Disaster in the making (the RawStory Ledeen article got me thinking)

[Roland99]

This is what I just sent a buddy via email when he was asking me about what it all means re: Ledeen:




Well, this Michael Ledeen (one of the key PNAC/neoconservative figures) seems to have his hand in many things.

He's been a key propagandist in spreading bullsh*t like Billy Carter was involved with Qaddafi and spreading the lie that some Bulgarian secret service was behind the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.

It appears he's been one of (if not *the*) main people behind spreading the neocon fantasy of taking over the Middle East, essentially, and overturning regimes in Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, etc....anyone who's a threat to Israel.

He's been linked to a group called Propaganda Due (P2) that was active in the early 1980s and involved the current Italian leader, Silvio Berlusconi. It involved something in Italy akin to what Operation Northwoods would have been to the US (gov't sanctioned terror attacks against its own people). There are even links to the Vatican and some major players in the banking industry (one killed suspiciously - Calvi).

Ledeen was in tight with Stephen Hadley (another PNACer and the current National Security Advisor...he was under Condi Rice and took her old position when she was promoted to Sec'y of State). Hadley and Ledeen were instrumental in creating the forged documents that allegedly showed Saddam tried to buy yellowcake from Niger. The two of them were also involved (along with John Bolton, PNAC co-founder; Scooter Libby; and Dick Cheney) in orchestrating the leaking of Valerie Plame's name to discredit and smear Joseph Wilson for outing as lies the Niger documents (and the now-famous 16 words in the State of the Union back in 2003 where Bush claimed Saddam sought to buy yellowcake). That outing also exposed a CIA front company: Brewster Jennings. That company and Valerie Plame and others in the CIA were working on intelligence on Iran's nuclear program and now that's been brought to a halt due to the outing of Plame. They can now make up whatever intelligence about Iran that they want and they're starting to. You see, Iran and Russia reached deal where:

Iran Offers to Suspend Uranium Enrichment
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1695870

But,
Russia-Iran plan 'blocked by U.S.'
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/03/07/iran.nuclear.1246

And the US is going so far as to push this unverified claim:

ABC EXCLUSIVE: Iraq Weapons -- Made in Iran?
http://abcnews.go.com/International/IraqCoverage/story?id=1692347&page=1

And Cheney and Bolton are ratcheting up the rhetoric:

Bolton warns Iran of "painful consequences"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11684031

Cheney: NO to Iran - or will face "meaningful consequences"
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-03-07T162337Z_01_N07147141_RTRUKOC_0_US-NUCLEAR-IRAN-USA.xml&rpc=22

Rumsfeld says Tehran government sending military to destabilize Iraq
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=4597319&nav=23ii

Uhh...if they can detect it, why the hell can't they stop it?!?!


Add in to the mix that an Iranian oil bourse will open in a couple of weeks and will be based upon the Euro, not the dollar. And, US Treasuries are pushing a 5% yield. That makes continued issuing of debt more and more expensive for the US. But, the US needs to keep issuing debt to cover the anticipated $3-4 trillion of additional debt to be added over the next several years. So, how does one get around that? Well, there's this thing called M3. M3 is the amount of US currency in circulation. The gov't is set to stop publishing the value of M3 in a couple of weeks (about the same time that the Iranian bourse starts up). What does this mean or allow? Well, it would allow the gov't to start printing money to fund its spending and hide that fact in order to keep inflation from skyrocketing (and I mean skyrocket...like 20-25%/yr...think of Germany in the 1920s or Argentina not too long ago).

A war with Iran would be VERY costly. VERY. The money needs to come from somewhere and promptly cutting Medicaid/SS/Medicare/etc. is too obvious and would be met with anger and resentment and a likely loss at the polls in '06 and again in '08.


Some of this may sound tinfoil hattish and I don't really have proof that the gov't will start printing money like mad but the writing is on the wall. The stock markets are way overvalued and this whole economic recovery is fraudulent (our GDP has been at or near zero for over a year when one takes home equity mortgages out of the economy). The "recovery", essentially, has been funded by Americans going into debt on their homes.


It's all gotta come crashing down sometime and it's likely going to sooner than later, esp. if another "front" in the war on terror is opened up.


These neocons have taken over US foreign policy and they've been fighting for a couple of decades to attain their power. They want revolution in the Middle East in order to "assume command" via US-friendly "democracies". The same way they did in Central America in the 1980s. Only this time, it seems their justification is solely their ideology and a Zionist bent to protect Israel (most of the neocons are very pro-Israel and linked to AIPAC have been linked and/or convicted of spying for Israel).


This shit is really fucking scary.


Every Republic has come crashing down when it became too ideological and/or too obsessed with economic growth (in our case, the new colonialism - spreading capitalism - opening markets for US companies as the US market is saturated w/little room for growth).




There....how's that for disaster in the making in a nutshell?



Edit: Oh, and add in the 9/11 MIHOP possibility where the PNACers/neocons were working with a group that was in control of the 9/11 hijackers. There's plenty of evidence out there linking CIA to interviewing bin Laden before 9/11; UAE family meeting w/bin Laden and in close with people in this administration; CIA trained bin Laden and the Islamists via the ISI 20 years ago; etc.

[Extend a Hand]

1. I'm scared too

:scared:

nice outline of the facts, btw.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. I followed it all the way up to the links...

Is it basically saying that we're going to get lied in bombing Iran too? And by the same shadow agents that got us into Iraq?

[Roland99]

14. Ayup, looking back at what we know, it appears the stovepipe had two pipes

Feith on the Iraq side and Ledeen on the Iran side both funneling up to Hadley and Rumsfeld.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. So...they outed their own agent that was working the Iran angle?

Do you realize, that if they were involved with Iran, then they would have known that Valerie Plame was involved with that work as well?

[Roland99]

16. Because she was probably close to uncovering DICK's role w/A.Q. Kahn.

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. So they were trying to stop Wilson in Iraq AND Valerie Plame in Iran?

Wow.

[stop the bleeding]

22. Backlash read this

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

this is 2 papers by 2 outstanding DU'ers


3 words: Rumsfeld and Cheney

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. Tomorrow. I spend one day away from DU and a whole new angle

develops. But it's beddy bye time, for now. I'll read it in the morning.

[Roland99]

31. Not sure if it's a new angle. It seems to have been developing for a while

At least since that article on RawStory about "Ali" going to Weldon and a Democratic congressman.

[burythehatchet]

17. The idea that they outed her to discredit Joe Wilson

is simply laughable.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. This is a dot I hadn't seen before today.

[burythehatchet]

24. H2O's threads from way back postulated the connection

of Plame's work for Brewster Jennings. To me, that was always the core of this case. When it became known last month that she was working on Iran, everything became crystal clear. This is how we make "bad intelligence". We get rid of it.

on edit - they play chess while we play checkers

[KoKo]

2. yes..........a good read putting together lots of dots. Did you see this?

(Let's hope this gets some traction and puts a wrench in Ledeen and his fellow PNAC'ers plans for Iran strike. I guess the Chimp doesn't even bother with the CIA/NSA/ or any of our other 16 intelligence services for his info anymore. He just hires his own "shop" to concoct evidence.)


--------

White House Linked to Mitch Wade Iran Group?
By Josh Marshall - March 7, 2006, 11:20 AM

Yesterday at TPM we noted the fact that in April 2004 Mitchell Wade -- the guy who paid off Duke Cunningham for help bagging contracts -- registered as the 'registered agent' for an outfit called the "Iranian Democratization Foundation."

That was on April 5th, 2004.

Now, during 2004, the Federal Procurement Data System lists 444 procurement contracts for the Executive Office of the President (that's the official name for what we colloquially refer to as 'the White House'). Most of those contracts are what you'd expect for a large office complex -- computer services, shipping, office supplies, etc.

But three stand out: three contracts, for a total of $254,437, for unspecified "intelligence services."

Those three contracts were awarded to Mitchell Wade's MZM, Inc.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000045.php

[Roland99]

3. Yeah...but my gut says that began and ended with Safavian.

[notadmblnd]

5. isn't MZM the company that paid off "Duke" Cunningham?

also I read an article here today that said Negroponte (the man who is supposed to be in charge of the 16 intel agencies) really doesn't have much to do and is seen quite frequently at various hoity toity clubs for long lunch hours, often several times a week.

I'd say you are spot on in your analysis of whether or not these 16 agencies provides any service any longer.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x597171

[Roland99]

6. Ayup...and now Katherine Harris is linked to MZM.

he he he

[ReadTomPaine]

8. The best news in the world would be John Negroponte avoiding his job.

The less actual 'work' he does in DC the better.

[Roland99]

25. Maybe he could be easily setup with a cheap hooker?

:evilgrin:

[ReadTomPaine]

26. Nobody works cheap when you look like this:

[EuroObserver]

27. This comment ties in with this NYT story (today):

The military is placing small teams of Special Operations troops in a growing number of American embassies to gather intelligence on terrorists in unstable parts of the world and to prepare for potential missions to disrupt, capture or kill them.

Senior Pentagon officials and military officers say the effort is part of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's two-year drive to give the military a more active intelligence role in the campaign against terrorism. But it has drawn opposition from traditional intelligence agencies like the C.I.A., where some officials have viewed it as a provocative expansion into what has been their turf.
.....
The Department of Defense is very eager to step up its involvement in counterterrorism activities, and it has set its sights on traditional C.I.A. operational responsibilities and authorities," said John O. Brennan, a 25-year C.I.A. officer who headed the National Counterterrorism Center before retiring last year. "Quite unfortunately, the C.I.A.'s important lead role in many of these areas is being steadily eroded, and the current militarization of many of the nation's intelligence functions and responsibilities will be viewed as a major mistake in the very near future.".......

DU thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2152061
NYT piece here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/08/international/americas/08forces.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5090&en=20fecac9a871e332&ex=1299474000&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

...so one of Negroponte's roles would be precisely to facilitate "the current militarization of many of the nation's intelligence functions and responsibilities"???

[Roland99]

29. And I assume this whole process bypasses Congress?

[Roland99]

32. Hmm, I believe it does. Check out this Chomsky interview re:Latin America:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x607560


About 1/2 way down. Seems the Pentagon is picking up for training military officers in Latin America instead of the State Dept.

[havocmom]

4. K&R

:kick:

[EuroObserver]

7. Add in "usable nuke" bunker-busters and the latest Battle Plans

(as far as they've been leaked) and 'Long War' strategy and it really does look like the next phase is all ready to go.

Recommended. I'll have to pick up on this thread tomorrow.

[Just Me]

9. They are going to ruin us if they remain in power.

The peril is far more serious than most folks are willing to grasp. We no longer live in the world they are stuck in: might is right and rule of force prevails. We live in a post MLK, post Gandhi, post civil rights, post "information" world and this brave new world WILL NOT TOLERATE ANOTHER ROUND OF IMPERIALISM.

The United States represents less than 5% of the world's population in spite of the fact it holds a disgustingly majority of the world's wealth. This is a brave new world, far more informed and knowledgeable than ever before.

This administration's abuses and exploitations will NOT be tolerated and it will take this nation down to something far worse than the 1930s if this shit isn't stopped, immediately.

[Just Me]

10. Oh, and NOMINATED!!! n/t

[Clara T]

11. The Fed is Pumping Billions into the Money Supply

December 23, 2005

What's the Fed Up To With the Money Supply?
by Robert McHugh

Over the past two days, December 21st - when our first Hindenburg Omen (of whatever cluster is coming) - and Thursday December 22nd, the Federal Reserve has conducted one of the largest two-day Repo injections of money into the system since back in September 2001. On Wednesday they added $18.0 billion in reserves and on Thursday they added another $20.0 billion. Is this a coincidence, coming right as we get another Hindenburg Omen? Probably not. Is something high-risk going on behind the scenes here? Let's review some facts at the Fed. On November 10th, 2005, shortly after appointing Bernanke to replace Greenbackspan, the Fed mysteriously announced with little comment and no palatable justification that they will hide M-3 effective March 2006. M-3 has been the main staple of money supply measurement and transparent disclosure since the Fed was founded back in 1913. It is the key monetary aggregate that includes Fed Repo transactions, that mechanism whereby the Fed increases reserves. The date when M-3 will start being hidden also happens to be the exact month that Iran will declare economic war against the U.S. Dollar by trading its oil in Petro-Euros on its new bourse. But there is more. The Federal Reserve currently has three vacancies within the 19 top Regional Bank and Board of Governor spots. Why? Part of ongoing wholesale resignations.



If a substantial amount of oil transactions will suddenly be conducted in Euros instead of Dollars, this should put pressure on the Dollar as folks exchange Dollars for Euros, jeopardizing the Dollar's status as the world's reserve currency, making it more difficult to print all the dollars the Fed wants to without driving the Dollar into the ground. Iraq threatened to do what Iran has threatened to do just before we went in looking for weapons of mass disappearance. If the Dollar tanks, Treasuries might not be far behind. If Treasuries tank, kiss the Housing-driven boom goodbye. Could the Master Planners be hiding M-3 because they anticipate they may have to monetize the Federal debt, buy our own Treasury Bonds during the coming economic attack against the Dollar? That would require a ton of new fresh money creation - too much to disclose. Could it be some folks at the top of the Fed do not have the stomach to be part of what is about to go down?

M-3 has a direct but lagging impact on financial markets. Look at the chart at the top of the prior page. Whenever M-3 rises, the Dow Industrials rise. Whenever M-3 is flat or declines, the Dow Industrials decline. The Dow Industrials are a bellwether for the economy. If we can monitor M-3, we can better monitor the future path of equities and the economy. It is wrong for the Fed to stop its disclosure for this very reason. Investors need to know in a free market economy, because M-3 infusion is centrally planned intervention into a free market system. Investors need to know when the Master Planners have decided to intervene. Our buy/sell signals were designed to pick up the scent of Master Planner intervention by analyzing supply and demand forces underlying the markets. So with or without a fully disclosed M-3, we will be able to continue to identify coming multi-week trends.

So what about M-3 the past week? The latest figures show that on a seasonally adjusted basis, M-3 rose 27.3 billion last week, a 14.0 percent annualized clip, and is up $76 billion over the past month, a 9.8 percent growth rate. But those are the massaged numbers. For the raw figures, fasten your seat belt. Are you ready? M-3 was increased $58.7 billion last week (that does not include the huge Repo infusions noted above), a 30.0 percent annualized rate of growth. For the past two week, the Fed added $93.5 billion to the money supply, a 24.0 percent annual clip. Over the past 6 weeks it is up $192.9 billion, a 16.7 percent Banana Republic hyperinflationary pace. This is nuts, folks - unless there is an incredible risk out there we are not being told about. That is a lot of money for the Plunge Protection Team's arsenal to buy markets - stocks, bonds, currencies, whatever. This level of irresponsible money supply growth makes shorting markets hazardous, yet at the same time says markets are at huge risk of declining. Maybe M-3 growth doesn't stop the decline this time. Should be a fascinating storm in 2006.

http://www.safehaven.com/showarticle.cfm?id=4331&pv=1

[Roland99]

12. Excellent! Thank you for that!

[stop the bleeding]

19. Clara T and Roland99 your research and analysis is jaw dropping

to say the least.

Thank you to both of you for painting a clearer picture of now and things to come.

Nominated!

[TrogL]

28. Is this where the Plunge Protection Team gets their money?

[lonestarnot]

18. Well no shit.... they did it once and got away with it, why wouldn't they

continue with the same tactic.

[Clara T]

30. kick media embargo in the head

truthout

[BelgianMadCow]

33. M3 triggered the same train of thought with me, kicked (late for R)

coupled with the Oil Bourse, it's way suspicious.

The drums are beginning to sound too (Orks in the depths), but not in time to convince the public of a war with Iran before these things happen.

I do consider it quite possible a war will be started by Israel in a few weeks time, and the US will get "dragged" in later.

On the other hand, as Will Pitt argued forcibly, it doesn't add up on the economic side to start a war with a country backed by China and Russia who hold so much US debt.

Unless you really plan to let it all come tumbling down, or deals have been cut that enrich the rich ones all around.

Anyone who is prepared could reap big profits even in those circumstances.