Wayne Madsen's latest article updates Plame and Chalabi scandals

[lancdem]

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/081104_winds_change_summary.shtml

Unfortunately, I don't subscribe to fromthewilderness.com. If anyone here does, can they post some bits?

[movonne]

1. I do not subscribe either, and would love to know more. Hope some

one could tell us more.

[medeak]

2. probably too long?

August 11, 2004 0800 PDT (FTW) - The winds that have favored the neo-cons and their political and financial masters since George W. Bush's ascension to power may now be turning against them at gale force strength. There is a reason why Richard Perle and his American Enterprise Institute (AEI) friends, including "Second Lady" Lynne Cheney and former Reagan National Security Council staffer Michael Ledeen, were uncomfortable when Iraq con man and Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi's offices in Baghdad were raided this past May by Iraqi police, FBI and CIA officers. The Baghdad money trail may soon lead to Washington, DC. The sinewy links between the neo-cons, Ariel Sharon's Likud government, and the Chalabis should be a definite cause for concern by some Bush administration officials, and particularly troubling for Mrs. Cheney, who reportedly sits upon a $125,000 AEI fellowship funded by Likud Party interests.

The Chalabi files recovered by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement provided enough information for the FBI to begin a criminal investigation of a Baghdad-Jerusalem-Washington syndicate that is profiteering from America's misguided invasion and occupation of Iraq. The investigation led to shadowy Israeli-owned firms registered in Delaware and Panama that were fraudulently obtaining contracts and sub-contracts to provide everything from cellular phones and VIP security to the interrogation of Iraqi prisoners using seconded members of Israel's feared Unit 1391 "special techniques" interrogation center. Not only were these firms operating in Iraq with the concurrence of the neo-cons in the Pentagon but some U.S. government officials were personally benefiting from the contracts.

Peeling apart the Chalabi files demonstrated that the neo-con agenda for Iraq extended far beyond political ideology, into a realm where law enforcement can be most effective: fraud.

<snip>

The law firm of Feith & Zell, in concert with Perle, was instrumental in funneling hundreds of millions of dollars from Arab and Muslim countries to the Bosnian government during that nation's civil war. While that effort was ostensibly designed to assist the Bosnians to purchase weapons, officials familiar with its actual operation reported that some of the arms and money "spilled over" to Al Qaeda and Iranian Pasdaran forces in the Balkans.

[medeak]

3. know Iraqi national scientist

who was trying to get cell phone contract and defended Chalabi to no end. Am sickened

[medeak]

4. bit by bit

The neo-con attack on Shaw was predictable considering their previous attacks on Ambassador Joe Wilson, his wife Valerie Plame, former U.S. Central Command chief General Anthony Zinni, former counter-terrorism coordinator Richard Clarke, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, CIA counter-terrorism agent Michael Scheuer (the "anonymous" author of Imperial Hubris who has recently been gagged by the Bush administration), fired FBI translator Sibel Edmonds (who likely discovered a penetration by Israeli and other intelligence assets using the false flag of the Turkish American Council and who also has been gagged by the Bush administration), and all those who took on the global domination cabal. But Shaw showed incredible moxie. When he decided to investigate Pentagon Inspector General Reports that firms tied to Perle and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz were benefiting from windfall profit contracts in Iraq, Shaw decided to go to Iraq himself to find out what was going on. When Shaw was denied entry into Iraq by U.S. military officers (yes, a top level official of the Defense Department was denied access to Iraq by U.S. military personnel!), he decided to sneak into the country disguised as a Halliburton contractor. Using the cover of Cheney's old company to get the goods on Cheney's friends' illegal activities was yet another masterful stroke of genius by Shaw. But it also earned him the wrath of the neo-cons. They soon leaked a story to the Los Angeles Times claiming that Shaw actually snuck into Iraq to ensure that Qualcomm (on whose board sat a friend of Shaw's) was awarded a lucrative cell network contract.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Shaw, who worked for Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, represented the Old Guard Republican entity that in August 2003 set up shop in the Pentagon right under the noses of Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Feith to investigate the neo-con cabal and their illegal contract deals. The entity, known as the International Armament and Technology Trade Directorate, was soon shut down as a result of neo-con pressure. Not to be deterred, Shaw continued his investigation of the neo-cons. Although the neo-cons told the Los Angeles Times that the FBI was investigating Shaw, the reverse was the case: the FBI was investigating the neo-cons, particularly Perle and Wolfowitz, for fraudulent activities involving Iraqi contracts. And in worse news for the neo-cons: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was giving the Inspector General's and Shaw's investigations a "wink and a nod" of approval.

The financial stakes for the Pentagon are high - the Iraqi CPA's Inspector General recently revealed that over $1 billion of Iraqi money was missing from the audit books on Iraqi contracts. For Shaw and the FBI, it was a matter of what they suspected for many years - that Perle, Wolfowitz, and their comrades were running entities that ensured favorable treatment for Israeli activities - whether they were business opportunities in a U.S.-occupied Arab country or protecting Israeli spies operating within the U.S. defense and intelligence establishments.

Shaw certainly must have recalled how, during the Reagan administration, an Israeli spy named Jonathan Pollard was able to steal massive amounts of sensitive U.S. intelligence over a long period of time and hand it over to his Israeli control officer, a dangerous and deadly agent provocateur named Rafael "Rafi" Eitan. That had disastrous effects on U.S. intelligence operations throughout the world because some of the documents were handed by the Israelis to the Soviets in return for letting more Soviet Jews emigrate to Israel.

[lancdem]

5. Thanks

Is there anything about the status of the Plame investigation?

[medeak]

6. ok it's a long article

Fitzgerald continues to expand his case against the leakers of Plame's identity. But he may be getting more than he originally bargained for. As his investigation expanded into the bowels of the Pentagon, he was bound to discover that the treachery of the neo-cons was not merely confined to the leaking of the name of a covert CIA officer - disastrous in itself - but coupled with other activities that call into question the loyalties and financial dealings of those who swore an oath to the U.S. Constitution.

With Ashcroft's deputy, James Comey, the person who appointed Fitzgerald, finding himself increasingly frozen out of Ashcroft's inner sanctum deliberations, it is clear that the neo-cons are worried about what Fitzgerald is discovering and how far his investigation will go. Also unusual was the fact that as Fitzgerald's case began to gain steam - with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney both retaining criminal defense attorneys - FBI Director Robert Mueller suddenly transferred the lead FBI agent on the Plame case, John C. Eckenrode, a well-seasoned 29-year veteran of the bureau, to head up the FBI's Philadelphia office. An FBI spokesman in Philadelphia said that such sudden transfers, in the middle of major investigations, sometimes, just "happen."


Make no mistake about it: the violation of the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 by the disclosure of Plame's identity and that of her non-official cover corporate umbrella organization (Brewster, Jennings & Associates) along with its official counterpart, the CIA's Nonproliferation Center - had a disastrous impact on the ability of the United States to track the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction around the world. At least one anonymous star (representing a covert U.S. agent killed while working abroad) placed on the CIA's Wall of Honor during the past year was reportedly a direct result of the disastrous disclosures from Cheney's office. The political vendettas of the neo-cons in exposing Plame's dangerous work and retaliating against Wilson's revelations about Bush's use of bogus intelligence regarding a fanciful Iraqi uranium shopping spree in Niger ensured that America's military-intelligence complex was going to seek a final accounting with the neo-cons. And a final accounting they are getting, in spades.

[seemslikeadream]

7. final accounting with the neo-cons

:toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast::toast:

[medeak]

8. you think?

Madsen has been making so many hopeful comments...am getting weary.

[seemslikeadream]

9. What is Shaws' first name?

got it

Defense Official Probed on Contracts

Los Angeles Times
July 07, 2004
T. Christian Miller

Washington -- A senior Defense Department official conducted unauthorized investigations of Iraq reconstruction efforts and used their results to push for lucrative contracts for friends and their business clients, according to current and former Pentagon officials and documents.
John "Jack" Shaw, deputy undersecretary for international technology security, represented himself as an agent of the Pentagon's inspector general in conducting the investigations this year, sources said.

In one case, Shaw disguised himself as an employee of Halliburton Co. and gained access to a port in southern Iraq after he was denied entry by the U.S. military, the sources said.

In that investigation, Shaw found problems with operations at the port of Umm al Qasr, Pentagon sources said. In another, he criticized a competition sponsored by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority to award cell phone licenses in Iraq.

In both cases, Shaw urged government officials to fix the alleged problems by directing multimillion-dollar contracts to companies linked to his friends, without competitive bidding, according to the Pentagon sources and documents. In the case of the port, the clients of a lobbyist friend won a no- bid contract for dredging.

http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/unitedstates/democracy/2253.html

Pentagon urges repeal of Iraq phone contracts


By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


The Pentagon has asked the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad to cancel three contracts for Iraqi cell phone networks worth about $500 million annually, citing fraud and the companies' links to an Iraqi-born Briton with ties to Saddam Hussein.
A June 14 memorandum from John A. Shaw, deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, says an investigation uncovered "fraud on the Ministry of Communications by Orascom, Atheer and AsiaCell."

The companies are suspected of rigging the bids for the cell phone contracts in favor of Nadhmi Auchi, who owns part of Orascom and a controlling interest in the bank BNP Paribas, which "is the French bank selected by Saddam Hussein to run the Oil for Food program."
"His role in assisting the Saddam regime, to his own immense profit, makes all three firms ineligible under Section 6.1.4 in that all the evidence strongly indicates Auchi had a direct or indirect ownership interest in all three firms at the time of signature, and his role continues today," the memorandum said.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040621-115845-4340r.htm

[seemslikeadream]

10. Didn't that one mercenary work for a cell phone company?

The one that was beheaded.

Found it
Nicolas Berg

wonder if there's a connection

[seemslikeadream]

11. DoD Statement on Jack Shaw and the Iraq Telecommunications Contract

DoD Statement on Jack Shaw and the Iraq Telecommunications Contract


For several months there have been allegations in the press that activities of John A. Shaw, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for International Technology Security, were under investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (DoD IG). The allegations were examined by DoD IG criminal investigators in Baghdad and a criminal investigation was never opened.



Furthermore, attempts to discredit Shaw and his report on Iraqi telecommunications contracting matters were brought to the attention of the DoD IG and were accordingly referred to the FBI.



Shaw carried out his duties in the investigation of Iraqi telecommunications matters pursuant to the authorities spelled out in the Memorandum of Understanding between the DoD IG and the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Shaw provided a copy of his report to the DOD IG and, at the request of the Coalition Provisional Authority, to the Iraqi National Communications and Media Commission.



Shaw is not now, nor has he ever been, under investigation by the DoD IG. Any questions concerning FBI activities should be addressed to the FBI.
http://www.dod.mil/releases/2004/nr20040810-1103.html

[seemslikeadream]

12. Official: Pentagon Deputy Used Unauthorized Probes to Secure Lucrative Con

A Defense official in Shaw's office acknowledged that they had entered the port despite the military's concerns. He described the disguise as an attempt to conceal Shaw's status, for safety reasons.

He said the military's negative reaction to the proposed visit convinced him that there was serious trouble at the port.

"This Army two-star said, 'We won't let you in the country.' I said, there's something there," said the Defense official, who did not want to be identified. "Everybody had declared victory at the port…. We looked at the port and there were still tremendous problems."

When coalition officials learned that Shaw was at the port, they made a frantic effort to locate him, but didn't reach him until after his return to Kuwait.

"I get this call from that said: 'We have an undersecretary of Defense roaming the countryside. We need to locate and secure him,' " recalled a former CPA official. "He's in the country illegally, but we can't arrest him, so we let him finish the tour."

more
http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=8028&fcategory_desc=Under%20Reported

[seemslikeadream]

13. Analysis: Defense budget practices probed

IndianaGreen in LBN says

However, Dov Zakheim, former DOD Comptroller is under investigation!


DOD IG is investigating Zakheim, who reported directly to Paul Wolfowitz. Apparently there is the matter of the money that was appropriated for Afghan reconstruction that got sidetracked for the invasion of Iraq before there was any Congressional authorization for doing so. There is a little known law with a funny name that was broken if the allegations against Zakheim bear fruit, the Anti-Deficiency Act. This law does have teeth!

You heard it first hear on DU's LBN!


seemslikeadream

Dr. Zakheim
Dov S. Zakheim was sworn in as the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Defense on May 4, 2001. Dr. Zakheim has previously served in a number of key positions in government and private business. Most recently, he was corporate vice president of System Planning Corp., a technology, research and analysis firm based in Arlington, Va. He also served as chief executive officer of SPC International Corp., a subsidiary specializing in political, military and economic consulting. During the 2000 presidential campaign, he served as a senior foreign policy advisor to then-Governor Bush.

From 1985 until March 1987, Dr. Zakheim was Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Planning and Resources in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy). In that capacity, he played an active role in the Department's system acquisition and strategic planning processes. Dr. Zakheim held a variety of other DoD posts from 1981 to 1985. Earlier, he was employed by the National Security and International Affairs Division of the Congressional Budget Office.

Dr. Zakheim has been a participant on a number of government, corporate, non-profit and charitable boards. His government service includes terms on the United States Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad; the Task Force on Defense Reform (1997); the first Board of Visitors of the Department of Defense Overseas Regional Schools (1998); and the Defense Science Board task force on "The Impact of DoD Acquisition Policies on the Health of the Defense Industry" (2000).

A 1970 graduate of Columbia University with a bachelor's in government, Dr. Zakheim also studied at the London School of Economics. He earned his doctorate in economics and politics at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, where he was graduate fellow in programs of both the National Science Foundation and Columbia College, and then a research fellow. Dr. Zakheim has been an adjunct professor at the National War College, Yeshiva University, Columbia University and Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., where he was presidential scholar.
http://www.defenselink.mil/bios/zakheim_bio.html

Dov Zakheim, called for "some catastrophic and catalyzing event


In a document called "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century" published by The American Enterprise's "Project for a New American Century"(1), System Planning Corporation (SPC) International executive, Dov Zakheim, called for "some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor" being necessary to foster the frame of mind needed for the American public to support a war in the Middle East that would politically and culturally reshape the region. A respected and established voice in the intelligence community, his views were eagerly accepted, and Dov went from his position at Systems Planning Corporation to become the Comptroller of the Pentagon in May 2001.

http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDef...


The CEO of SPC

Dr. Dov Zakheim has been nominated to serve as Under Secretary of Defense and Comptroller. He is presently the CEO of SPC International, and in the past he has served as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Planning and Resources as well as in a variety of Defense Department positions under former President Reagan. He was a member of the Task Force on Defense Reform under then-Secretary of Defense William Cohen and in February of 2000 he was appointed to the Defense Science Board Task Force on the Impact of DoD Acquisition Policies on the Health of the Defense Industry. He has received the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal; the Bronze Palm to the DoD Distinguished Public Service Medal and the CBO Director's Award for Outstanding Service. A New York native, Dr. Zakheim is a graduate of Columbia University and has also studied at the London School of Economics. He received his doctorate degree from St. Anthony's College at Oxford University.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/20010212-2.html

It was an SPC subsidiary, TRIDATA CORPORATION, that oversaw the investigation after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.


“I look forward to more time with my family, and to an exciting new phase of my life,” said Zakheim, regarding his departure from the Department of Defense, “but I shall indeed miss the pleasure of working closely with my colleagues at DoD, and throughout the government, in the Congress, and in many capitals overseas.”
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2004/nr20040324-0486.html

Analysis: Defense budget practices probed
Thursday, 02-Oct-2003 10:00AM PDT Story from United Press International
Copyright 2003 by United Press International (via ClariNet)

MIAMI, Oct. 2 (UPI) --

Zakheim said, however, he was limited in his response because of the ongoing audit of the issue, which originally was sparked by a telephone call to the Pentagon's Defense Hotline.


"Our objective will be to review the allegations to the Defense Hotline concerning funds 'parked' at the U.S. Special Operations Command by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)," said a letter from the inspector general's office to Gen. Charles Holland, who has since retired as Special Operations commander.

Among several documents The St. Petersburg Times obtained during its investigation was e-mail sent by Special Operations Command Comptroller Elaine Kingston to colleagues in February 2002.
She said an unidentified official in the Pentagon comptroller's office had asked her if the command could "park" $40 million of research-and-development money in its proposed budget for the 2003 fiscal year.


The programs where the money was placed included missile warning systems on aircraft, infrared equipment on helicopters and radar system. The amounts ranged from $2 million to $5 million.
Kingston said in the e-mail message she coached her colleagues on how to account for the money and avoid attracting congressional attention to it.

"We are doing a favor for the OSD (Office of the Secretary of Defense) which we hope will benefit the command if we should need additional (research and development funds)," the message said.
Young said at the hearing on President Bush's request for $87 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan Tuesday that he wants to know if it is a common practice.

Young is clearly not finished and called it "an obvious attempt to keep from Congress what was happening. I think that would make you suspicious. It makes me a little suspicious."

more
http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/webnews/wed/dp/Uus-defense-young-analysis.RUt1_DO2.html

[seemslikeadream]

14. So now, it is payback time

Adding insult to injury, neither the CIA nor FBI were happy that Israeli spies operating under the cover of Israeli "art students' and moving van operators, and who were picked up by federal agents and local "first responder" law enforcement officers before and after 911, were quickly deported by immigration officers before they could be fully interrogated. The penetration of FBI and other federal law enforcement data networks and databases by Israeli software and telecommunications companies working under U.S. government contracts has also left a bitter taste in the mouths of federal law enforcement and intelligence personnel.

So now, it is payback time. The recent arrest warrants issued by the Iraqi government for Ahmed and Salem Chalabi (Ahmed's for counterfeiting Iraqi dinars and Salem's for murdering an Iraqi Finance Ministry official) indicates that Shaw's instincts about the fraud engaged in by them and their neo-con friends in the Pentagon were right on the money. Let us ponder that news again: the lead prosecutor against Saddam Hussein murders an official of the Iraqi Finance Ministry - an individual that just may have known something about what happened to $1 billion in missing Iraqi revenues. The accused is a partner of an Israeli-U.S. lawyer who is a close colleague of leading neo-cons in the Pentagon (some of whom are also dual U.S.-Israeli citizens) and the nephew of a man who was supported bureaucratically by a former CIA Director (James Woolsey), financially by hundreds of millions of dollars from the budget of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and politically by a think tank (AEI) that includes the wife of the Vice President of the United States. Uncle Ahmed was also a personal guest of George W. and Laura Bush in the VIP box at the 2004 State of the Union address. The President and First Lady welcomed a person who now is now an accused criminal to America's State of the Union address, a person whose nephew is now an accused murderer! John Le Carre could not have come up with a better international thriller scenario.

The recent decision by the chief judge in the Plame leak to order NBC's Tim Russert to testify about just who it was at the White House that contacted him about Plame's identity, while troubling for First Amendment freedom of the press protections, is an indication that time is growing short for the leakers. Three months before a U.S. presidential election, that could be a crucial windfall for John Kerry and the Democratic Party.

more
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/081104_winds_ ...

[seemslikeadream]

15. Fundamentalist link in cheap art scam? (Israeli "art students" in Canada)

from Minstrel Boy thread


Fundamentalist link in cheap art scam? (Israeli "art students" in Canada)

Curiouser and curiouser....

Fundamentalist link in cheap art scam?

The Winnipeg Sun
August 8, 2004

A group of Israeli scam artists busted in Winnipeg Friday may be linked to a group fronting for Islamic fundamentalist fundraisers. A dozen people -- six men and six women -- were nabbed by police for selling pictures worth $20 door-to-door for hundreds and even thousands of dollars.

Only one person was detained after he failed to produce a passport. The others were released since no law had been violated, said police spokeswoman Const. Shelly Glover. Their passports were seized by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, however.

Police believe the group is associated with a nationwide scam where cheap Asian art is sold, sometimes for thousands of dollars.

The scam has attracted the attention of American counter-intelligence agents, who warn the bogus art was being used as a front for Islamic fundamentalist fundraisers.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2004/08/...

Also picked up in Calgary a few days ago:

Suspects nabbed in art caper
Aug 5, 2004

Two Israeli nationals suspected of selling cheap art at inflated prices were taken into custody yesterday by Citizenship and Immigration officials with the assistance of Calgary cops. The two are suspected of going door-to-door in upscale neighbourhoods such as Mount Royal asking thousands of dollars for art they claim was created at an academy in Israel.

In fact, the items were purchased through a distributor in Asia for between $20 and $50.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/CalgarySun/News/2004/08/0...


A year ago, from The Ottawa Sun, Sept 19, 2003:

Nine Israelis face deportation
Spy agency suspects they may be foreign agents

NINE Israeli nationals -- who CSIS suspects are possible foreign agents -- were arrested by Immigration and Ottawa police tactical officers last Friday, blocks from Parliament Hill.

The nine have all been charged by Immigration for working in Canada illegally. All are in their 20s and were apparently selling art in Ottawa. The arrests follow similar takedowns of Israelis in Toronto and Calgary over the past few weeks.

An Ottawa police source said police were told members of the group were possible agents from Mossad, Israel's spy agency, but given no further information by CSIS.
http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news1/ottawa-sun1.html

And background from Salon, a couple of years ago:

The Israeli "Art Student" Mystery:

...

The extreme sensitivity of the Israeli art student story in government circles was made clear to this reporter when, in the midst of my inquiries at DEA and elsewhere, I was told by a source that some unknown party had checked my records and background. He proved it by mentioning a job I had briefly held many years ago that virtually no one outside my family knew about. Shortly after this, I received a call from an individual who identified himself only by the code name Stability. Stability said he was referred to me from "someone in Washington." That someone turned out to be a veteran D.C. correspondent who has close sources in the CIA and the FBI and who verified that Stability was a high-level intelligence agent who had been following the art student matter from the inside.

Stability was guarded in his initial conversation with me. He said that people in the intelligence committee were suspicious about my bona fides and raised the possibility that someone was "using" me. "Your name is known and has been known for quite a while," Stability said. "The problem is that you're going into a hornet's nest with this. It's a very difficult time in this particular area. This is a scenario where a lot of people are living a bunker mentality." He added, "There are a lot of people under a lot of pressure right now because there's a great effort to discredit the story, discredit the connections, prevent people from going any further . There are some very, very smart people who have taken a lot of heat on this -- have gone to what I would consider extraordinary risks to reach out. Quite frankly, there are a lot of patriots out there who'd like to remain alive. Typically, patriots are dead."

...

But to what end? What was the value? What was to be gained? "Unknown, unknown," Stability said. "You could be anywhere from D.C. to daylight on that one. Even on our side, you have to take all the stuff and draw it all out and clean out all the chaff. I will tell you that from those who are working ground zero of this case, it is a difficult puzzle to put together, and it is not complete by any means." Even the spooks are baffled; they have no answers.

...

Apparently, at least some agents in FBI remain quite concerned about the art student problem. According to several intelligence sources, including Stability, on Dec. 3, 2001, six separate FBI field offices simultaneously forwarded communiqués to FBI headquarters inquiring into the status of the investigation. The FBI agents wanted to have a "clarification" as to what was going on.

http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2002/05/07/studen...


Minstrel Boy

It's strange how the tie to Islamicist fundraising

doesn't get deeper analysis in the story. The unnamed "Israeli nationals" could be Israeli Arabs, but that hasn't been the case in other incidents (for instance, in today's Winnipeg Sun story, it names "Yukov Senior" and "Guy Grinberg" as those deported last week from Calgary), and many other stories have detailed the links of "art students" to Mossad and military intelligence.


Minstrel Boy

Haaretz: Spies, or students?

From a couple of years ago:

Spies, or students?
by Nathan Guttman

...

There is one source for all these stories and it is not an unreliable one. The source is the 60-page draft of an internal report by the intelligence division of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Thedraft was leaked to the media and its existence was confirmed by spokesmen from the DEA and the Justice Department, which is responsible for running the DEA. But confirming that the report exists is not the same as verifying its contents.

According to the report's author, whose identity has never been published, DEA officials identified an increase in the number of incidents in which young Israelis, claiming to be art students, tried to sell them works of art. "It is entirely possible," said the report, "that this is an organized intelligence-gathering activity."

A warning was sent out by the federal anti-espionage office to other federal agencies in March 2001,warning them to be wary of students trying to sell them art works and gain entry to federal facilities. The document records several encounters between DEA officials and Israelis all over the United States. In one incident, the report documents an attempt to gain entry to the Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, where the AWACS spy plane and the B-1 bombers are serviced.

What is really keeping this story alive is the claim of a link between the Israeli "students" and Israeli intelligence. The original report, as well as subsequent media reports, say that many of the young Israelis arrested served in the IDF's Intelligence Corps and were involved in operating electronic bugging equipment; one even said he was the son of a senior Israel Defense Forces officer. It took just one small leap to turn this into a conspiracy, whereby all the Israelis arrested were in the pay of the Mossad.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?ite...


Minstrel Boy

"Suspicious Activities Involving Israeli Art Students at DEA Facilities"

60-page DEA report here:

http://cryptome.org/dea-il-spy.htm

excerpt:

96. On May 3, 2001, the DEA Orlando District Office was visited by an Israeli art student at approximately 1:00 p.m. This subject was detained and identified as Peer SEGALOVITZ (DOB: 03-16-1974). SEGALOVITZ is a 27 year old male that has been in the United States since January 17, 2001. SEGALOVITZ is in the United States on a B-2 (visitation) visa which expires July 17, 2001. INS was contacted and INS requested that DEA detain SEGALOVITZ until they could arrive to take him into custody. FBI SA John Weyrauch also responded to assist with the interrogation. SEGALOVITZ was interrogated for approximately 4 hours while waiting for INS to respond. SEGALOVITZ was untruthful about his reasoning to be in the United States for approximately the first 3 hours. SEGALOVITZ finally admitted that he was one of approximately 30 Israeli art students who are currently in Florida. SEGALOVITZ would not admit what their purpose was in Florida, but did state that they were not here for legitimate means.

97. SEGALOVITZ reluctantly stated that he was an officer of the Israeli military special forces 605 battalion in Golan Heights. SEGALOVITZ has the rank of Leiutenent and his military ID number is 5087989. SEGALOVITZ stated that he commanded approximately 80 men. SEGALOVITZ stated that he had been in infantry, but as a platoon leader he and his men specialized in demolition. SEGALOVITZ then began to explain the various types of explosives that he was familiar with and stated that his main purpose was to clear mine fields for Israeli tanks and soldiers. SEGALOVITZ acknowledged he could blow up buildings, bridges, cars and anything else that he needed too. SEGALOVITZ further stated that he was very familiar with small arms and had operational knowledge of tanks and other large military machinery. SEGALOVITZ stated that the only thing he was not trained to operate was military aircraft. SEGALOVITZ admitted that he had been in two (2) military actions in Lebanon involving explosives, these missions were to eradicate members of the Hezbolah. SEGALOVITZ asked agents not to divulge this information to Israel because it would lead to his immediate arrest in Israel,

98. SEGALOVITZ stated that he was aware of Israeli Organized Crime, involvment in drug smuggling and weapons smuggling. SEGALOVITZ admitted that he was selling art and working for his brother's company. SEGALOVITZ identified his brother as Dror SEGALOVITZ with an address of 8187 N. University Drive Apartment 129 in Tamarac, Florida. A search of Peer SEGALOVITZ and his vehicle found numerous deposit slips, paintings, receipts for art sales and art equipment. INS SA's Nigel Jason and Bill Forester from the Orlando INS Office responded and arrested Peer SEGALOVITZ for violation of his B-2 (visitation) visa by working in the United States.



seemslikeadream
March 3, 2001

But Der Spiegel knows better than to implicate the Israelis in anything untoward, and instead mournfully reports that "observation of the … terrorists also ceased" when the "art students" were apprehended. But if the information had been shared then and there – in March, when the authorities first became aware of the Hollywood-centered South Florida operation – then what prevented the FBI from taking up where the Mossad had left off? Der Spiegel is vague about this:

"The Israelis' list with at least four of the 19 assassins from September 11 was apparently not handled by the CIA with the necessary urgency, nor was it forwarded to the FBI. Fact is that the US authorities did not efficiently follow up on the Israeli agents' leads. Information on the Israeli tips has also been made known in the USA during the , which been ongoing for weeks."

While the FBI is scapegoated for its alleged inefficiency, the Israelis were not exactly forthcoming. On March 3, 2001, alerted to the Israeli "art student" invasion, the Orlando office of the DEA took one Peer Segalovitz into custody, and interrogated him for four hours. According to the DEA report:

"Segalovitz was untruthful about his reasoning to be in the United States for approximately the first 3 hours. Segalovitz finally admitted that he was one of approximately 30 Israeli art students who are currently in Florida. Segalovitz would not admit what their purpose was in Florida, but did state that they were not here for legitimate means."

A 27-year-old officer of the Israeli special military forces, attached to the 650th battalion stationed in the Golan Heights, Segalovitz gave his rank (Lieutenant) and serial number (5087989) and said that he "specialized in demolition." After recounting his familiarity with military operations, and stating "that the only thing he was not trained to operate was military aircraft," he "asked agents not to divulge this information to Israel because it would lead to his immediate arrest in Israel."

If it's true, as Der Spiegel avers, that the distinguished members of the Senate Committee investigating 9/11 are pinning the blame on our own intelligence agencies and exonerating the role of the Mossad, one can only wonder why they don't call Mr. Segalovitz as an expert witness?
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j100402.html

What I like best about Online Intelligence is that it names names:
"A few of the operatives are well known in the Israeli intelligence
community. The report cited the names of Peer Segalovitz (military
registration number 5087989) and Aran Ofek, son of a renowned two-star
general in the Israeli army. The network targeted some of the most
sensitive sites in the U.S., such as Tanker Air Force Base near Oklahoma
City. Indeed, the U.S. Air Force's Office of Special Investigation sent
a letter to the Justice Department on May 16 of last year to ask for
assistance in a case against four Israelis suspected of spying: Yaron
Ohana, Ronen Kalfon, Zeev Cohen and Naor Topaz."
ISRAEL'S UNDERGROUND ARMY
http://intelligenceonline.com/images/newversion/reseau/...
m
According to the DEA, Israel's underground army in the US consisted of
"around 20 units composed of between four and eight members each." More
names are named: Michael Calmanovic headed up the team in Irving, Texas,
while Florida was the domain of Hanan Serfaty. Legum Yochai had charge
of the Miami operation. Online Intelligence also notes the Amdocs
connection: it seems these "art students" "cultivated contacts with
Israeli information technology companies based in the US and serving as
regular suppliers to various U.S. federal agencies, such as Amdocs" and
others. The Fox News series is cited, by Online Intelligence and Le
Monde, and the former even provides a convenient map of the Texas
chapter of the "art students" underground apparatus, complete with not
only names, but arrival dates, corporate connections, when and where
they were arrested, and their specific functions in the Israeli
military-intelligence apparatus. How much more evidence do we need
before the editorialists and the pundits start calling government
officials on their lies - and Congress begins an investigation?

http://www.dialog.org.pk/israel\'s_9-11_connections_exp...

SAGIV stated he is scheduled to leave the U.S. in May to go back to Israel. SAGIV stated he has a cousin (NFI) in Hollywood, FL, and a cousin (NFI) in Coral Springs, FL. SAGIV stated he was in the Israeli military in 1995-1996, and was the personal bodyguard of the highest ranking General in the Israeli Army. He also stated he was a demolition expert.

SAGIV stated he met Peer SEGALOVITZ one week earlier, in a pub. SAGIV stated SEGALOVITZ asked him to help set-up art in Orlando, FL. SAGIV stated he knew nothing about art, but that they drove to Orlando that day but did not stay overnight. He stated he did not go to Daytona, FL, and did not stay in the Knights Inn. (Receipts found in SEGALOVITZs pocket indicated they did.) SAGIV stated he did not know anyone named "AVI" and did not know that Peer SEGALOVITZ had a brother named Dror. S/A Weyrauch stated that SAGIV was evasive with answers, that SAGIV did not speak English well, and S/A Weyrauch had to continually repeat questions. Following the interview, SAGIV was released.

100. On May 3, 2001, at approximately 1:30 pm, while SEGALOVITZ was being interrogated, T/S James Wise spotted a maroon car with a while male sitting inside. This car was parked in the turn lane outside of the DEA (Orlando) office building, T/S Wise was not able to get the license plate number of the vehicle, as the driver sped away as T/S Wise approached it.

The following individuals were identified by the Orlando D.O. on May 3, 2001:

66. SEGALOVITZ, Peer - NADDIS Negative, White, male, Nationality: Israeli, DOB: 03-16-1974, POB Israel, Address: 8187 N. University Drive Apt. 4129, Tamarac, FL, entered the U.S. on B-2 class visa on January 17, 2001. Former officer in Israeli Special Forces 605 Battalion. Israeli Military ED # 5087989. Encountered May 3, 2001 at the Orlando D.O. Occupation: Israeli Art Vendor/Student. (Identified in Paragraph 96)

67. SEGALOVITZ, Dror - NADDIS - Negative. White, Male, Brother of Peer Segalovitz. ADD: Address 8187 N. University Drive, Apt. Nationality: Israel. Identified in Paragraph 98)

68. SABGUNDJIAN, Kathy - NADDIS: Negative. [phone] [phone]

69. SAGIV, Akyuz Shmuel - NADDIS: Negative. White, Male, Israeli Passport # 8710426; DOB: 09-27-1976; POB: Maaloot, Israel; Entered US In New York; PN: 954712-2126. Associate of Peer Segalovitz and Dror Segalovitz. (Identified in paragraph #99).

http://billstclair.com/911timeline/2001/dea0601.html

Si tu padre fué pintor...¿o espía?

"...Una amplia red de espionaje israelí que operaba dentro de Estados Unidos fue desmantelada recientemente por servicios de contraespionaje del Departamento de Justicia norteamericano. Lo anterior está consignado en un reporte publicado el 28 de febrero pasado por Intelligence Online (IOL), servicio francés de noticias, especializado en investigación e inteligencia política y de negocios, antes conocido como Intelligence Newsletter. .."


"...Así, descubrieron que los espías se hacían pasar por estudiantes de arte y habían logrado infiltrar departamentos gubernamentales (entre ellos una base de la fuerza aérea en Oklahoma) y contactar altos funcionarios con el pretexto de la venta de obras artísticas. Algunos de los operadores son bien conocidos en los círculos de inteligencia de su país y entre sus filas se encuentra Aran Ofek, hijo de un general dos estrellas de la armada de Israel. Algunos de los nombres también citados son: Peer Segalovitz (militar), Yaron Ohana, Ronen Kalfon, Zeev Cohen y Naor Topaz..."


Translation
If your father was painter. ..¿o spy?

"...Una extensive network of Israeli espionage that operated inside U.S. was dismantled recently by services of counterespionage of the Department of American Justice. The previous thing is consigned in a report published February 28 passed through Intelligence Online (IOL), French service of news, specialized in investigation and political intelligence and of business, before known as Intelligence Newsletter. .."

"...Así, they discovered that the spies caused they passed for students of art and they had managed to infiltrate governmental departments (among them a base of the air force in Oklahoma) and to contact high officials with the pretext of the sale of artistic works. Some of the users are well acquaintances in the circles of intelligence of its country and among its rows is found Till Ofek, son of a general two stars of the armed one of Israel. Some of the names also cited are: Peer Segalovitz (military), Yaron Ohana, Ronen Kalfon, Zeev Cohen and Naor Topaz. .."
www.rocha-detrasdelanoticia.com/?Orden=Leer&Tipo=PP&Art...

"There is a political context," Dasquie said, which involves the current hostilities between the Israelis and the Palestinians. "That explains why the FBI is carrying out a global cover-up of this story."

The addresses of Israeli agents mentioned in the report are very close to former, known residences of the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Le Monde said more than one-third of the suspected Israeli spies had lived in Florida, where at least 10 of the 19 Arabs alleged to have been involved in the Sept. 11 airplane attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon also lived. At least five of the spies resided in Hollywood, Fla., where alleged hijacker Mohammad Atta and four accomplices in the attacks also lived, the paper said.

The DEA draft report established that 12 Israelis had been based in the Florida town of Hollywood, where U.S. authorities reportedly arrested another 12 people "suspected of being tasked with the logistics of preparing the Sept. 11 attacks."

Two Israelis lived in Fort Lauderdale, near Delray Beach, where hijackers in the planes that crashed into the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania resided temporarily, the report added.

"This concordance could be the source of the American view that one of the missions of the Israeli 'students' could have been to track al Qaeda terrorists on territory without informing federal authorities," Le Monde said.

When AFP asked Dasquie if he thought the Israelis were engaged in intelligence gathering or monitoring the activities of the "working level" Arab "terrorists," he said, it is "too early to speculate" and that "a lot of material is undercover."

The newspaper said it had seen a copy of the secret report, and that it had learned that six suspected spies had used portable telephones bought by a former Israeli vice consul in the United States.

"We know there has been an extensive Israeli spy ring operating in the United States during the year before last July, but we don't know its global activities," Dasquie said. "A lot of the story is unknown."

When asked if Intelligence Online would publish the entire document, Dasquie said: "That is the great question." The document contains the names of 120 Israelis, some of whom, he says, may be innocent. Government agents' names and addresses are also included.

Dasquie said Intelligence Online has acquired a great deal of solid evidence, which it intends to publish soon.

Source: http://www.americanfreepress.net/03_17_02/120_Spies_Dep...
http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:Xb_Aue7ZU1kJ:portl...

The secret story of Mossad and the World Trade Center attack

"These individuals have been described as aggressive," the warning said. "They attempt to engage employees in conversation rather than giving a sales pitch." The group's activities encompassed far more states than the administration would admit.
The task force carrying out the original investigation, it has been learned, included not just DEA investigators but those from the INS, the FBI and the US Air Force investigation unit, due to the broad national scope of the Israeli operation. However, it was the DEA's in-house security unit, the Office of Security Programs, that sparked the probe.
Some of the operatives were already well-known in the Israeli intelligence community, for example: Peer Segalovitz (military registration number 508798) and Aran Ofek (son the two-star Israeli general). Last year, on May 16, 2001, the US Air Force Office of Special Investigation sent a letter to the Justice Department asking for assistance in an "espionage" case against four of the "students": Yaro Ohana, Ronen Kalfon, Zeev Cohen and Naor Topaz.
One of the striking aspects of the document was its suggestion that the ring had infiltrated federal justice department buildings, and computer companies also of Israeli origin, which operate in the U.S. and sell equipment to U.S. government departments.
Intelligence Online has a copy of a memorandum dated March 4, 2002 and signed by Robert Diegelman, assistant attorney general for administration. It was addressed to officials in charge of the justice department's information systems. For security reasons, it called on them to forbid information system access to all non-U.S. citizens and no longer use foreign-supplied computer and communication gear. It referred specifically to an initial warning entitled Department of Justice Order 2640.2D Information Technology Security and sent out on last July 12 which cautioned in vaguer terms against using information technology sold by foreign firms. The July 12 warning confirmed that the DEA's report, completed in June 2001, was being borne in mind at the highest level.
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2002/04/9382.shtml

Dunque anche dei militari partecipano all'inchiesta; ma - si noti - non la Cia, che ne è rimasta o stata lasciata fuori. A promuovere l'indagine sono agenzie che, di solito, non si occupano di controspionaggio.L'articolo francese spiega: "La DEA occupa un ruolo centrale in questo caso di controspionaggio, perché è il suo servizio di sicurezza interna, l'Office of Security Programs, che per primo ha scoperto le attività inusuali di giovani immigrati israeliani attorno ai propri agenti". Si tratta dei sedicenti "studenti di arti plastiche", che contattavano agenti e funzionari americani "di diversi ministeri", e li andavano a trovare con la scusa di vendere loro dei dipinti che sostenevano fatti da loro (in realtà Made in China). Il fatto è che gli studenti fermati e interrogati dalla Dea "sono tutti fra i 22 e i 30 anni, ed hanno recentemente completato il loro servizio militare in una unità di intelligence di Tsahal", ossia dell'esercito israeliano. Benché così giovani, si stupisce l'articolo francese, "alcuni di questi agenti possiedono una notorietà nella comunità d'intelligence israeliana". E cita "Peer Segalovitz (immatricolazione militare: 5087989) e Aran Ofek, figlio di un celebre generale a due stelle dell'esercito israeliano". "Gli obiettivi della rete comprendevano alcuni dei siti più "sensibili" degli Stati Uniti, come la Tinker Air Force Base presso Oklahoma City. Per questo, l'Office of Special Investigation dell'US Air Force ha rivolto una domanda di assistenza (datata 16 maggio 2001) al Dipartimento della Giustizia, contro quattro israeliani sospettati di spionaggio: Yaron Ohana, Ronen Kalfon, Zeev Cohen e Naor Topaz. Inoltre, questi studenti di genere particolare erano in rapporti con società israeliane con sedi in Usa, che prestano regolari servizi ad agenzie federali".
Tra queste ditte che lavorano per il governo Usa, l'informativa francese ne cita tre: una si chiama Nice, una Retalix (software) e la terza, come si può prevedere, è la telefonica Amdocs, fomitrice dello strategico servizio di fatturazione per le grandi compagnie telefoniche Usa. "La rete si articolava attorno a una ventina di cellule, composte ciascuna di 4-8 membri. Le attività di ognuna dipendevano da un capo locale, responsabile della pianificazione e del coordinamento". Intelligence Online pubblica anche una mappa - evidentemente allegata al documento della DEA - che mostra la posizione delle cellule nel territorio degli Stati Uniti.

Translation
Therefore also of the soldiers they participate in the question; but - itself known - not the Ioc, that is remained of it or been left outside. To promote the inquiry are agencies that, of habit, do not take care of themselves counterespionage. L' French article explains: "The GODDESS occupies a central role in this case of counterespionage, because is its inside service of safety, the office of Security Programs, that for first has uncovered the activity inusuali of youngsters immigrated Israeli around the actual agents". It is discussed of the would-be "plastic students of limbs", that contacted agents and American officials "of different ministries", and went to find them with the excuse of to sell their of the paintings that supported done from them (in reality Made in Bent). It make is that the students stopped and questioned from the Goddess "are all between the 22 and the 30 years, and recently completed their military service in an unity of intelligence of Tsahal", namely of the Israeli army. Although so young, it is astonished the French article, "some of these agents possiedono a fame in the Israeli community of intelligence". And it cites "Peer Segalovitz (military enrolment: 5087989) and Aran Ofek, son of a famous general to two stars of the Israeli army". "The objectives of the net included some of the sites more "sensitive" of the United States, like the Tinker Base Forks Air I press Oklahoma City. For this, the office of Special Investigation of the us Air Forks has I upset a question of assistance (dated 16 May 2001) to the Department of the Justice, against four Israelis suspected of espionage: Yaron Ohana, Ronen Kalfon, Zeev Cohen and Naor Topaz. Besides, these special students of type were in relations with Israeli society with seats in Usa, that lend moderate services to federal agencies". Between these firms that they work for the government Usa, the informative Frenchman cites of it three: an it is called Nice, a Retalix (software) and the third one, how expects, is the telephone Amdocs, fomitrice of the strategic service of invoicing for the large telephone companies Usa. "The net is articulated around around twenty cells, composed each of 4-8 limb. The activity of each depended from a local head, person in charge of the planning and of the coordination". Online Intelligence public also a map - clearly cited to the document of the GODDESS - that show the position of the cells in the territory of the United States.
http://www.italy.indymedia.org/news/2003/04/262243.php



Minstrel Boy

Their surveilling the DEA used to throw me, but
now we have evidence of a 9/11 drug connection, from Daniel Hopsicker's research, Sibel Edmonds' witness and more, it doesn't seem so strange. Particularly since the art students base of operations pre-9/11 was Florida, and they appeared to shadow the hijackers.

For instance:

State Dept. Quashed 9/11 Links To Global Drug Trade
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

"Follow the money" or "follow the drugs," it's the same thing.


Minstrel Boy

Next Door to Mohammed Atta
Israeli agents were living in Florida and tailing the future death pilots – until their cover was blown.

by Oliver Schröm
Die Zeit
October 14, 2002

...

The young Israelis were placed under surveillance and their personal details were analyzed by computer. Die Zeit obtained the 61-page final report, according to which, 120 Israelis, organized into cells of four to six persons, formed a tightly organized and efficient espionage network. A few of the putative students were actually specialists on eavesdropping, radio technology, or counter-terrorism.

The Israelis were arrested, interrogated and subsequently deported. In the world of intelligence, espionage among friends is an everyday occurrence. In this case too many people were involved for the matter to be covered up. But both the Israeli government and American authorities tried to downplay it.

Not until after the attacks of September 11 did the consequences of the spy ring become clear. Apparently the agents were not interested in military or industrial facilities, but were shadowing a number of suspects, who were later involved in the terrorist attacks against the US. According to a report of the French intelligence agency that Die Zeit examined, "according to the FBI, Arab terrorists and suspected terror cells lived in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as in Miami and Hollywood, Florida from December 2000 to April 2001 in direct proximity to the Israeli spy cells."

According to the report, the Mossad agents were interested in the leader of the terrorists, Mohammed Atta and his key accomplice, Marwan al-Shehi. Both lived in Hamburg before they settled in Hollywood, Florida in order to plan the attacks. A Mossad team was also operating in the same town. The leader, Hanan Serfati, had rented several dwellings. "One of Serfati's apartments was located on the corner of 701st St. and 21st Ave. in Hollywood, right near the apartment of Atta and al-Shehi.", French intelligence reported later. Everything indicates that the terrorists were constantly observed by the Israelis. The chief Israeli agent was staying right near the post office where the terrorists had a mailbox. The Mossad also had its sights on Atta's accomplice Khalid al-Midhar, with whom the CIA was also familiar, but allowed to run free. The Mossad apparently warned their American counterparts several times about the terrorists, especially about al-Midhar. The American government later admitted that they had received such warnings prior to September 11. But at most that there were attacks planned against American installations outside the United States.

http://iraq-info.1accesshost.com/schrom.html


from
Fundamentalist link in cheap art scam? (Israeli "art students" in Canada)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=736663