We’re anything but experts on the long and storied history of American-Turkish-Armenian relations. We’re also not particularly partisan, or inclined to come to the defense of the Democrats. But we do have a thing about facts and fairness.
So with Rush Limbaugh, this morning, leading the charge of the Rightwing goon squad attempting to characterize an increase in saber rattling in Turkey as “Nancy Pelosi’s War,” it seems a bit of a fact-check reminder is necessary here.
The brouhaha, which Limbaugh hopes to turn into a Republican electoral advantage, surrounds a House resolution to declare the 1915 mass killing of more 1.5 million ethnic Armenians a “genocide.” While the resolution passed out of the Foreign Affairs Committee last week on a bi-partisan 27 to 21 vote, the Bush Administration has suggested it will make life difficult for their efforts in Iraq, such that they are, which depend on Turkish support. Passage of the resolution could lead to inflamed ethnic violence on the Turkish/Kurdish border and lead to a widening of the war.
Limbaugh and the GOP opportunists have been declaring the resolution a Democratic ploy to ruin Turkish-American relations, embarrass George W. Bush, and help spread the war into a full-blown regional conflagration.
But what Limbaugh and friends seem to be avoiding is the fact that it was Republican Dennis Hastert who, as House Speaker back in 2000, last pushed for the same resolution, seeing it through the then-Republican-led International Relations Committee, where it passed by a large majority, and then scheduled it for a full vote on the House floor, only to pull the legislation just minutes before the vote — supposedly at the urging of President Bill Clinton.
A similar resolution made it through the then-Republican-led House International Relations Committee by a lopsided vote of 40 to 7 just two years ago, even though Republican Minority Leader John Boehner now declares the measure to be “totally irresponsible.”
When reporting on claims made by FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds in 2005, Vanity Fair’s David Rose reported notable details on the 2000 Hastert-pushed version…
At the time, he explained his decision by saying that he had received a letter from President Clinton arguing that the genocide resolution, if passed, would harm U.S. interests.
Thus, to describe the long bi-partisan effort to declare the 1915 Ottoman Empire massacre a “genocide” as a Democratic ploy to cause trouble for Bush and the Iraq War is just ridiculous. But that, of course, has never stopped Limbaugh and the rest of his disingenuous Republicanist pals who count on their misinformed Fox “News” viewers and listeners to have forgotten — or never known in the first place — about anything that took place in American history beyond the last week or so.
If you’re seeking a real simmering and still under-examined controversy here, we might recommend poking around into what former FBI translator turned whistleblower Sibel Edmonds claims she listened in on when reviewing pre-9/11 wiretaps, supposedly from Turkish interests in Hastert’s home district.
She claims, as Rose reported in his exposé at the time, that “a senior official at the Turkish Consulate is said to have claimed in one recording that the price for Hastert to withdraw the resolution would have been at least $500,000.” Rose went on to detail nearly $500,000 in unitemized small donations to Hastert, all in increments just under the $200 limit which would have triggered full public disclosure of the donor names.
Many months later, in February of 2006, Hastert’s team finally offered a rebuttal of sorts, in the form of a short letter to the editor in VF, which The BRAD BLOG ran along with an Exclusive reply/rebuttal from Edmonds herself questioning the less-than-forthcoming denial of Team Hastert.
As Edmonds remains gag-ordered to this day by the Bush DoJ — under an arcane and rarely-invoked “state secrets privilege” — we still do not know the exact details of what was heard on those and the other tapes she listened to as a translator before being removed from her job after making claims of possible espionage within the bureau. That, despite pleas from both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee to allow Edmonds to tell her story, even to a closed-door, classified session of the committee, as well as a DoJ Inspector General’s report which found her allegations to be “credible,” “serious,” and “warrant[ing] a thorough and careful review by the FBI.”
In March of 2007, after Democrats took control of both houses of Congress, in another BRAD BLOG exclusive, we published a link to a petition calling on Congress to hold “joint public hearings by the Senate and House Judiciary Committees into confirmed reports by FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds of wrongdoing, criminal activities, and cover-ups against the security and interests of the United States and its citizenry.”
Edmonds told us then that some 15,000 signed the petitions were delivered to Congress before she then asked for folks to directly contact Henry Waxman’s Government Reform and Oversight Committee and John Conyers’ Judiciary Committee to demand public hearings for her case. Contact details for those committees are here.
We caught up with Edmonds this afternoon, and she told us that more than 30,000 have now signed the petition, and while Waxman’s office had told her on several occassions it was Republicans who were holding up hearings on her allegations in the House Overisght Committee, and that hearings on her case would be “one of the first” they’d hold once Democrats became the majority, no such hearings have been forthcoming.
“They are going mum,” she told us today, “they are not responding.”
She says that she’s given full details on the classified matters, “in the scif” (a sensitive compartmented information facility) to members of Waxman’s staff. The briefings she offered included “details, not just allegations” of corruption on “two other well known Congressional members aside from Hastert” who were not named in the Vanity Fair article.
Edmonds told us the two were Republican House members and that “one of them is recently no longer there.”
We’ve requested comment from Waxman’s office on the status of Edmonds’ case, but did not get an immediate reply.
A spokesman from Conyers’ office told The BRAD BLOG today that, while they don’t have any official statement on the possibility of hearings at this time, they have spoken with Edmonds on several occassions and “take her seriously.”
She updated us today on the status of her case in some detail, along with her plans for moving forward. We hope to have more on that here at The BRAD BLOG in the coming days.
UPDATE 10/29/07: The promised update — and a bit of a bombshell — on the Sibel Edmonds story is now posted here…
Great research and report Brad. I always appreciate how you untangle the myriad of trails, both past and present, that make up this constant barrage of missteps and outright BULLSHIT that comes out of the various orifices* of our “elected” officials.
*of course I refer to front door of the Senate building, back door, etc.
$500,000 in unitemized small donations to Hastert. Sheee…it that’s 1 big Fucking kielbasa . . .
I am definitely not diminishing the killing of millions of people, but … Congress is doing such important work, like this — debating a resolution regarding something that happened nearly 100 years ago. What was it? 1.5 million people? That’s about 0.3 million more than the number of Iraqis that have been killed since America launched “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
On another note, how long, I wonder, will it be before they decide to debate a resolution declaring that electronic voting is ballotocide, i.e. democracide.
To cover up and waste time, instead of dealing with electronic voting machines, the constitution, the ongoing oil war, impeachment, and prosecution of oath breakers.
It’s easier to do Anna Nicole (NEW EVIDENCE), OJ Simpson (Book deal/court_, Marion Jones (steroids in the olympics in the PAST), etc.
To attempt to fully grasp this by giving detailed explanation would be a waste of my time on earth, only piss me off more, and take hours to type examples.
That’s why when I write senators these days, no matter what the issue is, I just want to tell them one vulgar slang word and one noun. It isn’t that I don’t care, it’s that they have successfully fogged everything up on such a deep level, that it’s nearly impossible to focus. Which makes me wonder how much “draining of the swamp” will continue, now that the reality of a “bogus majority” is realized. It makes me wonder why we bother with our so-called representatives, they don’t care what we say, they have their own fascist agenda.
We never “had” the senate in 2006. The situation there is exactly like electronic voting machine results. The actions taken by the senate since then is equal to the results we got when electronic voting was first introduced. These electronic voting machines are the root of this evil, they allow this corruption to fester.
We are being punked and played like an electric fiddle. So yank the feed cable, snap their strings, burn the wood and break their fingers. (okay don’t break their fingers, make em wear Chinese hand cuffs )
All the while they feed us consumer crap that doesn’t make a bit of difference, meanwhile they use patsies, and proxies to control our very health itself.
They all say one thing out of one side of their mouth, then do the opposite.
You want to drain the swamp, start by removing oath breakers, start by melting down the electronic voting machines.
The way our problems are presented currently, is that if someone breaks a little oath it’s okay, as long as they are taking out big oath. This is what confuses people if they should support someone or not. This will continue to confuse and muddy the water into a swamp.
It’s too bad the Daedalus (From Atlantis/Stargate SCIFI Series ) couldn’t just beam all these rotten swamp creatures out to a dead planet in a black hole somewhere. (I know this is fictional, but I had the power, I guarantee that’s what I’d use it on.)
Instead, we are faced with the loss of our constitution, and we bide our time cherry picking topics of lesser importance–arguably irrelevance and only take an interest out of that who stay in our focus long enough to take action, if any.
Mostly though it just pisses the people who are aware off even more.
People keep saying oh, this will fix the problem, or that will fix the problem, send us money. I got news, no it won’t, the only thing that is going to fix this problem is to melt down these electronic voting machines, and actually have elections that reflect We The People of the United States of America. Take their toys and money away from them, and make OIL worthless. Hydrogen, and Solar is the way forward to making oil worthless. Public financed elections take their money away.
Until that time, things will continue the same, and you delude yourself believing it won’t.
And sadly it’s going to get worse. We have no idea what these people are going to do next because we have no oversight into their secret plans.
That’s not paranoia, that’s reality. The best we can do is react.
About a year ago, during a small MoveOn rally at Hastert’s office in Batavia Illinois, I was able to talk to a Hastert staffer, with news cameras rolling. The staffer was rosponsive to all my questions, until I asked about Hastert’s Armenian resolution and subsequent withdrawl. At that point the staffer ended the interview and ran inside the office.
Air America radio host Randi Rhodes was mugged on Sunday night. missing teeth. . . . . . JFK, Pat Tillman, Valerie Plame, Graeme Frost (Frost Warning) . . .
Oh…you mean the past means something again …..? Coool.
Do David Crosby statements of how out military kills mothers and daughters can be wiped away since he refused to talk about all the women and daughters that were murdered by the cartels so he could stay high on cocaine for those 20 years.
How come you don’t mention the initial reason for the resolution?
How come you only go back far enough to prove your point?
How come you don’t mention why its brought up now?
Come on guys Reagan already made an official statement on this in 1981…the Republicans did it to stick it to Clinton….the Demos are doing it to stick it to Bush and Nancy Pelosi has had her fingerprints on it since day one. She is doing it to shut down Incirlik and cater to her base plain and simple. And if all the living former and current secretaries of states didn’t write her a letter asking her stop (just like Clinton did) she might get away with it.
Please get back to election coverage (if we even can have them again in CA)
Ooops…almost forgot.
******** DISLCAIMER FOR BRAD*********
OMSmedia is Don Haas, youngest brother of former ROV of San Diego County: Mikel Haas. Don is an admitted hardcore republican and federalist. Please take his opinions with a grain of salt since he is a pilgrim in an unholy land.
****************************************
Jeepers OMSMedia/Don Haas, I hadn’t realized that David Crosby was so important to our foreign affairs. Don’t forget to remind us all about that Puff the Magic Dragon incident from those terrorists Peter, Paul and Mary, while you’re at it.
As you may have noticed (but forgot to acknowledge) this post was about your hero, Rush Limbaugh, once again misleading his simple-minded listeners with misinformation.
I’ll also re-mention the other inconvenient truth you seem to have not noticed, that the resolution passed out committee with strong bi-partisan support of your fellow Republicans. Guess they were hoping to embarrass George W. Bush as well.
As for the Repubs doing it to “stick it to Clinton” back in 2000, that imaginary logic doesn’t work either, since it had huge Dem support as well at the time.
We’ll be more than happy to welcome you back to the Reality Based World, Don, whenever you feel as if you’d like to rejoin us. Until then, stay away from the mushrooms and smiling cat.
(… the zapkitty extends his claws as the light dances across bared fangs…)
I’m… smiling? Yes, I must be…
More seriously, I’m currently making preparations to severely diarize those benighted dkosians the next time Holt’s Fiasco lumbers forth from its crypt… and the House’ll probably turn it loose again next week, if not sooner, so has to distract us from the FISA/telco-retro-immunity/Mukasey capitulations our beloved congresscavers will gift us with this week…
Sibel Edmonds gave evidence to Congress and the DoJ’s IG about 9/11 being allowed to happen, and about high level official’s involvement in the drug and arms trade. She also testified to the 9/11 Commission for about 4 hrs, and would up in their “report” as a footnote about the FBI needing to improve quality control
http://cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?entity=sibel_edmonds
OPEN LETTER: National Security Experts Speak Out: 9/11 Commission Falls Short
http://911citizenswatch.org/?p=401
A Review of the FBI’s Actions in Connection With Allegations Raised
By Contract Linguist Sibel Edmonds
http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/oig/sedmonds.html
Brad,
Since you’ve mentioned Rep. Dennis Hastert, I owe you a copy of my e-mail to him I sent today. It’s not on this topic specifically but it is about current events….
Dear Representative Hastert,
I am writing to ask you to vote for over-riding the President’s veto on the SCHIP bill. I am not of your district anymore. I was a student of yours in 1969. I too spent several years in Washington, D.C. before you started your career there. I did my duty for my country having sworn an oath twice to Defend and protect the U.S. Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. I am proud of my service in the CIA. I am not proud of your service. You have remained silent as our President and his administration ignored Congress and trampled our Constitution.
I therefore ask you to go ahead and make history and finally stand up to this shameful behavior starting with today’s vote.
I want you to know that the majority of every intelligent person I know is ashamed of this administration (Republican and Democrat alike) It’s about time you stood up too.
With all respect to my former teacher,
Don Necessary
Union, Missouri
Oh, and I’m still collecting volunteers and signatures on our Paper ballot petition in case Missourians are reading.
Don
Erik said: “Sibel Edmonds gave evidence to Congress and the DoJ’s IG about 9/11 being allowed to happen”
9/11 wasn’t “allowed to happen”, it was MADE to happen from whole cloth, what’s known as a false flag operation. “Al Qaeda” isn’t in control of the U.S. Air Force. “Al Qaeda” isn’t able to rig the Twin Towers and WTC # 7 building for their obvious controlled demolitions. “Al Qaeda” isn’t able to make the Cheney regime incriminate itself in the blatant cover-up that came after 9/11 with the breakneck speed of removal of the steel debris to be shipped to China and India to be melted down; stonewalling the 9/11 whitewash commission, starving it of funds, and only having Cheney and Bush “testify” together, behind closed doors, with their attorneys present, not under oath, with nothing they say recorded. “Al Qaeda” didn’t put the completed warplans for the invasion of Afghanistan on Bush’s desk, ready for his signature two days BEFORE 9/11, when it would have been politically impossible to get the American people to go along with an invasion of Afghanistan WITHOUT 9/11. It was an inside job Erik, and it’s time you got acquainted with its details. Once you do, you will quickly see that nobody “let” it happen but instead the regime MADE it happen.
As for Sibel Edmonds, she is a fake, a gatekeeper. Her purpose appears to be in the event the regime needs to conduct a limited hangout regarding 9/11, she can be un-gagged and accuse a handful of small-fry scapegoats, letting them take all the blame while the real perpetrators get off scot free. The reason she has been repeatedly gagged is obviously to build up her (false) credibility so that in the event she is un-gagged for the limited hangout, the average simpleton will say “Gosh, I guess what she is saying MUST be true or else they wouldn’t have kept gagging her”. Typical bait and switch. Come on people, this is SO transparent. Wake up America.