Due Process, Association, Guilt and the Case of Mr. Xxxxxx

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In the absence of legitimate due process and proper evidence, tenuous connections may be solidified about any given individual as the following case will illustrate.

This is the case of Mr. Xxxx Xxxxxx, a US citizen who is held in high regard by many. Others, however, may allege that his past dealings are suspect. In fact, the subsequent, superficial chain of associations (tenuous though they may be) shows that a distinct association between Mr. Xxxxxx and Al Qaeda may be constructed if one were to desire to do so or may be alleged to exist if one were of a suspicious or prosecutorial mindset.

The Case of Mr. Xxxx X. Xxxxxx Xx.

Mr. Xxxx X. Xxxxxx Xx.

is alleged to have been associated with

Chiquita International Brands

"In Terrorism-Law Case, Chiquita Points to U.S.
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 2, 2007

...Federal prosecutors have said in court papers that Chertoff and his deputies at Justice made clear in the April 2003 meeting that Chiquita was violating the law and that "the payments . . . could not continue." Government sources say that lawyers at Justice headquarters and the U.S. attorney's office in Washington were incensed by what they considered the flagrant continuation of these payoffs, despite the warnings.

Chiquita International's lawyer in this case, Mr. Xxxx X. Xxxxxx Xx., said he is concerned that company leaders who chose the difficult path of disclosing the corporation's illegal activity to prosecutors are now facing the possibility of prosecution.

"If what you want to encourage is voluntary self-disclosure, what message does this send to other companies?" asked Mr. Xxxxxx, xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxx in the Xxxxxxx administration. "Here's a company that voluntarily self-discloses in a national security context, where the company gets treated pretty harshly, [and] then on top of that, you go after individuals who made a really painful decision." ...."

(See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102601.html.)

is alleged to have been associated with

United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia or AUC)

"Chiquita to pay $25M fine in terror case
Thu, 15 Mar 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) - Banana company Chiquita Brands International said Wednesday it has agreed to a $25 million fine after admitting it paid terrorists for protection in a volatile farming region of Colombia.

The settlement resolves a lengthy Justice Department investigation into the company's financial dealings with right-wing paramilitaries and leftist rebels the U.S. government deems terrorist groups.

In court documents filed Wednesday, federal prosecutors said the Cincinnati-based company and several unnamed high-ranking corporate officers paid about $1.7 million between 1997 and 2004 to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as AUC for its Spanish initials.

The AUC has been responsible for some of the worst massacres in Colombia's civil conflict and for a sizable percentage of the country's cocaine exports. The U.S. government designated the right-wing militia a terrorist organization in September 2001...."


(See http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/15200739657.htm.)
(Also, see entry 45 at http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm.)

is alleged to have been associated with

Shimon Yelinek

"... Yelinek identified a Panamanian maritime company, Trafalgar Maritime Inc., to pick up the arms in Nicaragua and take them to Panama. The arms were transported by the army to the port of El Rama, Nicaragua, and were loaded aboard the company’s only ship, the Otterloo, which declared for Panama. Instead, the Otterloo sailed directly to Turbo, Colombia where the arms were delivered to the AUC. The Captain of the ship disappeared shortly thereafter, and the maritime company was dissolved several months later. The Otterloo was sold to a Colombian citizen. ..."


(See http://www.oas.org/oaspage/ni-coarmas/ni-coenglish3687.htm)

is alleged to have been associated with

Samih Osailly

"... The Government of Nicaragua should conduct a thorough sight check of the Nicaraguan Army's inventory of arms and ammunition. The Investigative Team has been able to positively ascertain that the Nicaraguan Army, through General Calderón, was approached on a number of different occasions by GIR S.A. for the sale of arms and ammunition, in addition to contacts related to the exchange of arms which is the subject of this report.

One such occasion occurred on January 5, 2001, when GIR S.A. sent a fax to Calderón, listing arms and ammunition, including twin and four barrel anti-aircraft guns, surface to air missiles, rocket propelled grenades, anti-tank "launchers" and small arms, with quantities and prices (see document No. 121 in Annex V). The document was a request from Zoller for the sale of Nicaraguan Army equipment, at the prices and quantities listed by Zoller. The Investigative Team has been able to link this list of arms to a request from a Lebanese arms broker, Samih Osailly currently in custody in Europe and under investigation by several nations for ties to Al-Queda. He was at the time working for the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone, under an arms-for-diamonds arrangement[7]. This broker sought to purchase arms and ammunition from Shimon Yelinek, who in turn sent the list of arms and ammunition to Zoller, who forwarded the list to General Calderón. ..."


(See http://www.oas.org/oaspage/ni-coarmas/ni-coenglish3687.htm.)

is alleged to have been associated with

Aziz Nassour

"... The final case involves two Lebanese diamond traders, Aziz Nassour and Samih Osailly, who are under investigation for helping al Qaeda convert $20 million held in bank accounts into West African diamonds.12 Evidence unearthed by Washington Post journalist Douglas Farah, an investigative team assembled by the Organization of American States, and the London-based organization Global Witness revealed a plot by Nassour and Osailly to acquire large quantities of weapons — including AK-47s, anti-tank weapons, two- and four-barrel anti-aircraft guns, sniper rifles, and SA-7 surface-to-air missiles — from Shimon Yelenik, an Israeli arms dealer operating out of Panama who is linked to the diversion of 3000 Nicaraguan AK-47 assault rifles to the Colombian paramilitaries. ...."


(See http://www.fas.org/pubs/_docs/FullReport.pdf.)

is alleged to have been associated with

Al Qaeda/ Al-Qa'ida.

"... According to documents collected by investigators, in January 2001 Yelenik forwarded an email from a “guy/alfa” to another Israeli, Ori Zoller, who is the proprietor of an arms dealership in Guatemala (13) and another suspect in the diversion of assault rifles to the AUC. “Guy/alfa” is presumed to be Nassour, who often went by the code name “Alfa Zulu.” The email states that the weapons were to be delivered to Liberia and were for his “friends in Africa.” Nassour had many “friends in Africa,” including

■ Ibrahim Bah, a representative of former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s thuggish regime. Bah fought with Islamic guerrillas in Afghanistan and later with Hezbollah in Lebanon; (14)
■ the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which caught the world’s attention in the mid-1990s by mutilating civilians to deter them from cooperating with government forces; and
■ al Qaeda operatives with whom Nassour allegedly worked to convert bank account funds into diamonds. (15)

A few days later, the list of weaponry was faxed by Zoller to General Roberto Calderón, Inspector General of the Nicaraguan Army. General Calderón responded with a list of prices for the weapons, but existing evidence indicates that the deal fell through shortly afterward. (16) ...."


(See http://www.fas.org/pubs/_docs/FullReport.pdf.)
(Also, see entry 36 at http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm.)

Thus, one may - with resources that pale in comparison to the resources which the US Government may bring to bear in order to accomplish its purposes - allege and construct an association between Mr. Xxxxxx and Al-Qaeda.

Under AG Holder's justification for the assassination of US citizens, would this tenuous connection be enough to fulfil one of the conditions that would allow the targeting of Mr. Xxxxxx with a drone strike? Should AG Holder stand for the rule of law and support due process for Mr. Xxxxxx so that such a questionable - though concrete - chain of associations may not be used against Mr. Xxxxxx? Yes, AG Holder should stand for Mr. Xxxxxx's right to due process for Mr. Xxxxxx is AG Holder himself:

"...Chiquita International's lawyer in this case, Eric H. Holder Jr., said he is concerned that company leaders who chose the difficult path of disclosing the corporation's illegal activity to prosecutors are now facing the possibility of prosecution. ...."

(See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080102601.html.)