The Bush orthodoxy is in shreds (FBI investigates neocons for espionage)

[Barrett808]

The Bush orthodoxy is in shreds
A series of investigations has shattered neocon self-belief
Sidney Blumenthal
Thursday May 27, 2004
The Guardian

At a conservative thinktank in downtown Washington, and across the Potomac at the Pentagon, FBI agents have begun paying quiet calls on prominent neoconservatives, who are being interviewed in an investigation of potential espionage, according to intelligence sources. Who gave Ahmed Chalabi classified information about the plans of the US government and military?

...

A former staff member of the Office of Special Plans and a currently serving defence official, two of those said to be questioned by the FBI, are considered witnesses, at least for now. Higher figures are under suspicion. Were they witting or unwitting? If those who are being questioned turn out to be misleading, they can be charged ultimately with perjury and obstruction of justice. For them, the Watergate principle applies: it's not the crime, it's the cover-up.

The espionage investigation into the neocons' relationship with Chalabi is only one of the proliferating inquiries engulfing the Bush administration. In his speech to the Army War College on May 24, Bush blamed the Abu Ghraib torture scandal on "a few American troops". In other words, there was no chain of command. But the orders to use the abusive techniques came from the secretary of defence, Donald Rumsfeld.

...

Washington, just weeks ago in the grip of neoconservative orthodoxy, absolute belief in Bush's inevitability and righteousness, is in the throes of being ripped apart by investigations. Things fall apart: the military, loyal and lumbering, betrayed and embittered; the general in the field, General Sanchez, disgraced and cashiered; the intelligence agencies abused and angry, their retired operatives plying their craft with the press corps, seeping dangerous truths; the press, hesitating and wobbly, investigating its own falsehoods; the neocons, publicly redoubling defence of their hero and deceiver Chalabi, privately squabbling, anxiously awaiting the footsteps of FBI agents; Colin Powell, once the most acclaimed man in America, embarked on an endless quest to restore his reputation, damaged above all by his failure of nerve; everyone in the line of fire motioning toward the chain of command, spiralling upwards and sideways, until the finger pointing in a phalanx is directed at the hollow crown.

(more)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1225600,00.html

[Tellurian]

1. Jeebus! Can the Crimes Get Any Higher?

forget the Misdemeanors!

[damnraddem]

35. And how high can the high crimes go?

Maybe Dubya will soon start blaming the One who talks to him (no, not Cheney -- the other One). ;-)

[Eye and Monkey]

60. About as high as 200 billion and counting.

Or is it higher? Yes, I think it must be higher.

[Barrett808]

2. I'm guessing the "conservative thinktank" can only be AEI

Any other guesses?

[tom_paine]

10. Heritage or Oleagenious Olin

PLENTY of Falsely Promoted 25-year-old pimpled-faced Freepers with the title "Senior Upper Higher Expert Specialist on Congression and Legislative Affairs" who wouldn't think twice about betraying America, if that's what their Bushevik Masters ordered them to do.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. PNAC is inside AEI

Now treason by the Right... what will we tell the chidren?

We have yet to be able to explain to them torture and war crimes

[calimary]

43. What will we tell the children? PLENTY. Start by naming names.

HOLD NOTHING BACK. Tell them the truth. It's THEY who'll eventually be writing the history books, and the postmortems of all this. They'll certainly be the ones stuck with the bills for it.

Our children MUST know the truth. My kids certainly do. They know more than they probably should. But they know enough to scoff at, and then debunk, the crap they hear from some of their school mates on the playground (YES, sixth graders get into political arguments. Mine is the leader of the Democratic/liberal arm of the sixth grade class at his school).

[nadinbrzezinski]

45. I'm making a joke over the what will we tell the children

over a Blow Job

As to them writing the history, wanna take a peek at my HD and library collection?

I hold an MA in hisotry and every time I seat down to TRY to organize
this into a coherent form, I realize will have to wait until this is over

I was about to start two months ago when the S***t started truly hitting the fan

Oh amd my only child has feathers... I don't think I can explan this to a conure... though she will be willing to BEAK any of these TRAITORS

[UpInArms]

18. Project for the New American Century

http://www.newamericancentury.org/


THE PROJECT FOR THE
NEW AMERICAN CENTURY

Established in the spring of 1997, the Project for the New American Century is a non-profit, educational organization whose goal is to promote American global leadership. The Project is an initiative of the New Citizenship Project (501c3); the New Citizenship Project's chairman is William Kristol and its president is Gary Schmitt.


Project Directors

William Kristol, Chairman

Robert Kagan

Bruce P. Jackson

Mark Gerson

Randy Scheunemann

Project Staff

Gary Schmitt, Executive Director

Daniel McKivergan, Deputy Director

Ellen Bork, Deputy Director

Thomas Donnelly, Senior Fellow

Reuel Marc Gerecht, Senior Fellow, Director of the Middle East Initiative

Christopher Maletz, Assistant Director

Elizabeth Tulis, Senior Research Associate

and remember their "letter"

January 26, 1998

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing you because we are convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since the end of the Cold War. In your upcoming State of the Union Address, you have an opportunity to chart a clear and determined course for meeting this threat. We urge you to seize that opportunity, and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power. We stand ready to offer our full support in this difficult but necessary endeavor.

The policy of “containment” of Saddam Hussein has been steadily eroding over the past several months. As recent events have demonstrated, we can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War coalition to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections. Our ability to ensure that Saddam Hussein is not producing weapons of mass destruction, therefore, has substantially diminished. Even if full inspections were eventually to resume, which now seems highly unlikely, experience has shown that it is difficult if not impossible to monitor Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons production. The lengthy period during which the inspectors will have been unable to enter many Iraqi facilities has made it even less likely that they will be able to uncover all of Saddam’s secrets. As a result, in the not-too- distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons.

<snip>

Sincerely,

Elliott Abrams Richard L. Armitage William J. Bennett

Jeffrey Bergner John Bolton Paula Dobriansky

Francis Fukuyama Robert Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad

William Kristol Richard Perle Peter W. Rodman

Donald Rumsfeld William Schneider, Jr. Vin Weber

Paul Wolfowitz R. James Woolsey Robert B. Zoellick

and who could forget this?

Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century
A Report of the Project for the New American Century
September 2000

http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf

(see especially page 63 upper left hand corner - for the need for a "cataclysmic event - like a "new Pearl Harbor" to get their war on)

[goclark]

22. Kristol Quiet

Didn't I read a post here a few days ago about Kristol. It talked about him being interviewed or TV and he got creamed by the Democrat who was also being interviewed.

It is about time he is quiet because he is going down,down, down with all the rest.


They are all in
F
R
E
E
F
A
L L :bounce: :bounce:

[calimary]

44. From your mouth to the TRUE God's ears. Not the "god" that talks to

bush. I think we know which "god" that really is.

May they ALL go

D
O
W
N
!!!!!

Also, by the way, it would most certainly be the American Enterprise Institute. They're the most activist. Their tentacles are everywhere. Their own Bill Schneider is the CNN public opinion poll pundit/spinmeister/"expert."

[Tight_rope]

36. Holy Moly!...What a conspiracy!

Actual evidence that the neo-cons have had this "trick" up their sleeves, years before they let the "Jack outta the Box".

Why aren't these people showing the American people respect, by committing suicide? At this point it's the only thing that I will accept as an apology.

[UpInArms]

55. Welcome to DU Tight_rope!

We're glad you are with us!

:hi:

[Tight_rope]

57. Thanks! Glad to be here!

Until I found DU, I thought I was all alone in this big bad world. Now I eat, sleep and breath DU. It's the light in the tunnel. :toast:

[berry]

63. I'd forgotten Armitage was a signatory of PNAC.

Lately he's been reinventing himself a little. At least, he's recently been described as critical of the war and more in line with Powell and State Dept. But of course, even Perle seems to be trying to reposition himself, at least a little, at least verbally.

Hmmm. We know Bolton was put at State to keep an eye on Powell. Maybe Armitage was too? (I have a visceral mistrust of Armitage that I can't completely account for--part of it is the incredible deference he gets from congresspeople at hearings...)

[gatlingforme]

67. I have a genuine mistrust of Armitage too. He is reinventing

himself. I could never trust any of those guys/-- Condi too

[THUNDER HANDS]

26. Council on Foreign Relations?

they were pushing the war as hard as anyone, right?

[Tellurian]

48. CFR is a Rockefeller clubhouse...you don't think for an instant...

Rockefeller is going to be indicted?

[bluedeminredstate]

3. Wow

Blumenthal nails it again. Great read!

[Lorien]

Too bad it's not in an American news source .

n/t

[carolinayellowdog]

13. It is featured in Salon today! n/t

[central scrutinizer]

4. this needs to shouted from the rooftops

how many American soldiers died because information about their movements was compromised by telling Chalabi?

[UpInArms]

5. to the Hague with them all

each and every neo-con and member of this mal-administration is guilty of treason and war crimes against humanity.

[MrTriumph]

6. Time to pull the video

Oh, so now we can't afford social services, huh?

Time to pull the video of the conservatives telling cable TV viewers a year and a half ago how the cost of the Iraq war was no problem. They explained how the billions was only a tiny percentage of GDP. They did the old sales routine of "reduce to the ridiculous": It's only PENNIES a day!


If I remember the conservative explanations so can
Chris M., Paula Z., Larry K., Tim R., and the rest of the chattering punditry. Come on, let's play "Hardball"!

[David__77]

7. Neocons = traitors.

I don't think this can be said enough. Their interests are antagonistic to those of the world and of this nation.

[Mace]

59. aka Ann Coulter

[seasat]

8. Tinfoil hat theory

I wonder if the Shrub administration might use this as an escape route. They blame the situation in Iraq on Iran and then use that as an excuse to invade Iran. They'd declare that Iran's role constitutes an attack on the US. Heck, they then would have adjoining countries and would be following the PNAC's plan. I don't think they could pull this off unless Shrub is reselected, but it has me worried. I don't trust anything this administration does and I don't underestimate the underhanded trickery that they will go through to accomplish their goals.

[icymist]

9. Yeah, this smells to me too.

Why on Earth would the Neocons investigate their own think tanks?
:tinfoilhat:

[aquart]

14. That's my first question.

Who the hell is doing the investigating?

Mueller? Ashcroft? What's wrong with this picture?

Unless there is mutiny in those hallowed halls as well. Is there anyone there who might have a vise grip on Ashcroft's balls?

OR...Chalabi is supposed to take the fall, but it won't look sincere unless someone else goes down.

This is fun.

I imagine the veracity of the investigation will depend on how ugly it gets out there, and how frightened they are that President Kerry's AG will complete the job. Who is that going to be, btw?

[maryallen]

11. If Director of the FBI, Mueller, is in charge ...

Of the investigation, it will be a WHITE-WASH!

Mueller is the clean-up guy for the Bushes (father & son). Remember that Mueller is the guy who came to the FBI Sept. 10, 2001 (or there-
abouts)-- just in time to take over the investigation of 911, and you know how that's gone.

Wasn't Mueller the one who straightened out the savings and loan mess for the Bushes?

Plus, did anybody catch Mueller yesterday at the press conference with Ashcroft? Mueller was a nervous wreck -- guilty conscience, I imagine. His voice shook; he twitched; he looked to and fro, not focusing on anyone. With a little more pressure, this guy will fold.

[aquart]

15. Oh, there's going to be more pressure.

Lots more pressure.

[maxsolomon]

16. just like hillary won't be the VP nominee

we're NOT invading iran. too hard to conquer, has actual army. think flat, no mountains, socialist. think syria.

[truthseeker1]

37. think: nukes

:nuke:
none of that matters if they just use a nuke - and they sure seem to be itching to use one.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. As Bernie asked yesterday

when somebody else posed the same theory...

WITH WHAT ARMY?

[Bandit]

24. These people gave Secret information to a non-American with a tainted past

That is a major security breach.

[phoebe]

29. wouldn't be the first time..

n/t

[Bo]

12. Who where * VULCANS?

Was this some sort of group?

[liarliartieonfire]

21. VULCANS were Bush's War Cabinet

Rumsfeld, Wolfie, Rice, Cheney.
This reference is from Clarke's book..

Try a google on 'Vulcans white house'. Lots of great links depicting the power behind GBush.

-----------------
edit wrong link..sorry

[BadGimp]

20. WHY do I have to read this in a UK paper???

the earth is upside down...

[UpInArms]

27. because the US media are

corrupted whores (sorry for offending any legitimate whores by using that term)

[1monster]

23. Didn't Bob Woodward's recent book state that Cheney showed

Chalabi top secret classified plans, which were not for foreign eyes, for Iraq even before they were shown to Colin Powell?

Wouldn't that mean that this investigation may reach at least that high?

[liarliartieonfire]

25. Yes it SHOULD reach that high..but

maybe when we have a new President, new Congress, new Att. General, and maybe after Jan, 2005, this can all be brought to the light of day.
Not read about in the foreign press.
Maybe then some sanity and justice can begin again.

I just wonder though.
We are finding out about such horrific, cronyistic, exclusionary and criminal methods of op. by this group. And we are rightfully concerned.

Imagine what is yet to be revealed. Tip of the iceburg.

[htuttle]

28. He showed them to Prince Bandar, not Chalabi

Which is nearly as bad, IMHO.

I'm sure Chalabi got a look at them too, in any case. :shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. No, no they showed them to Prince Bandar and that q

was Bush, so it is even higher....

[truthseeker1]

39. I think that was Bandar

Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia
(but who knows...he probably showed them to Chalabi too)

[Jackpine Radical]

53. No--that was Prince Bandar,

the Saudi ambassador.

[notadmblnd]

30. lookie here!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1675445

Very interesting read.

[crossroads]

65. Reads like a mystery novel!

Electrifying!
:wow:

[Tight_rope]

31. FBI is finally "Cracking Skulls".... It's about time!

This article is music to my ears. :nopity:

Oh! What a wonderful sound. :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Let the Maestro keep playing. :yourock:

[Generator]

33. Once again an insightful article from the overseas press

Doesn't it make you want to cry that Europe and most of the "western world" knows the gig is up more than the majority here at home?

Ah, for a real mainstream press that had something to say in this country.

All the "real news" has come from the London press. They have better analysis and criticism than our press does.

The gig is really up, I am ever more convinced that if Twisted Shrub Jr. buys/steals another election he will be impeached or brought to utter disgrace. It's not like it's a secret what these fools have been doing.

[amandabeech]

34. Miller may be connected to the NeoCons through Daniel Pipes

Pipes runs or has run an advocacy group called "Middle East Forum." They are pro-Israel and pro-Turkey (or at least they were). They apparently advocate going after Syria and kicking Syria out of Lebanon, among other items.

According to an article on something called "GVNews.net" on 5/7/2003 by Daniel Forbes, Judith Miller was listed at that time on the Middle East Forum website as an expert in the Middle East/Islam. Miller's name does not appear there as of today. There are recognizable neocon names on the list, most prominently William Kristol.

Forbes discusses the political bent of the Middle East Forum and Pipes record as supporting the views of PNAC types. Forbes also discusses the possibility that Miller actually was paid by Middle East Forum for lecture appearances, and the possibility that Miller's formal association with Middle East Forum violated the Times' ethics policy.

You get the drift.

One has to wonder why this article was not given much wider play a year ago. I read something about this some time ago and decided that Miller is worthless as a journalist and that the Times' coverage of the Iraq situation was extremely suspect.

Check out the article:

http://www.gvnews.net/html/DailyNews/alert4324.html

[Canuckistanian]

38. Ah, this explains the Perle defection

He'll probably say something like "Me? A neocon? No,no, these..these people threatened me and my family if I didn't do their evil bidding. It was dark and they were so big....."

[maggrwaggr]

40. they also gave secret war plans to Saudi Arabia

something that everybody seems to have forgotten.

Seems like that's an imprisonable offense right there.

[Rex]

41. Once again, Bill Clintons Penis did it.

Or Clenis as some would call it. Clenis passed secret documents to Hilters ghost while smoking baby heads.

[ze_dscherman]

42. Sometimes I would love to see bush* re-elected

And then impeached, with long interrogations, looking deeply into the criminal treason of this administration, and finally frog walked out of the WH along with the rest of his gang. I want to see them go down kicking and screaming.

Because, if bush* looses the election, he may just get away with it. There will be some presidential pardons, many highly paid jobs for the thieves, CYA everywhere, The next administration will be so busy cleaning up the mess the busheviks have left, that they won't bother to prosecute them.

But I'd be very content as well if I see the people of the United States kicking the bushgang out in a landslide election.

[glitch]

49. seeing them impeached would be so gratifying - but we don't have

the time to waste. While these people are effing around trying to fulfill their own freakish middle-aged fantasies people are dying, ice is melting, forests are being clear cut, well you get the picture.

But it's nice to picture.

[wryter2000]

46. Wow

That, there, is some writing!

[BeHereNow]

47. Explains NYT's recent duck and cover

doesn't it?
The house of cards is falling down.
Tee-hee-hee...
Can't wait to forward this article to the
inlaw creepy freepies...
Heh-heh...
:evilgrin:
BHN

[aquart]

50. Would this email explain any of it?

From a DC area friend:

According to the latest issue of Washingtonian Magazine, John Ashcroft is telling friends that if Dubya is re-elected he will not be continuing as Attorney General.

The magazine goes on to state that it is also being said that if Ashcroft "chooses" to leave before the election, no one will try to stop him.

He is seen as "too conservative" for Dubya and perhaps a hinderance to re-election.

This was brought up on my NPR talk show this morning and EJ Dionne of the Washington Post was the guest and he said he's been hearing that for a couple of weeks.

So....Ashcroft may take the fall while Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz stick around.

[Tight_rope]

51. "When the going gets tough...the punks get going"!

I suspect that there will be many more from the Bushco running for cover. :toast:

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. The fall has started

and Ashcroft needs a pardon from George, he is facing much, like the rest of the children.

[calimary]

54. Now I've heard everything - somebody considered "too

conservative" for dubya. Well, I suppose ashcroft would indeed fit that description. It's NOT our White House. It's a rock that somebody kicked over by accident, exposing all the slugs and slimes and bugs and mold and bacteria and other assorted ick that only lives in wet darkness.

[UpInArms]

56. kick

:kick:

[SandyUSA]

58. Background on who controls Bush through Neocons

Hi Folks, These are older material but can show you the background on all this.

President George W. Bush's war speech
February 26, 2003
at the American Enterprise Institute
(Ideological home of Zionist-Sharonist
promoters such as Richard Perle)
Who in the U.S. is behind the war on Iraq?

Transcript of Bush's speech, plus links with details on the specific 20 war-mongering members of the American Enterprise Institute in the Bush administration.

http://www.alfredlilienthal.com/bushataei.htm

Also see:

Greater Israel -- What Does It Really Mean?

Why do many Arabs and Muslims suspect
America's war on Iraq was for Israel?

http://www.alfredlilienthal.com/greaterisrael.htm

[candy331]

61. The train wreck just keeps on coming

chooo choo cho! The media in this country has now lost all credibility. I suppose they too will say a few bad apples does not represent the whole bunch, but the end of that statement is (a few bad apples) "can spoil the whole barrel". Howard Dean was definitely on target about the media.

[goforit]

62. Expose the neocons???.......................LOL!!!

They'll need more than one investigation of espionage.

They're absolute traitors!!!

[crossroads]

64. And the dominoes start to fall!

How sweet it is!!!
:kick:

[SandyUSA]

66. Hello Crossroads -- about Paul Wellstone

I left this post a couple days ago at one of these NYT threads. It's about Judith Miller but is derived from an article about Paul Wellstone.

Article on Judith Miller going back to 1991 and Bush Sr.


Hi All, Judith Miller has been up to her biased reporting for a very long time. This is nothing new!

For those of you who admire Paul Wellstone, this snip about Miller comes from an article in 1991 about how he won the election against Rudy Boschwitz. It is entitled: Boschwitz's Play for the "Jewish Vote" Costs Him His Senate Seat. Both Boschwitz and Wellstone were Jewish, so this makes for interesting reading.

Remember, this is from 1991 and Bush Sr. History sure does repeat itself!

-----------

New York Times columnist Judith Miller has been known to direct her considerable reportorial skills to support the perceptions of some of her co-religionists in the US Jewish mainstream. It was she who printed Solarz's reference to a "Middle East Munich," after having reported a change of mind by President Bush "in trying to cajole the man he had called 'Hitler revisited'." Her articles seldom ignore an opportunity to conjure up the Nazi spectre.

Recently, she authored a lengthy book, One by One by One: Facing the Holocaust, based on interviews with European survivors of the Nazi horrors. Describing her book as not about the Holocaust, but "only how it is remembered, " Miller readily admits in her preface that "American Jews have a practical stake in keeping memory of the Holocaust alive, as a way of maintaining American support for Israel."

She apparently has a stake herself in incessantly pricking the Christian conscience so as to bring about what, for her and her newspaper, is the correct perspective toward the Middle East conflict.

Undaunted by the prospect of a war in which thousands of Iraqis and her fellow Americans might die needlessly, she, like Kissinger and Solarz, is set on a violent solution. For her, no Holocaust would be good enough for Saddam Hussain or for the Palestinians!

Article written by anti-Zionist Jewish-American historian:
Dr. Alfred M. Lilienthal is the author of What Price Israel?, There Goes the Middle East, The Other Side of the Coin, and his monumental The Zionist Connection.

http://www.alfredlilienthal.com/jewishvote.htm

[crossroads]

70. Thanks SandyUSA,, and welcome to DU!

Good to have you here! :hi:

[marigold20]

68. "anxiously awaiting the footsteps of FBI agents"

hee hee

[PassingFair]

69. Holy Cow!

double kick!

[JoFerret]

71. Headline; The Alliance between Chalabi and US...

...conservatives now in ruins.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8787368.htm

Alliance between Chalabi, U.S. conservatives now in ruins

By Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay

Knight Ridder Newspapers


WASHINGTON - In June 2001, at an annual retreat in fashionable Beaver Creek, Colo., for current and former world leaders, Pentagon adviser Richard Perle introduced two men to each other who would help guide the United States to war in Iraq.


Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi and Vice President Dick Cheney then went for a two-hour afternoon walk, according to a former senior U.S. government official who was present.


That day marked a turning point in the budding alliance between Chalabi and prominent U.S. conservatives. Both sides were eager to see Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ousted from power, and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, although there was no evidence that Saddam was involved, they pushed that goal relentlessly.


The partnership involved overt and covert U.S. support for Chalabi's bid to be Iraq's next leader. His Iraqi National Congress in turn provided intelligence about Saddam's weapons programs and links to terrorism - most of which turned out to be bogus or unproved.


The alliance with Chalabi is now in ruins.

<more>

[Barrett808]

72. US Supporters of Chalabi pressure Bush

A delicious twist:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x590214