American who advised Pentagon says he worked at magazine(found Niger docs)

[sabra]

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/American_who_consulted_for_Pentagon_says_0117.html

American who advised Pentagon says he worked at magazine that found forged Niger documents
Larisa Alexandrovna

A controversial neoconservative who occasionally consulted for the Bush Defense Department has confirmed that he was a contributor to the Italian magazine Panorama, whose reporter first came across forged documents which purported that Iraq was seeking to obtain uranium from Niger.

The bogus documents became the basis for the infamous sixteen words in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address, in which he detailed his case for war. Their origin has been one of the most persistent mysteries in how American intelligence on Iraq was so wrong.

In an email to RAW STORY, occasional Bush foreign affairs advisor Michael Ledeen confirmed that he was, "several years ago," a regular contributor to Panorama. Leeden would not provide more specificity.

While most Americans have yet to hear of Ledeen or Panorama, the confirmation of his work with the publication adds yet another dimension to the Niger forgeries scandal and possible U.S. government involvement in pre-war intelligence manipulation.

[stop the bleeding]

1. Kick - more great reporting from L.A. K&R n/t

[underpants]

2. Leeden= fascist= Neocon

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

[MrPrax]

13. Good cite...

esp the part (scan down) to the Niger listing:

Yellowcake forgery

In 2005, Vincent Cannistraro, former head of counterterrorism operations at the CIA and the intelligence director at the National Security Council under Ronald Reagan, when asked by Ian Masters if Ledeen was the source of the forged memo that claimed that Iraq had sought to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger replied, "You'd be very close." However, just moments earlier when asked, "Do we know who produced those documents?" Cannistraro stated, " I’d rather not speak about it right now, because I don’t think it’s a proven case"<4>

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 confirmed it and 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."<5> Yet, Philip Giraldi more recently stated in a piece he wrote for The American Conservative magazine, November 21, 2005 issue, "At this point, any American connection to the actual forgeries remains unsubstantiated . . .." <6> Ledeen is also a member of Benador Associates <7> a combination "public relations agency", speaker's bureau and blog with a long roster of neo-conservative clients.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Leeden

Also noted from Washington Monthly:

Simone Ledeen is serving her country. She is the daughter of Michael Ledeen, the Iran-Contra luminary, AEI scholar, and all-around capo in the neocon mafia. She's 29, a freshly-minted M.B.A., with little to no experience in war-torn countries. But as an advisor for northern Iraq at the Ministry of Finance in Baghdad, she is, in essence, helping shape one quarter of that nation's economy....
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0312.whoswho.html


(edited to add ref to Simone Ledeen)

[Swamp Rat]

61. Yep. Here's another great website tracking he and all the other neoconazis

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1261

[stop the bleeding]

3. key part of article here

While Ledeen admits to writing for Panorama, he explained that the work had been in the past, saying, "That would be a couple of years ago."

But "a couple of years ago" would be right around the time when the forgeries were delivered to Burba or sent from the U.S. embassy in Rome via backchannels to the U.S. State Department, bypassing the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

Burba says she got the documents from former Italian intelligence asset Rocco Martino. Martino handed the documents off to Burba in the fall of 2002, initially demanding money and then simply providing them.


<snip>

It was Burba's editor at Panorama, Carlo Rossella, who allegedly told her to take the documents to the U.S. embassy, despite her own requests to travel to Niger to further investigate the claims.

It was also Rosella who intervened when Burba requested to contact the White House after hearing the infamous "16 words" in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, dissuading her from contacting U.S. officials.

Rosella, intelligence sources say, could have been acting on the orders of Panorama's owner, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's equivalent of Rupert Murdoch. Berlusconi -- who also happens to be the current Prime Minister -– was a supporter of President Bush leading up to the war.

[IChing]

4. I knew it, this guy is plain evil, he was discussed before on DU

Ledeen has a colorful track record, which has produced substantial grist for the conspiracy mill:
He was allegedly tied to the Italian P2 Masonic Lodge, a violent right wing group that was involved in a number of terrorists attacks in Italy in the 1970s the 1980s; in the late 1970s, while P2 was doing its dirty work, Ledeen was working as a consultant to Italian intelligence on terrorism issues;

as a consultant to the National Security Council in the 1980s, Ledeen acted as a go-between for Oliver North in the early stages of the Iran-Contra affair
working with the Israeli spy David Kimche to gain the release of U.S. hostages in Beirut through an Iranian arms dealer, Manucher Ghorbanifar;

he helped promote the "Bulgarian Connection" theory that the KGB was behind the assassination attempt on the pope in 1981; and, more recently, the Sydney Morning Herald reported (August 8, 2003) that Ledeen worked with Pentagon staffers to redevelop the channel to arms dealer Ghorbanifar in support of resistance efforts in Iran.

Reported the Herald: " Rhode recently acted as a liaison between Feith's office, which drafted much of the Administration's post-Iraq planning, and Ahmed Chalabi, a former Iraqi exile groomed for leadership by the Pentagon. Mr. Rhode is a protege of Michael Ledeen, who was a National Security Council consultant in the mid 1980s when he introduced Mr. Ghorbanifar to Oliver North, a NSC aide, and others in the opening stages of the Iran-Contra affair. It is understood Mr. Ledeen reopened the Ghorbanifar channel with Mr. Feith's staff." (9, 10>>>>>snip

These reports are back up with links
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1261

[UpInArms]

20. some good background on Ledeen:

Who is Michael Ledeen?

excerpt:

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."

With a group of other conservatives, Ledeen recently set up the Center for Democracy in Iran (CDI), an action group focusing on producing regime change in Iran.

Quotes from Ledeen's works reveal a peculiar set of beliefs about American attitudes toward violence. "Change -- above all violent change -- is the essence of human history," he proclaims in his book, "Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli's Iron Rules Are as Timely and Important Today as Five Centuries Ago." In an influential essay in the National Review Online he asserts, "Creative destruction is our middle name. We do it automatically ... it is time once again to export the democratic revolution."

...more...

[wordpix2]

51. "Creative destruction is our middle name. We do it automatically"

The guy is a nutjob

[LiviaOlivia]

45. The "Ledeen Doctrine"

April 23, 2002
Jonah "Doughy Pantload" Goldberg

http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg042302.asp

~snip~

WHY IRAQ?
So how does all this, or the humble attempt at a history lesson of my last column, justify tearing down the Baghdad regime? Well, I've long been an admirer of, if not a full-fledged subscriber to, what I call the "Ledeen Doctrine." I'm not sure my friend Michael Ledeen will thank me for ascribing authorship to him and he may have only been semi-serious when he crafted it, but here is the bedrock tenet of the Ledeen Doctrine in more or less his own words: "Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business." That's at least how I remember Michael phrasing it at a speech at the American Enterprise Institute about a decade ago (Ledeen is one of the most entertaining public speakers I've ever heard, by the way).

~snip~

Psychos and criminals

[peacetalksforall]

5. Let's see. Ledeen REGULARLY contributes to Italian magazine.

Reporter for this magazine 'discovers' forged Niger documents.

Ledeen is operative for right wing for over 30 years - key in the sub-government of Iran-Contra.

Friend of weapon traders and worse.

He's not exactly this country's best citizen.

[stop the bleeding]

6. Good link here linking major players of the Plame/gate game

I am sure this information has already been discussed but I think this page deserves a little more re-visiting in lite of this new information.

I don't have a lot of research time for this right this second being that I am at work, but I will revisit this later tonight.

http://nuralcubicle.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_nuralcubicle_archive.html

[stop the bleeding]

7. Ledeen = P2 = Opus Dei - from a Daily Kos post about 3/4 down page

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

Propaganda Due--a node of fascist activity (4.00 / 4)
Propaganda Due is an extremely significant broker of neo-fascist activity.

Remember the Calvi murder?

Banco Ambrosiano?

They are connected the Vatican, to the current pope, perhaps to the death of John PAul 1, and most significantly, to the Catholic cult, Opus Dei.

Where P2 is, there you will find Opus Dei.

Opus Dei was a church structure that functioned to support Franco. In the last 30-40 years, it has provided the brains and personnel for the right wing revolts in LAtin America--most notable Pinochet's. They were behind the attempted coup in Venezuela.

At least two of the existing Supreme Court justices, Scalia and Thomas, are linked to Opus Dei.

It may be that John Roberts is as well. His parish church, Little Flower in Bethesda, has hosted a celebration of the sainthood of the founder of Opus Dei, and may be a second locus of Opus Dei organizing in Washington. http://www.romana.org/?s=4.0&n=18&ID=4 (The information is only in Italian. Their English page omits it.)
The primary one being the parish Scalia, Freeh, Thomas, Santorum, Hanssen the double agent and others attend: St Catherine of Siena in Great Falls.

Google around. Opus Dei is connected to American right wing elites in congress and the courts,to the Council on National Policy, to Propaganda Due and their attempts to regain state sponsored Fascism in ITaly, to Franco and Pinochet, to the CIA coup attempt in Venezuela, and to the Vatican scandals over the last 25-30 years, and to an American traitor like Hanssen.

It may not be a tinfoil hat exercise to determine the extent to which they have allied themselves with the right wing elite of the US and are gaining a remarkably coordinated and powerful political base. This alliance allows US interests to operate abroad with a high degree of invisibility.

I am more worried about John Roberts today than I was yesterday. He may be the next brick in the structure.
by alisonk on Fri Jul 22, 2005 at 09:23:47 AM PDT

**************************************************


The more research I do on the major players involved in this the more P2, Opus Dei, Vatican connections I keep running into. I know people start thinking tinfoil but I feel some more really good research should be devoted to these types of topics.

Remember Ledeen is a Fascist, Opus Dei hates Marxist views, Gladio and P2 pretty much encouraged this type of thinking/results through the "strategy of tension"

Religious Fundies in America have ultra Right views like these groups, Fundies envision a great last battle protecting/involving Israel. Israel was created to give America an ally in the Middle East to oppose the Arab regimes. Israel has been involved in "cooking the books" in WMD Intel. Israel has an American Base that when researched could be a launching facility for WMD's.

Sorry for not providing links, but I have been researching all of this in the last few days and will be compiling the information and links soon when time permits. Start googling all of this stuff to see what I am saying is true.

[sabra]

8. wow, good stuff. thanks for the link!

[IChing]

10. Opus Dei also had another player in the scheme of things

A major witness to the pentagon crash Father Steve McGraw
also Opus Dei, check out his work for the Dept. of Justice defending people who violated someone's human rights.

[stop the bleeding]

11. thank you - I will look at this tonight - I should have a few hours to

devote to this.

[Me.]

14. OMG, Is There Anyone In This World Who Isn't Involved In

betraying the people of the US? The web of connections is almost daunting in it's scope. I commend RAw for continuing to follow up on this. I am also posting a link to the Robert Paulsen thread on a previous RAw story regarding Ledeen, AIPAC etc. The research done by DUers makes it almost a primer on Ledeen, the traitorous specimen who so far has managed to fly under the radar.

[stop the bleeding]

15. No doubt I can not wait to get home and start finalizing some of the

connections that I have made over the last few days and I think that when I am done people will have great pause.

RP's Plame Reudux thread here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x66847

[Me.]

19. Thanks For The Link

Got so indignant, I forgot what I meant to do!

[robertpaulsen]

43. Here's other threads related to Ledeen/ planted WMD

Sorry I can't contribute more today, work is all time consuming:

PLAME/AIPACGATE UPDATE: OSP tried to plant WMD in Iraq.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=60048

Ledeen, Ghorbanifar, and the strategy of tension
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=118064

[Peace Patriot]

17. You might want to add Venezuelan Cardinal Castillo Lara to your list to

be investigated. There has been a concerted effort going on--over the last few weeks--to discredit Chavez, involving Cardinal Castillo, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Washington Post. Adding it all up, I would say it's possible another coup attempt is coming--although it may just be an effort to counter Chavez's good publicity in Venezuela's provision of cheap heating oil to poor people in the U.S., and also, there is a World Social Forum happening in Caracas next week (thousands of participants from around the world, including many from the U.S.--Global Exchange is sending 200 people), which will undoubtedly generate many press releases and other positive communications about Venezuela.

------------------

Chávez hits back at cardinal's 'dictator' criticism

Christopher Toothaker, Associated Press in Caracas
Monday January 16, 2006
The Guardian

The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, yesterday criticized the country's only cardinal, who used a major religious ceremony to accuse him of acting despotically and endangering one of South America's oldest democracies.

"Insults, hate, it was shameful for the Catholic church," Mr Chávez said on his weekly television and radio programme. "It was undoubtedly a provocation."

Mr Chávez demanded that the country's Roman Catholic hierarchy formally distance itself from the accusations that Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara made at the weekend before hundreds of thousands of people attending the procession honouring a Virgin known as the "Divine Shepherdess" in the city of Barquisimeto, about 180 miles west of Caracas.

Cardinal Castillo, 83, told worshippers that Mr Chávez's administration "has lost its democratic course and presents the semblance of a dictatorship". (MORE)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,12716,1687139,00.html


-----

VERY interesting discussion of the above at:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2044523

----------------------------

The Simon Wiesenthal Center called Chavez anti-semitic--a charge that has been vociferously denied by Jewish groups in Venezuela (who say the SW Center has done this three times--criticized Chavez--without consulting local Jews).

Venezuela's Jews Defend Leftist President in Flap Over Remarks
B12139 / Thu, 12 Jan 2006 15:11:56 / Government
http://www.forward.com/articles/7189

Hugo Chavez Accused of Anti-Semitism
By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER Associated Press Writer
http://news.lp.findlaw.com/ap/i/630/01-06-2006/d156001190b7a76e.html

--------------------------

The Washington Post columnist Jackson Diehl just accused Chavez of censorship--a charge that was brilliantly refuted by Venezuela's Minister of Communication.

Washington Post: Chavez's Censorship - Where 'Disrespect' Can Land You in Jail
By Jackson Diehl
Monday, March 28, 2005; Page A17
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5755-2005Mar27.html

Venezuela's Media Minister Andres Izarra replies to the Washington Post

(Well worth reading - VHeadline says: "In Andres Izarra's response, we find a story of rights violated in the United States, and attacks against the freedom of information in that country. In conclusion, the press is freer in Venezuela than in the United States."
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=29153

----------------------

All three of these charges--undemocratic/dictatorial, anti-semitic and censoring--are total lies and absolutely absurd. Chavez is the strongest force for real democracy South America has ever seen--and leader of a huge democratic and leftist trend that is sweeping South America--in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela--virtually the whole map of the sub-continent. There couldn't be anybody more egalitarian, or more a supporter of minority and scapegoated groups than Chavez. As for censoring anybody, the entire corporate, rich oil elite press--monopoly owned, of course--is relentlessly against him, and he hasn't touched them. There is NO censorship in Venezuela. As Izarra points out, the censorship is HERE, in the U.S.

[Peace Patriot]

49. Just a note on Cardinal Castillo. He's been with the Roman Curia for much

of his career, and is suspected of shady Vatican business dealings, and of connections to the Catholic "mafia" (Opus Dei). I can't find anything firm on it yet, but I think it is very significant--something I just found out--that he is NOT the leader of the Church in Venezuela. He just retired there (born there) after a long career in ROME in the musty corridors of the Vatican power center, the Curia.

His most recent title: President Emeritus of Vatican City State, Roman Curia (resigned 1997).

http://www.cardinalrating.com/cardinal_140.htm

Appointed Secretary to the Roman Curia in 1975, only two years after being anointed a bishop. Appointed president of the Curia in 1981. Became a cardinal in 1985. Same year, appointed President of the Patrimony ($$$) of the Apostolic See, Roman Curia. (Resigned 1995.)

http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcaslar.html

(Note: These guys don't resign. I'll see what I can find out.)

[Peace Patriot]

50. Description of Castillo's "Patrimony" office:

The Patrimony of the Apostolic See

Description: administer the properties owned by the Holy See in order to provide the funds necessary for the Roman Curia to function. (Pastor Bonus, 172)
Mailing Address: Palazzo Apostolico, 00120 Citta del Vaticano
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dxpas.html

---------------

[Peace Patriot]

52. BINGO! (on Castillo) --almost

This is a puff piece for "the Pope's Banker," Angelo Caloia, whom the article writer (Sandro Magister) calls "the bastion of moral finance."

Caloia has written a book called "Finanza bianca" (with collaborator Giancarlo Galli, published by Mondadori press, in June 2006), which tells the tale of the Vatican's disastrous finances in the 1970s/early 1980s and how he (Caloia) cleaned it up, in the late 1980s/1990s. He accuses Catholic bankers--Antonio Fazio, leader of the Banca d´Italia; Cesare Geronzi, dominus of Capitalia; Giovanni Bazoli, president of Banca Intesa--of having "lost (their) Christian identity" (whatever that means). "The proof is in the involvement of Catholic banks in the colossal disaster of Parmalat, Cirio, and the like," which Caloia claims to have saved the Vatican Bank from. (Note: the Vatican Bank is called the IOR - The Institute for the Works of Religion.) Angelo Caloia came from that world--called "white finance"--of Catholic bankers. He is not a prelate. But he appears to have had close connections to Opus Dei (Catholic laymen and fascists) who advised him during this "cleansing."

Note from the article: "There are four main financial institutions in the Vatican. In order of importance, they are the IOR, the Institute for the Works of Religion; the APSA, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See; the Governatorato of Vatican City State; and the Prefecture of Economic Affairs."

Caloia became head of the IOR (Vatican Bank). And Cardinal Castillo Lara of Venezuela was at that time head of the APSA (Patrimony of the Holy See). Castillo opposed Caloia's "clean-up."


----------

http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=7048&eng=y


"In 1987, and again in 1988, Vatican emissaries presented themselves to him (Angelo Caloia). In the name of cardinal Casaroli, they wanted him to take the IOR in hand.

"And that´s not all. Casaroli asked him to rewrite the statutes of the Vatican bank. Caloia accepted and went to work. Done. In 1990, John Paul II promulgated the new statutes, Marcinkus left Rome for a parish in Illinois, and Caloia became president of the new supervisory council of the IOR. He was nominated by the other four bankers of the council: a German, a Swiss, a Spaniard, and an American. The Swiss was Philippe De Weck, ex-president of the Union de Banques Suisses, close to Opus Dei and a frequent visitor in Milan of the Group for Culture, Ethics, and Finance. He was Caloia´s great promoter.

"But the old guard of the IOR machine was still putting up resistance: the prelate De Bonis, director general Luigi Mennini, and chief accountant Pellegrino De Strobel. The latter two were the first to go. De Bonis didn´t give in. According to the norms of the new statutes, he should only have been giving spiritual assistance, but in reality he was carrying on business as usual.

"De Bonis allied himself with the president of the APSA at the time, Rosalio José Cardinal Castillo Lara, and with that institution´s secretary, bishop Gianni Danzi, and worked to substitute for Caloia, at the end of his first five-year term as president, his own candidate, the American Virgil C. Dechant, of the Knights of Columbus and a great contributor to Solidarnosc in Poland. Castillo Lara and Danzi also applied pressure to make the IOR do religious merchandising. Caloia refused, and received a barrage of venomous letters from the cardinal. But he wore him out in the end. De Bonis was sent away as a chaplain for the Knights of Malta, Caloia was reconfirmed for another five-year term as president in 1995, and Castillo Lara soon left the APSA.

"Other maneuvers were attempted in 1999. This time the candidate to replace Caloia was no less than the outgoing president of the federal bank of Germany, the Bundesbank, Hans Tietmeyer, and his promoter was American cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, at the time the president of the Prefecture of Economic Affairs at the Vatican. Monsignor Renato Dardozzi of Opus Dei was the one who alerted Caloia. At a conference given by Tietmeyer at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Caloia stood up to criticize his ultraliberal theses. Sparks flew between the two men. But Caloia won the challenge again, reinforced by the support of the pope´s personal secretary, Stanislaw Dziwisz.

"In 2000, Caloia was reconfirmed as president, and the last word in his favor is said to have been spoken by John Paul II: 'As long as I´m alive, there´ll never be a German in charge of the Vatican´s finances.' But more than his Polish spirit, what convinced the pope were the proceeds of the IOR put at his disposal each year for charitable works. These were 7 million dollars in 1990, at the beginning of Caloia´s administration. Today they are 'many, many more.'"

------------------------------

It appears that Cardinal Castillo's resignation from the "Patrimony of the Holy See" was forced, due to corruption (or incompetence--hard to tell for sure). But this article smells of something and I'm not sure what. Caloia is too much of a "white knight." The article reads like Catholic History written by members of Opus Dei (or their Cardinals). I'm very familiar with this kind of writing. They can make the Inquisition sound like Baby Jesus's birthday party. Liars, obfuscators, twisters of the truth around 180 degrees into complete falsehood. And I don't know if that means Castillo ends up not corrupt (in reality), or if it's just that they're all corrupt, but in different ways.

I haven't gotten any closer to the Italian Niger forgers (Opus Dei in the Italian intelligence community)--and plots against the Iraqi and American people--but the same guy (Castillo) who is railing against Hugo Chavez today, in support of the Bush junta, was apparently involved in Catholic banking scandals in the 1980s, and apparently was forced to resign because of it--by Caloia, who made a pile of money for the Vatican in the process.

We may need some Italian help here, in understanding these banking scandals, and what all this is about, re: Michael Ladeen, the Niger forgeries (and attempted plant of WMDs in Iraq?), the outing of Valerie Plame, and the slaughter of tens of thousands of Innocent people--with possibly more to come.

[Peace Patriot]

53. Note: Parmalat (one of the Catholic-banking related scandals mentioned

above) is an Itailian milk and milk products (?) company, that collapsed because of vast debt that had been concealed. One of the places it was selling milk to was Venezuela.

(I'm having to read stuff in Italian, translated by Google--I'm pretty sure it was a milk company, cuz it says Parmalat was selling "dust milk" to Cuba (i.e., powdered milk?)).

[Peace Patriot]

54. Further note: The author of the book in question, about the Catholic

banking scandals, may be Giancarlo Galliums. (Google translates its title as "Finance White Woman"--???)

----------

Some people are comparing it to Enron (the Parmalat and other Catholic banking scandals).

[stop the bleeding]

56. I have been following your research on this including the two posts that

come after this one, you speak of a banking scandal. Wasn't Marcinkus the guy that Castillo replaced involved in the Roberto Calvi(Banco Ambrosiano)murder-scandal in the early 1980's. When looking at this piece you get a sense that the Vatican knew that there were troubles back then but it sounds like some of their luck might have run out with the "Powder Milk/Enron" scandal that you alluded and hence is why the appearance by the Vatican for this "house cleaning". Very good catch on the "resigning part" from an earlier post.

Great work BTW

[loudsue]

76. I wish Chavez would point the finger at this detractor of his, and

out him and his ilk for the world to see. Someone needs to tie these criminals together with the neo-congame going on in the republican mafia that has taken control of the U.S. government.

:kick::kick::kick:

[leveymg]

22. During the Roberts confirmation hearings, there was an effort to

determine whether that nominee was, indeed, another Opus Dei send up. I and some others here and at DKos looked around, but I didn't see anything conclusive.

I'll let you know if I come across anything useful.

[DoYouEverWonder]

58. Roberts voted yesterday

with Scalia and Thomas against Oregon's assisted suicide law. The vote was 3 to 6. If he's not Opus Dei, he sure seems to share a lot of the same beliefs.

[leveymg]

63. Ifthey were truly "pro-life" (in the broader sense) this wouldn't be as

dangerous as being selectively pro-death -- pro-death penalty, pro-war, pro-torture, and pro-rendition -- as these guys actually are.

Actually, Scalia is somewhat more principled about some of these issues, as he tends to be a libertarian when it comes to First Amendment cases.

[Emit]

24. Thanks stb. Berlusconi has been linked to the P2

Berlusconi has been linked to the P2:

There was a scandal in 1981 when Mr Berlusconi was revealed as a member of the P-2 Freemason's lodge, a secret network of politicians, businessmen and media figures. The group was disbanded, and Mr Berlusconi emerged unscathed.

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:tKylMdzEUjwJ:xoomer.virgilio.it/itcassiopaea/P2.htm+Dr.+Silvio+Berlusconi+(Milan,+625)&hl=en

I have no idea what kind of site this is, if it's credible, etc. I have read other sites stating the same thing.

Edit to change subject title

[AntiFascist]

41. This would all seem tin-foilish...

except for the fact that Bush Sr. capitalized by often referring to the "New World Order" in his speeches, and Bush Jr. has made reference to the "Shadow Government".

[Emit]

46. Yeah.

That is odd that both Bushes have made these references. And, yes, it does teeter on the tin-foilish. But, I'm trying not to let that detract from the importance of these connections. We can't ignore the players involved and their histories. What's the saying, "sometimes life is stranger than fiction"?

Speaking of which, how tin-foilish is this thought? In reading about Gladio (and I've tried to stick with historical documents from Italian resources--but sometimes the translation is off, as well as sticking to credible sites), when one sees the purpose behind Gladio, I just shudder because it comes so close to some of the 9/11 LIHOP/MIHOP theories. Now in saying this, I hope the Mods do not send this thread into the dungeon, where the other Raw Story thread on the same subject ended up. Anyway, here's an example:

Chris Floyd writing in the Moscow Times explains the essence of "Operation Gladio":


'You had to attack civilians, the people, women, children, innocent people, unknown people far removed from any political game. The reason was quite simple: to force ... the public to turn to the state to ask for greater security.'

Operation Gladio a decades-long covert campaign of terrorism and deceit directed by the intelligence services of the West -- against their own populations. Hundreds of innocent people were killed or maimed in terrorist attacks -- on train stations, supermarkets, cafes and offices -- which were then blamed on "leftist subversives" or other political opponents. The purpose, as stated above in sworn testimony by Gladio agent Vincenzo Vinciguerra, was to demonize designated enemies and frighten the public into supporting ever-increasing powers for government leaders -- and their elitist cronies.

First revealed by Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti in 1991, Gladio (from the Latin for "sword") is still protected to this day by its founding patrons, the CIA and MI6. Yet parliamentary investigations in Italy, Switzerland and Belgium have shaken out a few fragments of the truth over the years. These have been gathered in a new book, "NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe," by Daniele Ganser, as Lila Rajiva reports on CommonDreams.org.

Originally set up as a network of clandestine cells to be activated behind the lines in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe, Gladio quickly expanded into a tool for political repression and manipulation, directed by NATO and Washington. Using right-wing militias, underworld figures, government provocateurs and secret military units, Gladio not only carried out widespread terrorism, assassinations and electoral subversion in democratic states such as Italy, France and West Germany, but also bolstered fascist tyrannies in Spain and Portugal, abetted the military coup in Greece and aided Turkey's repression of the Kurds.

~snip~

What seems to be true is that Operation Gladio was the brain child of American intelligence personnel after the (so-called) defeat of Fascism during WWII. It goes without saying that the very existence of tyrants like Hitler and Mussolini was extremely useful for the "allies", particularly the Americans. After all, when your goal is global hegemony, you need a good reason to send the troops overseas. However, with the defeat of the Nazis, America was forced to find a new boogeyman, or rather boogey ideology, to justify continual war. Very quickly after WWII, "the commies are coming" became the new battle cry and with it came a plan to establish "stay-behind" groups of mercenaries trained by Americans in the art of guerilla warfare in the event that a Communist (or in any way left-leaning) government should gain strength in any strategically important (from the point of view of the US) nation.

More here:

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:N66N6sGdOu4J:thedailyheretic.blogspot.com/2005/07/yet-another-false-flag.html+Department+of+Strategic+Anti-Terrorism+Studies+Bush+Sharon&hl=en


Utterly chilling, IMHO.

Edited for clarity. doh!

[Emit]

32. stb, here's another good summary

basically getting at what you're getting at:

...This is one of those things that make being a "conspiracy theorist" seem entirely superfluous. Just try imagining P2: an elite, ultra-secretive, neo-fascist, Masonic cabal, involved in money laundering, assassination and false-flag terrorism. (The "Strategy of Tension," to discredit Italy's Communist Party. For instance, the engineering of Aldo Moro's kidnapping and murder, and the Bologna train bombing.) P2 counted among its members the future Italian President Silvio Berlusconi, and reputedly boasted honourary members like Henry Kissinger, George HW Bush and arch-neocon, Michael Ledeen.

I mentioned P2 last August, with regard to Ledeen's long history with the Italian far right and the linchpin of Italian military intelligence to the Niger "Yellow Cake" forgery. (For more on the significance of P2 to US intelligence and the "Octopus," refer to David Guyatt's excellent articles "Operation Gladio", "Holy Smoke and Mirrors" and "The Money Fountain.")

Licio Gelli was P2's Grandmaster, and can't even be called a neo-fascist. He was Old School: a member of the Italian Black Shirt Brigade which fought for Franco in the Spanish Civil War. During World War II, he spied on partisans in his native Italy for the Nazis, and obtained the SS rank of Oberleutenant. This same Gelli was a honoured guest of George HW Bush after the 1980 inauguration, and there is evidence that Gelli and P2 played a role in the October Surprise; even that Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was murdered on Gelli's orders because he'd refused to provide Swedish cover for the covert transfer of money and arms. In her October Surprise, Barbara Honegger writes that a P2 informant claimed to her that before Palme's death, Gelli sent a message to former Republican National Committee advisor (and also alleged "honourary" P2 member) Philip Guarino, assuring him that "the Swedish tree will be felled," and to "tell our good friend Bush."

Your head exploding yet? There's more. GHW Bush's reputed code name for October Surprise was "The White Rose," which was also the name of a far-right Cuban exile group with which the CIA's Bush was reportedly engaged during the ramp-up to the Bay of Pigs. Honneger reports that when Italian police uncovered the P2 control cell responsible for terrorism in Italy, they learned that its code name was "The Rose of Twenty." Gelli seems to have had a weakness for the flower.

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:aSPbkFhLUgwJ:rigorousintuition.blogspot.com/2005/02/my-god-they-killed-him.html+Silvio+Berlusconi+Opus+Dei+p2&hl=en


I haven't verified any of this info, but, if it's true, is there any doubt with Bush & Co's connections that they weren't involved in the Niger forgeries?

Edited to correct link.

[stop the bleeding]

33. Thank you here is more related but in an indirect way.

Scroll down and read about the Saudi family being JEWS

http://www.fortunecity.com/boozers/bridge/632/history.html

*************************

and then this which I think is very troubling given what has been going on with Iran.

Barry, I have seen these kind of installations when I was in the military for years I was stationed at a base where a major part of it was like this. These are not barracks of any kind. The metal facilities built up on the rocks are huge electronic facilities probably filled with CIA and extensive phone and other electronic monitoring stuff. The bunker is one just like the ones I was around at the base I was at here in California. It is a missile launch bunker. Somewhere within a mile to 5 miles are silos with the missiles in them, This kind of a facility has minimal personal but filled with covered electronics that can even be monitored from the US itself. Not one of those large buildings is for people to live in or even really work in.


http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Commentary/Base_Photos.htm

Also notice how this base was suppose to be complete by 08/31/2005


Like as said before there is a lot of information in different places but if we focus on the following then I think it will turn up more connections and answers than we will know what to do with.

Formation of Gladio / P2 It's objectives, major players, and allies/helpers

Formation of Opus Dei It's objectives, major players, and allies/helpers

Formation of Israel It's objectives, major players, and allies/helpers

Formation of Neocon's It's objectives, major players, and allies/helpers

Vatican It's objectives, major players, and allies/helpers


All of these groups so far in my limited research all share similar objectives, allies, and major players. In fact when you start to google combinations you start to get a web that criss crosses itself several times over.

There may be another group that is worth mentioning but so far these are the major ones.

As stated before I need more time to start locking these together, with the TROVE of information contained in RP's Plame/Redux thread one can get some of the many bits and pieces there. I have poured over it several times and will be doing it again tonight along with all of this new information that has come up today here in the LBN and GD threads.

Thanks again

Also I was wondering how legit David Guyatt's work is, so far to me it looks pretty well researched, but I am a newcomer all of this information, but I have been learning quickly.

[AntiFascist]

47. There's also Knights of Malta....

is it true that freemasonry is dedicated to the rebuilding of the temple at al-Aqsa? After all, masonry => brick and mortar. How quaint.

http://www.islamicaweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22311

[lala_rawraw]

55. I think this is getting off the track

To what this article says and "means"

Please consider it as part III of the last 3 articles written and then read them together. That is your map, this is just too much and too far removed from the events you/we/everyone is/are seeking to solve. Just an FYI. Now if only I could hire all of you as researchers, good god. But somewhere in here you are on the right track, beyond that I cannot comment. But it is fun to watch (and I do wish I could help):)

[stop the bleeding]

60. These 3 are the one's

1. Secretive military unit sought to solve political WMD concerns prior to securing Iraq, intelligence sources say

related DU discussion thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=60048

2. Spurious attempt to tie Iran, Iraq to nuclear arms plot bypassed U.S. intelligence channels, 01/11/2006

related DU discussion thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x66847

3. American who advised Pentagon says he wrote for magazine that found forged Niger documents, 01/17/2006

related DU discussion thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2046689

It is never a bad idea to review from top to bottom, I just can not help feeling that no amount of research is going to turn up anything worth using. We seem to run into these characters everywhere every time we google, so it is a bit over whelming to say the least. There seems to be only one set of hopes and that is Fitz and McNulty on this. As always thanks for the help and I will review these articles later today when I get a break at work.

Peace!

[lala_rawraw]

66. Yes you can, focus:)

I think you are right that they show up everywhere, but the big picture, whatever it is, is far to complicated to answer the basic questions we have, and you know what they are as you have asked them yourself here at DU. YOur answers are here - trust me. I spent a year on these 3 and the next few in the series. So the rest is up to you:)

[stop the bleeding]

67. SISMI and OSP working in concert

from your 1st article

“A good example of how forensics is used can be found in the recent development around enriched uranium isotopes found on centrifuges in Iran,” one said. “Iran claimed to have purchased the centrifuges from Pakistan, but certain people pushing for war with Iraq were claiming that this was evidence of Iraqis reconstituting their nuclear weapons program. The forensics showed that the Iranians were telling the truth and that they in fact had purchased the items from Pakistan, a US ally.”

From your 2nd article

In his book, Weldon said he met Ghorbanifahr after being approached by a Democratic congressman.

"On March 7, 2003, a former Democratic member of Congress and my good friend Ron Klink called and asked to meet with me. . . . The source was Ali. My contacts with him were at first by telephone. Subsequently, Ali sent faxes to my home on a regular basis from different hotels in Paris, where he lives in exile. Eventually, as the information became more detailed and critical, I decided on a face-to-face meeting." (Countdown to Terror, p. 4).

Why such highly important information would be provided to Klink and then Weldon as opposed to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee remains unclear.

<snip>
The uranium story peddled to Weldon is strikingly similar to the story told to Ledeen.
"I approached a variety of government officials, lots of them, and told them that I had a reliable source that told me about how and where the Iranians stole enriched uranium from Iraq," Ledeen said.

Ledeen says his source then went on to explain that the "stash" was buried in an underground facility and recounted, much like Weldon did, that neither the CIA, the Defense Department or the State Department would listen to his concerns.

Asked if his source was Ghorbanifahr, Ledeen said "No," but was unable to tell the identity of his source for fear said source might be "put in danger."



Well, who is Ledeen’s source? - Ledeen??


<snip>
Who arranged the meetings and their ultimate purpose remains unclear. One intelligence official, however, described the series of events and the market of intelligence trafficking as follows: "If you were going to launder intel to make up a war, you could easily send some fool on an errand."

How/why was this information provided to Klink?

Also interesting is the fact that Stephen Krappes cancels at the last minute, something is not right there as well, but I do not know what yet…

Also interesting on the overlapping time lines of the 2 events

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4390395

6. March 7, '03: the IAEA announces the US's documents on Niger-Iraq are forgeries.

7. March 8, '03: (a) a State Department spokesperson admits, "We fell for it" in regard to the forged document; (b) Wilson tells CNN that the State Department has more information on the subject; and (c) a workshop meeting is held in VP Cheney's office. It is attended by top republican officials, possibly including Cheney, Scooter Libby, and Newt Gingrich. The group discusses ways to discredit Wilson

from the 3rd article

It was Burba's editor at Panorama, Carlo Rossella, who allegedly told her to take the documents to the U.S. embassy, despite her own requests to travel to Niger to further investigate the claims.

It was also Rosella who intervened when Burba requested to contact the White House after hearing the infamous "16 words" in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, dissuading her from contacting U.S. officials.

Rosella, intelligence sources say, could have been acting on the orders of Panorama's owner, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's equivalent of Rupert Murdoch. Berlusconi -- who also happens to be the current Prime Minister -пїЅ was a supporter of President Bush leading up to the war.

Berlusconi was not immediately available for comment.

Were there really weapons planted in Iraq that was suppose to look like they came from Iran or vice versa but could have come via Pakistan either legally or illegally from Cheney's and Khan's Nuclear Walmart?

Or was there a concerted effort to explain away the lack of WMD's in Iraq and the Niger Forgeries by making it appear like the material had been moved from Iraq to Iran? There by vindicating the WH on WMD claims and setting up their next target for War? I am just thinking out loud right now.

I will mull these articles some more later today, and maybe something will start to make sense :shrug: or maybe not

[stop the bleeding]

68. This is a really interesting article on Stephen Kappes

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/041129/29intell.htm

So last week, many CIA insiders were astonished when Kappes became an early casualty under the rule of Porter Goss, the recently appointed director of central intelligence. Goss, himself a former CIA case officer who recently chaired the House Intelligence Committee, (the same intelligence committee that Weldon/Klink bypassed ??? WTF WTF)


Repeat Tenet sends Kappes to Paris to investigate Weldon's/informant's claims and then has to cancel at the last second? Tenet is then replaced by Goss?

<snip>

When Goss arrived at the CIA, he brought with him four longtime Republican aides from the House Intelligence Committee to make up his inner circle. Led by his former staff director, Patrick Murray, the group was notorious at the CIA, where many viewed them as arrogant, partisan, and caught up in micromanaging marginal programs. At CIA headquarters, the Goss aides soon acquired a nickname: "the Hitler youth."

<snip>

The incident that sparked the departure of Kappes and Sulick unfolded in just a day, according to accounts from more than a dozen current and former intelligence officials. Kappes and Sulick had grown concerned about the authority that Murray was apparently claiming--including authority to appoint chiefs of CIA stations overseas. After Murray allegedly blamed one of Sulick's deputies for a damaging leak about an old shoplifting charge against another one of Goss's aides, Sulick and Kappes sought a meeting with Goss. The new director backed Murray, with Goss saying that he doesn't do personnel issues. He then left the meeting, and things turned ugly, with Sulick warning Murray not to treat senior CIA managers the way they used to treat Democratic congressional staff "pukes," according to these accounts. Soon after, Murray demanded that Kappes fire Sulick. Kappes refused and resigned, along with Sulick.

<snip>

Goss made a belated attempt at damage control last week with an agency wide E-mail, but his note only sparked more controversy. While the CIA should stick to the facts, he stressed, its ultimate customer should never be in doubt. "We support the administration and its policies in our work," he wrote. "As agency employees, we do not identify with, support, or champion opposition to the administration or its policies." Many at the CIA interpreted this as a shot across the bow, warning employees to hew to the party line; others insisted that when Goss mentioned "support," he meant intelligence support.

<snip>

Goss also warned in his memo of further personnel changes. Next on the chopping block, say insiders, are officials at the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence, responsible for analysis and under fire for their flawed reports on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Some veterans fear that a politically tinged purge is in the offing, despite denials from Goss backers. If a political hit is coming, veterans say, a key place to watch is the National Intelligence Council, which oversees the intelligence community's weighty estimates on major issues.

So the CIA is purging it's WMD experts from the agency the same one's who shut down/discredited the "Ali" claims before Weldon and Ledeen could get anyone to listen??

Man if there had been different people in charge of the CIA back then - then by now we might already be at war with Iran, because the WH could have claimed that the WMD's they were looking for were moved to Iran, killing 2 birds with one stone. Kind of like when Judy Miller published articles about the WMD's and then the Admin. goes on TV to use that as proof of WMD's.

Ledeen = Rove = OSP = PNAC = domination of Syria, Iraq, and Iran to secure America's interest's in the region which also benefit's the Saudi's and Israel.

Man these guys could have had a field day if it wasn't for that pesky CIA getting in the way.

So you have destroyed Brewster Jennings and purged the CIA of some of its best intelligence people, sounds like to me now you have a more cooperative CIA to verify bogus claims of WMD's for any future wars.

Pardon me I am just thinking out loud again.



and this article as well..

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/943hbmrt.asp?pg=2

Bottom of the second page.


In all of the studies and commissions and debates about terrorists and rogue regimes and threats, we have learned one thing that should be the backdrop for every discussion of intelligence reform: The CIA failed to penetrate the senior-most levels of the former Iraqi regime or of al Qaeda. Former CIA director George Tenet has admitted this.

The clandestine service exists to penetrate our enemies and collect their secrets. Some armchair spooks pretend this is easy. It's not. But gaps in our knowledge are gaps in our security. Tenet told the 9/11 Commission it would take five years to revamp the clandestine services.

Faster, please. - isn't this a phrase that Michael Ledeen uses??




******

and this one as well

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn12042004.html

Bush's new director, former Republican Florida rep Porter Goss and his team of enforcers, rampage through the corridors of CIA hq at Langley. Goss was once an undercover CIA officer so there's probably a personal edge to his mission of revenge, as he strikes back at the dolts who nixed his expense accounts or poured scorn on his heroic endeavors in the field.

But Goss's most pressing task is to exact retribution for the stories emanating from the CIA in the months before the election suggesting that the Agency's measured assessments of the supposed WMD presence in Iraq were perverted by the war faction headed by (vice) president Cheney.

Goss and his hit team have acted swiftly. In early November the CIA's number 2, John McLaughlin, resigned, followed days later by the Agency's top man on the clandestine side, Stephen Kappes and his number 2, Michael Sulick. And, no surprise, into retirement goes Mr "Anonymous", Michael Scheuer, leader of the CIA unit hunting Osama bin Laden. I'm with Goss on that one. Scheuer probably spent most of each day hunting down his next book advance and kibbitizing about royalties from Imperial Hubris with his true "Controls" at Brassey's Inc, owned by shadowy Books International.

**********************

[Emit]

84. lala

I would like to get your opinion on this guy's take on the matter. It seems it was written back in November 2005. Seems he's put a lot of effort into piecing it together. It is interesting that he uses info from the Senate Intelligence Committee's report to provide more context, as well as translated articles from Italy. Pay attention to the comment section, too. One guy, Jak, has an extensive timeline (unfortunately, it doesn't provide imbedded links) of events that he has pieced together, and has added his own two cents worth of critique.

Here's the blog: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:4j0T6mwKLcIJ:nuralcubicle.blogspot.com/2005/11/berlusconis-men-doctor-niger-uranium.html+Langley+Rome+&hl=en

Here's the timeline (pdf): http://jakking.typepad.com/daily/files/plamegate_chronology_051119.doc

Thanks and thanks for all your effort on this story.

[AntiFascist]

34. Good find Stop the Bleeding!

Also, doesn't P2 have connections with those who brought Hitler to power and isn't there overlap with the origins of the CIA ala project Paperclip, Gladio and so forth? When you read about the occult influences into their methodologies, these people were clearly insane, yet greatly influential and obviously dangerous.

[stop the bleeding]

35. check this out on the Hitler question

Following the Calvi affair, the Vatican sought to diminish increasingly poor publicity by establishing a commission of enquiry. One of the so called “Four Wise Men” who sat on this enquiry was Dr Herman Abs, a senior German banker. During the war years Abs headed Deutsche Bank and was one of the principal financiers of Adolf Hitler. He also sat on the board of I G Farben, the massive Nazi conglomerate that used slave labour until they dropped. Farben also manufactured Zyklon B - the poisonous gas used with such devastating effect in the extermination camps. Arrested for war crimes at the end of WW11, Abs was quietly released following the intervention of the Bank of England.


OPERATION GLADIO-by David Guyatt


Read whole article - I stumbled on it 2 nights ago and see my response at post# 33 for more crazy inforamtion regarding possible history of Israel and the base, which I think you alluded to in the Plame/Redux thread.

[AntiFascist]

57. There are also the rumors of....

British Illuminati and Sabbateanism to explain many of the connections. Eventhough it sounds like crazed conspiracy theory there are a lot of real names to draw connections between.

"Rabbi Antelman asserts that the Sabbateans sent more than financiers from Germany to infiltrate American Jewry. He insists the Conservative, and moreso, the Reform Movements, are tools used to draw American Jews away from their traditions and into the arms of the Sabbateans."

[AntiFascist]

70. In my post I meant to indicate that British Illuminati => bankers

damn brackets don't show up in the html!

[bobthedrummer]

9. I'd say this is another example of "perception management"

Here's a recent thread from the DU archives that discusses this subject.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x71919

[David Zephyr]

12. The "Yellow Cake Fakes" story just keeps coming, doesn't it?

Thanks Sabra for this story today. It certainly goes to the heart, of where what I have called, the Yellow Cake Fakes and their origin, doesn't it?

This is a very BIG STORY!

Kicking and Recommending.

[Tom Joad]

16. Leeden at center of AIPAC spy scandal.

The Politics of an Outing
Plame, Ledeen and Iran
By GARY LEUPP
http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp08112005.html

Vincent Cannistraro, formerly National Security Council intelligence director, hence someone who probably knows what he's talking about in connection with this matter, suggests that Michael Ledeen arranged the forgeries. Ledeen is a leading neocon. He has Italian ties (has written scholarly works on Machiavelli and Mussolini). He strongly urged the Iraq attack for years. He has had lots of ties with Iran, has written about "America's Failure in Iran." He was a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration. Now he advocates an attack on Iran and his views reportedly deeply influence the neocons in the administration.

Ledeen was once fired from his job as a Middle East specialist with the National Security Council because he came under FBI investigation for passing classified information to the Israeli embassy in Washington. But then he was hired in 2001 by fellow neocon Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith (now under scrutiny in the Franklin/AIPAC Affair) to work for the Office of Special Plans (known to some as the "Lie Factory") which stovepiped "intelligence" supporting war to the White House. If he were to go on trial, this Plame Affair would draw to the masses' attention the existence of that Office of Special Plans, and its various violations of law. Given the OSP's reported ties to a comparable body in Israel, it might somehow connect with the Franklin investigation too.

[leveymg]

28. That connection is at the heart of the Larry Franklin OSP-AIPAC case

Here's another side of the Plame story - the Mossad-OSP pipeline.

Read the indictment in the Larry Franklin case. Particularly, see pp. 23-24, para. 6 - http://www.physics911.net/franklinpdf2.pdf Franklin pleaded guilty to charges that he had been, among other things, salting Pentagon files with phoney IRAN WMD data. His source for that, according to the charging papers, was the Mossad Chief of Station at the Israeli Embassy in DC.. Mr. Gilon (FO-3 in the indictment) fled the country shortly after the FBI investigation of the OSP-AIPAC case was leaked. See, http://www.dailykos.com/admin/story/2005/6/15/12176/923 ...

Seems the Niger Yellowcake docs are just a facet of the disinformation work that Mr. Ledeen and Mr. Ghorbanifar have been carrying out on behalf of their client for many years.

[Tom Joad]

37. This "spying" is different in the way we usually think of spying. Link

I think the conventional view of spying on another country is learning of military secrets... where the troops are, vulnerabilities, strengths, weaknesses and so on. Israel was not interested in this. They do seem to have an interest in promoting war between the US and other Middle East countries, like Iraq, Syria, Iran.

OSP-AIPAC SPY CASE REVEALS ISRAELI PLOT TO PLANT IRAN WMD DATA
Here is a workable link to the Daily Kos story.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/15/12176/9231

[leveymg]

39. This is more of a deception/disinfo operation - still espionage

Disinformation ops, by the way, are Ledeen's specialty.

[BlueManDude]

18. another layer of the onion falls away

[seemslikeadream]

21. Ledeen

http://www.prospect.org/weblog/archives/2005/10/index.html#008117

HADLEY NAMED. La Repubblica has a dynamite series this week on the origin of the yellowcake forgeries. Laura Rozen reports:
With Patrick Fitzgerald widely expected to announce indictments in the CIA leaks investigation, questions are again being raised about the murky matter that first led to the appointment of the special counsel: namely, how the Bush White House came into possession of discredited Italian intelligence reports claiming that Iraq sought uranium "yellowcake" from Niger.
The key documents supposedly proving the Iraqi attempt turned out to be crude forgeries on official stationery stolen from the African nation's Rome embassy. Among the most tantalizing aspects of the debate over the Iraq War is the origin of those fake documents and the role of the Italian intelligence services in disseminating them.

In an explosive series of articles appearing this week in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, investigative reporters Carlo Bonini and Giuseppe d'Avanzo reveal how Niccolo Pollari, chief of Italy's military intelligence service, known as SISMI, brought the Niger yellowcake story directly to the White House after his insistent overtures had been rejected by the Central Intelligence Agency in 2001 and 2002.

Today's exclusive report in La Repubblica reveals that Pollari met secretly in Washington on September 9, 2002, with then–Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Their secret meeting came at a critical moment in the White House campaign to convince Congress and the American public that war in Iraq was necessary to prevent Saddam Hussein from developing nuclear weapons.

The La Repubblica article quotes a Bush administration official saying, "I can confirm that on September 9, 2002, general Nicolo Pollari met Stephen Hadley."

Laura will have more on this story later today.


and this
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=7256


JANUARY 2001 BREAK-IN AT NIGER EMBASSY

At night, between the first and second of the January 2001, a mysterious thief came to the embassy of Niger in Rome and into the residence of the counselor in charge. It turned out that some letterhead and seals (see photocopy) were missing. A second dossier on Niger-Iraq trade soon came into Martino’s hands, one that included references to uranium trafficking. Martino claims he got it from embassy personnel and that he thought it was authentic.


http://nuralcubicle.blogspot.com/2005/10/berlusconi-behind-fake-yellowcake.html

Double-Dealers and Dilettantes--the Men Behind Nigergate Were All Italians.

The military intervention in Iraq was justified by two revelations: Saddam Hussein attempted to acquire unprocessed uranium (yellowcake) in Niger (1) for enrichment with centrifuges built with aluminum tubes imported from Europe(2). The fabricators of the twin hoaxes (there was never any trace in Iraq of unprocessed uranium or centrifuges) were the Italian government and Italian military intelligence. La Repubblica has attempted to reconstruct the who, where and why of the manufacture and transfer to British and American intelligence of the dodgy dossier for war.

They are the same two hoaxes that Judith Miller, the reporter who betrayed her newspaper, published (together with Michael Gordon) on September 8, 2002. In a lengthy investigative piece for the New York Times, Miller reported that Saddam could have built an atomic weapon with those aluminum tubes. These were the goods that the hawks in the Bush administration were expecting.

The "war dance" which followed Judith Miller’s scoop seemed like "carefully-prepared theater” to an attentive media-watcher, Roberto Reale of Ultime Notizie (The Latest News).

Condoleezza Rice, who was then White House Security Advisor, said on CNN: We don’t want the smoking gun to look like a mushroom cloud. A menacing Dick Cheney told Meet the Press that We know with absolute certainty that Saddam is using his technical and commercial capacities to acquire the material necessary to enrich uranium to build a nuclear weapon. This was the beginning of an escalation of fear.

26 September 2002: Colin Powell warns the Senate: The Iraqi attempt to acquire uranium is proof of its nuclear ambitions.

19 December 2002: The information on Niger and the uranium is included in the three-page President’s Daily Briefing prepared each day by the CIA and the Department of State for George W. Bush. The ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, added his stamp of approval: Why is Iraq dissimulating its purchase of Niger uranium?

more

http://crookedtimber.org/2005/10/25/la-repubblica-scoop

....

It’s a fact that on the eve of the Iraq war, and under the supervision of the diplomatic advisor to the Foreign Ministry, Gianni Castellaneta (today ambassador to the USA), the director of SISMI organized his agenda in Washington with the staff of Condoleeza Rice, who was National Security Adviser to the White House at that time. La Repubblica is able to document this two track process between the government and Italian intelligence. At least one of these ‘barely official’ meetings of Pollari’s was, according to secret service agents, the ‘creation of a system’ that would bring together government, intelligence and public affairs .

To summarize: Nicolo Pollari’s SISMI wanted to substantiate the the Iraqi acquisition of raw uranium to build a nuclear bomb. The game-plan was rather transparent. ‘Authentic’ documents relating to an attempted acquisition in Niger (old Italian intelligence from the 1980’s) were the dowry of the second-in-command of CISMI’s Roman headquarters (Antonio Nucera). They were bundled together with another fabricated document … through a simulated burglary on the Nigerien embassy (from which they had gotten headed notepaper and seals). The documents were shown by Pollari’s men to CIA station agents, and at the same time, a SISMI ‘postman’ by the name of Rocco Martino was sent to Sir Richard Dearlove of MI6 in London.

turning to the second chapter of the Great Swindle, organized in Italy, to build the case that military intervention in Iraq was necessary. … the Italian report on uranium …

… The CIA analysts thought the first report ‘very limited’ and ‘without the necessary details.’ INR analysts in the Department of State assessed the information as ‘highly suspect.’ … The immediate impact on the American Intelligence community wasn’t very gratifying for Pollari … Gianni Castellaneta advised him to look in ‘other directions’ too, while the minister of Defence, Antonio Martino invited him to meet ‘an old friend of Italy’s.’ The American friend was Michael Ledeen, an old fox in the ‘parallel’ intelligence community in the US, who had been declared an undesirable person in our country in the 1980’s . Ledeen was at Rome on behalf of the Office of Special Plans, created at the Pentagon by Paul Wolfowiz to gather intelligence that would support military intervention in Iraq. A source at Forte Braschi told La Repubblica : “Pollari got a frosty reception from the CIA’s station head in Rome, Jeff Castelli, for this information on uranium. Castelli apparently let the matter drop . Pollari got the hint and talked about it with Michael Ledeen.’ We don’t know what Michael Ledeen did in Washington. But at the beginning of 2002, Paul Wolfowitz convinced Dick Cheney that the uranium trail intercepted by the Italians had to be explored top to bottom. The vice-president, as the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence tells it, once again asked the CIA ‘very decisively’ to find out more about the ‘possible acquisition of Nigerien uranium.’ In this meeting, Dick Cheney explicitly said that this piece of intelligence was at the disposition of a “foreign service.”

… Forte Braschi says that “Pollari was incredibly cunning – he knew that it wasn’t enough to rely on the CIA to push the uranium story. It was necessary to work, as Palazzo Chigi and the Department of Defence had indicated, with the Pentagon and with the National Security Adviser, Rice. … An administration official has told La Repubblica “I can confirm that on September 9 2002, General Nicolo Pollari met Stephen Hadley, the deputy to the National Security Adviser, Condoleeza Rice.”… SISMI’s ‘postman,’ Rocco Martino contacted a journalist for a weekly newspaper – edited by Carlo Rossella – to sell her the documents at issue. … Panorama had a worldwide scoop. Title “The War? It’s already begun,’ it spoke of ‘half a ton of uranium.’ … The government asked. The intelligence service gave. The media spread it. The government confirmed it. It was an old disinformation technique from the Cold War. Exaggerate the danger of the threat. Terrify and convince public opinion of it.

more
http://nuralcubicle.blogspot.com/2005/10/sismis-war-in-iraq-iranian-connection.html


Monday, October 31, 2005
SISMI's War in Iraq: The Iranian Connection

Carlo Bonini and Giuseppi d'Avanzo are at it again. Another three-part blockbuster exposé on the involvement of Italian Military intelligence inside Iraq.

Part I: From Chelabi to Iranian Agents--SISMI's War in Iraq
A strategic summit in Rome with the Pentagon.

ROME: He’s another politico-military intelligence chief. He’s a SISMI man. He makes his way slowly down the narrow hallway of the bar at the Hotel Eden in via Ludovisi. He stops to admire the sky and the attractive skyline of Rome in the April sun (it is 22 April 2003) through the hotel’s large windows. He looks elegant in his Chairman's Committee grisaille. . He selects a table at the center of the terrace. The waiter walks over and solicitously takes his order. The gentleman orders a freshly-squeezed orange juice and a double espresso. The Anglo-American invasion of Iraq began on the night of 19-20 March, thirty-three days earlier.

Today, as Silvio Berlusconi reveals that he never supported the military intervention in Iraq, it is fitting to tell the story of how our country, Italy, although allegedly opposed to war as our Premier now claims, was an active protagonist in war preparations and operations.

We will reveal the different arrangements and plans of action, as well as who planned them and with whom they were planned.

For us Italians, recounts the high-ranking SISMI official to La Repubblica, the war on Iraq was already underway in the days before Christmans, 2002. He smiles. He is animated with a glint of excitement in his eyes and for once seems seems to have no qualms about letting his personal satisfaction slip from behind a frozen mask.

Our man is too disciplined to crow about his successes and too stubborn to be discouraged by defeat. He tells us: It was a novelty, a revolution for our intelligence services. Never before in its history has SISMI been so prominently involved in military ground operations and a major role in planning a war campaign, to boot. The Italian Government? Of course our work was authorized by the Italian Government—are you joking? It was real war, not an exercise! The twenty men we sent to Iraq were risking their lives. He pauses. The espresso arrives. He sips it slowly, his eyes half-closed with satisfaction.

He continues. Twenty men from three SISMI departments were involved: Intelligence, Operations and Counterterrorism. They were divided into small groups which were to operate in and around the areas of Kirkuk, Baghdad and Basrah using outlandish disguises. Each unit was unaware of the identities and the mission of the others. Each unit was ordered to operate within a sector of territory and to work with intelligence “assets” who had already been selected and trained. The objectives were twofold: To identify Iraqi defenses and to evaluate the readiness of the Iraqi armed forces.

If combat was less intense than expected, it is due to the job we did—and we didn’t do it alone. If we won the war before firing a shot, it was due to our successes at infiltration and intelligence-gathering.

The story of Italian military intervention in Iraq begins when the resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Ledeen, sponsored by Defense Minister Antonio Martino, debarks in Rome with Pentagon men in tow to meet a handful of “Iranian exiles.” The meeting is organized by SISMI. In an Agency “safe house” near Piazza di Spagna (however, other sources have told us it was a reserved room in the Parco dei Principi Hotel).


"Reid: Cheney Obstructing Investigation"

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/002979.html

Reid: Cheney Obstructing Investigation
From Laura Rosen at War and Piece...

Reid on Fire

The New Republic has more on what I reported last month: that Cheney has intervened with chairman Pat Roberts to obstruct the Senate Select Intelligence committee's investigation of the Bush administration's use of Iraq intelligence. TNR write:

...--More dramatically, Reid also made it clear that he believes the delay in the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation of prewar Iraq WMD--the underlying issue behind Tuesday's closed session--is entirely attributable to Vice President Dick Cheney. "Nothing happens regarding intelligence gathering ... unless it's signed off on by the Vice President," he said. " Roberts couldn't do it"--i.e., Roberts couldn't conduct a full investigation without Cheney's approval. When I asked Reid whether he meant to state so flatly that Cheney was personally and directly stalling the Intelligence Committee's work, he didn't pause a beat. In fact he almost stood from his chair. "Yes. I say that without any qualification ... Circle it." ...

I don't understand why we haven't heard Pat Roberts complaining more vociferously about the obstruction he's experienced from the Veep. Why would the Senator stand for the administration bucking oversight and Congressional reporting requirements on Iraq intelligence, torture, black site prisons, etc.? (Via Tapped's Ezra Klein).



http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051103/pl_afp/usital ...

But committee staff sources say that before the cooperation ceased, the committee had received from Feith’s office internal memos suggesting that the office may indeed have been conducting unlawful activities. In particular, Democratic staffers are interested in a secret December 2001 meeting of two Feith deputies, Larry Franklin and Harold Rhode, with Ghorbanifar in Rome. The meeting also included members of a foreign intelligence service (Italy’s SISMI). The catch is that it wasn’t reported in advance to the intelligence committee or the CIA, in possible violation of Section 502 of the National Security Act, which says that anyone conducting intelligence activities must inform the committee and the agency



"Italy MPs probe Niger-Iraq claim"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4402594.stm

Italy MPs probe Niger-Iraq claim

The director of the Italian military intelligence agency (Sismi) is due to give evidence over allegations that Iraq sought to buy uranium from Niger.

Nicolo Pollari is testifying before a parliamentary committee over reports that Italy wilfully gave the US and UK evidence that turned out to be false......


The Italian hearing into the claims is being held behind closed doors, but some details were expected to emerge later.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica says Italian agents gave the false dossier to British and American intelligence services........


"Niger Uranium Forgeries: Excavating a Roman Mystery"


One has to wonder how Laura can have such certain knowledge of what Fitzgerald has or has not requested. Ah, but if there is no such report -- and she cites the head of the Italian intelligence oversignt committee, one Enzo Bianco, denying it -- then how can Fitzgerald have requested it? There is, here, perhaps some confusion as to the nature of the "report" -- is it official, or is it just a transcript of a hearing? I think this guy, whoever he is, has the right idea.

Giovanni D'Avanzo, writing in La Repubblica , poses a few questions to Senor Bianco's oversight committee, and in the course of them avers:

"Sometime after October 9, 2002, a team of SISMI agents are ordered to keep Rocco Martino under close surveillance ... Why was no surveillance memo or report issued to judicial investigators on Rocco Martino, who is investigated by the Rome Public Prosecutor’s office in 2003, until the fall of 2004?"

So there was an investigation, albeit not by the Italian parliament but by Rome's public prosecutor. It could be that this is what both Walker's and my own sources are referring to.

Laura cites several other skeptics, including a reporter for La Repubblica and "a former U.S. official recently in Italy," who say this story is "the echo of a rumor put out by people back the States." She also cites Vince Cannistraro, "who at one time heard rumors of such a report from Italian sources," and who

"Now says there doesn't appear to be a parliamentary report either. 'There is no published report,”'Cannistraro told me Monday. 'If there is a report, we might expect it would have some analysis and conclusions. There is no report, at least not a published report. …I think this stuff is just getting circulated.'"

Of course it isn't published -- that's the whole point.

Yes, it's true, as Laura says, that the Italians aren't too eager to have the blame pinned on SISMI -- but that doesn't mean SISMI isn't involved. And some Italians -- the left-wing opposition coalition, for example -- might be understandably eager to expose the scandal in the run-up to Italy's elections scheduled for next year.

Laura goes into the Italian role in creating and disseminating these documents, referring to the La Repubblica series on the subject, but somehow neglects to mention the crucial American angle -- and the key role of American neocons, i.e. Michael Ledeen, in funneling the information contained in the Niger forgeries to Washington. Someone legitimized these fake documents by doing an end run around the CIA and the mainstream intelligence community, and injected a fabrication into the American intelligence stream. Who was it? La Repubblica fingers the Office of Special Plans, and names names, including Ledeen, Harold Rhode, and Larry Franklin, the confessed spy for Israel.

...

I trust my source, and I furthermore think it's unimportant whether this information is coming from the Italian parliament or Rome's public prosecutor: the point is that the information is there, and it's getting out. Antiwar.com stands by its story.


"Open the Ledeen Dossier!"

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/editorials/2005/3 ...

The stakes involved in the Ledeen dossier are much more significant than the particular incident around the yellowcake. As EIR documented at great length, Ledeen is not just a nasty American political operative, but had been brought into the service of one of the remnant fascist organizations of the Mussolini era, the Propaganda Two (P-2) freemasonic lodge. P-2, which was founded by avowed wartime fascist grandmaster Licio Gelli, is an outgrowth of the Venetian synarchist bankers network which runs international terrorism, and proceeds from the avowed aim of destroying all nation-states, particularly the United States. The P-2 network has been exposed over the past 20-plus years as the real center of international terrorism, including the left and right wings of the "strategy of tension" which carried out such atrocities as the 1980 Bologna bombing, and the assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro.

Italian political life is riddled with assets, if not outright agents, of the P-2. Notable among them is Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi himself, whose membership card is a matter of public record. Given the prominence of P-2 influence in Italy, it should be no surprise that the Italians, under a Berlusconi government, were the ones who provided the cover of the forged Niger yellowcake documents, to support the Cheney-Bush war drive.

The question raised here is a fundamental one. The role of former P-2ers Ledeen and Berlusconi in promoting the war, underscores the reality that the drive for empire and world dictatorship, for which Cheney is a frontman, is in fact the project of an international synarchist oligarchy, the direct descendants of those banking families who funded Hitler and Mussolini, and created World War II. Cheney is undoubtedly a fascist thug, eager to carry out whatever wars, torture, and economic genocide are on the agenda of the desperate synarchist bankers. But the brains for these operations come from the top level of the heirs of the Venetian banking system, who know that they will destroy the United States as a republic by carrying out these plans.

The prime objective for all those patriots and world-citizens who wish to save this planet from a descent into a New Dark Age, is, of course, to remove Dick Cheney from office. But exposing the roots of Cheney policies in the global Venetian synarchist banking system, is a crucial concomitant, if we are to get the alternative, FDR-like policy put into effect.


http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/nolan-m2.html

How would the neocon think tanks view martial law? Michael Ledeen, a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, and close and trusted White House adviser, has this to say on p. 173 of his book Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli’s Iron Rules Are As Timely and Important Today As Five Centuries Ago: “Paradoxically, preserving liberty may require the rule of a single leader – a dictator – willing to use those dreaded 'extraordinary measures,' which few know how, or are willing, to employ."

According to the Boston Globe, Ledeen in a 2003 speech to the American Enterprise Institute, asserted our nation’s insatiable lust for war by claiming that "All the great scholars who have studied American character have come to the conclusion that we are a warlike people and that we love war. . .What we hate is not casualties but losing." Did anyone in the media ever challenge an administration spokesman to defend Ledeen’s staggeringly wrongheaded, anti-American values? Did any of the (self-described) scholars at AEI that day ask why the GD fool would say such a thing? President Bush, for his part has personally offered these congratulations to the AEI: “At the American Enterprise Institute, some of the finest minds in our nation are at work on some of the greatest challenges to our nation. You do such good work that my administration has borrowed 20 such minds.”

The leaders of the War Machine – with their gulags, their lies, their senseless, immoral war – do not treat enemies and purported enemies terribly well. In the event of martial law, it would be naïve indeed to suspect that they would treat Americans any better. Patriots – left, right and center – should unite under the American flag to stop the War Machine today while they still can. The impeachment of Bush and Cheney is the obvious place to start. We, the people, should demand it of the US Congress, just as statesmen and citizens of their time demanded the Bill of Rights. Congress should be ordered, as well, to act responsibly and responsively and in the best interest of the sovereign Republic of the United States of America, not in the interest of neocon warmongers.


"Italy's Top Spy Names Freelance Agent as Source of Forged Niger-Iraq"

... Uranium Documents


http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytim ...

Italy's Top Spy Names Freelance Agent as Source of Forged Niger-Iraq Uranium Documents

November 4, 2005 by ELAINE SCIOLINO and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

ROME, Nov. 3 - Italy's spymaster identified an Italian occasional spy named Rocco Martino on Thursday as the disseminator of forged documents that described efforts by Iraq to buy uranium ore from Niger for a nuclear weapons program, three lawmakers said Thursday.

The spymaster, Gen. Nicolò Pollari, director of the Italian military intelligence agency known as Sismi, disclosed that Mr. Martino was the source of the forged documents in closed-door testimony to a parliamentary committee that oversees secret services, the lawmakers said.

Senator Massimo Brutti, a member of the committee, told reporters that General Pollari had identified Mr. Martino as a former intelligence informer who had been "kicked out of the agency." He did not say Mr. Martino was the forger.

The revelation came on a day when the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that it had shut down its two-year investigation into the origin of the forged documents.


http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/002983.html

Laura Rozen: "The (Niger forgeries) Report that Wasn't"

For weeks in the run-up to the Libby indictment last Friday, reports swirled in the blogosphere and some wires. They contended that CIA leak prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald had “widened his probe” to include investigating the origins of the Niger yellowcake forgeries themselves. They spoke of Fitzgerald getting ahold of a secret Italian parliamentary report that reportedly fingered a gang of American neoconservatives and aides to Ahmad Chalabi as being behind the Niger forgeries.

...

There’s just one problem: Not only has Fitzgerald not received such a report or even indicated he has any interest in one. There is no Italian parliamentary report, published or unpublished, on the Niger forgeries. In fact, until today, there has been no Italian parliamentary investigation of the Niger forgeries, or the claim promoted by the Italian military intelligence organization Sismi to the CIA and other western intelligence agencies that Iraq was seeking vast quantities of yellowcake uranium in Niger.

...

A reporter with the Italian newspaper Repubblica, which published a blockbuster series on the origins of the Niger forgeries last week, said that he heard rumors of such a report while in Washington this past summer, and went back to Italy and checked them out with his sources. He was left scratching his head. Not only is there no such report, there is as yet no such Italian parliamentary investigation. Sismi’s director Nicolo Pollari was interviewed by the Italian parliamentary committee overseeing the intelligence services on Thursday, in a closed-door session.

...

The Italian military intelligence organization Sismi reported that Iraq had signed a contract to purchase 500 tons of yellowcake uranium from Niger to the CIA in October 2001 and February 2002. It also reported those claims to Britain’s foreign intelligence service, the MI6, which reported them back to Washington. A motley crew including a senior Sismi officer, a former Sismi officer turned intelligence peddler (Rocco Martino), and a Sismi asset at the Niger embassy in Rome were identified by Repubblica as having collaborated to assemble the Niger forgeries, after staging a robbery on New Year’s Day 2001 to get official Niger embassy letterhead and a diplomatic codebook. Martino reportedly sold the dossier of forgeries to the French, the British, attempted but failed to sell them to the American embassy in Rome, and to an Italian reporter working for a Berlusconi owned magazine.


Lets hope Fitzgerald really does stay un-compromised, period because everyone knows from reading it Cheney deflected the blame to Italy.

The real forgers were NOT mentioned ie Duane Claridge so you can immediately see it.....total fucking whitewash in progress and its going to take a huge entity/army to get this bastard once and for all.

Notice how there was never any mention of....MICHAEL LEDEEN, mossad etc....

More about the Whitewash....you can spot them a damn mile away now.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051103/wl_mideast_af ...

"no one here has any recollection of Niger and uranium being discussed"


http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com /

QUESTION: Thank you. Any more explanation of the Berlusconi-President discussion about Italian intelligence on Iraq -- is this to say that Mr. Fitzgerald's finding that the Niger claim had its genesis in Italian intelligence was wrong?
SCOTT McCLELLAN: Mr. Fitzgerald's -- I'll have to look back at what his finding was. I don't recall the specifics of that.

QUESTION: Fitzgerald found that what we had been calling British intelligence, the document -- the forged document --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Maybe I missed that. I don't think so. I don't think so.

QUESTION: -- alleging an Iraq --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Okay, I don't think he did.

QUESTION: I'm wrong on this?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Maybe I'm wrong. But I don't think he --

QUESTION: That's not ringing any bells.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Yes.

QUESTION: It's not ringing any bells with other people either.

QUESTION: No, it is, it is. And I can't remember if it's Fitzgerald or somebody else, but there's this is the central issue is --

QUESTION: The central issue was --

QUESTION: -- the source of the --

QUESTION: The source of the forged document was Italy, who handed it to --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: No, the -- we actually briefed on the source of the information back in July of 2003, and the source was the National Intelligence Estimate and British Intelligence. That was the basis for the reference in the President's State of the Union address.

QUESTION: Fitzgerald found an Italian tie, and I presume this is what the discussion between the President and Berlusconi was about.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Yes, they -- like I said they -- Prime Minister Berlusconi brought it up, and as they indicated, that there wasn't any documents that were provided to us on Niger and uranium by --

QUESTION: Wait, no documents or no intelligence?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

QUESTION: The press report out of Italy is a transcription -- it's a transcription of the forged documents, not the actual documents themselves. But Berlusconi said yesterday was, no information passed from Italy to the United States.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Yes, I think he was accurately reflecting what he indicated in the meeting.

QUESTION: So that accurately characterizes the President's position, that the United States never received any intelligence --

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Well, Prime Minister Berlusconi was reflecting that within the meeting, and we've previously said in regards to a question that came up about a meeting here at the White House that no one here has any recollection of Niger and uranium being discussed at that meeting, much less any documents being provided.



http://neworleans.cox.net/cci/newsnational/nationa ...
Italian Lawmaker Says Country's Secret Service Warned U.S. That Iraq Uranium Documents Were Fake


"Hadley told a press briefing that he had briefly met the head of Italy's SISMI secret intelligence service, Nicolo Pollari, on September 9, 2002 in a "courtesy call" aimed at getting to know his new colleague.

"There was a meeting in Washington on that date. I did attend a meeting with him," Hadley said in response to a question about a report published last week in the Italian center-left newspaper La Repubblica, which disclosed the meeting.

"It was, so far as we can tell from our records, about less than 15 minutes. It was a courtesy call. Nobody participating in that meeting or asked about that meeting has any recollection of a discussion of natural uranium, or any recollection of any documents being passed. And that's also my recollection," he said."
AFP News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051103/pl_afp/usital ...

Well Hadley, I'm sure there was a meeting....and I'm also sure you took the Niger forgeries to Frederick Fleitz.

I mean, you wouldn't LIE about everything would you? And attempt to get executive priveledge to save your ass? Nah, not you Hadley, who lied about going to Italy to begin with!

http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp11012005.html

November 1, 2005

Berlusconi's Halloween Visit
The Plame Affair Leads to Rome
By GARY LEUPP

"All roads lead to Rome," and it seems that Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into the Plame Affair, and more broadly the lies used to hoodwink the American people into supporting a criminal war on Iraq, will also trudge down the Appian Way lined this Halloween with the ghosts of crucified Iraqis.

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica has recently published an exposé alleging in essence that the Italian military intelligence agency SISMI (Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare) at the specific behest of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi provided bogus intelligence to the Bush neocons in order to curry favor with the U.S. and to abet the relentless drive for war between 9-11 and the March 2003 invasion. This follows an Italian parliamentary report released in part to the public in July concerning the forged Niger uranium documents at the heart of the Plame Affair. These, which purport to show a deal between Baghdad and Niger for the purchase of huge quantities of yellowcake, were it seems produced in the Italian capital.

The report names four men as the likely forgers of the documents (Michael Ledeen, Dewey Clarridge, Ahmed Chalabi and Francis Brookes) and suggests that the forgeries may have been planned at December 2001 gathering in Rome involving Ledeen and SISMI chief Nicolò Pollari. Also in attendance at that meeting: Larry Franklin, Harold Rhode, Manucher Ghorbanifar, Antonio Martino and others including a former senior official of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran. Here is a true rogues' gallery.

Michael Ledeen: neocon columnist, National Review Online contributing editor, specialist on the thought of Machiavelli and on Italian fascism, former employee of the Pentagon, the State Department and the National Security Council, was involved in the transfer of arms to Iran during the Iran-Contra affair. Active in the American Enterprise Institute, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), and Center for Democracy in Iran (CDI). Advocates regime change by force in Iran and Syria.

Nicolò Pollari: Author of many publications on legal and economic matters, investigation techniques and intelligence. Tax law Professor at the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria. SISMI head since October 2001.

Dewey Clarridge: former CIA operative, famous in mid-1980s for his role in the Iran-Contra Affair. Head of CIA's Latin America division 1981-84, directed the mining of Nicaragua's harbors and helped organize the Contras. Indicted in November 1991 on seven counts of perjury and false statements, pardoned by first president Bush Christmas Eve 1992.

Ahmad Chalabi: convicted swindler, leader of U.S.-funded Iraqi National Congress, neocon ally, presently one of two deputy prime ministers in Iraqi government.

Francis Brookes: member of the "Rendon Group," a "public relations" body formed by the Pentagon engaged to promote Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress.

Larry Franklin: colonel in USAF reserve, subordinate to Douglas Feith in Defense Department, Middle East specialist, under arrest for espionage for Israel.

Harold Rhode: Pentagon official, Middle East specialist, Ledeen protégé, American Enterprise Institute, heavy neocon.

Manucher Ghorbanifar: Iranian exile, arms dealer, one-time CIA operative distrusted by CIA since 1980s. Key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal.

Antonio Martino: Founding member of Forza Italiano (Berlusconi's political party), Professor of Economics, adjunct scholar with the Heritage Foundation, Italian Defense Minister.


"Previous versions of the report were redacted and had all the names removed, though it was possible to guess who was involved. This version names Michael Ledeen as the conduit for the report and indicates that former CIA officers Duane Clarridge and Alan Wolf were the principal forgers. All three had business interests with Chalabi."

Alan Wolf died about a year and a half ago of cancer. He served as chief of the CIA's Near East Division as well as the European Division, and was also CIA chief of station in Rome after Clarridge. According to my source, "he and Clarridge and Ledeen were all very close and also close to Chalabi." The former CIA officer says Wolf "was Clarridge's Agency godfather. Significantly, both Clarridge and Wolf also spent considerable time in the Africa division, so they both had the Africa and Rome connection and both were close to Ledeen, closing the loop."

A veteran of the Iran-Contra scandal, Ledeen played an important role in the Iran-Contra "arms for hostages" scandal by setting up meetings between the American government and the Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar. Not all that unexpected coming from a self-proclaimed advocate of Machiavelli's amoralism. Today, Ledeen is among the most visible and radical neoconservative ideologues whose passion for a campaign of serial "regime-change" in the Middle East is undiminished by the Iraqi debacle. Just as the Roman senator Cato the Elder finished his perorations with the command "Carthage must be destroyed," so Michael "Creative Destruction" Ledeen closes his hopped-up warmongering essays with "Faster, please!," an exhortation presumably addressed to his confreres in the Bush administration.

Ledeen has kept the neocon faith – and the same friends – for all these years. He's still buddies with Ghorbanifar. In December 2001, he had a meeting in Rome with Ghorbanifar in the company of the Pentagon's top Iran specialist, Larry Franklin, and Harold Rhode, assigned to the Office of Net Assessment, a Pentagon think tank. Also at the Rome conclave: a number of Ghorbanifar's Iranian friends, including a former senior official of the Revolutionary Guard. Rounding out the distinguished guest list, we have the Italian delegation, consisting of SISMI head honcho Nicolo Pollari, the head of Italy's military intelligence agency, and Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino, a neocon favorite. Once again, Ledeen plays the middleman – but what kind of a deal was he trying to negotiate?

more
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10571.htm


At the beginning of 2001, a few weeks before George Bush took office, there was a break-in at the Niger embassy in Rome. Strangely, nothing of value was taken. Months later came 9/11 and a month after that, as George Bush wondered how to get back at the terrorists, a report from the Italian security service (Sismi) reached the CIA: Iraq was seeking to buy uranium.

Disappointingly for the neocons, the CIA sent Ambassador Joseph Wilson to Niger to check the story: he reported that it was nonsense. When the story was repeated by Bush, Wilson went public. His wife, CIA agent Valerie Plame, was then outed by the White House. Hence Rove's predicament.

An organisation called the Office of Special Plans (OSP) was set up in the Pentagon by Douglas Feith, a former consultant to Israel's Likud party, to prepare for the war. In the words of Robert Baer, a distinguished former CIA man, it was a "competing intelligence shop at the Pentagon"..."if you didn't like the answer you're getting from the CIA". In short, bogus stories would get a second chance at the OSP.

A clue to the ancestry of these black arts can be found in 1980, when right-wing Republicans wanted Ronald Reagan elected. They publicised a story that Billy Carter, the then President Jimmy Carter's colourful brother, had received $50,000 (£28,000) from the Libyan government.

The story was always denied by the President and no evidence of the payment was found, but the story helped to elect Reagan. Its source? Sismi, and an associate of a man called Michael Ledeen.


First of all, I am not a leftist. Secondly, the sources for the quotes of former CIA and DIA agent Philip Giraldi were my interviews of him, as indicated in the correctly transcribed entry on the Wikipedia page, and which I provided the mp3 link for. Fourth, I am happy that the US is no longer part of the British Empire.

As far as Ledeen and the Niger uranium forgeries, Giraldi explained in the interviews that the "couple of CIA agents" were paid in foreign accounts and that Fitzgerald had "already found the money trail." Ledeen's connections to the Office of Special Plans and Sismi are well documented, he attended a number of meetings in Italy with Harold Rhode, who "practically lived out of (Iranian spy) Ahmad Chalabi's office," Manucher Ghorbanifar and guilty Israeli spy Larry Franklin, around the time the Italians began passing on the (already debunked) story back to the US.

As Josh Marshall put it in The Hill:

"he intelligence reports that came in to Washington in late 2001 were from Italian military intelligence, SISMI. The other detail, according to intelligence sources I’ve spoken to, is that those reports turned out to be text transcriptions of Niger forgeries that didn’t surface in Rome until almost a year later...

From the very beginning, American suspicions about a Niger-Iraq trade in uranium were based on what turned out to be the forged documents. And the text transcriptions of those documents came in from Italian intelligence...

Burba, the Italian journalist who eventually brought the forgeries to the U.S. Embassy in Rome, got them from an unnamed Italian “security consultant.” His name turns out to be Rocco Martino, a retired SISMI operative. And as I mentioned last week, last summer, my colleagues and I conducted a series of in-person interviews with him.

It has sometimes been suggested in the Italian press that Martino himself is the forger. But he told us a different story — one that was corroborated by another participant in the handling of the documents. Martino told us that the documents came from a still-serving SISMI colonel, whom he named."

But where did they originate? Giraldi's partner, Vincent Cannistraro, Director for Intelligence Programs at the National Security Council under Reagan, has maintained that they were produced in the US and has said, "You'd be very close," in answer to the question of whether Ledeen forged them.

Combined with what Giraldi had to say, it sure seems like enough to take to a grand jury to me.

Or is it not a crime to lie a country into war?

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=7256


July Friday 29th 2005 (05h28) :
KARL ROVE, MICHAEL LEDEEN SPIES PROCURED FORGED NIGER DOCUMENTS


KARL ROVE and VARIOUS SPIES HE IS LINKED TO

Karl Rove’s only full-time foreign-policy advisor is Michael Ledeen, a rabid anti-Arab, pro-Israel activist. The FBI is investigating Ledeen for procuring forged documents (shown here) on nonexistent WMD, which George Bush used to justify his war on Iraq. When Joseph Wilson exposed the farce, Rove helped "out" Wilson’s CIA wife. Did Ledeen procure the documents for Rove, and how might he have done that? The story includes multinational stool pigeon Rocco Martino, Italian spy Francesco Pazienza, wanted CIA spy Robert Seldon Lady, and Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin, who’s under charges of giving US secrets to Israel.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karl Rove’s foreign-policy advisor, Michael Ledeen, proclaimed "the rightness of the fascist cause" in 1972. In 1984 he got George Bush Sr to appoint Iranian arms merchant and Iranian/Israeli double-agent Manucher Ghorbanifar as a middleman in the scandalous Iran-Contra affair. Ledeen has been a fixture in Washington and Israel ever since, advocating a modern version of the Crusades against Islamic nations. Based on what he has said and written, I believe Ledeen is insane.
Michael Ledeen, Rove’s "brain," is one of the leading advocates for a US attack on Iran. The Washington Post quoted Ledeen as saying that Rove told him, "Anytime you have a good idea, tell me." I guess that means we can look forward to the Bush team drumming up a war with Iran.

George Bush Jr., when he assumed the presidency in 2000, already knew that he was going to settle the family score with Saddam Hussein. His "brain," Rove, quickly enlisted Ledeen to trump up a causus belli.

EARLY 2000: ROCCO MARTINO AND THE FRENCH CONNECTION

...


The war is not just about oil, Israel’s fears/ambitions, or US hegemony. There are contracts and contractors in Iraq. Modern-day carpetbaggers with briefcases descended like a plague of scorpions on the poor, bloodied, bombed-out, grieving people of Iraq. They included the daughter of the war’s chief banshee -- Simone Ledeen, Michael’s young daughter -- shown in the photo, greeting with an impish smile another occupier at the Baghdad airport -- getting ready to lord it over the Iraqis as she tries out her new MBA in working for the CPA. Caption: "The creatures step out of the tripods." Maybe it’ll help to pay off those student loans -- huh, Michael?


http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/19/14555 ...

Keyser Soze aka Michael Ledeen.

Michael Ledeen was one of the founders of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). He holds the Freedom Chair at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a think tank for AIPAC. He is co-founder of the Coalition for Democracy in Iran. As far back as 1980, the CIA allegedly listed Ledeen as an agent of influence of Israel. Ledeen is the main foreign policy advisor to Karl Rove. Ledeens main obsession seems to be to overthrow Iran.

In 1972 he published the book Universal Fascism, in which he expounds upon "the rightness of the fascist cause." In Universal Fascism, Ledeen first builds his case that fascism was the "20th Century Revolution" and that "people yearn for the real thing - revolution". It's the blueprint for a fascist revolution.

In 1980 he collaborated with Francesco Pazienza of SISMI and P-2 in the "BillyGate" affair. This is the same Pazienze who was recently found out to belong to the parallel intelligence agency in Italy. In 1985 Pazienza was found guilty of political manipulation, forgery, and the protection of terrorists. Ledeen is identified in court documents as an agent of SISMI.

The Pentagon downgraded Ledeen's security clearances from Top Secret-SCI to Secret in the mid-1980s, after the FBI began a probe of Ledeen for passing classified materials to a foreign
country, believed to be Israel.

http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/MichaelLedeen.html


"Everything You Need to Know About Michael Ledeen"


April 7, 2005

Everything You Need to Know About Michael Ledeen
By Katherine Yurica

Would you be surprised to find that a man who was deeply involved in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan Administration, a man who is the darling of the Bush White House and is an adviser to Karl Rove, a man who loves Machiavelli and studies him, a neo-conservative who has close ties to one of America’s leading “Christian” Dominionists—Pat Robertson, and a man who called Pearl Harbor “lucky” and a providentially inspired event—may be the man who is behind the forging of the Niger documents that convinced America to launch a preemptive strike against Iraq?

<snip>

It would be foolish for America’s political strategists and congressional leaders to ignore Michael Ledeen and his interpretation of Machiavelli. Mr. Ledeen speaks from the cutting edge of a group of men and women who desire nothing more than to reconstruct America in their own image. This nation is in grave danger. Ledeen belongs to a group of men, including Harry Jaffa, Pat Robertson, Willmoore Kendall to Allan Bloom, who, according to Shadia Drury, scholar and author of Leo Strauss and the American Right, share “the view that America is too liberal and pluralistic and that what it needs is a single orthodoxy that governs the public and private lives of its citizens.”<1>

The belief in a single voice that governs the public should cause all Americans to understand these men want to convert this nation to a permanent dictatorship. Their inspirer was Leo Strauss, a professor who taught Machiavellian methods to many of them at the University of Chicago. In fact, Paul Wolfovitz earned his doctorate under Strauss and many of the neo-cons in the White House studied under him. Strauss believed every society needs a “single public orthodoxy.” As Drury put it, “a set of ideas that defines what is true and false, right and wrong, noble and base.” Strauss believed that the role of religion was indispensable to the political success of a nation. For a political society had to hold together and act as a unit in lock step with the leader. Strauss believed that religion was the means to inculcate the desired ideas into the minds of the masses. He didn’t care what religion—just as long as it was a religion that could link itself to the political order.

[MrPrax]

25. Additional Sources and Intrigue:

A Massacre to Remember - The Bologna Train Station Bombing, Twenty-Five Years Later

"...The other reason to consider a massacre twenty-five years old as current, is the inevitable comparisons that in these months are made between the post 9/11 world and that of Italy during the ‘Lead Years’ , during the so-called ‘strategy of tension’. What can be learned from the Bologna bombing? Can lessons be applied to the current 'war-on-terror'?..."

"...The first hypothesis was that the blast was an accident, caused by a boiler in the station restaurant. Even in the course of the morning though, the more sinister explanation of a bomb was being outlined, and thus a deliberate and organised massacre. The first confirmation came by lunch time: the press agency Ansa released a statement according to which “At 13.46 a male voice, perhaps recorded, said: 'This is NAR; we claim responsibility for the attack on Bologna Train Station. Honour to comrade Mario Tuti’”. Nar (Armed Revolutionary Squads) are a right wing group who, without being an actual organisation or political force, had taken fascist ideology as its own, was based on the principle of violence and of revolutionary force, and was also close to various criminal organisations such as the Banda della Magliana, connected itself with Cosa Nostra. The telephone call would later be revealed to be fake, originating from the Florence office of the SISMI . During the day other claims of responsibility are received, including one allegedly from the left-wing Brigate Rosse . From the outset the authorities investigating receive claims and counter-claims from anonymous sources. Investigating Magistrate, Libero Mancuso, will later comment that "no other investigation has ever been subjected to so many diversions, so many attempts to distance the investigating magistrates from the truth, as that of the investigation into the attack on Bologna". Confirmation that the explosion was caused by a bomb is received when a crater is uncovered, in the remnants of the 2nd class waiting room, typical of that produced by explosives."

Link


To recap: This was the period in which Ledeen was 'advising' the Italian Secret Service, fresh from his studies of European Fascism.

Is there a 'strategy of tension' being produced today by these people in the US government today?

[leveymg]

31. Thanks for that!

[robertpaulsen]

69. Hey SLaD, here's a great article on Ledeen & the December meetings.

Gotta love Paul Thompson and the CCR crew:


December 9, 2001 Events Leading to Iraq Invasion
The Bush administration sends two defense officials, Harold Rhode and Larry Franklin, to meet with Iranians in Rome in response to an Iranian government offer to provide information relevant to the war on terrorism. The offer had been backchanneled by the Iranians to the White House through Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian arms trader and a central person in the Iran-Contra affair, who contacted another Iran-Contra figure, Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute. Ledeen passed the information on to his friends in the Defense Department who then relayed the offer to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Hadley expressed no reservations about the proposed meeting and informed George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage. According to officials interviewed by the New York Times, the United States Embassy in Rome was not notified of the planned meeting as required by standard interagency procedures. Neither the US embassy nor CIA station chief in Rome learns of the three-day meeting until after it happens (see December 12, 2001). When they do catch wind of the meeting, they notify CIA and State Department headquarters in Washington which complain to the administration about how the meetings were arranged. Washington Post, 8/9/03; New York Times, 12/7/03; Newsday, 8/9/03 In addition to Ghorbanifar, Ledeen, Franklin, and Rhode, the meeting is attended by Nicolo Pollari, head of SISMI, and Antonio Martino, Italy's minister of defense. According to the Boston Globe, either at this meeting, a similar one in June (see June 2002), or both, Ledeen and Ghorbanifar discuss ways to destabilize the Iranian government, possibly using the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, a US-designated terrorist group, as a US proxy. Additionally, according to an unnamed SISMI source, Pollari speaks with Ledeen about intelligence his agency has collected (see October 15, 2001) suggesting that Iraq made a deal with Niger to purchase several tons of uranium. SISMI already sent a report to Washington on the matter in mid-October (see October 15, 2001). Reportedly, Pollari has also approached CIA Station Chief Jeff Castelli about the report, but Castelli has since indicated he is not interested in the information. La Repubblica, 10/25/2005
People and organizations involved: Antonio Martino, Harold Rhode, Larry Franklin, Michael Ledeen, Manucher Ghorbanifar, Nicolo Pollari, George Tenet, Harold Rhode, Stephen Hadley

December 12, 2001 Events Leading to Iraq Invasion
The newly-installed US ambassador to Italy, Mel Sembler, learns during the course of a private dinner with Iran-Contra figure Michael Ledeen and Italian defense minister Antonio Martino about a secret backchannel meeting that took place three days before (see December 2001) involving US defense officials, former Iran-Contra figures, and Iranian government officials. After the dinner, Sembler immediately contacts the CIA station chief in Rome to find out if he knows about the meeting. But the station chief says he does not know anything either. “Soon both Sembler and the Rome station chief were sending anxious queries back to the State Department and CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., respectively, raising alarms on both sides of the Potomac” since all US government contact with foreign government intelligence agencies is supposed to be overseen by the CIA. Washington Monthly, 9/2004 Sources: Unnamed US Government sources
People and organizations involved: Michael Ledeen, Mel Sembler, Antonio Martino

more...

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?entity=michael_ledeen

[stop the bleeding]

71. Great summary - here is a part that has been discussed before

April 3, 2005 Events Leading to Iraq Invasion


Journalist and radio host Ian Masters asks former CIA operative Vincent Cannistraro during an interview, in reference to the question of who forged the Niger documents , “If I were to say the name Michael Ledeen to you, what would you say?” Cannistraro replies, “You're very close.” After the radio show, Ledeen denies in a statement that he has any connection to the documents.

People and organizations involved: Vincent Cannistraro, Michael Ledeen




Is Cannistraro talking about Sheldon Lady??????

He was CIA, he was at the Niger Embassy around the time of the break in

He has ties with Ledeen going back to the early eighties.

Just thinking out loud, also did you looked at my posts that are 63,64, 67 and 68 any help in those or just more bathroom reading?

[robertpaulsen]

75. You're doing a great job connecting dots, stop the bleeding!

Sheldon Lady would have to be near the top of the list. I wish I had time to compile a list of top suspects, won't have much time until the weekend. I haven't had a chance to read your links, but it looks like great research, especially the way you spelled out the OSP/SISMI connection.

I posted this on the GD thread, I think Stephen Hadley's connections to Italy are also worth inspecting:

48. Question for you & everyone: what's up with Stephen Hadley & Italy?


You've done an incredible job detailing everything about Michael Ledeen and his treasonous activities. :applause: Now I'm curious about looking at Stephen Hadley. Look at how many times his activities cross over with Ledeen concerning Italy:



December 2001 US confrontation with Iran
The Bush administration sends two Defense officials, Harold Rhode and Larry Franklin, to meet with Iranians in Rome in response to an Iranian government offer to provide information relevant to the war on terrorism. The offer had been back-channeled by the Iranians to the White House through Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian arms trader and a central person in the Iran-Contra affair, who contacted another Iran-Contra figure, Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute. Ledeen passed the information on to his friends in the Defense Department who then relayed the offer to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Hadley expressed no reservations about the proposed meeting and informed George J. Tenet, the director of the CIA, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage. According to officials interviewed by the New York Times, the United States Embassy in Rome was not notified of the planned meeting as required by standard interagency procedures. Neither the US embassy nor CIA station chief in Rome learn of the three-day meeting, apparently attended by both Ghorbanifar and Ledeen, until after it happens. When they do catch wind of the meeting, they notify CIA and State Department headquarters in Washington which complain to the administration about how the meetings had been arranged.
People and organizations involved: Larry Franklin, George Tenet, Stephen Hadley, Michael Ledeen, Manucher Ghorbanifar, Harold Rhode, Condoleezza Rice

snip


December 9, 2001 Events Leading to Iraq Invasion
The Bush administration sends two defense officials, Harold Rhode and Larry Franklin, to meet with Iranians in Rome in response to an Iranian government offer to provide information relevant to the war on terrorism. The offer had been backchanneled by the Iranians to the White House through Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian arms trader and a central person in the Iran-Contra affair, who contacted another Iran-Contra figure, Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute. Ledeen passed the information on to his friends in the Defense Department who then relayed the offer to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Hadley expressed no reservations about the proposed meeting and informed George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage. According to officials interviewed by the New York Times, the United States Embassy in Rome was not notified of the planned meeting as required by standard interagency procedures. Neither the US embassy nor CIA station chief in Rome learns of the three-day meeting until after it happens (see December 12, 2001). When they do catch wind of the meeting, they notify CIA and State Department headquarters in Washington which complain to the administration about how the meetings were arranged. In addition to Ghorbanifar, Ledeen, Franklin, and Rhode, the meeting is attended by Nicolo Pollari, head of SISMI, and Antonio Martino, Italy's minister of defense. According to the Boston Globe, either at this meeting, a similar one in June (see June 2002), or both, Ledeen and Ghorbanifar discuss ways to destabilize the Iranian government, possibly using the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, a US-designated terrorist group, as a US proxy. Additionally, according to an unnamed SISMI source, Pollari speaks with Ledeen about intelligence his agency has collected (see October 15, 2001) suggesting that Iraq made a deal with Niger to purchase several tons of uranium. SISMI already sent a report to Washington on the matter in mid-October (see October 15, 2001). Reportedly, Pollari has also approached CIA Station Chief Jeff Castelli about the report, but Castelli has since indicated he is not interested in the information.
People and organizations involved: Antonio Martino, Harold Rhode, Larry Franklin, Michael Ledeen, Manucher Ghorbanifar, Nicolo Pollari, George Tenet, Harold Rhode, Stephen Hadley

snip


January 30, 2002 Events Leading to Iraq Invasion
Stephen Hadley, Condoleezza Rice's chief deputy on the National Security Council, instructs former Iran-Contra figure Michael Ledeen and officials in Douglas Feith's office to cease their dealings (see December 2001) with Manucher Ghorbanifar.
People and organizations involved: Manucher Ghorbanifar, Douglas Feith, Michael Ledeen, Stephen Hadley

snip


July 2002 Events Leading to Iraq Invasion
Michael Ledeen contacts Mel Sembler, the US ambassador to Italy, and informs him that he will be traveling to Rome again (see December 2001) to continue “his work” with the Iranians. Sembler passes this on to Washington, and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley sends word to Ledeen reminding him that he is not to deal with the Iranians.
People and organizations involved: Mel Sembler, Michael Ledeen, Stephen Hadley

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?entity=mi...

Quite a bit of activity. Here's some more alarming news:


NSC Chief Hadley asked Italy for Syria Replacement Name

National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley asked the Italians to help with regime change in Syria:

I have it on good authority that Steven Hadley, the director of the US National Security Council, called the President of the Italian senate to asked if he had a candidate to replace Bashar al-Asad as President of Syria. The Italians were horrified. Italy is one of Syria's biggest trading partners so it seemed a reasonable place to ask! This is what Washington has been up to. -- Joshua Landis

Let's take this in. Hadley is calling the Italians, asking for a name as a replacement figurehead? Stunning.

more...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/23/114355/06


Taking all this in, let's look again at the Raw Story report on Hadley from the OP:

After investigating the documents for an article and finding them to be suspect, Burba suggested to her editor, Carlo Rossella, that she take a trip to Niger to investigate further. Rossella diverted her to the U.S. embassy in Rome instead. She never ran the article. Burba dropped off the forgeries to the US embassy on Oct. 9, 2002.

But as Burba was investigating the veracity of the documents, head of Italian intelligence Nicolo Pollari was meeting with then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.

The meeting, which took place in September 2002, is alleged to be brokered by Ledeen, although the only U.S. official Pollari claims to have met is George Tenet, whom he also met in October 2001. Questioned about the meeting, Hadley has said no one involved in the meeting had "any recollection of a discussion of natural uranium, or any recollection of any documents being passed."

Burba delivered the forgeries to the U.S. embassy a month after the Pollari and Hadley meeting.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/American_who_consulted_fo...


Natural uranium? Who the hell accused anyone in Iraq of getting "natural uranium"? Sounds like dissembling, to put it lightly.

[Emit]

77. Don't know what's up with Hadley & Italy, per se, but...

I think you've found, with Hadley, a direct connection with the Military Industrial Complex. Everything I've read about this guy is pro-nukes, pro-star wars, pro-weapon...

As usual, Right Web has a good overview on Hadley here, with all his connections: http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1213


And this excerpt from this article sums it up:

Eisenhower Rolling in His Grave...

Eisenhower said, "I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as
one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity." His experience made him wary
of war proponents and profiteers. Lockheed Martin is just such a war
proponent and profiteer. Sometimes called 'the company that runs the
empire,' The company is intertwined with the Bush administration. Company
vice president Bruce Jackson, by his own account, wrote the Republican Party
foreign policy platform. The document "Rebuilding America's Defenses," which
guides U.S. military strategy, was principally written by former
communications director Thomas Donnelly. The current National Security
Advisor Stephen Hadley comes from the law firm representing Lockheed Martin.
Lynn Cheney is a former member of the company's Board of Directors.

The company's influence and its consequences can be seen in the invasion and
occupation of Iraq. As we now know, intelligence was grossly distorted. The
result is the current military-political situation, which even some
conservatives acknowledge is a disaster. Despite its role in promoting the
disaster, Lockheed Martin's business is booming. Prior to the war their
stock was about $40 per share. Now it is over $60-a 50 percent rise in two
years while most stocks fell.
~snip~

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:7Kzy0XhNsDwJ:lanl-the-real-story.blogspot.com/2005/10/eisenhower-rolling-in-his-grave.html+Stephen+Hadley+Lockheed+Martin&hl=en



And from 2002:

~snip~

Finger on the Trigger

Bush's new nukes, far-flung bases and war in Afghanistan take us all to a dangerous new place.

B Y D O U G I R E L A N D

George W. Bush and his administration are more dangerous than anyone could possibly have imagined before he took office. This is the conclusion correctly drawn by most of the world's democracies after the tardy revelations about the Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Review--secretly approved in January but only recently leaked to the Los Angeles Times by frightened congressional sources--which reverses the long-standing unofficial U.S. doctrine of "no first use" of nuclear weapons. "It's a cause for serious fear," editorialized Le Monde, while London's largest-circulation daily, the Mirror, bannered the headline, "Let's Nuke 'Em All." (Meanwhile, in the Triangle, readers were alerted to parking problems at The Streets of Southpoint.)


The new policy contemplates the use of nuclear weapons in circumstances never before approved, including the failure of conventional weapons to destroy military targets, in response to chemical or biological attacks, or in "the event of surprising military developments"--a perilously open-ended definition. Even if one sets aside the ethical problems posed by the new doctrine, the move is pure folly that accelerates the dangers of nuclear proliferation. The doctrine calls for developing a new generation of so-called tactical mini-nukes--which would have to be tested, of course, violating nuclear testing bans signed by the United States. But Bush wouldn't have to wait: The "low-yield" B61-11 nuclear bomb, designed to penetrate underground bunkers, is already in the U.S. arsenal and has been deployed in Europe since 1997. (Of course, "mini-nuke" is a highly misleading vocable: Hitting Saddam Hussein's presidential bunker in Baghdad with the B61-11, for example, "could cause upwards of 20,000 deaths," according to the Physicians for Social Responsibility.)

At the sub-cabinet level, where real decisions get made and options for political leaders are skewed one way or another, the Bush administration is crammed with proponents of the use of tactical nukes. They include: Stephen Hadley, Bush's deputy national security adviser; Robert Joseph, a member of the National Security Council; Stephen Cambone, now a senior Pentagon policy planner; and William Schneider, another Bush defense counselor. These four co-authored a report published last year by the National Institute for Public Policy--a conservative think tank funded in part by the military-industrial conglomerates--declaring that "nuclear weapons can . . . be used in counterforce attacks that are intended to neutralize enemy military capabilities." ~snip~

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:ff7_uwh26YcJ:indyweek.com/durham/2002-04-03/cover.html+Stephen+Hadley+Italy&hl=en

[robertpaulsen]

78. Lockheed Martin? Great find Emit!

I found something similar regarding this prominent member of the culture of corruption:

he Second Bush Administration
Stephen Hadley, National Security Advisor
Unknown to the public at large, Stephen Hadley has carried on a brilliant career in the shadow of Brent Scowcroft and Condoleeza Rice. A business lawyer convicted of fraud, he became the lawyer of the largest arms manufacturer in the world, Lockheed Martin. He trained the candidate George W. Bush, wrote up the new nuclear doctrine, prepared the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, supervised new entries into NATO, and sold the invasion of Iraq. Ever faithful, he protected Bush the father from the Irangate scandal and Bush the son from the lies of the Iraq war. He now finds himself rewarded by becoming National Security Advisor.

snip

At the beginning of the 1980s, Mr. Steven Hadley set up an insurance fraud of close to 1.1 million dollars. He was discovered, found guilty by a court in Iowa, and forced to reimburse the money. To erase any trace to his crime, he changed his name to Stephen John Hadley.

more...

http://www.voltairenet.org/article30017.html

[stop the bleeding]

79. If your gonna look at Hadley then you better include Rice in there as

well.

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1325

As the Washington Post reported in a front page story on Rice ( July 27, 2003), “She has ... become enmeshed in the controversy over the administration’s use of intelligence about Iraq’s weapons in the run-up to the war. She has been made to appear out of the loop by colleagues’ claims that she did not read or recall vital pieces of intelligence. And she has made statements about U.S. intelligence on Iraq that have been contradicted by facts that later emerged. ... Either she missed or overlooked numerous warnings from intelligence agencies seeking to put caveats on claims about Iraq’s nuclear weapons program, or she made public claims that she knew to be false.” (3)

Among her many misleading statements are her insistence that she never received reports from the CIA casting doubt on whether Saddam Hussein sought uranium from Niger, even though her staff had received memos from the agency; and her claim that the Iraqi military was capable of launching on short notice attacks with weapons of mass destruction, a claim derided by observers as lacking an evidentiary base.

What I find interesting is that Stephen Hadley had a longer history in DC, but Rice rose to power at a higher post via G.H. Bush jump starting her DC career when George junior needed a personal tutor on diplomacy,global relatons, national security ect.

Lastly we all know she was Hadley's boss, so as stated in previous reporting Hadley could not have acted on his own without prior knowledge, in fact given her shorter but just as intense history with the neocons one could all most guess she authorized Hadley's Italy movements.

[Emit]

80. Wow! These guys are something else, aren't they?

Kinda' depressing knowing who's running the show now.
Lotsa' good stuff at that link, paulsen! Good find.
I had read somewhere he was one of the 'Vulcans,' and your link adds tons more detail as to why!

Also, I just knew he was involved in Iran-Contra somehow--wondering how that connection would surface. From your link:

When Ronald Reagan took the White House, Mr. Hadley stayed in the private sector. However, in 1986, the Irangate scandal broke. President Reagan appointed a commission of three wise men to look into it. It was composed of the Texan Senator John Tower, Edmund Muskie <1>, and Brent Scowcroft who called once more Stephen J. Hadley to his side. In spite of the implausibility, the commission concluded that President Reagan and Vice-President Bush were innocent. They found that the financing of the Contras in Nicaragua through the trafficking of drugs and illegal weapons sales to Iran was a secret initiative of over-zealous members of the National Security Council, put into place without the knowledge of their superiors.

http://www.voltairenet.org/article30017.html

[stop the bleeding]

81. I thought the same thing when I read it too, and then I found this...

Have you guys seen this yet

Who was behind the Niger uranium documents?-by Philip Giraldi,The American Conservative 11/25/2005 issuue
Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer, is a partner in Cannistraro Associates, an international security consultancy.

Enter the ususal Suspects

The first suggestion that Iraq was seeking yellowcake uranium to construct a nuclear weapon came on Oct. 15, 2001, shortly after 9/11, when Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his newly appointed chief of the Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (SISMI), Nicolo Pollari, made an official visit to Washington. Berlusconi was eager to make a good impression and signaled his willingness to support the American effort to implicate Saddam Hussein in 9/11. Pollari, in his position for less than three weeks, was likewise keen to establish himself with his American counterparts and was under pressure from Berlusconi to present the U.S. with information that would be vital to the rapidly accelerating War on Terror. Well aware of the Bush administration’s obsession with Iraq, Pollari used his meeting with top CIA officials to provide a SISMI dossier indicating that Iraq had sought to buy uranium in Niger. The same intelligence was passed simultaneously to Britain’s MI-6.

~snip~

Enter Michael Ledeen, the Office of Special Plans’ man in Rome. Ledeen was paid $30,000 by the Italian Ministry of the Interior in 1978 for a report on terrorism and was well known to senior SISMI officials. Italian sources indicate that Pollari was eager to engage with the Pentagon hardliners, knowing they were at odds with the CIA and the State Department officials who had slighted him. He turned to Ledeen, who quickly established himself as the liaison between SISMI and Feith’s OSP, where he was a consultant. Ledeen, who had personal access to the National Security Council’s Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley and was also a confidant of Vice President Cheney, was well placed to circumvent the obstruction coming from the CIA and State.

~snip~

On Jan. 28, 2003, over the objections of the CIA and State, the famous 16 words about Niger’s uranium were used in President Bush’s State of the Union address justifying an attack on Iraq: “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” Both the British and American governments had actually obtained the report from the Italians, who had asked that they not be identified as the source. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency also looked at the documents shortly after Bush spoke and pronounced them crude forgeries.

President Bush soon stopped referring to the Niger uranium, but Vice President Cheney continued to insist that Iraq was seeking nuclear weapons.

The question remains: who forged the documents? The available evidence suggests that two candidates had access and motive: SISMI and the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans.

~snip~

At this point, any American connection to the actual forgeries remains unsubstantiated, though the OSP at a minimum connived to circumvent established procedures to present the information directly to receptive policy makers in the White House. But if the OSP is more deeply involved, Michael Ledeen, who denies any connection with the Niger documents, would have been a logical intermediary in co-ordinating the falsification of the documents and their surfacing, as he was both a Pentagon contractor and was frequently in Italy. He could have easily been assisted by ex-CIA friends from Iran-Contra days, including a former Chief of Station from Rome, who, like Ledeen, was also a consultant for the Pentagon and the Iraqi National Congress.

It would have been extremely convenient for the administration, struggling to explain why Iraq was a threat, to be able to produce information from an unimpeachable “foreign intelligence source” to confirm the Iraqi worst-case.

The possible forgery of the information by Defense Department employees would explain the viciousness of the attack on Valerie Plame and her husband. Wilson, when he denounced the forgeries in the New York Times in July 2003, turned an issue in which there was little public interest into something much bigger. The investigation continues, but the campaign against this lone detractor suggests that the administration was concerned about something far weightier than his critical op-ed.

*****

OK now me talking again, we know that based on L.A.'s reporting that Silvio Berlusconi is connected to Ledeen based this:

****************************

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/American_who_consulted_for_Pentagon_says_0117.html

It was Burba's editor at Panorama, Carlo Rossella, who allegedly told her to take the documents to the U.S. embassy, despite her own requests to travel to Niger to further investigate the claims.

It was also Rosella who intervened when Burba requested to contact the White House after hearing the infamous "16 words" in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, dissuading her from contacting U.S. officials.

Rosella, intelligence sources say, could have been acting on the orders of Panorama's owner, Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's equivalent of Rupert Murdoch. Berlusconi -- who also happens to be the current Prime Minister -пїЅ was a supporter of President Bush leading up to the war.

Berlusconi was not immediately available for comment.

********************************************

now in last section of article this statement jumps out at me.

He could have easily been assisted by ex-CIA friends from Iran-Contra days, including a former Chief of Station from Rome, who, like Ledeen, was also a consultant for the Pentagon and the Iraqi National Congress.

Who is this?? The ex-CIA Rome station chief. I have tried the almighty google and nothing I also tried wikipedia and whiffed.

I did reaquaint myself with the Iraqi National Congress via wikipedia and Chalabi and John Rendon(especially interesting with Panama and Gulf I) pop up on the Radar but nothing about a former Chief of Station from Rome.

So last question is this important or is this old news and I have just missed it in the mountain research?

[Emit]

82. Jeff Castelli?

Former Rome CIA Chief Investigated for Abu Omar Case
Jeff Castelli, the former top intelligence agent in Italy, is accused of devising the operation.
MILAN – The former head of the CIA in Italy is under investigation for the abduction of Imam Abu Omar. Jeff Castelli, an American citizen with distant Italian origins, is under investigation by the public prosecutor’s office in Milan as the alleged deviser and planner of the spectacular Abu Omar abduction. The kidnapping was the first case in Italy of extraordinary rendition, the illegal arrest strategy that has been at the centre of controversy for months. On 17 February 2003, when Abu Omar was kidnapped in Milan, Mr Castelli was CIA head of station in Rome, the man in charge of American intelligence in Italy. It is likely that Mr Castelli himself suggested the surprise move.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:rt25D4SGU3AJ:www.corriere.it/english/articoli/2005/12_Dicembre/27/Cia.shtml++Chief+of+Station+from+Rome&hl=en

[stop the bleeding]

83. Thanks, that may tie in with my posts at #' 64 and 65???

Also what did you think of the article? is this old news here?

[Emit]

86. robertpaulsen, am I understanding this correctly?

Are you familiar with the namebase.org website? I've seen people post it here as reference, but I am not sure exactly how it works. Anyway, the reason I ask is that, via namebase, this author noted below wrote a book in 1986 listing various CIA operatives/connections. Included in the namebase of this book (described below) are both Jeffrey Castelli and Michael Ledeen. Now, I have no idea the credibility of this book, but, has it been discussed before that Ledeen is, in fact, a CIA operative? There are other familiar names on the Name index for Nair,K. Devil and His Dart. 1986 (see link) and without the book as reference, I guess we can not conclude that he actually referenced these names as CIA. It would be an intersting read, just to see in what context these names on this list were mentioned in this book.

Nair, Kunhanandan. Devil and His Dart: How the CIA is Plotting in the Third World. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1986. 156 pages.

This slim book is typical of the Third World and Soviet press on the subject of the CIA, a half-dozen of which are in NameBase. It's the sort of broad anti-CIA polemic that would be considered propagandistic and anti-intellectual by "sophisticated" Western publishers. The facts presented in these books can rarely be disputed, since they are frequently compiled from accepted U.S. sources, but the shotgun approach preferred by the authors leaves no doubt as to where the real evil empire can be found. Occasional tidbits on CIA activities that appeared only in the foreign press make these volumes worthwhile. One criticism might be that the term "CIA" is sometimes used too loosely, and thereby understates the pluralism that may exist among U.S. foreign policy elites.

Kunhanandan Nair is the European correspondent of "Blitz" in Bombay; the dust jacket states that he has "extensive contacts in Western and European countries, and at the European headquarters of the CIA in Frankfurt." His book includes an appendix of 150 alleged CIA personnel, with the years and countries where they were posted (pp. 116-132). One of these is Matthew Gannon, who was deputy station chief in Beirut when he was killed in the mysterious Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am 103 in December, 1988. Several other U.S. intelligence officers were on board as well.
ISBN 81-207-0596-3

See link for enntire list of names:

http://www.namebase.org/sources/HF.html

[stop the bleeding]

87. Here is what I found when Googling Hadley and Castelli -

I have only included relative parts of the research, I suggest you all go an read the entire thing. I have bold faced important parts and put even more important parts in red. Let me know what you all think. I know it looks long and some of you have already read this but I did put some important notes/questions in the middle of my post.

Stephen Hadley from Cooperative Research

Jan 2001

The National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP) publishes a report arguing for a “smaller, more efficient, arsenal” of specialized weapons. The report claims that developing a new generation of smaller, tactical nuclear weapons is necessary for the US to maintain its deterrent. The report suggests that nuclear weapons could be used to deter “weapons of mass destruction (WMD) use by regional powers,” deter “WMD or massive conventional aggression by an emerging global competitor,” prevent “catastrophic losses in conventional war,” provide “unique targeting capabilities” (such as the use of “mini-nukes,” or “bunker-busters,” to destroy deep underground/biological weapons targets), or to enhance “US influence in crises.” Many of the report's authors are later appointed to senior positions within the Bush administration, including Linton Brooks who becomes head of the national nuclear security administration overseeing new weapons projects, Stephen Hadley who is appointed deputy national security adviser, and Stephen Cambone who becomes undersecretary of defense for intelligence. The document is said to influence the Pentagon's controversial Nuclear Posture Review that is submitted to Congress a year later (see January 8, 2002).
People and organizations involved: Stephen Hadley, Linton Brooks, National Institute for Public Policy (NIPP), Stephen A. Cambone

~snip~

April 30 2001

The Bush administration finally has its first Deputy Secretary-level meeting on terrorism. According to counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke, he advocates that the Northern Alliance needs to be supported in the war against the Taliban, and the Predator drone flights need to resume over Afghanistan so bin Laden can be targeted. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz says the focus on al-Qaeda is wrong. He states, “I just don't understand why we are beginning by talking about this one man bin Laden,” and “Who cares about a little terrorist in Afghanistan?” Wolfowitz insists the focus should be Iraqi-sponsored terrorism instead. He claims the 1993 attack on the WTC must have been done with help from Iraq, and rejects the CIA's assertion that there has been no Iraqi-sponsored terrorism against the US since 1993. (A spokesperson for Wolfowitz later calls Clarke's account a “fabrication.”) Wolfowitz repeats these sentiments immediately after 9/11 and tries to argue that the US should attack Iraq. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage agrees with Clarke that al-Qaeda is an important threat. Deputy National Security Adviser Steve Hadley, chairing the meeting, brokers a compromise between Wolfowitz and the others. The group agrees to hold additional meetings focusing on al-Qaeda first (in June and July), but then later look at other terrorism, including any Iraqi terrorism. Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and Deputy CIA Director John McLaughlin also attend the hour-long meeting.
People and organizations involved: John E. McLaughlin, Taliban, Paul Wolfowitz, al-Qaeda, Northern Alliance, Osama bin Laden, Central Intelligence Agency, Stephen Hadley, Richard ("Dick") Cheney, Richard A. Clarke, Promis, Bush administration, Richard Armitage

~snip~

Shortly after 09/11/01 Feith Sets Up the Counter Terrorism Evaluation Group

Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith and Middle East specialist Harold Rhode recruit David Wurmser, the director of Middle East studies for the American Enterprise Institute, to serve as a Pentagon consultant. Wurmser is a known advocate of regime change in Iraq, having expressed his views in a 1997 op-ed piece published in the Wall Street Journal (see November 12, 1997) and having participated in the drafting of a 1996 policy paper for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm” (see July 8, 1996). Wurmser works at Feith's office, where he and F. Michael Maloof, a former aide to Richard Perle, head a secret intelligence unit, named the Counter Terrorism Evaluation Group, or the “Wurmser-Maloof” project. Neither Wurmser nor Maloof are intelligence professionals. The four- to five- person unit, a “B Team” commissioned by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, uses powerful computers and software to scan and sort already-analyzed documents and reports from the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and other agencies in an effort to consider possible interpretations and angles of analysis that these agencies may have missed due to deeply ingrained biases and out-of-date worldviews. The Pentagon unit's activities cause tension within the traditional intelligence community. Critics claim that its members manipulate and distort intelligence, “cherry-picking” bits of information that fit their preconceived conclusions. “There is a complete breakdown in the relationship between the Defense Department and the intelligence community, to include its own Defense Intelligence Agency,” a defense official will tell the New York Times. “Wolfowitz and company disbelieve any analysis that doesn't support their own preconceived conclusions. The CIA is enemy territory, as far are they're concerned.” Defending the project, Paul Wolfowitz will tell the New York Times that the team's purpose is to circumvent the problem “in intelligence work, that people who are pursuing a certain hypothesis will see certain facts that others won't, and not see other facts that others will.” He insists that the special Pentagon unit is “not making independent intelligence assessments.” One of the cell's projects includes sorting through existing intelligence to create a map of relationships demonstrating links between militant Islamic groups and state powers. This chart of links, which they name the “matrix,” leads the intelligence unit to conclude that Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and other groups with conflicting ideologies and objectives are allowing these differences to fall to the wayside as they discover their shared hatred of the US. The group's research also leads them to believe that al-Qaeda has a presence in such places as Latin American. For weeks, the unit will attempt to uncover evidence tying Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 attacks, a theory advocated by both Feith and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. The group is later accused of stovepiping intelligence directly to the White House. Former DIA chief of Mideast operations, Pat Lang, later tells the Washington Times: “That unit had meetings with senior White House officials without the CIA or the Senate being aware of them. That is not legal. There has to be oversight.” According to Lang and another US intelligence official, the two men go to the White House several times to brief officials, bypassing CIA analysts whose analyses they disagreed with. They allegedly brief White House staffers Stephen Hadley, the deputy national security adviser, and Lewis “Scooter” Libby, chief of staff for Vice President Richard Cheney, according to congressional staffers. According to unnamed Pentagon and US intelligence officials, the group is also accused of providing sensitive CIA and Pentagon intercepts to the US-funded Iraqi National Congress, which then passed them on to the government of Iran. David Wurmser will later be relocated to the State Department where he will be the senior advisor to Undersecretary Of State for Arms Control John Bolton.(see September 2002).
People and organizations involved: Stephen Hadley, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Douglas Feith, David Wurmser, Harold Rhode, Richard Perle, F. Michael Maloof, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz

~snip~

09/12/01 Bush to Clarke: ‘Look into Iraq’

US President George Bush speaks privately with White House counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke in the White House Situation Room. According to Clarke, Bush tells him to investigate the possibility that Iraq was involved in the attacks. “I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything, everything,” Bush says. “See if Saddam did this.” When Clarke responds, “But Mr. President, al-Qaeda did this,” Bush replies, “I know, I know, but... see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred.” Clarke insists that the CIA, FBI, and White House already concluded that there were no such links. As he exits the room, Bush “testily” says again, “Look into Iraq, Saddam.” During a “60 Minutes” interview, Clarke will say that Bush's instructions were made in a way that was “very intimidating,” and which hinted that Clarke “should come back with that answer.” “Now he never said, ‘Make it up.’ But the entire conversation left me in absolutely no doubt that George Bush wanted me to come back with a report that said Iraq did this.” Clarke's account is later confirmed by several eyewitnesses. After his meeting with Bush, Clarke works with CIA and FBI experts to produce the report requested by the president; but they find no evidence that Iraq had a hand in the attacks. It gets “bounced by the national-security advisor, or deputy,” according to Clarke. “ It got bounced and sent back, saying ‘Wrong answer .... Do it again.’ ”
People and organizations involved: Richard A. Clarke, Scott McClellan, George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley

~snip~

09/25/01 – Weldon can’t find his ass in tin can box – what a f#@k up.

Rep. Curt Weldon (R) later claims that about two weeks after 9/11, he is given a chart by friends of his from the Army's Information Dominance Center, in cooperation with special ops. The chart indicates various al-Qaeda cells that were identified by a military intelligence unit called Able Danger. Early in 2000, this unit identified, amongst others, an al-Qaeda cell based in Brooklyn, New York, which included Mohamed Atta and three other future 9/11 hijackers (see January-February 2000). Atta's name is said to be on the chart given to Weldon. Shortly after being given the chart, Weldon meets with Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and shows the chart to him. Weldon claims, “Hadley looked at the chart and said, Congressman, where did you get that chart from? I said, I got it from the military. ... Steve Hadley said, Congressman, I am going to take this chart, and I am going to show it to the man. The man that he meant ... was the President of the United States. I said, Mr. Hadley, you mean you have not seen something like this before from the CIA, this chart of al-Qaeda worldwide and in the US? And he said, No, Congressman. So I gave him the chart. ” However, a spokesman for Hadley later disputes this account, and says, “Mr. Hadley does not recall any chart bearing the name or photo of Mohamed Atta. staff reviewed the files of Mr. Hadley as well as of all personnel... That search has turned up no chart.” Rep. Dan Burton (R) later recalls attending the meeting and remembers the chart, but can't recall if Atta was on it or not. Curt Weldon also later claims that the copy of the chart he gives to Hadley is his only one. However, apparently contradicting this, Weldon will give a speech in 2002 showing the chart (see May 23, 2002).
People and organizations involved: al-Qaeda, Stephen Hadley, Dan Burton, Able Danger, Mohamed Atta, Information Dominance Center, Central Intelligence Agency, Special Operations Command, Curt Weldon

~snip~

December 2001

The Bush administration sends two Defense officials, Harold Rhode and Larry Franklin, to meet with Iranians in Rome in response to an Iranian government offer to provide information relevant to the war on terrorism. The offer had been back-channeled by the Iranians to the White House through Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian arms trader and a central person in the Iran-Contra affair, who contacted another Iran-Contra figure, Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute. Ledeen passed the information on to his friends in the Defense Department who then relayed the offer to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Hadley expressed no reservations about the proposed meeting and informed George J. Tenet, the director of the CIA, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage. According to officials interviewed by the New York Times, the United States Embassy in Rome was not notified of the planned meeting as required by standard interagency procedures. Neither the US embassy nor CIA station chief in Rome learn of the three-day meeting, apparently attended by both Ghorbanifar and Ledeen, until after it happens. When they do catch wind of the meeting, they notify CIA and State Department headquarters in Washington which complain to the administration about how the meetings had been arranged.
People and organizations involved: Larry Franklin, George Tenet, Stephen Hadley, Michael Ledeen, Manucher Ghorbanifar, Harold Rhode, Condoleezza Rice

~snip~

12/09/2001

The Bush administration sends two defense officials, Harold Rhode and Larry Franklin, to meet with Iranians in Rome in response to an Iranian government offer to provide information relevant to the war on terrorism. The offer had been backchanneled by the Iranians to the White House through Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian arms trader and a central person in the Iran-Contra affair, who contacted another Iran-Contra figure, Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute. Ledeen passed the information on to his friends in the Defense Department who then relayed the offer to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Hadley expressed no reservations about the proposed meeting and informed George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage. According to officials interviewed by the New York Times, the United States Embassy in Rome was not notified of the planned meeting as required by standard interagency procedures. Neither the US embassy nor CIA station chief in Rome learns of the three-day meeting until after it happens (see December 12, 2001). When they do catch wind of the meeting, they notify CIA and State Department headquarters in Washington which complain to the administration about how the meetings were arranged. In addition to Ghorbanifar, Ledeen, Franklin, and Rhode, the meeting is attended by Nicolo Pollari, head of SISMI, and Antonio Martino, Italy's minister of defense. According to the Boston Globe, either at this meeting, a similar one in June (see June 2002), or both, Ledeen and Ghorbanifar discuss ways to destabilize the Iranian government, possibly using the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, a US-designated terrorist group, as a US proxy. Additionally, according to an unnamed SISMI source, Pollari speaks with Ledeen about intelligence his agency has collected (see October 15, 2001) suggesting that Iraq made a deal with Niger to purchase several tons of uranium. SISMI already sent a report to Washington on the matter in mid-October (see October 15, 2001). Reportedly, Pollari has also approached CIA Station Chief Jeff Castelli about the report, but Castelli has since indicated he is not interested in the information.
People and organizations involved: Antonio Martino, Harold Rhode, Larry Franklin, Michael Ledeen, Manucher Ghorbanifar, Nicolo Pollari, George Tenet, Harold Rhode, Stephen Hadley

Repeat for clarity on this:

" Neither the US embassy nor CIA station chief in Rome learns of the three-day meeting until after it happens (see December 12, 2001). When they do catch wind of the meeting, they notify CIA and State Department headquarters in Washington which complain to the administration about how the meetings were arranged."

"Pollari speaks with Ledeen about intelligence his agency has collected (see October 15, 2001) suggesting that Iraq made a deal with Niger to purchase several tons of uranium. SISMI already sent a report to Washington on the matter in mid-October (see October 15, 2001). Reportedly, Pollari has also approached CIA Station Chief Jeff Castelli about the report, but Castelli has since indicated he is not interested in the information. "

This does not make sense seems like this CIA station chief has his dates mixed up, because how could he not be interested when he does not know about the meeting until 12/12/01?????

I was clued into Castelli by this:

Who was behind the Niger Documents?- by Philip Giraldi,The American Conservative 11/25/2005 issuue
Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer, is a partner in Cannistraro Associates, an international security consultancy.

……"At this point, any American connection to the actual forgeries remains unsubstantiated, though the OSP at a minimum connived to circumvent established procedures to present the information directly to receptive policy makers in the White House. But if the OSP is more deeply involved, Michael Ledeen, who denies any connection with the Niger documents, would have been a logical intermediary in co-ordinating the falsification of the documents and their surfacing, as he was both a Pentagon contractor and was frequently in Italy.He could have easily been assisted by ex-CIA friends from Iran-Contra days, including a former Chief of Station from Rome, who, like Ledeen, was also a consultant for the Pentagon and the Iraqi National Congress."


Thanks to Emit we were able to find out that Castelli is/was the the CIA Chief for Rome.

post # 82 – Jeff Castelli?



Continued..

Jan 2002

Stephen Hadley, Condoleezza Rice's chief deputy on the National Security Council, instructs former Iran-Contra figure Michael Ledeen and officials in Douglas Feith's office to cease their dealings (see December 2001) with Manucher Ghorbanifar.
People and organizations involved: Manucher Ghorbanifar, Douglas Feith, Michael Ledeen, Stephen Hadley

~snip~

July 2002

Michael Ledeen contacts Mel Sembler, the US ambassador to Italy, and informs him that he will be traveling to Rome again (see December 2001) to continue “his work” with the Iranians. Sembler passes this on to Washington, and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley sends word to Ledeen reminding him that he is not to deal with the Iranians.
People and organizations involved: Mel Sembler, Michael Ledeen, Stephen Hadley

~snip~

August 2002

White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. forms the White House Iraq Group, or WHIG, which aims to “educate the public” about the alleged threat from Iraq. A senior official involved with the group later describes it as “an internal working group, like many formed for priority issues, to make sure each part of the White House was fulfilling its responsibilities.” Members of the group include Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin, James R. Wilkinson, Nicholas E. Calio, and policy advisers led by Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Stephen J. Hadley, and I. Lewis Libby. They meet weekly in the White House Situation Room. A “strategic communications” task force under the WHIG is charged with planning speeches and writing white papers. According to an intelligence source interviewed by the New York Daily News in October 2005, the group, on “a number of occasions,” will attempt “to push the envelope on things,”—“The would say, ‘We just don't have the intelligence to substantiate that.’” An important part of the WHIG strategy is to feed their messages to friendly reporters such as New York Times reporter Judith Miller. James Bamford, in his book A Pretext for War, writes: “First OSP supplies false or exaggerated intelligence; then members of the WHIG leak it to friendly reporters, complete with prepackaged vivid imagery; finally, when the story breaks, senior officials point to it as proof and parrot the unnamed quotes they or their colleagues previously supplied.”
People and organizations involved: Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin, James R. Wilkinson, Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, Andrew Card, White House Iraq Group, Stephen Hadley, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Mel Sembler

~snip~

09/09/2002

Nicolo Pollari, chief of SISMI, Italy's military intelligence service, meets briefly with US National Security Council officials. Present at the meeting are National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice; her deputy, Stephen Hadley; and other US and Italian officials. This meeting is not reported until 2005, when Italy's La Repubblica reports that a meeting—arranged through a backchannel by Gianni Castellaneta, the Italian prime minister's diplomatic advisor—took place between Pollari and Hadley on this date. The report is refuted by Italy which insists it was actually a short meeting between Pollari and Rice. Hadley, Italy says, was present but not really part of the meeting. The Bush administration also insists the meeting was of little importance. Frederick Jones, a National Security Council spokesman, describes the meeting as a courtesy call of 15 minutes or less. He also says, “No one present at that meeting has any recollection of yellowcake being discussed or documents being provided.” It is not clear from the reporting, however, if the meeting acknowledged by Italy and Washington, is in fact the same meeting reported by La Repubblica.
People and organizations involved: Condoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley, Nicolo Pollari, Gianni Castellaneta

~snip~

09/16/2002

Two days before the CIA is to issue an assessment (see (August 2002)) on Iraq's supposed links to militant Islamic groups, Pentagon officials working in the Office of Special Plans give a briefing directly to the White House; Vice-President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis Libby; and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's deputy, Stephen Hadley. The briefing says that there were “fundamental problems” with CIA intelligence-gathering methods and includes a detailed breakdown of the alleged April 2001 Prague meeting between Mohammed Atta and Iraqi diplomat Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani.
People and organizations involved: Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Stephen Hadley

~snip~

10/05/2005

The CIA's Associate Deputy Director for Intelligence sends a four-page memo to Bush administration officials, including Bush's deputy national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, and the chief speechwriter, Michael Gerson, expressing doubt over claims that Iraq had attempted to obtain uranium from Niger. On page 3 of the memo, the ADDI advises removing the allegation from the draft of Bush's upcoming speech in Cincinnati. “emove the sentence because the amount is in dispute and it is debatable whether it can be acquired from the source. We told Congress that the Brits have exaggerated this issue. Finally, the Iraqis already have 550 metric tons of uranium oxide in their inventory.” Despite the warning, draft seven of the speech, completed later in the day, contains the passage: “he regime has been caught attempting to purchase substantial amounts of uranium oxide from sources in Africa.” Stephen Hadley will later claim in July 2003 that he did not brief Condoleezza Rice on the memo. (WTF he gets this memo and still writes the SOTU speech for 2003???????????)
People and organizations involved: Stephen Hadley, Condoleezza Rice, Michael Gerson, Central Intelligence Agency

~snip~

10/06/2002

The CIA's Associate Deputy Director for Intelligence receives draft seven of Bush's upcoming speech in Cincinnati and sees that the speech writers have failed to remove the passage on Iraq's alleged attempt to purchase uranium from Niger, as the CIA had advised the day before (see October 5, 2002). He informs Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet who personally calls White House officials, including Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, with the CIA's concerns. The ADDI reportedly tells Tenet that the “president should not be a fact witness on this issue” because the agency's analysts consider the reporting “weak” and say it is based solely on one source. The allegation is finally removed from the speech. Later in the day, to press its point even further, the CIA faxes another memo, summarizing its position on the Africa-uranium claim. The memo states: “ore on why we recommend removing the sentence about procuring uranium oxide from Africa: Three points (1) The evidence is weak. One of the two mines cited by the source as the location of the uranium oxide is flooded. The other mine cited by the source is under the control of the French authorities. (2) The procurement is not particularly significant to Iraq's nuclear ambitions because the Iraqis already have a large stock of uranium oxide in their inventory. And (3) we have shared points one and two with Congress, telling them that the Africa story is overblown and telling them this is one of the two issues where we differed with the British.” The memo's recipients include National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Stephen Hadley. (WTF Hadley has been warned 3-4 times now and he still writes the SOTU speech for 2003???????????)
People and organizations involved: Condoleezza Rice, Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet, Stephen Hadley

~snip~

February 1, 2003-February 4, 2003 Events Leading to Iraq Invasion

On February 1, Secretary of State Colin Powell begins rehearsing for his February 5 presentation to the UN Security Council (see 10:30 a.m. February 5, 2003) in which he will argue that Iraq represents a serious and imminent threat to the US. Powell is assisted by members of his staff, including his chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Several members of the White House Iraq Group drop in during the pre-speech sessions, includingCondoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley, and Lewis Libby. George Tenet and his deputy director, John McLaughlin, are also present at times. Cheney's staff continues to pressure Powell to include several unsubstantiated and dubious allegations. The allegations that are most contested are the ones dealing with Iraq's alleged ties to terrorism. For example, the group insists that Powell “link Iraq directly to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington” and include the widely discredited allegation (see October 21, 2002) that Mohammed Atta had met in Prague with an Iraqi intelligence officer (see April 8, 2001). But Powell and his staff reject a good portion of the hawks' material. At one point, Powell reportedly says, “I'm not reading this. This is bullsh_t.” An official later recalls: “On a number of occasions, ... simply said, ‘I'm not using that, I'm not using that, that is not good enough. That's not something that I can support.’ And on each occasion he was fought by the vice president's office in the person of Scooter Libby, by the National Security Advisor herself, by her deputy , and sometimes by the intelligence people—George and John .” “e fought tooth and nail with other members of the administration to scrub it and get the crap out,” Larry Wilkerson, Powell's Chief of Staff later tells GQ. In some instances, material rejected by Powell occasionally reappear in subsequent versions of the speech. “One of the most outrageous ones was the Mohammed Atta meeting in Prague. Steve Hadley on one occasion it back in. We cut it and somehow it got back in. And the secretary said, ‘I thought I cut this?’ And Steve Hadley looked around and said, ‘My fault, Mr. Secretary, I'll put it back in.’ ‘Well, cut it, permanently!’ yelled Powell. It was all cartoon. The specious connection between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, much of which I subsequently found came probably from the INC and from their sources, defectors and so forth, training in Iraq for terrorists. ... No question in my mind that some of the sources that we were using were probably Israeli intelligence. That was one thing that was rarely revealed to us—if it was a foreign source.”
People and organizations involved: Stephen Hadley, Larry Wilkerson, Condoleezza Rice, George Tenet, John E. McLaughlin, Richard Armitage, White House Iraq Group, Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Colin Powell

Also from CoopResearch on Jeff Castelli not much but it is something

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/searchResults.jsp?searchtext=Jeff+Castelli+&events=on&entities=on&articles=on&topics=on&timelines=on&projects=on&titles=on&descriptions=on&dosearch=on&search=+Go+

Shortly after September 11, 2001 Events Leading to Iraq Invasion

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the CIA station chief in Rome, Jeff Castelli, reportedly asks SISMI to provide the US with any useful intelligence it might have.

People and organizations involved: Jeff Castelli, SISMI

[Emit]

88. Thanks stb, for putting some of that info in context

looks like you've been really busy!


Did you notice, by the way, that the article on Castelli that I posted says that Castelli is being investigated for the abduction of Abu Omar (Eqyptian who was CIA informant)?

Here's a recap of the article I posted. I think the date of this article in 12/27/05, but I am uncertain:

Jeff Castelli, the former top intelligence agent in Italy, is accused of devising the operation.
MILAN – The former head of the CIA in Italy is under investigation for the abduction of Imam Abu Omar. Jeff Castelli, an American citizen with distant Italian origins, is under investigation by the public prosecutor’s office in Milan as the alleged deviser and planner of the spectacular Abu Omar abduction. The kidnapping was the first case in Italy of extraordinary rendition, the illegal arrest strategy that has been at the centre of controversy for months. On 17 February 2003, when Abu Omar was kidnapped in Milan, Mr Castelli was CIA head of station in Rome, the man in charge of American intelligence in Italy. It is likely that Mr Castelli himself suggested the surprise move.

~snip~

http://www.corriere.it/english/articoli/2005/12_Dicembre/27/Cia.shtml


And here is an article, published July 3, 2005, that details the abduction and asks some interesting questions:

Abducted imam aided CIA ally
Last month, Italian authorities charged 13 CIA operatives with kidnapping an Islamic cleric known as Abu Omar. Now former Albanian intelligence officials reveal that the imam was once an informant valued by the CIA.

~snip~

Why would the U.S. government go to elaborate lengths to seize a 39-year-old Egyptian who, according to former Albanian intelligence officials, was once the CIA's most productive source of information within the tightly knit group of Islamic fundamentalists living in exile in Albania?

~snip~

What mystified the Italian authorities was why the CIA would want to take Abu Omar out of circulation--especially since they were sharing with the CIA the fruits of their electronic surveillance of Abu Omar--and why the Egyptians would want him back.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0507030272jul03,1,7388165.story?page=1&coll=chi-newsspecials-hed



Notice, also, Lady was involved in this abduction. From a 09/30/05 article:

~snip~

Italian investigators working on the case have found images and documents they describe as "decisive", including a photograph of Abu Omar on the street where he was kidnapped, taken 33 days before he was taken. It was found in the computer of Bob Lady, the former head of the CIA station in Milan. He has been wanted since June 24 this year when he fled Italy. His wife deleted all the files on his computer, Corriere della Sera reports, but police have managed to rebuild the hard drive, and found evidence that he had run searches for the shortest route from the Milan street where Omar was kidnapped to Aviano. A list of the luxurious hotels in Milan the agents accused of being involved in the kidnapping stayed in was also found in the rubbish bin in his garage.

~snip~

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:8mut0980Q80J:www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10473.htm++Betnie+Medero&hl=en

[stop the bleeding]

89. Yes I have been busy, and so have you - I have been reading

everyone's links that are provided in their posts.

This abduction involving Castelli is converging with Plame/Gate and the Israeli spy scandal involving Franklin's indictment.

Also I did reply earlier on Castelli - see post# 64 and 65 - The second link in post# 64 (PLEASE READ IT) has a lot of information on the abduction - I included the 1st article because they are connected to the dude being shot trying to protect that "Italian journo". It's all there with lots of theories - really good reading.

I knew this Castelli - Hadley connection would turn up something. In fact it looks he was OSP/WHIG/Hadley's main dude to get things done/problems solved in Italy. Also as highlighted in your last post we must keep the light on "Lady" as well.

Do we know who the other 11 Americans are that the warrants have been issued for?????????

I am just floored by what that author/former CIA agent said about the "Rome Station Chief" still trying to wrap my brain around his contradictory statements that I highlighted in the middle of post #87.

Lastly, I am currently reading that 120++ page pdf that you asked Larisa about up thread

http://jakking.typepad.com/daily/files/plamegate_chronology_051119.doc



Looks like now I have 3 more articles to read based on your last post.

Thanks again man when everyone comes back here and reviews this I sure hope it helps them.

Peace!

[Emit]

90. Hey, stb...

I meant to say in my last post, that, yes, thanks for pointing to your posts #64 and #65--they did relate to Castelli.

Re: the Giraldi article, yes, thanks for that, too. I think I had read it before, but, now that some of these characters have been drawn out a bit (their backgrounds and connections) it is even more intriguing...and yet again, another reference to Iran-Contra:

"...He could have easily been assisted by ex-CIA friends from Iran-Contra days, including a former Chief of Station from Rome, who, like Ledeen, was also a consultant for the Pentagon and the Iraqi National Congress..."

Regarding your question:

Do we know who the other 11 Americans are that the warrants have been issued for?????????

I know this lady is on the list: Betnie Medero-Navedo

Some things I read describe her as a gangster-diplomat! And, this article says 22 agents are now being sought.

Armando Spataro, the Milan prosecutor, said the three CIA agents now being sought included a female US diplomat who he said had been in charge of the operation and “participated in it personally”.

Italian newspapers named her as Betnie Medero, 38, who arrived in Italy in August 2001 as a second secretary at the US Embassy. The reports said she was now working in Mexico.

All 22 agents being sought are said to have left Italy, and Signor Spataro said that he was seeking their extradition.

Corriere della Sera, quoting investigators, said that material found on the computer of Robert Seldon Lady, the alleged CIA station chief in Milan at the time, included surveillance photographs of Abu Omar. Investigators said that they had tracked down the alleged agents through mobile telephone and credit card records.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1806416,00.html

[stop the bleeding]

92. Betnie Medero, 38, who arrived in Italy in August 2001- So we know 3 out

22. I will check out Miss Medero and her connections a little later today once I get to a lull at work.

"Corriere della Sera, quoting investigators, said that material found on the computer of Robert Seldon Lady, the alleged CIA station chief in Milan at the time, included surveillance photographs of Abu Omar. Investigators said that they had tracked down the alleged agents through mobile telephone and credit card records.'

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1806416,00.html

So Castelli is CIA Station Chief in Rome, and Lady is CIA Station Chief in Milan.

Who were they taking orders from? Who is their boss in the CIA chain of command?

Would there be any other major cities in Rome worth having a look see to who is/was the CIA Station Chief at the time? ie: Venice, Florence ect..

Italy seems to be crawling with CIA, also we need to see how Hadley/Rice tie into all of this.

2 nights ago James Woolsey was on Jon Stewart and he and Jon were talking about Tenet's statement that the WMD was a "slam dunk" for Iraq. Well we know how much James Woolsey is tied up in different groups in DC including ones that have been very outspoken on regime change in Iraq, Iran and Syria. Well Woolsey said something that has been bugging me ever since and that is "I bet Tenet really regrets saying that" - no this could be just a common statement or it could be more. When going over the time line from Co-op Research that I posted yesterday there are instances where Tenet seems to luke warm to the Intel maybe even rejecting it at times(I still have to review the piece again), and then other times seems to be all for the WHIG's case for War especially for Powell's pre - UN speech meetings. Now look how much the CIA keeps coming up in the research of who is involved (Stepehn Kappes still bugging me). Tenet gets his medal of whatever(even though the world holds Tenet responsible for 9/11 failure) from the president and retires in summer of 2004 correct? Well isn't that a convenient way to get rid of someone who may have a hand in this affair. Especially when you look at RP's post on Castelli being called back to Langley.

I don't know if this makes any sense but Tenet is pulling Lady's and Castelli's orders and they are neck deep in this crap.

So as I stated last night Tenet needs to be thoroughly investigated. I think he is tight with Hadley/Rice & Bolton/G.Theilman, and this would also allow for the atmosphere that would be conducive for the OSP getting their intel outside of the CIA especially if the CIA turned a blind eye to it or even helped the OSP. Look at why Kappes resigned it was over some "spat" with one of Goss's boys over leaks coming out before the election. Well I find it really curious that Kappes was called off from helping Weldon investigate claims by Ali in Paris of spring 2003. Look at Larisa's article again on how Kappes was assigned to the case and then called off. Then look at how Weldon got conflicting information from the CIA.

Tenet, Castelli, Lady, Kappes, and many more in this story are CIA -

I think that not only did CIA appear to be warring with the OSP but in some cases that could have had internal battles ie: different factions helping the OSP.

Well I need to get to work and I am sure something else will pop into my head as soon I send this.

Until next time.

Peace!

[robertpaulsen]

91. Wasn't familiar with namebase until today.

I tried searching for namebase and Jeff Castelli and found this:

I really don't know what the law is on this in the States. Both Castelli and Pavitt have been mentioned in the States, apparently without consequence. If you try NameBase.org, you'll find some pointers on them.

This was a post on a thread responding to an article that had some interesting info:

In an overlooked column in Il Riformista, dated July 23rd, 2003, the anonymous author declares that Jeff Castelli, the Rome CIA station chief, had just been recalled to Langley by Tenet allegedly because of his misconduct. The article states that according to anonymous intelligence sources, Castelli had not handled the Burba Niger forgeries correctly.

Apparently Castelli had dismissed the forgeries right off as the same old stuff and had not bothered to forward them to Langley until February 2003.

However, the forgeries had been immediately sent to the Europa State desk which fowarded to State in Washington. This occurred at the beginning of October. But back in Rome, Jeff Castelli did not receive the forgeries until October 19th.

If we are to give any credit to the Riformista reconstruction, it appears that Castelli had already dealt with Niger forgeries before. But what may strike the reader in the light of recent developments is that the sexed-up edition of the Niger forgeries only went to State and not to the CIA. It was State that went public on December 19th, 2002, with the accusations against Niger- accusations promptly denied by the Niger Minister of Mines, Rabiou Hassan Yari, and PM Hama Amadou, yet totally ignored by the MSM.

http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2005/7/20/2096/60605

How much of this is red herring and how much is valuable to pursue? I'm wary of anyone who tries to dump this on the State Department. Then again, John Bolton was pretty active with Iraq war planning at this time there.

But what I didn't know was Castelli being recalled for Tenet for "misconduct". Is this true and is the real reason being obfuscated? Hopefully we'll find out the truth.

[Me.]

23. Why Is He Writing To RAw?

"In an email to RAW STORY, occasional Bush foreign affairs advisor Michael Ledeen confirmed that he was, "several years ago," a regular contributor to Panorama. Leeden would not provide more specificity'.

I find it curious that he would reply to anyone about any of his dirty little deeds. You'd think he'd just remain silent. After all he is the "great" Ledeen whose legerdemain is notorious. He has been imperious to criticism as well as the law. Why does he care enough about this to answer?

[Emit]

27. Have you ever read any of his columns?

He's a narcissistic, Machiavellian nut case who keeps himself right in the middle of all this Niger Forgery/Spy stuff. He's got a history of spreading disinformation, and the fact that he keeps writing and re-involving himself into this scandal just shows how arrogant he is. I posted about it on this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x66847

[hang a left]

36. He was probably sent an email or received some kind of

communication that they were going to do the story and they were asking him for his responses. That is probably why they received an email from Ledeen.

[katty]

26. Ledeen? why am I not surprised

[Clara T]

29. kick for the truth

have to look at it further tonight, thanx for info.

rec'd

[Coexist]

30. Great story

good work, LaLa

[hang a left]

38. Here we go again....

I have read alot of these links and stories before. I think that I subconsiously push it away into the depths of my memory banks so that I don't think about it. The implications of these people, their connections, their actions, and their ultimate goals is so evil, and so frightening. It is really upsetting to take all in and not get severely depressed.

[leveymg]

40. My reaction is the polar opposite - this is fascinating and exciting stuff

Guess I'm an espionage and political dirty-tricks junkie, in the same way some people are hooked on baseball. I love the history of the game, its strategies, personalities, and most of all, "live" coverage complete with color commentary here at DU.

Call it Major League Spy Games.

[David Zephyr]

42. Kick Again!

This is the biggest story of the day.

[0007]

48. I agree, I have to read yet!

[Emit]

44. So, is this their new 'Chalabi' for Iran?

Washington’s likely plans to restore the Iranian monarchy are foolhardy

The United States is planning for “regime change” in Iran, and it may have already picked the new rulers of that country.
The form of government would be a constitutional monarchy, with the head of state being Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was deposed in the 1978-79 Islamic revolution. The Bush administration apparently has a handpicked American “plumber” ready to go in Iran, much like Ahmed Chalabi in Iraq. This is Sohrab “Rob” Sobhani, an Iranian-American associated with the neoconservatives in Washington. With Reza Pahlavi as Shah, the 40-ish Sobhani would presumably be prime minister or president. His promoter is American Enterprise Institute Freedom Chair Holder Michael Ledeen, who has written and lectured obsessively about regime change in Iran. Ledeen was reported by the Washington Post to be one of four advisers in regular consultation with White House strategist, Karl Rove. Ledeen and Sobhani recently established the Coalition for Democracy in Iran (CDI) to promote this regime change.

~snip~

Rob Sobhani, who has known Reza Pahlavi since childhood, was actually born in Kansas. His doctorate, completed in 1987, dealt with Iranian-Israeli relations from 1948-88. He became a specialist in energy policy. He has had his finger in many pies in Washington, including consultation on the construction of an oil and gas pipeline across Afghanistan. Well-connected politically, he ran twice for the US Senate from Maryland as a Republican. Although his heritage is Iranian, he is far from being an expert on Iranian society, politics or economics. His move to the Washington area put him in close contact with his old friend, Reza Pahlavi.

~snip~

Of equal importance, Sobhani also sees secularization of Iran as beneficial for Israel. This is not surprising, since Israel and Iran had excellent ties before the 1978-9 Islamic Revolution. The Iranian Jewish community is the oldest continuous Jewish community in the world. The community is as prominent in diaspora as in Iran, with members in powerful positions in the Israeli government and in American life, particularly in California. Elimination of the clerical regime in Iran would eliminate support for Hizbullah. It might even lead to renewed trade between Tehran and Tel Aviv.

Ledeen, Sobhani and Morris Amitay, former director of the principal Israeli lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) joined forces at the American Enterprise Institute in a seminar entitled The Future of Iran, in which they called for regime change. AIPAC has indicated support for the restoration of Reza Pahlavi to the throne, although they wish to remain in the background, as reported by Mark Perelman on May 16 in the New York Jewish Daily Forward. Perelman quotes one AIPAC official as stating that “the Jewish groups are telling Reza that they will give him private support and help arrange meetings with US officials,” Since Sept. 11, 2001, Sobhani has appeared widely in the media, urging the US government to support an internal revolution in Iran. His appearances can be seen as growing endorsement of his possible role as a future leader in a post-coup Iran, as his image is honed by the media-savvy Bush administration.

William O. Beeman ([e-mail]) teaches anthropology and is Director of Middle East Studies at Brown University. He wrote this commentary for The Daily Star

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:cNNdpoWc5_YJ:www.iran-socialists.com/english/articles/20030613a.htm+Benador+Iran&hl=en
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here's an excerpt of an interview with Ledeen with FrontPage Magazine, where he is urging people to support Iranian-American broadcasters in California:

FP: Let us suppose that tomorrow you are brought into Bush's inner circle regarding Iraq and the War on Terror. The President asks you what concrete steps he should take next. What do you say?

Ledeen: Support the democratic revolutionaries in Iran and the Iranian-American broadcasters in California. Now, not tomorrow. That is the key to the entire war, in my opinion. There will never be peace in Iraq so long as the mullahs are in power in Tehran, and their favorite Assad reigns in Damascus.

Then tell the Saudis that they have to shut down the global network of radical schools and mosques, or we will make great trouble for them in the Shi'ite regions of the Kingdom (which happen to be the major oil producing regions as
well).

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:EFJlLGYsXdEJ:www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp%3FID%3D11512+American%2Bbroadcasters%2Bin%2BCalifornia%2BMichael%2BLedeen&hl=en

And, I'm assuming and still trying to confirm, that the Iranian-American broadcasters in California is the same group Ledeen refers to in the above-quoted article is the same referenced here:

Pahlavi also cut a backroom deal by garnering political support and funding from the US Congress for private Iranian-American satellite companies in California and US government sponsored external radio programs such as Radio FARDA, geared to reprogramming Iranians under 30 years of age. He was very careful to mention that there should be "one degree of separation"--no royal hand involved so to speak--and that American taxpayer's funds should be given to foundations that in turn can give the money to the satellite broadcasters. Not surprisingly, Senator Sam Brownback, a Republican from Kansas, introduced an amendment on April 8, 2003, that would provide $50 million (US) to an Iran Democracy Foundation, the purpose of which is to broadcast "democracy" into Iran. According to reports, the language in Brownback's amendment has its origins in the Pentagon and is almost the same as that used in the Iraqi Liberation Act that the US Congress approved in 1998.

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:GJQm8IHPVLgJ:www.counterpunch.org/stanton04222003.html+Iranian-American+broadcasters+of+California+Reza+Pahlavi+&hl=en
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here's a similar article, same subject as one excerpted above, with a little different detail: http://www.sundayherald.com/34272

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The author, Beeman, of the above-quoted commentary and Ledeen go after each other about Beeman's claims. Ledeen accuses Beeman of slander.

Here:
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=0463dd4d30f0c09d40c36ae421c44e6f


_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
And, finally, here's an excellent article on the matter by Tom Barry from Right Web, recapping the whole thing, and bringing in the regime plan change:

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:tKWkcq8SXicJ:www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1114/+Coalition+for+Democracy+in+Iran+Michael+Ledeen+Morris+Amitay&hl=en

It's so thorough; I don't even know what parts to quote.

[DemReadingDU]

59. K&R

[DoYouEverWonder]

62. Wow, what a coincidence

Ledeen worked at the magazine at the same time this magazine 'found' the Niger forgeries. Can we indict him yet?

He was also Karl Rove's foreign policy adviser (why did KR need a foreign policy adviser?) at the same time and we all know how much Karl loves to use forgeries.

Come on Fitz, it's time to shut these guys down before they bomb Iran.

[stop the bleeding]

64. Here is an important article

When researching the Niger Forgeries people/places/situtations/investigations cross this story and has been suggested by blogs that one is linked with the other.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BOH20050925&articleId=1003

"My husband's homicide," she adds, "cannot be allowed to become yet another of Italy's 'mysteries."

Mrs. Calipari is referring to countless unsolved political crimes—from the murder of Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978 to the massacre of 80 people and wounding of 200 in the Bologna train station bombing in 1980—that point to collusion between the Italian secret services, trained and funded by the CIA, and Anglo-American-dominated NATO intelligence, which sought to reverse the electoral progress of Italy toward a coalition government of national unity that would welcome the powerful and then respected Italian Communist Party as a partner.

In spite of the Italian Communist Party's official separation from Moscow and recognition of Italy's participation in NATO, the idea of a multi-party sovereignty for Italy was anathema to the George H.W. Bush's CIA (the senior Bush was head of the CIA in 1976 for one year), to then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and to then Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, General Alexander Haig.

The terrorist crimes of the Italian "years of lead," carried out by neo-fascist or Mafia elements, were subsequently blamed on the left to discredit it in the eyes of the electorate and were part of the infamous "strategy of tension," born and bred within the intelligence institutions of the Anglo-American allied command of post-war occupied Europe to stem, subvert, and thwart the advance of socialist and democratic forces in Europe (to look up this intelligence saga, research Stay-Behind and Gladio, the names of secret subversive operations for Europe under the eventual umbrella of NATO).

and this.. Please go check this out for verification lots of good stuff here.

http://www.sandersresearch.com/Sanders/NewsManager/ShowNewsGen.aspx?NewsID=1017

As if these two affairs were not enough, there is currently a third scandal unfolding in Italy, which concerns the discovery of a secret and unofficial anti-terrorist organisation, Dipartimento studi strategici antiterrorismo(DSSA), which was illegally created within the ranks of the Italian police and security services after the Madrid bombings in 2004. A Genoese prosecutor has ordered two men to be arrested, and some twenty-five premises across Italy to be searched. It is alleged that the people who belonged to this unofficial cell within the police were Freemasons and extreme right-wingers: a good deal of the Internet blogging on this issue has focussed on alleged links to a fascist splinter group in Italy, because the two men arrested, Gaetano Saya and Riccardo Sindoca, were founder members of Destra Nazionale-Nuovo MSI.

Two elements link this scandal to the others, and both concern the United States of America and the war on terror. The first is that the two men arrested say they were also former members of Gladio, the secret underground army which NATO created during the Cold War and which I discussed in a recent issue of All News is Lies.<3> Gladio’s purpose was originally to stay behind in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe, and to organise the underground resistance to the putative occupiers. However, there is strong evidence to suggest that this covert army instead became involved in heavy interference in internal Italian politics, even to the extent of encouraging terrorist attacks which were then blamed on Communists. If true, then this would show how quickly a war against something can turn into complicity with it, whether the war is against communism, terrorism or drugs.

The allegations about Gladio were comprehensively rejected in an interview given by the former president of the Italian Republic, Francesco Cossiga, to Corriere della sera on 2nd July.<4> He said that the members of Gladio had all been patriots and that he was proud to have been involved with it. Cossiga said that the two police officers arrested were lying when they claimed to have been connected to the old Gladio. However, Cossiga inadvertently confirmed what many people had suspected when he said that he was concerned about the potential link between the scandal over the DSSA and the capture of the Egyptian imam. There is no proof that members of the secret army were involved in the capture – all thirteen people for whom arrest warrants have been issued are American nationals – but the two scandals are linked by the fact that both seems to be infringements of Italian sovereignty by US secret forces: the DSSA is said to have set itself up in order to receive clandestine finance from, among others, the American government and Israel.<5>

Most intriguingly of all, there might be a connection between the DSSA scandal, the Abu Omar kidnapping, and the killing of Nicola Calipari in March. The DSSA “secret army” was discovered by Genoese prosecutors during an investigation into the death of an Italian bodyguard in Iraq, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, a video of whose execution members of the DSSA were allegedly hawking for sale. So both the DSSA scandal and the Calipari killing have an Iraqi connection. Bloggers speculate openly that Calipari may have been deliberately killed by American soldiers because he had discovered links between Western secret services and so-called Islamist kidnappers, i.e. that his murder was deliberate because he knew too much.<6>

[stop the bleeding]

65. The soldier's name is Mario Lozano - the one who killed Calipari

http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_international&Number=294262053&page=&view=&sb=&o=

The Rome prosecutor's office identified the marine as Mario Lozano .

Intelligence officer Nicola Calipari was killed on March 4 when US troops manning a temporary roadblock opened fire on a car carrying him, another agent and a released hostage to Baghdad airport .

A joint investigation by Italian and US military experts failed to reach a shared conclusion, with the American members clearing the soldiers of all responsibility and the Italians blaming the US's organisation of the roadblock .

Italian investigators were able to identify Lozano thanks to a youth in Bologna who was able to uncover the name which had been blacked out in the joint report .

American authorities have never replied to Italian investigators' requests for the names of the soldiers manning the roadblock. The Toyota Corolla in which Calipari and the others two were travelling came under 'friendly fire' from a temporary roadblock manned by ten US soldiers on their first day of service .

Ballistic evidence gathered from the car by Italian experts indicated that only one weapon had been fired. According to the American investigation, the car was travelling at high speed, about 80kmh, and the driver panicked .

(According a Pentagon source cited by CBS News, a US satellite filmed the incident and thanks to its images the speed was calculated at 96kph. However, this information was not included in the Pentagon report.) The US military claimed the driver failed to stop or slow down when soldiers flashed a spotlight, shone a green laser onto the car's windscreen and fired warning shots .

<snip> response/post to blog

My American friend recently went to Rome. His local contacts instructed him not to speak at the restaurant and ordered for him. If they knew he was an American they would have spit in the food.

There is much for Italy to hate about Americans. If Operation Gladio weren't enough, we have the murder of an apparently decent man, and the attempted murder of the journalist Sg

[Tight_rope]

72. Kicking the shit outta this tread...Read the whole thing and I'm

speachless. Just when I think the plot can't get any thicker, more flour gets added to this pot of beef stew.

[Emit]

73. 1987 NYT Article on Ledeen

Written by Stephen Engelberg, who co-wrote a book with Judith Miller (Germs : Biological Weapons and America's Secret War) and a few articles when he worked at the NYT. I can't link the article, because it's a LexisNexis source, but here's an excerpt:

HEADLINE: A CONSULTANT'S ROLE IN THE IRAN AFFAIR

BYLINE: By STEPHEN ENGELBERG, Special to the New York Times

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 1

BODY:
In October 1985, when the Reagan Administration was forcing down a jetliner carrying the hijackers of the cruise ship Achille Lauro, it turned in desperation to a part-time consultant to reach Prime Minister Bettino Craxi of Italy by telephone. The consultant, Michael A. Ledeen, worked on terrorism issues for the National Security Council, and he was able to reach Mr. Craxi, a personal friend, at a hotel in Rome. The security guard insisted Mr. Craxi was unavailable, and Mr. Ledeen recalls that he threatened in his finest vulgar Italian to hold him personally responsible for the operation's failure. The guard relented, and later that evening Mr. Craxi spoke by phone with President Reagan and Mr. Ledeen helped with the translation, giving him a small role in what was seen as one of this country's victories over terrorism.

~snip~

Mr. Ledeen's outspoken views, including public support for covert operations aimed at assassinating terrorists, and his disdain for the institutional biases of Government agencies have assured that few respond neutrally when his name is mentioned. ''He's much too close to the Israelis,'' complained one Congressional investigator who has looked into the Iran affair. ''He's an amateur when it comes to the Middle East,'' an Administration official said. ''He's a source of information you can't get through other channels,'' retorted a senior Administration official who added, ''In Washington, an amateur is someone who's for something you're against.''

~snip~

After being denied tenure at Washington University in St. Louis in 1972 (for plagiarism-ed. Emit), Mr. Ledeen became a visiting professor at the University of Rome. In 1977, he was invited to become the editor of The Washington Quarterly, a foreign policy journal published by a conservative research institute. There, he met Mr. Haig, later the Secretary of State, who hired him as a special adviser reporting through the State Department Counselor, Robert C. McFarlane. His work involved maintaining liaison with members of the Socialist International then in opposition, such as Mr. Craxi of Italy or Shimon Peres of Israel. After Mr. Haig left government, Mr. Ledeen was eventually hired as a consultant by Mr. McFarlane, who had since become the national security adviser. He said his job involved analyzing intelligence on terrorism and writing occasional papers. He also maintained a private business consulting for European concerns. Mr. McFarlane said he regularly asked Mr. Ledeen to report on his private travels to various parts of the world. He said Mr. Ledeen was assigned to gather information, not represent the Government.

A somewhat different picture emerges from the Senate report and an interview with Mr. Ledeen. In the spring of 1985, Mr. Ledeen said, he told Mr. McFarlane he was going to Israel and would be willing to raise the issue of Iran with Mr. Peres. Mr. McFarlane agreed, and Mr. Ledeen said he met with Mr. Peres and asked whether his country had any solid intelligence on Iran's internal politics. The issue of developing contacts, he said, never came up. The trip touched off a bureaucratic turf fight when Secretary of State George P. Shultz complained to Mr. McFarlane, who replied that Mr. Ledeen had been acting ''on his own hook.'' Mr. McFarlane said he recalls telling Mr. Ledeen that ''you were not authorized to say I was sending you.'' Mr. Ledeen says he does not remember this conversation and notes that the White House paid for all but one of his trips involving the Iran program.

~snip~

___________________

The article also notes that Ledeen said he was 'granted' high-level security clearances 'repeatedly'.

Also, the article discussed how Senate/intelligence committee 'sources' questioned Ledeen (under oath) about his connections with Israeli intelligence. Says Ledeen denied it, and that he resents the 'repeated allusions to his relationship with the Israelis.' Article quotes Ledeen as saying "There is absolutely no evidence of closeness; the number of Israeli officials I know is really quite small...There's nothing there."

This part as excerpted above: "The trip touched off a bureaucratic turf fight when Secretary of State George P. Shultz complained to Mr. McFarlane, who replied that Mr. Ledeen had been acting "on his own hook." Mr. McFarlane said he recalls telling Mr. Ledeen that "you were not authorized to say I was sending you.""

...Is interesting, IMO, based on Ledeen's comments in an op-ed here:

Iran-Contra Revisited?
Our dangerous Iran policy continues.

Even for August, the media's handling of the latest round of leaks from the usual unnamed sources in State and CIA on the subject of Iran is unusually feckless. The gist of the "story" fed to the press is that some Pentagon officials (and maybe I, as well) met and actually spoke with some Iranians a year or more ago, and then again a month or two ago. These talks were "unauthorized," which apparently means that Colin Powell and George Tenet weren't asked for permission beforehand, and, according to Newsday and the Washington Post, they got in the way of the State Department's own secret talks with members of the Iranian regime. One unnamed deep thinker went so far as to see the dark hand of a neoconservative plot, designed to prod the Iranians into a rigid and uncooperative posture that would defeat State's efforts to arrive at a deal with Tehran...

~snip~

First, the implication of the complaint about Pentagon officials' conversations is that it's okay for our diplomats to talk to the official representatives of the murderous mullahcracy in Tehran, with an eye to establishing some form of rapprochement, but it's not okay for midlevel Iran experts at DoD to talk to private Iranians to enhance our understanding about what's going on inside Iran, and what the Iranian regime is going, or planning to do, to Americans and our friends and allies. Why should that be so? One would think that any such conversations should be praised, not leaked to death.

Second, the leakers — and some of the more overzealous scribblers — suggested that somehow the Pentagon was repeating the errors of Iran-Contra by talking to Ghorbanifar. But the shoe is on the wrong foot here, for it's the State Department that has repeated one of Iran-Contra's momentous blunders by believing that there are "moderates" in Tehran with whom the United States can and should work...

~snip~

http://www.nationalreview.com/ledeen/ledeen081403.asp


Hhmmm, Mr. Ledeen, are you involved in an unauthorized plot of some sorts? Or, perhaps, it is authorized then?

[robertpaulsen]

74. From Huffington Post

We have after all witnessed an entire legislative body:

-Pass the un-Constitutional Patriot Act without having read it first (minus one rational voice). See HERE

-Vote for the invasion of a sovereign nation that posed no threat to us, and did so based on fabricated evidence so obvious that it took the IAEA all of a few hours to discredit it (and don't even get me started on the aluminum tubes garbage!). (see HERE) and (HERE) and (HERE)
and (HERE)

-Think nothing of $8.8 billion in US taxpayer funds gone "missing" in Iraq

-See no problem in pimping itself out to the highest bidder

-Pass the Real ID Act, which they also did not read thanks to SOME and which the MSM spun as important to national security

These are but a few examples of a Congress completely disinterested in the needs of its constituents or the nation as a whole. This is the same Senate that will decide the lifetime appointment of a man and entrust him with the guardianship of the Constitution? No, this body is not fit to decide such things and the nominee is not fit for the nomination. More importantly, a President who sees the Constitution as just a "piece of paper" is not fit to nominate anyone for anything at anytime.

So there is no need for the theatrics or face time on C-Span. The only need is for a body to replace the void left by a compromised legislative branch which swears allegiance to everything and everyone but the very people they are to represent. The reign of absurdity is well on its way. If JFK was the age of Camelot, then George W. Bush (Dick Cheney) is the age of gross neglect, incompetence, corruption, criminality, but above all, treason. In this context, the body of Congress is nothing more than a string quartet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/incitatus-for-senate_b_14011.html

[bobthedrummer]

85. kick

[happydreams]

93. Kick! Great job STB.

I haven't been able to keep up with things this week.