DLR'sCock
09-02-2004, 03:04 PM
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093921795845
FBI Seizes Computer from AIPAC Offices
By Janine Zacharia
Jeruselem Post
Wednesday 01 September 2004
FBI agents on Friday copied the computer hard drive of a senior staffer at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who has been questioned in relation to the case of a Pentagon official suspected of turning over a classified document either directly to Israel, or via the pro-Israel lobby group.
Sources in Washington said the hard drive was that of Steve Rosen, AIPAC's director of foreign policy issues.
It was not clear if FBI agents also seized other materials from Rosen's office. AIPAC says it is cooperating fully with the FBI's investigation.
Government lawyers, according to Tuesday's New York Times, are preparing to make the first arrests in the case by issuing a criminal complaint against one or more figures who are said to be involved. The case is being handled by federal prosecutors in Virginia.
But experts suggested that the rush to file a complaint could be a sign that the charge will be less severe than that of espionage, as was originally reported.
"The fact that they're going to file a complaint instead of an indictment is an indication of the weakness of their case," said one criminal defense expert. A criminal complaint would allow the government to proceed with arrests more quickly.
AIPAC and Israel have denied any wrongdoing in a case that has become increasingly muddled since CBS News reported on Friday that the FBI was about to arrest an Israeli mole in the Pentagon.
Investigators suspect that a mid-level Pentagon staffer, Larry Franklin, provided either AIPAC or Israel with a secret draft of an internal planning document on US policy toward Iran.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith have been briefed on the case, as have officials at the White House, State Department, and congressional leaders.
Congressional leaders continued on Tuesday to rally around AIPAC, whose image, many in the pro-Israel community fear, has been tarnished by accusations of wrongdoing.
"AIPAC has worked hard to build its credibility with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle," House Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said. "While the House will want to look carefully at any allegations that might endanger our national security, it will begin that look with a record of great confidence in our relationship with AIPAC and our strongest ally and the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel."
The House Democratic Whip, Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) also expressed confidence in AIPAC. "I have worked with AIPAC for many years. They are a very successful, strong, and committed organization and do a tremendous job advocating for the important US-Israel relationship."
Despite those voices of confidence, some in Washington said they expected that US officials would be reluctant to meet with AIPAC staffers, at least in the immediate short-term, now that there is a suspicion that AIPAC is being monitored by the FBI.
"The biggest implication, is that mid-level officials will not be meeting with AIPAC. They don't want to be seen with them," said one Washington lobbyist.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to Original
Intrigue over Iran
Boston Globe | Editorial
Wednesday 01 September 2004
The most instructive aspect of the FBI's interest in Larry Franklin, an Iran desk officer in the Defense Department, is the light it casts on the incoherence of policy-making in the Bush administration rather than any conspiracy to pilfer American secrets for Israel.
There is a crucial background to the FBI's investigation of Franklin, who has come under suspicion for supposedly passing a classified presidential policy directive about Iran to a leader of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, who allegedly passed the material on to an Israeli official.
A neoconservative colleague of Franklin in the Defense Department, Harold Rhode, and the neocon promoter Michael Ledeen had been involved in secret back-channel meetings in Paris starting as early as December 2001 with the shady Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar, a key figure in the Iran-Contra affair.
The CIA had long since proscribed dealings with Ghorbanifar. The agency had him classified as a chronic liar. When a U.S. ambassador in Italy got wind of the meetings, he and the CIA station chief in Rome notified superiors at the State Department and the CIA. George Tenet, the former CIA director, in turn persuaded the No. 2 official on the National Security Council, Stephen Hadley, to prohibit further meetings with the Iranian arms merchant and the so-called Iranian dissidents whom he was presenting to neocons avid for regime change in Tehran.
This White House prohibition against the back-channel meetings arranged by Ghorbanifar was to no avail. There were at least two and possibly several more meetings. Ghorbanifar, living up to his reputation for indiscreet gabbiness, has boasted about further meetings to reporters for the Washington Monthly.
This is the outline of a policy quarrel that one faction has been waging surreptitiously. Not only the FBI but also the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence have been investigating the neocons' secret meetings in Paris to promote regime change in Tehran.
The regime in Tehran does pose a threat by virtue of its nuclear program, its sponsorship of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, and its meddling in Iraq. The Bush administration, however, has been unable to settle on a coherent strategy to cope with the challenge from Tehran.
If Bush does not take control of his own administration's policy-making process, the United States could be drawn into another gulf war by one faction of the conservative constellation in his own administration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to Original
Iran Arrests Dozens of 'Spies' for Passing Nuclear Secrets
By Anne Penketh
Independent U.K.
Wednesday 01 September 2004
The Iranian government announced yesterday that a number of spies linked to an armed opposition movement had been arrested for passing on nuclear secrets to foreign enemies.
The announcement came as the United Nations prepared to release a report later today on Iran's co-operation with weapons inspectors. Western diplomats said that the report is expected to be "fairly positive" and will not reveal a "smoking gun" in Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme.
"It doesn't reveal any new kind of discovery. In fact, over the last three months, Iran has provided some pretty decent cooperation," said a diplomat familiar with the report.
The United States has been threatening to report Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions over its failure to fully come clean about its nuclear programme, but today's report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seems unlikely to provide enough evidence for such a move. The IAEA governors are to discuss the report at a meeting beginning on 13 September.
The US President, George Bush, stressed yesterday that diplomacy remained the best option for dealing with Iran, which confirmed in July that it had resumed building nuclear centrifuges, which can enrich uranium to weapons grade.
It was unclear yesterday whether there was a connection between the timing of the announcement about the arrest of dozens of spies and the latest IAEA report. Iran denies that it is building a nuclear weapon and insists that its programme is purely for civilian needs.
The Iranian Intelligence Minister, Ali Yunesi, said that most of those arrested were linked to the People's Mujaheddin organisation, or Mujaheddin Khalq.
"The hypocrites [People's Mujaheddin] had the lead role and they have boasted before about spying against Iran in a press conference in America," he added. "We have identified and arrested dozens of spies on various grounds." He did not give any other details.
The People's Mujaheddin are known as "the hypocrites" because of their association with Iran's arch-enemy, Iraq. The group is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and European Union.
The group's political wing, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), was the first to publicly mention at press conferences that Iran had failed to declare nuclear sites in Iran, which were subsequently investigated by the IAEA and later declared by Tehran.
A former spokesman for the NCRI, Alireza Jafarzadeh, said that none of his sources for the 2002 report had been arrested.
Mr Jafarzadeh said the arrests were a "hollow show of force right before the upcoming meeting of the IAEA board of governors, intended to overshadow the illegal efforts of the Iranian regime to acquire nuclear weapons".
FBI Seizes Computer from AIPAC Offices
By Janine Zacharia
Jeruselem Post
Wednesday 01 September 2004
FBI agents on Friday copied the computer hard drive of a senior staffer at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who has been questioned in relation to the case of a Pentagon official suspected of turning over a classified document either directly to Israel, or via the pro-Israel lobby group.
Sources in Washington said the hard drive was that of Steve Rosen, AIPAC's director of foreign policy issues.
It was not clear if FBI agents also seized other materials from Rosen's office. AIPAC says it is cooperating fully with the FBI's investigation.
Government lawyers, according to Tuesday's New York Times, are preparing to make the first arrests in the case by issuing a criminal complaint against one or more figures who are said to be involved. The case is being handled by federal prosecutors in Virginia.
But experts suggested that the rush to file a complaint could be a sign that the charge will be less severe than that of espionage, as was originally reported.
"The fact that they're going to file a complaint instead of an indictment is an indication of the weakness of their case," said one criminal defense expert. A criminal complaint would allow the government to proceed with arrests more quickly.
AIPAC and Israel have denied any wrongdoing in a case that has become increasingly muddled since CBS News reported on Friday that the FBI was about to arrest an Israeli mole in the Pentagon.
Investigators suspect that a mid-level Pentagon staffer, Larry Franklin, provided either AIPAC or Israel with a secret draft of an internal planning document on US policy toward Iran.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith have been briefed on the case, as have officials at the White House, State Department, and congressional leaders.
Congressional leaders continued on Tuesday to rally around AIPAC, whose image, many in the pro-Israel community fear, has been tarnished by accusations of wrongdoing.
"AIPAC has worked hard to build its credibility with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle," House Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said. "While the House will want to look carefully at any allegations that might endanger our national security, it will begin that look with a record of great confidence in our relationship with AIPAC and our strongest ally and the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel."
The House Democratic Whip, Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) also expressed confidence in AIPAC. "I have worked with AIPAC for many years. They are a very successful, strong, and committed organization and do a tremendous job advocating for the important US-Israel relationship."
Despite those voices of confidence, some in Washington said they expected that US officials would be reluctant to meet with AIPAC staffers, at least in the immediate short-term, now that there is a suspicion that AIPAC is being monitored by the FBI.
"The biggest implication, is that mid-level officials will not be meeting with AIPAC. They don't want to be seen with them," said one Washington lobbyist.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to Original
Intrigue over Iran
Boston Globe | Editorial
Wednesday 01 September 2004
The most instructive aspect of the FBI's interest in Larry Franklin, an Iran desk officer in the Defense Department, is the light it casts on the incoherence of policy-making in the Bush administration rather than any conspiracy to pilfer American secrets for Israel.
There is a crucial background to the FBI's investigation of Franklin, who has come under suspicion for supposedly passing a classified presidential policy directive about Iran to a leader of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, who allegedly passed the material on to an Israeli official.
A neoconservative colleague of Franklin in the Defense Department, Harold Rhode, and the neocon promoter Michael Ledeen had been involved in secret back-channel meetings in Paris starting as early as December 2001 with the shady Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar, a key figure in the Iran-Contra affair.
The CIA had long since proscribed dealings with Ghorbanifar. The agency had him classified as a chronic liar. When a U.S. ambassador in Italy got wind of the meetings, he and the CIA station chief in Rome notified superiors at the State Department and the CIA. George Tenet, the former CIA director, in turn persuaded the No. 2 official on the National Security Council, Stephen Hadley, to prohibit further meetings with the Iranian arms merchant and the so-called Iranian dissidents whom he was presenting to neocons avid for regime change in Tehran.
This White House prohibition against the back-channel meetings arranged by Ghorbanifar was to no avail. There were at least two and possibly several more meetings. Ghorbanifar, living up to his reputation for indiscreet gabbiness, has boasted about further meetings to reporters for the Washington Monthly.
This is the outline of a policy quarrel that one faction has been waging surreptitiously. Not only the FBI but also the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence have been investigating the neocons' secret meetings in Paris to promote regime change in Tehran.
The regime in Tehran does pose a threat by virtue of its nuclear program, its sponsorship of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, and its meddling in Iraq. The Bush administration, however, has been unable to settle on a coherent strategy to cope with the challenge from Tehran.
If Bush does not take control of his own administration's policy-making process, the United States could be drawn into another gulf war by one faction of the conservative constellation in his own administration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to Original
Iran Arrests Dozens of 'Spies' for Passing Nuclear Secrets
By Anne Penketh
Independent U.K.
Wednesday 01 September 2004
The Iranian government announced yesterday that a number of spies linked to an armed opposition movement had been arrested for passing on nuclear secrets to foreign enemies.
The announcement came as the United Nations prepared to release a report later today on Iran's co-operation with weapons inspectors. Western diplomats said that the report is expected to be "fairly positive" and will not reveal a "smoking gun" in Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme.
"It doesn't reveal any new kind of discovery. In fact, over the last three months, Iran has provided some pretty decent cooperation," said a diplomat familiar with the report.
The United States has been threatening to report Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions over its failure to fully come clean about its nuclear programme, but today's report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) seems unlikely to provide enough evidence for such a move. The IAEA governors are to discuss the report at a meeting beginning on 13 September.
The US President, George Bush, stressed yesterday that diplomacy remained the best option for dealing with Iran, which confirmed in July that it had resumed building nuclear centrifuges, which can enrich uranium to weapons grade.
It was unclear yesterday whether there was a connection between the timing of the announcement about the arrest of dozens of spies and the latest IAEA report. Iran denies that it is building a nuclear weapon and insists that its programme is purely for civilian needs.
The Iranian Intelligence Minister, Ali Yunesi, said that most of those arrested were linked to the People's Mujaheddin organisation, or Mujaheddin Khalq.
"The hypocrites [People's Mujaheddin] had the lead role and they have boasted before about spying against Iran in a press conference in America," he added. "We have identified and arrested dozens of spies on various grounds." He did not give any other details.
The People's Mujaheddin are known as "the hypocrites" because of their association with Iran's arch-enemy, Iraq. The group is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and European Union.
The group's political wing, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), was the first to publicly mention at press conferences that Iran had failed to declare nuclear sites in Iran, which were subsequently investigated by the IAEA and later declared by Tehran.
A former spokesman for the NCRI, Alireza Jafarzadeh, said that none of his sources for the 2002 report had been arrested.
Mr Jafarzadeh said the arrests were a "hollow show of force right before the upcoming meeting of the IAEA board of governors, intended to overshadow the illegal efforts of the Iranian regime to acquire nuclear weapons".