"Who's Afraid of Sibel Edmonds?" Giraldi

"GIRALDI: And Grossman received money as a result. In one case, you said that a State Department colleague went to pick up a bag of money…

EDMONDS: $14,000

GIRALDI: What kind of information was Grossman giving to foreign countries? Did he give assistance to foreign individuals penetrating U.S. government labs and defense installations as has been reported? It’s also been reported that he was the conduit to a group of congressmen who become, in a sense, the targets to be recruited as “agents of influence.”

EDMONDS: Yes, that’s correct. Grossman assisted his Turkish and Israeli contacts directly, and he also facilitated access to members of Congress who might be inclined to help for reasons of their own or could be bribed into cooperation. The top person obtaining classified information was Congressman Tom Lantos. A Lantos associate, Alan Makovsky worked very closely with Dr. Sabri Sayari in Georgetown University, who is widely believed to be a Turkish spy. Lantos would give Makovsky highly classified policy-related documents obtained during defense briefings for passage to Israel because Makovsky was also working for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

GIRALDI: Makovsky is now working for the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy, a pro-Israeli think tank."  Giraldi

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A remarkable interview.  Giraldi is a very respected retired CIA field man.

What emerges from the article is a picture of the Washington of the "K Street Project," the revolving door, consultants sold out to foreign governments, foreign national intelligence agencies doing their duty in seeking to learn American government secrets, foreign connected lobbies working hard to suborn the US Congress.  Hanging over the whole thing is a miasma of endless, meaningless, boring symposia, conferences, power lunches, etc.  I think it was probably ever thus.

I am disappointed to think that Scowcroft is really like this.

I always wondered what lay behind Grossman's supercilious arrogance.  There usually is something, something.  pl

Download The American Conservative -- Who’s Afraid of Sibel Edmonds

 

 

Comments

[PS]

Mind-boggling tale. If even only a fourth of it were true I don't see why the MSM isn't picking up on this. A Pulitzer to the first reporter who can independently verify this interview.

[J]

Ah, the lines of once respected personas like Scowcroft who have sold their American soul to foreign governments for mere pittances.

K Street be damned! It should be called traitors row. What would our forefathers have called their behavior? Which type of tree (hickory or oak) would the forefathers use as their equalizer with what type of knot at the end of the rope?

What ever happened to the oath of fielty to our Constitution, are they not more than just mere words?

[turcopolier]

J

I am not sure that most of our forefathers were much better. Pl

[Hannah K. O'Luthon]

Thanks, once again, to Colonel Lang for calling attention to this story, well-known to many but nevertheless seemingly invisible for years now to the "responsible media".

In a somewhat related vein, I would ask for the Colonel's views on this report
http://tinyurl.com/ydelhq4
regarding the (apparently well documented) use of torture at Guantanamo JUST TO OBTAIN FALSE CONFESSIONS, that is, without even a fig-leaf of "clear and present danger" or a "ticking bomb". The Colonel has earned my admiration for his forthright stand on this question, so it may be that this story is merely a further indication of the correctness of that position. Nevetheless, it seems particularly egregious, and, to me as an American, particularly shameful.

[doug]

... foreign national intelligence agencies doing their duty in seeking to learn American government secrets.

Good point. It is well worth acknowledging that spying is not just done by enemies. Advancing and protecting a state's interests is a principal duty of its government. And it is not just unfriendly states that spy. Countries that are fairly close often have even more of a reason. The US, by virtue of the UNSC veto, makes it such a target by our erstwhile friend, Israel. It will be interesting to see if Netanyahu's electioneering promise to have Pollard freed is fulfilled. While he is a hero in Israel he is an rightly an embarassment to patriotic American Jews like Admiral Shapiro.

From Wiki:
Admiral Shapiro, who was himself Jewish, stated that he was troubled by the support of Jewish organizations for Pollard: "We work so hard to establish ourselves and to get where we are, and to have somebody screw it up... and then to have Jewish organizations line up behind this guy and try to make him out a hero of the Jewish people, it bothers the hell out of me".

[Matthew]

Bennedict Arnold and Aaron Burr. They just didn't run think tanks.

[J]

Colonel,

Ah yes, the selfish self-centeredness of the human psyche make-up at play knows no particular Century or time-frame. Morals and a conscious be damned! Robert the Bruce all over again.

[J]

K-Street should be re-named 'Traitors Row'!

[Patrick Lang]

Hannah

I have been consulted by the defense in several similar habeas cases at Gitmo, and so I can say no more. pl

[Fred]

Interesting that Turkey used a professor at MIT to start placing potential or actual agents in various government agencies. What is China up to since they have even more PhD's and PhD candidates all over the US?

I can't wait to see how my Congressman answers my questions this Saturday. A the joy I'll feel at this fundraising dinner.

[JohnH]

Sibel Edmonds had only a small vantage point on the vast world of American foreign and military policy. Now imagine if her assertions are correct, and what she saw was not an aberration but standard operating procedure. And there is reason to believe that it may well be. Otherwise, why the intense effort to cover up few little rogue operators?

In my mind, the perpetrators of the Iraq and Afghanistan operations have never been able to account for their actions in terms of national security. After all the initial explanations for invading Iraq were exposed as false, there is still no official consensus as to what the ultimate goal was. And NATO involvement in Afghanistan is beginning to look like it has no more purpose than a dog chasing its tail around.

When policy makers cannot give a good, clear accounting of their actions, one that bears scrutiny, there is usually something, something.

[curious]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/9/30/787956/-Former-FBI-Official-Confirms-Buried-EspionageCorruption-Cases,-Adds-Corroboration-to-Edmonds-

In November 2006, in an article published by CQ on covered up espionage cases involving Israel, Cole was quoted extensively:

"John M. Cole, an FBI spy catcher who retired in 2004, says that from 1993 to 1995 alone, he had "125 open cases" of Israeli espionage, representing nearly half of all the investigations carried on in his Global Unit, part of the now-defunct National Security division." Inside the FBI itself, Cole said, tracking suspected Israeli spies was hush-hush.In a sharp break with FBI procedures, he was prohibited from notifying field offices when an investigation crept into their jurisdictions. "No one was supposed to know we were investigating the Israelis," Cole said."
Stein’s article quoted several other FBI officials confirming Cole’s disclosure:

"The 125 figure "makes sense," another former top FBI counterintelligence official said, speaking only on condition that he not be identified because of the issue’s sensitivity. This official called the Israeli embassy’s denials "horse [manure]." In fact, he said, U.S. officials repeatedly warned the Israelis to back off. But the finger-wagging only seemed to energize them. "We would call them in, call them on the carpet, and next week there would be 10 more cases," he said. The Justice Department never seemed much interested in prosecuting them, he and other counterintelligence veterans said. Agents would get pissed off," said the former top official. "We knew they were going to walk, that they were going to get a pass. . . . It was frustrating.""
John M. Cole, Former Veteran Intelligence Operations Specialist, worked for 18 years in the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division as an Intelligence Operations specialist and counterespionage manager. Cole is the author of While America Sleeps, which will be available in bookstores this November.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/9/23/785500/-FBI-Whistleblower-says-Neocons-Negotiated-Iraq-Invasion-with-Foreign-Agents-in-Summer-2001

Last year, Edmonds claimed that foreign intelligence agents had enlisted the support of US officials to acquire a network of moles in sensitive military and nuclear institutions.

Among the hours of covert tape recordings, she says she heard evidence that one well-known senior official in the US State Department was being paid by Turkish agents in Washington who were selling the information on to black market buyers, including Pakistan.

...Edmonds said, "He was aiding foreign operatives against US interests by passing them highly classified information, not only from the State Department but also from the Pentagon, in exchange for money, position and political objectives."

She claims that the FBI was also gathering evidence against senior Pentagon officials – including household names – who were aiding foreign agents.

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I haven't googled around on above articles, which usually gives a lot of fun findings.

My suspicion: abramoff (the money channel is much bigger than they let on), Lantos office (massive breach on foreign policy secret), DHS is breached inside out (names of government officials, listening computers, money/contract) state dept. is breached. (old news. It's just Tel Aviv outlet.)

sooner or later somebody is going to do statistical analysis of legislative output vs. social networking analysis to reveal the entire espionage network in congress.

Then they can't simply dismiss and hide cases. I told ya everything is for sale up there.

[praxis]

Colonel,

In the same vein, what do you make of the WaPo story on former NSA McFarlane and his contract on behalf of Sudan??

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Excellent interview and it seems credible to me. It illustrates well some of the counterintelligence challenges we face.

IMO it also illustrates the need for a top to bottom review of our overall national security situation. Rather than waste billions/trillions on delusional foreign crusades we need to attend to real world challenges confronting our country at home and abroad.

While our counterintelligence professionals may do their level best, it is not unusual for their efforts to be brought up short through political channels.

I used to hear stories about how, for example, US authorities would be in a position to nail Israeli spies but were waived off by the White House/National Security Council. This is nothing new. I have heard reports of such instances during the tenure of Kissinger and Brzezinski at NSC. The fix was in by the politicians to let the guilty off the hook...for "national security reasons" as it was said by some.

[David]

I recall that in 1971
the UK expelled in one go over 100 Russians for their spying activity and that this action really hampered Soviet spying in the UK for many years. It sounds like a similar action should be considered by the president.

[greg0]

Following this news on BradBlog for a while now. It's good to have more media notice of bipartisan corruption regardless of the political consequences. And why is the media so quiet?
Considering the short time that Edmonds worked so long ago, what has gone on since?

[Clifford Kiracofe]

Giraldi is interviewed on this story here: http://original.antiwar.com/scott/2009/10/01/
gigantic-scandal-the-sibel-edmonds-story/

Some points to bear in mind as necessary context:

1. Note the activities of Perle and Feith in the 1980s when they were working with the Turkish government reportedly on arms deals (some involving US) and also lobbying Congress.

2. Note that Feith's law firm had offices in Israel as well as in the US.

3. With reference to the Scowcroft-Baker presence in all this note carefully arrangements relating to the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline deal and also arrangements relating to Central Asian countries with a view to hydrocarbons.

4. Note that the Turks became convinced the way to lobby Washington -- Congress and the Executive Branch -- was to work through and with (repeat "through and with") the pro-Israel Lobby.

5. Per Baker and the Iraq War situation and private business/hydrocarbons note very carefully his visit to India in April 2002. According to reports, he warned Indian leaders to stay away from the Iraq situation as war was impending.
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/04/18_Khilafah.html

[William R. Cumming]

PL writes "foreign national intelligence agencies doing their duty in seeking to learn American government secrets, foreign connected lobbies working hard to suborn the US Congress." Agree completely but the foreign INTEL groups have most of our secrets and what they really are doing now is trying to and succeeding in influencing US policy. WE (US) not only don't control the entrances and exits of our own house but we don't control what goes on here. NOTE the complete failure of MSM and academic world to document fully the efforts of foreign governments efforts to control US politics starting with the huge NAZI funding effort to defeat FDR in 1940! ng ltg

[Montag]

I am very much afraid that we do not need to listen to Ms. Edmond's anymore...because it is too late.

It is easy to imagine we could straighten things out, but short of widespread disorder, it is impossible.