC memo, "A lobby is like a night flower. It thrives in the dark and dies in the sun."Franklin was implicated last summer, but it has taken nearly a year to arrest him. In the meantime, he was, amazingly enough, still working at the Department of Defense on Persian Gulf security issues. (I know this for a fact).
New York Times: Pentagon Analyst Charged With Disclosing Military Secrets
Federal agents arrested a Pentagon analyst on Wednesday, accusing him of illegally disclosing highly classified information about possible attacks on American forces in Iraq to two employees of a pro-Israel lobbying group.
TERROR: PROPAGANDA WATCH
The Ledger: Pakistan Reports Arrest of a Senior Qaeda Leader
Pakistani authorities announced yesterday the arrest of a senior operative for Al Qaeda who is suspected of directing two failed assassination attempts against the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.Both Pakistani and American officials described the man, a Libyan named Abu Faraj al-Libbi, as the third most senior leader in Al Qaeda's terrorist network, and President Bush called the arrest a "critical victory in the war on terror." But counterterrorism experts in Europe immediately raised questions about Mr. Libbi's importance.
Pakistani authorities announced yesterday the arrest of a senior operative for Al Qaeda who is suspected of directing two failed assassination attempts against the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.Both Pakistani and American officials described the man, a Libyan named Abu Faraj al-Libbi, as the third most senior leader in Al Qaeda's terrorist network, and President Bush called the arrest a "critical victory in the war on terror." But counterterrorism experts in Europe immediately raised questions about Mr. Libbi's importance.
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