Vanity Fair: Turks Boasted of Payments to Hastert

[cascadiance]

The Corporate Crime Reporter has just summarized that Sibel Edmonds is coming out identifying Dennis Hastert as someone who's being bought off for political favors by Turks contributing to his political campaign. It looks like the truth is coming out folks!

Here's the main link here:

From:
http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/hastert080305.htm

Vanity Fair: Turks Boasted of Payments to Hastert
19 Corporate Crime Reporter 32(1), August 3, 2005

Turkish officials boasted of giving “tens of thousands of dollars in surreptious payments” to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) in exchange for political favors.

That allegation is contained a profile of Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) whistleblower Sibel Edmonds in the current issue of Vanity Fair magazine.

The article, “An Inconvenient Patriot,” by British writer David Rose, alleges that Edmonds was asked to listen to wiretaps as part of what appeared to be an FBI public corruption probe into bribes paid to members of Congress – both Democrat and Republican.

Rose, citing “some of the wiretaps,” reports that “the FBI’s targets had arranged for tens of thousands of dollars to be paid to Hastert’s campaign funds in small checks.”

...

Here's another link from POGO's site which has a roughly scanned version of the Vanity Fair article. Let's DU this magazine and cause it to have a sales record folks! I'm going out to buy one as soon as it shows up next week!

http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/files/vanityfair_clean.pdf

[jsamuel]

1. put one more peg in the Culture of Corruption...

[yurbud]

27. hopefully, that peg has a sharpened end and is aimed at the heart

[wli]

2. nice tidbit of foreign influence

Should be jailtime for the relevant Republicans, barring (of course) pardons.

[katty]

135. Any comment from "Dennyboy" yet?

[Eloriel]

3. Go, Sibel!! n/t

[Pachamama]

41. I've always believed that Sibel had some major info that was very

revealing about the Bush Cabal and the GOP.....

Go Sibel and don't go anywhere alone or fly on small planes.....:hi:

[cascadiance]

44. Don't worry, the spirit of Paul Wellstone will be looking after her!

[ngGale]

50. How right you are, Calipendence ...

Paul Wellstone, my hero. O8)

Go, Sibel - :yourock:

[katty]

103. Read the article-Sibel is a survivor-now "Dennyboy" is in the article

-here come the spinmeisters.

[cosmicdot]

4. no wonder Hastert is Speaker of the House

and, just a couple of heart beats away from the Presidency ...

does the corruption wane the further down the line of succession?

i hardly think so

[cascadiance]

6. Hmm... Could this help us in 2006 get back the house?

Hastert vs. Pelosi for next in line after Bush and Cheney get impeached. And even if they don't win the House back, if Hastert get's impeached as well as a result of this, perhaps it will continue going down the line of succession...

[against all enemies]

38. No one gives a shit about Delay, why Haslert?

[Peace Patriot]

59. 'against all enemies,' I sometimes think that people who make

statements that "no one gives a shit" are victims of Bushite news monopoly brainwashing. I don't know if you are, but it wouldn't surprise me, since we ALL are, to some extent. It's hard to escape the impact of the news monopolies' relentless, and, well, monopolistic enforcement of what the news is and who cares about it.

One of my favorite examples is this: 58% of the American people opposed the Iraq war BEFORE the invasion. That is, even before all the lies were exposed. Feb. '03. This percentage held true across all polls at the time. What this means is that most people didn't trust Bush, even back then, and, that Americans are peace-loving. They didn't think the solution was war, even if Iraq had WMDs. About half of the 58% were against the war outright; the other half were against any pre-emptive action by Bush and would only support a UN peacekeeping mission (consensus of the world community).

This statistic often surprises people, who think that Americans are easily duped, don't care enough to be informed, are lazy and stupid and more and more "red-statey" and rightwing in their views, and were fooled by Bush's and Powell's and Cheney's and Rice's lies and news monopoly war propaganda. But, in truth, few were fooled--pretty much the same minority who still support Bush today (42%).

So, where do we get this idea that Americans are uninformed, lazy, stupid, rightwingy, etc.? I think we get it from the FOCUS of the news monopolies--their enforcement of what the news is and who cares about it. For instance, they give the rightwing minority a mighty trumpet way out of proportion to their numbers, to push their kneejerk faith in Bush and their "pod people" repetition of Rovian talking points. If we are plugged into the news monopolies--which most of us are, to some extent--we thus get the IMPRESSION that this is what's on peoples' minds--that Saddam is evil, that Saddam may have nukes, that Saddam must be toppled, that Iraqis are yearning for our invasion, etc., etc. What was REALLY on most peoples' mind was finding ANOTHER solution than war, whatever the truth was about Saddam--with about 30% of our people thinking war is never the solution, and another 30% thinking that it's sometimes necessary as a consensus UN action.

Also, the news monopoly FOCUS completely avoided the question: If 58% of Americans oppose this war, why are we going to war? Shouldn't the majority view mean something as to gov't policy, especially something this important? Why is the will of the majority being ignored and thwarted? How is it that Bush can go to war without "consent of the governed"?

This latter line of questions has become increasingly important after the 2004 election, as poll after poll after poll confirms great disapproval of all major Bush policy, foreign and domestic, way up in the 60% to 70% range. You name it. The Iraq war. Torture policy. Social Security. The deficit. Women's rights. The great majority of Americans disagree with Bush. Some of these polls (such as the Iraq war and torture policy) are pre-election; some are post-election. All are news monopoly polls, so the numbers opposing Bush are probably even greater.

So, how did this man get "re-elected"?

The news monopolies never go there. And so WE--who are plugged into these news monopolies, to whatever extent (even if we don't believe half of of what we hear or read)--get the IMPRESSION that Americans are somehow going along with Bush (they voted for him, didn't they?), may disagree a bit here or there but are content to be silent, and, for the most part, "DON'T GIVE A SHIT."

IMPRESSIONS. That's what they do. They form and mold a few newsbites and Rove talking points into an impression of what the news is, and that is the only "reality" that people are permitted to see. It is almost devoid of rational thought. It is a work of art; a tone poem. This highly distorted orchestration of a few selected facts and images reaches below consciousness into the dream world, where they can convince you of any topsy-turvy thing: that Bush was elected; that Bush has a "mandate"; that people like Bush; that Christians are rightwing; that security requires billions of dollars; that the U.S. military "defends" us; that Americans don't care about mass slaughter, and thievery, and lawlessness, and are just happy consumers with bright, shiny smiles.

The news monopolies can't even see--or don't want to see--the huge discrepancy between what Americans believe as reflected in their own polls, and what Bush is doing, and they never go near the truth that is staring us in the face: that the majority of Americans care very much about what's going on, greatly disagree with their government across the board, on every issue, and have been DISENFRANCHISED!

And because they never go there--to this rather obvious truth--they never inform ANYONE that two corporations headed by major Bush supporters and rightwing billionaires (Diebold and ES&S) tabulated all the votes in the 2004 election, using SECRET, PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE; or that they themselves, the news monopolies, FALSIFIED the exit polls (Kerry won) on election night, and made the numbers fit Diebold's and ES&S's "official results."

The news monopolies are not raking Bush over the coals for his 100% pack of lies on the war, or for his completely illegal detention and torture policy, so...no one cares. The news monopolies never mention the huge discrepancy between American opinion and Bush policy, and so...it does not really exist. No one cares about it. The news monopolies of course never mention their own complicity in denying Americans major evidence of election fraud (that Kerry won the exit polls), so...everybody must agree that Bush won and few if any have questions about that election.

That's the IMPRESSION we get from the news monopolies. "No one" gives a shit because THEY don't give a shit.

I think that most of those who know about Tom Delay would like to see him drawn and quartered, and can't understand how this man is still in power, and feel depressed and disgusted about it, and, most of all, feel DISENFRANCHISED. Their view of lawful conduct in gov't APPEARS TO BE a minority view, when, by all rights, it shouldn't be. The question they should ask, though--and that you yourself should ask--is not, "Why don't Americans give a shit about this?--but, rather, "why don't Americans KNOW ABOUT this?," and "why don't the views of Americans who DO know get more air time?".

We should PRESUME that Americans DO care. ALL the polls indicate this. And we should be asking: Why doesn't BUSH care? Why is he immune to the will of the majority? Why aren't the news monopolies focusing on these facts? Are they brain dead? And, why aren't THEY reflecting what is very clearly MAINSTREAM opinion, which is very anti-Bush?

WE are the mainstream, 'against all enemies.' And we DO give a shit. And we are having a lot of trouble being heard.

[hang a left]

78. What an awesome post PP.

I totally agree with you. There are a very small minority of people that listen to the news and believe it. My step-father is one of them. He watches Fox MSNBC CNN all day long, and I mean all day long. It is all he does. He has not one independent thought. He spews their talking points. So I am sure there are others like him. But they are the minority.

My mother is disgusted. And the only news she gets is the same news my step-dad gets. She hates Bush hates the war and is pretty liberal in her views. But she is still real misinformed. I enlighten her from time to time.

Anyway I just wanted to tell you I loved your post and agree with you 100%.

[Just Me]

89. Excellent observations on mass manipulation.

They know they're being manipulative eg they are doing it on purpose. It's no accident.

Instead of protecting both this nation and the interests of the people to make informed decisions (which is what people are encouraged and expected do in a healthy democracy), our media has become the protector of a governance which acts against democracy and against the economic and security interests of the American people.

[against all enemies]

110. Maybe you should get out and meet some of these people.

They are proudly misinformed, and they are scarey. Bush won the last election with over 52% of the vote. The House and Senate are solidly Republican. It would appear to me that the greatest percentage of people in this country don't give a shit. If they did they would not have voted to continue with this anti-labor, anti-peace, anti-environment, anti-women's rights, anti-healthcare bunch of pukes.

[cascadiance]

111. Yah! Diebold does appear to make them look larger doesn't it!

[JDPriestly]

132. Thanks, Peace Patriot

Please re-post your post as a separate thread. It needs to be read on its own.

[crikkett]

81. maybe 'cause he's 3rd in line for presidency

after we impeach gw and cheney.

[cascadiance]

83. That is at least until 2006...

Who knows if Pelosi might not be that person then... :)

[crikkett]

85. i hope i hope i hope i hope i hope please please SOTH Pelosi 06 etc!

:grouphug:

[crikkett]

82. BTW guess who's 4th in line for presidency?

I hope it puts a cold pit in your stomach too.

[robertpaulsen]

97. President Rice.

:puke:

Then again, she is a person of interest in the Plame scandal, and may very well have been involved in the "work-up" on Wilson. Hopefully, she will be indicted in the conspiracy and then we'll have President Snow, I believe.

[sattahipdeep]

98. Mr. Fitzgerald....Why?

In the past three years, I have been threatened; I have been gagged several times;
I have continuously been prevented from pursuing my due process; all reports and
investigations looking into my case have been classified; and every governmental
or investigative authority dealing with my case has been shut up. According to legal
experts familiar with my case, the level of secrecy and classification in my court case
and the attitudes and handling of the court system in dealing with my case is
unprecedented in the entire U.S. court history. According to other experts I am one of
the most, if not the most, gagged woman anybody knows of or has heard of. Why?

http://www.justacitizen.com/articles_documents/May14-05-Gagged%20but%20not%20Dead.htm



....Why? September 1, 2001.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald began serving as the United States Attorney for the
Northern District of Illinois on September 1, 2001. Mr. Fitzgerald was initially
appointed on an interim basis by Attorney General John Ashcroft before being
nominated by President George W. Bush. The United States Senate confirmed his
nomination by unanimous consent on October 23, 2001, and President Bush signed
his commission on October 29, 2001.

Mr. Fitzgerald served on the Attorney General's Advisory Committee
from 2001-2005, and he remains Chair of that Committee's sub-committee on terrorism.
He is also a member of the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force.
In December 2003, he was named Special Counsel to investigate the alleged disclosure
of the identity of a purported employee of the Central Intelligence Agency.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/aboutus/patrickjfizgerald.html

[robertpaulsen]

100. I'm going to play dense & ask you to connect the dots for us.

Are you saying that Fitzgerald is responsible for burying Edmonds case, or that the widening of Fitzgerald's probe in the Plame case includes Sibel Edmonds?

[sattahipdeep]

105. ....Oops

Sorry robertpaulsen.... That was ment for post #52

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1674619&mesg_id=1675506

[robertpaulsen]

117. Kick

:kick:

Still curious about your opinion on the Edmonds/Fitzgerald post.

[BlueCaliDem]

118. Call Me Dim, but...Nancy Pelosi is 4th In Line, right? Wrong?

I thought I heard this during one of the (newly canceled 'CrossFire') that if Bush and Cheney were impeached, the Speaker of the House would be president, and if he were impeached, the Minority Leader of the House would take over.

[cascadiance]

122. No... I think it goes to Secretary of State after that...

Which is why some folks are talking about Condi being a possible successor.

The reason Nancy Pelosi's name comes up as successor, is that if both Bush and Cheney are impeached after 2006, assuming now appointments (ala Gerald Ford) happens before then, Pelosi could be next in line instead of Hastert if the House changes hands to the Democrats in 2006. It might be a motivating factor if enough of us can convince voters that an impending impeachment is likely and have them ask themselves if they want someone like Hastert to be in line for the presidency or Pelosi. Might help get rid of a few Rethug congress critters if the information on Hastert coming out becomes bad enough.

[Mr. Peanut]

113. Brainwashing...

Why are so many Americans today willing to be brainwashed? Too much TV watching?

brainwashing:

1. Intensive, forcible indoctrination, usually political or religious, aimed at destroying a person's basic convictions and attitudes and replacing them with an alternative set of fixed beliefs.
2. The application of a concentrated means of persuasion, such as an advertising campaign or repeated suggestion, in order to develop a specific belief or motivation.

http://www.answers.com/brainwashing

[peacetalksforall]

127. DeLay is Texas, Hastert is Iowa. They care in Iowa. If Iowans start

fact finding and this is provable or he admits to some checks coming from them and what he did for them... they will care or I don't know those people anymore.

Remember when the U.S. was going to partner with the Kurds on one of the strategies in the takeover of Iraq making Turkey very unhappy? Overnight, the U.S. reversed itself making Turkey happy? Could the timing of that flip-flop coiincide with the Hastert little checks?

[cascadiance]

129. Actually Hastert is an Illinois congressman...

As someone who lived in Iowa, I'd know if he ever represented Iowans. And note that the investigation of Fitzgerald and the investigations talked about here were taking place in Illinois.

We might have had a Republican representing us in our district there (Jim Leach), but Leach is far less of a bum than Hastert is. Don't think Iowans would have voted a bum like that into office!

[peacetalksforall]

130. Ooooh... giant mistake....can't vouch for the citizens of Illinois. I'll

have to keep my mouth shut for a little while...maybe 30 minutes.

[rodeodance]

13. she mentioned this a few years ago--but did not mention AssTurd as

far as I know--at the time she first got in trouble.

[cascadiance]

17. Folks, be prepared for something more the next day or so...

Here's a site to get your "gear" to help show your support for her. Any extra money made from the sales here is going to her legal fund at justacitizen.com...

http://www.cafepress.com/sibel

Hint, not too long from now you all will be demanding something to happen (if this article isn't enough already)!

[hang a left]

24. How titilating......

got any more hints?

[cascadiance]

64. There is a hint at the bottom of the following article that just came out.

I expect a more "formal" announcement later today...

http://news.baou.com/main.php?action=recent&rid=20390

...

The State Secrets privilege, which used to be a rarely invoked privilege created by the Supreme Court fifty years ago, is now an increasingly utilized tool by the Executive Branch to obtain the dismissal of civil cases that primarily alleged unlawful conduct by federal agencies. Zaid is also involved in representing Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI contract employee turned whistleblower, whose civil case against the Government was similarly dismissed due to the state secrets privilege. Her Petition for Certiorari to the Supreme Court was coincidently filed yesterday.


...

[Just Me]

96. Hmmm,...

,...exciting possibilities there!! B-)

[central scrutinizer]

65. he was the only they could find

that wasn't fucking an intern or had multiple extramarital affairs at the same time that they were pontificating about family values, morality and Clinton's penis.

[lumpy]

5. Oh boy, if this is true, Hastert and

any other members of Congress who have taken foreign donations should be looking at beaucoup jail time.

[Goldeneye]

22. I agree.

It's just too bad some democrats were involved. I assume this is what she was refering to when she said "it" involved high level republicans and democrats.

[cascadiance]

23. You know I lived in Turkey myself as a kid...

and have an Armenian officemate who I have a lot of "deep" discussions with on this topic from time to time. Well, he suddenly became a big Sibel Edmonds fan today when I shared with him this article... I don't think Hastert's community is going to be too happy with this. He's already got it posted to at least one Armenian blog now.

I have mixed feelings about the genocide question. Having lived there, and knowing many decent Turks, including Sibel, who I've spoken to on one occasion and through occasional emails, I do sympathize with many of today's Turks that don't want to have this "label" hung over them for acts committed by their ancestors, though they need to at some point not continue to live in complete denial of it. However, buying off anyone in official capacity of our government is wrong for both those doing the buying and those that are bought! I say bring the hammer down on them all! This sort of question before congress should be decided on its own merits, not by being bought off by Turks or Armenians!

Need to get a link to the .mp3 file of "Chase" from Midnight Express. I think that Dennis Hastert won't like hearing that song the next few weeks!

[kanrok]

28. It is too bad that some dems are involved

But dem or repub, they gotta go. Clean house.

[Goldeneye]

33. absolutely agree.

we don't need crooks on our side either.

[cascadiance]

35. I think it's important that we are equally wanting to get them out!

That's the way many of us felt when two San Diego City Council members were both convicted of scams here and forced to resign. It's good that the voters see us as not wanting to protect criminals who just happen to be in our party or have our political views. If you mess up (unless it's really "politically trumped up charges") then you should go. If there are enough Dems involved in this that we equally accept go down, then who knows, maybe that will give some of the Rethugs out there more courage to admit that Bush and Cheney should also go down as well and not cling on to some false notion of their innocence too.

Here's a link to a Raw Story page on this article now. This story is starting to get some legs. I'm going to actually buy two copies of that article, one for my Mom and one for myself here. The more we reward Vanity Faire for the courageous work they are doing, the more it will help the rest of the Mainstream Media also realize that they should be on board.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Vanity_Fair_floats_allegations_GOP_chief_Hastert_took_Turkish__0803.html

[napi21]

71. I understand the Turks don't want the bad publicity, but that was

82 YEARS AGO!

"the continuing campaign to have Congress designate the killings of Armenians between 1915 and 1923 a genocide"

Whoever MIGHT have been involved would be dead, or damn close to it! Why is this such a big deal NOW?

[cascadiance]

73. This is my feeling too...

... but for both Turks and Armenians, they still feel this issue still affects their daily lives today. I think there are different motivations for different folks on both sides, some honorable, some not. Some is deep rooted prejudices that wants to slap down the other side yet again with what happened then (or avoid dealing with it for the same reasons). Others are a genuine effort to try and have today's generations of both camps look at the past more honestly and acknowledge the problems that happened then to ensure they never happen again. And others want to continue to find some way to force the other side into legal jeopardy to help their selfish aims today. The problem is that we have distortions on both sides of what happened then to suit each others' objectives now. The history we have now is still nebulous in many areas of what really happened then, and many of us outside this issue are asked "to take a stand" on one side or the other. I resist "taking a stand" without feeling confident that I know of the truth of the situation, and am concerned that we may never have a truely honest assessment of what happened then. That's not to say I don't care about past genocides. I truely do, and I also truely feel we need to find some ways to learn from the past to prevent them happening in the future, but I think with those kinds of labels being put on people, we have to be very careful how we look at that history before passing judgement (especially on those who weren't involved in it today).

What happened with Hastert I think shows really how this sort of thing can get out of hand. I wouldn't be surprised if other congress critters that voted for the Armenian's position on this bill might also have some "contributions to explain" as well, though the ones at issue are from Turks here. It's sad that we can't all honestly put this past aside and work towards a better future without the baggage. We're seeing evidence here of the price that will be paid for our continued unhealthy battles on this.

This of course is a topic for a separate thread, and I don't want to hijack this thread with this topic, which could drown out the issue at hand on how we shall get Sibel's information out to be heard in court.

[eissa]

75. It IS a big deal

Did anyone tell the Jews to stop hunting former Nazis? Were you upset when the 80+ former KKK murderer was sent to jail for crimes he committed over 40 years ago? Justice has no time limit.

A simple acknowledgment from the Turks is all we ask, and even that we'll never see.

[napi21]

84. You misunderstood my comment. I was talking about the Turks.

WHY should THEY care if information is released about something that happened over 80 years ago? They can't be trying to protect individuals...they're all dead, of damn near 100 years old!

Americans don't like it when people talk about how the indians were killed, or slavery, or the many other dark parts of our history, but it's still part of history, the same as what happened in Turkey.

[eissa]

95. Apologies

Have gotten into it with other DUers regarding this topic who were apologists for the Turks, and/or denied the genocide, and/or said "get over it."

[kestrel91316]

37. Ditto - I don't care who the Dems are, this is unacceptable.

[nookiemonster]

115. FReepers observe!

We don't walk in lockstep with these corrupt SOBs. If Dems are involved, let 'em rot in prison.

This is national security, not a political game.

[Renew Deal]

46. If any Dems did this

They deserve to share a cell with Hastert. Throw the bums out.

[cascadiance]

49. I think our feelings of mutual disgust to both Rethugs and Dems here...

shows why this story has been covered up for so long and NOONE has ever said that Sibel was full of it! They know that both Dems and Rethugs will want to throw those guilty out equally and there will likely be a general witch hunt and big overhaul soon as a result. They are all damn scared and just wanting to figure out a way to keep her quiet! It just won't work! Well, it looks like Sibel's taking off the gloves this week folks! And mark my words, this won't be the last bit of news you hear this week. There will be more shortly!

[yodermon]

66. Are you speculating

about "this won't be the last bit of news you hear this week. There will be more shortly!", or are you privy to information that the rest of us are not?

:hi:

[cascadiance]

67. Read the other post I just made in this thread...

It is from another news source that hints about what is to come later...

I'm trying not to jump ahead of things that may come out more officially later that Sibel told me a few days ago. It won't be any big surprise (like Hastert being implicated here), but it will be a more formal announcement.

[yodermon]

69. You mean this?

http://news.baou.com/main.php?action=recent&rid=20390

"Zaid is also involved in representing Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI contract employee turned whistleblower, whose civil case against the Government was similarly dismissed due to the state secrets privilege. Her Petition for Certiorari to the Supreme Court was coincidently filed yesterday."

My question is, what if the SC simply denies/refuses to hear the petition? Would that be the end of her legal recourse? Is this the 1st time the SC has been presented with a State Secret case?

Sorry for the pessimistic line of inquiry here, but I'm way too cynical about the thugs in control of this country and the power they wield. :shrug:

[cascadiance]

70. Yes, that's it...

And that's precisely why we need as much grass roots "feet in the street" to make sure that the supremes and others in government know that we aren't going to put up with her not being heard, and that there will be a price to pay if she doesn't get heard.

I think once she gets heard by the supreme court (assuming that they agree to hear her case), that will be the major hurdle to overcome. It would be a "huge" precedent if they tried to pull states secret act gag orders on testimony there. That would be unprecedented. Also of note is that it is rare for a case to be heard by the supreme court and not ruled upon. It has happened on some occasions, but not often. If they hear the case, they often times have done a huge amount of research in advance to have a rough idea of the ways they might rule on it. That means that the key time is NOW, while she is filing it, and they are deciding on whether to hear it, to get compelling reasons for them to hear the case.

Part of that is the great Vanity Fair article this week. Part of that is folks like you and me making it well known that we won't accept anything less than her being heard by the supremes. I won't be surprised that in the coming week or so Sibel and others will be coming up with more publication articles, etc. in other venues to put more pressure on the supremes to hear her case. Make no mistake about it. The pivotal situation is whether the supremes agree to hear her case or not. That battle is being fought NOW.

A lot of Americans still don't know who Sibel Edmonds is. This needs to change in the coming weeks.

That's why I put up that cafepress.com site. Will help us all increase awareness of her need to be heard, and also help fund her legal fund (all proceeds I get will be donated to her legal fund). I'll try to add a coffee mug to the shop shortly too (hopefully sometime today) that someone requested here.

[KoKo]

88. You think she's slowly releasing

info even though she's held back for so long because she was under a "gag order?"

Maybe she feels more protected with new lawyers and ACLU than she did before? :shrug:

[cascadiance]

91. The reason why this is all coming out this week is this...

She was running up on a deadline to file her appeal with the Supreme Court, which is THE important thing to have happen for her now. She just filed these documents yesterday, as another thread I just posted to LBN noted. She's trying to get the word out to all of us now through all means available (and Vanity Fair and the ACLU as well as others are stepping up to help her) so that she can demand that the Supreme Court hear her case and not have it swept under the carpet if noone hears about it. I don't think she'll necessarily be "slow" in releasing stuff now. I think she'll accelerate it now, as it is important to get her at the top of the news right now. She will be methodically releasing stuff I think though, to make sure that it doesn't die after the first day or two. That's what a smart lady like her I think will do.

That's why it's so important to spread this story to as many sites and friends of yours as possible. That's why I have my cafepress.com site up now. We're now a part of what is necessary to make sure that the Supreme Court doesn't shut the door on her, which would be like shutting the door on our democracy, IMHO.

[schrodingers_cat]

60. I beleive that it's this kind of corruption

among SOME democrats that allows the republicans to turn the thumscrews on them regarding specific votes. It would make sense to me that people could be persuaded to toe the line when others know that they've been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

[CheshireCat]

77. You are so right!

I truly believe that blackmail plays a huge roll in the way some votes go on Capitol Hill. Look at the manner in which some of the recent votes have been held. The media calls it "arm-twisting" but we all know its blackmail.

That is why I have no problem with the "throw out the bums" attitude!

Getting rid of all incumbents and starting over may be the only way of cleaning up those stinking heaps called the US Congress and the US Senate.

[slutticus]

86. Exactly.

It's amazing to me that we have so much shit on these scumbags...yet very few dems are willing to stand up and make a scene. These people should be toast....


:hi: How have you been?

[Joanne98]

99. You're right. They're getting blackmailed. It's screwing us up bigtime.

[MidwestTransplant]

7. He'll be lucky he doesn't have to go to a Turkish prison.

[jim3775]

8. I'm sure they'll spin it to say Al Gore is responsible. n/t

[chimpymustgo]

11. Haven't seen this followed up on in the MSM. Jennifer Anniston

is on the cover, and they've done THAT story to death, interviewing Leslie Bennetts who interviewed Anniston. Today Show, GMA, cable stations, EVERYWHERE.

So we know they have the magazine. Guess the Speaker of the House taking bribes doesn't meet their standards for journalism.

[cascadiance]

15. At least we got past the Time Ann Coulter cover...

... to get the message out about Dick Murphy being one of the nations' worst mayors in America in another story in that issue that lead to his resignation shortly thereafter.

When this magazine gets a whole legion of other people buying it that wouldn't normally and puts their revenue from it that much higher, I hope they figure out that this story is the one they should be marketing to sell more copies!

[lumpy]

9. Let's hope this makes the rounds.

It's believable.

[Disturbed]

10. Nothing will happen.

Republicans are immune to any prosecution in Amerika.

[cascadiance]

12. Also interesting Hastert and Cheney secretly sent around Patriot Act II

I wonder if that is all related to Sibel getting muzzled so much by Ashcroft with States Secret Act. Given that Cheney and Hastert secretly were sending this to people and bypassing their own party when much of it was written, it wouldn't be hard to see that culture of secrecy wanting to clamp down hard on someone like Sibel who had the goods on them.

[moodforaday]

14. Thank God for Sibel Edmonds

She's under Asscroft's gag order, so she can't speak of anything related to 9-11. But apparently there's much more she was privy to as a translator that she can talk about.

[seemslikeadream]

16. This is really good news

Sibel Edmonds: Turkey, drugs and 9/11

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1894035

[David Zephyr]

18. Zephyr Muses: Condi Just Keeps Getting Closer to Being President

Let's see:

1.) Condi pushed Colin Powell out of the Secretary of State position making it her own and also, at the same time making her in line to be President, after Cheney and Hastert.

2.) Patrick Fitzgerald is on the collective asses of both Dick Cheney and George W. Bush and could possibly indict them for felonies (especially if Condi helped the prosecutor out just a little bit "on background" of course).

3.) Dennis Hastert is fingered as having taken bribes by the Feds and his position as Speaker is compromised (again, just a little bit of help to the Feds by Condi could be arranged, especially since she is now Secretary of State and has all the dope on Turkey's comings and goings.)

Nah, Condi doesn't have one ambitious bone in her body, does she? Or doesn't she?

Hmmmm....this makes All About Eve look tame in comparison.

Condi Harrington. Eve Rice.

[robertarctor]

26. Yeah, but Condi isn't exactly clean, either

Her fingerprints seem to be all over the outing of Valerie Plame-Wilson, as I recall.

[Stephanie]

30. that's right - her deputy, Hadley, is right in the middle of it

it was all the right hands who did this - Rove, Libby, Hadley - it's tacit that it was at the orders of Bush, Cheney, Rice

[xynthee]

19. I wonder who they'll get to replace him . . . .

Who do you suppose they would want for House speaker?

Of course, my first thought is that "they" are "letting" this story go public for some sinister reason!

[cascadiance]

20. Tom Delay?...

-- Ducking! ---

[Nothing Without Hope]

21. Ooooh - I hope this grows legs and that pig is exposed for the lying

hypocrite he is.

Nominated!

[dave502d]

25. I would love to see this fat pig go down.n/t

[lala_rawraw]

29. Yup, and we need to get this out

Before another blond goes missing or worse, another terra alert/flag event... i posted it here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/larisa-alexandrovna/of-boiled-frogs-namely_5119.html
Now remember the paper chase? This is the biggest paper chase of your life, go!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pachamama]

43. Notice Brent Scowcroft is on board of A.T.C......

...Follow the money.....

This is blowing my mind right now....This is HUGE!

[UTUSN]

31. Well Well Well - Kick for Digestion's Sake n/t

[shanti]

32. avoid small airplanes, sybil

:scared:

[Imagevision]

34. yes, really I haven't read Vanity Fair in ages...

Hasterts-Rove-Libby unindicted co-conspirators Bush & Cheney.

These people are the scum of the planet as your kids are dying daily.

[kestrel91316]

36. Treason in wartime ?..................not too smooth, Denny nt

[Guckert]

39. This cant be true. He is a leader in the Morals and Family Values party

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Pachamama]

40. OMFG! I just had a vision of *, FUCHeney impeached & Hastert arrested &

then a whole list of Republicans in the House and Senate! What if this is just the tip of the iceberg and it could be shown to the American public we have a corrupt administration that lies to go to war in order to profit Corporations, they let 9/11 happen & then exploited it, they commit treason and jeopardize an entire intelligence operation and out Valerie Plame, a NOC w/ CIA working on tracking the dealing and money laundering related to WMD's etc (and thus jeopardized other operations and intelligence capabilities) and that it will be eventually shown that most of our politicians are on the take....

A girl can hope the truth will finally be shown, right? :shrug:

[burrowowl]

42. Oh WOW!

KICK!

[wiggs]

45. This information deserves an independent investigator.

Too bad the investigation will take years.

One of the things I don't get is that Senator Grassley knows her information, championed her cause for a while, then became mute on the issue. He went back to business as usual.

This is important stuff that affects our national security, right? Yet he pretends a problem doesn't exist? Shouldn't he be fighting the gag order? Couldn't he help shed some light on Sibel's circumstances?

Same might go for many of the 9/11 commissioners who heard her story.

Sibel and Vanity Fair may be risking a lot here by publishing info that's borderline gagged. They could use some backup from congress. Their courage should inspire congress to help and get to the bottom of what appears to be significant problems.

Here's some homework for our dem leaders: ask for special investigator. Support Sibel's request to be heard by Supreme Court. Those with top secret clearance, educate yourself on the case. Ask FBI director about the case. Ask Hastert on the floor about the allegations. Remove Hastert from office until case is resolved...these are serious accusations here.

Do SOMETHING!

[WhiteTara]

47. My greatest concern was Hastert

because, after the impeachments of Bush and Cheney, Hastert is next in line and he would make a terrible fill in president. I hear that great whoosing sound of another repuke going down the toilet.

[OKthatsIT]

48. Does this mean Ms. Edmonds will be arrested?

She is still 'bound' by law to keep quiet.

[Pachamama]

79. I noticed the story is written so that while it refers to events & Sibel,

...it doesn't directly qoute her, so therefore, its possible it comes from other sources and thus isn't really a violation...

Then again, maybe she just finally said "screw it" I'm talking and let them arrest me....

[cascadiance]

80. I think it helps if she's working with other big names like Vanity Fair

... who will subsequently say... If you arrest her, then arrest me too! Probably helps having their lawyers to consult with to know what stuff can be talked about now and what can't without jeopardizing things. Of course, she still had to be careful what she said to those lawyers too I suppose.

[Moderator]

51. Kick

[paulthompson]

52. Vanity Fair: An Inconvenient Patriot (Sibel Edmonds ties Hastert to crime)

Vanity Fair is coming out with must-read article about 9/11 whistleblower Sibel Edmonds tomorrow. She ties Dennis Hastert and others in the US gvmt to criminal activity. The POGO government watchdog group has put the entire article online, but in PDF format only. You can get it here:

http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/files/vanityfair_clean.pdf

A snippet:

Sources familiar with (Sibel Edmonds') testimony say that, in addition to her allegations about the Dickersons, she reported hearing Turkish wiretap targets boast that they had a covert relationship with a very senior politican indeed - Dennis Hastert, Republican congressman from Illinois and Speaker of the House since 1999. The targets reportedly discussed giving Hastert tens of thousands of dollars in surrepititious payments in exchange for political favors and information. "The Dickersons," says one official familiar with the case, "are only the tip of the iceberg."

Go read the article now!

As an aside, I've spoken to Edmonds lately, and she says this is some, but still far from all, of what she knows. She's still under her extreme gag order, but what Vanity Fair cleverly did was go to people around Sibel Edmonds who know parts of her story and reported what they said, so her gag order still is not broken. I gather that other US government officials could be named, if it weren't for the fact that revealing names mentioned in classified wiretaps is a very serious crime.

[paulthompson]

53. Note

There is another thread in LBN talking about the fact that this article will be coming out, but I think a link to the actual complete article deserves prominence, so please don't delete this thread!

[truthisfreedom]

54. remarkable!

[paulthompson]

55. Some more key sections...

...which I'm typing in as I read:

Edmonds had time to listen to numerous calls (to the Turkish Embassy in Washington, DC) before the Friday meeting, and some of them sounded important. According to her later secure testimony, in one conversation, recorded shortly after Dickerson reserved the targets' calls for herself, a Turkish official spoke directly to a U.S. State Department staffer. They agreed that the State Department staffer would send a representative at an appointed time to the American-Turkish Council office, where he would be given $7,000 in cash. "She told us she'd heard mention of exchanges of information, dead drops - that kind of thing," a congressional source says. "It was mostly money in exchange for secrets."

Another call allegedly discussed a payment to a Pentagon official, who seemed to be involved in weapons-procurement negotiations. Yet another implied that Turkish groups had been installing doctoral students at U.S. reserch institutions in order to acquire information about black market nuclear weapons. In fact, much of what Edmonds reportedly heard seemed to concern not state espionage but criminal activity. There was talk, she told investigators, of laundering the profits of large-scale drug deals and selling classified military technologies to the highest bidder.

---

As an aside, from what I understand after talking to Edmonds, she's not talking about the Turkish government per se being involved in this, in fact, they're fighting it. Instead, she's talking about criminal networks tied to things like the huge drug trade moving through Turkey.

[paulthompson]

56. ...Still more key bits...

for people who can't open up PDF files:

...But, the staffer adds, some of the wiretaps (Edmonds) said she translated "mentioned (U.S.) government officials." Here may be an entirely different dimension to her case. Vanity Fair has established that around the time the Dickersons visited the Edmondses, in December 2001, Joel Robertz, an FBI special agent in Chicago, contacted Sibel and asked her to review some wiretaps. Some were several years old, others more recent; all had been generated by a counter-intelligence investigation that had its start in 1997. "It began in D.C.," says an F.B.I. counter-intelligence official who is familiar with the case file. But "it became apparent that Chicago was actually the center of what was going on."

The subject was explosive: what sounded like attempts to bribe elected members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican. "There was pressure within the bureau for a special prosecutor to be appointed and take the case on," the official says. Instead, his colleagues were told to alter the thrust of their investigation - away from elected politicians and toward appointed officials. "This is the reason why Ashcroft reacted to Sibel in such an extreme fashion," he says. "It was to keep this from coming out."

In her secure testimony, Edmonds disclosed some of what she recalled hearing. In all, says a source who was present, she managed to listen to more than 40 of the Chicago recordings supplied by Robertz. Many involved an F.B.I. target at the city's large Turkish Consulate, as well as members of the American-Turkish Council and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations.

---

Explosive stuff! Read the whole article!

[Disturbed]

57. More to the point

The Washington Post, March 28, 2003 Friday
HEADLINE: Missteps With Turkey Prove Costly;
Diplomatic Debacle Denied U.S. a Strong Northern Thrust in Iraq

"The reason is that Turkey, a close NATO ally that shares a 218-mile border with Iraq, earlier this month refused a Bush administration request to permit the armored troop deployment from its soil...Administration officials even arranged a meeting between the Turks and House Speaker J. DENNIS HASTERT (R-Ill.), who assured them Congress would honor the president's budget request for Turkey. Yakis preferred a written commitment, but the Turkish ambassador, Faruk Logoglu, told him Hastert's word was the best they could get under the U.S. system."

[Binka]

58. Crux Of The Biscuit

Did ya check out the amount of fucking money Denny Boy had collected? Only the pig fucker Shaw from Florida collected more. Hhmmmm wonder why that was I digress, Denny is as filthy as they come. He needs to be exposed BIG TIME. I am sick to fucking death of this scum sucking gang of stinky thugs. FUCKWITTAGE every last one of them.

[cascadiance]

62. Since some of this was rumored to be weapons procurement related...

I'm also wondering if "orange glazed chicken" Duncan Hunter (local here in San Diego) is another person that is still under the radar at this point but not specifically identified yet. The article does list him as one of the other congress critters that had significant amounts of similar contributions like Hastert did (though far less than Hastert). We here in San Diego have been socked by corruption issues lately (City Council, Mayor being pushed out, Cunningham retiring, and perhaps going soon too). Hunter getting in trouble would fit right in and perhaps make this place an even greater candidate to get local "Clean Elections" proposition coming soon. They are already shooting to get it on the 2006 ballot now in San Diego county. This military town, with more PO'd military families over time looks to becoming more and more blue.

[Binka]

63. I Grew Up In Pacific Beach

The gentrification of San Diego just makes my stomach sick. Hunter is an asshat and I hope he is one of the critters caught in this nice little bed of graft, fraud, treason, and corruption.

Hey Hunter the Iraqis claim they captured a Marine today. Wanna ask them what's on his menu tonight?

[Peace Patriot]

68. Black market nuclear weapons. Turkey. Hm-m-m.

I've been trying to fit the puzzle pieces together, of a connection between the Plame outing and the death of the Brits chief weapons expert David Kelly in the same week.

May 22, 2003: Kelly begins whistleblowing anonymously to the BBC, after the invasion, about the Brits "sexed up" Iraq WMD intel.
July 7, 2003: After Kelly was identified and interrogated, Blair is informed that Kelly "could say some uncomfortable things"--"COULD say," not HAD said.
July 14, 2003: Plame outing.
July 18, 2003: Kelly found dead, in extremely suspicious circumstances; his office and computers searched.
July 22, 2003: Second, bigger Plame outing, of the entire CIA weapons monitoring front company, disabling all projects and putting all covert agents at great risk.

It's an intriguing time-line, and my main theory about it is that David Kelly had stumbled upon, or perhaps even foiled, a Bushite plot to PLANT nukes or other WMDs in Iraq, for the obvious enormous political gain that a "find" of WMDs in Iraq would have reaped for both Bush and Blair.

If you make this assumption--that they were moving nukes or other WMDs toward Iraq for a false "find" in March-May '03, and got foiled in doing so--a whole lot of puzzle pieces suddenly fall into place.

--about the Bushites and their behavior (calling at least SIX reporters to get her outed--seems excessive--high risk of treason charges--were they panicked about something?)(--a presumed July 7 call from Blair to Bush about the "uncomfortable things" that David Kelly "could say" fits right into this slot);

--about the Plame memo that was circulating on AF-1 on the Africa trip July 5-12 (--a disabling of the CIA WMD monitoring capability might have long been planned; that's why they had the memo in hand (or did it come on board on July 7?); Wilson might have been set up for this--there is a Wilson interview in which he says that Condi Rice told him she was not interested in his information on the false Iraq-Niger nuke charge, but, if he was so concerned about it, why didn't he publish it? (seems like she was baiting him);--the threat that David Kelly now posed may have, at this point, accelerated the plot to out Plame, causing them to take foolish and precipitous action, putting them all at high risk of treason charges, with no time to firm up their cover stories, etc.) (--did they suspect Plame of foiling them, or fear she would find out, with her WMD eyes and ears all over the world?; and did the search of Kelly's computers turn up something on Brewster Jennings, prompting the SECOND, bigger outing on July 22? why did they do such a blatant outing of the front company? Plame could be explained by Rovian revenge; but not Brewster Jennings);

-- about Judith Miller (in Iraq avidly "hunting" for the WMDs, about to get the "scoop"); close connections to Kelly, recipient of one of his last emails, in which he was concerned about the "many dark actors playing games");

--about David Kelly himself (why would he turn against the war AFTER the invasion? what prompted that change of heart? what did he know that could have got him killed? --there isn't much question in my mind that he was killed, and the coincidence of dates with the Plame outing is just too...coincidency);

So, were the illicit nukes (or other WMDs) being shipped through Turkey? There was a report in the Tehran Times about some suspicious U.S. activity at an Iraqi port, March '03, involving weapons parts and elaborate secrecy. And another report from a Defense Dept. whistleblower about a CIA weapons planting plot that was "bungled" (foiled by "friendly fire"). (Did she get the agency wrong?) But it doesn't seem likely that Bushite plotters would use U.S. troops or any traceable entity--and very unlikely they would run it through the CIA (which was fighting them on false WMD intel). Much more likely an illicit network (Plame's specialty).

And Turkey (a U.S. ally) would probably be an easier border for someone in the Bushites' employ to get across. Those Turkish doctoral students--mentioned above--planted in US institutions, to find out about "black market nuclear weapons," peaked my interest. Was this Bushite black op run through Turkey? Were Turkish nuke science students used? Were Kurds involved? (And, is this theoretical Bushite plot to plant WMDs on Iraq soil related in any way to the strain in US-Turkish relations around the war, and the Turks' denial of a "northern front"? --probably just related to Turk-Kurd relations, but worth asking). (--and where does Dennis Hastert fit in, if anywhere--with all this free-floating money between him and Turkey?)

Kelly was a tough guy and a brilliant scientist, legendary for having confronted Saddam Hussein and the Russians on WMD issues. Illicit arms dealing--especially for political gain--would have angered him. This, too, was his specialty--ferreting out lies about illicit weapons, and stopping proliferation.

If my scenario turns out to be true--or the main thrust of it is true--we owe a lot to David Kelly. He may have prevented a triumphant Bush-Blair announcement about their phony WMD "find" in Iraq in summer '03--something that would likely have insulated them from all criticism. And, among the many brave souls involved in exposing these criminals, he paid the highest price for it, among those we know about.

[paulthompson]

90. Interesting theory...

Not sure if I buy it, but the timing is certainly interesting

[wiggs]

108. Question Paul

Sibel, or Vanity Fair, is finding a way to get some information out there...finding a way to enlighten the American people without going to jail (hopefully). There are others out there who know Sibel's information also: Grassley and 9/11 commissioners, to name a few.

What does Sibel think of them? Does she wonder how they can sit on their hands while she does the risky heavy lifting? Couldn't Grassley be doing similar things? Couldn't Grassley and others at least be TALKING about Sibel, or getting the same information from other sources? Where is ACLU in all of this?

Are there ANY investigations going on regarding Sibel's public claims and her now-gagged claims?

If this is as important as it sounds, won't lots of people in the judicial branch, executive branch, and legislative branches of government look really really bad when the information dam finally does burst?

I didn't hear anything on the radio about this today...interesting.

[paulthompson]

112. I think she's...

pretty disgusted with the cowardice or indifference of most politicians to help out, with some exceptions, like Patrick Leahy. And the 9/11 Commission is even worse. They completely buried her testimony and the corroborating testimony of other FBI translators.

[lumpy]

61. kick

for the W. coast crowd.

[xxqqqzme]

72. Question here (raising hand)

Since Ms. Edmonds worked for the FBI, I'm assuming her immediate supervisor knew of this. If this was an FBI probe N2 bribes paid 2 members of congress and this was/is information gathered from FBI wiretaps set up 4 that very purpose.....why was NOTHING done! This is taxpayer money supporting these 'probes' yet NOTHING is done w/ the results.

[cascadiance]

74. I suspect that much of this is what is being gagged...

We still haven't heard a lot of the details yet that are being held back from us.

If you read the article, you'll note that her supervisor grew hostile towards her towards the end, and made comments like "you're going to be fired in an hour, you whore!", and also that he would see her next time in jail. The supervisor had many issues to explain on the issues that Sibel has come forward with (intentional sandbagging on cases to get more resources, hiring of security threat Melek Can Dickerson, falsely signing of documents that were transcribed, etc.). Sibel had a separate dotted line management chain with agents in the field who were the ones that encouraged her to pursue the actions she took to expose what they agreed was probably espionage, etc. that she came across. Make no mistake, she was trying to weed out a disease, that had already infested itself into her management structure, and that is why she was fired.

Senators Pat Leahy and Charles Grassley both have helped her, but I think they knew the impact of what would happen if the truth of both Hastert and other unnamed folks (some Dems) coming out and for their own political careers they had to tread this lightly. This isn't a partisan issue folks. It is a lot of people on both sides afraid of who's going to get pulled down with this corruption "sting" that might come out. Congress critters are already beholden to corporations and many other special interests through "legalized" bribery. I'm sure that they are concerned on how much of that comes out (whether it is legal or not) to the public who's increasingly becoming more concerned about how corporations and other are buying off our government.

[xxqqqzme]

76. thanx for taking the time

to reply. I guess my cynicism is getting the best of me 2day. I knew, in some cubbyhole in my brain, all U explained in your post. My outrage just overtakes me at times and it spills out in rhetorical blatherings.



See I'm still doing it...time for a cup of tea.

[wiggs]

109. Not sure about that....

...of course nobody outside of Ashcroft and a few judges really do know, but the original gag and subsequent judicial actions had to do with avoiding diplomatic embarrassment of allies, as I remember.

I don't think the gagging has as much to do with protecting our own politicians from embarrassing bribes (doubt a judge would agree this is worth a gag) as does the 9/11 references, money laundering, drug connections, and involvement of foreign allies. There's the TNT, right there.

[Just Me]

87. Okay. Now, how many crimes are involved in this incredible scandal.

SOaB!!! Hastert accepted bribes from Turks? :wow:

There are other congressional members who did so, too? :wow:

This is really deep!!!!

[robertpaulsen]

92. After Dumbya Cheney and Hastert, who's next in line?

I'm hoping with all my heart that shrub and Cheney will be unindicted co-conspirators in the Plame scandal and with Hastert up to his neck in Turkish corruption, all three will have to resign.

So who would be President?

This truly is Worse than Watergate, and I'm loving every minute of it!

[robertpaulsen]

94. Uh-oh. CondoLIESa.

Hopefully, her role in Plamegate will bring her down too.

[Frederik]

93. GD thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4255768

[donheld]

101. Our government is known around the world as

the United States of Sleaze. Never in our history, i'm sure, has our country been so corrupt.

[RaRa]

102. Well Denny boy is my rep

"gag", and there's no way the local papers will touch this. I guess I can write letters to the editor...but they're all too busy gushing about the transportation and energy bill money we're getting.

[Omaha Steve]

104. My wife Marta is a long time subscriber

They have been after W and the repukes for a long time. Please subscribe to keep the stories and truth coming!

[MetaTrope]

106. MSM weighs in

CBS 2 Chicago

In a statement, a spokesman said: “This story is nonsense. It makes for great summertime reading. Next thing you know, they'll blame the speaker for the Jennifer Aniston/Brad Pitt breakup."

“I took a quick look at the Vanity Fair article,” Lucine said. “I would be shocked if the allegations of bribery or criminal actions were true.”

Like Ann Lucine, Armenian-American activists disagreed strongly with Speaker Hastert when he withdrew the genocide resolution from a House floor vote he had promised. But they knew President Clinton and then-Sec. of State Madeline Albright were pressuring Hastert, telling him of Turkish threats to close American military bases vitally needed for the fight against Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

:crazy: The stench of desperation is palpable...

[cascadiance]

107. I like the Faux News style of having "a spokesman" being quoted...

instead of the name of the person who actually made this statement. Just like Outfoxed shows Fox News anchors always saying "Some would say..." when trying to give unattributable statements to sound "neutral" that are really their own opinions.

[Lochloosa]

114. Kick.......

[KittyWampus]

116. kick

[Junkdrawer]

119. She is on DemocracyNow ...

www.democracynow.org

[seemslikeadream]

121. NEW INFO FROM SIBEL

Since the Vanity Fair article

The Office of Special Investigations Air Force is re-opening the investigation and wants Sibel to testify. They've called her.

[paulthompson]

128. how is none of this news?

Look up Sibel Edmonds' name with Google News and there isn't a single mainstream media follow up story to the Vanity Fair article! What gives?!

[cascadiance]

131. I'm taking a copy of Vanity Fair to a reunion tomorrow

of a lot of us that lived in Turkey as American dependents as kids many years ago. It's rather timely that there will be a lot of people there that only happens once every 4-5 years or so. I'll make sure that a lot of folks read it while I'm there. Hopefully there will be some ideas by progressive folks with other info there that will try to help unlock this Turkish funding puzzle...

There is definitely some conditioning of the media to stay away from stories like this, especially when they likely are talking about "embarassing" info about both Democrats and Republicans.

[cascadiance]

125. Just finished watching her interview...

Reiterates that many sets of individuals have been given the names of who's names are on the list along with Dennis Hastert as having being influenced.

One little "nit" that I'm sure that Sibel might correct as a translator... It is not really important, but the correct pronunciation for Melek Can Dickerson is Melek "Jan" Dickerson. Both Amy and David Rose mispronounced it. Turks pronounce "c" as "j" and "c" with a cedille underneath as "ch". That is why in other articles you read her "nickname" as being "Jan" instead of "Melek Can".

The investigation of the Dickersons that was previously closed is the investigation being reopened, that was the "new news" this morning. That is significant, as it was in the Vanity Fair article that it was her words against Dickerson (and Dickerson's insufficient lie-detector test, yet claiming her being truthful responding to Sibel's notes) that helped influence those in charge to have Sibel fired.

[TroglodyteScholar]

120. kick

:kick:

[cascadiance]

123. Turkey now purging its military of Islamists

On Balkananalysis.com and Focus News of Bulgaria, they are noting that a purge is going on in Turkey of Islamists. Is this related to the latest Vanity Fair article? The article references it in a number of places. Some big stuff is happening folks! Perhaps the Bushies are telling the Turks that they better get rid of the Islamists soon, so that it doesn't look like Hastert is being funded by "terrorists" when the information starts to come out later! That would be my guess.

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?focus=analys&a=2&aid=7386&acat=3

Turkey Purges Army of Islamists

10 August 2005 | 14:23 | Balkanalysis


It was always meant to be the bulwark of the modern-day Turkish Republic’s secular state and, since the time of founding father Ataturk, the military has lived up to this creed, exercising inordinate power in Turkish politics and society. It has helped to propagate the ubiquitous cult of Ataturk, and demanded the suppression of leaders deemed too Islamic for the good of the state.

Quietly, however, the Turkish military has been ridding itself of individuals deemed untrustworthy due to perceived religious affiliations. The threat of Islamist elements in the army was discussed by top generals together with the prime minister, Recip Tayip Erdogan – the same politician who was banned in 1997 for being too pro-Islamic.

...

Given the size and power of the Turkish military, it would be an alarming thought indeed if this massive machine fell into the ‘wrong hands.’ Although it is highly unlikely that this would happen, there is always the possibility of weapons and weapons technology being “shopped around” by untrustworthy individuals with ties to terrorism. The latest issue of Vanity Fair, featuring FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, gave ominous testimony to the shadowy world of such trafficking between governments and unscrupulous individuals. Among the other disclosures in the article, it cited the contents of several wiretapped phone conversations Edmonds had processed while at the FBI. These calls involved Turkish suspects, ostensibly governmental – though that’s not all.

What sends chills down one’s spine is the following revelation:
“…Yet another implied that Turkish groups had been installing doctoral students at U.S. research institutions in order to acquire information about black market nuclear weapons. In fact, much of what Edmonds reportedly heard seemed to concern not state espionage but criminal activity. There was talk, she told investigators, of laundering the profits of large-scale drug deals and of selling classified military technologies to the highest bidder.”

Talk of ‘the highest bidder’ is not reassuring. If not bin Laden himself, is it beyond possibility that such foreign terrorists were finding ways to procure secret American weapons technology, from corrupt officials in the US government itself?

...

[cascadiance]

124. Another Antiwar.com article talks about how Foreign Lobbies imperil us...

This is an interesting article that talks about Sibel Edmonds' allegations of Turkish individuals "lobbying" our government, and other cases like Larry Franklin and Israeli influence in cases of Israeli espionage, and John Cole in Pakistan.

You know we moan a lot about how our government is "for sale" to corporations, and that goes to deaf ears with some right wing voters that equivalence having money to influence politicians' agenda is "free speech" and don't mind when corporations (and those who head them) get more power as a result of this.

Perhaps a new tactic should be used and note that not only do corporations and other well-heeled individuals get "more voice" through their paid for "freedom of speech", but that having private funding for campaign financing is precisely the reason why we are getting others like these criminals that Sibel is alleging to have influence over Hastert to also influence our government. Ask these voters if they would accept these sorts of influences over our government, and might start to see the flaws in how our government is "for sale" with the current state of campaign financing and what is allowed. Of course some of these folks might have said the same thing about Chinese influences over Al Gore and Bill Clinton too. Perhaps if this information comes to more light, it will make them think a bit more about getting substantive campaign finance reform and perhaps even "Clean Elections" legislation passed at a national level.

I might also post this as a separate article on LBN in case not many read it here...

From:

http://www.antiwar.com/deliso/?articleid=6913

How Foreign Lobbies Imperil America
by Christopher Deliso
balkanalysis.com

...

Cunning, Diversionary Tactics

Perhaps the worst thing of all about the behavior of the nefarious lobbyists is that they abuse the public trust. Sometimes they manifest as the type of organization generally considered as being above-board, in the economic and cultural sphere, in order to disguise criminal intent. In an Antiwar.com interview last summer, FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds gave a hypothetical example of how such "semi-legitimate organizations" operate:

"…say, an Uzbek folklore society based in Germany. The stated purpose would be to hold folklore-related activities – and they might even do that – but the real activities taking place behind the scenes are criminal."

The "real activities" of such organizations, says Edmonds, can include arms and drug smuggling in the area of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The close connection between lobbying and "semi-legitimate" activities was driven home for me the other week when I met in Skopje with an American "consultant" representing a businessman in a certain Balkan country. Apparently, the businessman was eager to do business in America, but did not have the right connections. How could he go about getting his foot in the door, he asked? According to the consultant,

...

[paulthompson]

126. Sibel Edmonds talks about this on Democracy Now today...

New information surfaces. Here's the link to the recording and transcript:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/10/1346254

[paulthompson]

133. kick

kick!

[Kittycat]

134. We're Building in Hastert's "Area"

I can't wait to vote against him.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

136. kick

kick

[paulthompson]

137. Entire text of Vanity Fair article can be found here!

Not a PDF, but actual text. Check it out!

http://www.wanttoknow.info/sibeledmondsvanityfair

[Supersedeas]

138. Rethugs have put our democracy on the market--Ingenious treason